Influence of Taoism
Taoism was also introduced during the Asuka period. In the mid-7th century, Empress Saimei built Danzan Shrine (談山神社, Danzan Jinja?), a Taoist temple, at Mt. Tōnomine (多武峰, Tōnomine?, "Tō Ridge, Tō Peak"). The octagonal shape of monarchs' tombs of this age and the celestial maps drawn in the Kitora and Takamatsuzuka kofun also reflect the Taoist cosmology. Tennō (天皇?, "Emperor"), the new title of the Japanese monarch in this period, could also be argued to derive from the name of the supreme God of Taoism, the God of Polaris (天皇大帝, Tenkō Taitei?).
Taoist belief was eventually amalgamated with Shintō and Buddhism to establish new styles of rituals. Onmyōdō (陰陽道?), a sort of Japanese geomancy and cosmology, is one of the fruits of these religious mixtures. While the Asuka period started with conflicts between clans over religious beliefs, later in the period, the imported religions became syncretized with Japan's native folk beliefs.
Read more about this topic: Asuka Period
Famous quotes containing the words influence of and/or influence:
“A bestial and violent man will go so far as to kill because he is under the influence of drink, exasperated, or driven by rage and alcohol. He is paltry. He does not know the pleasure of killing, the charity of bestowing death like a caress, of linking it with the play of the noble wild beasts: every cat, every tiger, embraces its prey and licks it even while it destroys it.”
—Colette [Sidonie Gabrielle Colette] (1873–1954)
“Cultural expectations shade and color the images that parents- to-be form. The baby product ads, showing a woman serenely holding her child, looking blissfully and mysteriously contented, or the television parents, wisely and humorously solving problems, influence parents-to-be.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)