Only Shinran Will Not Betray Us
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Only Shinran Will Not Betray Us: Takeuchi Ryō’on (1891-1967), the Ōtani-ha Administration, and Burakumin Jessica L. Main Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University, Montreal April 2012 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Jessica L. Main, 2012 Table of contents Table of contents i Abstract iii Résumé v Acknowledgements vii A note on usage and conventions x Introduction: Buddhist ethics and buraku discrimination 1 Shin Buddhism and burakumin 2 The story of a burakumin, “Satoru Kawada” 5 Institutional ethics and conflict within the Ōtani-ha sect 15 Buddhist ethics and socially engaged Buddhism 26 Dissertation outline: reading Shin Buddhist ethics in modern history 40 PART I Causing discrimination: Shin Buddhism’s historical responsibility 47 1 Theories of buraku discrimination and the role of Buddhism 47 The study of burakumin in English language scholarship 49 Buddhism as source of discriminatory beliefs: 67 Shin Buddhist preachers deploying discriminatory beliefs 70 2 Shin Buddhism, devotion, and separating the pure from the polluted 81 Shin Buddhism in a nutshell 84 Purity, pollution, and devotion 99 Historical discrimination in Shin Buddhism 107 PART II Curing discrimination: Shin Buddhism’s revolutionary potential 125 3 Buddhism and human rights: egalitarian doctrine and charitable work 125 Shimaji Mokurai’s “The Theory of Human Rights” 126 Contemporary arguments for Buddhism and human rights 135 Ahistorical arguments about “Buddhism” and “human rights” 149 4 Shin Buddhism as both cause and cure from the standpoint of burakumin 150 Taking on the Ōtani-ha’s elite priests: incidents and interaction 160 Saikō Mankichi: identifying the pure and corrupt aspects of a tradition 169 PART III Engaging buraku discrimination: the priest-bureaucrat 179 5 Takeuchi Ryō’on’s career in Buddhist middle-management 179 Takeuchi’s early life, education, and work at Shiga prefecture 181 Historical phases in Ōtani-ha and buraku group interaction 191 Entering the Ōtani-ha bureaucracy, 1920 199 6 Takeuchi’s organizational and popular texts, the genres of the priest-bureaucrat 209 Takeuchi’s texts 211 Early career proposals for the structure of the Ōtani-ha bureaucracy 213 Moral critique and moral exhortation: editorials, tours, and lectures 222 Reports: collecting knowledge and publicizing action 232 i Late career proposals for the structure of the Ōtani-ha order (kyōdan) 241 7 Takeuchi’s ethical thought and policy on the human evil of discrimination 249 Faith and the possibility of truly good action 250 Ordinary, “poisoned” good action 253 History, necessity, karmic causes and conditions 259 Utopian visions: Takeuchi on the role of the temple 262 Resisting secularization: becoming a companion (dōbō) 264 The problem with ideology 266 PART IV Continuing discrimination and response: present day Ōtani-ha 271 Conclusion: Ethics in modern Buddhist institutions 271 Takeuchi’s institutional faction 273 Current state of buraku discrimination in the Ōtani-ha 282 Investigating Buddhist ethics in a novel way 286 Abbreviations 292 Bibliography and references 294 ii Abstract1 Shin Buddhism in Japan supports human rights today because it was forced to come to terms with its own discrimination against burakumin—a Japanese minority that has experienced severe caste-like disadvantage and exclusion based on heredity, occupation, and place of birth. The majority of burakumin follow Shin Buddhism, in which they have been treated as outcastes, just as they have been within other Buddhist schools and within Japanese society as a whole. Over the course of the twentieth century, buraku advocacy groups pressured the Shin sects to respond to specific doctrinal and structural incidents of discrimination, both contemporary and historical. One of these sects, the Ōtani-ha, developed its institutional policy on this serious social problem precisely by interacting with buraku advocacy groups, both secular and sectarian, and responding to their specific criticisms. The story of this institutional struggle can be effectively told through the story of one of its priest-bureaucrats, Takeuchi Ryō’on (1891-1967). Takeuchi, who flourished in the Ōtani-ha administration from the 1920s to the 1950s, worked to alleviate buraku discrimination and put forward a Shin Buddhist theory of social engagement. Takeuchi’s story reveals how a Buddhist bureaucrat and his faction—with time, personnel, and money—worked under pressure to create an ethical social policy based on Shin doctrine. In addition to examining the issue of buraku discrimination, a Shin Buddhist 1 Keywords: Shinshū Ōtani-ha (真宗大谷派); Shin Buddhism (Jōdo Shin-shū 浄土真宗); Japanese Pure Land; Higashi Hongan-ji (東本願寺); discrimination (sabetsu 差別); Japanese modern period (1868-present); descent-based and caste-like discrimination; human rights (jinken 人権); Takeuchi Ryō’on (武内了温, 1891-1967); hisabetsu buraku (被差別部落); burakumin (部落民); Levelers’ Soceity (Suiheisha 水平社); Buraku Liberation League (Buraku Kaihō Dōmei 部落解放同盟); Buddhist ethics; ethics in history; religious bureaucracy; religious order (kyōdan 教団); social activism; social work; socially engaged Buddhism. iii sect, and a member of its “middle management”—topics rarely addressed in English language Buddhist studies—this dissertation performs two important tasks. First, it describes a type of Buddhist ethical thought that is self-consciously historical and concerned with the religious organization, the “order” (kyōdan), as a whole in its actual and ideal aspects. My examination of this type of ethical thought provides a rare but important complement to scriptural, philosophical, and individualistic accounts of Buddhist ethics. Second, it challenges current scholarly models of Buddhist social engagement, or “socially engaged Buddhism,” which tend to neglect the early twentieth century and large, established Buddhist groups. I find social engagement in pre-1945, large, conservative organizations, and not just in post-1960, small-scale, progressive groups. This is because social engagement is a Buddhist response to modernity itself and not tied to a particular modern political ideology. iv Résumé2 Aujourd’hui au Japon, le bouddhisme Shin appuie les droits de la personne parce qu’il a été contraint d’assumer sa responsabilité relativement à la discrimination qu’il a lui-même exercée à l’endroit des burakumin, une minorité japonaise qui a subi de graves préjudices en matière de caste et qui a souffert d’exclusions basées sur l’hérédité, la occupation, et le lieu de naissance. La majorité des burakumin adhèrent au bouddhisme Shin. Au sein de celui-ci, tout comme au sein d’autres écoles bouddhiques et au sein de la société japonaise dans son ensemble, les burakumin ont été traités comme des hors-castes. Au cours du vingtième siècle, des groupes de défense buraku ont exercé des pressions sur les sectes Shin pour que celles-ci réagissent à des cas spécifiques – passés et contemporains – de discrimination doctrinale et structurelle. En interagissant avec les groupes de défense buraku (tant des groupes séculiers que des groupes religieux) et en prenant en compte les critiques de ceux-ci, l’une de ces sectes – la secte Ōtani-ha – a élaboré une politique institutionnelle qui traite directement de ce grave problème social. L’histoire de Takeuchi Ryō’on (1891-1967), l’un des prêtres-fonctionnaires de la secte Ōtani-ha, permet de retracer dans les faits l’histoire de cette lutte institutionnelle. Takeuchi, qui a œuvré au sein de l’administration de la secte Ōtani-ha à partir des années 1920 jusqu’aux années 1950, s’est affairé à contrer la discrimination exercée à l’endroit des burakumin et à développer une théorie 2 Mots clés : Shinshū Ōtani-ha (真宗大谷派); bouddhisme Shin (Jōdo Shin-shū 浄土真宗); école japonaise de la Terre pure; Higashi Hongan-ji (東本願寺); discrimination (sabetsu 差別); période moderne au Japon (1868-aujourd’hui); discrimination fondée sur la lignée et sur la caste; droits de la personne (jinken 人権); Takeuchi Ryō’on (武内了温 1891-1967); hisabetsu buraku (被差別部落); burakumin (部落民); Société des niveleurs (Suiheisha 水平社); Ligue de libération buraku (Buraku Kaihō Dōmei 部落解放同盟); éthique bouddhique; éthique et histoire; fonctionnariat bouddhique; ordre bouddhique (kyōdan 教団); activisme social; travail social; bouddhisme engagé socialement. v bouddhique Shin concernant l’engagement social. L’histoire de Takeuchi montre comment – grâce à du temps, du personnel et de l’argent – un fonctionnaire bouddhiste et ses alliés ont travaillé sous pression afin de mettre sur pied une politique d’éthique sociale fondée sur la doctrine Shin. En considérant le problème de la discrimination exercée envers les burakumin, ainsi qu’en traitant d’une secte bouddhique Shin et d’un membre de l’ « administration intermédiaire » de celle-ci, la thèse se penche sur des thèmes qui sont rarement abordés dans les études bouddhiques de langue anglaise. Par ailleurs, la thèse remplit deux autres fonctions importantes. Premièrement, la thèse décrit un type de pensée éthique bouddhique qui se perçoit réflexivement comme une pensée historique et qui se préoccupe de l’organisation religieuse – l’« ordre » (kyōdan) – dans sa globalité, tant sur le plan du réel que sur le plan de l’idéal. L’analyse que j’effectue de ce type de pensée éthique contribue singulièrement et substantiellement aux approches textuelles, philosophiques et individualistes portant sur l’éthique bouddhique. Deuxièmement, la thèse critique les modèles universitaires