From Jindō to Shinto: A Concept Takes Shape

Abstract

This article trace the origin and development of the term Shinto. This word was created from an earlier Buddhist term jindo, which was used in, for example, the Nihon shoki as a collective noun referring to the realm of the (non-Buddhist) deities. The form shinto occurred first in the context of esoteric initiations into kami knowledge, probably in the fourteenth century. The article explores how the older term. jindo was given a new meaning and a new reading in a discourse that drew both on hongaku ideas and Yin-Yang cosmology. It argues that, in contrast to the older jindo, the neologisto shinto functioned as a concept as defined by Reinhart Koselleck, in the sense that it had a clear historical impact as both a factor and an indicator of historical change. It is only when we are aware of the formative processes that fostered this new concept that we can understand such central Shinto themes as primeval purity and imperial spirituality.