Prof. Shimizu Yūko, Meiji University, “The Faith World of Hidden Christians under the Early Modern Tokugawa Ban” 「伝来文書に見る近世日本潜伏キリシタンの信仰世界」
The purpose of this presentation is to elucidate the beliefs of Christians under the Tokugawa ban by analyzing catechism books that were passed down among Christians who hid themselves in the Uragami area of present day Nagasaki Prefecture. The author also wants to consider the significance of the strict Tokugawa ban, an important aspect of the early modern Japanese polity.
In recent years, Japanese scholars have reconsidered a previously accepted view that Japanese Christians maintained strong faith in Christianity for 250 years under the ban. Scholars now tend to understand that the Christian faith of these people became combined with local Shintoism and Buddhism. Here I argue, however, that Christians in the Uragami area should be distinguished from those in other regions, given that they maintained very strong faith in legitimate Christian teachings. Even though they faced arrest four times, they still admitted to being Christians.
In this presentation, the author examines three historic sources that have been passed down in the Uragami area: Konchirisan’noryaku 『こんちりさんのりやく』, Luzon no Orasho『ルソンのオラショ』, and Tenji Hajimari no Koto『天地始之事』. The author intends to demonstrate that these show that faith in Catholicism remained unchanged throughout the Tokugawa Period—legitimate Christian faith was maintained among some people. Moreover, since this was a threat to the Tokugawa shogunate, the ban on Christianity had to remain strict throughout the Tokugawa Period.
本報告の目的は、長崎県浦上地方の潜伏キリシタンの間に伝来した教理書を分析し、潜伏信徒の思想的側面を解明することにある。またこの作業を通じて、近世日本国家の特徴といわれる厳格なキリシタン禁制の意味についても考えてみたい。
近年の研究では潜伏キリシタンをめぐり、純粋なキリスト教信仰を250年間貫徹したというイメージの見直しが進み、潜伏信仰は在来の神道や仏教と混淆し日本宗教化した等と理解されている。しかしながら報告者は、潜伏期に幕府権力から四度にわたる検挙を受け、最終的に自ら信徒であることを告白した浦上地方の信徒に関しては、他地方の信徒とは一線を画す信仰世界を保持していたと考えている。
この報告では、浦上に伝来した文書3点（『こんちりさんのりやく』『ルソンのオラショ』『天地始之事』：てんじはじまりのこと）を検討し、ローマ教皇を頂くカトリックの信仰世界が当初から変わることなく信徒間に伝来していたと指摘する。このように一部民間では「正統な」キリシタン信仰が秘かに維持されていたのであり、脅威を感得した江戸幕府は最後までキリシタン禁制を緩和したりやめることができなかったと考えられる。
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USC Meiji University Exchange
The Records of the Meiji University-USC Exchange
Since 2008, scholars and graduate students from Meiji University and throughout Southern California have met annually to share research on Premodern Japanese History at the University of Southern California . This is an archive of abstracts, papers, and materials presented at the exchanges.