JADE SHINTO
Jade Shinto is an animistic religion heavily influenced by Dong Wu Buddhism, with a chief deity known as Rapuchefu, the Jade Dragon. Predominantly based around ritualised ceremony and animistic belief, it also incorporates ancestor worship and is popular throughout the Jade Empire, with nearly 19 billion self-reporting adherents according to recent census polls.
HISTORYThe origins of Jade Shinto consist of two distinct roots that combined to form the modern belief system. The prehistoric population of Ingen held great veneration for fire and water, and were deeply animist, with pre-linguistic religious and ritual behaviour evidenced long before the development of the first permanent settlements in Ingen. As the population and infrastructure of Ingen developed, the proto-Buddhist philosophical schools of neighbouring Dong Wu began to export their alphabet and language to Ingen as part of a wider cultural and societal exchange in the 4th Milllenium Mae Tenno (Before Empire), which influenced the development of the written word in Ingen. Key tenets of Dong Wu philosophical thought combined with the existing animism among the Ingenious population to develop into the first ritualised Shinto system, which included ancestor worship, a belief in karmic forces and rebirth into a higher plane of existence following death.
By the 1st Millenium MT, various local beliefs and deities had merged to form consistent belief in a distinct pantheon of Ingenious gods and mythological creatures with well-defined central figures and a range of local and lesser beings. Central to this pantheon was Rapuchefu, a creation deity most commonly depicted as a vast dragon with scales of jade or emerald who has control over the weather. |
When Emperor Shussan founded the First Dynasty in Year 0 of the Jade Calendar, his investiture was accompanied by a great deal of ceremony and ritual. He was declared to be a living avatar of Rapuchefu, blessed with the Qi or 'life essence' of the dragon god and tasked with protecting the people and land of Ingen. During his rule, religion was used as a tool of state to spread Imperial values, cultural beliefs and influence beyond his borders, softening the path for expansion and making the task of ruling such a large territory far easier, forming a coherent national identity from the disparate tribes, houses and peoples of the region.
The first Temple of Rapuchefu was built in the Imperial City at great expense and hosted one of the first defined religious orders in Ingen, the Huoming Monks. These monks were empowered to promote reverence of the Jade Dynasty, to administer various rites and rituals, and to act as spiritual counsellors for nobility and civic leaders.
The first Temple of Rapuchefu was built in the Imperial City at great expense and hosted one of the first defined religious orders in Ingen, the Huoming Monks. These monks were empowered to promote reverence of the Jade Dynasty, to administer various rites and rituals, and to act as spiritual counsellors for nobility and civic leaders.
BELIEFS
A central tenet of Jade Shinto is the concept that there are multiple layers of existence, of which mortals inhabit only one, the Near. Gods, spirits and deities are believed to reside on a higher plane called the Far, from which they can observe, influence and travel to the Near, using mystical energies and powers to change the mortal world and the lives of those in it. There is also a layer known as Corruption, a debased form of the Far which contains malevolent spirits and evil gods such as Zetsubo, the archnemesis and brother of Rapuchefu. Corruption is believed to be much closer to the Near than the Far, and more easily able to influence it, although it is also much weaker. Shinto teaches that selfishness, inflexibility and anger all allow Corruption to leach in to the Near, whilst selflessness, tranquility and peace are created from the Far.
Shinto teaches that upon death, only those who truly reach a state of nirvana, a state of total peace and tranquility, can ascend to the Far. Otherwise, the deceased are believed to reincarnate, typically as the same species but occasionally as a lesser animal. Ancestor veneration is an important element of |
Shinto, and familial shrines on ancestral land are common, containing everything from miniature portraits or nameplates to full statues. Imperials visit shrines to speak to their ancestors as a form of inner speech, and will light candles, incense, and leave small libations and offerings, which can temporarily summon their ancestors from the Far.
ICONOGRAPHY AND RITUALS
Jade Shinto is often represented by a symbol and logogram consisting of two connecting lines intersected by a third, shorter line, resembling a dragon's head. This symbol is used on flags, banners, jewelry and calligraphy to adorn Shinto temples and shrines and is most commonly made of metal, jade or diamond.
Whilst there is no collective act of worship, Shinto temples are always open for individual contemplation, meditation and offerings. Offerings, typically small trinkets, written notes or portions of food and drink, can be placed into water features known as suimon. These range in complexity from simple fountains and basins which are cleaned regularly by attendants to complex water features which carry the offering away. All followers of Shinto offer a prayer at sunup and sundown, facing the sun and repeating a personal prayer depending on their hopes, fears or achievements throughout the day. Funerals are primary conducted via cremation, as it is believed that only through the destruction of the mortal form can the spirit be purified and undergo reincarnation. Accompanied by prayers and chanting, the deceased is carried on a bier to a funeral pyre, located on a hilltop, mountainside or clifftop. Upon arrival incense is lit in braziers at the four cardinal |
directions and the entire bier is burned in silence. Once the fire collapses the canopy frame the ritual is considered complete and the bier is left for three days to allow the wind to carry away the ashes. Deceased family members are typically commemorated by carvings or statues in the family shrine.