JJRS > Volume 40 Issue 1 Chinese Religion and the Formation of Onmyōdō

Masuo Shin’ichirō

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Onmyōdō is based on the ancient Chinese theories of yin and yang and the five phases. Practitioners of Onmyōdō utilized Yijing divination, magical purifications, and various kinds of rituals in order to deduce one’s fortune or to prevent unusual disasters. However, the term “Onmyōdō” cannot be found in China or Korea. Onmyōdō is a religion that came into existence only within Japan. As Onmyōdō was formed, it subsumed various elements of Chinese folk religion, Daoism, and Mikkyō, and its religious organization deepened. From the time of the establishment of the Onmyōdō as a government office under the ritsuryō codes through the eleventh century, magical rituals and purifications were performed extensively. This article takes this period as its focus, particularly emphasizing the connections between Onmyōdō and Chinese religion.