Introduction to the study of Taoism in Japan

Table of Contents 1 Taoist studies in the pioneering period (late nineteenth century to the 1920s and 1930s) 1.1 Scholars of the period 1.1.1 Kiyota Koyanagi 1.2 Taoist studies in the period of service to politics and the military (1920s and 1930s - end of the Second World War) 1.3 Scholars of the period 1.3.1 Yasushun Fukui 1.3.2 Yoshihiro Yoshioka 2 Taoist studies during the period of post-war restoration (September 1945-1972) 2.1 Political and social perspectives 2.2 Folk belief perspectives 2.3 Taoist magic perspectives 2.4 Multinational comparative perspectives 3 *** Period of Taoist studies (1973-) 3.1 Internationalization of studies 3.2 Increase in the number of scholars 3.3 Independence of Taoist studies 3.4 Discovery of new materials 3.5 Expansion of the scope of studies 3.6 Scholars of this period (1972- ) 3.1 Internationalization of studies 3.2 Increase in the number of scholars 3.2 Increase in the number of scholars 3.2 Increase in the number of scholars 3.6 Scholars of the Period 4 Summary 5 References 6 Notes Taoist Studies in the Pioneering Period (Late Nineteenth Century to the 1920s and 1930s)

During the pioneering period of Taoist studies in Japan, those who engaged in the study of Taoism were Chinese scholars and a few "China experts". After the Meiji Restoration, the rapid development of Japan's capitalist economy, the Japanese imperial court set its sights on the resources and markets of the Chinese land across the sea, and thus Japan began to emphasize the study of Chinese society, economy, culture and religion. The general view at the time was that Chinese and Japanese cultures were essentially the same. Chinese culture was the forerunner of Japanese culture, and it was also claimed that China's past culture was "the source and inspiration of Japanese culture". Representative figures and writings of this period include: Takeuchi Yoshio's "Primitive Laozi (his person and writings)", Tsuda Shokichi's "Taoist Thought and its Development", Koda Roumei's "Taoist Thought", Koyanagi Kita's "Study of Eastern Thought", "Baiyun Kuanzhi," "Dongyue Miaozhi", "The History of the Eastern Temple", and "The History of the Chinese Culture". Attachment: Dongyue Temple Zhi", "Toyo Ideology Research Sequel", "Laozhuang Thought and Taoism" and so on.

Scholars of the period Koyanagi Jikita

Koyanagi Jikita (1870-1940) was a Japanese Buddhist monk who studied at the Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Tokyo Imperial University in 1894, and received his doctorate of arts degree for his work on The Philosophy of Zhu Zi in 1921, and came to China for a study tour in the same year. During his stay in China, Koyanagi lived in the Baiyunguan Temple in Beijing, the first jungle of the Taoist Quanzhen Dragon Gate, and obtained first-hand information on the life of Taoist palaces and temples; in 1923, Koyanagi wrote An Introduction to Taoism on the basis of lecture notes, which was translated and introduced to China by the Commercial Press soon after its publication. Koyanagi's main contribution was to collect and organize a large amount of historical data on Taoism, and to begin to use a more scientific method to study Taoism in China without prejudice, just as he did with other religions.

Many of the ideas put forward by Jikita Koyanagi, such as: Taoism originated from a combination of divine and immortal families, ancient religions, and folk beliefs; and the history of Taoism can be distinguished into a period of inception, completion, Tang and Song dynasties, dispensation, and demise, are still influential today.

The obvious shortcoming of Koyanagi Jikita's study is that it limits the study of Taoism to Taoism itself, and does not yet study Taoism as a social phenomenon, and therefore rarely explores the relationship between Taoism and socio-politics, between Taoism and science and culture, and between Taoism and other religions.

The study of Taoism in the period of political and military service (1920s and 1930s - the end of the Second World War)

From the 1930s onwards, when Japanese militarism *** intensified the pace of its invasion of China, the study of Taoism in Japan was also incorporated into the needs of the war against China. The "South Manchuria Railway Company" based in Shenyang and the "East Asia Research Institute" based in Shanghai made an all-round research on China's politics, economy, society, culture, history, customs and religion, and collected a large amount of information needed for the war of aggression against China. The results of this research were included in the six-volume "Survey of Chinese Rural Customs" published after the war. Of course, some scholars of this period were still engaged in serious religious studies, including the study of Taoism. Representative figures and works on Taoism of this period include: Hirano Yoshitaro's The Classics of Taoism, Kungfu Gakkai, Igarashi Kenroku's Taiching Gong Zhi, Tangerine Park's A Study of Chinese Thought, Taoism and Myths and Legends, Fukui Yasushun's An Examination of the Taipingjing, A Study of the Foundations of Taoism, and A Study of the History of Oriental Ideas, Yoshitoyo Yoshioka's The Realities of Taoism, A Study of Taoism, and An Historical Essay on the Classics of Taoism. The Study of Taoism," "A Historical Essay on the Classics of Taoism," and "Taoism and Buddhism" (a multi-volume work), to name a few. Some of these representative works were published after the war.

Scholars of the period Yasushun Fukui

Yasushun Fukui (1898-1991) was a Japanese Buddhist monk. He graduated from Waseda University, Faculty of Literature, Department of Philosophy, and after completing his studies at the university's Graduate School, he traveled to China to study under the renowned historian Tsuda Shokichi (1873-1961). At that time, Mr. Tsuda was working in the "Manchurian Railway Survey Department, East Asia Society Academic Survey Department" in Northeast China. He worked as a researcher in the Department of Research of the Manchurian Railway and the Department of Academic Research of the Toyo Association in northeastern China. Later, he was convicted of violating the dignity of the imperial family for his writings that dealt with the ancient history of Japan in a more objective manner. Some of his works on ancient history were also banned from distribution. Tsuda Shoji's view of history and method of study had a clear influence on Fukui Yasushun. Yasushun Fukui received a doctorate in literature for his book "Studies in Taoism" and authored treatises such as "Studies in the Lingbaojing", "Examination of the Biographies of the Immortals", and "The Formation of the Preface to the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu", which was published in 1987 as "The Complete Works of Yasushun Fukui" (6 vols.). Fukui Fumiya, son of Fukui Yasushun, is one of the representative figures in contemporary Japanese Taoist studies. However, the best successor to Yasushun Fukui's research methodology is Yoshioka Yoshitoyo.

Yoshioka Yoshitoyo

Yoshioka Yoshitoyo (1916-1979), a graduate of Jiyama Vocational School (present-day Taisho University), lived at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing after Koyanagi Jikita during his studies in China. His written recollections of the religious life of Taoism are recognized as personal experiences of precious value. Yasushun Fukui and Yoshitaka Yoshioka, both of whom have changed relatively radically from the traditional view of Taoism as subordinate to Confucianism and Buddhism to the study of Taoism as an independent religious system. Moreover, their study of Taoism has developed into a comprehensive one, i.e., the field of Taoist studies has been expanded to include history, archaeology, literature, Fangzhi and chronology. Their research method is relatively rigorous, obviously influenced by the method of the Qianjia school in China, and their research on the history of the Taoist Collection, as well as the Lingbaojing, the Zhouyi Sen Tongqi, and the Biography of Immortals, etc., are all cited, cross-referenced, and meticulously examined, hooked up with the differences and similarities, and the words are well-founded with a lot of insights. However, their research vision was limited to Taoism in the palace and books, and their methodology was over-emphasizing the evidence, so they did not study Taoism as a social phenomenon, and had not yet had the time to delve into the role and status of Taoism in Chinese society, culture, science and technology, and folklore.

Studies on Taoism in the Post-War Recovery Period (September 1945-1972)

During this period, due to the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the outbreak of the Korean War, and the intensification of worldwide studies on China. At the same time, the development of postwar theories in the social sciences and humanities and the emphasis on comprehensive research led to the rapid recovery of Taoist studies in Japan and many developments. This recovery and development was marked by the establishment of the Japan Taoist Society in 1950.

In its founding statement, the Japan Society of Taoism said: "Taoism is recognized as a religion that permeates the whole life of the Chinese. Its importance is undoubtedly obvious to every specialist in East Asia, especially to sinologists. Considering that the trend towards the systematic study of China is developing and that the study of Taoism can no longer be neglected, we and our colleagues have organized the Japan Taoist Society. The task of the Society was a difficult one. The study of Taoism is a vast field in itself, but it is impossible to have any thorough understanding of Taoism without an extensive study of other religions in East Asia and corresponding studies in other disciplines. After a detailed survey of the current state of Taoist studies, we decided to take an approach that synthesizes all aspects together."

The establishment of the Japan Society of Taoism (JST) absorbed and anchored all the scholars of Taoism who used to belong to the Chinese Society for the History of Buddhism in Japan. It is reported that there are now more than 600 members of the Japan Taoist Society. In the second year after the establishment of the Society, it published an organizational journal, Oriental Religion, which continues to be published to this day. Since 1989, the Japan Society of Taoism has been awarding the Japan Society of Taoism Prize every two years to honor young and new researchers.

In addition to Yasushun Fukui and Yoshitaka Yoshioka and their works, the scholars and works that represent this period include: Hajime Kanaya's The World of Laozhuang - The Thought of Huananzi, Eiichi Kimura's The Thought and Culture of the Chinese People, and Shoji Miyagawa's Studies on the History and Religion of the Six Dynasties, and The Religion of the Six Dynasties. Taoism and Ancient Japan", "The Mirror and the Sword of Taoism", "A Study of the Genshin Beliefs", "A Study of the Genshin Beliefs - The Islands", "A History of Taoism", and so on, by Tokutatsu Kubo. From these research results, it is not difficult to see four characteristics of Japanese Taoism research in the post-war recovery period:

Research from the political and social perspectives

First, the study of the history of Taoism has been deepened from the perspective of cultural history to observe, analyze, and study from the perspective of the political and social perspectives. Examples include the study of Wudoumidao and Taipingdao by Prof. Shoji Miyagawa, a renowned expert on the history of the Six Dynasties, Prof. Shinobu Obuchi's The Yellow Turban Rebellion and Wudoumidao, and Prof. Tokutatsu Kubo's The Religious Reforms in China, which explores the political and social content of the emergence of Quanzhen Buddhism, as well as research articles written by other authors on the folk religions and secret societies. All of these works study and discuss the phenomenon of Taoism as a social movement of the peasant class or of the rebels of the scholarly class, and as a result the analysis of the religious trappings of the mass movement is reinforced. Miyagawa Shoji, for one, has analyzed the reason why Taoism is called a religion of the common people is because most of the preachers of Taoism in the Six Dynasties period came from the humble class. The rebels among this humble class used the Tu Prophecy to call themselves emperors. The same was true of the Taoist orders represented by Zhang Ling, Zhang Lu, and Zhang Jiao. The argument represented by Shoji Miyagawa represents a meaningful new argument about the social role of Taoism.

Research from the Perspective of Folk Beliefs

Secondly, the study of the history of Taoism has gone deeper from the general study of written documents to the observation and study from the point of view of its connection with the reality of folk beliefs, superstitions, customs, festivals, and so on. For example, the famous Prof. Kua Dezhong has made many interesting investigations into Chinese folk beliefs, such as the investigation of the beliefs of the God of Zao, Chenghuang, the land, and Houtu, which has deepened people's understanding of the religious habits of the Chinese people, especially the peasants. Tokutatsu Kubo (1913- ), a graduate of the Faculty of Literature of the University of Tokyo, was a professor and director of the Institute of Oriental Cultural Studies at the University of Tokyo after the war, and retired as a professor at Komazawa University and a professor at Taisho University. In his book "Gungshen Faith," which has been printed seven times in a row, he conducted extensive research and comparative studies on the folklore of "Gungshen Shoujo" in mainland Japan, Okinawa, and southern Korea, pointing out that this folklore is derived from Chinese Taoism. Prof. Kubota's works not only study Taoism from the perspective of folklore, but also make an important contribution to the study of the spread of Taoism in Northeast and Southeast Asia. The book "History of Taoism", which Prof. Kubota has written based on his unique research and absorbing the strengths of various schools of thought, is included in the "History of World Religions Series" of the Yamakawa Publishing House, and has already been published in Chinese translation. Since it deals more from the perspective of Chinese folklore and the development of Chinese culture, it is different from previous histories of Taoism. As a result, it is more lively than previous works on the history of Taoism.

Research from the perspective of Taoist arts

Thirdly, the historical study of Taoism has gone from the perspective of the general culture to the Taoist arts, such as medicine, pharmacology, alchemy, and Taoist magic, along with divination, astrology, geomancy, and so on, to observe and analyze the research. Taoist alchemy is one of the ways to pursue longevity, while on the other hand, non-scientific arts have been handed down as a form of Taoist religious activity. These non-scientific methods are generally known as superstitions. During this period, Japan strengthened the study of the relationship between Taoism and science as one of the main elements in the study of the history of science and technology in China. This contributed greatly to a deeper understanding of the nature of Taoism. Yabuchi Kiyoshi, formerly of the Institute of Humanities and Sciences at Kyoto University, and the experts and scholars around him, published works such as "Studies on the History of Science and Technology in Ancient China," "Studies on the History of Science and Technology in Medieval China," "The History of Science and Technology in the Sung and Yuan Dynasties," and "The History of Science and Technology in the Ming and Qing Dynasties," which have added a new and meaningful chapter to the study of Taoism in Japan. For example, regarding the study of Tao Hongjing, in the 1930s, Koyanagi Jikita argued that most of Tao Hongjing's doctrines came from Buddhism, and that some of the books of Zhenjiao came from the Forty-two Chapters of the Sutra, while others were derived from the phrase "As I have heard", etc. In the 1960s, Miyagawa Shoji argued that Tao Hongjing's doctrines were derived from Buddhism. In the 1960s, Miyagawa Shoji's study of Tao Hongjing developed the view that Tao Hongjing was not an original and profound thinker, but rather a synthesizer of various doctrines from Buddhism, Taoism, and Shingon Buddhism. In the 1970s, a paper by Akira Akahori, "Tao Hongjing and the 'Collection of Annotated Materia Medica'", was published in Science and Scientists in China, edited by the research office chaired by Kiyoshi Kashinouchi, in which it was pointed out that Tao's seclusion was only a general following of the social trends of the Six Dynasties era, rather than a complete isolation from the rest of the world. He only utilized his reputation as a hermit to achieve the purpose of listing himself among the bureaucrats. Tao Hongjing's system of thought is not only Buddhist thought infiltrated into the system of Taoism, but also composed of a wide range of ideas such as Taoism, Buddhism, medicine, pharmacy and astronomy.

Research from a multinational comparative perspective

Fourth, the study of Taoism goes deeper into the comparative study from the perspective of the history of China's relationship with its neighbors in Northeast and Southeast Asia, and the history of cultural exchanges. After World War II, with the progress of the study of religion, especially comparative religion, and the strengthening of national and regional relations in modern society, Japanese scholars began to pay attention to the history of the spread of China's indigenous Taoism overseas and the influence that Taoism has had on overseas Chinese to this day. Mitsuji Fukunaga, former director of Kyoto University's Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences and a renowned scholar of Taoism and Taoist thought, published a series of research papers on the influence of Chinese Taoism on Japanese history and culture. Mitsuji Fukunaga (1918-), who graduated from the Philosophy Department of the Faculty of Letters of Kyoto University in 1942, has been interested in Chinese philosophical thought since his youth. When he had no choice but to accompany the army to the South Seas, he always carried a copy of Zhuangzi with him in his military uniform. After the war, Mitsuji Fukunaga taught at a number of universities. In an article entitled "Taoism's Divine Descent and Ordination," published during his chairmanship of the Graduate School of Humanities at Kyoto University, Prof. Fukunaga pointed out that Taoism has a complete system of religious and philosophical thought. He argues that, in analyzing Taoist theology or doctrine as the base axis of the history of thought, we insist that Taoist theology is inextricably and closely connected with the development of different epochs in the history of Chinese thought. It is the vast accumulation of the history of the Chinese nation's feelings, beliefs and prayers, thinking and discernment of the absolute conversion to religion over time and space.

It is from this scientific and objective standpoint that Prof. Kouji Fukunaga, in contrast to the position of Japanese scholars who despised Taoism in the past, published his treatises on the relationship between the Japanese imperial system and society and culture and Taoism, and books such as Taoism and Japanese Culture, Taoism and Ancient Japan, Taoism and Japanese Thought, and Taoism and Ancient Imperialism. The objective and convincing study of the theological ideas, rituals, and symbols of Taoism in relation to those of the Japanese "emperor" and Shintoism is a pioneering achievement in the history of Japanese scholarship. Fukunaga Kouji's study has been the subject of both approval and criticism in Japan, and has given rise to many controversies in Japanese historiography and Shintoism. However, it is undeniable that Prof. Fukunaga's research has made indelible contributions to the study of the history of Sino-Japanese relations, the history of Japanese thought, the history of Japanese politics, and the history of the spread of Taoism.

*** Period of Taoist Studies (1973─)

In September 1972, China and Japan resumed diplomatic relations. There were some developments and changes in the horizons and interests and purposes of Japanese scholars in Taoist studies. The main features of the *** period of Japanese Taoist studies are:

Internationalization of Studies

Before 1972, Japanese Taoist studies had relatively little contact and exchange with those in Europe and the U.S. No Japanese scholars took part in the first International Conference on Taoist Studies held in Italy in 1968, and after the second International Conference on Taoist Studies was held in Japan in 1972, Japanese Taoist scholars entered the ranks of the international academic exchanges, with Europe and the U.S., and the Japanese scholars were invited to participate in the conference. After the Second International Conference on Taoist Studies was held in Japan in 1972, Japanese Taoist scholars entered the ranks of international academic exchanges and had extensive contacts with Taoist scholars in Europe and the United States, and international exchanges in Taoist studies flourished. Japanese scholars recognized that Europeans had an early start in the study of Taoism, had accumulated a large amount of material, and had established a good academic tradition with many first-rate experts. The internationalization of research has broadened the horizons and fields of thought of Japanese scholars.

Increase in the number of scholars

After the restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, the Japanese people's interest in Chinese history and society has increased dramatically. As a result, the number of young and middle-aged scholars interested in Taoism has increased. Among the main speakers at the symposium on the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Japan Society of Taoism, seven scholars were under the age of 55, including four under the age of 40, with the youngest being only 32 years old. In recent years, in addition to the Japan Taoist Society, a number of new groups have been established throughout Japan, such as the "Taoist Talks Society" at Taisho University, the "Society for the Study of Ancient Chinese Thought on Health and Wellness" in the Kansai region, and the "Society for the Study of Taoist Culture" in the Kanto region.

The Independence of Taoist Teaching

The study of Taoism in Japan has long been attached to the study of Chinese philosophy and Buddhism, and in 1974, Prof. Mitsuji Fukunaga of Kyoto University was appointed to the University of Tokyo as the lecturer of the third chair of Chinese Philosophy and Chinese Literature, Taoism, and for the first time, a specialized course in Taoist Teaching was offered, which trained a group of scholars of the new generation. In 1983, the 31st International Society of Oriental Studies established "Confucianism and Taoism" as an independent fourth section, and in 1985, a Franco-Japanese symposium was held at the University of Paris on the topic of "Taoism and Japanese Culture," and an "International Symposium on Taoist Rituals and Music" was held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. All these show that the study of Taoism as a discipline has become independent from other disciplines, both in Japan and in the world.

Discovery of new materials

The many reprints of the Daozang, the Renewal of the Daozang, and the Daozang Zhuanzhao (道藏辑要), provided important conditions for the study of Taoism to unfold. Catalogs and atlases on Dunhuang documents have also been organized and published, especially the discovery and publication of the Mawangdui Han Tomb palindrome Laozi and other palindrome documents, which have had a significant impact on the study of Taoism.

Expansion of the scope of research

The study of Taoism in Japan was originally more focused on the classics and history. In this period, mainland China Taoism, Taiwan Taoism, Hong Kong Taoism, as well as Malaysia, Singapore Chinese society in Taoism, have become Japan's Taoism research new object. At the same time, the study of Taoist rituals began to be emphasized.

Representatives of this period are: Waseda University, Fukui Fumiya's "Chinese thought research and the current situation", "Europe and the United States and the study of Oriental studies and comparative theory", "the history and structure of Taoism", etc.; the University of Tokyo, Professor Tanaka Issei's "Chinese countryside ritual research", "Chinese clan and drama", "China's witch family drama research", etc.; the University of Tokyo, Professor Bee House, "the current situation - - Taoist priests, Taoist associations," "the current situation - - Taoists, Taoist associations, and the Chinese society in Malaysia, Singapore, have become a new object of study of the Taoist Church in Japan. Current Situation of Taoism in China - Taoists, Taoist Associations, Taoist Kuan, Taoism in China - Its Activities and the Current Situation of Taoist Kuan, and Study of Taoism in the Jin Dynasty, etc.; and Kyoto University Professor Kunio Maiya's Qi in Taoism and Taoism, Thirty-nine Chapters of the Great Cave Classic of the Truth and Other Chapters, Index to the Commentary on Laozi wan'er, and Index to Zhenjiao.

Scholars of the period Kunio Hibuya

Kunio Hibuya (1938─) graduated from the Faculty of Education of the University of Tokyo in 1963, and graduated from the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo in 1968 with a doctorate in literature. He was formerly a professor at the Institute of Oriental Cultural Studies at the University of Tokyo and retired as a professor at the Daito Institute of Culture. His professional activities were originally focused on the history of Chinese thought, and he is the author of Rituals of the Crown, Rituals of the Fade, The Secret of the Golden Passage and the Jade Lock of the Reverend Chongyang, and The Reading of Laozhuang, etc. After visiting China several times in the 1980's, he witnessed the resurgence of Taoism in mainland China, and became increasingly interested in Taoism; he traveled to China twice to conduct research in 1987 and 1988, and published the book Chinese Taoism in 1990, which was a collection of his own writings. In 1987 and 1988, Kunio Hoshiya visited China twice and published "The Present Situation of Taoism in China - Taoist Priests, Taoist Associations, and Taoist Temples" in 1990, and after 1990, he visited China four more times and published "Taoism in China - Its Activities and the Present Situation of Taoist Temples" in 1995. According to Kunio Hoshiya, "Compared with Buddhist temples, Taoism is characterized by a diversity of appearances. In terms of the configuration of the halls, the representation of the fronts, and the combination of the shrines, each of the eighty Taoist temples has its own individuality. This shows the specificity of Chinese culture in general. In terms of internal aspects such as the beliefs and lives of the Taoist priests, they do not seem to differ as significantly as the external aspects of the Taoist temples that can be seen. However, in terms of the regional characteristics of the main deities, the extent of the areas of exchange and worship, and the life of the Taoist priests, the individual Taoist temples are also characterized by varying degrees." [1]

McGuire, "The Chinese culture in general is a reflection of the Chinese culture. [1]

Kunio Makutani

Kunio Makutani (1948- ) graduated from the Department of Chinese Philosophy, University of Tokyo, in 1972, and is currently a professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Kyoto University. He specializes in the history of Chinese thought, and has been studying the thought of Chinese Taoism. His major works include "A Study of Tao Hongjing's Chronology," "Relief Thought in Early Taoism," "A Survey of Taoist Doctrine in the Early Period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties," "Various Celestial Realms in Taoism," and "Taoism, Taoist Spirits," etc. He has been a professor at the Institute of Humanities at Kyoto University since 1948, specializing in Chinese intellectual history. Since 1974, Kunio Maiya has been using computer technology in Taoist studies to index Taoist scriptures. The indexes that have been published include the Index of Lao Tzu's Thoughts and Notes and the Index of Zhenjiao, which have greatly facilitated the study of Taoism by scholars from various countries.

Hiroshi Maruyama

Hiroshi Maruyama (1959-) graduated from the Department of Comparative Culture, University of Tsukuba, and received his doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Historical Anthropology, University of Tsukuba, in 1989. He is currently an associate professor at the Center for Northeast Asian Studies at Tohoku University. Hiroshi Maruyama has traveled to Taiwan several times to study Taoist rituals. Because of his excellent linguistic skills, speaking Mandarin, Minnan, and English, and being able to read French literature, he has a broad vision of Taoist studies and seeks to incorporate the latest anthropological research methods, while at the same time taking care to draw on the strengths of traditional research methods. Among the new generation of Japanese scholars of Taoism, Hiroshi Maruyama is notable for his prolific writings and sound arguments. His article "Yudan yueji koji koji kao - A historical genealogical exploration of Taoist rituals in Tainan" was published in 1991, when he was only thirty-two years old. In 1991, he received the first Taoist Society Award from the Taoist Society of Japan. According to the "Report on the Judging Results" signed by Prof. Jehoshi Honda, "Based on a precise investigation of the Jade Altar Ceremony performed by the Shoichi School of Taoism in the present day in Taiwan *** Nan and Kaohsiung Counties, the paper has documented the consistency of the ritual techniques dating back to the ancient Eastern Jin Dynasty, and in particular the most characteristic method of taking the Tiangang (weather deity) with the Tien-shin Shojo method that was begun during the Sung Dynasty. In other words, the thesis is composed of a combination of field research and documentary evidence. Research based on field surveys has been done before. However, the thesis combines the verification of historical documents on the basis of field investigation. In this respect, it pioneered a new methodology that had not been seen in previous studies."

Summary

The study of Taoism in Japan has accumulated over the past hundred years, and in accordance with the characteristics of the Taoist cultural complex, its independent Taoist teachings have roughly formed ten categories:

General works on Taoism; History of Taoism; Taoism and Folklore, Beliefs, and Calendar, Taoism and Literature; Taoism and Science; Taoism and Confucianism and Buddhism; Taoist Thought and Philosophy; Studies of Taoist Classics and Literature; The Propagation of Taoism Taoism and science; Taoism and Confucianism, Buddhism; Taoism thought and philosophy; Taoism classics and literature studies; Taoism dissemination; Taoist temples, Taoist priests and rituals, festivals; academic trends.

In the *** period, the focus of Japanese studies on Taoism, in terms of the history of thought, was the study of the history of the relationship between the three religions, the study of "qi", and the study of the definition of Taoism; in terms of the classics of Taoism, it was the study of the Daoist collection, the compilation of a catalog of the collection, the literature of Taoism, the documents unearthed at Dunhuang, and the history of Taoism, as well as the problem of new Daoist collections; in terms of the literature of Taoism, it was the determination of the scope of the study and its methodology; and in terms of the folklore of Taoism it was the focus of the investigation of the Chinese In Taoist literature, it is to determine the scope and methodology of research; in Taoist folklore, it is to focus on the investigation of Chinese folklore, Taoist rituals, and the comparative study of literature and rituals; in Taoism and the history of Chinese science and technology, it is to strengthen the study of alchemy and health preservation. Therefore, the scale of research in this *** period is much larger than in the past.