The purpose of this study is to clarify to what degree the descriptions relating to two types of spirituality, namely (1) artistic and truth-seeking spirituality and (2) ethical and moral spirituality, can be confirmed in swordsmanship texts (densho) from the early modern era and in what sort of language they were described.
First, a comprehensive selection is made from descriptions in each swordsmanship text relating to spirituality and the descriptions are then classified depending on whether they relate to artistic and truth-seeking spirituality or ethical and moral spirituality. Then, a thorough investigation of the spirituality in these passages is made considering “the points of argument made", the language used as “main concepts", and “the background of ideological foundations" that are deeply interconnected with these main concepts. A comparison of descriptions relating to spirituality in each swordsmanship text in the beginning, middle, and later periods of the early modern age is also made. The tendencies of each period are then clarified.
The results of this study are as follows:
1. Descriptions related to ethical and moral spirituality throughout the early modern era could be verified only in a few cases. Beginning in the modern period, this spirituality is even believed to be the objective of ascetic trainings as the feature of Budo (martial arts), but there is not much emphasis on this in the swordsmanship texts of the early modern era. However, it was possible to confirm that the seed of problem awareness related to ethical and moral spirituality already existed in the beginning of the early modern era.
2. As for artistic and truth- seeking spirituality in the beginning of the early modern era, the concept of “absentmindedness" was often explicated and this tendency was passed on to the middle period. Also, from the middle of the early modern era onward, theory focused on qi (ki) was developed and it was possible to confirm the existence of diverse terminology used to express qi along with this development.
3. The influence of religion on ideological background is clearly seen throughout the early modern era. In particular, there was a thorough Buddhist influence on artistic and truth- seeking spirituality. In addition to Buddhism, a Confucian and Daoist influence can be seen from the middle period onward. Regarding ethical and moral spirituality, a consistent Confucian influence is observed from the beginning of the early modern era.
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