Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 1.djvu/79

 which in the beginning included only the deities of high heaven, was soon enlarged by the admission of other powers controlling the forces of nature, as well as by the spirits of deceased heroes, and ultimately received even the supernatural beings supposed to preside over the destinies of the aboriginal tribes. In other words, the civilised colonists consented to worship the ancestors of the semi-savage aborigines against whom they perpetually waged war. This might be interpreted to mean that upon the religion which the Japanese brought with them to Japan the religion of the autochthons whom they found there was engrafted. But nothing is known of the autochthonous creed. The true explanation seems to be that the Japanese, analysing their difficulty in subduing the aborigines, attributed it to the influence of the latter's deceased rulers, and concluded that the wisest plan would be to propitiate these hostile powers. Hence it is plain that they believed in malevolent spirits as well as in benevolent; or perhaps the more accurate statement would be that, according to their creed, immortal beings continued to be animated by the sentiments which had swayed them as mortals, and possessed power to give practical effect to their sentiments. They did not associate any idea of rewards and punishments with a future state. Their theory pointed to duality of the soul. They regarded it as consisting of two distinct elements: one the source of courage, strength, and aggressiveness;