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Rh sources, and (if they are not greatly belied) an abundant measure of licentiousness. The founders of both these sects were ignorant peasant women.

The lover of Japanese art will bear the Shintō revivalists ill-will for the ridiculous "purification" which has destroyed countless gems of Buddhist architecture and ornament, not for the sake of a grand moral ideal, as with the Puritans of Europe, but for an ideal immeasurably inferior to Buddhism itself. On the other hand, the literary style of their writings outshines anything produced by the Buddhists; and their energy in rescuing the old Japanese classic authors from neglect is worthy of all praise. The Shintō temple (yashiro or jinja) preserves in a slightly elaborated form the type of the primeval Japanese hut, differing in this from the Buddhist temple (tera), which is of Chinese and more remotely of Indian origin. Details of the names and uses of the various temple buildings, together with other matters, will be found in the Introduction to Murray's Handbook for Japan. It may suffice briefly to indicate here a means of distinguishing from each other the temples of the two religions. The outward and visible signs of Shintō are,—first, a wand from which depend strips of white paper cut into little angular bunches (gohei}, intended to represent the offerings of cloth which were anciently tied to branches of the sacred cleyera tree at festival time; secondly, a peculiar gateway called torii. Another difference is that the Shintō temple is thatched, whereas the Buddhist temple is tiled. Furthermore, the Shintō temple is plain and empty, while the Buddhist is highly decorated and filled with religious properties. (See also Articles on Things Japanese/Architecture and on Things Japanese/Torii.)