Before  that  time  there  probably  was  no  such  thing  as  a
Shinto  Religion,  but  rather  only  a  number  of  primitive
local  cults  which  were  gradually  being  welded  together  into
a  sort  of  connected  whole  as  the  nation  was  being  welded
together  politically.  That  is,  the  native  religion  developed
pari  passu  with  the  state  from  disconnected  elements  into  at
least  a  semblance  of  unity.
NOTES  337

4.  The  monistic  and  theistic  aspects  of  some  of  the  modern
Shinto  sects  are  of  comparatively  late  development.
5.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  imperial  family,  according  to
Shinto  (and  this  every  loyal  Japanese  is  supposed  to  believe,
even  to  this  day),  is  descended  from  Amaterasu,  the  chief
Shinto  deity.
6.  Yamato  Damashii  was  first  largely  a  product  of  Shinto,
but  in  its  modern  characteristics  it  owes  perhaps  just  as  much
to  Confucianism  as  to  the  old  native  religion.
7.  Whether  these  masterpieces  of  the  seventh  century  were
really  produced  by  Japanese  or  whether  they  are  the  work  of
Koreans  who  were  residing  in  Japan  at  that  time  is  difficult  to
determine.  We  know,  e.g.,  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh
century,  as  a  result  of  the  fall  of  the  Korean  kingdoms  of  Kudara
(660)  and  Koma  (668),  a  great  many  refugees  came  to  settle  in
Japan ;  and,  of  course,  long  before  this  many  Koreans  had
crossed  over  to  the  islands  to  serve  as  teachers  in  the  various
arts  and  handicrafts.
