Red Swastika Society

A charitable organization that is inextricably linked to the Chinese new religion, Taoist Temple, also known as the Red Swastika Sect. The red represents sincerity, and the swastika represents the auspicious appearance of the Buddha in the sea of ​​clouds, meaning that like the sun, there is no place that does not receive blessings. Taoist Temple originated in Shandong Province around 1916-17, and spread throughout China by the end of the 1920s. Its doctrine preached the common origin of the five religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam, and in 1922 it established the Red Swastika Society, which carried out a wide range of activities such as relief for the poor, providing medicine, and running schools. In 1924, the Taoist Temple also partnered with the Japanese Omotokyo sect, and established Taoist temples in Tokyo and Kobe, but when Omotokyo was banned, its activities in Japan were suspended. After the New China era, Taoist Temple was banned as a heretical cult along with other new religions, and the activities of the Red Swastika Society were also denied.

[Ryuzo Yamashita]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

紅卍教とも俗称された道院という中国の新興宗教と表裏一体の慈善団体。紅は赤誠を、卍は吉祥(きっしょう)雲海の仏相を表し、太陽のように恩恵の至らない所はないという意味。道院は1916～17年ごろ山東省でおこり、20年代末までに全中国に広まった。その宗旨は儒、仏、道、キリスト教、イスラム教の五教同源を説き、22年に紅卍字会を設立し、貧民救済、施薬施療、学校経営などの事業を手広く行った。24年道院は日本の大本(おおもと)教とも提携し、東京、神戸に道院を設けたことがあるが、大本教の禁止とともに日本国内での活動は停止された。新中国以後、道院はその他の新興宗教とともに邪教として禁止され、紅卍字会の活動も否定された。

［山下龍三］

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