1. Though Shintoism has no known founders, a single sacred text, and is still a subject of mysterious study as to how it began; it is clear that the belief system that is Shintoism dates well back into all three pre and pro-tohistoric periods. Into the 8th Century, Shintoism was influenced by both Chinese Confucianism and Daoism. Confucianism’s veneration for ancestors and clan traditions are some clear parallels, but it was not nearly as profound an impact as Daoism was. Shintoism and Daoism both discuss the balance of yin and yang or the balance of the negative and positive in all things. These Chinese influences were heavy through the Nara and early Heian periods, as indicated in the name “Shinto” which is the Chinese-style of reading the
