diff options
Diffstat (limited to '13831-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 13831-0.txt | 16900 |
1 files changed, 16900 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/13831-0.txt b/13831-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2062a13 --- /dev/null +++ b/13831-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16900 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13831 *** + +EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE + + ++----------------------------------------------------------------+ +| THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD | +| By | +| | +| SIDNEY L. GULICK, M.A. | +| | +| Illustrated with Twenty-six Diagrams _12 mo, Cloth, $1.50_ | +| | +| "Commends itself to thoughtful, earnest men of any nation as a | +| most valuable missionary paper. Mr. Gulick traces the | +| Christian religion through history and up to now. The survey | +| is calm, patient, thoroughly honest, and quietly assured." | +| --_Evangelist_. | +| | +| FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY | +| | +| Publishers | +| | ++----------------------------------------------------------------+ + + +EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE + +_SOCIAL AND PSYCHIC_ + +BY + +SIDNEY L. GULICK, M.A. + +_Missionary of the American Board in Japan_ + + +[Illustration] + +NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO + +Fleming H. Revell Company + +LONDON AND EDINBURGH + + +New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 63 Washington Street Toronto: 27 +Richmond Street, W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 30 St. +Mary Street + + + + +PREFACE + +The present work is an attempt to interpret the characteristics of +modern Japan in the light of social science. It also seeks to throw +some light on the vexed question as to the real character of so-called +race-nature, and the processes by which that nature is transformed. If +the principles of social science here set forth are correct, they +apply as well to China and India as to Japan, and thus will bear +directly on the entire problem of Occidental and Oriental social +intercourse and mutual influence. + +The core of this work consists of addresses to American and English +audiences delivered by the writer during his recent furlough. Since +returning to Japan, he has been able to give but fragments of time to +the completion of the outlines then sketched, and though he would +gladly reserve the manuscript for further elaboration, he yields to +the urgency of friends who deem it wise that he delay no longer in +laying his thought before the wider public. + +To Japanese readers the writer wishes to say that although he has not +hesitated to make statements painful to a lover of Japan, he has not +done it to condemn or needlessly to criticise, but simply to make +plain what seem to him to be the facts. If he has erred in his facts +or if his interpretations reflect unjustly on the history or spirit of +Japan, no one will be more glad than he for corrections. Let the +Japanese be assured that his ruling motive, both in writing about +Japan and in spending his life in this land, is profound love for the +Japanese people. The term "native" has been freely used because it is +the only natural correlative for "foreign." It may be well to say that +neither the one nor the other has any derogatory implication, +although anti-foreign natives, and anti-native foreigners, sometimes +so use them. + +The indebtedness of the writer is too great to be acknowledged in +detail. But whenever he has been conscious of drawing directly from +any author for ideas or suggestions, effort has been made to indicate +the source. + +Since the preparation of the larger part of this work several +important contributions to the literature on Japan have appeared which +would have been of help to the writer, could he have referred to them +during the progress of his undertaking. Rev. J.C.C. Newton's "Japan: +Country, Court, and People"; Rev. Otis Cary's "Japan and Its +Regeneration"; and Prof. J. Nitobe's "Bushido: The Soul of Japan," +call for special mention. All are excellent works, interesting, +condensed, informative, and well-balanced. Had the last named come to +hand much earlier it would have received frequent reference and +quotation in the body of this volume, despite the fact that it sets +forth an ideal rather than the actual state of Old Japan. + +Special acknowledgment should be made of the help rendered by my +brothers, Galen M. Fisher and Edward L. Gulick, and by my sister, Mrs. +F.F. Jewett, in reading and revising the manuscript. Acknowledgment +should also be made of the invaluable criticisms and suggestions in +regard to the general theory of social evolution advocated in these +pages made by my uncle, Rev. John T. Gulick, well known to the +scientific world for his contributions to the theory as well as to the +facts of biological evolution. + +S.L.G. + +MATSUYAMA, JAPAN. + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION 13 + + +I. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS + +Occidental conceptions of the recent history of Japan--Japan seems to +be contradicting our theory of national evolution--Similarities of +ancient and modern Japan--Japanese evolution is "natural"--The study +of Japanese social evolution is of unusual interest, because it has +experienced such marked changes--Because it is now in a stage of rapid +growth--And is taking place before our eyes--Also because here is +taking place a unique union of Occidental and Oriental +civilizations--Comparison between India and Japan, 23 + + +II. HISTORICAL SKETCH + +Mythology and tradition--Authentic history--Old Japan--The transition +from Old to New Japan--New Japan--Compelled by foreign nations to +centralize--Ideals and material instruments supplied from +abroad--Exuberant Patriotism--"Ai-koku-shin," 35 + + +III. THE PROBLEM OF PROGRESS + +Is Japan making progress?--Happiness as a criterion--The oppressive +rule of militarism--The emptiness of the ordinary life--The condition +of woman--"The Greater Learning for Woman"--Divorce--Progress +defined--Deficiency of the hedonistic criterion of progress, 52 + + +IV. THE METHOD OF PROGRESS + +Progress a modern conception and ideal--How was the "cake of custom" +broken?--"Government by discussion" an insufficient principle of +progress--Two lines of progress, Ideal and Material--The significance +of Perry's coming to Japan--Effect on Japan of Occidental ideas--The +material element of progress--Mistaken praise of the simplicity of Old +Japan, L. Hearn--The significance of the material element of +civilization--Mastery of nature--The defect of Occidental +civilization, 61 + + +V. JAPANESE SENSITIVENESS TO ENVIRONMENT + +Our main question--Illustrations--Japanese students +abroad--Sensitiveness to ridicule--Advantages and disadvantages of +this characteristic--National sensitiveness to foreign +criticism--Nudity--Formosa--Mental and physical +flexibility--Adjustability--Some apparent exceptions--Chinese +ideographs--How account for these characteristics, 72 + + +VI. WAVES OF FEELING--ABDICATION + +The Japanese are emotional--An illustration from politics--The +tendency to run to extremes--Danger of overemphasizing this +tendency--Japanese silent dissent--Men of balance in public +life--Abdication--Gubbins quoted--Is abdication an inherent trait? 82 + + +VII. HEROES AND HERO-WORSHIP + +Popular national heroes--The craving for modern heroes--Townsend +Harris's insight into Oriental character--Hero-worship an obstacle to +missionary work--Capt. Jaynes--An experience in Kumamoto--"The sage of +Omi"--"The true hero"--Moral heroes in Japan--The advantage and +disadvantage of hero-worship--Modern moral heroes--Hero-worship +depends on personality and idealism--The new social order is producing +new ideals and new heroes, 89 + + +VIII. LOVE FOR CHILDREN + +Japanese love for children--Children's festivals--Toys and +toy-stores--Do Japanese love children more than Americans +do?--Importance in Japan of maintaining the family line--The looseness +of the Japanese family tie--Early cessation of demonstrative +affection--Infanticide, 96 + + +IX. MARITAL LOVE + +Affection between husband and wife--Occidental and Oriental estimate +of woman contrasted--This a subject easily-misunderstood--Kissing a +social habit unknown in Japan--Demonstrative affection a social, not a +racial characteristic--Some specific illustrations, Dr. Neesima--A +personal experience--Illegitimate children--Fraudulent +registration--Adult adoption--Divorce--Monogamy, polygamy, and +prostitution--Race character, social order, and affection--Position of +women--The social order and affection--The social order and the +valuation of man and woman--The new social order and the valuation of +man--The spread of Christian ideals and the re-organization of the +family, 102 + + +X. CHEERFULNESS--INDUSTRY--TRUTHFULNESS--SUSPICIOUSNESS + +Japanese cheerfulness--Festivals--Pessimism existent, but easily +overlooked--The ubiquity of children gives an appearance of +cheerfulness--Industry--Illustrations--Easy-going--Sociological +interpretation--Mutual confidence and trustfulness--Relation to +communalistic feudalism--Changes in the social order and in +character--The American Board's experience in trusting Japanese +honor--The Doshisha and its difficulties--Suspiciousness--Necessary +under the old social order--The need of constant care in conversation, +115 + + +XI. JEALOUSY--REVENGE--HUMANE FEELINGS + +Jealousy particularly ascribed to women--How related to the social +order--Is jealousy limited to women?--Revenge--Taught as a moral +duty--Revenge and the new social order--Are the Japanese cruel?--First +impressions--Treatment of the insane--Of lepers--The cruelty and +hardness of heart of Old Japan--Buddhistic teaching and +practice--Buddhist and Christian Orphan Asylums--Treatment of +horses--Torture in Old Japan--Crucifixion and transfixion by +spears--Hard-heartedness cultivated under feudalism--Cruelty and the +humane feelings in the Occident--Abolition of cruel customs in ancient +and in Old Japan--Cruelty a sociological, not a biological +characteristic--The rise of humane feelings--Doctors and +hospitals--Philanthropy, 127 + + +XII. AMBITION--CONCEIT + +Ambition, both individual and national--The "Kumamoto +Band"--Self-confidence and conceit--Refined in nature--Illustrations +in the use of English--Readiness of young men to assume grave +responsibilities--A product of the social order--Assumptions of +inferiority by the common people--Obsequiousness--Modern +self-confidence and assumptions not without ground--Self-confidence +and success--Self-confidence and physical size--Young men and the +recent history of Japan--The self-confidence and conceit of Western +nations--The open-mindedness of most Japanese, 137 + + +XIII. PATRIOTISM--APOTHEOSIS--COURAGE + +"Yamato-Damashii": "The Soul of Japan"--Patriotism and the recent war +with China--Patriotism of Christian orphans--Mr. Ishii--Patriotism is +for a person, not for country--National patriotism is +modern--Passionate devotion to the Emperor--A gift of 20,000,000 yen +to the Emperor--The constitution derives its authority from the +Emperor--A quotation from Prof. Yamaguchi--Japanese Imperial +succession is of Oriental type--Concubines and children of the +reigning Emperor--Apotheosis, Oriental and Occidental--Apotheosis and +national unity--The political conflict between Imperial and popular +sovereignty--Japanese and Roman apotheosis--Prof. Nash +quoted--Courage--Cultivated in ancient times--A peculiar feature of +Japanese courage--"Harakiri"--E. Griffis quoted--A boy hero--Relation +of courage to social order--Japanese courage not only physical--modern +instance of moral courage, 144 + + +XIV. FICKLENESS--STOLIDITY--STOICISM + +Illustrations of fickleness--Prof. Chamberlain's +explanation--Fickleness a modern trait--Continuity of purpose in spite +of changes of method--The youth of those on whom responsibility +rests--Fluctuation of interest in Christianity not a fair +illustration--The period of fluctuation is passing +away--Impassiveness--"Putty faces"--Distinguish between stupidity and +stoicism--Stupid stolidity among the farmers--Easily removed--Social +stolidity cultivated--Demanded by the old social order--The influence +of Buddhism in suppressing expression of emotion--An illustration of +suppressed curiosity--Lack of emotional manifestations when the +Emperor appears in public--Stolidity a social, not a racial trait--A +personal experience--The increased vivacity of Christian +women--Relations of emotional to intellectual development and to the +social order, 159 + + +XV. AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS + +The wide development of the æsthetic sense in Japan--Japanese æsthetic +development is unbalanced--The sense of smell--Painting--Japanese art +pays slight attention to the human form--Sociological +interpretation--The nude in Japanese art--Relation to the social +order--Art and immorality--Caricature--Fondness for the abnormal in +nature--Abnormal stones--Tosa cocks--Æsthetics of speech--The æsthetic +sense and the use of personal pronouns--Deficiency of the æsthetic +development in regard to speech--Sociological explanations--Close +relation of æsthetics and conduct--Sociological explanation for the +wide development of the æsthetic sense--The classes lived in close +proximity--The spirit of dependence and imitation--Universality of +culture more apparent than real--Defects of æsthetic taste--Defective +etiquette--How accounted for--Old and new conditions--"Western taste +debasing Japanese art"--Illustration of aboriginal æsthetic +defects--Colored photographs--Æsthetic defects of popular shrines--The +æsthetics of music--Experience of the Hawaiian people--Literary +æsthetic development--Aston quoted--Architectural æsthetic +development--Æsthetic development is sociological rather than +biological, 170 + + +XVI. MEMORY--IMITATION + +Psychological unity of the East and the West--Brain size and social +evolution--The size of the Japanese brain--Memory--Learning Chinese +characters--Social selection and mnemonic power--Japanese memory in +daily life--Memory of uncivilized and semi-civilized peoples--Hindu +memory--Max Müller quoted--Japanese acquisition of foreign +languages--The argument from language for the social as against the +biological distinction of races--The faculty of imitation; is not to +be despised--Prof. Chamberlain's over-emphasis of Japanese +imitation--Originality in adopting Confucianism and +Buddhism--"Shinshu"--"Nichirenshu"--Adoption of Chinese +philosophy--Dr. Knox's over-emphasis of servile adoption--Our +ignorance of Japanese history of thought--A reason for Occidental +misunderstanding--The incubus of governmental initiative--Relation of +imitation to the social order, 189 + + +XVII. ORIGINALITY--INVENTIVENESS + +Originality in art--Authoritative suppression of originality--Townsend +Harris quoted--Suppression of Christianity and of heterodox +Confucianism--Modern suppression of historical research--Yet Japan is +not wholly lacking in originality--Recent discoveries and +inventions--Originality in borrowing from the West--Quotations from a +native paper, 203 + + +XVIII. INDIRECTNESS--"NOMINALITY" + +"Roundaboutness"--Some advantages of this +characteristic--Illustrations--Study of English for direct and +accurate habits of thought--Rapid modern growth of +directness--"Nominality"--All Japanese history an illustration--The +Imperial rule only nominal--The daimyo as a figure-head--"Nominality" +in ordinary life--In family relations--Illustrations in Christian +work--A "nominal" express train--"Nominality" and the social order, +210 + + +XIX. INTELLECTUALITY + +Do Japanese lack the higher mental faculties?--Evidence of +inventions--Testimony of foreign teachers--Japanese students, at home +and abroad--Readiness in public speech--Powers of generalization in +primitive Japan--"Ri" and "Ki," "In" and "Yo"--Japanese use of Chinese +generalized philosophical terms--Generalization and the social +order--Defective explanation of puerile Oriental science--Relation to +the mechanical memory method of education--High intellectuality +dependent on social order, 218 + + +XX. PHILOSOPHICAL ABILITY + +Do Japanese lack philosophical ability?--Some opinions--Some +distinctions--Japanese interest in metaphysical problems--Buddhist and +Confucian metaphysics--Metaphysics and ethics--Japanese students of +Occidental philosophy--A personal experience--"The little +philosopher"--A Buddhist priest--Rarity of original philosophical +ability and even interest--Philosophical ability and the social order +in the West, 225 + + +XXI. IMAGINATION + +Some criticisms of Japanese mental traits--Wide range of imaginative +activity--Some salient points--Unbalanced imaginative +development--Prosaic matter-of-factness--Visionariness--Impractical +idealism--Illustrations--An evangelist--A principal--Visionariness in +Christian work--Visionariness in national ambition--Imagination and +optimism--Mr. Lowell's opinion criticised--Fancy and +imagination--Caricature--Imagination and imitation--Sociological +interpretation of visionariness--And of prosaic +matter-of-factness--Communalism and the higher mental +powers--Suppression of the constructive imagination--Racial +intellectual characteristics are social rather than inherent, 233 + + +XXII. MORAL IDEALS + +Loyalty and filial piety as moral ideals--Quotations from an ancient +moralist, Muro Kyuso--On the heavenly origin of moral teaching--On +self-control--Knowledge comes through obedience--On the impurity of +ancient literature--On the ideal of the samurai in relation to +trade--Old Japan combined statute and ethical law--"The testament of +Iyeyasu"--Ohashi's condemnation of Western learning for its +impiety--Japanese moral ideals were communal--Truthfulness +undeveloped--Relations of samurai to tradesman--The business standards +are changing with the social order--Ancient Occidental contempt for +trade--Plato and Aristotle, 249 + + +XXIII. MORAL IDEALS (_Continued_) + +The social position of woman--Valuation of the individual--Confucian +and Buddhistic teaching in regard to concubinage and +polygamy--Sociological interpretation--Japan not exceptional--Actual +morality of Old Japan--Modern growth of immorality--Note on the +"Social Evil"--No ancient teaching in regard to masculine +chastity--Mr. Hearn's mistaken contention--Filial obedience and +prostitution--How could the social order produce two different moral +ideals?--The new Civil Code on marriage--Divorce--Statistics--Modern +advance of woman--Significance of the Imperial Silver Wedding--The +Wedding of the Prince Imperial--Relation of Buddhism and Confucianism +to moral ideals and practice--The new spirit of Buddhism--Christian +influence on Shinto; Tenri Kyo--The ancient moralists confined their +attention to the rulers--The Imperial Edict in regard to Moral +Education, 258 + + +XXIV. MORAL PRACTICE + +The publicity of Japanese life--Public bathing--Personal experience at +a hot-spring--Mr. Hearn on privacy--Individualism and variation from +the moral standard--Standards advancing--Revenge--Modern liberty of +travel--Increase of wealth--Increasing luxury and vice--Increase of +concubinage--Native discussions--Statistics--Business honesty--A +native paper quoted--Some experiences with Christians--Testimony of a +Japanese consul--Difference of gifts to Buddhist and to Christian +institutions--Christian condemnation of Doshisha +mismanagement--Misappropriation of trust funds in the West--Business +honesty and the social order--Fitness of Christianity to the new +social order--A summary--Communal virtues--Individual Vices--The +authority of the moral ideal--Moral characteristics are not inherent, +but social, in nature, 273 + + +XXV. ARE THE JAPANESE RELIGIOUS? + +Prof. Pfleiderer's view--Percival Lowell's definition of +religion--Japanese appearance of irreligion due to many +facts--Skeptical attitude of Confucius towards the gods--Ready +acceptance of Western agnosticism--Prof. Chamberlain's assertion that +the Japanese take their religion lightly--Statements concerning +religion by Messrs. Fukuzawa, Kato, and Ito--Statements of Japanese +irreligion are not to be lightly accepted--Incompetence of many +critics--We must study all the religious +phenomena--Pilgrimages--Statistics--Mr. Lowell's criticism of +"peripatetic picnic parties"--Is religion necessarily gloomy?--God and +Buddha shelves universal in Japan--Temples and shrines--Statistics, +286 + + +XXVI. SOME RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA + +Stoical training conceals religious emotions--The earnestness of many +suppliants--Buddhistic and Shinto practice of religious ecstasy--The +revolt from Buddhism a religious movement--Muro Kyu-so +quoted--"Heaven's Way"--"God's omnipresence"--Pre-Christian teachers +of Christian truth--Interpretation of modern irreligious +phenomena--Japanese apparent lack of reverence--Not an inherent racial +characteristic--Sketch of Japanese religious +history--Shinto--Buddhism--Confucianism--Christianity--Roman +Catholicism--Protestantism--Religious characteristics are social, not +essential or racial, 296 + + +XXVII. SOME RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS + +Japanese conceptions as to deity--The number and relation of the gods +to the universe--Did the Japanese have the monotheistic +conception?--Attractiveness of Christian monotheism--Confucian and +Buddhist monism--Religious conception of man--Conception of +sin--Defective terminology--Relation of sin to salvation--"Holy +water"--Holy towels and the spread of disease--The slight connection +between physical and moral pollution--W.E. Griffis quoted--Exaggerated +cleanliness of the Japanese--Public bathing houses--Consciousness of +sin in the sixteenth century--A recent experience--Doctrine of the +future life--Salvation from fate--"Ingwa"--These are important +doctrines--"Mei" (Heaven's decree)--Japan not unique--Sociological +interpretations of religious characteristics, 310 + + +XXVIII. SOME RELIGIOUS PRACTICES + +Loyalty and filial piety as religious phenomena--Gratitude as a +religions trait--Hearn quoted--Unpleasant experiences of +ingratitude--Modern suppression of phallicism--Brothels and +prostitutes at popular shrines--The failure of higher ethnic faiths to +antagonize the lower--Suppression of phallicism due to Western +opinion--The significance of this suppression to sociological +theory--Religious liberty--Some history--Inconsistent attitude of the +Educational Department--Virtual establishment of compulsory state +religion--Review and summary--The Japanese ready learners of foreign +religions--The significance of this to sociology--Japanese future +religion is to be Christianity, 322 + + +XXIX. SOME PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL EVOLUTION + +Progress is from smaller to larger communities--Arrest of +development--The necessity of individualism--The relation of communal +to individual development--A possible misunderstanding--The problem of +distribution--Personality, 332 + + +XXX. ARE THE JAPANESE IMPERSONAL? + +Assertion of Oriental impersonality--Quotations from Percival +Lowell--Defective and contradictory definitions--Arguments for +impersonality resting on mistaken interpretations--Children's +festivals--Occidental and Oriental method of counting ages--Argument +for impersonality from Japanese art--From the characteristics of the +Japanese family--The bearing of divorce on this argument--Do Japanese +"fall in love"?--Suicide and murder for love--Occidental approval and +Oriental condemnation of "falling in love"--Sociological significance +of divorce and of "falling in love," 344 + + +XXXI. THE JAPANESE NOT IMPERSONAL + +The problem stated--Definitions--Remarks on +definitions--Characteristics of a person--Impersonality defined--A +preliminary summary statement--Definitions of Communalism and +Individualism--The argument for "impersonality" from Japanese +politeness--Some difficulties of this interpretation--The sociological +interpretation of politeness--The significance of Japanese +sensitiveness--Altruism as a proof of impersonality--Japanese +selfishness and self-assertiveness--Distinction between communal and +individualistic altruism--Deficiency of personal pronouns as a proof +of impersonality--A possible counter-argument--Substitutes for +personal pronouns--Many personal words in Japanese--Origin of +pronouns, personal and others--The relation of the social order to the +use of personal pronouns--Japanese conceive Nationality only through +Personality--"Strong" and "weak" personality--Strong personalities in +Japan--Feudalism and strong personalities, 356 + + +XXXII. IS BUDDHISM IMPERSONAL? + +Self-suppression as a proof of impersonality--Self-suppression cannot +be ascribed to a primitive people--Esoteric Buddhism not +popular--Buddhism emphasized introspection and self-consciousness--Mr. +Lowell on the teaching of Buddha--Consciousness of union with the +Absolute a developed, not a primitive, trait--Buddhist +self-suppression proves a developed self--Buddhist self-salvation and +Christian salvation by faith--Buddhism does not develop rounded +personality--Buddhism attributes no worth to the self--Buddhist mercy +rests on the doctrine of transmigration, not on the inherent worth of +man--Analysis of the diverse elements in the asserted "Impersonality +"--Why Buddhism attributed no value to the self--The Infinite Absolute +Abstraction--Buddhism not impersonal but abstract--Buddhist doctrine +of illusion--Popular Buddhism not philosophical--Relation of "ingwa," +Fate, to the development of personality--Relation of belief in freedom +to the fact of freedom--Sociological consequences of Buddhist +doctrine, 377 + + +XXXIII. TRACES OF PERSONALITY IN SHINTOISM, BUDDHISM, AND CONFUCIANISM + +Human illogicalness providential--Some devices for avoiding the evils +of logical conclusions--Buddhistic actual appeal to personal +self-activity--Practical Confucianism an antidote to Buddhist +poison--Confucian ethics produced strong persons--The personal +conception of deity is widespread--Shinto gods all persons--Popular +Buddhist gods are personal--Confucian "Heaven" implies +personality--The idea of personality not wholly wanting in the +Orient--The idea of divine personality not difficult to impart to a +Japanese--A conversation with a Buddhist priest--Sketch of the +development of Japanese personality--Is personality +inherent?--Intrinsic and phenomenal personality--Note on the doctrine +of the personality of God, 389 + + +XXXIV. THE BUDDHIST WORLD-VIEW + +Comparison of Buddhist, Greek, and Christian conceptions of +God--Nirvana--The Buddhistic Ultimate Reality absolute vacuity--Greek +affirmation of intelligence in the Ultimate Reality--Christian +affirmation of Divine Personality--The Buddhist universe is partly +rational and ethical--The Greek universe is partly rational and +ethical--Corresponding views of sin, salvation, change, and +history--Resulting pessimism and optimism--Consequences to the +respective civilizations and their social orders, 398 + + +XXXV. COMMUNAL AND INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF JAPANESE +RELIGIOUS LIFE + +Japanese religious life has been predominantly communal--Shinto +provided the sanctions for the social order--Recent abdication of +Shinto as a religion--Primitive Shinto world--view--Shinto and modern +science--Shinto sanctions for the modern social order--Buddhism is +individualistic--Lacks social ideals and sanctions--Hence it could not +displace Shinto--Shinto and Buddhism are supplementary--Produced a +period of prosperity--The defect of Buddhist individualism--Imperfect +acceptance of Shinto--Effect of political history--Confucianism +restored the waning communal sanctions--The difference between Shinto +and Confucian social ideals and sanctions--The difference between +Shinto and Confucian world-views--Rejection of the Confucian social +order--An interpretation--The failure of Confucianism to become a +religion--Western intercourse re-established Shinto sanctions--Japan's +modern religious problem--Difficulty of combining individual and +communal religious elements--Christianity has accomplished +it--Individualism in and through communalism--A modern expansion of +communal religion--Shared by Japan--Some Japanese recognize the need +of religion for Japan--Sociological function of individualistic +religion in the higher human evolution--Obstacle to evolution through +the development of intellect--The Japanese mind is outgrowing its old +religious conceptions--The dependence of religious phenomena on the +ideas dominating society--Note on National and Universal +religions--Buddhism not properly classified as Universal--The +classification of religions, 404 + + +XXXVI. WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORIENT + +The conclusion reached in this work--Contrary to the opinion of +tourists, residents, and many sociologists--Professor Le Bon +quoted--Social psychic characteristics not inherent--Evolution and +involution--Advocates of inherent Oriental traits should catalogue +those traits--An attempt by the London _Daily Mail_--Is the East +inherently intuitive, and the West logical?--The difficulty of +becoming mutually acquainted--The secret of genuine acquaintance--Is +the East inherently meditative and the West active?--Oriental unity +and characteristics are social, not inherent--Isolated evolution is +divergent--Mutual influence of the East and the West--Summary +statement, 422 + + +XXXVII. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS + +Review of our course of thought--Purpose of this chapter--The problem +studied in this work--Interrelation of social and psychic +phenomena--Heredity defined and analyzed--Evolution defined--Exact +definition of our question, and our reply--What would be an adequate +disproof of our position--Reasons for limiting the discussion to +advanced races--Divergent evolution dependent on +segregation--Distinction between racial and social unity--Relation of +the individual psychic character to the social order--"Race soul" a +convenient fiction--Psychic function produces psychic organism--Causes +and nature of plasticity and fixity of society--Relation of incarnate +ideas to character and destiny--Valuelessness of "floating" +ideas--Progress is at once communal and individual--Personality is its +cause, aim, and criterion--Progress in personality is +ethico-religious--Japanese social and psychic evolution not +exceptional, 438 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The tragedy enacted in China during the closing year of the nineteenth +century marks an epoch in the history of China and of the world. Two +world-views, two types of civilization met in deadly conflict, and the +inherent weakness of isolated, belated, superstitious and corrupt +paganism was revealed. Moreover, during this, China's crisis, Japan +for the first time stepped out upon the world's stage of political and +military activity. She was recognized as a civilized nation, worthy to +share with the great nations of the earth the responsibility of ruling +the lawless and backward races. + +The correctness of any interpretation as to the significance of this +conflict between the opposing civilizations turns, ultimately, on the +question as to what is the real nature of man and of society. If it be +true, as maintained by Prof. Le Bon and his school, that the mental +and moral character of a people is as fixed as its physiological +characteristics, then the conflict in China is at bottom a conflict of +races, not of civilizations. + +The inadequacy of the physiological theory of national character may +be seen almost at a glance by a look at Japan. Were an Oriental +necessarily and unchangeably Oriental, it would have been impossible +for Japan to have come into such close and sympathetic touch with the +West. + +The conflict of the East with the West, however, is not an inherent +and unending conflict, because it is not racial, but civilizational. +It is a conflict of world-views and systems of thought and life. It is +a conflict of heathen and Christian civilizations. And the conflict +will come to an end as soon as, and in proportion as, China awakes +from her blindness and begins to build her national temple on the +bedrock of universal truth and righteousness. The conflict is +practically over in Japan because she has done this. In loyally +accepting science, popular education, and the rights of every +individual to equal protection by the government, Japan has accepted +the fundamental conceptions of civilization held in the West, and has +thus become an integral part of Christendom, a fact of world-wide +significance. It proves that the most important differences now +separating the great races of men are civilizational, not +physiological. It also proves that European, American, and Oriental +peoples may be possessed by the same great ideals of life and +principles of action, enabling them to co-operate as nations in great +movements to their mutual advantage. + +While even we of the West may be long in learning the full +significance of what has been and still is taking place in Japan and +more conspicuously just now, because more tragically, in China, one +thing is clear: steam and electricity have abolished forever the old +isolation of the nations. + +Separated branches of the human race that for thousands of years have +been undergoing divergent evolution, producing radically different +languages, customs, civilizations, systems of thought and world-views, +and have resulted even in marked physiological and psychological +differences, are now being brought into close contact and inevitable +conflict. But at bottom it is a conflict of ideas, not of races. The +age of isolation and divergent evolution is passing away, and that of +international association and convergent social evolution has begun. +Those races and nations that refuse to recognize the new social order, +and oppose the cosmic process and its forces, will surely be pushed to +the wall and cease to exist as independent nations, just as, in +ancient times, the tribes that refused to unite with neighboring +tribes were finally subjugated by those that did so unite. + +Universal economic, political, intellectual, moral, and religious +intercourse is the characteristic of the new æon on which we are +entering. What are to be the final consequences of this wide +intercourse? Can a people change its character? Can a nation fully +possessed by one type of civilization reject it, and adopt one +radically different? Do races have "souls" which are fixed and +incapable of radical transformations? What has taken place in Japan, a +profound, or only a superficial change in psychical character? Are the +destinies of the Oriental races already unalterably determined? + +The answers to these questions have already been suggested in the +preceding paragraphs, in regard to what has already taken place in +Japan. But we may add that that answer really turns on our conception +as to the nature of the characteristics separating the East from the +West. In proportion as national character is reckoned to be +biological, will it be considered fixed and the national destiny +predetermined. In proportion as it is reckoned to be sociological, +will it be considered alterable and the national destiny subject to +new social forces. Now that the intercourse of widely different races +has begun on a scale never before witnessed, it is highly important +for us to know its probable consequences. For this we need to gain a +clear idea of the nature both of the individual man and of society, of +the relation of the social order to individual and to race character, +and of the law regulating and the forces producing social evolution. +Only thus can we forecast the probable course and consequences of the +free social intercourse of widely divergent races. + +It is the belief of the writer that few countries afford so clear an +illustration of the principles involved in social evolution as Japan. +Her development has been so rapid and so recent that some principles +have become manifest that otherwise might easily have escaped notice. +The importance of understanding Japan, because of the light her recent +transformations throw on the subject of social evolution and of +national character and also because of the conspicuous rôle to which +she is destined as the natural leader of the Oriental races in their +adoption of Occidental modes of life and thought, justifies a careful +study of Japanese character. He who really understands Japan, has +gained the magic key for unlocking the social mysteries of China and +the entire East. But the Japanese people, with their institutions and +their various characteristics, merit careful study also for their own +sakes. For the Japanese constitute an exceedingly interesting and even +a unique branch of the human race. Japan is neither a purgatory, as +some would have it, nor a paradise, as others maintain, but a land +full of individuals in an interesting stage of social evolution. + +Current opinions concerning Japan, however, are as curious as they are +contradictory. Sir Edwin Arnold says that the Japanese "Have the +nature rather of birds or butterflies than of ordinary human beings." +Says Mr. A.M. Knapp: "Japan is the one country in the world which does +not disappoint ... It is unquestionably the unique nation of the +globe, the land of dream and enchantment, the land which could hardly +differ more from our own, were it located in another planet, its +people not of this world." An "old resident," however, calls it "the +land of disappointments." Few phenomena are more curious than the +readiness with which a tourist or professional journalist, after a few +days or weeks of sight-seeing and interviewing, makes up his mind in +regard to the character of the people, unless it be the way in which +certain others, who have resided in this land for a number of years, +continue to live in their own dreamland. These two classes of writers +have been the chief contributors of material for the omnivorous +readers of the West. + +It appears to not a few who have lived many years in this Far Eastern +land, that the public has been fed with the dreams of poets or the +snap-judgments of tourists instead of with the facts of actual +experience. A recent editorial article in the _Japan Mail_, than whose +editor few men have had a wider acquaintance with the Japanese people +or language, contains the following paragraph: + + "In the case of such writers as Sir Edwin Arnold and Mr. Lafcadio + Hearn it is quite apparent that the logical faculty is in + abeyance. Imagination reigns supreme. As poetic nights or + outbursts, the works of these authors on Japan are delightful + reading. But no one who has studied the Japanese in a deeper + manner, by more intimate daily intercourse with all classes of the + people than either of these writers pretends to have had, can + possibly regard a large part of their description as anything more + than pleasing fancy. Both have given rein to the poetic fancy and + thus have, from a purely literary point of view, scored a success + granted to few.... But as exponents of Japanese life and thought + they are unreliable.... They have given form and beauty to much + that never existed except in vague outline or in undeveloped germs + in the Japanese mind. In doing this they have unavoidably been + guilty of misrepresentation.... The Japanese nation of Arnold and + Hearn is not the nation we have known for a quarter of a century, + but a purely ideal one manufactured out of the author's brains. It + is high time that this was pointed out. For while such works please + a certain section of the English public, they do a great deal of + harm among a section of the Japanese public, as could be easily + shown in detail, did space allow."--_Japan Mail, May 7, 1898_. + +But even more harmful to the reading public of England and America are +the hastily formed yet, nevertheless, widely published opinions of +tourists and newspaper correspondents. Could such writers realize the +inevitable limitations under which they see and try to generalize, the +world would be spared many crudities and exaggerations, not to say +positive errors. The impression so common to-day that Japan's recent +developments are anomalous, even contrary to the laws of national +growth, is chiefly due to the superficial writings of hasty observers. +Few of those who have dilated ecstatically on her recent growth have +understood either the history or the genius of her people. + + "To mention but one among many examples," says Prof. Chamberlain, + "the ingenious Traveling Commissioner of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, + Mr. Henry Norman, in his lively letters on Japan published nine or + ten years ago, tells the story of Japanese education under the + fetching title of 'A Nation at School'; but the impression left is + that they have been their own schoolmasters. In another letter on + 'Japan in Arms,' he discourses concerning 'The Japanese Military + Re-organizers,' 'The Yokosuka dockyard,' and other matters, but + omits to mention that the reorganizers were Frenchmen, and that the + Yokosuka dockyard was also a French creation. Similarly, when + treating of the development of the Japanese newspaper, he ignores + the fact that it owed its origin to an Englishman, which surely, to + a man whose object was reality, should have seemed an object worth + recording. These letters, so full and apparently so frank, really + so deceptive, are, as we have said, but one instance among many of + the way in which popular writers on Japan travesty history by + ignoring the part which foreigners have played. The reasons for + this are not far to seek. A wonderful tale will please folks at a + distance all the better if made more wonderful still. Japanese + progress, traced to its causes and explained by references to the + means employed, is not nearly such fascinating reading as when + represented in the guise of a fairy creation, sprung from nothing, + like Aladdin's palace."--"_Things Japanese," p. 116_. + +But inter-racial misunderstanding is not, after all, so very strange. +Few things are more difficult than to accommodate one's self in +speech, in methods of life, and even in thought, to an alien people; +so identifying one's deepest interest with theirs as really to +understand them. The minds of most men are so possessed by notions +acquired in childhood and youth as to be unable to see even the +plainest facts at variance with those notions. He who comes to Japan +possessed with the idea that it is a dreamland and that its old social +order was free from defects, is blind to any important facts +invalidating that conception; while he who is persuaded that Japan, +being Oriental, is necessarily pagan at heart, however civilized in +form, cannot easily be persuaded that there is anything praiseworthy +in her old civilization, in her moral or religious life, or in any of +her customs. + +If France fails in important respects to understand England; and +England, Germany; and Germany, its neighbors; if even England and +America can so misunderstand one another as to be on the verge of war +over the boundary dispute of an alien country, what hope is there that +the Occident shall understand the Orient, or the Orient the Occident? + +Though the difficulty seems insurmountable, I am persuaded that the +most fruitful cause of racial misunderstandings and of defective +descriptions both of the West by Orientals, and of the East by +Occidentals, is a well-nigh universal misconception as to the nature +of man, and of society, and consequently of the laws determining their +development. In the East this error arises from and rests upon its +polytheism, and the accompanying theories of special national creation +and peculiar national sanctity. On these grounds alien races are +pronounced necessarily inferior. China's scorn for foreigners is due +to these ideas. + +Although this pagan notion has been theoretically abandoned in the +West, it still dominates the thought not only of the multitudes, but +also of many who pride themselves on their high education and liberal +sentiments. They bring to the support of their national or racial +pride such modern sociological theories as lend themselves to this +view. Evolution and the survival of the fittest, degeneration and the +arrest of development, are appealed to as justifying the arrogance and +domineering spirit of Western nations. + +But the most subtle and scholarly doctrine appealed to in support of +national pride is the biological conception of society. Popular +writers assume that society is a biological organism and that the laws +of its evolution are therefore biological. This assumption is not +strange, for until recent times the most advanced professional +sociologists have been dominated by the same misconception. Spencer, +for example, makes sociology a branch of biology. More recent +sociological writers, however, such as Professors Giddings and +Fairbanks, have taken special pains to assert the essentially psychic +character of society; they reject the biological conception, as +inadequate to express the real nature of society. The biological +conception, they insist, is nothing more than a comparison, useful for +bringing out certain features of the social life and structure, but +harmful if understood as their full statement. The laws of psychic +activity and development differ as widely from those of biologic +activity and development as these latter do from those that hold in +the chemical world. If the laws which regulate psychic development and +the progress of civilization were understood by popular writers on +Japan, and if the recent progress of Japan had been stated in the +terms of these laws, there would not have been so much mystification +in the West in regard to this matter as there evidently has been. +Japan would not have appeared to have "jumped out of her skin," or +suddenly to have escaped from the heredity of her past millenniums of +development. This wide misunderstanding of Japan, then, is not simply +due to the fact that "Japanese progress, traced to its causes and +explained by reference to the means employed, is not nearly such +fascinating reading as when represented in the guise of a fairy +creation," but it is also due to the still current popular view that +the social organism is biological, and subject therefore to the laws +of biological evolution. On this assumption, some hold that the +progress of Japan, however it may appear, is really superficial, while +others represent it as somehow having evaded the laws regulating the +development of other races. A nation's character and characteristics +are conceived to be the product of brain-structure; these can change +only as brain structure changes. Brain is held to determine +civilization, rather than civilization brain. Hampered by this +defective view, popular writers inevitably describe Japan to the West +in terms that necessarily misrepresent her, and that at the same time +pander to Occidental pride and prejudice. + +But this misunderstanding of Japan reveals an equally profound +misunderstanding in regard to ourselves. Occidental peoples are +supposed to be what they are in civilization and to have reached their +high attainments in theoretical and applied science, in philosophy and +in practical politics, because of their unique brain-structures, +brains secured through millenniums of biological evolution. The +following statement may seem to be rank heresy to the average +sociologist, but my studies have led me to believe that the main +differences between the great races of mankind to-day are not due to +biological, but to social conditions; they are not +physico-psychological differences, but only socio-psychological +differences. The Anglo-Saxon is what he is because of his social +heredity, and the Chinaman is what he is because of his social +heredity. The profound difference between social and physiological +heredity and evolution is unappreciated except by a few of the most +recent sociological writers. The part that association, social +segregation, and social heredity take in the maintenance, not only of +once developed languages and civilizations, but even in their genesis, +has been generally overlooked. + +But a still more important factor in the determination of social and +psychic evolution, generally unrecognized by sociologists, is the +nature and function of personality. Although in recent years it has +been occasionally mentioned by several eminent writers, personality as +a principle has not been made the core of any system of sociology. In +my judgment, however, this is the distinctive characteristic of human +evolution and of human association, and it should accordingly be the +fundamental principle of social science. Many writers on the East have +emphasized what they call its "impersonal" characteristics. So +important is this subject that I have considered it at length in the +body of this work. + +Sociological phenomena cannot be fully expressed by any combination of +exclusively physical, biological, and psychic terms, for the +significant element of man and of society consists of something more +than these--namely, personality. It is this that differentiates human +from animal evolution. The unit of human sociology is a +self-conscious, self-determinative being. The causative factor in the +social evolution of man is his personality. The goal of that evolution +is developed personality. Personality is thus at once the cause and +the end of social progress. The conditions which affect or determine +progress are those which affect or determine personality. + +The biological evolution of man from the animal has been, it is true, +frankly assumed in this work. No attempt is made to justify this +assumption. Let not the reader infer, however, that the writer +similarly assumes the adequacy of the so-called naturalistic or +evolutionary origin of ethics, of religion, or even of social +progress. It may be doubted whether Darwin, Wallace, Le Conte, or any +exponent of biological evolution has yet given a complete statement of +the factors of the physiological evolution of man. It is certain, +however, that ethical, religious, and social writers who have striven +to account for the higher evolution of man, by appealing to factors +exclusively parallel to those which have produced the physiological +evolution of man, have conspicuously failed. However much we may find +to praise in the social interpretations of such eminent writers as +Comte, Spencer, Ward, Fiske, Giddings, Kidd, Southerland, or even +Drummond, there still remains the necessity of a fuller consideration +of the moral and religious evolution of man. The higher evolution of +man cannot be adequately expressed or even understood in any terms +lower than those of personality. + + + + +EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE + +I + +PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS + + +Said a well educated and widely read Englishman to the writer while in +Oxford, "Can you explain to me how it is that the Japanese have +succeeded in jumping out of their skins?" And an equally thoughtful +American, speaking about the recent strides in civilization made by +Japan, urged that this progress could not be real and genuine. "How +can such a mushroom-growth, necessarily without deep roots in the +past, be real and strong and permanent? How can it escape being +chiefly superficial?" These two men are typical of much of the thought +of the West in regard to Japan. + +Seldom, perhaps never, has the civilized world so suddenly and +completely reversed an estimate of a nation as it has that with +reference to Japan. Before the recent war, to the majority even of +fairly educated men, Japan was little more than a name for a few small +islands somewhere near China, whose people were peculiar and +interesting. To-day there is probably not a man, or woman, or child +attending school in any part of the civilized world, who does not know +the main facts about the recent war: how the small country and the men +of small stature, sarcastically described by their foes as "Wojen," +pygmy, attacked the army and navy of a country ten times their size. + +Such a universal change of opinion regarding a nation, especially +regarding one so remote from the centers of Western civilization as +Japan, could not have taken place in any previous generation. The +telegraph, the daily paper, the intelligent reporters and writers of +books and magazine articles, the rapid steam travel and the many +travelers--all these have made possible this sudden acquisition of +knowledge and startling reversal of opinion. + +There is reason, however, to think that much misapprehension and real +ignorance still exists about Japan and her leap into power and +world-wide prestige. Many seem to think that Japan has entered on her +new career through the abandonment of her old civilization and the +adoption of one from the West--that the victories on sea and land, in +Korea, at Port Arthur, and a Wei-hai-wei, and more recently at +Tientsin and Pekin, were solely due to her Westernized navy and army. +Such persons freely admit that this process of Westernization had been +going on for many years more rapidly than the world at large knew, and +that consequently the reputation of Japan before the war was not such +as corresponded with her actual attainments. But they assume that +there was nothing of importance in the old civilization; that it was +little superior to organized barbarism. + +These people conceive of the change which has taken place in Japan +during the past thirty years as a revolution, not as an evolution; as +an abandonment of the old, and an adoption of the new, civilization. +They conceive the old tree of civilization to have been cut down and +cast into the fire, and a new tree to have been imported from the West +and planted in Japanese soil. New Japan is, from this view-point, the +new tree. + +Not many months ago I heard of a wealthy family in Kyoto which did not +take kindly to the so-called improvements imported from abroad, and +which consequently persisted in using the instruments of the older +civilization. Even such a convenience as the kerosene lamp, now +universally adopted throughout the land of the Rising Sun, this family +refused to admit into its home, preferring the old-style andon with +its vegetable oil, dim light, and flickering flame. Recently, however, +an electric-light company was organized in that city, and this +brilliant illuminant was introduced not only into the streets and +stores, but into many private houses. Shortly after its introduction, +the family was converted to the superiority of the new method of +illumination, and passed at one leap from the old-style lantern to the +latest product of the nineteenth century. This incident is considered +typical of the transformations characteristic of modern Japan. It is +supposed that New Japan is in no proper sense the legitimate product +through evolution of Old Japan. + +In important ways, therefore, Japan seems to be contradicting our +theories of national growth. We have thought that no "heathen" nation +could possibly gain, much less wield, unaided by Westerners, the +forces of civilized Christendom. We have likewise held that national +growth is a slow process, a gradual evolution, extending over scores +and centuries of years. In both respects our theories seem to be at +fault. This "little nation of little people," which we have been so +ready to condemn as "heathen" and "uncivilized," and thus to despise, +or to ignore, has in a single generation leaped into the forefront of +the world's attention. + +Are our theories wrong? Is Japan an exception? Are our facts correct? +We instinctively feel that something is at fault. We are not satisfied +with the usual explanation of the recent history of Japan. We are +perhaps ready to concede that "the rejection of the old and the +adoption of Western civilization" is the best statement whereby to +account for the new power of Japan and her new position among the +nations, but when we stop to think, we ask whether we have thus +explained that for which we are seeking an explanation? Do not the +questions still remain--Why did the Japanese so suddenly abandon +Oriental for Occidental civilization? And what mental and other traits +enabled a people who, according to the supposition, were far from +civilized, so suddenly to grasp and wield a civilization quite alien +in character and superior to their own; a civilization ripened after +millenniums of development of the Aryan race? And how far, as a matter +of fact, has this assimilation gone? Not until these questions are +really answered has the explanation been found, So that, after all, +the prime cause which we must seek is not to be found in the external +environment, but rather in the internal endowment. + +An effort to understand the ancient history of Japan encounters the +same problem as that raised by her modern history. What mental +characteristics led the Japanese a thousand years ago so to absorb the +Chinese civilization, philosophy, and language that their own suffered +a permanent arrest? What religious traits led them so to take on a +religion from China and India that their own native religion never +passed beyond the most primitive development, either in doctrine, in +ethics, in ritual, or in organization? On the other hand, what mental +characteristics enabled them to preserve their national independence +and so to modify everything brought from abroad, from the words of the +new language to the philosophy of the new religions, that Japanese +civilization, language, and religion are markedly distinct from the +Chinese? Why is it that, though the Japanese so fell under the bondage +of the Chinese language as permanently to enslave and dwarf their own +beautiful tongue, expressing the dominant thought of every sentence +with characters (ideographs) borrowed from China, yet at the same time +so transformed what they borrowed that no Chinaman can read and +understand a Japanese book or newspaper? + +The same questions recur at this new period of Japan's national life. +Why has she so easily turned from the customs of centuries? What are +the mental traits that have made her respond so differently from her +neighbor to the environment of the nineteenth-century civilization of +the West Why is it that Japan has sent thousands of her students to +these Western lands to see and study and bring back all that is good +in them, while China has remained in stolid self-satisfaction, seeing +nothing good in the West and its ways? To affirm that the difference +is due to the environment alone is impossible, for the environment +seems to be essentially the same. This difference of attitude and +action must be traced, it would seem, to differences of mental and +temperamental characteristics. Those who seek to understand the +secret of Japan's newly won power and reputation by looking simply at +her newly acquired forms of government, her reconstructed national +social structure, her recently constructed roads and railroads, +telegraphs, representative government, etc., and especially at her +army and navy organized on European models and armed with European +weapons, are not unlike those who would discover the secret of human +life by the study of anatomy. + +This external view and this method of interpretation are, therefore, +fundamentally erroneous. Never, perhaps, has the progress of a nation +been so manifestly an evolution as distinguished from a revolution. No +foreign conquerors have come in with their armies, crushing down the +old and building up a new civilization. No magician's wand has been +waved over the land to make the people forget the traditions of a +thousand years and fall in with those of the new régime. No rite or +incantation has been performed to charm the marvelous tree of +civilization and cause it to take root and grow to such lofty +proportions in an unprepared soil. + +In contrast to the defective views outlined above, one need not +hesitate to believe that the actual process by which Old Japan has +been transformed into New Japan is perfectly natural and necessary. It +has been a continuous growth; it is not the mere accumulation of +external additions; it does not consist alone of the acquisition of +the machinery and the institutions of the Occident. It is rather a +development from within, based upon already existing ideas and +institutions. New Japan is the consequence of her old endowment and +her new environment. Her evolution has been in progress and can be +traced for at least a millennium and a half, during which she has been +preparing for this latest step. All that was necessary for its +accomplishment was the new environment. The correctness of this view +and the reasons for it will appear as we proceed in our study of +Japanese characteristics. But we need to note at this point the +danger, into which many fall, of ascribing to Japan an attainment of +western civilization which the facts will not warrant. She has +secured much, but by no means all, that the West has to give. + +We may suggest our line of thought by asking what is the fundamental +element of civilization? Does it consist in the manifold appliances +that render life luxurious; the railroad, the telegraph, the post +office, the manufactures, the infinite variety of mechanical and other +conveniences? Or is it not rather the social and intellectual and +ethical state of a people? Manifestly the latter. The tools indeed of +civilization may be imported into a half-civilized, or barbarous +country; such importation, however, does not render the country +civilized, although it may assist greatly in the attainment of that +result. Civilization being mental, social, and ethical, can arise only +through the growth of the mind and character of the vast multitudes of +a nation. Now has Japan imported only the tools of civilization? In +other words, is her new civilization only external, formal, nominal, +unreal? That she has imported much is true. Yet that her attainments +and progress rest on her social, intellectual, and ethical development +will become increasingly clear as we take up our successive chapters. +Under the new environment of the past fifty years, this growth, +particularly in intellectual, in industrial, and in political lines, +has been exceedingly rapid as compared with the growths of other +peoples. + +This conception of the rise of New Japan will doubtless approve itself +to every educated man who will allow his thought to rest upon the +subject. For all human progress, all organic evolution, proceeds by +the progressive modification of the old organs under new conditions. +The modern locomotive did not spring complete from the mind of James +Watt; it is the result of thousands of years of human experience and +consequent evolution, beginning first perhaps with a rolling log, +becoming a rude cart, and being gradually transformed by successive +inventions until it has become one of the marvels of the nineteenth +century. It is impossible for those who have attained the view-point +of modern science to conceive of discontinuous progress; of +continually rising types of being, of thought, or of moral life, in +which the higher does not find its ground and root and thus an +important part of its explanation, in the lower. Such is the case not +only with reference: to biological evolution; it is especially true of +social evolution. He who would understand the Japan of to-day cannot +rest with the bare statement that her adoption of the tools and +materials of Western civilization has given her her present power and +place among the nations. The student with historical insight knows +that it is impossible for one nation, off-hand, without preparation, +to "adopt the civilization" of another. + +The study of the evolution of Japan is one of unusual interest; first, +because of the fact that Japan has experienced such unique changes in +her environment. Her history brings into clear light some principles +of evolution which the visual development of a people does not make so +clear. + +In the second place, New Japan is in a state of rapid growth. She is +in a critical period, resembling a youth, just coming to manhood, when +all the powers of growth are most vigorous. The latent qualities of +body and mind and heart then burst forth with peculiar force. In the +course of four or five short years the green boy develops into a +refined and noble man; the thoughtless girl ripens into the full +maturity of womanhood and of motherhood. These are the years of +special interest to those who would observe nature in her time of most +critical activity. + +Not otherwise is it in the life of nations. There are times when their +growth is phenomenally rapid; when their latent qualities are +developed; when their growth can be watched with special ease and +delight, because so rapid. The Renaissance was such a period in +Europe. Modern art, science, and philosophy took their start with the +awakening of the mind of Europe at that eventful and epochal period of +her life. Such, I take it, is the condition of Japan to-day. She is +"being born again"; undergoing her "renaissance." Her intellect, +hitherto largely dormant, is but now awaking. Her ambition is equaled +only by her self-reliance. Her self-confidence and amazing +expectations have not yet been sobered by hard experience. Neither +does she, nor do her critics, know how much she can or cannot do. She +is in the first flush of her new-found powers; powers of mind and +spirit, as well as of physical force. Her dreams are gorgeous with all +the colors of the rainbow. Her efforts are sure, to be noble in +proportion as her ambitions are high. The growth of the past +half-century is only the beginning of what we may expect to see. + +Then again, this latest and greatest step in the evolution of Japan +has taken place at a time unparalleled for opportunities of +observation, under the incandescent light of the nineteenth century, +with its thousands of educated men to observe and record the facts, +many of whom are active agents in the evolution in progress. Hundreds +of papers and magazines, native and European, read by tens of +thousands of intelligent men and women, have kept the world aware of +the daily and hourly events. Telegraphic dispatches and letters by the +million have passed between the far East and the West. It would seem +as if the modernizing of Japan had been providentially delayed until +the last half of the nineteenth century with its steam and +electricity, annihilators of space and time, in order that her +evolution might be studied with a minuteness impossible in any +previous age, or by any previous generation. It is almost as if one +were conducting an experiment in human evolution in his own +laboratory, imposing the conditions and noting the results. + +For still another reason is the evolution of New Japan of special +interest to all intelligent persons. To illustrate great things by +small, and human by physical, no one who has visited Geneva has failed +to see the beautiful mingling of the Arve and the Rhone. The latter +flowing from the calm Geneva lake is of delicate blue, pure and +limpid. The former, running direct from the glaciers of Mont Blanc and +the roaring bed of Chamouni, bears along in its rushing waters +powdered rocks and loosened soil. These rivers, though joined in one +bed, for hundreds of rods are quite distinct; the one, turbid; the +other, clear as crystal; yet they press each against the other, now a +little of the Rhone's clear current forces its way into the Arve, soon +to be carried off, absorbed and discolored by the mass of muddy water +around it. Now a little of the turbid Arve forces its way into the +clear blue Rhone, to lose there its identity in the surrounding +waters. The interchange goes on, increasing with the distance until, +miles below, the two-rivers mingle as one. No longer is it the Arve or +the old Rhone, but the new Rhone. + +In Japan there is going on to-day a process unique in the history of +the human race. Two streams of civilization, that of the far East and +that of the far West, are beginning to flow in a single channel. These +streams are exceedingly diverse, in social structure, in government, +in moral ideals and standards, in religion, in psychological and +metaphysical conceptions. Can they live together? Or is one going to +drive out and annihilate the other? If so, which will be victor? Or is +there to be modification of both? In other words, is there to be a new +civilization--a Japanese, an Occidento-Oriental civilization? + +The answer is plain to him who has eyes with which to see. Can the +Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? No more can Japan +lose all trace of inherited customs of daily life, of habits of +thought and language, products of a thousand years of training in +Chinese literature, Buddhist doctrine, and Confucian ethics. That "the +boy is father to the man" is true of a nation no less than of an +individual. What a youth has been at home in his habits of thought, in +his purpose and spirit and in their manifestation in action, will +largely determine his after-life. In like manner the mental and moral +history of Japan has so stamped certain characteristics on her +language, on her thought, and above all on her temperament and +character, that, however she may strive to Westernize herself, it is +impossible for her to obliterate her Oriental features. She will +inevitably and always remain Japanese. + +Japan has already produced an Occidento-Oriental civilization. Time +will serve progressively to Occidentalize it. But there is no reason +for thinking that it will ever become wholly Occidentalized. A +Westerner visiting Japan will always be impressed with its Oriental +features, while an Asiatic will be impressed with its Occidental +features. This progressive Occidentalization of Japan will take place +according to the laws of social evolution, of which we must speak +somewhat more fully in a later chapter. + +An important question bearing on this problem is the precise nature of +the characteristics differentiating the Occident and the Orient. What +exactly do we mean when we say that the Japanese are Oriental and will +always bear the marks of the Orient in their civilization, however +much they may absorb from the West? The importance and difficulty of +this question have led the writer to defer its consideration till +toward the close of this work. + +If one would gain adequate conception of the process now going on, the +illustration already used of the mingling of two rivers needs to be +supplemented by another, corresponding to a separate class of facts. +Instead of the mingling of rivers, let us watch the confluence of two +glaciers. What pressures! What grindings! What upheavals! What +rendings! Such is the mingling of two civilizations. It is not smooth +and Noiseless, but attended with pressure and pain. It is a collision +in more ways than one. The unfortunates on whom the pressures of both +currents are directed are often quite destroyed. + +Comparison is often made between Japan and India. In both countries +enormous social changes are taking place; in both, Eastern and Western +civilizations are in contact and in conflict. The differences, +however, are even more striking than the likenesses. Most conspicuous +is the fact that whereas, in India, the changes in civilization are +due almost wholly to the force and rule of the conquering race, in +Japan these changes are spontaneous, attributable entirely to the +desire and initiative of the native rulers. This difference is +fundamental and vital. The evolution of society in India is to a large +degree compulsory; in a true sense it is an artificial evolution. In +Japan, on the other hand, evolution is natural. There has not been +the slightest physical compulsion laid on her from without. With two +rare exceptions, Japan has never heard the boom of foreign cannon +carrying destruction to her people. During these years of change, +there have been none but Japanese rulers, and such has been the case +throughout the entire period of Japanese history. Their native rulers +have introduced changes such as foreign rulers would hardly have +ventured upon. The adoption of the Chinese language, literature, and +religions from ten to twelve centuries ago, was not occasioned by a +military occupancy of Japanese soil by invaders from China. It was due +absolutely to the free choice of their versatile people, as free and +voluntary as was the adoption by Rome of Greek literature and +standards of learning. The modern choice of Western material +civilization no doubt had elements of fear as motive power. But +impulsion through a knowledge of conditions differs radically from +compulsion exercised by a foreign military occupancy. India +illustrates the latter; Japan, the former. + +Japan and her people manifest amazing contrasts. Never, on the one +hand, has a nation been so free from foreign military occupancy +throughout a history covering more than fifteen centuries, and at the +same time, been so influenced by and even subject to foreign psychical +environment. What was the fact in ancient times is the fact to-day. +The dominance of China and India has been largely displaced by that of +Europe. Western literature, language, and science, and even customs, +are being welcomed by Japan, and are working their inevitable effects. +But it is all perfectly natural, perfectly spontaneous. The present +choice by Japan of modern science and education and methods and +principles of government and nineteenth-century literature and +law,--in a word, of Occidental civilization,--is not due to any +artificial pressure or military occupancy. But the choice and the +consequent evolution are wholly due to the free act of the people. In +this, as in several other respects, Japan reminds us of ancient +Greece. Dr. Menzies, in his "History of Religion," says: "Greece was +not conquered from the East, but stirred to new life by the +communication of new ideas." Free choice has made Japan reject Chinese +astronomy, surgery, medicine, and jurisprudence. The early choice to +admit foreigners to Japan to trade may have been made entirely through +fear, but is now accepted and justified by reason and choice. + +The true explanation, therefore, of the recent and rapid rise of Japan +to power and reputation, is to be found, not in the externals of her +civilization, not in the pressure of foreign governments, but rather +in the inherited mental and temperamental characteristics, reacting on +the new and stimulating environment, and working along the lines of +true evolution. Japan has not "jumped out of her skin," but a new +vitality has given that skin a new color. + + + + +II + +HISTORICAL SKETCH + + +How many of the stories of the Kojiki (written in 712 A.D.) and +Nihongi (720 A.D.) are to be accepted is still a matter of dispute +among scholars. Certain it is, however, that Japanese early history is +veiled in a mythology which seems to center about three prominent +points: Kyushu, in the south; Yamato, in the east central, and Izumo +in the west central region. This mythological history narrates the +circumstances of the victory of the southern descendants of the gods +over the two central regions. And it has been conjectured that these +three centers represent three waves of migration that brought the +ancestors of the present inhabitants of Japan to these shores. The +supposition is that they came quite independently and began their +conflicts only after long periods of residence and multiplication. + +Though this early record is largely mythological, tradition shows us +the progenitors of the modern Japanese people as conquerors from the +west and south who drove the aborigines before them and gradually took +possession of the entire land. That these conquerors were not all of +the same stock is proved by the physical appearance of the Japanese +to-day, and by their language. Through these the student traces an +early mixture of races--the Malay, the Mongolian, and the Ural-Altaic. +Whether the early crossing of these races bears vital relation to the +plasticity of the Japanese is a question which tempts the scholar. + +Primitive, inter-tribal conflicts of which we have no reliable records +resulted in increasing intercourse. Victory was followed by +federation. And through the development of a common language, of +common customs and common ideas, the tribes were unified socially and +psychically. Consciousness of this unity was emphasized by the +age-long struggle against the Ainu, who were not completely conquered +until the eighteenth century. + +With the dawn of authentic history (500-600 A.D.) we find amalgamation +of the conquering tribes, with, however, constantly recurring +inter-clan and inter-family wars. Many of these continued for scores +and even hundreds of years--proving that, in the modern sense, of the +word, the Japanese were not yet a nation, though, through +inter-marriage, through the adoption of important elements of +civilization brought from China and India via Korea, through the +nominal acceptance of the Emperor as the divinely appointed ruler of +the land, they were, in race and in civilization, a fairly homogeneous +people. + +The national governmental system was materially affected by the need, +throughout many centuries, of systematic methods of defense against +the Ainu. The rise of the Shogunate dates back to 883 A.D., when the +chief of the forces opposing the Ainu was appointed by the Emperor and +bore the official title, "The Barbarian-expelling Generalissimo." This +office developed in power until, some centuries later, it usurped in +fact, if not in name, all the imperial prerogatives. + +It is probable that the Chinese written language, literature, and +ethical teachings of Confucius came to Japan from Korea after the +Christian era. The oldest known Japanese writings (Japanese written +with Chinese characters) date from the eighth century. In this period +also Buddhism first came to Japan. For over a hundred years it made +relatively little progress. But when at last in the ninth and tenth +centuries native Japanese Buddhists popularized its doctrines and +adopted into its theogony the deities of the aboriginal religion, now +known as Shinto, Buddhism became the religion of the people, and +filled the land with its great temples, praying priests, and gorgeous +rituals. + +Even in those early centuries the contact of Japan with her Oriental +neighbors revealed certain traits of her character which have been +conspicuous in recent times--great capacity for acquisition, and +readiness to adopt freely from foreign nations. Her contact with +China, at that time so far in advance of herself in every element of +civilization, was in some respects disastrous to her original growth. +Instead of working out the problems of thought and life for herself, +she took what China and Korea had to give. The result was an arrest in +the development of everything distinctively native. The native +religion was so absorbed by Buddhism that for a thousand years it lost +all self-consciousness. Indeed the modern clear demarcation between +the native and the imported religions is a matter of only a few +decades, due to the researches of native scholars during the latter +part of the last and the early part of this century. Even now, +multitudes of the common people know no difference between the various +elements of the composite religion of which they are the heirs. + +Moreover, early contact with China and her enormous literature checked +the development of the native language and the growth of the native +literature. The language suffered arrest because of the rapid +introduction of Chinese terms for all the growing needs of thought and +civilization. Modern Japanese is a compound of the original tongue and +Japonicized Chinese. Native speculative thought likewise found little +encouragement or stimulus to independent activity in the presence of +the elaborate and in many respects profound philosophies brought from +India and China. + +From earliest times the government of Japan was essentially feudal. +Powerful families and clans disputed and fought for leadership, and +the political history of Japan revolves around the varying fortunes of +these families. While the Imperial line is never lost to sight, it +seldom rises to real power. + +When, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Japan's conquering arm +reached across the waters, to ravage the coast of China, to extend her +influence as far south as Siam, and even to invade Korea with a large +army in 1592, it looked as if she were well started on her career as a +world-power. But that was not yet to be. The hegemony of her clans +passed into the powerful and shrewd Tokugawa family, the policy of +which was peace and national self-sufficiency. + +The representatives of the Occidental nations (chiefly of Spain and +Portugal) were banished. The Christian religion (Roman Catholic), +which for over fifty years had enjoyed free access and had made great +progress, was forbidden and stamped out, not without much bloodshed. +Foreign travel and commerce were strictly interdicted. A particular +school of Confucian ethics was adopted and taught as the state +religion. Feudalism was systematically established and intentionally +developed. Each and every man had his assigned and recognized place in +the social fabric, and change was not easy. It is doubtful if any +European country has ever given feudalism so long and thorough a +trial. Never has feudalism attained so complete a development as it +did in Japan under the Tokugawa régime of over 250 years. + +During this period no influences came from other lands to disturb the +natural development. With the exception of three ships a year from +Holland, an occasional stray ship from other lands, and from fifteen +to twenty Dutchmen isolated in a little island in the harbor of +Nagasaki, Japan had no communication with foreign lands or alien +peoples. + +Of this period, extending to the middle of the present century, the +ordinary visitor and even the resident have but a superficial +knowledge. All the changes that have taken place in Japan, since the +coming of Perry in 1854, are attributed by the easy-going tourist to +the external pressure of foreign nations. But such travelers know +nothing of the internal preparations that had been making for +generations previous to the arrival of Perry. The tourist is quite +ignorant of the line of Japanese scholars that had been undermining +the authority of the military rulers, "the Tokugawa," in favor of the +Imperial line which they had practically supplanted. + +The casual student of Japan has been equally ignorant of the real +mental and moral caliber of the Japanese. Dressed in clothing that +appeared to us fantastic, and armed with cumbersome armor and +old-fashioned guns, it was easy to jump to the conclusion that the +people were essentially uncivilized. We did not know the intellectual +discipline demanded of one, whether native or foreign, who would +master the native language or the native systems of thought. We forgot +that we appeared as grotesque and as barbarous to them as they to us, +and that mental ability and moral worth are qualities that do not show +on the surface of a nation's civilization. While they thought us to be +"unclean," "dogs," "red-haired devils," we perhaps thought them to be +clever savages, or at best half-civilized heathen, without moral +perceptions or intellectual ability. + +Of Old Japan little more needs to be said. Without external commerce, +there was little need for internal trade; ships were small; roads were +footpaths; education was limited to the samurai, or military class, +retainers of the daimyo, "feudal lords"; inter-clan travel was limited +and discouraged; Confucian ethics was the moral standard. From the +beginning of the seventeenth century Christianity was forbidden by +edict, and was popularly known as the "evil way"; Japan was thought to +be especially sacred, and the coming of foreigners was supposed to +pollute the land and to be the cause of physical evils. Education, as +in China, was limited to the Chinese classics. Mathematics, general +history, and science, in the modern sense, were of course wholly +unknown. Guns and powder were brought from the West in the sixteenth +century by Spaniards and Portuguese, but were never improved. +Ship-building was the same in the middle of the nineteenth century as +in the middle of the sixteenth, perhaps even less advanced. +Architecture had received its great impulse from the introduction of +Buddhism in the ninth and tenth centuries and had made no material +improvement thereafter. + +But while there was little progress in the external and mechanical +elements of civilization, there was progress in other respects. During +the "great peace," first arose great scholars. Culture became more +general throughout the nation. Education was esteemed. The corrupt +lives of the priests were condemned and an effort was made to reform +life through the revival of a certain school of Confucian teachers +known as "Shin-Gaku"--"Heart-Knowledge." Art also made progress, both +pictorial and manual. It would almost seem as if modern artificers and +painters had lost the skill of their forefathers of one or two hundred +years ago. + +Many reasons explain the continuance of the old political and social +order: the lack of a foreign foe to compel abandonment of the tribal +organisation; the mountainous nature of the country with its slow, +primitive means of intercommunication; the absence of all idea of a +completely centralized nation. Furthermore, the principle of complete +subordination to superiors and ancestors had become so strong that +individual innovations were practically impossible. Japan thus lacked +the indispensable key to further progress, the principle of +individualism. The final step in the development of her nationality +has been taken, therefore, only in our own time. + +Old Japan seemed absolutely committed to a thorough-going antagonism +to everything foreign. New Japan seems committed to the opposite +policy. What are the steps by which she has effected this apparent +national reversal of attitude? + +We should first note that the absolutism of the Tokugawa Shogunate +served to arouse ever-growing opposition because of its stern +repression of individual opinion. It not only forbade the Christian +religion, but also all independent thought in religious philosophy and +in politics. The particular form of Confucian moral philosophy which +it held was forced on all public teachers of Confucianism. Dissent was +not only heretical, but treasonable. Although, by its military +absolutism, the Tokugawa rule secured the great blessing of peace, +lasting over two hundred years, and although the curse of Japan for +well-nigh a thousand preceding years had been fierce inter-tribal and +inter-family wars and feuds, yet it secured that peace at the expense +of individual liberty of thought and act. It thus gradually aroused +against itself the opposition of many able minds. The enforced peace +rendered it possible for these men to devote themselves to problems of +thought and of history. Indeed, they had no other outlet for their +energies. As they studied the history of the past and compared their +results with the facts of the present, it gradually dawned on the +minds of the scholars of the eighteenth century, that the Tokugawa +family were exercising functions of government which had never been +delegated to them; and that the Emperor was a poverty-stricken puppet +in the hands of a family that had seized the military power and had +gradually absorbed all the active functions of government, together +with its revenues. + +It is possible for us to see now that these early Japanese scholars +idealized their ancient history, and assigned to the Emperor a place +in ancient times which in all probability he has seldom held. But, +however that may be, they thought their view correct, and held that +the Emperor was being deprived of his rightful rule by the Tokugawa +family. + +These ideas, first formulated in secret by scholars, gradually +filtered down, still in secrecy, and were accepted by a large number +of the samurai, the military literati of the land. Their opposition to +the actual rulers of the land, aroused by the individual-crushing +absolutism of the Tokugawa rule, naturally allied itself to the +religious sentiment of loyalty to the Emperor. Few Westerners can +appreciate the full significance of this fact. Throughout the +centuries loyalty to the Emperor has been considered a cardinal +virtue. With one exception, according to the popular histories, no one +ever acknowledged himself opposed to the Emperor. Every rebellion +against the powers in actual possession made it the first aim to gain +possession of the Emperor, and proclaim itself as fighting for him. +When, therefore, the scholars announced that the existing government +was in reality a usurpation and that the Emperor was robbed of his +rightful powers, the latent antagonism to the Tokugawa rule began to +find both intellectual and moral justification. It could and did +appeal to the religious patriotism of the people. It is perhaps not +too much to say that the overthrow of the Tokugawa family and the +restoration of the Imperial rule to the Imperial family would have +taken place even though there had been no interference of foreign +nations, no extraneous influences. But equally certain is it that +these antagonisms to the ruling family were crystallized, and the +great internal changes hastened by the coming in of the aggressive +foreign nations. How this external influence operated must and can be +told in a few words. + +When Admiral Perry negotiated his treaty with the Japanese, he +supposed he was dealing with responsible representatives of the +government. As was later learned, however, the Tokugawa rulers had not +secured the formal assent of the Emperor to the treaty. The Tokugawa +rulers and their counselors, quite as much as the clan-rulers, wished +to keep the foreigners out of the country, but they realized their +inability. The rulers of the clans, however, felt that the Tokugawa +rulers had betrayed the land; they were, accordingly, in active +opposition both to the foreigners and to the national rulers. When the +foreigners requested the Japanese government, "the Tokugawa +Shogunate," to carry out the treaties, it was unable to comply with +the request because of the antagonism of the clan-rulers. When the +clan-rulers demanded that the government annul the treaties and drive +out the hated and much-feared foreigners, it found itself utterly +unable to do so, because of the formidable naval power of the +foreigners. + +As a consequence of this state of affairs, a few serious collisions +took place between the foreigners and the two-sworded samurai, +retainers of the clan-rulers. The Tokugawa rulers apparently did their +best to protect the foreigners, and, when there was no possible method +of evasion, to execute the treaties they had made. But they could not +control the clans already rebellious. A few murders of foreigners, +followed by severe reprisals, and two bombardments of native towns by +foreign gunboats, began to reveal to the military class at large that +no individual or local action against the foreigners was at all to be +thought of. The first step necessary was the unification of the Empire +under the Imperial rule. This, however, could be done only by the +overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate; which was effected in 1867-68 +after a short struggle, marked by great clemency. + +We thus realize that the overthrow of the Shogunate as also the final +abolishment of feudalism with its clans, lords, and hereditary rulers, +and the establishment of those principles of political and personal +centralization which lie at the foundation of real national unity, not +only were hastened by, but in a marked degree dependent on, the +stimulus and contribution of foreigners. They compelled a more +complete Japanese unity than had existed before, for they demanded +direct relations with the national head. And when treaty negotiations +revealed the lack of such a head, they undertook to show its necessity +by themselves punishing those local rulers who did not recognize the +Tokugawa headship. + +With the establishment of the Emperor on the throne, began the modern +era in Japanese history, known in Japan as "Meiji"--"Enlightened +Rule." + +But not even yet was the purpose of the nation attained, namely, the +expulsion of the polluters of the sacred soil of Japan. As soon as the +new government was established and had turned its attention to foreign +affairs, it found itself in as great a dilemma as had its +predecessors, the Tokugawa rulers. For the foreign governments +insisted that the treaties negotiated with the old government should +be accepted in full by the new. It was soon as evident to the new +rulers as it had been to the old that direct and forcible resistance +to the foreigners was futile. Not by might were they to be overcome. +Westerners had, however, supplied the ideals whereby national, +political unity was to be secured. Mill's famous work on +"Representative Government" was early translated, and read by all the +thinking men of the day. These ideas were also keenly studied in their +actual workings in the West. The consequence was that feudalism was +utterly rejected and the new ideas, more or less modified, were +speedily adopted, even down to the production of a constitution and +the establishment of local representative assemblies and a national +diet. In other words, the theories and practices of the West in regard +to the political organization of the state supplied Japan with those +new intellectual variations which were essential to the higher +development of her own national unity. + +A further point of importance is the fact that at the very time that +the West applied this pressure and supplied Japan with these political +ideals she also put within her reach the material instruments which +would enable her to carry them into practice. I refer to steam +locomotion by land and sea, the postal and telegraphic systems of +communication, the steam printing press, the system of popular +education, and the modern organization of the army and the navy. These +instruments Japan made haste to acquire. But for these, the rapid +transformation of Old Japan into New Japan would have been an +exceedingly long and difficult process. The adoption of these tools of +civilization by the central authority at once gave it an immense +superiority over any local force. For it could communicate speedily +with every part of the Empire, and enforce its decisions with a +celerity and a decisiveness before unknown. It became once more the +actual head of the nation. + +We have thus reached the explanation of one of the most astonishing +changes in national attitude that history has to record, and the new +attitude seems such a contradiction of the old as to be inexplicable, +and almost incredible. But a better knowledge of the facts and a +deeper understanding of their significance will serve to remove this +first impression. + +What, then, did the new government do? It simply said, "For us to +drive out these foreigners is impossible; but neither is it desirable. +We need to know the secrets of their power. We must study their +language, their science, their machinery, their steamboats, their +battle-ships. We must learn all their secrets, and then we shall be +able to turn them out without difficulty. Let us therefore restrict +them carefully to the treaty ports, but let us make all the use of +them we can." + +This has virtually been the national policy of Japan ever since. And +this policy gained the acceptance of the people as a whole with +marvelous readiness, for a reason which few foreigners can appreciate. +Had this policy been formulated and urged by the Tokugawa rulers, +there is no probability that it would have been accepted. But because +it was, ostensibly at least, the declared will of the Emperor, loyalty +to him, which in Japan is both religion and patriotism, led to a +hearty and complete acceptance which could hardly have been realized +in any other land. During the first year of his "enlightened" rule +(1868), the Emperor gave his sanction to an Edict, the last two +clauses of which read as follows: + + "The old, uncivilized way shall be replaced by the eternal + principles of the universe. + + "The best knowledge shall be sought throughout the world, so as to + promote the Imperial welfare." + +It is the wide acceptance of this policy, which, however, is in accord +with the real genius of the people, that has transformed Japan. It has +sent hundreds of its young men to foreign lands to learn and bring +back to Japan the secrets of Western power and wealth; it has +established roads and railways, postal and telegraphic facilities, a +public common-school system, colleges and a university in which +Western science, history, and languages have been taught by foreign +and foreign-trained instructors; daily, weekly, and monthly papers and +magazines; factories, docks, drydocks; local and foreign commerce; +representative government--in a word, all the characteristic features +of New Japan. The whole of New Japan is only the practical carrying +out of the policy adopted at the beginning of the new era, when it was +found impossible to cast out the foreigners by force. Brute force +being found to be out of the question, resort was thus made to +intellectual force, and with real success. + +The practice since then has not been so much to retain the foreigner +as to learn of him and then to eliminate him. Every branch of learning +and industry has proved this to be the consistent Japanese policy. No +foreigner may hope to obtain a permanent position in Japanese employ, +either in private firms or in the government. A foreigner is useful +not for what he can do, but for what he can teach. When any Japanese +can do his work tolerably well, the foreigner is sure to be dropped. + +The purpose of this volume does not require of us a minute statistical +statement of the present attainments of New Japan. Such information +may be procured from Henry Norman's "Real Japan," Ransome's "Japan in +Transition," and Newton's "Japan: Country, Court, and People." It is +enough for us to realize that Japan has wholly abandoned or profoundly +modified all the external features of her old, her distinctively +Oriental civilization and has replaced them by Occidental features. In +government, she is no longer arbitrary, autocratic, and hereditary, +but constitutional and representative. Town, provincial, and national +legislative assemblies are established, and in fairly good working +order, all over the land. The old feudal customs have been replaced by +well codified laws, which are on the whole faithfully administered +according to Occidental methods. Examination by torture has been +abolished. The perfect Occidentalization of the army, and the creation +of an efficient navy, are facts fully demonstrated to the world. The +limited education of the few--- and in exclusively Chinese +classics--has given place to popular education. Common schools number +over 30,000, taught by about 100,000 teachers (4278 being women), +having over 4,500,000 pupils (over 1,500,000 being girls). The school +accommodation is insufficient; it is said that 30,000 additional +teachers are needed at once. Middle and high schools throughout the +land are rejecting nearly one-half of the student applicants for lack +of accommodation. + +Feudal isolation, repression, and seclusion have given way to free +travel, free speech, and a free press. Newspapers, magazines, and +books pour forth from the universal printing press in great profusion. +Twenty dailies issue in the course of a year over a million copies +each, while two of them circulate 24,000,000 and 21,000,000 copies, +respectively. + +Personal, political, and religious liberty has been practically secure +now for over two decades, guaranteed by the constitution, and enforced +by the courts. + +Chinese medical practice has largely been replaced by that from the +West, although many of the ignorant classes still prefer the old +methods. The government enforces Western hygienic principles in all +public matters, with the result that the national health has improved +and the population is growing at an alarming rate. While in 1872 the +people numbered 33,000,000, in 1898 they numbered 45,000,000. The +general scale of living for the common people has also advanced +conspicuously. Meat shops are now common throughout the land--a thing +unknown in pre-Meiji times--and rice, which used to be the luxury of +the wealthy few, has become the staple necessity of the many. + +Postal and telegraph facilities are quite complete. Macadamized roads +and well-built railroads have replaced the old footpaths, except in +the most mountainous districts. Factories of many kinds are appearing +in every town and city. Business corporations, banks, etc., which +numbered only thirty-four so late as 1864 are now numbered by the +thousand, and trade flourishes as in no previous period of Japanese +history. Instead of being a country of farmers and soldiers, Japan is +to-day a land of farmers and merchants. Wealth is growing apace. +International commerce, too, has sprung up and expanded phenomenally. +Japanese merchant steamers may now be seen in every part of the world. + +All these changes have taken place within about three decades, and so +radical have they been,--so productive of new life in Japan,--that +some have urged the re-writing of Japanese history, making the first +year of Meiji (1868) the year one of Japan, instead of reckoning from +the year in which Jimmu Tenno is said to have ascended the throne, +2560 years ago (B.C. 660). + +The way in which Japanese regard the transformations produced by the +"restoration" of the present Emperor, upon the overthrow of the +"Bakufu," or "Curtain Government," may be judged from the following +graphic paragraph from _The Far East_: + + "The Restoration of Meiji was indeed the greatest of revolutions + that this island empire ever underwent. Its magic wand left + nothing untouched and unchanged. It was the Restoration that + overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate, which reigned supreme for over + two centuries and a half. It was the Restoration that brought us + face to face with the Occidentals. It was the Restoration that + pulled the demigods of the Feudal lords down to the level of the + commoners. It was the Restoration that deprived the samurai of + their fiefs and reduced them to penury. It was the Restoration that + taught the people to build their houses of bricks and stones and to + construct ships and bridges of iron instead of wood. It was the + Restoration that informed us that eclipses and comets are not to be + feared, and that earthquakes are not caused by a huge cat-fish in + the bottom of the earth. It was the Restoration that taught the + people to use the "drum-backing" thunder as their messenger, and to + make use of the railroad instead of the palanquin. It was the + Restoration that set the earth in motion, and proved that there is + no rabbit in the moon. It was the Restoration that bestowed on + Socrates and Aristotle the chairs left vacant by Confucius and + Mencius. It was the Restoration that let Shakspere and Goethe take + the place of Bakin and Chikamatsu. It was the Restoration that + deprived the people of the swords and topnots. In short, after the + Restoration a great change took place in administration, in art, in + science, in literature, in language spoken and written, in taste, + in custom, in the mode of living, nay in everything" (p. 541). + +A natural outcome of the Restoration is the exuberant patriotism that +is so characteristic a feature of New Japan. The very term +"ai-koku-shin" is a new creation, almost as new as the thing. This +word is an incidental proof of the general correctness of the +contention of this chapter that true nationality is a recent product +in Japan. The term, literally translated, is "love-country heart"; but +the point for us to notice particularly is the term for country, +"koku"; this word has never before meant the country as a whole, but +only the territory of a clan. If I wish to ask a Japanese what part +of Japan is his native home, I must use this word. And if a Japanese +wishes to ask me which of the foreign lands I am a native of, he must +use the same word. The truth is that Old Japan did not have any common +word corresponding to the English term, "My country." In ancient +times, this could only mean, "My clan-territory." But with the passing +away of the clans the old word has taken on a new significance. The +new word, "ai-koku-shin," refers not to love of clan, but to love of +the whole nation. The conception of national unity has at last seized +upon the national mind and heart, and is giving the people an +enthusiasm for the nation, regardless of the parts, which they never +before knew. Japanese patriotism has only in this generation come to +self-consciousness. This leads it to many a strange freak. It is +vociferous and imperious, and often very impractical and Chauvinistic. +It frequently takes the form of uncompromising disdain for the +foreigner, and the most absolute loyalty to the Emperor of Japan; it +demands the utmost respect of expression in regard to him and the form +of government he has graciously granted the nation. The slightest hint +or indirect suggestion of defect or ignorance, or even of limitation, +is most vehemently resented. + +A few illustrations of the above statements from recent experience +will not be out of place. In August, 1891, the Minister of Education, +Mr. Y. Osaki, criticising the tendency in Japan to pay undue respect +to moneyed men, said, in the course of a long speech, "You Japanese +worship money even more reverently than the Americans do. If you had a +republic as they have, I believe you would nominate an Iwazaki or a +Mitsui to be president, whereas they don't think of nominating a +Vanderbilt or a Gould." It was not long before a storm was raging +around his head because of this reference to a republican form of +government as a possibility in Japan. The storm became so fierce that +he was finally compelled to resign his post and retire, temporarily, +from political life. + +In October, 1898, the High Council of Education was required to +consider various questions regarding the conduct of the educational +department after the New Treaties should come into force. The most +important question was whether foreigners should be allowed to have a +part in the education of Japanese youth. The general argument, and +that which prevailed, was that this should not be allowed lest the +patriotism of the children be weakened. So far as appears but one +voice was raised for a more liberal policy. Mr. Y. Kamada maintained +that "patriotism in Japan was the outcome of foreign intercourse. +Patriotism, that is to say, love of country--not merely of fief--and +readiness to sacrifice everything for its sake, was a product of the +Meiji era." + +In 1891 a teacher in the Kumamoto Boys' School gave expression to the +thought in a public address that, as all mankind are brothers, the +school should stand for the principle of universal brotherhood and +universal goodwill to men. This expression of universalism was so +obnoxious to the patriotic spirit of so large a number of the people +of Kumamoto Ken, or Province, that the governor required the school to +dismiss that teacher. There is to-day a strong party in Japan which +makes "Japanism" their cry; they denounce all expressions of universal +good-will as proofs of deficiency of patriotism. There are not wanting +those who see through the shallowness of such views and who vigorously +oppose and condemn such narrow patriotism. Yet the fact that it exists +to-day with such force must be noted and its natural explanation, too, +must not be forgotten. It is an indication of self-conscious +nationality. + +That this love of country, even this conception of country, is a +modern thing will appear from two further facts. Until modern times +there was no such thing as a national flag. The flaming Sun on a field +of white came into existence as a national flag only in 1859. The use +of the Sun as the symbol for the Emperor has been in vogue since 700 +A.D., the custom having been adopted from China. "When in 1859 a +national flag corresponding to those of Europe became necessary, the +Sun Banner naturally stepped into the vacant place."[A] + +The second fact is the recent origin of the festival known as +"Kigensetsu." It occurs on February 11 and celebrates the alleged +accession of Jimmu Tenno, the first Emperor of Japan, to the throne +2560 years ago (660 B.C.). The festival itself, however, was +instituted by Imperial decree ten years ago (1890). + +The transformation which has come over Japan in a single generation +requires interpretation. Is the change real or superficial? Is the new +social order "a borrowed trumpery garment, which will soon be rent by +violent revolutions," according to the eminent student of racial +psychology, Professor Le Bon, or is it of "a solid nature" according +to the firm belief of Mr. Stanford Ransome, one of the latest writers +on Japan? + +This is the problem that will engage our attention more or less +directly throughout this work. We shall give our chief thought to the +nature and development of Japanese racial characteristics, believing +that this alone gives the light needed for the solution of the +problem.[B] + + + + +III + +THE PROBLEM OF PROGRESS + + +What constitutes progress? And what is the true criterion for its +measurement? In adopting Western methods of life and thought, is Japan +advancing or receding? The simplicity of the life of the common +people, their freedom from fashions that fetter the Occidental, their +independence of furniture in their homes, their few wants and fewer +necessities--these, when contrasted with the endless needs and demands +of an Occidental, are accepted by some as evidences of a higher stage +of civilization than prevails in the West. + +The hedonistic criterion of progress is the one most commonly adopted +in considering the question as to whether Japan is the gainer or the +loser by her rapid abandonment of old ways and ideas and by her +equally rapid adoption of Western ones in their place. Yet this appeal +to happiness seems to me a misleading because vague, if not altogether +false, standard of progress. Those who use it insist that the people +of Japan are losing their former happiness under the stress of new +conditions. Now there can be no doubt that during the "Kyu-han jidai," +the times before the coming in of Western waves of life, the farmers +were a simple, unsophisticated people; living from month to month with +little thought or anxiety. They may be said to have been happy. The +samurai who lived wholly on the bounty of the daimyo led of course a +tranquil life, at least so far as anxiety or toil for daily rice and +fish was concerned. As the fathers had lived and fought and died, so +did the sons. To a large extent the community had all things in +common; for although the lord lived in relative luxury, yet in such +small communities there never was the great difference between classes +that we find in modern Europe and America. As a rule the people were +fed, if there was food. The socialistic principle was practically +universal. Especially was emphasis laid on kinship. As a result, save +among the outcast classes, the extremes of poverty did not exist. + +Were we to rest our inquiries at this point, we might say that in +truth the Japanese had attained the summit of progress; that nothing +further could be asked. But pushing our way further, we find that the +peace and quiet of the ordinary classes of society were accompanied by +many undesirable features. + +Prominent among them was the domineering spirit of the military class. +They alone laid claim to personal rights, and popular stories are full +of the free and furious ways in which they used their swords. The +slightest offense by one of the swordless men would be paid for by a +summary act of the two-sworded swashbucklers, while beggars and +farmers were cut down without compunction, sometimes simply to test a +sword. In describing those times one man said to me, "They used to cut +off the heads of the common people as farmers cut off the head of the +daikon" (a variety of giant radish). I have frequently asked my +Japanese friends and acquaintances, whether, in view of the increasing +difficulties of life under the new conditions, the country would not +like to return to ancient times and customs. But none have been ready +to give me an affirmative reply. On detailed questioning I have always +found that the surly, domineering methods, the absolutism of the +rulers, and the defenselessness of the people against unjust arbitrary +superiors would not be submitted to by a people that has once tasted +the joy arising from individual rights and freedom and the manhood +that comes from just laws for all. + +A striking feature of those Japanese who are unchanged by foreign ways +is their obsequious manner toward superiors and officials. The lordly +and oftentimes ruthless manner of the rulers has naturally cowed the +subject. Whenever the higher nobility traveled, the common people were +commanded to fall on the ground in obeisance and homage. Failure to do +so was punishable with instant death at the hands of the retainers +who accompanied the lord. During my first stay in Kumamoto I was +surprised that farmers, coming in from the country on horseback, +meeting me as I walked, invariably got down from their horses, +unfastened the handkerchiefs from their heads, and even took off their +spectacles if there were nothing else removable. These were signs of +respect given to all in authority. Where my real status began to be +generally known, these signs of politeness gave place to rude staring. +It is difficult for the foreigner to appreciate the extremes of the +high-handed and the obsequious spirit which were developed by the +ancient form of government. Yet it is comparatively easy to +distinguish between the evidently genuine humility of the non-military +classes and the studied deference of the dominant samurai. + +Another feature of the old order of things was the emptiness of the +lives of the people. Education was rare. Limited to the samurai, who +composed but a fraction of the population, it was by no means +universal even among them. And such education as they had was confined +to the Chinese classics. Although there were schools in connection +with some of the temples, the people as a whole did not learn to read +or write. These were accomplishments for the nobility and men of +leisure. The thoughts of the people were circumscribed by the narrow +world in which they lived, and this allowed but an occasional +glimpse of other clans through war or a chance traveler. For, in those +times, freedom of travel was not generally allowed. Each man, as a +rule, lived and labored and died where he was born. The military +classes had more freedom. But when we contrast the breadth of thought +and outlook enjoyed by the nation to-day, through newspapers and +magazines, with the outlook and knowledge of even the most progressive +and learned of those of ancient times, how contracted do their lives +appear! + +A third feature of former times is the condition of women during those +ages. Eulogizers of Old Japan not only seem to forget that working +classes existed then, but also that women, constituting half the +population, were essential to the existence of the nation. Though +allowing more freedom than was given to women in other Oriental +nations, Japan did not grant such liberty as is essential to the full +development of her powers. "Woman is a man's plaything" expresses a +view still held in Japan. "Woman's sole duty is the bearing and +rearing of children for her husband" is the dominant idea that has +determined her place in the family and in the state for hundreds of +years. That she has any independent interest or value as a human being +has not entered into national conception. "The way in which they are +treated by the men has hitherto been such as might cause a pang to any +generous European heart.... A woman's lot is summed up in what is +termed 'the three obediences,' obedience, while yet unmarried, to a +father; obedience, when married, to a husband; obedience, when +widowed, to a son. At the present moment the greatest duchess or +marchioness in the land is still her husband's drudge. She fetches and +carries for him, bows down humbly in the hall when my lord sallies +forth on his good pleasure."[C] "The Greater Learning for Women," by +Ekken Kaibara (1630-1714), an eminent Japanese moralist, is the name +of a treatise on woman's duties which sums up the ideas common in +Japan upon this subject. For two hundred years or more it has been +used as a text-book in the training of girls. It enjoins such abject +submission of the wife to her husband, to her parents-in-law, and to +her other kindred by marriage, as no self-respecting woman of Western +lands could for a moment endure. Let me prove this through a few +quotations. + +"A woman should look on her husband as if he were Heaven itself and +never weary of thinking how she may yield to her husband, and thus +escape celestial castigation." "Woman must form no friendships and no +intimacy, except when ordered to do so by her parents or by the +middleman. Even at the peril of her life, must she harden her heart +like a rock or metal, and observe the rules of propriety." "A woman +has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her lord and +must serve him with all reverence and worship, not despising or +thinking lightly of him. The great life-long duty of a woman is +obedience.... When the husband issues his instructions, the wife must +never disobey them.... Should her husband be roused to anger at any +time, she must obey him, with fear and trembling." Not one word in all +these many and specific instructions hints at love and affection. That +which to Western ears is the sweetest word in the English language, +the foundation of happiness in the home, the only true bond between +husband and wife, parents and children--LOVE--does not once appear in +this the ideal instruction for Japanese women. + +Even to this day divorce is the common occurrence in Japan. According +to Confucius there are seven grounds of divorce: disobedience, +barrenness, lewd conduct, jealousy, leprosy or any other foul or +incurable disease, too much talking, and thievishness. "In plain +English, a man may send away his wife whenever he gets tired of her." + +Were the man's duties to the wife and to her parents as minutely +described and insisted on as are those of the wife to the husband and +to his parents, this "Greater Learning for Women" would not seem so +deficient; but such is not the case. The woman's rights are few, yet +she bears her lot with marvelous patience. Indeed, she has acquired a +most attractive and patient and modest behavior despite, or is it +because of, centuries of well-nigh tyrannical treatment from the male +sex. In some important respects the women of Japan are not to be +excelled by those of any other land. But that this lot has been a +happy one I cannot conceive it possible for a European, who knows the +meaning of love or home, to contend. The single item of one divorce +for every three marriages tells a tale of sorrow and heartache that is +sad to contemplate. Nor does this include those separations where +tentative marriage takes place with a view to learning whether the +parties can endure living together. I have known several such cases. +Neither does this take account of the great number of concubines that +may be found in the homes of the higher classes. A concubine often +makes formal divorce quite superfluous. + +I by no means contend that the women of Old Japan were all and always +miserable. There was doubtless much happiness and even family joy; +affection between husband and wife could assuredly have been found in +numberless cases. But the hardness of life as a whole, the low +position held by woman in her relations to man, her lack of legal +rights,[D] and her menial position, justify the assertion that there +was much room for improvement. + +These three conspicuous features of the older life in Japan help us to +reach a clear conception as to what constitutes progress. We may say +that true progress consists in that continuous, though slow, +transformation of the structure of society which, while securing its +more thorough organization, brings to each individual the opportunity +of a larger, richer, and fuller life, a life which increasingly calls +forth his latent powers and capacities. In other words, progress is a +growing organization of society, accompanied by a growing liberty of +the individual resulting in richness and fullness of life. It is not +primarily a question of unreflecting happiness, but a question of the +wide development of manhood and womanhood. Both men and women have as +yet unmeasured latent capacities, which demand a certain liberty, +accompanied by responsibilities and cares, in order for their +development. Intellectual education and a wide horizon are likewise +essential to the production of such manhood and womanhood. In the long +run this is seen to bring a deeper and a more lasting happiness than +was possible to the undeveloped man or woman. + +The question of progress is confused and put on a wrong footing when +the consciousness of happiness or unhappiness, is made the primary +test. The happiness of the child is quite apart from that of the +adult. Regardless of distressing circumstances, the child is able to +laugh and play, and this because he is a child; a child in his +ignorance of actual life, and in his inability to perceive the true +conditions in which he lives. Not otherwise, I take it, was the +happiness of the vast majority in Old Japan. Theirs was the happiness +of ignorance and simple, undeveloped lives. Accustomed to tyranny, +they did not think of rebellion against it. Familiar with brutality +and suffering, they felt nothing of its shame and inhumanity. The +sight of decapitated bodies, the torture of criminals, the despotism +of husbands, the cringing obedience of the ruled, the haughtiness of +the rulers, the life of hard toil and narrow outlook, were all so +usual that no thought of escape from such an order of society ever +suggested itself to those who endured it. + +From time to time wise and just rulers did indeed strive to introduce +principles of righteousness into their methods of government; but +these men formed the exception, not the rule. They were individuals +and not the system under which the people lived. It was always a +matter of chance whether or not such men were at the head of affairs, +for the people did not dream of the possibility of having any voice in +their selection. The structure of society was and always had been +absolute militarism. Even under the most benevolent rulers the use of +cruel torture, not only on convicted criminals, but on all suspected +of crime, was customary. Those in authority might personally set a +good example, but they did not modify the system. They owned not only +the soil but practically the laborers also, for these could not leave +their homes in search of others that were better. They were serfs, if +not slaves, and the system did not tend to raise the standard of life +or education, of manhood or womanhood among the people. The happiness +of the people in such times was due in part to their essential +inhumanity of heart and lack of sympathy with suffering and sorrow. +Each individual bore his own sorrow and pain alone. The community, as +such, did not distress itself over individuals who suffered. Sympathy, +in its full meaning, was unknown in Old Japan. The barbarous custom of +casting out the leper from the home, to wander a lonely exile, living +on the charity of strangers, is not unknown even to this day. We are +told that in past times the "people were governed by such strong +aversion to the sight of sickness that travelers were often left to +die by the roadside from thirst, hunger, or disease; and householders +even went the length of thrusting out of doors and abandoning to utter +destitution servants who suffered from chronic maladies." So universal +was this heartlessness that the government at one time issued +proclamations against the practices it allowed. "Whenever an epidemic +occurred the number of deaths was enormous." Seven men of the outcast, +"the Eta," class were authoritatively declared equal in value to one +common man. Beggars were technically called "hi-nin," "not men." + +Those who descant on the happiness of Old Japan commit the great error +of overlooking all these sad features of life, and of fixing their +attention exclusively on the one feature of the childlike, not to say +childish, lightness of heart of the common people. Such writers are +thus led to pronounce the past better than the present time. They also +overlook the profound happiness and widespread prosperity of the +present era. Trade, commerce, manufactures, travel, the freest of +intercommunication, newspapers, and international relations, have +brought into life a richness and a fullness that were then unknown. +But in addition, the people now enjoy a security of personal +interests, a possession of personal rights and property, and a +personal liberty, that make life far more worthy and profoundly +enjoyable, even while they bring responsibilities and duties and not a +few anxieties. This explains the fact that no Japanese has expressed +to me the slightest desire to abandon the present and return to the +life and conditions of Old Japan. + +Let me repeat, therefore, with all possible emphasis, that the problem +of progress is not primarily one of increasing light-heartedness, pure +and simple, nor yet a problem of racial unification or of political +centralization; it is rather a problem of so developing the structure +of society that the individual may have the fullest opportunity for +development. + +The measure of progress is not the degree of racial unification, of +political centralization, or of unreflective happiness, but rather the +degree and the extent of individual personality. Racial unification, +political centralization, and increasing happiness are in the +attainment of progress, but they are not to be viewed as sufficient +ends. Personality, can alone be that end. The wide development of +personality, therefore, is at once the goal and the criterion of +progress. + + + + +IV + +THE METHOD OF PROGRESS + + +Progress as an ideal is quite modern in its origin. For although the +ancients were progressing, they did it unconsciously, blindly, +stumbling on it by chance, forced to it, as we have seen, by the +struggle for existence. True of the ancient civilizations of Europe +and Western Asia and Africa, this is emphatically true of the Orient. +Here, so far from seeking to progress, the avowed aim has been not to +progress; the set purpose has been to do as the fathers did; to follow +their example even in customs and rites whose meaning has been lost in +the obscurity of the past. This blind adherence was the boast of those +who called themselves religious. They strove to fulfill their duties +to their ancestors. + +Under such conditions how was progress possible? And how has it come +to pass that, ruled by this ideal until less than fifty years ago, +Japan is now facing quite the other way? The passion of the nation +to-day is to make the greatest possible progress in every direction. +Here is an anomaly, a paradox; progress made in spite of its +rejection; and, recently, a total volte-face. How shall we explain +this paradox? + +In our chapter on the Principles of National Evolution,[E] we see that +the first step in progress was made through the development of +enlarging communities by means of extending boundaries and hardening +customs. We see that, on reaching this stage, the great problem was so +to break the "cake of custom" as to give liberty to individuals +whereby to secure the needful variations. We do not consider how this +was to be accomplished. We merely show that, if further progress was +to be made, it could only be through the development of the +individualistic principle to which we give the more exact name +communo-individualism. This problem as to how the "cake of custom" is +successfully broken must now engage our attention. + +Mr. Bagehot contends that this process consisted, as a matter of +history, in the establishment of government by discussion. Matters of +principle came to be talked over; the desirability of this or that +measure was submitted to the people for their approval or disapproval. +This method served to stimulate definite and practical thought on a +wide scale; it substituted the thinking of the many for the thinking +of the few; it stimulated independent thinking and consequently +independent action. This is, however, but another way of saying that +it stimulated variation. A government whose action was determined +after wide discussion would be peculiarly fitted to take advantage of +all useful variations of ideas and practice. Experience shows, he +continues, that the difficulty of developing a "cake of custom" is far +more easily surmounted than that of developing government by +discussion; _i.e._, that it is far less difficult to develop +communalism than communo-individualism. The family of arrested +civilizations, of which China and India and Japan, until recent times, +are examples, were caught in the net of what had once been the source +of their progress. The tyranny of their laws and customs was such that +all individual variations were nipped in the bud. They failed to +progress because they failed to develop variations. And they failed in +this because they did not have government by discussion. + +No one will dispute the importance of Mr. Bagehot's, contribution to +this subject. But it may be doubted whether he has pointed out the +full reason for the difficulty of breaking the "cake of custom" or +manifested the real root of progress. To attain progress in the full +sense, not merely of an oligarchy or a caste, but of the whole people, +there must not only be government by discussion, but the +responsibilities of the government must be snared more or less fully +by all the governed. + +History, however, shows that this cannot take place until a +conception of intrinsic manhood and womanhood has arisen, a conception +which emphasizes their infinite and inherent worth. This conception is +not produced by government by discussion, while government by +discussion is the necessary consequence of the wide acceptance of this +conception. It is therefore the real root of progress. + +As I look over the history of the Orient, I find no tendency to +discover the inherent worth of man or to introduce the principle of +government by discussion. Left to themselves, I see no probability +that any of these nations would ever have been able to break the +thrall of their customs, and to reach that stage of development in +which common individuals could be trusted with a large measure of +individual liberty. Though I can conceive that Japan might have +secured a thorough-going political centralization under the old +_régime_, I cannot see that that centralization would have been +accompanied by growing liberty for the individual or by such +constitutional rights for the common man as he enjoys to-day. Whatever +progress she might have made in the direction of nationality it would +still have been a despotism. The common man would have remained a +helpless and hopeless slave. Art might have prospered; the people +might have remained simple-minded and relatively contented. But they +could not have attained that freedom and richness of life, that +personality, which we saw in our last chapter to be the criterion and +goal of true progress. + +If the reader judges the above contention correct and agrees with the +writer that the conception of the inherent value of a human being +could not arise spontaneously in Japan, he will conclude that the +progress of Japan depended on securing this important conception from +without. Exactly this has taken place. By her thorough-going +abandonment of the feudal social order and adoption of the +constitutional and representative government of Christendom, whether +she recognizes it or not, she has accepted the principles of the +inherent worth of manhood and womanhood, as well as government by +discussion. Japan has thus, by imitation rather than by origination, +entered on the path of endless progress. + +So important, however, is the step recently taken that further +analysis of this method of progress is desirable for its full +comprehension. We have already noted quite briefly[F] how Japan was +supplied by the West with the ideal of national unity and the material +instruments essential to its attainment. In connection with the high +development of the nation as a whole, these two elements of progress, +the ideal and the material, need further consideration. + +We note in the first place that both begin with imitation, but if +progress is to be real and lasting, both must grow to independence. + +The first and by far the most important is the psychical, the +introduction of new ideas. So long as the old, familiar ideas hold +sway over the mind of a nation, there is little or no stimulus to +comparison and discussion. Stagnation is well-nigh complete. But let +new ideas be so introduced as to compel attention and comprehension, +and the mind spontaneously awakes to wonderful activity. The old +stagnation is no longer possible. Discussion is started; and in the +end something must take place, even if the new ideas are not accepted +wholly or even in part. But they will not gain attention if presented +simply in the abstract, unconnected with real life. They must bring +evidence that, if accepted and lived, they will be of practical use, +that they will give added power to the nation. + +Exactly this took place in 1854 when Admiral Perry demanded entrance +to Japan. The people suddenly awoke from their sleep of two and a half +centuries to find that new nations had arisen since they closed their +eyes, nations among which new sets of ideas had been at work, giving +them a power wholly unknown to the Orient and even mysterious to it. +Those ideas were concerned, not alone with the making of guns, the +building of ships, the invention of machinery, the taming and using of +the forces of nature, but also with methods of government and law, +with strange notions, too, about religion and duty, about the family +and the individual, which the foreigners said were of inestimable +value and importance. It needed but a few years of intercourse with +Western peoples to convince the most conservative that unless the +Japanese themselves could gain the secret of their power, either by +adopting their weapons or their civilization, they themselves must +fade away before the stronger nations. The need of self-preservation +was the first great stimulus that drove new thoughts into unwilling +brains. + +There can be no doubt that the Japanese were right in this analysis of +the situation. Had they insisted on maintaining their old methods of +national life and social order and ancient customs, there can be no +doubt as to the result. Africa and India in recent decades and China +and Korea in the most recent years tell the story all too clearly. +Those who know the course of treaty conferences and armed collisions, +as at Shimonoseki and Kagoshima between Japan and the foreign nations, +have no doubt that Japan, divided into clans and persisting in her +love of feudalism, would long since have become the territory of some +European Power. She was saved by the possession of a remarkable +combination of national characteristics,--the powers of observation, +of appreciation, and of imitation. In a word, her sensitiveness to her +environment and her readiness to respond to it proved to be her +salvation. + +But the point on which I wish to lay special emphasis is that the +prime element of the form in which the deliverance came was through +the acquisition of numerous new ideas. These were presented by persons +who thoroughly believed in them and who admittedly had a power not +possessed by the Japanese themselves. Though unable to originate these +ideas, the Japanese yet proved themselves capable of understanding and +appreciating them--in a measure at least. They were at first attracted +to that which related chiefly to the externals of civilization, to +that which would contribute immediately to the complete political +centralization of the nation. With great rapidity they adopted Western +ideas about warfare and weapons. They sent their young men abroad to +study the civilization of the foreign nations. At great expense they +also employed many foreigners to teach them in their own land the +things they wished to learn. Thus have the Japanese mastered so +rapidly the details of those ideas which, less than fifty years ago, +were not only strange but odious to them. + +Under their influence, the conditions which history shows to be the +most conducive to the continuous growth of civilization have been +definitely accepted and adopted by the people, namely, popular rights, +the liberty of individuals to differ from the past so far as this does +not interfere with national unity, and the direct responsibility and +relation of each individual to the nation without any mediating group. +These rights and liberties are secured to the individual by a +constitution and by laws enacted by representative legislatures. +Government by discussion has been fairly inaugurated. + +During these years of change the effort has been to leave the old +social order as undisturbed as possible. For example, it was hoped +that the reorganization of the military and naval forces of the Empire +would be sufficient without disturbing the feudal order and without +abolishing the feudal states. But this was soon found ineffectual. For +a time it was likewise thought that the adoption of Western methods of +government might be made without disturbing the old religious ideas +and without removing the edicts against Christianity. But experience +soon showed that the old civilization was a unit. No part could be +vitally modified without affecting the whole structure. Having knocked +over one block in the long row that made up their feudal social order, +it was found that each successive block was touched and fell, until +nothing was left standing as before. It was found also that the old +ideas of education, of travel, of jurisprudence, of torture and +punishment, of social ranks, of the relation of the individual to the +state, of the state to the family, and of religion to the family, were +more or less defective and unsuited to the new civilization. Before +this new movement all obstructive ideas, however, sanctioned by +antiquity, have had to give way. The Japanese of to-day look, as it +were, upon a new earth and a new heaven. Those of forty years ago +would be amazed, not only at the enormous changes in the externals, +life and government, but also at the transformation which has +overtaken every element of the older civilization. Putting it rather +strongly, it is now not the son who obeys the father, but the father +the son. The rulers no longer command the people, but the people +command the rulers. The people do not now toil to support the state; +but the state toils to protect the people. + +Whether the incoming of these new ideas and practices be thought to +constitute progress or not will depend on one's view of the aim of +life. If this be as maintained in the previous chapter, then surely +the transformation of Japan must be counted progress. That, however, +to which I call attention is the fact that the essential requisite of +progress is the attainment of new ideas, whatever be their source. +Japan has not only taken up a great host of these, but in doing so she +has adopted a social structure to stimulate the continuous production +of new ideas, through the development of individuality. She is thus in +the true line of continuously progressive evolution. Imitating the +stronger nations, she has introduced into her system the life-giving +blood of free discussion, popular education, and universal individual +rights and liberty. In a word, she has begun to be an individualistic +nation. She has introduced a social order fitted to a wide development +of personality. + +The importance of the second line of progress, the physical, would +seem to be too obvious to call for any detailed consideration. But so +much has been said by both graceful and able writers on Japan as to +the advantages she enjoys from her simple non-mechanical civilization, +and the mistake she is making in adopting the mechanical civilization +of the West, that it may not be amiss to dwell for a few moments upon +it. I wish to show that the second element of progress consists in the +_increasing use of mechanisms_. + +The enthusiastic admirer of Japan hardly finds words wherewith +sufficiently to praise the simplicity of her pre-Meiji civilization. +No furniture brings confusion to the room; no machinery distresses the +ear with its groanings or the eye with its unsightliness. No factories +blacken the sky with smoke. No trains screeching through the towns and +cities disturb sleepers and frighten babies. The simple bed on the +floor, the straw sandal on the foot, wooden chopsticks in place of +knives and forks, the small variety of foods and of cooking utensils, +the simple, homespun cotton clothing, the fascinating homes, so small +and neat and clean--in truth all that pertains to Old Japan finds +favor in the eyes of the enthusiastic admirer from the Occident. One +such writer, in an elaborate paper intended to set forth the +superiority of the original Japanese to the Occidental civilization, +uses the following language: "Ability to live without furniture, +without impedimenta, with the least possible amount of neat clothing, +shows more than the advantage held by the Japanese race in the +struggle of life; it shows also the real character of some of the +weaknesses in our own civilization. It forces reflection upon the +useless multiplicity of our daily wants. We must have meat and bread +and butter; glass windows and fire; hats, white shirts, and woolen +underwear; boots and shoes; trunks, bags, and boxes; bedsteads, +mattresses, sheets, and blankets; all of which a Japanese can do +without, and is really better off without."[G] Surely one finds much +of truth in this, and there is no denying the charm of the simpler +civilization, but the closing phrase of the quotation is the +assumption without discussion of the disputed point. Are the Japanese +really better off without these implements of Western civilization? +Evidently they themselves do not think so. For, in glancing through +the list as given by the writer quoted, one realizes the extent of +Japanese adoption of these Western devices. Hardly an article but is +used in Japan, and certainly with the supposition of the purchaser +that it adds either to his health or his comfort. In witness are the +hundreds of thousands of straw hats, the glass windows everywhere, +and the meat-shops in each town and city of the Empire. The charm of a +foreign fashion is not sufficient explanation for the rapidly +spreading use of foreign inventions. + +That there are no useless or even evil features in our Western +civilization is not for a moment contended. The stiff starched shirt +may certainly be asked to give an account of itself and justify its +continued existence, if it can. But I think the proposition is capable +of defense that the vast majority of the implements of our Occidental +civilization have their definite place and value, either in +contributing directly to the comfort and happiness of their possessor, +or in increasing his health and strength and general mental and +physical power. What is it that makes the Occidental longer-lived than +the Japanese? Why is he healthier? Why is he more intelligent? Why is +he a more developed personality? Why are his children more energetic? +Or, reversing the questions, why has the population of Japan been +increasing with leaps and bounds since the introduction of Western +civilization and medical science? Why is the rising generation so free +from pockmarks? Why is the number of the blind steadily diminishing? +Why are mechanisms multiplying so rapidly--the jinrikisha, the +railroads, the roads, the waterworks and sewers, the chairs, the +tables, the hats and umbrellas, lamps, clocks, glass windows and +shoes? A hundred similar questions might be asked, to which no +definite answers are needful. + +Further discussion of details seems unnecessary. Yet the full +significance of this point can hardly be appreciated without a +perception of the great principle that underlies it. The only way in +which man has become and continues to be increasingly superior to +animals is in his use of mechanisms. The animal does by brute force +what man accomplishes by various devices. The inventiveness of +different races differs vastly. But everywhere, the most advanced are +the most powerful. Take the individual man of the more developed race +and separate him from his tools and machines, and it is doubtless +true that he cannot in some selected points compete with an individual +of a less developed race. But let ten thousand men of the higher +development compete with ten thousand of the lower, each using the +mechanisms under his control, and can there be any doubt as to which +is the superior? + +In other words, the method of human progress consists, in no small +degree, in the progressive mastery of nature, first through +understanding her and then through the use of her immense forces by +means of suitable mechanisms. All the machines and furniture, and +tools and clothing, and houses and canned foods, and shoes and boots, +and railroads and telegraph lines, and typewriters and watches, and +the ten thousand other so-called "impedimenta" of the Occidental +civilization are but devices whereby Western man has sought to +increase his health, his wealth, his knowledge, his comfort, his +independence, his capacity of travel--in a word, his well-being. +Through these mechanisms he masters nature. He extracts a rich living +from nature; he annihilates time and space; he defies the storms; he +tunnels the mountains; he extracts precious ores and metals from the +rock-ribbed hills; with a magic touch he loosens the grip of the +elements and makes them surrender their gold, their silver, and, more +precious still, their iron; with these he builds his spacious cities +and parks, his railroads and ocean steamers; he travels the whole +world around, fearing neither beast nor alien man; all are subject to +his command and will. He investigates and knows the constitution of +stellar worlds no less than that of the world in which he lives. By +his instruments he explores the infinite depths of heaven and the no +less infinite depths of the microscopic world. All these reviled +"impedimenta" thus bring to the race that has them a wealth of life +both physical and psychical, practical and ideal, that is otherwise +unattainable. By them he gains and gives external expression to the +reality of his inner nature, his freedom, his personality. True, +instead of bringing health and long life, knowledge and deep +enjoyment, they may become the means of bitterest curses. But the +lesson to learn from this fact is how to use these powers aright, not +how to forbid their use altogether. They are not to be branded as +hindrances to progress. + +The defect of Occidental civilization to-day is hot its multiplicity +of machinery, but the defective view that still blinds the eyes of the +multitude as to the true nature and the legitimate goal of progress. +Individual, selfish happiness is still the ideal of too many men and +women to permit of the ideal which carries the Golden Rule into the +markets and factories, into the politics of parties and nations, which +is essential to the attainment of the highest progress. But no one who +casts his eyes over the centuries of struggle and effort through which +man has been slowly working his way upward from the rank of a beast to +that of a man, can doubt that progress has been made. The worth of +character has been increasingly seen and its possession desired. The +true end of effort and development was never more clear than it is at +the close of the nineteenth century. Never before were the conditions +of progress so bright, not only for the favored few in one or two +lands, but for the multitudes the world over. Isolation and separation +have passed from this world forever. Free social intercourse between +the nations permits wide dissemination of ideas and their application +to practical life in the form of social organization and mechanical +invention. This makes it possible for nations more or less backward in +social and civilizational development to gain in a relatively short +time the advantages won by advanced nations through ages of toil and +under favoring circumstances. Nation thus stimulates nation, each +furnishing the other with important variations in ideas, customs, +institutions, and mechanisms resulting from long-continued divergent +evolution. The advantages slowly gained by advanced peoples speedily +accrues through social heredity to any backward race really desiring +to enter the social heritage. + +Thus does the paradox of Japan's recent progress become thoroughly +intelligible. + + + + +V + +JAPANESE SENSITIVENESS TO ENVIRONMENT + + +With this chapter we begin a more detailed study of Japanese social +and psychic evolution. We shall take up the various characteristics of +the race and seek to account for them, showing their origin in the +peculiar nature of the social order which so long prevailed in Japan. +This is a study of Japanese psychogenesis. The question to which we +shall continually return is whether or not the characteristic under +consideration is inherent and congenital and therefore inevitable. Not +only our interpretation of Japanese evolution, past, present, and +future, but also our understanding of the essential nature of social +evolution in general, depends upon the answer to this question. + +We naturally begin with that characteristic of Japanese nature which +would seem to be more truly congenital than any other to be mentioned +later. I refer to their sensitiveness to environment. More quickly +than most races do the Japanese seem to perceive and adapt themselves +to changed conditions. + +The history of the past thirty years is a prolonged illustration of +this characteristic. The desire to imitate foreign nations was not a +real reason for the overthrow of feudalism, but there was, rather, a +more or less conscious feeling, rapidly pervading the whole people, +that the feudal system would be unable to maintain the national +integrity. As intimated, the matter was not so much reasoned out as +felt. But such a vast illustration is more difficult to appreciate +than some individual instances, of which I have noted several. + +During a conversation with Drs. Forsythe and Dale, of Cambridge, +England, I asked particularly as to their experience with the Japanese +students who had been there to study. They both remarked on the fact +that all Japanese students were easily influenced by those with whom +they customarily associated; so much so that, within a short time, +they acquired not only the cut of coats and trousers, but also the +manner and accent, of those with whom they lived. It was amusing, they +said, to see what transformations were wrought in those who went to +the Continent for their long vacations. From France they returned with +marked French manners and tones and clothes, while from Germany they +brought the distinctive marks of German stiffness in manner and +general bearing. It was noted as still more curious that the same +student would illustrate both variations, provided he spent one summer +in Germany and another in France. + +Japanese sensitiveness is manifested in many unexpected ways. An +observant missionary lady once remarked that she had often wondered +how such unruly, self-willed children as grow up under Japanese +training, or its lack, finally become such respectable members of +society. She concluded that instead of being punished out of their +misbehaviors they were laughed out of them. The children are +constantly told that if they do so and so they will be laughed at--a +terrible thing. + +The fear of ridicule has thus an important sociological function in +maintaining ethical standards. Its power may be judged by the fact +that in ancient times when a samurai gave his note to return a +borrowed sum, the only guarantee affixed was the permission to be +laughed at in public in case of failure. The Japanese young man who is +making a typewritten copy of these pages for me says that, when still +young, he heard an address to children which he still remembers. The +speaker asked what the most fearful thing in the world was. Many +replies were given by the children--"snakes," "wild beasts," +"fathers," "gods," "ghosts," "demons," "Satan," "hell," etc. These +were admitted to be fearful, but the speaker told the children that +one other thing was to be more feared than all else, namely, "to be +laughed at." This speech, with its vivid illustrations, made a lasting +impression on the mind of the boy, and on reading what I had written +he realized how powerful a motive fear of ridicule had been in his own +life; also how large a part it plays in the moral education of the +young in Japan. + +Naturally enough this fear of being laughed at leads to careful and +minute observation of the clothing, manners, and speech of one's +associates, and prompt conformity to them, through imitation. The +sensitiveness of Japanese students to each new environment is thus +easily understood. And this sensitiveness to environment has its +advantages as well as its disadvantages. I have already referred to +the help it gives to the establishment of individual conformity to +ethical standards. The phenomenal success of many reforms in Japan may +easily be traced to the national sensitiveness to foreign criticism. +Many instances of this will be given in the course of this work, but +two may well be mentioned at this point. According to the older +customs there was great, if not perfect, freedom as to the use of +clothing by the people. The apparent indifference shown by them in the +matter of nudity led foreigners to call the nation uncivilized. This +criticism has always been a galling one, and not without reason. In +many respects their civilization has been fully the equal of that of +any other nation; yet in this respect it is true that they resembled +and still do resemble semi-civilized peoples. In response to this +foreign criticism, however, a law was passed, early in the Meiji era, +prohibiting nudity in cities. The requirement that public bathing +houses be divided into two separate compartments, one for men and one +for women, was likewise due to foreign opinion. That this is the case +may be fairly inferred from the fact that the enforcement of these +laws has largely taken places where foreigners abound, whereas, in the +interior towns and villages they receive much less attention. It must +be acknowledged, however, that now at last, twenty-five years after +their passage, they are almost everywhere beginning to be enforced by +the authorities. + +My other illustration of sensitiveness to foreign opinion is the +present state of Japanese thought about the management of Formosa. The +government has been severely criticised by many leading papers for its +blunders there. But the curious feature is the constant reference to +the contempt into which such mismanagement will bring Japan in the +sight of the world--as if the opinion of other nations were the most +important issue involved, and not the righteousness and probity of the +government itself. It is interesting to notice how frequently the +opinion of other nations with regard to Japan is a leading thought in +the mind of the people. + +In this connection the following extract finds its natural place: + + In a very large number of schools throughout the country special + instructions have been given to the pupils as to their behavior + towards foreigners. From various sources we have culled the + following orders bearing on special points, which we state as + briefly as possible. + + (1) Never call after foreigners passing along the streets or roads. + + (2) When foreigners make inquiries, answer them politely. If unable + to make them understand, inform the police of the fact. + + (3) Never accept a present from a foreigner when there is no reason + for his giving it, and never charge him anything above what is + proper. + + (4) Do not crowd around a shop when a foreigner is making + purchases, thereby causing him much annoyance. The continuance of + this practice disgraces us as a nation. + + (5) Since all human beings are brothers and sisters, there is no + reason for fearing foreigners. Treat them as equals and act + uprightly in all your dealings with them. Be neither servile nor + arrogant. + + (6) Beware of combining against the foreigner and disliking him + because he is a foreigner; men are to be judged by their conduct + and not by their nationality. + + (7) As intercourse with foreigners becomes closer and extends over + a series of years, there is danger that many Japanese may become + enamored of their ways and customs and forsake the good old customs + of their forefathers. Against this danger you must be on your + guard. + + (8) Taking off your hat is the proper way to salute a foreigner. + The bending of the body low is not be commended. + + (9) When you see a foreigner be sure and cover up naked parts of + the body. + + (10) Hold in high regard the worship of ancestors and treat your + relations with warm cordiality, but do not regard a person as your + enemy because he or she is a Christian. + + (11) In going through the world you will often find a knowledge of + a foreign tongue absolutely essential. + + (12) Beware of selling your souls to foreigners and becoming their + slaves. Sell them no houses or lands. + + (13) Aim at not being beaten in your competition with foreigners. + Remember that loyalty and filial piety are our most precious + national treasures and do nothing to violate them. + + Many of the above rules are excellent in tone. Number 7, however, + which hails from Osaka, is somewhat narrow and prejudiced. The + injunction not to sell houses to foreigners is, as the _Jiji + Shimpo_ points out, absurd and mischievous.[H] + +The sensitiveness of the people also works to the advantage of the +nation in the social unity which it helps to secure. Indeed I cannot +escape the conviction that the striking unity of the Japanese is +largely due to this characteristic. It tends to make their mental and +emotional activities synchronous. It retards reform for a season, to +be sure, but later it accelerates it. It makes it difficult for +individuals to break away from their surroundings and start out on new +lines. It leads to a general progress while it tends to hinder +individual progress. It tends to draw back into the general current of +national life those individuals who, under exceptional conditions, may +have succeeded in breaking away from it for a season. This, I think, +is one of the factors of no little power at work among the Christian +churches in Japan. It is one, too, that the Japanese themselves little +perceive; so far as I have observed, foreigners likewise fail to +realize its force. + +Closely connected with this sensitiveness to environment are other +qualities which make it effective. They are: great flexibility, +adjustability, agility (both mental and physical), and the powers of +keen attention to details and of exact imitation. + +As opposed to all this is the Chinese lack of flexibility. Contrast a +Chinaman and a Japanese after each has been in America a year. The one +to all appearances is an American; his hat, his clothing, his manner, +seem so like those of an American that were it not for his small size, +Mongolian type of face, and defective English, he could easily be +mistaken for one. How different is it with the Chinaman! He retains +his curious cue with a tenacity that is as intense as it is +characteristic. His hat is the conventional one adopted by all Chinese +immigrants. His clothing likewise, though far from Chinese, is +nevertheless entirely un-American. He makes no effort to conform to +his surroundings. He seems to glory in his separateness. + +The Japanese desire to conform to the customs and appearances of those +about him is due to what I have called sensitiveness; his success is +due to the flexibility of his mental constitution. + +But this characteristic is seen in multitudes of little ways. The new +fashion of wearing the hair according to the Western styles; of +wearing Western hats, and Western clothing, now universal in the army, +among policemen, and common among officials and educated men; the use +of chairs and tables, lamps, windows, and other Western things is due +in no small measure to that flexibility of mind which readily adopts +new ideas and new ways; is ready to try new things and new words, and +after trial, if it finds them convenient or useful or even amusing, to +retain them permanently, and this flexibility is, in part, the reason +why the Japanese are accounted a fickle people. They accept new ways +so easily that those who do not have this faculty have no explanation +for it but that of fickleness. A frequent surprise to a missionary in +Japan is that of meeting a fine-looking, accomplished gentleman whom +he knew a few years before as a crude, ungainly youth. I am convinced +that it is the possession of this set of characteristics that has +enabled Japan so quickly to assimilate many elements of an alien +civilization. + +Yet this flexibility of mind and sensitiveness to changed conditions +find some apparently striking exceptions. Notable among these are the +many customs and appliances of foreign nations which, though adopted +by the people, have not been completely modified to suit their own +needs. In illustration is the Chinese ideograph, for the learning of +which even in the modern common-school reader, there is no arrangement +of the characters in the order of their complexity. The possibility of +simplifying the colossal task of memorizing these uncorrelated +ideographs does not seem to have occurred to the Japanese; though it +is now being attempted by the foreigner. Perhaps a partial explanation +of this apparent exception to the usual flexibility of the people in +meeting conditions may be found in their relative lack of originality. +Still I am inclined to refer it to a greater sensitiveness of the +Japanese to the personal and human, than to the impersonal and +physical environment. + +The customary explanation of the group of characteristics considered +in this chapter is that they are innate, due to brain and nerve +structure, and acquired by each generation through biological +heredity. If closely examined, however, this is seen to be no +explanation at all. Accepting the characteristics as empirical +inexplicable facts, the real problem is evaded, pushed into +prehistoric times, that convenient dumping ground of biological, +anthropological, and sociological difficulties. + +Japanese flexibility, imitativeness, and sensitiveness to environment +are to be accounted for by a careful consideration of the national +environment and social order. Modern psychology has called attention +to the astonishing part played by imitation, conscious and +unconscious, in the evolution of the human race, and in the +unification of the social group. Prof. Le Tarde goes so far as to make +this the fundamental principle of human evolution. He has shown that +it is ever at work in the life of every human being, modifying all his +thoughts, acts, and feelings. In the evolution of civilization the +rare man thinks, the millions imitate. + +A slight consideration of the way in which Occidental lands have +developed their civilization will convince anyone that imitation has +taken the leading part. Japan, therefore, is not unique in this +respect. Her periods of wholesale imitation have indeed called special +notice to the trait. But the rapidity of the movement has been due to +the peculiarities of her environment. For long periods she has been in +complete isolation, and when brought into contact with foreign +nations, she has found them so far in advance of herself in many +important respects that rapid imitation was the only course left her +by the inexorable laws of nature. Had she not imitated China in +ancient times and the Occident in modern times, her independence, if +not her existence, could hardly have been maintained. + +Imitation of admittedly superior civilizations has therefore been an +integral, conscious element of Japan's social order, and to a degree +perhaps not equaled by the social order of any other race. + +The difference between Japanese imitation and that of other nations +lies in the fact that whereas the latter, as a rule, despise foreign +races, and do not admit the superiority of alien civilizations as a +whole, imitating only a detail here and there, often without +acknowledgment and sometimes even without knowledge, the Japanese, on +the other hand, have repeatedly been placed in such circumstances as +to see the superiority of foreign civilizations as a whole, and to +desire their general adoption. This has produced a spirit of imitation +among all the individuals of the race. It has become a part of their +social inheritance. This explanation largely accounts for the striking +difference between Japanese and Chinese in the Occident. The Japanese +go to the West in order to acquire all the West can give. The Chinaman +goes steeled against its influences. The spirit of the Japanese +renders him quickly susceptible to every change in his surroundings. +He is ever noting details and adapting himself to his circumstances. +The spirit of the Chinaman, on the contrary, renders him quite +oblivious to his environment. His mind is closed. Under special +circumstances, when a Chinaman has been liberated from the +prepossession of his social inheritance, he has shown himself as +capable of Occidentalization in clothing, speech, manner, and thought +as a Japanese. Such cases, however, are rare. + +But a still more effective factor in the development of the +characteristics under consideration is the nature of Japanese +feudalism. Its emphasis on the complete subordination of the inferior +to the superior was one of its conspicuous features. This was a factor +always and everywhere at work in Japan. No individual was beyond its +potent influence. Attention to details, absolute obedience, constant, +conscious imitation, secretiveness, suspiciousness, were all highly +developed by this social system. Each of these traits is a special +form of sensitiveness to environment. From the most ancient times the +initiative of superiors was essential to the wide adoption by the +people of any new idea or custom. Christianity found ready acceptance +in the sixteenth century and Buddhism in the eighth, because they had +been espoused by exalted persons. The superiority of the civilization +of China in early times, and of the West in modern times, was first +acknowledged and adopted by a few nobles and the Emperor. Having +gained this prestige they promptly became acceptable to the rank and +file of people who vied with each other in their adoption. A +peculiarity of the Japanese is the readiness with which the ideas and +aims of the rulers are accepted by the people. This is due to the +nature of Japanese feudalism. It has made the body of the nation +conspicuously subject to the ruling brain and has conferred on Japan +her unique sensitiveness to environment. + +Susceptibility to slight changes in the feelings of lords and masters +and corresponding flexibility were important social traits, necessary +products of the old social order. Those deficient in these regards +would inevitably lose in the struggle for social precedence, if not in +the actual struggle for existence. These characteristics would, +accordingly, be highly developed. + +Bearing in mind, therefore, the character of the factors that have +ever been acting on the Japanese psychic nature, we see clearly that +the characteristics under consideration are not to be attributed to +her inherent race nature, but may be sufficiently accounted for by +reference to the social order and social environment. + + + + +VI + +WAVES OF FEELING--ABDICATION + + +It has long been recognized that the Japanese are emotional, but the +full significance of this element of their nature is far from +realized. It underlies their entire life; it determines the mental +activities in a way and to a degree that Occidentals can hardly +appreciate. Waves of feeling have swept through the country, carrying +everything before them in a manner that has oftentimes amazed us of +foreign lands. An illustration from the recent political life of the +nation comes to mind in this connection. For months previous to the +outbreak of the recent war with China, there had been a prolonged +struggle between the Cabinet and the political parties who were united +in their opposition to the government, though in little else. The +parties insisted that the Cabinet should be responsible to the party +in power in the Lower House, as is the case in England, that thus they +might stand and fall together. The Cabinet, on the other hand, +contended that, according to the constitution, it was responsible to +the Emperor alone, and that consequently there was no need of a change +in the Cabinet with every change of party leadership. The nation waxed +hot over the discussion. Successive Diets were dissolved and new Diets +elected, in none of which, however, could the supporters of the +Cabinet secure a majority; the Cabinet was, therefore, incapable of +carrying out any of its distinctive measures. Several times the +opposition went so far as to decline to pass the budget proposed by +the Cabinet, unless so reduced as to cripple the government, the +reason constantly urged being that the Cabinet was not competent to +administer the expenditure of such large sums of money. There were no +direct charges of fraud, but simply of incompetence. More than once +the Cabinet was compelled to carry on the government during the year +under the budget of the previous year, as provided by the +constitution. So intense was the feeling that the capital was full of +"soshi,"--political ruffians,--and fear was entertained as to the +personal safety of the members of the Cabinet. The whole country was +intensely excited over the matter. The newspapers were not loath to +charge the government with extravagance, and a great explosion seemed +inevitable, when, suddenly, a breeze from a new quarter arose and +absolutely changed the face of the nation. + +War with China was whispered, and then noised around. Events moved +rapidly. One or two successful encounters with the Chinese stirred the +warlike passion that lurked in every breast. At once the feud with the +Cabinet was forgotten. When, on short notice, an extra session of the +Diet was called to vote funds for a war, not a word was breathed about +lack of confidence in the Cabinet or its incompetence to manage the +ordinary expenditures of the government; on the contrary, within five +minutes from the introduction of the government bill asking a war +appropriation of 150,000,000 yen, the bill was unanimously passed. + +Such an absolute change could hardly have taken place in England or +America, or any land less subject to waves of emotion. So far as I +could learn, the nation was a unit in regard to the war. There was not +the slightest sign of a "peace party." Of all the Japanese with whom I +talked only one ever expressed the slightest opposition to the war, +and he on religious grounds, being a Quaker. + +The strength of the emotional element tends to make the Japanese +extremists. If liberals, they are extremely liberal; if conservative, +they are extremely conservative. The craze for foreign goods and +customs which prevailed for several years in the early eighties was +replaced by an almost equally strong aversion to anything foreign. + +This tendency to swing to extremes has cropped out not infrequently in +the theological thinking of Japanese Christians. Men who for years +had done effective work in upbuilding the Church, men who had lifted +hundreds of their fellow-countrymen out of moral and religious +darkness into light and life, have suddenly, as it has appeared, lost +all appreciation of the truths they had been teaching and have swung +off to the limits of a radical rationalism, losing with their +evangelical faith their power of helping their fellow-men, and in some +few cases, going over into lives of open sin. The intellectual reasons +given by them to account for their changes have seemed insufficient; +it will be found that the real explanation of these changes is to be +sought not in their intellectual, but in their emotional natures. + +Care must be taken, however, not to over-emphasize this extremist +tendency. In some respects, I am convinced that it is more apparent +than real. The appearance is due to the silent passivity even of those +who are really opposed to the new departure. It is natural that the +advocates of some new policy should be enthusiastic and noisy. To give +the impression to an outsider that the new enthusiasm is universal, +those who do not share it have simply to keep quiet. This takes place +to some degree in every land, but particularly so in Japan. The +silence of their dissent is one of the striking characteristics of the +Japanese. It seems to be connected with an abdication of personal +responsibility. How often in the experience of the missionary it has +happened that his first knowledge of friction in a church, wholly +independent and self-supporting and having its own native pastor, is +the silent withdrawal of certain members from their customary places +of worship. On inquiry it is learned that certain things are being +done or said which do not suit them and, instead of seeking to have +these matters righted, they simply wash their hands of the whole +affair by silent withdrawal. + +The Kumi-ai church, in Kumamoto, from being large and prosperous, fell +to an actual active membership of less than a dozen, solely because, +as each member became dissatisfied with the high-handed and radical +pastor, he simply withdrew. Had each one stood by the church, +realizing that he had a responsibility toward it which duty forbade +him to shirk, the conservative and substantial members of the church +would soon have been united in their opposition to the radical pastor +and, being in the majority, could have set matters right. In the case +of perversion of trust funds by the trustees of the Kumamoto School, +many Japanese felt that injustice was being done to the American Board +and a stain was being inflicted on Japan's fair name, but they did +nothing either to express their opinions or to modify the results. So +silent were they that we were tempted to think them either ignorant of +what was taking place, or else indifferent to it. We now know, +however, that many felt deeply on the matter, but were simply silent +according to the Japanese custom. + +But silent dissent does not necessarily last indefinitely, though it +may continue for years. As soon as some check has been put upon the +rising tide of feeling, and a reaction is evident, those who before +had been silent begin to voice their reactionary feeling, while those +who shortly before had been in the ascendant begin to take their turn +of silent dissent. Thus the waves are accentuated, both in their rise +and in their relapse, by the abdicating proclivity of the people. + +Yet, in spite of the tendency of the nation to be swept from one +extreme to another by alternate waves of feeling, there are many +well-balanced men who are not carried with the tide. The steady +progress made by the nation during the past generation, in spite of +emotional actions and reactions, must be largely attributed to the +presence in its midst of these more stable natures. These are the men +who have borne the responsibilities of government. So far as we are +able to see, they have not been led by their feelings, but rather by +their judgments. When the nation was wild with indignation over +Europe's interference with the treaty which brought the China-Japanese +war to a close, the men at the helm saw too clearly the futility of an +attempt to fight Russia to allow themselves to be carried away by +sentimental notions of patriotism. Theirs was a deeper and truer +patriotism than that of the great mass of the nation, who, flushed +with recent victories by land and by sea, were eager to give Russia +the thrashing which they felt quite able to administer. + +Abdication is such an important element in Japanese life, serving to +throw responsibility on the young, and thus helping to emphasize the +emotional characteristics of the people, that we may well give it +further attention at this point. In describing it, I can do no better +than quote from J.H. Gubbins' valuable introduction to his translation +of the New Civil Code of Japan.[I] + + "Japanese scholars who have investigated the subject agree in + tracing the origin of the present custom to the abdication of + Japanese sovereigns, instances of which occur at an early period of + Japanese history. These earlier abdications were independent of + religious influences, but with the advent of Buddhism abdication + entered upon a new phase. In imitation, it would seem, of the + retirement for the purpose of religious contemplation of the Head + Priests of Buddhist monasteries, abdicating sovereigns shaved their + heads and entered the priesthood, and when subsequently the custom + came to be employed for political purposes, the cloak of religion + was retained. From the throne the custom spread to Regents and high + officers of state, and so universal had its observance amongst + officials of the high ranks become in the twelfth century that, as + Professor Shigeno states, it was almost the rule for such persons + to retire from the world at the age of forty or fifty, and + nominally enter the priesthood, both the act and the person + performing it being termed 'niu do.' In the course of time, the + custom of abdication ceased to be confined to officials, and + extended to feudal nobility and the military class generally, + whence it spread through the nation, and at this stage of its + transition its connection with the phase it finally assumed becomes + clear. But with its extension beyond the circle of official + dignitaries, and its consequent severance from tradition and + religious associations, whether real or nominal abdication changed + its name. It was no longer termed 'niu do,' but 'in kio,' the old + word being retained only in its strict religious meaning, and + 'inkyo' is the term in use to-day. + + "In spite of the religious origin of abdication, its connection + with religion has long since vanished, and it may be said without + fear of contradiction that the Japanese of to-day, when he or she + abdicates, is in no way actuated by the feeling which impelled + European monarchs in past times to end their days in the seclusion + of the cloister, and which finds expression to-day in the Irish + phrase, 'To make one's soul.' Apart from the influence of + traditional convention, which counts for something and also + explains the great hold on the nation which the custom has + acquired, the motive seems to be somewhat akin to that which leads + people in some Western countries to retire from active life at an + age when bodily infirmity cannot be adduced as the reason. But with + this great difference, that in the one case, that of Western + countries, it is the business or profession, the active work of + life, which is relinquished, the position of the individual + vis-à-vis the family being unaffected; in the other case, it is the + position of head of the family which is relinquished, with the + result of the complete effacement of the individual so far as the + family is concerned. Moreover, although abdication usually implies + the abandonment of the business, or profession, of the person who + abdicates, this does not necessarily follow, abdication being in no + way incompatible with the continuation of the active pursuits in + which the person-in question is engaged. And if an excuse be needed + in either case, there would seem to be more for the Japanese head + of family, who, in addition to the duties and responsibilities + incumbent upon his position, has to bear the brunt of the tedious + ceremonies and observances which characterize family life in Japan, + and are a severe tax upon time and energies, while at the same time + he is fettered by the restrictions upon individual freedom of + action imposed by the family system. That in many cases the reason + for abdication lies in the wish to escape from the tyrannical + calls of family life, rather than in mere desire for idleness and + ease, is shown by the fact that just as in past times the + abdication of an Emperor, a Regent, or a state dignitary, was often + the signal for renewed activity on his part, so in modern Japanese + life the period of a person's greatest activity not infrequently + dates from the time of his withdrawal from the headship of his + family." + +The abdicating proclivities of the nation in pre-Meiji times are well +shown by the official list of daimyos published by the Shogunate in +1862. To a list of 268 ruling daimyos is added a list of 104 "inkyo." + +In addition to what we may call political and family abdication, +described above, is personal abdication, referred to on a previous +page. + +Are the traits of Japanese character considered in this chapter +inherent and necessary? Already our description has conclusively shown +them to be due to the nature of the social order. This was manifestly +the case in regard to political and family abdication. The like origin +of personal abdication is manifest to him who learns how little there +was in the ancient training tending to give each man a "feeling of +independent responsibility to his own conscience in the sight of +Heaven." He was taught devotion to a person rather than to a +principle. The duty of a retainer was not to think and decide, but to +do. He might in silence disapprove and as far as possible he should +then keep out of his lord's way; should he venture to think and to act +contrary to his lord's commands, he must expect and plan to commit +"harakiri" in the near future. Personal abdication and silent +disapproval, therefore, were direct results of the social order. + + + + +VII + +HEROES AND HERO-WORSHIP + + +If a clew to the character of a nation is gained by a study of the +nature of the gods it worships, no less valuable an insight is gained +by a study of its heroes. Such a study confirms the impression that +the emotional life is fundamental in the Japanese temperament. Japan +is a nation of hero-worshipers. This is no exaggeration. Not only is +the primitive religion, Shintoism, systematic hero-worship, but every +hero known to history is deified, and has a shrine or temple. These +heroes, too, are all men of conspicuous valor or strength, famed for +mighty deeds of daring. They are men of passion. The most popular +story in Japanese literature is that of "The Forty-seven Ronin," who +avenged the death of their liege-lord after years of waiting and +plotting. This revenge administered, they committed harakiri in +accordance with the etiquette of the ethical code of feudal Japan. +Their tombs are to this day among the most frequented shrines in the +capital of the land, and one of the most popular dramas presented in +the theaters is based on this same heroic tragedy. + +The prominence of the emotional element may be seen in the popular +description of national heroes. The picture of an ideal Japanese hero +is to our eyes a caricature. His face is distorted by a fierce frenzy +of passion, his eyeballs glaring, his hair flying, and his hands hold +with a mighty grip the two-handed sword wherewith he is hewing to +pieces an enemy. I am often amazed at the difference between the +pictures of Japanese heroes and the living Japanese I see. This +difference is manifestly due to the idealizing process; for they love +to see their heroes in their passionate moods and tenses. + +The craving for heroes, even on the part of those who are familiar +with Western thought and customs, is a feature of great interest. Well +do I remember the enthusiasm with which educated, Christian young men +awaited the coming to Japan of an eminent American scholar, from whose +lectures impossible things were expected. So long as he was in America +and only his books were known, he was a hero. But when he appeared in +person, carrying himself like any courteous gentleman, he lost his +exalted position. + +Townsend Harris showed his insight into Oriental thought never more +clearly than by maintaining his dignity according to Japanese +standards and methods. On his first entry into Tokyo he states, in his +journal, that although he would have preferred to ride on horseback, +in order that he might see the city and the people, yet as the highest +dignitaries never did so, but always rode in entirely closed +"norimono" (a species of sedan chair carried by twenty or thirty +bearers), he too would do the same; to have ridden into the limits of +the city on horseback would have been construed by the Japanese as an +admission that he held a far lower official rank than that of a +plenipotentiary of a great nation. + +It is not difficult to understand how these ideals of heroes arose. +They are the same in every land where militarism, and especially +feudalism, is the foundation on which the social order rests. + +Some of the difficulties met by foreign missionaries in trying to do +their work arise from the fact that they are not easily regarded as +heroes by their followers. The people are accustomed to commit their +guidance to officials or to teachers or advisers whom they can regard +as heroes. Since missionaries are not officials and do not have the +manners of heroes, it is not to be expected that the Japanese will +accept their leadership. + +A few foreigners have, however, become heroes in Japanese eyes. +President Clark and Rev. S.R. Brown had great influence on groups of +young men in the early years of Meiji, while giving them secular +education combined with Christian instruction. The conditions, +however, were then extraordinarily exceptional, and it is a noticeable +fact that neither man remained long in Japan at that time. Another +foreigner who was exalted to the skies by a devoted band of students +was a man well suited to be a hero--for he had the samurai spirit to +the full. Indeed, in absolute fearlessness and assumption of +superiority, he out-samuraied the samurai. He was a man of impressive +and imperious personality. Yet it is a significant fact that when he +was brought back to Japan by his former pupils, after an absence of +about eighteen years, during which they had continued to extol his +merits and revere his memory, it was not long before they discovered +that he was not the man their imagination had created. Not many months +were needed to remove him from his pedestal. It would hardly be a fair +statement of the whole case to leave the matter here. So far as I +know, President Clark and Rev. S.R. Brown have always retained their +hold on the imagination of the Japanese. The foreigner who of all +others has perhaps done the most for Japan, and whose services have +been most heartily acknowledged by the nation and government, was Dr. +Guido F. Verbeck, who began his missionary work in 1859; he was the +teacher of large numbers of the young men who became leaders in the +transformation of Japan; he alone of foreigners was made a citizen and +was given a free and general pass for travel; and his funeral in 1898 +was attended by the nobility of the land, and the Emperor himself made +a contribution toward the expenses. Dr. Verbeck is destined to be one +of Japan's few foreign heroes. + +Among the signs of Japanese craving for heroes may be mentioned the +constant experience of missionaries when search is being made for a +man to fill a particular place. The descriptions of the kind of man +desired are such that no one can expect to meet him. The Christian +boys' school in Kumamoto, and the church with it, went for a whole +year without principal and pastor because they could not secure a man +of national reputation. They wanted a hero-principal, who would cut a +great figure in local politics and also be a hero-leader for the +Christian work in the whole island of Kyushu, causing the school to +shine not only in Kumamoto, but to send forth its light and its fame +throughout the Empire and even to foreign lands. The unpretentious, +unprepossessing-looking man who was chosen temporarily, though endowed +with common sense and rather unusual ability to harmonize the various +elements in the school, was not deemed satisfactory. He was too much +like Socrates. At last they found a man after their own heart. He had +traveled and studied long abroad; was a dashing, brilliant fellow; +would surely make things hum; so at least said those who recommended +him (and he did). But he was still a poor student in Scotland; his +passage money must be raised by the school if he was to be secured. +And raised it was. Four hundred and seventy-five dollars those one +hundred and fifty poor boys and girls, who lived on two dollars a +month, scantily clothed and insufficiently warmed, secured from their +parents and sent across the seas to bring back him who was to be their +hero-principal and pastor. The rest of the story I need not tell in +detail, but I may whisper that he was more of a slashing hero than +they planned for; in three months the boys' school was split in twain +and in less than three years both fragments of the school had not only +lost all their Christian character, but were dead and gone forever. +And the grounds on which the buildings stood were turned into mulberry +fields. + +Talking not long since to a native friend, concerning the +hero-worshiping tendency of the Japanese, I had my attention called to +the fact that, while what has been said above is substantially correct +as concerns a large proportion of the people, especially the young +men, there is nevertheless a class whose ideal heroes are not +military, but moral. Their power arises not through self-assertion, +but rather through humility; their influence is due entirely to +learning coupled with insight into the great moral issues of life. +Such has been the character of not a few of the "moral" teachers. I +have recently read a Japanese novel based upon the life of one such +hero. Omi Seijin, or the "Sage of Omi," is a name well known among +the people of Japan; and his fame rests rather on his character than +on his learning. If tradition is correct, his influence on the people +of his region was powerful enough to transform the character of the +place, producing a paradise on earth whence lust and crime were +banished. Whatever the actual facts of his life may have been, this is +certainly the representation of his character now held up for honor +and imitation. There are also indications that the ideal military hero +is not, for all the people, the self-assertive type that I have +described above, though this is doubtless the prevalent one. Not long +since I heard the following couplet as to the nature of a true hero: + + "Makoto no Ei-yu; +Sono yo, aizen to shite shumpu no gotoshi; +Sono shin, kizen to shite kinseki no gotoshi. + + "The true Hero; +In appearance, charming like the spring breeze. +In heart, firm as a rock." + +Another phrase that I have run across relating to the ideal man is, "I +atte takakarazu," which means in plain English, "having authority, but +not puffed up." In the presence of these facts, it will not do to +think that the ideal hero of all the Japanese is, or even in olden +times was, only a military hero full of swagger and bluster; in a +military age such would, of necessity, be a popular ideal; but just in +proportion as men rose to higher forms of learning, and character, so +would their ideals be raised. + +It is not to be lightly assumed that the spirit of hero-worship is +wholly an evil or a necessarily harmful thing. It has its advantages +and rewards as well as its dangers and evils. The existence of +hero-worship in any land reveals a nature in the people that is +capable of heroic actions. Men appreciate and admire that which in a +measure at least they are, and more that which they aspire to become. +The recent war revealed how the capacity for heroism of a warlike +nature lies latent in every Japanese breast and not in the descendants +of the old military class alone. But it is more encouraging to note +that popular appreciation of moral heroes is growing. + +Education and religion are bringing forth modern moral heroes. The +late Dr. Neesima, the founder of the Doshisha, is a hero to many even +outside the Church. Mr. Ishii, the father of Orphan Asylums in Japan, +promises to be another. A people that can rear and admire men of this +character has in it the material of a truly great nation. + +The hero-worshiping characteristic of the Japanese depends on two +other traits of their nature. The first is the reality of strong +personalities among them capable of becoming heroes; the second is the +possession of a strong idealizing tendency. Prof. G.T. Ladd has called +them a "sentimental" people, in the sense that they are powerfully +moved by sentiment. This is a conspicuous trait of their character +appearing in numberless ways in their daily life. The passion for +group-photographs is largely due to this. Sentimentalism, in the sense +given it by Prof. Ladd, is the emotional aspect of idealism. + +The new order of society is reacting on the older ideal of a hero and +is materially modifying it. The old-fashioned samurai, girded with two +swords, ready to kill a personal foe at sight, is now only the ideal +of romance. In actual life he would soon find himself deprived of his +liberty and under the condemnation not only of the law, but also of +public opinion. The new ideal with which I have come into most +frequent contact is far different. Many, possibly the majority, of the +young men and boys with whom I have talked as to their aim in life, +have said that they desired to secure first of all a thorough +education, in order that finally they might become great "statesmen" +and might guide the nation into paths of prosperity and international +power. The modern hero is one who gratifies the patriotic passion by +bringing some marked success to the nation. He must be a gentleman, +educated in science, in history, and in foreign languages; but above +all, he must be versed in political economy and law. This new ideal of +a national hero has been brought in by the order of society, and in +proportion as this order continues, and emphasis continues to be laid +on mental and moral power, rather than on rank or official position, +on the intrinsic rather than on the accidental, will the old ideal +fade away and the new ideal take its place. Among an idealizing and +emotional people, such as the Japanese, various ideals will naturally +find extreme expression. As society grows complex also and its various +elements become increasingly differentiated, so will the ideals pass +through the same transformations. A study of ideals, therefore, serves +several ends; it reveals the present character of those whose ideals +they are; it shows the degree of development of the social organism in +which they live; it makes known, likewise, the degree of the +differentiation that has taken place between the various elements of +the nation. + + + + +VIII + +LOVE FOR CHILDREN + + +An aspect of Japanese life widely remarked and praised by foreign +writers is the love for children. Children's holidays, as the third +day of the third moon and the fifth day of the fifth moon, are general +celebrations for boys and girls respectively, and are observed with +much gayety all over the land. At these times the universal aim is to +please the children; the girls have dolls and the exhibition of +ancestral dolls; while the boys have toy paraphernalia of all the +ancient and modern forms of warfare, and enormous wind-inflated paper +fish, symbols of prosperity and success, fly from tall bamboos in the +front yard. Contrary to the prevailing opinion among foreigners, these +festivals have nothing whatever to do with birthday celebrations. In +addition to special festivals, the children figure conspicuously in +all holidays and merry-makings. To the famous flower-festival +celebrations, families go in groups and make an all-day picnic of the +joyous occasion. + +The Japanese fondness for children is seen not only at festival times. +Parents seem always ready to provide their children with toys. As a +consequence toy stores flourish. There is hardly a street without its +store. + +A still further reason for the impression that the Japanese are +especially fond of their children is the slight amount of punishment +and reprimand which they administer. The children seem to have nearly +everything their own way. Playing on the streets, they are always in +evidence and are given the right of way. + +That Japanese show much affection for their children is clear. The +question of importance, however, is whether they have it in a marked +degree, more, for instance, than Americans? And if so, is this due to +their nature, or may it be attributed to their family life as molded +by the social order? It is my impression that, on the whole, the +Japanese do not show more affection for their children than +Occidentals, although they may at first sight appear to do so. Among +the laboring classes of the %est, the father, as a rule, is away from +home all through the hours of the day, working in shop or factory. He +seldom sees his children except upon the Sabbath. Of course, the +father has then very little to do with their care or education, and +little opportunity for the manifestation of affection. In Japan, +however, the industrial organization of society is still such that the +father is at home a large part of the time. The factories are few as +yet; the store is usually not separate from the home, but a part of +it, the front room of the house. Family life is, therefore, much less +broken in upon by the industrial necessities of civilization, and +there are accordingly more opportunities for the manifestation of the +father's affection for the children. Furthermore, the laboring-people +in Japan live much on the street, and it is a common thing to see the +father caring for children. While I have seldom seen a father with an +infant tied to his back, I have frequently seen them with their infant +sons tucked into their bosoms, an interesting sight. This custom gives +a vivid impression of parental affection. But, comparing the middle +classes of Japan and the West, it is safe to say that, as a whole, the +Western father has more to do by far in the care and education of the +children than the Japanese father, and that there is no less of +fondling and playing with children. If we may judge the degree of +affection by the signs of its demonstrations, we must pronounce the +Occidental, with his habits of kissing and embracing, as far and away +more affectionate than his Oriental cousin. While the Occidental may +not make so much of an occasion of the advent of a son as does the +Oriental, he continues to remember the birthdays of all his children +with joy and celebrations, as the Oriental does not. Although the +Japanese invariably say, when asked about it, that they celebrate +their children's birthdays, the uniform experience of the foreigner +is that birthday celebrations play a very insignificant part in the +joys and the social life of the home. + +It is not difficult to understand why, apart from the question of +affection, the Japanese should manifest special joy on the advent of +sons, and particularly of a first son. The Oriental system of +ancestral worship, with the consequent need, both religious and +political, of maintaining the family line, is quite enough to account +for all the congratulatory ceremonies customary on the birth of sons. +The fact that special joy is felt and manifested on the birth of sons, +and less on the birth of daughters, clearly shows that the dominant +conceptions of the social order have an important place in determining +even so fundamental a trait as affection for offspring. + +Affection for children is, however, not limited to the day of their +birth or the period of their infancy. In judging of the relative +possession by different races of affection for children, we must ask +how the children are treated during all their succeeding years. It +must be confessed that the advantage is then entirely on the side of +the Occidental. Not only does this appear in the demonstrations of +affection which are continued throughout childhood, often even +throughout life, but more especially in the active parental solicitude +for the children's welfare, striving to fit them for life's duties and +watching carefully over their mental and moral education. In these +respects the average Occidental is far in advance of the average +Oriental. + +I have been told that, since the coming in of the new civilization and +the rise of the new ideas about woman, marriage, and home, there is +clearly observable to the Japanese themselves a change in the way in +which children are being treated. But, even still, the elder son takes +the more prominent place in the affection of the family, and sons +precede daughters. + +A fair statement of the case, therefore, is somewhat as follows: The +lower and laboring classes of Japan seem to have more visible +affection for their children than the same classes in the Occident. +Among the middle and upper classes, however, the balance is in favor +of the West. In the East, while, without doubt, there always has been +and is now a pure and natural affection, it is also true that this +natural affection has been more mixed with utilitarian considerations +than in the West. Christian Japanese, however, differ little from +Christian Americans in this respect. The differences between the East +and the West are largely due to the differing industrial and family +conditions induced by the social order. + +The correctness of this general statement will perhaps be better +appreciated if we consider in detail some of the facts of Japanese +family life. Let us notice first the very loose ties, as they seem to +us, holding the Japanese family together. It is one of the constant +wonders to us Westerners how families can break up into fragments, as +they constantly do. One third of the marriages end in divorce; and in +case of divorce, the children all stay with the father's family. It +would seem as if the love of the mother for her children could not be +very strong where divorce under such a condition is so common. Or, +perhaps, it would be truer to say that divorce would be far more +frequent than it is but for the mother's love for her children. For I +am assured that many a mother endures most distressing conditions +rather than leave her children. Furthermore, the way in which parents +allow their children to leave the home and then fail to write or +communicate with them, for months or even years at a time, is +incomprehensible if the parental love were really strong. And still +further, the way in which concubines are brought into the home, +causing confusion and discord, is a very striking evidence of the lack +of a deep love on the part of the father for the mother of his +children and even for his own legitimate children. One would expect a +father who really loved his children to desire and plan for their +legitimacy; but the children by his concubines are not "ipso facto" +recognized as legal. One more evidence in this direction is the +frequency of adoption and of separation. Adoption in Japan is largely, +though by no means exclusively, the adoption of an adult; the cases +where a child is adopted by a childless couple from love of children +are rare, as compared with similar cases in the United States, so far, +at least, as my observation goes. I recently heard of a conversation +on personal financial matters between a number of Christian +evangelists. After mutual comparisons they agreed that one of their +number was more fortunate than the rest in that he did not have to +support his mother. On inquiring into the matter, the missionary +learned that this evangelist, on becoming a Buddhist priest many years +before, had secured from the government, according to the laws of the +land, exemption from this duty. When he became a Christian it did not +seem to occur to him that it was his duty and his privilege to support +his indigent mother. I may add that this idea has since occurred to +him and he is acting upon it. + +Infanticide throws a rather lurid light on Japanese affection. First, +in regard to the facts: Mr. Ishii's attention was called to the need +of an orphan asylum by hearing how a child, both of whose parents had +died of cholera, was on the point of being buried alive with its dead +mother by heartless neighbors when it was rescued by a fisherman. +Certain parts of Japan have been notorious from of old for this +practice. In Tosa the evil was so rampant that a society for its +prevention has been in existence for many years. It helps support +children of poor parents who might be tempted to dispose of them +criminally. In that province from January to March, 1898, I was told +that "only" four cases of conviction for this crime were reported. The +registered annual birth rate of certain villages has increased from +40-50 to 75-80, and this without any immigration from outside. The +reason assigned is the diminution of infanticide. + +In speaking of infanticide in Japan, let us not forget that every race +and nation has been guilty of the same crime, and has continued to be +guilty of it until delivered by Christianity. + +Widespread infanticide proves a wide lack of natural affection. +Poverty is, of course, the common plea. Yet infanticide has been +practiced not so much by the desperately poor as by small +land-holders. The amount of farming land possessed by each family was +strictly limited and could feed only a given number of mouths. Should +the family exceed that number, all would be involved in poverty, for +the members beyond that limit did not have the liberty to travel in +search of new occupation. Infanticide, therefore, bore direct relation +to the rigid economic nature of the old social order. + +Whatever, therefore, be the point of view from which we study the +question of Japanese affection for children, we see that it was +intimately connected with the nature of the social order. Whether we +judge such affection or its lack to be a characteristic trait of +Japanese nature, we must still maintain that it is not an inherent +trait of the race nature, but only a characteristic depending for its +greater or less development on the nature of the social order. + + + + +IX + +MARITAL LOVE + + +If the Japanese are a conspicuously emotional race, as is commonly +believed, we should naturally expect this characteristic to manifest +itself in a marked degree in the relation of the sexes. Curiously +enough, however, such does not seem to be the case. So slight a place +does the emotion of sexual love have in Japanese family life that some +have gone to the extreme of denying it altogether. In his brilliant +but fallacious volume, entitled "The Soul of the Far East," Mr. +Percival Lowell states that the Japanese do not "fall in love." The +correctness of this statement we shall consider in connection with the +argument for Japanese impersonality. That "falling in love" is not a +recognized part of the family system, and that marriage is arranged +regardless not only of love, but even of mutual acquaintance, are +indisputable facts. + +Let us confine our attention here to Japanese post-marital emotional +characteristics. Do Japanese husbands love their wives and wives their +husbands? We have already seen that in the text-book for Japanese +women, the "Onna Daigaku," not one word is said about love. It may be +stated at once that love between husband and wife is almost as +conspicuously lacking in practice as in precept. In no regard, +perhaps, is the contrast between the East and the West more striking +than the respective ideas concerning woman and marriage. The one +counts woman the equal, if not the superior of man; the other looks +down upon her as man's inferior in every respect; the one considers +profound love as the only true condition of marriage; the other thinks +of love as essentially impure, beneath the dignity of a true man, and +not to be taken into consideration when marriage is contemplated; in +the one, the two persons most interested have most to say in the +matter; in the other, they have the least to say; in the one, a long +and intimate previous acquaintance is deemed important; in the other, +the need for such an acquaintance does not receive a second thought; +in the one, the wife at once takes her place as the queen of the home; +in the other, she enters as the domestic for her husband and his +parents; in the one, the children are hers as well as his; in the +other, they are his rather than hers, and remain with him in case of +divorce; in the one, divorce is rare and condemned; in the other, it +is common in the extreme; in the one, it is as often the woman as the +man who seeks the divorce; in the other, until most recent times, it +is the man alone who divorces the wife; in the one, the reasons for +divorce are grave; in the other, they are often trivial; in the one, +the wife is the "helpmate"; in the other, she is the man's +"plaything"; or, at most, the means for continuing the family lineage; +in the one, the man is the "husband"; in the other, he is the "danna +san" or "teishu" (the lord or master); in the ideal home of the one, +the wife is the object of the husband's constant affection and +solicitous care; in the ideal home of the other, she ever waits upon +her lord, serves his food for him, and faithfully sits up for him at +night, however late his return may be; in the one, the wife is +justified in resenting any unfaithfulness or immorality on the part of +her husband; in the other, she is commanded to accept with patience +whatever he may do, however many concubines he may have in his home or +elsewhere; and however immoral he may be, she must not be jealous. The +following characterization of the women of Japan is presumably by one +who would do them no injustice, having himself married a Japanese wife +(the editor of the _Japan Mail_). + + "The woman of Japan is a charming personage in many ways--gracious, + refined, womanly before everything, sweet-tempered, unselfish, + virtuous, a splendid mother, and an ideal wife from the point of + view of the master. But she is virtually excluded from the whole + intellectual life of the nation. Politics, art, literature, + science, are closed books to her. She cannot think logically about + any of these subjects, express herself clearly with reference to + them, or take an intellectual part in conversations relating to + them. She is, in fact, totally disqualified to be her husband's + intellectual companion, and the inevitable result is that he + despises her."[J] + +In face of all these facts, it is evident that the emotional element +of character which plays so large a part in the relation of the sexes +in the West has little, if any, counterpart in the Far East. Where the +emotional element does come in, it is under social condemnation. There +are doubtless many happy marriages in Japan, if the wife is faithful +in her place and fills it well; and if the master is honorable +according to the accepted standards, steady in his business, not given +to wine or women. But even then the affection must be different from +that which prevails in the West. No Japanese wife ever dreams of +receiving the loving care from her husband which is freely accorded +her Western sister by her husband.[K] + +I wish, however, to add at once that this is a topic about which it is +dangerous to dogmatize, for the customs of Japan demand that all +expressions of affection between husband and wife shall be sedulously +concealed from the outer world. I can easily believe that there is no +little true affection existing between husband and wife. A Japanese +friend with whom I have talked on this subject expresses his belief +that the statement made above, to the effect that no Japanese wife +dreams of receiving the loving care which is expected by her Western +sister, is doubtless true of Old Japan, but that there has been a +great change in this respect in recent decades; and especially among +the Christian community. That Christians excel the others with whom I +have come in contact, has been evident to me. But that even they are +still very different from Occidentals in this respect, is also clear. +Whatever be the affection lavished on the wife in the privacy of the +home, she does not receive in public the constant evidence of special +regard and high esteem which the Western wife expects as her right. + +How much affection can be expressed by low formal bows? The fact is +that Japanese civilization has striven to crush out all signs of +emotion; this stoicism is exemplified to a large degree even in the +home, and under circumstances when we should think it impossible. +Kissing was an unknown art in Japan, and it is still unknown, except +by name, to the great majority of the people. Even mothers seldom kiss +their infant children, and when they do, it is only while the children +are very young. + +The question, however, which particularly interests us, is as to the +explanation for these facts. Is the lack of demonstrative affection +between husband and wife due to the inherent nature of the Japanese, +or is it not due rather to the prevailing social order? If a Japanese +goes to America or. England, for a few years, does he maintain his +cold attitude toward all women, and never show the slightest tendency +to fall in love, or exhibit demonstrative affection? These questions +almost answer themselves, and with them the main question for whose +solution we are seeking. + +A few concrete instances may help to illustrate the generalization +that these are not fixed because racial characteristics, but variable +ones dependent on the social order. Many years ago when the late Dr. +Neesima, the founder, with Dr. Davis, of the Doshisha, was on the +point of departure for the United States on account of his health, he +made an address to the students. In the course of his remarks he +stated that there were three principal considerations that made him +regret the necessity for his departure at that time; the first was +that the Doshisha was in a most critical position; it was but +starting on its larger work, and he felt that all its friends should +be on hand to help on the great undertaking. The second was that he +was compelled to leave his aged parents, whom he might not find living +on his return to Japan. The third was his sorrow at leaving his +beloved wife. This public reference to his wife, and especially to his +love for her, was so extraordinary that it created no little comment, +not to say scandal; especially obnoxious was it to many, because he +mentioned her after having mentioned his parents. In the reports of +this speech given by his friends to the public press no reference was +made to this expression of love for his wife. And a few months after +his death, when Dr. Davis prepared a short biography of Dr. Neesima, +he was severely criticised by some of the Japanese for reproducing the +speech as Dr. Neesima gave it. + +Shortly after my first arrival in Japan, I was walking home from +church one day with an English-speaking Japanese, who had had a good +deal to do with foreigners. Suddenly, without any introduction, he +remarked that he did not comprehend how the men of the West could +endure such tyranny as was exercised over them by their wives. I, of +course, asked what he meant. He then said that he had seen me +buttoning my wife's shoes. I should explain that on calling on the +Japanese, in their homes, it is necessary that we leave our shoes at +the door, as the Japanese invariably do; this is, of course, awkward +for foreigners who wear shoes; especially so is the necessity of +putting them on again. The difficulty is materially increased by the +invariably high step at the front door. It is hard enough for a man to +kneel down on the step and reach for his shoes and then put them on; +much more so is it for a woman. And after the shoes are on, there is +no suitable place on which to rest the foot for buttoning and tying. I +used, therefore, very gladly to help my wife with hers. Yet, so +contrary to Japanese precedent was this act of mine that this +well-educated gentleman and Christian, who had had much intercourse +with foreigners, could not see in it anything except the imperious +command of the wife and the slavish obedience of the husband. His +conception of the relation between the Occidental husband and wife is +best described as tyranny on the part of the wife. + +One of the early shocks I received on this general subject was due to +the discovery that whenever my wife took my arm as we walked the +street to and from church, or elsewhere, the people looked at us in +surprised displeasure. Such public manifestation of intimacy was to be +expected from libertines alone, and from these only when they were +more or less under the influence of drink. Whenever a Japanese man +walks out with his wife, which, by the way, is seldom, he invariably +steps on ahead, leaving her to follow, carrying the parcels, if there +are any. A child, especially a son, may walk at his side, but not his +wife. + +Let me give a few more illustrations to show how the present family +life of the Japanese checks the full and free development of the +affections. In one of our out-stations I but recently found a young +woman in a distressing condition. Her parents had no sons, and +consequently, according to the custom of the land, they had adopted a +son, who became the husband of their eldest daughter; the man proved a +rascal, and the family was glad when he decided that he did not care +to be their son any longer. Shortly after his departure a child was +born to the daughter; but, according to the law, she had no husband, +and consequently the child must either be registered as illegitimate, +or be fraudulently registered as the child of the mother's father. +There is much fraudulent registration, the children of concubines are +not recognized as legitimate; yet it is common to register such +children as those of the regular wife, especially if she has few or +none of her own. + +An evangelist who worked long in Kyushu was always in great financial +trouble because of the fact that he had to support two mothers, +besides giving aid to his father, who had married a third wife. The +first was his own mother, who had been divorced, but, as she had no +home, the son took her to his. When the father divorced his second +wife, the son was induced to take care of her also. Another +evangelist, with whom I had much to do, was the adopted son of a +scheming old man; it seems that in the earlier part of the present era +the eldest son of a family was exempt from military draft. It often +happened, therefore, that families who had no sons could obtain large +sums of money from those who had younger sons whom they wished to have +adopted for the purpose of escaping the draft. This evangelist, while +still a boy, was adopted into such a family, and a certain sum was +fixed upon to be paid at some time in the future. But the adopted son +proved so pleasing to the adopting father that he did not ask for the +money; by some piece of legerdemain, however, he succeeded in adopting +a second son, who paid him the desired money. After some years the +first adopted son became a Christian, and then an evangelist, both +steps being taken against the wishes of the adopting father. The +father finally said that he would forego all relations to the son, and +give him back his original name, provided the son would pay the +original sum that had been agreed on, plus the interest, which +altogether would, at that time, amount to several hundred yen. This +was, of course, impossible. The negotiations dragged on for three or +four years. Meanwhile, the young man fell in love with a young girl, +whom he finally married; as he was still the son of his adopting +father, he could not have his wife registered as his wife, for the old +man had another girl in view for him and would not consent to this +arrangement. And so the matter dragged for several months more. Unless +the matter could be arranged, any children born to them must be +registered as illegitimate. At this point I was consulted and, for the +first time, learned the details of the case. Further consultations +resulted in an agreement as to the sum to be paid; the adopted son was +released, and re-registered under his newly acquired name and for the +first time his marriage became legal. The confusion and suffering +brought into the family by this practice of adoption and of separation +are almost endless. + +The number of cases in which beautiful and accomplished young women +have been divorced by brutal and licentious husbands is appalling. I +know several such. What wonder that Christians and others are +constantly laying emphasis, in public lectures and sermons and private +talks, on the crying need of reform in marriage and in the home? + +Throughout the land the newspapers are discussing the pros and cons of +monogamy and polygamy. In January of 1898 the _Jiji Shimpo_, one of +the leading daily papers of Tokyo, had a series of articles on the +subject from the pen of one of the most illustrious educators of New +Japan, Mr. Fukuzawa. His school, the "Keio Gijiku," has educated more +thousands of young men than any other, notwithstanding the fact that +it is a private institution. Though not a Christian himself, nor +making any professions of advocating Christianity, yet Mr. Fukuzawa +has come out strongly in favor of monogamy. His description of the +existing social and family life is striking, not to say sickening. If +I mistake not, it is he who tells of a certain noble lady who shed +tears at the news of the promotion of her husband in official rank; +and when questioned on the matter she confessed that, with added +salary, he would add to the number of his concubines and to the +frequency of his intercourse with famous dancing and singing girls. + +The distressing state of family life may also be gathered from the +large numbers of public and secret prostitutes that are to be found in +all the large cities, and the singing girls of nearly every town. +According to popular opinion, their number is rapidly increasing. +Though this general subject trenches on morality rather than on the +topic immediately before us, yet it throws a lurid light on this +question also. It lets us see, perhaps, more clearly than we could in +any other way, how deficient is the average home life of the people. A +professing Christian, a man of wide experience and social standing, +not long since seriously argued at a meeting of a Young Men's +Christian Association that dancing and singing girls are a necessary +part of Japanese civilization to-day. He argued that they supply the +men with that female element in social life which the ordinary woman +cannot provide; were the average wives and daughters sufficiently +accomplished to share in the social life of the men as they are in the +West, dancing and singing girls, being needless, would soon cease to +be. + +One further question in this connection merits our attention. How are +we to account for an order of society that allows so little scope for +the natural affections of the heart, unless by saying that that order +is the true expression of their nature? Must we not say that the +element of affection in the present social order is deficient because +the Japanese themselves are naturally deficient? The question seems +more difficult than it really is. + +In the first place, the affectionate relation existing between +husbands and wives and between parents and children, in Western lands, +is a product of relatively recent times. In his exhaustive work on +"The History of Human Marriage," Westermarck makes this very plain. +Wherever the woman is counted a slave, is bought and sold, is +considered as merely a means of bearing children to the family, or in +any essential way is looked down upon, there high forms of affection +are by the nature of the case impossible, though some affection +doubtless exists; it necessarily attains only a rudimentary +development. Now it is conspicuous that the conception of the nature +and purpose of woman, as held in the Orient, has always been debasing +to her. Though individual women might rise above their assigned +position the whole social order, as established by the leaders of +thought, was against her. The statement that there was a primitive +condition of society in Japan in which the affectionate relations +between husband and wife now known in the West prevailed, is, I think, +a mistake. + +We must remember, in the second place, what careful students of human +evolution have pointed out, that those tribes and races in which the +family was most completely consolidated, that is to say, those in +which the power of the father was absolute, were the ones to gain the +victory over their competitors. The reason for this is too obvious to +require even a statement. Every conquering race has accordingly +developed the "patria potestas" to a greater or less degree. Now one +general peculiarity of the Orient is that that stage of development +has remained to this day; it has not experienced those modifications +and restrictions which have arisen in the West. The national +government dealt with families and clans, not with individuals, as the +final social unit. In the West, however, the individual has become the +civil unit; the "patria potestas" has thus been all but lost. This, +added to religious and ethical considerations, has given women and +children an ever higher place both in society and in the home. Had +this loss of authority by the father been accompanied with a weakening +of the nation, it would have been an injury; but, in the West, his +authority has been transferred to the nation. These considerations +serve to render more intelligible and convincing the main proposition +of these chapters, that the distinctive emotional characteristics of +the Japanese are not inherent; they are the results of the social and +industrial order; as this order changes, they too will surely change. +The entire civilization of a land takes its leading, if not its +dominant, color from the estimate set by the people as a whole on the +value of human life. The relatively late development of the tender +affections, even in the West, is due doubtless to the extreme slowness +with which the idea of the inherent value of a human being, as such, +has taken root, even though it was clearly taught by Christ. But the +leaven of His teaching has been at work for these hundreds of years, +and now at last we are beginning to see its real meaning and its vital +relation to the entire progress of man. It may be questioned whether +Christ gave any more important impetus to the development of +civilization than by His teaching in regard to the inestimable worth +of man, grounding it, as He did, on man's divine sonship. Those +nations which insist on valuing human life only by the utilitarian +standard, and which consequently keep woman in a degraded place, +insisting on concubinage and all that it implies, are sure to wane +before those nations which loyally adopt and practice the higher +ideals of human worth. The weakness of heathen lands arises in no +slight degree from their cheap estimate of human life. + +In Japan, until the Meiji era, human life was cheap. For criminals of +the military classes, suicide was the honorable method of leaving this +world; the lower orders of society suffered loss of life at the hands +of the military class without redress. The whole nation accepted the +low standards of human value; woman was valued chiefly, if not +entirely, on a utilitarian basis, that, namely, of bearing children, +doing house and farm work, and giving men pleasure. So far as I know, +not among all the teachings of Confucius or Buddha was the supreme +value of human life, as such, once suggested, much less any adequate +conception of the worth and nature of woman. The entire social order +was constructed without these two important truths. + +By a great effort, however, Japan has introduced a new social order, +with unprecedented rapidity. By one revolution it has established a +set of laws in which the equality of all men before the law is +recognized at least; for the first time in Oriental history, woman is +given the right to seek divorce. The experiment is now being made on a +great scale as to whether the new social order adopted by the rulers +can induce those ideas among the people at large which will insure its +performance. Can the mere legal enactments which embody the principles +of human equality and the value of human life, regardless of sex, +beget those fundamental conceptions on which alone a steady and +lasting government can rest? Can Japan really step into the circle of +Western nations, without abandoning her pagan religions and pushing +onward into Christian monotheism with all its corollaries as to the +relations and mutual duties of man? All earnest men are crying out for +a strengthening of the moral life of the nation through the reform of +the family and are proclaiming the necessity of monogamy; but, aside +from the Christians, none appear to see how this is to be done. Even +Mr. Fukuzawa says that the first step in the reform of the family and +the establishment of monogamy is to develop public sentiment against +prostitution and plural or illegal marriage; and the way to do this +is first to make evil practices secret. This, he says, is more +important than to give women a higher education. He does not see that +Christianity with its conceptions of immediate responsibility of the +individual to God, the loving Heavenly Father, and of the infinite +value of each human soul, thus doing away with the utilitarian scale +for measuring both men and women, together with its conceptions of the +relations of the sexes and of man to man, can alone supply that +foundation for all the elements of the new social order, intellectual +and emotional, which will make it workable and permanent, and of which +monogamy is but one element.[L] He does not see that representative +government and popular rights cannot stand for any length of time on +any other foundation. + + + + +X + +CHEERFULNESS--INDUSTRY--TRUTHFULNESS--SUSPICIOUSNESS + + +Many writers have dwelt with delight on the cheerful disposition that +seems so common in Japan. Lightness of heart, freedom from all anxiety +for the future, living chiefly in the present, these and kindred +features are pictured in glowing terms. And, on the whole, these +pictures are true to life. The many flower festivals are made +occasions for family picnics when all care seems thrown to the wind. +There is a simplicity and a freshness and a freedom from worry that is +delightful to see. But it is also remarked that a change in this +regard is beginning to be observed. The coming in of Western +machinery, methods of government, of trade and of education, is +introducing customs and cares, ambitions and activities, that militate +against the older ways. Doubtless, this too is true. If so, it but +serves to establish the general proposition of these pages that the +more outstanding national characteristics are largely the result of +special social conditions, rather than of inherent national character. + +The cheerful disposition, so often seen and admired by the Westerner, +is the cheerfulness of children. In many respects the Japanese are +relatively undeveloped. This is due to the nature of their social +order during the past. The government has been largely paternal in +form and fully so in theory. Little has been left to individual +initiative or responsibility. Wherever such a system has been dominant +and the perfectly accepted order, the inevitable result is just such a +state of simple, childish cheerfulness as we find in Japan. It +constitutes that golden age sung by the poets of every land. But being +the cheerfulness of children, the happiness of immaturity, it is +bound to change with growth, to be lost with coming maturity. + +Yet the Japanese are by no means given up to a cheerful view of life. +Many an individual is morose and dejected in the extreme. This +disposition is ever stimulated by the religious teachings of Buddhism. +Its great message has been the evanescent character of the present +life. Life is not worth living, it urges; though life may have some +pleasures, the total result is disappointment and sorrow. Buddhism has +found a warm welcome in the hearts of many Japanese. For more than a +thousand years it has been exercising a potent influence on their +thoughts and lives. Yet how is this consistent with the cheerful +disposition which seems so characteristic of Japan? The answer is not +far to seek. Pessimism is by its very nature separative, isolating, +silent. Those oppressed by it do not enter into public joys. They hide +themselves in monasteries, or in the home. The result is that by its +very nature the actual pessimism of Japan is not a conspicuous feature +of national character. The judgment that all Japanese are cheerful +rests on shallow grounds. Because, forsooth, millions on holidays bear +that appearance, and because on ordinary occasions the average man and +woman seem cheerful and happy, the conclusion is reached that all are +so. No effort is made to learn of those whose lives are spent in +sadness and isolation. I am convinced that the Japan of old, for all +its apparent cheer, had likewise its side of deep tragedy. Conditions +of life that struck down countless individuals, and mental conditions +which made Buddhism so popular, both point to this conclusion. + +Again I wish to call attention to the fact that the prominence of +children and young people is in part the cause of the appearance of +general happiness. The Japanese live on the street as no Western +people do. The stores and workshops are the homes; when these are +open, the homes are open. When the children go out of the house to +play they use the streets, for they seldom have yards. Here they +gather in great numbers and play most enthusiastically, utterly +regardless of the passers-by, for these latter are all on foot or in +jinrikishas, and, consequently, never cause the children any alarm. + +The Japanese give the double impression of being industrious and +diligent on the one hand, and, on the other, of being lazy and utterly +indifferent to the lapse of time. The long hours during which they +keep at work is a constant wonder to the Occidental. I have often been +amazed in Fukuoka to find stores and workshops open, apparently in +operation, after ten and sometimes even until eleven o'clock at night, +while blacksmiths and carpenters and wheelwrights would be working +away as if it were morning. Many of the factories recently started +keep very long hours. Indeed most of the cotton mills run day and +night, having two sets of workers, who shift their times of labor +every week. Those who work during the night hours one week take the +day hours the following week. In at least one such factory, with which +I am acquainted, the fifteen hundred girls who work from six o'clock +Saturday evening until six o'clock Sunday morning, are then supposed +to have twenty-four hours of rest before they begin their day's work +Monday morning; but, as a matter of fact, they must spend three or +four and sometimes five hours on Sunday morning cleaning up the +factory. + +In a small silk-weaving factory that I know the customary hours for +work were from five in the morning until nine at night, seven days in +the week. The wife, however, of the owner became a Christian. Through +her intervention time for rest was secured on Sunday long enough for a +Bible class, which the evangelist of the place was invited to teach. +After several months of instruction a number of the hands became +Christian, and all were sufficiently interested to ask that the whole +of the Sabbath be granted to them for rest; but in order that the +master might not lose thereby, they agreed to begin work at four each +morning and to work on until ten at night. With such hours one would +have expected them to fall at once into their beds when the work of +the day was over. But for many months, at ten o'clock in the evening, +my wife and I heard them singing a hymn or two in their family +worship before retiring for the night. + +In certain weaving factories I have been told that the girls are +required to work sixteen hours a day; and that on Sundays they are +allowed to have some rest, being then required to work but ten hours! +The diligence of mail deliverers, who always run when on duty, the +hours of consecutive running frequently performed by jin-irikisha men +(several have told me that they have made over sixty miles in a single +day), the long hours of persistent study by students in the higher +schools, and many kindred facts, certainly indicate a surprising +capacity for work. + +But there are equally striking illustrations of an opposite nature. +The farmers and mechanics and carpenters, among regular laborers, and +the entire life of the common people in their homes, give an +impression of indifference to the flight of time, if not of absolute +laziness. The workers seem ready to sit down for a smoke and a chat at +any hour of the day. In the home and in ordinary social life, the loss +of time seems to be a matter of no consequence whatever. Polite +palaver takes unstinted hours, and the sauntering of the people +through the street emphasizes the impression that no business calls +oppress them. + +In my opinion these characteristics, also, are due to the conditions +of society, past and present, rather than to the inherent nature of +the people. The old civilization was easy-going; it had no clocks; it +hardly knew the time of day; it never hastened. The hour was estimated +and was twice as long as the modern hour. The structure of society +demanded the constant observance of the forms of etiquette; this, with +its numberless genuflections and strikings of the head on the floor, +always demanded time. Furthermore, the very character of the footgear +compelled and still compels a shuffling, ambling gait when walking the +streets. The clog is a well-named hindrance to civilization in the +waste of time it compels. The slow-going, time-ignoring +characteristics of New Japan are social inheritances from feudal +times, characteristics which are still hampering its development. The +industrious spirit that is to be found in so many quarters to-day is +largely the gift of the new civilization. Shoes are taking the place +of clogs. The army and all the police, on ordinary duty, wear shoes. +Even the industry of the students is largely due to the new conditions +of student life. The way in which the Japanese are working to-day, and +the feverish haste that some of them evince in their work, shows that +they are as capable as Occidentals of acquiring the rush of +civilization. + +The home life of the people gives an impression of listlessness that +is in marked contrast to that of the West. This is partly due to the +fact that the house work is relatively light, there being no furniture +to speak of, the rooms small, and the cooking arrangements quite +simple. Housewives go about their work with restful deliberation, +which is trying, however, to one in haste. It is the experience of the +housekeepers from the West that one Japanese domestic is able to +accomplish from a third to a half of what is done by a girl in +America. This is not wholly due to slowness of movement, however, but +also to smallness of stature and corresponding lack of strength. On +the other hand, the long hours of work required of women in the +majority of Japanese homes is something appalling. The wife is +expected to be up before the husband, to prepare his meals, and to +wait patiently till his return at night, however late that may be. In +all except the higher ranks of society she takes entire care of the +children, except for the help which her older children may give her. +During much of the time she goes about her work with an infant tied to +her back. Though she does not work hard at any one time (and is it to +be wondered at?) yet she works long. Especially hard is the life of +the waiting girls in the hotels. I have learned that, as a rule, they +are required to be up before daylight and to remain on duty until +after midnight. In some hotels they are allowed but four or five hours +out of the twenty-four. The result is, they are often overcome and +fall asleep while at service. Sitting on the floor and waiting to +serve the rice, with nothing to distract their thoughts or hold their +attention, they easily lose themselves for a few moments. + +Two other strongly contrasted traits are found in the Japanese +character, absolute confidence and trustfulness on the one hand, and +suspicion on the other. It is the universal testimony that the former +characteristic is rapidly passing away; in the cities it is well-nigh +gone. But in the country places it is still common. The idea of making +a bargain when two persons entered upon some particular piece of work, +the one as employer, the other as employed, was entirely repugnant to +the older generation, since it was assumed that their relations as +inferior and superior should determine their financial relations; the +superior would do what was right, and the inferior should accept what +the superior might give without a question or a murmur. Among the +samurai, where the arrangement is between equals, bargaining or making +fixed and fast terms which will hold to the end, and which may be +carried to the courts in case of differences, was a thing practically +unknown in the older civilization. Everything of a business nature was +left to honor, and was carried on in mutual confidence. + +A few illustrations of this spirit of confidence from my own +experience may not be without interest. On first coming to Japan, I +found it usual for a Japanese who wished to take a jinrikisha to call +the runner and take the ride without making any bargain, giving him at +the end what seemed right. And the men generally accepted the payment +without question. I have found that recently, unless there is some +definite understanding arrived at before the ride, there is apt to be +some disagreement, the runner presuming on the hold he has, by virtue +of work done, to get more than is customary. This is especially true +in case the rider is a foreigner. Another set of examples in which +astonishing simplicity and confidence were manifested was in the +employment of evangelists. I have known several instances in which a +full correspondence with an evangelist with regard to his employment +was carried on, and the settlement finally concluded, and the man set +to work without a word said about money matters. It need hardly be +said that no foreigner took part in that correspondence. + +The simple, childlike trustfulness of the country people is seen in +multiplied ways; yet on the whole I cannot escape the conviction that +it is a trustfulness which is shown toward each other as equals. +Certain farmers whom I have employed to care for a cow and to +cultivate the garden, while showing a trustful disposition towards me, +have not had the same feelings toward their fellows apparently. + +This confidence and trustfulness were the product of a civilization +resting on communalistic feudalism; the people were kept as children +in dependence on their feudal lord; they had to accept what he said +and did; they were accustomed to that order of things from the +beginning and had no other thought; on the whole too, without doubt, +they received regular and kindly treatment. Furthermore, there was no +redress for the peasant in case of harshness; it was always the wise +policy, therefore, for him to accept whatever was given without even +the appearance of dissatisfaction. This spirit was connected with the +dominance of the military class. Simple trustfulness was, therefore, +chiefly that of the non-military classes. The trustfulness of the +samurai sprang from their distinctive training. As already mentioned, +when drawing up a bond in feudal times, in place of any tangible +security, the document would read, "If I fail to do so and so, you may +laugh at me in public." + +Since the overthrow of communal feudalism and the establishment of an +individualistic social order, necessitating personal ownership of +property, and the universal use of money, trustful confidence is +rapidly passing away. Everything is being more and more accurately +reduced to a money basis. The old samurai scorn for money seems to be +wholly gone, an astonishing transformation of character. Since the +disestablishment of the samurai class many of them have gone into +business. Not a few have made tremendous failures for lack of business +instinct, being easily fleeced by more cunning and less honorable +fellows who have played the "confidence" game most successfully; +others have made equally great successes because of their superior +mental ability and education. The government of Japan is to-day chiefly +in the hands of the descendants of the samurai class. They have their +fixed salaries and everything is done on a financial basis, payment +being made for work only. The lazy and the incapable are being pushed +to the wall. Many of the poorest and most pitiable people of the land +to-day are the proud sons of the former aristocracy, who glory in the +history of their ancestors, but are not able or willing to change +their old habits of thought and manner of life. + +The American Board has had a very curious, not to say disastrous, +experience with the spirit of trustful confidence that was the +prevailing business characteristic of the older civilization. +According to the treaties which Japan had made with foreign nations, +no foreigner was allowed to buy land outside the treaty ports. As, +however, mission work was freely allowed by the government and +welcomed by many of the people in all parts of the land, and as it +became desirable to have continuous missionary work in several of the +interior towns, it seemed wise to locate missionaries in those places +and to provide suitable houses for them. In order to do this, land was +bought and the needed houses erected, and the title was necessarily +held in the names of apparently trustworthy native Christians. The +government was, of course, fully aware of what was being done and +offered no objection. It was well understood that the property was not +for the private ownership of the individual missionary, but was to be +held by the Christians for the use of the mission to which the +missionary belonged. For many years no questions were raised and all +moved along smoothly. The arrangement between the missionaries and the +Christian or Christians in whose names the property might be held was +entirely verbal, no document being of any legal value, to say nothing +of the fact that in those early days the mention of documentary +relationships would have greatly hurt the tender feelings of honor +which were so prominent a part of samurai character. The financial +relations were purely those of honor and trust. + +Under this general method, large sums of money were expended by the +American Board for homes for its missionaries in various parts of +Japan, and especially in Kyoto. Here was the Doshisha, which grew from +a small English school and Evangelists' training class to a prosperous +university with fine buildings. Tens of thousands of dollars were put +into this institution, besides the funds needful for the land and the +houses for nine foreign families. An endowment was also raised, partly +in Japan, but chiefly in America. In a single bequest, Mr. Harris of +New London gave over one hundred thousand dollars for a School of +Science. It has been estimated that, altogether, the American Board +and its constituency have put into the Doshisha, including the +salaries of the missionary teachers, toward a million dollars. + +In the early nineties the political skies were suddenly darkened. The +question of treaty revision loomed up black in the heavens. The +politicians of the land clamored for the absolute refusal of all right +of property ownership by foreigners. In their political furore they +soon began to attack the Japanese Christians who were holding the +property used by the various missions. They accused them of being +traitors to the country. A proposed law was drafted and presented in +the National Diet, confiscating all such property. The Japanese +holders naturally became nervous and desirous of severing the +relationships with the foreigners as soon as possible. In the case of +corporate ownership the trustees began to make assumptions of absolute +ownership, regardless of the moral claims of the donors of the funds. +In the earlier days of the trouble frequent conferences on the +question were held by the missionaries of the American Board with the +leading Christians of the Empire, and their constant statement was, +"Do not worry; trust us; we are samurai and will do nothing that is +not perfectly honorable." So often were these sentiments reiterated, +and yet so steadily did the whole management of the Doshisha move +further and further away from the honorable course, that finally the +"financial honor of the samurai" came to have an odor far from +pleasant. A deputation of four gentlemen, as representatives of the +American Board, came from America especially to confer with the +trustees as to the Christian principles of the institution, and the +moral claims of the Board, but wholly in vain. The administration of +the Doshisha became so distinctly non-Christian, to use no stronger +term, that the mission felt it impossible to co-operate longer with +the Doshisha trustees; the missionary members of the faculty +accordingly resigned. In order to secure exemption from the draft for +its students the trustees of the Doshisha abrogated certain clauses of +the constitution relating to the Christian character of the +institution, in spite of the fact that these clauses belonged to the +"unchangeable" part of the constitution which the trustees, on taking +office, had individually sworn to maintain. Again the Board sent out a +man, now a lawyer vested with full power to press matters to a final +issue. After months of negotiations with the trustees in regard to the +restoration of the substance of the abrogated clauses, without result, +he was on the point of carrying the case into the courts, when the +trustees decided to resign in a body. A new board of trustees has been +formed, who bid fair to carry on the institution in accord with the +wishes of its founders and benefactors, as expressed in the original +constitution. At one stage of the proceedings the trustees voted +magnanimously, as they appeared to think, to allow the missionaries of +the Board to live for fifteen years, rent free, in the foreign houses +connected with the Doshisha; this, because of the many favors it had +received from the Board! By this vote they maintained that they had +more than fulfilled every requirement of honor. That they were +consciously betraying the trust that had been reposed in them is not +for a moment to be supposed. + +It would not be fair not to add that this experience in Kyoto does not +exemplify the universal Japanese character. There are many Japanese +who deeply deplore and condemn the whole proceeding. Some of the +Doshisha alumni have exerted themselves strenuously to have +righteousness done. + +Passing now from the character of trustful confidence, we take up its +opposite, suspiciousness. The development of this quality is a natural +result of a military feudalism such as ruled Japan for hundreds of +years. Intrigue was in constant use when actual war was not being +waged. In an age when conflicts were always hand to hand, and the man +who could best deceive his enemy as to his next blow was the one to +carry off his head, the development of suspicion, strategy, and deceit +was inevitable. The most suspicious men, other things being equal, +would be the victors; they, with their families, would survive and +thus determine the nature of the social order. The more than two +hundred and fifty clans and "kuni," "clan territory," into which the +land was divided, kept up perpetual training in the arts of intrigue +and subtlety which are inevitably accompanied by suspicion. + +Modern manifestations of this characteristic are frequent. Not a +cabinet is formed, but the question of its make-up is discussed from +the clannish standpoint. Even though it is now thirty years since the +centralizing policy was entered upon and clan distinctions were +effectually broken down, yet clan suspicion and jealousy is not dead. + +The foreigner is impressed by the constant need of care in +conversation, lest he be thought to mean something more or other than +he says. When we have occasion to criticise anything in the Japanese, +we have found by experience that much more is inferred than is said. +Shortly after my arrival in Japan I was advised by one who had been in +the land many years to be careful in correcting a domestic or any +other person sustaining any relation to myself, to say not more than +one-tenth of what I meant, for the other nine-tenths would be +inferred. Direct and perfectly frank criticism and suggestion, such as +prevail among Anglo-Americans at least, seem to be rare among the +Japanese. + +In closing, it is in order to note once again that the emotional +characteristics considered in this chapter, although customarily +thought to be deep-seated traits of race nature, are, nevertheless, +shown to be dependent on the character of the social order. Change the +order, and in due season corresponding changes occur in the national +character, a fact which would be impossible were that character +inherent and essential, passed on from generation to generation by the +single fact of biological heredity. + + + + +XI + +JEALOUSY--REVENGE--HUMANE FEELINGS + + +According to the teachings of Confucius, jealousy is one of the seven +just grounds on which a woman may be divorced. In the "Greater +Learning for Women,"[M] occur the following words: "Let her never even +dream of jealousy. If her husband be dissolute, she must expostulate +with him, but never either render her countenance frightful or her +accents repulsive, which can only result in completely alienating her +husband from her, and making her intolerable in his eyes." "The five +worst maladies that afflict the female mind are indocility, +discontent, slander, jealousy, and silliness. Without any doubt, these +five maladies infest seven or eight out of every ten women, and it is +from these that arises the inferiority of women to men ... Neither +when she blames and accuses and curses innocent persons, nor when in +her jealousy of others she thinks to set herself up alone, does she +see that she is her own enemy, estranging others and incurring their +hatred." + +The humiliating conditions to which women have been subjected in the +past and present social order, and to which full reference has been +made in previous chapters, give sufficient explanation of the jealousy +which is recognized as a marked, and, as might appear, inevitable +characteristic of Japanese women. Especially does this seem inevitable +when it is remembered how slight is their hold on their husbands, on +whose faithfulness their happiness so largely depends. Only as this +order changes and the wife secures a more certain place in the home, +free from the competition of concubines and harlots and dancing girls, +can we expect the characteristic to disappear. That it will do so +under such conditions, there is no reason to question. Already there +are evidences that in homes where the husband and the wife are both +earnest Christians, and where each is confident of the loyalty of the +other, jealousy is as rare as it is in Christian lands. + +But is jealousy a characteristic limited to women? or is it not also a +characteristic of men? I am assured from many quarters that men also +suffer from it. The jealousy of a woman is aroused by the fear that +some other woman may supplant her in the eyes of her husband; that of +a man by the fear that some man may supplant him in rank or influence. +Marital jealousy of men seems to be rare. Yet I heard not long since +of a man who was so afraid lest some man might steal his wife's +affections that he could not attend to his business, and finally, +after three months of married wretchedness, he divorced her. A year +later he married her again, but the old trouble reappeared, and so he +divorced her a second time. If marital jealousy is less common among +men than among women, the explanation is at hand in the lax moral +standard for man. The feudal order of society, furthermore, was +exactly the soil in which to develop masculine jealousy. In such a +society ambition and jealousy go hand in hand. Wherever a man's rise +in popularity and influence depends on the overthrow of someone +already in possession, jealousy is natural. Connected with the spirit +of jealousy is that of revenge. Had we known Japan only during her +feudal days, we should have pronounced the Japanese exceedingly +revengeful. Revenge was not only the custom, it was also the law of +the land and the teaching of moralists. One of the proverbs handed +down from the hoary past is: "Kumpu no ada to tomo ni ten we +itadakazu." "With the enemy of country, or father, one cannot live +under the same heaven." The tales of heroic Japan abound in stories of +revenge. Once when Confucius was asked about the doctrine of Lao-Tse +that one should return good for evil, he replied, "With what then +should one reward good? The true doctrine is to return good for good, +and evil with justice." This saying of Confucius has nullified for +twenty-four hundred years that pearl of truth enunciated by Lao-Tse, +and has caused it to remain an undiscovered diamond amid the rubbish +of Taoism. By this judgment Confucius sanctified the rough methods of +justice adopted in a primitive order of society. His dictum peculiarly +harmonized with the militarism of Japan. Being, then, a recognized +duty for many hundred years, it would be strange indeed were not +revengefulness to appear among the modern traits of the Japanese. + +But the whole order of society has been transformed. Revenge is now +under the ban of the state, which has made itself responsible for the +infliction of corporal punishment on individual transgressors. As a +result conspicuous manifestations of the revengeful spirit have +disappeared, and, may we not rightly say, even the spirit itself? The +new order of society leaves no room for its ordinary activity; it +furnishes legal methods of redress. The rapid change in regard to this +characteristic gives reason for thinking that if the industrial and +social order could be suitably adjusted, and the conditions of +individual thought and life regulated, this, and many other evil +traits of human character, might become radically changed in a short +time. Intelligent Christian Socialism is based on this theory and +seems to have no little support for its position. + +Are Japanese cruel or humane? The general impression of the casual +tourist doubtless is that they are humane. They are kind to children +on the streets, to a marked degree; the jinrikisha runners turn out +not only for men, women, and children, but even for dogs. The +patience, too, of the ordinary Japanese under trying circumstances is +marked; they show amazing tolerance for one another's failings and +defects, and their mutual helpfulness in seasons of distress is often +striking. To one traveling through New Japan there is usually little +that will strike the eye as cruel. + +But the longer one lives in the country, the more is he impressed with +certain aspects of life which seem to evince an essentially +unsympathetic and inhumane disposition. I well remember the shock I +received when I discovered, not far from my home in Kumamoto, an +insane man kept in a cage. He was given only a slight amount of +clothing, even though heavy frost fell each night. Food was given him +once or twice a day. He was treated like a wild animal, not even being +provided with bedding. This is not an exceptional instance, as might, +perhaps, at first be supposed. The editor of the _Japan Mail_, who has +lived in Japan many years, and knows the people well, says: "Every +foreigner traveling or residing in Japan must have been shocked from +time to time by the method of treating lunatics. Only a few months ago +an imbecile might have been seen at Hakone confined in what was +virtually a cage, where, from year's end to year's end, he received +neither medical assistance nor loving tendance, but was simply fed +like a wild beast in a menagerie. We have witnessed many such sights +with horror and pity. Yet humane Japanese do not seem to think of +establishing asylums where these unhappy sufferers can find refuge. +There is only one lunatic asylum in Tokyo. It is controlled by the +municipality, its accommodation is limited, and its terms place it +beyond the reach of the poor." And the amazing part is that such +sights do not seem to arouse the sentiment of pity in the Japanese. + +The treatment accorded to lepers is another significant indication of +the lack of sympathetic and humane sentiments among the people at +large. For ages they have been turned from home and house and +compelled to wander outcasts, living in the outskirt of the villages +in rude booths of their own construction, and dependent on their daily +begging, until a wretched death gives them relief from a more wretched +life. So far as I have been able to learn, the opening of hospitals +for lepers did not take place until begun by Christians in recent +times. This casting out of leper kindred was not done by the poor +alone, but by the wealthy also, although I do hot affirm or suppose +that the practice was universal. I am personally acquainted with the +management of the Christian Leper Hospital in Kumamoto, and the sad +accounts I have heard of the way in which lepers are treated by their +kindred would seem incredible, were they not supported by the +character of my informants, and by many other facts of a kindred +nature. + +A history of Japan was prepared by Japanese scholars under appointment +from the government and sent to the Columbian Exposition in 1893; it +makes the following statement, already referred to on a previous page: +"Despite the issue of several proclamations ... people were governed +by such strong aversion to the sight of sickness that travelers were +often left to die by the roadside from thirst, hunger, or disease, and +householders even went to the length of thrusting out of doors and +abandoning to utter destitution servants who suffered from chronic +maladies.... Whenever an epidemic occurred, the number of deaths that +resulted was enormous."[N] This was the condition of things after +Buddhism, with its civilizing and humanizing influences, had been at +work in the land for about four hundred years, and Old Japan was at +the height of her glory, whether considered from the standpoint of her +government, her literature, her religious development, or her art. + +Of a period some two hundred years earlier, it is stated that, by the +assistance of the Sovereign, Buddhism established a charity hospital +in Nara, "where the poor received medical treatment and drugs gratis, +and an asylum was founded for the support of the destitute. Measures +were also taken to rescue foundlings, and, in general, to relieve +poverty and distress" (p. 92). The good beginning made at that time +does not seem to have been followed up. As nearly as I can make out, +relying on the investigations of Rev. J.H. Pettee and Mr. Ishii, there +are to-day in Japan fifty orphan asylums, of which eleven are of +non-Christian, and thirty-nine of Christian origin, support, and +control. Of the non-Christian, five are in Osaka, two in Tokyo, four +in Kyoto, and one each in Nagoya, Kumamoto, and Matsuye. Presumably +the majority of these are in the hands of Buddhists. Of the Christian +asylums twenty are Roman Catholic and nineteen are Protestant. It is a +noteworthy fact that in this form of philanthropy and religious +activity, as in so many others, Christians are the pioneers and +Buddhists are the imitators. In a land where Buddhism has been so +effective as to modify the diet of the nation, leading them in +obedience to the doctrines of Buddha, as has been stated, to give up +eating animal food, it is exceedingly strange that the people +apparently have no regard for the pain of living animals. Says the +editor of the _Mail_ in the article already quoted: "They will not +interfere to save a horse from the brutality of its driver, and they +will sit calmly in a jinrikisha while its drawer, with throbbing heart +and straining muscles, toils up a steep hill." How often have I seen +this sight! How the rider can endure it, I cannot understand, except +it be that revolt at cruelty and sympathy with suffering do not stir +within his heart. Of course, heartless individuals are not rare in the +West also. I am speaking here, however, not of single individuals, but +of general characteristics. + +But a still more conspicuous evidence of Japanese deficiency of +sympathy is the use, until recently, of public torture. It was the +theory of Japanese jurisprudence that no man should be punished, even +though proved guilty by sufficient evidence, until he himself +confessed his guilt; consequently, on the flimsiest evidence, and even +on bare suspicion, he was tortured until the desired confession was +extracted. The cruelty of the methods employed, we of the nineteenth +century cannot appreciate. Some foreigner tells how the sight of +torture which he witnessed caused him to weep, while the Japanese +spectators stood by unmoved. The methods of execution were also +refined devices of torture. Townsend Harris says that crucifixion was +performed as follows: "The criminal is tied to a cross with his arms +and legs stretched apart as wide as possible; then a spear is thrust +through the body, entering just under the bottom of the shoulder blade +on the left side, and coming out on the right side, just by the +armpit. Another is then thrust through in a similar manner from the +right to the left side. The executioner endeavors to avoid the heart +in this operation. The spears are thrust through in this manner until +the criminal expires, but his sufferings are prolonged as much as +possible. Shinano told me that a few years ago a very strong man lived +until the eleventh spear had been thrust through him." + +From these considerations, which might be supported by a multitude of +illustrations, we conclude that in the past there has certainly been a +great amount of cruelty exhibited in Japan, and that even to this day +there is in this country far less sympathy for suffering, whether +animal or human, than is felt in the West. + +But we must not be too quick to jump to the conclusion that in this +regard we have discovered an essential characteristic of the Japanese +nature. With reference to the reported savagery displayed by Japanese +troops at Port Arthur, it has been said and repeated that you have +only to scratch the Japanese skin to find the Tartar, as if the recent +development of human feelings were superficial, and his real character +were exhibited in his most cruel moments. To get a true view of the +case let us look for a few moments at some other parts of the world, +and ask ourselves a few questions. + +How long is it since the Inquisition was enforced in Europe? Who can +read of the tortures there inflicted without shuddering with horror? +It is not necessary to go back to the times of the Romans with their +amphitheaters and gladiators, and with their throwing of Christians to +wild animals, or to Nero using Christians as torches in his garden. +How long is it since witches were burned, not only in Europe by the +thousand, but in enlightened and Christian New England? although it is +true that the numbers there burned were relatively few and the reign +of terror brief. How long is it since slaves were feeling the lash +throughout the Southern States of our "land of freedom"? How long is +it since fiendish mobs have burned or lynched the objects of their +rage? How long is it since societies for preventing cruelty to animals +and to children were established in England and America? Is it not a +suggestive fact that it was needful to establish them and that it is +still needful to maintain them? The fact is that the highly developed +humane sense which is now felt so strongly by the great majority of +people in the West is a late development, and is not yet universal. It +is not for us to boast, or even to feel superior to the Japanese, +whose opportunities for developing this sentiment have been limited. + +Furthermore, in regard to Japan, we must not overlook certain facts +which show that Japan has made gradual progress in the development of +the humane feelings and in the legal suppression of cruelty. The Nihon +Shoki records that, on the death of Yamato Hiko no Mikoto, his +immediate retainers were buried alive in a standing position around +the grave, presumably with the heads alone projecting above the +surface of the ground. The Emperor Suijin Tenno, on hearing the +continuous wailing day after day of the slowly dying retainers, was +touched with pity and said that it was a dreadful custom to bury with +the master those who had been most faithful to him when alive. And he +added that an evil custom, even though ancient, should not be +followed, and ordered it to be abandoned. A later record informs us +that from this time arose the custom of burying images in the place of +servants. According to the ordinary Japanese chronology, this took +place in the year corresponding to 1 B.C. The laws of Ieyasu (1610 +A.D.) likewise condemn this custom as unreasonable, together with the +custom in accordance with which the retainers committed suicide upon +the master's death. These same laws also refer to the proverb on +revenge, given in the third paragraph of this chapter, and add that +whoever undertakes thus to avenge himself or his father or mother or +lord or elder brother must first give notice to the proper office of +the fact and of the time within which he will carry out his intention; +without such a notice, the avenger will be considered a common +murderer. This provision was clearly a limitation of the law of +revenge. These laws of Ieyasu also describe the old methods of +punishing criminals, and then add: "Criminals are to be punished by +branding, or beating, or tying up, and, in capital cases, by spearing +or decapitation; but the old punishments of tearing to pieces and +boiling to death are not to be used." Torture was finally legally +abolished in Japan only as late as 1877. + +It has already become quite clear that the prevalence of cruelty or of +humanity depends largely upon the social order that prevails. It is +not at all strange that cruelty, or, at least, lack of sympathy for +suffering in man or beast, should be characteristic of an order based +on constant hand-to-hand conflict. Still more may we expect to find a +great indifference to human suffering wherever the value of man as man +is slighted. Not until the idea of the brotherhood of man has taken +full possession of one's heart and thought does true sympathy spring +up; then, for the first time, comes the power of putting one's self in +a brother's place. The apparently cruel customs of primitive times, in +their treatment of the sick, and particularly of those suffering from +contagious diseases, is the natural, not to say necessary, result of +superstitious ignorance. Furthermore, it was often the only ready +means to prevent the spread of contagious or epidemic diseases. + +In the treatment of the sick, the first prerequisite for the +development of tenderness is the introduction of correct ideas as to +the nature of disease and its proper treatment. As soon as this has +been effectually done, a great proportion of the apparent indifference +to human suffering passes away. The cruelty which is to-day so +universal in Africa needs but a changed social and industrial order to +disappear. The needed change has come to Japan. Physicians trained in +modern methods of medical practice are found all over the land. In +1894 there were 597 hospitals, 42,551 physicians, 33,921 nurses and +midwives, 2869 pharmacists, and 16,106 druggists, besides excellent +schools of pharmacy and medicine.[O] + +It is safe to say that nearly all forms of active cruelty have +disappeared from Japan; some amount of active sympathy has been +developed, though, as compared to that of other civilized lands, it is +still small. But there can be no doubt that the rapid change which has +come over the people during the past thirty years is not a change in +essential innate character, but only in the social order. As soon as +the idea takes root that every man has a mission of mercy, and that +the more cruel are not at liberty to vent their barbarous feelings on +helpless creatures, whether man or beast, a strong uprising of humane +activity will take place which will demand the formation of societies +for the prevention of cruelty and for carrying active relief to the +distressed and wretched. Lepers will no longer need to eke out a +precarious living by exhibiting their revolting misery in public; +lunatics will no longer be kept in filthy cages and left with +insufficient care or clothing. The stream of philanthropy will rise +high, to be at once a blessing and a glory to a race that already has +shown itself in many ways capable of the highest ideals of the West. + + + + +XII + +AMBITION--CONCEIT + + +Ambition is a conspicuous characteristic of New Japan. I have already +spoken of the common desire of her young men to become statesmen. The +stories of Neesima and other young Japanese who, in spite of +opposition and without money, worked their way to eminence and +usefulness, have fired the imagination of thousands of youths. They +think that all they need is to get to America, when their difficulties +will be at an end. They fancy that they have but to look around to +find some man who will support them while they study. + +Not only individuals, but the people as a whole, have great ambitions. +Three hundred years ago the Taiko, Hideyoshi, the Napoleon of Japan, +and the virtual ruler of the Empire, planned, after subjugating Korea, +to conquer China and make himself the Emperor of the East. He thought +he could accomplish this in two years. During the recent war, it was +the desire of many to march on to Pekin. Frequent expression was given +to the idea that it is the duty of Japan to rouse China from her long +sleep, as America roused Japan in 1854. It is frequently argued, in +editorial articles and public speeches, that the Japanese are +peculiarly fitted to lead China along the path of progress, not only +indirectly by example, as they have been doing, but directly by +teaching, as foreigners have led Japan. "The Mission of Japan to the +Orient" is a frequent theme of public discourse. But national +ambitions do not rest here. It is not seldom asserted that in Japan a +mingling of the Occidental and Oriental civilizations is taking place +under such favorable conditions that, for the first time in history, +the better elements of both are being selected; and that before long +the world will sit to learn at her feet. The lofty ambition of a group +of radical Christians is to discover or create a new religion which +shall unite the best features of Oriental and Occidental religious +thought and experience. The religion of the future will be, not +Christianity, nor Buddhism, but something better than either, more +consistent, more profound, more universal; and this religion, first +developed in Japan, will spread to other lands and become the final +religion of the world. + +A single curious illustration of the high-flying thoughts of the +people may well find mention here. When the Kumamoto Boys' School +divided over the arbitrary, tyrannical methods of their newly secured, +brilliant principal, already referred to in a previous chapter, the +majority of the trustees withdrew and at once established a new school +for boys. For some time they struggled for a name which should set +forth the principles for which the school stood, and finally they +fixed on that of "To-A Gakko." Translated into unpretentious English, +this means "Eastern Asia School"; the idea was that the school stood +for no narrow methods of education, and that its influence was to +extend beyond the confines of Japan. This interpretation is not an +inference, but was publicly stated oil various occasions. The school +began with twenty-five boys, if my memory is correct, and never +reached as many as fifty. In less than three years it died an untimely +death through lack of patronage. + +The young men of the island of Kyushu, especially of Kumamoto and +Kagoshima provinces, are noted for their ambitious projects. The once +famous "Kumamoto Band" consisted entirely of Kyushu boys. Under the +masterful influence of Captain Jaynes those high-spirited sons of +samurai, who had come to learn foreign languages and science, in a +school founded to combat Christianity and to upbuild Buddhism, became +impressed with the immense superiority of foreign lands, which +superiority they were led to attribute to Christianity. They +accordingly espoused the Christian cause with great ardor, and, in +their compact with one another, agreed to work for the reform of +Japan. I have listened to many addresses by the Kumamoto schoolboys, +and I have been uniformly impressed with the political and national +tendencies of their thought. + +Accompanying ambition is a group of less admirable qualities, such as +self-sufficiency and self-conceit. They are seldom manifested with +that coarseness which in the West we associate with them, for the +Japanese is usually too polished to be offensively obtrusive. He +seldom indulges in bluster or direct assertion, but is contented +rather with the silent assumption of superiority. + +I heard recently of a slight, though capital, illustration of my +point. Two foreign gentlemen were walking through the town of Tadotsu +some years since and observed a sign in English which read +"Stemboots." Wondering what the sign could mean they inquired the +business of the place, and learning that it was a steamboat office, +they gave the clerk the reason for their inquiry, and at his request +made the necessary correction. A few days later, however, on their +return, they noticed that the sign had been re-corrected to +"Stem-boats," an assumption of superior knowledge on the part of some +tyro in English. The multitude of signboards in astonishing English, +in places frequented by English-speaking people, is one of the amusing +features of Japan. It would seem as if the shopkeepers would at least +take the pains to have the signs correctly worded and spelled, by +asking the help of some foreigner or competent Japanese. Yet they +assume that they know all that is needful. + +Indications of perfect self-confidence crop out in multitudes of ways +far too numerous to mention. The aspiring ambition spoken of in the +immediately preceding pages is one indication of this characteristic. +Another is the readiness of fledglings to undertake responsibilities +far beyond them. Young men having a smattering of English, yet wholly +unable to converse, set up as teachers. Youths in school not +infrequently undertake to instruct their teachers as to what courses +of study and what treatment they should receive. Still more +conspicuous is the cool assumption of superiority evinced by so many +Japanese in discussing intellectual and philosophical problems. The +manner assumed is that of one who is complete master of the subject. +The silent contempt often poured on foreigners who attempt to discuss +these problems is at once amusing and illustrative of the +characteristic of which I am speaking.[P] + +We turn next to inquire for the explanation of these characteristics. +Are they inherent traits of the race? Or are they the product of the +times? Doubtless the latter is the true explanation. It will be found +that those individuals in whom these characteristics appear are +descendants of the samurai. A small class of men freed from heavy +physical toil, given to literature and culture, ever depending on the +assumption of superiority for the maintenance of their place in +society and defending their assumption by the sword--such a class, in +such a social order, would develop the characteristics in question to +a high degree. Should we expect an immediate change of character when +the social order has been suddenly changed? + +In marked contrast to the lofty assumptions of superiority which +characterized the samurai of Old Japan, was the equally marked +assumption of inferiority which characterized the rest of the people, +or nineteen-twentieths of the nation. I have already sufficiently +dwelt on this aspect of national character. I here recur to it merely +to enforce the truth that self-arrogation and self-abnegation, +haughtiness and humility, proud, high-handed, magisterial manners, and +cringing, obsequious obedience, are all elements of character that +depend on the nature of the social order. They are passed on from +generation to generation more by social than by biological heredity. +Both of these sets of contrasted characteristics are induced by a +full-fledged feudal system, and must remain for a time as a social +inheritance after that system has been overthrown, particularly if its +overthrow is sudden. In proportion as the principles of personal +rights and individual worth on the basis of manhood become realized +by the people and incorporated into the government and customs of the +land, will abnegating obsequiousness, as well as haughty lordliness, +be replaced by a straightforward manliness, in which men of whatever +grade of society will frankly face each other, eye to eye. + +But what shall we say in regard to the assumption made by young Japan +in its attitude to foreigners? Are the assumptions wholly groundless? +Is the self-confidence unjustified? Far from it. When we study later +the intellectual elements of Japanese character, we shall see some +reasons for their feeling of self-reliance. The progress which the +nation has made in many lines within thirty years shows that it has +certain kinds of power and, consequently, some ground for +self-reliance. Furthermore, self-reliance, if fairly supported by +ability and zeal, is essential in the attainment of any end whatever. +Faint heart never won fair lady. Confidence in self is one form of +faith. No less of peoples than individuals is it true, that without +faith in themselves they cannot attain their goal. The impression of +undue self-confidence made by the Japanese may be owing partly to +their shortness of stature. It is a new experience for the West to see +a race of little people with large brains and large plans. Especially +does it seem strange and conceited for a people whose own civilization +is so belated to assume a rôle of such importance in the affairs of +the world. Yet we must learn to dissociate physical size from mental +or spiritual capacity. The future alone will disclose what Japanese +self-reliance and energy can produce. + +The present prominence of this characteristic in Japan is still +further to be accounted for by her actual recent history. The +overthrow of the Shogunate was primarily the work of young men; the +introduction of almost all the sweeping reforms which have transformed +Japan has been the work of young men who, though but partly equipped +for their work, approached it with energy and perfect confidence, not +knowing enough perhaps to realize the difficulties they were +undertaking. They had to set aside the customs of centuries; to do +this required startling assumptions of superiority to their ancestors +and their immediate parents. The young men undertook to dispute and +doubt everything that stood in the way of national re-organization. In +what nation has there ever been such a setting aside of parental +teaching and ancestral authority? These heroic measures secured +results in which the nation glories. Is it strange, then, that the +same spirit should show itself in every branch of life, even in the +attitude of the people to the Westerners who have brought them the new +ways and ideas? + +The Japanese, however, is not the only conceited nation. Indeed, it +would be near the truth to say that there is no people without this +quality. Certainly the American and English, French and German nations +cannot presume to criticise others. The reason why we think Japan +unique in this respect is that in the case of these Western nations we +know more of the grounds for national self-satisfaction than in the +case of Japan. Yet Western lands are, in many respects, truly +provincial to this very day, in spite of their advantages and +progress; the difficulty with most of them is that they do not +perceive it. The lack of culture that prevails among our working +classes is in some respects great. The narrow horizon still bounding +the vision of the average American or Briton is very conspicuous to +one who has had opportunities to live and travel in many lands. Each +country, and even each section of a country, is much inclined to think +that it has more nearly reached perfection than any other. + +This phase of national and local feeling is interesting, especially +after one has lived in Japan a number of years and has had +opportunities to mingle freely with her people. For they, although +self-reliant and self-conceited, are at the same time surprisingly +ready to acknowledge that they are far behind the times. Their +open-mindedness is truly amazing. In describing the methods of land +tenure, of house-building, of farming, of local government, of +education, of moral instruction, of family life, indeed, of almost +anything in the West that has some advantageous feature, the remark +will be dropped incidentally that these facts show how uncivilized +Japan still is. In their own public addresses, if any custom is +attacked, the severest indictment that can be brought against it is +that it is uncivilized. In spite, therefore, of her self-conceit, +Japan is in a fairer way of making progress than many a Western +nation, because she is also so conscious of defects. A large section +of the nation has a passion for progress. It wishes to learn of the +good that foreign lands have attained, and to apply the knowledge in +such wise as shall fit most advantageously into the national life. +Although Japan is conceited, her conceit is not without reason, nor is +it to be attributed to her inherent race nature. It is manifestly due +to her history and social order past and present. + + + + +XIII + +PATRIOTISM--APOTHEOSIS--COURAGE + + +No word is so dear to the patriotic Japanese as the one that leaps to +his lips when his country is assailed or maligned, "Yamato-Damashii." +In prosaic English this means "Japan Soul." But the native word has a +flavor and a host of associations that render it the most pleasing his +tongue can utter. "Yamato" is the classic name for that part of Japan +where the divinely honored Emperor, Jimmu Tenno, the founder of the +dynasty and the Empire, first established his court and throne. +"Damashii" refers to the soul, and especially to the noble qualities +of the soul, which, in Japan of yore, were synonymous with bravery, +the characteristic of the samurai. If, therefore, you wish to stir in +the native breast the deepest feelings of patriotism and courage, you +need but to call upon his "Yamato-Damashii." + +There has been a revival in the use of this word during the last +decade. The old Japan-Spirit has been appealed to, and the watchword +of the anti-foreign reaction has been "Japan for the Japanese." Among +English-speaking and English-reading Japanese there has been a +tendency to give this term a meaning deeper and broader than the +historic usage, or even than the current usage, will bear. One +Japanese writer, for instance, defines the term as meaning, "a spirit +of loyalty to country, conscience, and ideal." An American writer +comes more nearly to the current usage in the definition of it as "the +aggressive and invincible spirit of Japan." That there is such a +spirit no one can doubt who has the slightest acquaintance with her +past or present history. + +Concerning the recent rise of patriotism I have spoken elsewhere, +perhaps at sufficient length. Nor is it needful to present extensive +evidence for the statement that the Japanese have this feeling of +patriotism in a marked degree. One or two rather interesting items +may, however, find their place here. + +The recent war with China was the occasion of focusing patriotism and +fanning it into flame. Almost every town street, and house, throughout +the Empire, was brilliantly decked with lanterns and flags, not on a +single occasion only, but continuously. Each reported victory, however +small, sent a thrill of delight throughout the nation. Month after +month this was kept up. In traveling through the land one would not +have fancied that war was in progress, but rather, that a +long-continued festival was being observed. + +An incident connected with sending troops to Korea made a deep +impression on the nation. The Okayama Orphan Asylum under the +efficient management of its founder, Mr. Ishii, had organized the +older boys into a band, securing for them various kinds of musical +instruments. These they learned to use with much success. When the +troops were on the point of leaving, Mr. Ishii went with his band to +the port of Hiroshima, erected a booth, prepared places for heating +water, and as often as the regiments passed by, his little orphans +sallied forth with their teapots of hot tea for the refreshment of the +soldiers. Each regiment was also properly saluted, and if opportunity +offered, the little fellows played the national anthem, "Kimi-ga yo," +which has been thus translated: "May Our Gracious Sovereign reign a +thousand years, reign till the little stone grow into a mighty rock, +thick velveted with ancient moss." And finally the orphans would raise +their shrill voices with the rhythmical national shout, "Tei-koku +Ban-zai, Tei-koku Ban-zai"; "Imperial-land, a myriad years, +Imperial-land, a myriad years." This thoughtful farewell was +maintained for the four or five days during which the troops were +embarking for the seat of war, well knowing that some would never +return, and that their children would be left fatherless even as were +these who saluted them. So deep was the impression made upon the +soldiers that many of them wept and many a bronzed face bowed in +loving recognition of the patriotism of these Christian boys. It is +said that the commander-in-chief of the forces himself gave the little +fellows the highest military salute in returning theirs. + +Throughout the history of Japan, the aim of every rebellious clan or +general was first to get possession of the Emperor. Having done this, +the possession of the Imperial authority was unquestioned. Whoever was +opposed to the Emperor was technically called "Cho-teki," the enemy of +the throne, a crime as heinous as treason in the West. The existence +of this sentiment throughout the Empire is an interesting fact. For, +at the very same time, there was the most intense loyalty to the local +lord or "daimyo." This is a fine instance of a certain characteristic +of the Japanese of which I must speak more fully in another +connection, but which, for convenience, I term "nominality." It +accepts and, apparently at least, is satisfied with a nominal state of +affairs, which may be quite different from the real. The theoretical +aspect of a question is accepted without reference to the actual +facts. The real power may be in the hands of the general or of the +daimyo, but if authority nominally proceeds from the throne, the +theoretical demands are satisfied. The Japanese themselves describe +this state as "yumei-mujitsu." In a sense, throughout the centuries +there has been a genuine loyalty to the throne, but it has been of the +"yumei-mujitsu" type, apparently satisfied with the name only. In +recent times, however, there has been growing dissatisfaction with +this state of affairs. Some decades before Admiral Perry appeared +there were patriots secretly working against the Tokugawa Shogunate. +Called in Japanese "Kinnoka," they may be properly termed in English +"Imperialists." Their aim was to overthrow the Shogunate and restore +full and direct authority to the Emperor. Not a few lost their lives +because of their views, but these are now honored by the nation as +patriots. + +There is a tendency among scholars to-day to magnify the patriotism +and loyalty of preceding ages, also to emphasize the dignity and +Imperial authority of the Emperor. The patriotic spirit is now so +strong that it blinds their eyes to many of the salient facts of +their history. Their patriotism is more truly a passion than an idea. +It is an emotion rather than a conception. It demands certain methods +of treatment for their ancient history that Western scholarship cannot +accept. It forbids any really critical research into the history of +the past, since it might cast doubt on the divine descent of the +Imperial line. It sums itself up in passionate admiration, not to say +adoration, of the Emperor. In him all virtues and wisdom abound. No +fault or lack in character can be attributed to him. I question if any +rulers have ever been more truly apotheosized by any nation than the +Emperors of Japan. The essence of patriotism to-day is devotion to the +person of the Emperor. It seems impossible for the people to +distinguish between the country and its ruler. He is the fountain of +authority. Lower ranks gain their right and their power from him +alone. Power belongs to the people only because, and in proportion as, +he has conferred it upon them. Even the Constitution has its authority +only because he has so determined. Should he at any time see fit to +change or withdraw it, it is exceedingly doubtful whether one word of +criticism or complaint would be publicly uttered, and as for forcible +opposition, of such a thing no one would dream. + +Japanese patriotism has had some unique and interesting features. In +some marked respects it is different from that of lands in which +democratic thought has held sway. For 1500 years, under the military +social order, loyalty has consisted of personal attachment to the +lord. It has ever striven to idealize that lord. The "yumei-mujitsu" +characteristic has helped much in this idealizing process, by bridging +the chasm between the prosaic fact and the ideal. Now that the old +form of feudalism has been abruptly abolished, with its local lords +and loyalty, the old sentiment of loyalty naturally fixes itself on +the Emperor. Patriotism has perhaps gained intensity in proportion as +it has become focalized. The Emperor is reported to be a man of +commanding ability and good sense. It is at least true that he has +shown wisdom in selecting his councilors. There is general agreement +that he is not a mere puppet in the hands of his advisers, but that he +exercises a real and direct influence on the government of the day. +During the late war with China it was currently reported that from +early morning until late at night, week after week and month after +month, he worked upon the various matters of business that demanded +his attention. No important move or decision was made without his +careful consideration and final approval. These and other noble +qualities of the present Emperor have, without doubt, done much toward +transferring the loyalty of the people from the local daimyo to the +national throne. + +An event in the political world has recently occurred which +illustrates pointedly the statements just made in regard to the +enthusiastic loyalty of the people toward the Emperor. In spite of the +fact that the national finances are in a distressing state of +confusion, and notwithstanding the struggle which has been going on +between successive cabinets and political parties, the former +insisting on, and the latter refusing, any increase in the land tax, +no sooner was it suggested by a small political party, to make a +thank-offering to the Emperor of 20,000,000 yen out of the final +payment of the war indemnity lately received, than the proposal was +taken up with zeal by both of the great and utterly hostile political +parties, and immediately by both houses of the Diet. The two reasons +assigned were, "First, that the victory over China would never have +been won, nor the indemnity obtained, had not the Emperor been the +victorious, sagacious Sovereign that he is, and that, therefore, it is +only right that a portion of the indemnity should be offered to him; +secondly, that His Majesty is in need of money, the allowance granted +by the state for the maintenance of the Imperial Household being +insufficient, in view of the greatly enhanced prices of commodities +and the large donations constantly made by His Majesty for charitable +purposes."[Q] This act of the Diet appeals to the sentiment of the +people as the prosaic, business-like method of the Occident would not +do. The significance of the appropriation made by the Diet will be +better realized if it is borne in mind that the post-bellum programme +for naval and military expansion which was adopted in view of the +large indemnity (being, by the way, 50,000,000 yen), already calls for +an expenditure in excess of the indemnity. Either the grand programme +must be reduced, or new funds be raised, yet the leading political +parties have been absolutely opposed to any substantial increase of +the land tax, which seems to be the only available source of increase +even to meet the current expenses of the government, to say nothing of +the post-bellum programme. So has a burst of sentiment buried all +prudential considerations. This is a species of loyalty that +Westerners find hard to appreciate. To them it would seem that the +first manifestation of loyalty would be to provide the Emperor's +Cabinet and executive officers with the necessary funds for current +expenses; that the second would be to give the Emperor an allowance +sufficient to meet his actual needs, and the third,--if the funds held +out,--to make him a magnificent gift. This sentimental method of +loyalty to the Emperor, however, is matched by many details of common +life. A sentimental parting gift or speech will often be counted as +more friendly than thoroughly business-like relations. The prosaic +Occidental discounts all sentiment that has not first satisfied the +demands of business and justice. Such a standard, however, seems to be +repugnant to the average Japanese mind. + +The theory that all authority resides in the Emperor is also enforced +by recent history. For the constitution was not wrung from an +unwilling ruler by an ambitious people, but was conferred by the +Emperor of his own free will, under the advice of his enlightened and +progressive councilors. + +As an illustration of some of the preceding statements let me quote +from a recent article by Mr. Yamaguchi, Professor of History in the +Peeresses' School and Lecturer in the Imperial Military College. After +speaking of the abolition of feudalism and the establishment of a +constitutional monarchy, he goes on to say: "But we must not suppose +that the sovereign power of the state has been transferred to the +Imperial Diet. On the contrary, it is still in the hands of the +Emperor as before.... The functions of the government are retained in +the Emperor's own hands, who merely delegates them to the Diet, the +Government (Cabinet), and the Judiciary, to exercise the same in his +name. The present form of government is the result of the history of a +country which has enjoyed an existence of many centuries. Each country +has its own peculiar characteristics which differentiate it from +others. Japan, too, has her history, different from that of other +countries. Therefore we ought not to draw comparisons between Japan +and other countries, as if the same principles applied to all +indiscriminately. The Empire of Japan has a history of 3000 [!] years, +which fact distinctly marks out our nationality as unique. The +monarch, in the eyes of the people, is not merely on a par with an +aristocratic oligarchy which rules over the inferior masses, or a few +nobles who equally divide the sovereignty among themselves. According +to our ideas, the monarch reigns over and governs the country in his +own right, and not by virtue of rights conferred by the +constitution.... Our Emperor possesses real sovereignty and also +exercises it. He is quite different from other rulers who possess but +a partial sovereignty.... He has inherited the rights of sovereignty +from his ancestors. Thus it is quite legitimate to think that the +rights of sovereignty exist in the Emperor himself.... The Empire of +Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors +unbroken for ages eternal. (Constitution, Art. LXXIII.) ... The +sovereign power of the state cannot be dissociated from the Imperial +Throne. It lasts forever, along with the Imperial line of succession, +unbroken for ages eternal. If the Imperial house cease to exist, the +Empire falls." + +In a land where adopted sons are practically equivalent to lineal +descendants (another instance of the "yumei-mujitsu" type of thought), +and where marriage is essentially polygamous, and where the +"yumei-mujitsu" spirit has allowed the sovereignty to be usurped in +fact, though it may not be in name, it is not at all wonderful that +the nation can boast of a longer line of Emperors than any other land. +But when monogamy becomes the rule in Japan, as it doubtless will some +day, and if lineal descent should be considered essential to +inheritance, as in the Occident, it is not at all likely that the +Imperial line will maintain itself unbroken from father to son +indefinitely. Although the present Emperor has at least five +concubines besides his wife, the Empress, and has had, prior to 1896, +no less than thirteen children by them, only two of these are still +living, both of them the offspring of his concubines; one of these is +a son born in 1879, proclaimed the heir in 1887, elected Crown Prince +in 1889, and married in 1900; he is said to be in delicate health; the +second child is a daughter born in 1890. Since 1896 several children +have been born to the Emperor and two or three have died, so that at +present writing there are but four living children. These are all +offspring of concubines.[R] + +In speaking, however, of the Japanese apotheosis of their Emperor, we +must not forget how the "divine right of kings" has been a popular +doctrine, even in enlightened England, until the eighteenth century, +and is not wholly unknown in other lands at the present day. Only in +recent times has the real source of sovereignty been discovered by +historical and political students. That the Japanese are not able to +pass at one leap from the old to the new conception in regard to this +fundamental element of national authority is not at all strange. Past +history, together with that which is recent, furnishes a satisfactory +explanation for the peculiar nature of Japanese patriotism. This is +clearly due to the nature of the social order. + +A further fact in this connection is that, in a very real sense, the +existence of Japan as a unified nation has depended on apotheosis. It +is the method that all ancient nations have adopted at one stage of +their social development for expressing their sense of national unity +and the authority of national law. In that stage of social development +when the common individual counts for nothing, the only possible +conception of the authority of law is that it proceeds from a superior +being--the highest ruler. And in order to secure the full advantage of +authority, the supreme ruler must be raised to the highest possible +pinnacle, must be apotheosized. That national laws should be the +product of the unvalued units which compose the nation was unthinkable +in an age when the worth of the individual was utterly unrecognized. +The apotheosis of the Emperor was neither an unintelligible nor an +unreasonable practice. But now that an individualistic, democratic +organization of society has been introduced resting on a principle +diametrically opposed to that of apotheosis, a struggle of most +profound importance has been inaugurated. Does moral or even national +authority really reside in the Emperor? The school-teachers are +finding great difficulty in teaching morality as based exclusively on +the Imperial Edict. The politicians of Japan are not content with +leaving all political and state authority to the Emperor. Not long ago +(June, 1898), for the first time in Japan, a Cabinet acknowledging +responsibility to a political party took the place of one +acknowledging responsibility only, to the Emperor. For this end the +politicians have been working since the first meeting of the national +Diet. Which principle is to succeed, apotheosis and absolute Imperial +sovereignty, or individualism with democratic sovereignty? The two +cannot permanently live together. The struggle is sure to be intense, +for the question of authority, both political and moral, is inevitably +involved. + +The parallel between Japanese and Roman apotheosis is interesting. I +can present it no better than by quoting from that valuable +contribution to social and moral problems, "The Genesis of the Social +Conscience," by Prof. H.S. Nash: "Yet Rome with all her greatness +could not outgrow the tribal principle.... We find something that +reveals a fundamental fault in the whole system. It is the apotheosis +of the Emperors. The process of apotheosis was something far deeper +than servility in the subject conspiring with vanity in the ruler. It +was a necessity of the state. There was no means of insuring the +existence of the state except religion. In the worship of the Cæsars +the Empire reverenced its own law. There was no other way in which +pagan Rome could guarantee the gains she had made for civilization. +Yet the very thing that was necessary to her was in logic her +undoing.... The worship of the Emperor undid the definition of +equality the logic of the Empire demanded. Again apotheosis violated +the divine unity of humanity upon which alone the Empire could +securely build."[S] + +That the final issue of Japan's experience will be like that of Rome I +do not believe. For her environment is totally different. But the same +struggle of the two conflicting principles is already on. Few, even +among the educated classes, realize its nature or profundity. The +thinkers who adhere to the principle of apotheosis do so admittedly +because they see no other way in which to secure authority for law, +whether political or moral. Here we see the importance of those +conceptions of God, of law, of man, which Christianity alone can give. + +From patriotism we naturally pass to the consideration of courage. +Nothing was more prized and praised in Old Japan. In those days it was +the deliberate effort of parents and educators to develop courage in +children. Many were their devices for training the young in bravery. +Not content with mere precept, they were sent alone on dark stormy +nights to cemeteries, to houses reputed to be haunted, to dangerous +mountain peaks, and to execution grounds. Many deeds were required of +the young whose sole aim was the development of courage and daring. +The worst name you could give to a samurai was "koshinuke" (coward). +Many a feud leading to a fatal end has resulted from the mere use of +this most hated of all opprobrious epithets. The history of Japan is +full of heroic deeds. I well remember a conversation with a son of the +old samurai type, who told me, with the blood tingling in his veins, +of bloody deeds of old and the courage they demanded. He remarked +incidentally that, until one had slain his first foe, he was ever +inclined to tremble. But once the deed had been done, and his sword +had tasted the life blood of a man, fear was no more. He also told me +how for the sake of becoming inured to ghastly sights under +nerve-testing circumstances, the sons of samurai were sent at night to +the execution grounds, there, by faint moonlight to see, stuck on +poles, the heads of men who had been recently beheaded. + +The Japanese emotion of courage is in some respects peculiar. At least +it appears to differ from that of the Anglo-Saxon. A Japanese seems to +lose all self-control when the supreme moment comes; he throws himself +into the fray with a frenzied passion and a fearless madness allied to +insanity. Such is the impression I have gathered from the descriptions +I have heard and the pictures I have seen. Even the pictures of the +late war with China give evidence of this. + +But their courage is not limited to fearlessness in the face of death; +it extends to complete indifference to pain. The honorable method by +which a samurai who had transgressed some law or failed in some point +of etiquette, might leave this world is well known to all, the +"seppuku," the elegant name for the vulgar term "hara-kiri" or +"belly-cutting." To one who is sensitive to tales of blood, +unexpurgated Japanese history must be a dreadful thing. The vastness +of the multitudes who died by their own hands would be incredible, +were there not ample evidence of the most convincing nature. It may be +said with truth that suicide became apotheosized, a condition that I +suppose cannot be said to have prevailed in any other land. + +In thus describing the Japanese sentiment in regard to "seppuku," +there is, however, some danger of misrepresenting it. "Seppuku" itself +was not honored, for in the vast majority of cases those who performed +it were guilty of some crime or breach of etiquette. And not +infrequently those who were condemned to commit "seppuku" were +deficient in physical courage; in such cases, some friend took hold of +the victim's hand and forced him to cut himself. Such cowards were +always despised. To be condemned to commit "seppuku" was a disgrace, +but it was much less of a disgrace than to be beheaded as a common +man, for it permitted the samurai to show of what stuff he was made. +It should be stated further that in the case of "seppuku," as soon as +the act of cutting the abdomen had been completed, always by a single +rapid stroke, someone from behind would, with a single blow, behead +the victim. The physical agony of "seppuku" was, therefore, very +brief, lasting but a few seconds. + +I can do no better than quote in this connection a paragraph from the +"Religions of Japan" by W.E. Griffis: + + "From the prehistoric days when the custom of 'Junshi,' or dying + with the master, required the interment of living retainers with + their dead lord, down through all the ages to the Revolution of + 1868, when at Sendai and Aidzu scores of men and boys opened their + bowels, and mothers slew their infant sons and cut their own + throats, there has been flowing a river of suicides' blood having + its springs in devotion of retainers to masters, and of soldiers to + a lost cause.... Not only a thousand, but thousands of thousands of + soldiers hated their parents, wife, child, friend, in order to be + disciples to the supreme loyalty. They sealed their creed by + emptying their own veins.... The common Japanese novels read like + records of slaughter-houses. No Molech or Shivas won more victims + to his shrine than has this idea of Japanese loyalty, which is so + beautiful in theory but so hideous in practice ... Could the + statistics of the suicides during this long period be collected, + their publication would excite in Christendom the utmost + incredulity."[T] + +I well remember the pride, which almost amounted to glee, with which a +young blood gave me the account of a mere boy, perhaps ten or twelve +years old, who cut his bowels in such a way that the deed was not +quite complete, and then tying his "obi" or girdle over it, walked +into the presence of his mother, explained the circumstances which +made it a point of honor that he should commit "seppuku," and +forthwith untied his "obi" and died in her presence. + +These are the ideals of courage and loyalty that have been held up +before Japanese youth for centuries. Little comment is needful. From +the evolutionary standpoint, it is relatively easy to understand the +rise of these ideas and practices. It is clear that they depend +entirely on the social order. With the coming in of the Western social +order, feudal lords and local loyalty and the carrying of swords were +abolished. Are the Japanese any less courageous now than they were +thirty years ago? The social order has changed and the ways of showing +courage have likewise changed. That is all that need be said. + +Are we to say that the Japanese are more courageous than other +peoples? Although no other people have manifested such phenomena as +the Japanese in regard to suicide for loyalty, yet any true +appreciation of Western peoples will at once dispel the idea that they +lack courage. Manifestations of courage differ according to the nature +of the social order, but no nation could long maintain itself, to say +nothing of coming into existence, without a high degree of this +endowment. + +But Japanese courage is not entirely of the physical order, although +that is the form in which it has chiefly shown itself thus far. The +courage of having and holding one's own convictions is known in Japan +as elsewhere. There has been a long line of martyrs. During the +decades after the introduction of Buddhism, there was such opposition +that it required much courage for converts to hold to their beliefs. +So, too, at the time of the rise of the new Buddhist sects, there was +considerable persecution, especially with the rise of the Nichiren +Shu. And when the testing time of Christianity came, under the edict +of the Tokugawas by which it was suppressed, tens of thousands were +found who preferred death to the surrender of their faith. In recent +times, too, much courage has been shown by the native Christians. + +As an illustration is the following: When an eminent American teacher +of Japanese youth returned to Japan after a long absence, his former +pupils gathered around him with warm admiration. They had in the +interval of his absence become leaders among the trustees and faculty +of the most prosperous Christian college in Japan. He was accordingly +invited to deliver a course of lectures in the Chapel. It was +generally known that he was no longer the earnest Christian that he +had once been, when, as teacher in an interior town, he had inspired a +band of young men who became Christians under his teaching and a power +for good throughout the land. But no one was prepared to hear such +extreme denunciations of Christianity and Christian missions and +missionaries as constituted the substance of his lectures. At first +the matter was passed over in silence. But, by the end of the second +lecture, the missionaries entered a protest, urging that the Christian +Chapel should not again be used for such lectures. The faculty, +however, were not ready to criticise their beloved teacher. The third +lecture proved as abusive as the others; the speaker seemed to have no +sense of propriety. A glimpse of his thought, and method of expression +may be gained from a single sentence: "I have been commissioned, +gentlemen, by Jesus Christ, to tell you that there is no such thing as +a soul or a future life." Although the missionary members of the +faculty urged it, the Japanese members, most of whom were his former +pupils, were unwilling to take any steps whatever to prevent the +continuation of the blasphemous lectures. The students of the +institution accordingly held a mass-meeting, in which the matter was +discussed, and it was decided to inform the speaker that the students +did not care to hear any more such lectures. The question then arose +as to who would deliver the resolution. There was general hesitancy, +and anyone who has seen or known the lecturer, and has heard him +speak, can easily understand this feeling; for he is a large man with +a most impressive and imperious manner. The young man, however, who +had perhaps been most active in agitating the matter, and who had +presented the resolution to the meeting, volunteered to go. He is +slight and rather small, even for a Japanese. Going to the home of the +lecturer, he delivered calmly the resolution of the students. To the +demand as to who had drawn up and presented the resolution to the +meeting, the reply was: "I, sir." That ended the conversation, but not +the matter. From that day the idolized teacher was gradually lowered +from his pedestal. But the moral courage of the young man who could +say in his enraged presence, "I, sir," has not been forgotten. Neither +has that of the young man who had acted as interpreter for the first +lecture; not only did he decline to act in that capacity any longer, +but, taking the first public opportunity, at the chapel service the +following day, which proved to be Sunday, he went to the platform and +asked forgiveness of God and of men that he had uttered such language +as he had been compelled to use in his translating. Here, too, was +moral courage of no mean order. + + + + +XIV + +FICKLENESS--STOLIDITY--STOICISM + + +A frequent criticism of the Japanese is that they are fickle; that +they run from one fad to another, from one idea to another, quickly +tiring of each in turn. They are said to lack persistence in their +amusements no less than in the most serious matters of life. + +None will deny the element of truth in this charge. In fact, the +Japanese themselves recognize that of late their progress has been by +"waves," and not a few lament it. A careful study of school attendance +will show that it has been subject to alternate waves of popularity +and disfavor. Private schools glorying in their hundreds of pupils +have in a short time lost all but a few score. In 1873 there was a +passion for rabbits, certain varieties of which were then for the +first time introduced into Japan. For a few months these brought +fabulous prices, and became a subject of the wildest speculation. In +1874-75 cock-fighting was all the rage. Foreign waltzing and gigantic +funerals were the fashion one year, while wrestling was the fad at +another time, even the then prime minister, Count Kuroda, taking the +lead. But the point of our special interest is as to whether +fickleness is an essential element of Japanese character, and so +dominant that wherever the people may be and whatever their +surroundings, they will always be fickle; or whether this trait is due +to the conditions of their recent history. Let us see. + +Prof. Basil H. Chamberlain says, "Japan stood still so long that she +has to move quickly and often now to make up for lost time." This +states the case pretty well. Had we known Japan only through her +Tokugawa period, the idea of fickleness would not have occurred to us; +on the contrary, the dominant impression would have been that of the +permanence and fixity of her life and customs. This quality or +appearance of fickleness is, then, a modern trait, due to the +extraordinary circumstances in which Japan finds herself. The +occurrence of wave after wave of fresh fashions and fads is neither +strange nor indicative of an essentially fickle disposition. Glancing +below the surface for a moment, we shall see that there is an +earnestness of purpose which is the reverse of fickle. + +What nation, for example, ever voluntarily set itself to learn the +ways and thoughts and languages of foreign nations as persistently as +Japan? That there has been fluctuation of intensity is not so +surprising as that, through a period of thirty years, she has kept +steadily at it. Tens of thousands of her young men are now, able to +read the English language with some facility; thousands are also able +to read German and French. Foreign languages are compulsory in all the +advanced schools. A regulation going into force in September, 1900, +requires the study of two foreign languages. This has been done at a +cost of many hundred thousands of dollars. There has been a fairly +permanent desire and effort to learn all that the West has to teach. +The element of fickleness is to be found chiefly in connection with +the methods rather than in connection with the ends to be secured. +From the moment when Japan discovered that the West had sources of +power unknown to herself, and indispensable if she expected to hold +her own with the nations of the world, the aim and end of all her +efforts has been to master the secrets of that power. She has seen +that education is one important means. That she should stumble in the +adoption of educational methods is not strange. The necessary +experience is being secured. But for a lesson of this sort, more than +one generation of experience is required of a nation. For some time to +come Japan is sure to give signs of unsteadiness, of lack of perfect +balance. + +A pitiful sight in Japan is that of boys not more than five or six +years of age pushing or pulling with all their might at heavily loaded +hand-carts drawn by their parents. Yet this is typical of one aspect +of Japanese civilization. The work is largely done by young people +under thirty, and vast multitudes of the workers are under twenty +years of age. This is true not only of menial labor, but also in +regard to labor involving more or less responsibility. In the post +offices, for instance, the great majority of the clerks are mere boys. +In the stores one rarely sees a man past middle age conducting the +business or acting as clerk. Why are the young so prominent? Partly +because of the custom of "abdication." As "family abdication" is +frequent, it has a perceptible effect on the general character of the +nation, and accounts in part for rash business ventures and other +signs of impetuosity and unbalanced judgment. Furthermore, under the +new civilization, the older men have become unfitted to do the +required work. The younger and more flexible members of the rising +generation can quickly adjust themselves to the new conditions, as in +the schools, where the older men, who had received only the regular +training in Chinese classics, were utterly incompetent as teachers of +science. Naturally, therefore, except for instruction in these +classics, the common-school teachers, during the earlier decades, were +almost wholly young boys. The extreme youthfulness of school-teachers +has constantly surprised me. In the various branches of government +this same phenomenon is equally common. Young men have been pushed +forward into positions with a rapidity and in numbers unknown in the +West, and perhaps unknown in any previous age in Japan. + +The rise and decline of the Christian Church in Japan has been +instanced as a sign of the fickleness of the people. It is a mistaken +instance, for there are many other causes quite sufficient to account +for the phenomenon in question. Let me illustrate by the experience of +an elderly Christian. He had been brought to Christ through the +teachings of a young man of great brilliancy, whose zeal was not +tempered with full knowledge--which, however, was not strange, in view +of his limited opportunities for learning. His instruction was +therefore narrow, not to say bigoted. Still the elderly gentleman +found the teachings of the young man sufficiently strong and clear +thoroughly to upset all his old ideas of religion, his polytheism, his +belief in charms, his worship of ancestors, and all kindred ideas. He +accepted the New Testament in simple unquestioning faith. But, after +six or eight years, the young instructor began to lose his own +primitive and simple faith. He at once proceeded to attack that which +before he had been defending and expounding. Soon his whole +theological position was changed. Higher criticism and religious +philosophy were now the center of his preaching and writing. The +result was that this old gentleman was again in danger of being upset +in his religious thinking. He felt that his new faith had been +received in bulk, so to speak, and if a part of it were false, as his +young teacher now asserted, how could he know that any of it was true? +Yet his heart's experience told him that he had secured something in +this faith that was real; he was loath to lose it; consequently, for +some years now, he has systematically stayed away from church +services, and refrained from reading magazines in which these new and +destructive views have been discussed; he has preferred to read the +Bible quietly at home, and to have direct communion with God, even +though, in many matters of Biblical or theoretical science, he might +hold his mistaken opinions. A surface view of this man's conduct might +lead one to think of him as fickle; but a deeper consideration will +lead to the opposite conclusion. + +The fluctuating condition of the Christian churches is not cause for +astonishment, nor is it to be wholly, if at all, attributed to the +fickleness of the national character, but rather, in a large degree, +to the peculiar conditions of Japanese life. The early Christians had +much to learn. They knew, experimentally, but little of Christian +truth. The whole course of Christian thought, the historical +development of theology, with the various heresies, the recent +discussions resting on the so-called "higher criticism" of the Bible, +together with the still more recent investigations into the history +and philosophy of religion in general, were of course wholly unknown +to them. This was inevitable, and they were blameless. All could not +be learned at once. + +Nor is there any blame attached to the missionaries. It was as +impossible for them to impart to young and inexperienced Christians a +full knowledge of these matters as it was for the latter to receive +such information. The primary interest of the missionaries was in the +practical and everyday duties of the Christian life, in the great +problem of getting men and women to put away the superstitions and +narrowness and sins springing from polytheism or practical atheism, +and getting them started in ways of godliness. The training schools +for evangelists were designed to raise up practical workers rather +than speculative theologians. Missionaries considered it their duty +(and they were beyond question right) to teach religion rather than +the science and philosophy of religion. When, therefore, the +evangelists discovered that they had not been taught these advanced +branches of knowledge, it is not strange that some should rush after +them, and, in their zeal for that which they supposed to be important, +hasten to criticise their former teachers. As a result, they +undermined both their own faith and that of many who had become +Christians through their teaching. + +The dullness of the church life, so conspicuous at present in many of +the churches, is only partly due to the fact that the Christians are +tired of the services. It is true that these services no longer afford +them that mental and spiritual stimulus which they found at the first, +and that, lacking this, they find little inducement to attend. But +this is only a partial explanation. Looking over the experience of the +past twenty-five years, we now see that the intense zeal of the first +few years was a natural result of a certain narrowness of view. It is +an interesting fact that, during one of the early revivals in the +Doshisha, the young men were so intense and excited that the +missionaries were compelled to restrain them. These young Christians +felt and said that the missionaries were not filled with the Holy +Spirit; they accordingly considered it their duty to exhort their +foreign leaders, even to chide them for their lack of faith. The +extraordinary expectations entertained by the young Japanese workers +of those days and shared by the missionaries, that Japan was to +become a Christian nation before the end of the century, was due in +large measure to an ignorance alike of Christianity, of human nature, +and of heathenism, but, under the peculiar conditions of life, this +was well-nigh inevitable. And that great and sudden changes in feeling +and thought have come over the infant churches, in consequence of the +rapid acquisition of new light and new experience, is equally +inevitable. These changes are not primarily attributable to fickleness +of nature, but to the extraordinary additions to their knowledge. + +There is good reason to think, however, that the period of these rapid +fluctuations is passing away. All the various fads, fancies, and +follies, together with the sciences, philosophies, ologies, and isms +of the Western world, have already come to Japan, and are fairly well +known. No essentially new and sudden experiences lie before the +people. + +Furthermore, the young men are year by year growing older. Experience +and age together are giving a soberness and a steadiness otherwise +unattainable. In the schools, in the government, in politics, and in +the judiciary, and in the churches, men of years and of training in +the new order are becoming relatively numerous, and erelong they will +be in the majority. We may expect to see Japan gradually settling down +to a steadiness and a regularity that have been lacking during the +past few decades. The newcomer to Japan is much impressed with the +expressionless character of so many Japanese faces. They appear like +the images of Buddha, who is supposed to be so absorbed in profound +meditation that the events of the passing world make no impression +upon him. I have sometimes heard the expression "putty face" used to +describe the appearance of the common Japanese face. This immobility +of the Oriental is more conspicuous to a newcomer than to one who has +seen much of the people and who has learned its significance. But +though the "putty" effect wears off, there remains an impression of +stoicism that never fades away. These two features, stolidity and +stoicism, are so closely allied in appearance that they are easily +mistaken, yet they are really distinct. The one arises from +stupidity, from dullness of mind. The other is the product of +elaborate education and patient drill. Yet it is often difficult to +determine where the one ends and the other begins. + +The stolidity of stupidity is, of course, commonest among the peasant +class. For centuries they have been in closest contact with the soil; +nothing has served to awaken their intellectual faculties. Reading and +writing have remained to them profound mysteries. Their lives have +been narrow in the extreme. But the Japanese peasant is not peculiar +in this respect. Similar conditions in other lands produce similar +results, as in France, according to Millet's famous painting, "The Man +with the Hoe." + +It is an interesting fact, however, that this stolidity of stupidity +can be easily removed. I have often heard comments on the marked +change in the facial expression of those adults who learn to read the +Bible. Their minds are awakened; a new light is seen in their eyes as +new ideas are started in their minds. + +The impression of stolidity made on the foreigner is, due less, +however, to stupidity than to a stoical education. For centuries the +people have been taught to repress all expression of their emotions. +It has been required of the inferior to listen quietly to his superior +and to obey implicitly. The relations of superior and inferior have +been drilled into the people for ages. The code of a military camp has +been taught and enforced in all the homes. Talking in the presence of +a superior, or laughter, or curious questions, or expressions of +surprise, anything revealing the slightest emotion on the part of the +inferior was considered a discourtesy. + +Education in these matters was not confined to oral instruction; +infringements were punished with great rigor. Whenever a daimyo +traveled to Yedo, the capital, he was treated almost as a god by the +people. They were required to fall on their knees and bow their faces +to the ground, and the death penalty was freely awarded to those who +failed to make such expressions of respect. + +One source, then, of the systematic repression of emotional expression +is the character of the feudal order of society that so long +prevailed. The warrior who had best control of his facial expression, +who could least expose to his foe or even to his ordinary friends the +real state of his feelings, other things being equal, would come off +the victor. In further explanation of this repression is the religion +of Buddha. For 1200 years it has helped to mold the middle and the +lower classes of the people. According to its doctrine, desire is the +great evil; from it all other evils spring. For this reason, the aim +of the religious life is to suppress all desire, and the most natural +way to accomplish this is to suppress the manifestation of desire; to +maintain passive features under all circumstances. The images of +Buddha and of Buddhist saints are utterly devoid of expression. They +indicate as nearly as possible the attainment of their desire, namely, +freedom from all desire. This is the ambition of every earnest +Buddhist. Being the ideal and the actual effort of life, it does +affect the faces of the people. Lack of expression, however, does not +prove absence of desire. + +Every foreigner has had amusing proof of this. A common experience is +the passing of a group of Japanese who, apparently, give no heed to +the stranger. Neither by the turn of the head nor by the movement of a +single facial muscle do they betray any curiosity, yet their eyes take +in each detail, and involuntarily follow the receding form of the +traveler. In the interior, where foreigners are still objects of +curiosity, young men have often run up from behind, gone to a distance +ahead of me, then turned abruptly, as though remembering something, +and walked slowly back again, giving me, apparently, not the slightest +attention. The motive was the desire to get a better look at the +foreigner. They hoped to conceal it by a ruse, for there must be no +manifestation of curiosity. + +Phenomena which a foreigner may attribute to a lack of emotion of, at +least, to its repression, may be due to some very different cause. Few +things, for instance, are more astonishing to the Occidental than the +silence on the part of the multitude when the Emperor, whom they all +admire and love, appears on the street. Under circumstances which +would call forth the most enthusiastic cheers from Western crowds, a +Japanese crowd will maintain absolute silence. Is this from lack of +emotion? By no means. Reverence dominates every breast. They would no +more think of making noisy demonstrations of joy in the presence of +the Emperor than a congregation of devout Christians would think of +doing the same during a religious service. This idea of reverence for +superiors has pervaded the social order--the intensity of the +reverence varying with the rank of the superior. But a change has +already begun. Silence is no longer enforced; no profound bowings to +the ground are now demanded before the nobility; on at least one +occasion during the recent China-Japan war the enthusiasm of the +populace found audible expression when the Emperor made a public +appearance. Even the stoical appearance of the people is passing away +under the influence of the new order of society, with its new, +dominant ideas. Education is bringing the nation into a large and +throbbing life. Naturalness is taking the place of forced repression. +A sense of the essential equality of man is springing up, especially +among the young men, and is helping to create a new atmosphere in this +land, where, for centuries, one chief effort has been to repress all +natural expression of emotion. + +While touring in Kyushu several years ago, I had an experience which +showed me that the stolidity, or vivacity, of a people is largely +dependent on the prevailing social order rather than on inherent +nature. Those who have much to do with the Japanese have noted the +extreme quiet and reserve of the women. It is a trait that has been +lauded by both native and foreign writers. Because of this +characteristic it is difficult for a stranger, to carry on +conversation with them. They usually reply in monosyllables and in low +tones. The very expression of their faces indicates a reticence, a +calm stolidity, and a lack of response to the stimulus of social +intercourse that is striking and oppressive to an Occidental. I have +always found it a matter of no little difficulty to become acquainted +with the women, and especially with the young women, in the church +with which I have been connected. With the older women this reticence +is not so marked. Now for my story: + +One day I called on a family, expecting to meet the mother, with whom +I was well acquainted. She proved to be out; but a daughter of whom I +had not before heard was at home, and I began to talk with her. +Contrary to all my previous experience, this young girl of less than +twenty years looked me straight in the face with perfect composure, +replied to my questions with clear voice and complete sentences, and +asked questions in her turn without the slightest embarrassment. I was +amazed. Here was a Japanese girl acting and talking with the freedom +of an American. How was this to be explained? Difficult though it +appeared, the problem was easily solved. The young lady had been in +America, having spent several years in Radcliffe College. There it was +that her Japanese demureness was dropped and the American frankness +and vivacity of manner acquired. It was a matter simply of the +prevailing social customs, and not of her inherent nature as a +Japanese. + +And this conclusion is enforced by the further fact that there is a +marked increase in vivacity in those who become Christian. The +repressive social restraints of the old social order are somewhat +removed. A freedom is allowed to individuals of the Christian +community, in social life, in conversation between men and women, in +the holding of private opinions, which the non-Christian order of +society did not permit. Sociability between the sexes was not allowed. +The new freedom naturally results in greater vivacity and a far freer +play of facial expression than the older order could produce. The +vivacity and sociability of the geisha (dancing and singing girls), +whose business it is to have social relations with the men, freely +conversing with them, still further substantiates the view that the +stolid, irrepressive features of the usual Japanese woman are social, +not essential, characteristics. The very same girls exhibit +alternately stolidity and vivacity according as they are acting as +geisha or as respectable members of society. + +This completes our direct study of the various elements characterizing +the emotional nature of the Japanese. It is universally admitted that +the people are conspicuously emotional. We have shown, however, that +their feelings are subject to certain remarkable suppressions. + +It remains to be asked why the Japanese are more emotional than other +races? One reason doubtless is that the social conditions were such as +to stimulate their emotional rather than their intellectual powers. +The military system upon which the social structure rested kept the +nation in its mental infancy. Twenty-eight millions of farmers and a +million and a half of soldiers was the proportion during the middle of +the nineteenth century. Education was limited to the soldiers. But +although they cultivated their minds somewhat, their very occupation +as soldiers required them to obey rather than to think; their +hand-to-hand conflicts served mightily to stimulate the emotions. The +entire feudal order likewise was calculated to have the same effect. +The intellectual life being low, its inhibitions were correspondingly +weak. When, in the future, the entire population shall have become +fairly educated, and taught to think independently; and when +government by the people shall have become much more universal, +throwing responsibility on the people as never before, and stimulating +discussion of the general principles of life, of government, and of +law, then must the emotional features of the nation become less +conspicuous. + +It is a question of relative development. As children run to extremes +of thought and action on the slightest occasion, simply because their +intellects have not come into full activity, weeping at one moment and +laughing at the next, so it is with national life. Where the general +intellectual development of a people is retarded, the emotional +manifestations are of necessity correspondingly conspicuous. + +Even so fundamental a racial trait, then, as the emotional, is seen to +be profoundly influenced by the prevailing social order. The emotional +characteristics which distinguish the Japanese from other races are +due, in the last analysis, to the nature of their social order rather +than to their inherent nature or brain structure. + + + + +XV + +AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS + + +In certain directions, the Japanese reveal a development of æsthetic +taste which no other nation has reached. The general appreciation of +landscape-views well illustrates this point. The home and garden of +the average workman are far superior artistically to those of the same +class in the West. There is hardly a home without at least a +diminutive garden laid out in artistic style with miniature lake and +hills and winding walks. And this garden exists solely for the delight +of the eye. + +The general taste displayed in many little ways is a constant delight +to the Western "barbarian" when he first comes to Japan. Nor does this +delight vanish with time and familiarity, though it is tempered by a +later perception of certain other features. Indeed, the more one knows +of the details of their artistic taste, the more does he appreciate +it. The "toko-no-ma," for example, is a variety of alcove usually +occupying half of one side of a room. It indicates the place of honor, +and guests are always urged to sit in front of it. The floor of the +"toko-no-ma" is raised four or five inches above the level of the room +and should never be stepped upon. In this "toko-no-ma" is usually +placed some work of art, or a vase with flowers, and on the wall is +hung a picture or a few Chinese characters, written by some famous +calligraphist, which are changed with the seasons. The woodwork and +the coloring of this part of the room is of the choicest. The +"toko-no-ma" of the main room of the house is always restful to the +eye; this "honorable spot" is found in at least one room in every +house; and if the owner has moderate means, there are two or three +such rooms. Only the homes of the poorest of the poor are without this +ornament. + +The Japanese show a refined taste in the coloring and decoration of +rooms; natural woods, painted and polished, are common; every post and +board standing erect must stand in the position in which it grew. A +Japanese knows at once whether a board or post is upside down, though +it would often puzzle a Westerner to decide the matter. The natural +wood ceilings and the soft yellows and blues of the walls are all that +the best trained Occidental eye could ask. Dainty decorations called +the "ramma," over the neat "fusuma," consist of delicate shapes and +quaint designs cut in thin boards, and serve at once as picture and +ventilator. The drawings, too, on the "fusuma" (solid thick paper +sliding doors separating adjacent rooms or shutting off the closet) +are simple and neat, as is all Japanese pictorial art. + +Japanese love for flowers reveals a high æsthetic development. Not +only are there various flower festivals at which times the people +flock to suburban gardens and parks, but sprays, budding branches, and +even large boughs are invariably arranged in the homes and public +halls. Every church has an immense vase for the purpose. The proper +arrangement of flowers and of flowering sprays and boughs is a highly +developed art. It is often one of the required studies in girls' +schools. I have known two or three men who made their entire living by +teaching this art. Miniature flowering trees are reared with +consummate skill. An acquaintance of mine glories in 230 varieties of +the plum tree, all in pots, some of them between two and three hundred +years old. Shinto and Buddhist temples also reveal artistic qualities +most pleasing to the eye. + +But the main point of our interest lies in the explanation of this +characteristic. Is the æsthetic sense more highly developed in Japan +than in the West? Is it more general? Is it a matter of inherent +nature, or of civilization? + +In trying to meet these problems, I note, first of all, that the +development of the Japanese æsthetic taste is one-sided; though +advanced in certain respects it is belated in others. In illustration +is the sense of smell. It will not do to say that "the Japanese have +no use for the nose," and that the love of sweet smells is unknown. +Sir Rutherford Alcock's off-quoted sentence that "in one of the most +beautiful and fertile countries in the whole world the flowers have no +scent, the birds no song, and the fruit and vegetables no flavor," is +quite misleading, for it has only enough truth to make it the more +deceptive. It is true that the cherry blossom has little or no odor, +and that its beauty lies in its exquisite coloring and abounding +luxuriance, but most of the native flowers are praised and prized by +the Japanese for their odors, as well as for their colors, as the +plum, the chrysanthemum, the lotus, and the rose. The fragrance of +flowers is a frequent theme in Japanese poetry. Japanese ladies, like +those of every land, are fond of delicate scents. Cologne and kindred +wares find wide sale in Japan, and I am told that expensive musk is +not infrequently packed away with the clothing of the wealthy. + +But in contrast to this appreciation is a remarkable indifference to +certain foul odors. It is amazing what horrid smells the cultivated +Japanese will endure in his home. What we conceal in the rear and out +of the way, he very commonly places in the front yard; though this is, +of course, more true of the country than of large towns or cities. It +would seem as if a high æsthetic development should long ago have +banished such sights and smells. As a matter of fact, however, the +æsthetics of the subject does not seem to have entered the national +mind, any more than have the hygienics of the same subject. + +In explanation of these facts, may it not be that the Japanese method +of agriculture has been a potent hindrance to the æsthetic development +of the sense of smell? In primitive times, when wealth was small, the +only easy method which the people had of preserving the fertilizing +properties of that which is removed from our cities by the +sewer-system was such as we still find in use in Japan to-day. Perhaps +the necessities of the case have toughened the mental, if not the +physical, sense of the people. Perhaps the unæsthetic character of the +sights and smells has been submerged in the great value of fertilizing +materials. Then, too, with the Occidental, the thought is common that +such odors are indications of seriously unhealthful conditions. We are +accordingly offended not simply by the odor itself, but also by the +associations of sickness and death which it suggests. Not so the +unsophisticated Oriental. Such a correlation of ideas is only now +arising in Japan, and changes are beginning to be made, as a +consequence. + +I cannot leave this point without drawing attention to the fact that +the development of the sense of smell in these directions is +relatively recent, even in the West. Of all the non-European nations +and races, I have no doubt Japan is most free from horrid smells and +putrid odors. And in view of our own recent emancipation it is not for +us to marvel that others have made little progress. Rather is it +marvelous that we should so easily forget the hole from which we have +been so recently digged. + +In turning to study certain features of Japanese pictorial art, we +notice that a leading characteristic is that of simplicity. The +greatest results are secured with the fewest possible strokes. This +general feature is in part due to the character of the instrument +used, the "fude," "brush." This same brush answers for writing. It +admits of strong, bold outlines; and a large brush allows the +exhibition of no slight degree of skill. As a result, "writing" is a +fine art in Japan. Hardly a family that makes any pretense at culture +but owns one or more framed specimens of writing. In Japan these rank +as pictures do or mottoes in the West, and are prized not merely for +the sentiment expressed, but also for the skill displayed in the use +of the brush. Skillful writers become famous, often receiving large +sums for small "pictures" which consist of but two or three Chinese +characters. + +No doubt the higher development of appreciation for natural scenery +among the people in general is largely due to the character of the +scenery itself. Steep hills and narrow valleys adjoin nearly every +city in the land. Seas, bays, lakes, and rivers are numerous; +reflected mountain scenes are common; the colors are varied and +marked. Flowering trees of striking beauty are abundant. Any people +living under these physical conditions, and sufficiently advanced in +civilization to have leisure and culture, can hardly fail to be +impressed with such wealth of beauty in the scenery itself. + +In the artistic reproduction of this scenery, however, Japanese +artists are generally supposed to be inferior to those of the West. + +As often remarked, Japanese art has directed its chief endeavor to +animals and to nature, thus failing to give to man his share of +attention. This curious one-sidedness shows itself particularly in +painting and in sculpture. In the former, when human beings are the +subject, the aim has apparently been to extol certain characteristics; +in warriors, the military or heroic spirit; in wise men, their wisdom; +in monks and priests, their mastery over the passions and complete +attainment of peace; in a god, the moral character which he is +supposed to represent. Art has consequently been directed to bringing +into prominence certain ideal features which must be over-accentuated +in order to secure recognition; caricatures, rather than lifelike +forms, are the frequent results. The images of multitudes of gods are +frightful to behold; the aim being to show the character of the +emotion of the god in the presence of evil. These idols are easily +misunderstood, for we argue that the more frightful he is, the more +vicious must be the god in his real character; not so the Oriental. To +him the more frightful the image, the more noble the character. Really +evil gods, such as demons, are always represented, I think, as +deformed creatures, partly human and partly beast. It is to be +remembered, in this connection, that idols are an imported feature of +Japanese religion; Shinto to this day has no "graven image." All idols +are Buddhistic. Moreover, they are but copies of the hideous idols of +India; the Japanese artistic genius has added nothing to their +grotesque appearance. But the point of interest for us is that the +æsthetic taste which can revel in flowers and natural scenery has +never delivered Japanese art from truly unæsthetic representations of +human beings and of gods. + +Standing recently before a toy store and looking at the numberless +dolls offered for sale, I was impressed afresh with the lack of taste +displayed, both in coloring and in form; their conventionality was +exceedingly tiresome; their one attractive feature was their +absurdity. But the moment I turned away from the imitations of human +beings to look at the imitations of nature, the whole impression was +changed. I was pleased with the artistic taste displayed in the +perfectly imitated, delicately colored flowers. They were beautiful +indeed. + +Why has Japanese art made so little of man as man? Is it due to the +"impersonality" of the Orient, as urged by some? This suggests, but +does not give, the correct interpretation of the phenomenon in +question. The reason lies in the nature of the ruling ideas of +Oriental civilization. Man, as man, has not been honored or highly +esteemed. As a warrior he has been honored; consequently, when +pictured or sculptured as a warrior, he has worn his armor; his face, +if visible, is not the natural face of a man, but rather that of a +passionate victor, slaying his foe or planning for the same. And so +with the priests and the teachers, the emperors and the generals; all +have been depicted, not for what they are in themselves, but for the +rank which they have attained; they are accordingly represented with +their accouterments and robes and the characteristic attitudes of +their rank. The effort to preserve their actual appearance is +relatively rare. Manhood and womanhood, apart from social rank, have +hardly been recognized, much less extolled by art. This feature, then, +corresponds to the nature of the Japanese social order. The art of a +land necessarily reveals the ruling ideals of its civilization. As +Japan failed to discover the inherent nature and value of manhood and +womanhood, estimating them only on a utilitarian basis, so has her art +reflected this failure. + +Apparently it has never attempted to depict the nude human form. This +is partly explained, perhaps, by the fact that the development of a +perfect physical form through exercise and training has not been a +part of Oriental thought. Labor of every sort has been regarded as +degrading. Training for military skill and prowess has indeed been +common among the military classes; but the skill and strength +themselves have been the objects of thought, rather than the beauty of +the muscular development which they produce. When we recall the +prominent place which the games of Greece took in her civilization +previous to her development of art, and the stress then laid on +perfect bodily form, we shall better understand why there should be +such difference in the development of the art of these two lands. I +have never seen a Japanese man or youth bare his arm to show with +pride the development of his biceps; and so far as I have observed, +the pride which students in the United States feel over well-developed +calves has no counterpart in Japan--this, despite the fact that the +average Japanese has calves which would turn the American youth green +with envy. + +From the absence of the nude in Japanese art it has been urged that +Japan herself is far more morally pure than the West. Did the moral +life of the people correspond to their art in this respect, the +argument would have force. Unfortunately, such does not seem to be the +case. It is further suggested as a reason that the bodily form of +Oriental peoples is essentially unæsthetic; that the men are either +too fat or too lean, and the women too plump when in the bloom of +youth and too wrinkled and flabby when the first bloom is over. The +absurdity of this suggestion raises a smile, and a query as to the +experience which its author must have had. For any person who has +lived in Japan must have seen individuals of both sexes, whom the most +fastidious painter or sculptor would rejoice to secure as models. + +It might be thought that a truly artistic people, who are also +somewhat immoral, would have developed much skill in the portrayal of +the nude female form. But such an attempt does not seem to have been +made until recent times, and in imitation of Western art. At least +such attempts have not been recognized as art nor have they been +preserved as such. I have never seen either statue or picture of a +nude Japanese woman. Even the pictures of famous prostitutes are +always faultlessly attired. The number and size of the conventional +hairpins, and the gaudy coloring of the clothing, alone indicate the +immoral character of the woman represented. + +It is not to be inferred, however, that immoral pictures have been +unknown in Japan, for the reverse is true. Until forcibly suppressed +by the government under the incentive of Western criticism, there was +perfect freedom to produce and sell licentious and lascivious +pictures. The older foreign residents in Japan testify to the +frequency with which immoral scenes were depicted and exposed for +sale. Here I merely say that these were not considered works of art; +they were reproduced not in the interests of the æsthetic sense, but +wholly to stimulate the taste for immoral things. + +The absence of the nude from Japanese art is due to the same causes +that led to the relative absence of all distinctively human nature +from art. Manhood and womanhood, as such, were not the themes they +strove to depict. + +A curious feature of the artistic taste of the people is the marked +fondness for caricature. It revels in absurd accentuations of special +features. Children with protruding foreheads; enormously fat little +men; grotesque dwarf figures in laughable positions; these are a few +common examples. Nearly all of the small drawings and sculpturings of +human figures are intentionally grotesque. But the Japanese love of +the grotesque is not confined to its manifestation in art. It also +reveals itself in other surprising ways. It is difficult to realize +that a people who revel in the beauties of nature can also delight in +deformed nature; yet such is the case. Stunted and dwarfed trees, +trees whose branches have been distorted into shapes and proportions +that nature would scorn--these are sights that the Japanese seem to +enjoy, as well as "natural" nature. Throughout the land, in the +gardens of the middle and higher classes, may be found specimens of +dwarfed and stunted trees which have required decades to raise. The +branches, too, of most garden shrubs and trees are trimmed in +fantastic shapes. What is the charm in these distortions? First, +perhaps, the universal human interest in anything requiring skill. +Think of the patience and persistence and experimentation necessary +to rear a dwarf pear tree twelve or fifteen inches high, growing its +full number of years and bearing full-size fruit in its season! And +second is the no less universal human interest in the strange and +abnormal. All primitive people have this interest. It shows itself in +their religions. Abnormal stones are often objects of religious +devotion. Although I cannot affirm that such objects are worshiped in +Japan to-day, yet I can say that they are frequently set up in temple +grounds and dedicated with suitable inscriptions. Where nature can be +made to produce the abnormal, there the interest is still greater. It +is a living miracle. Witness the cocks of Tosa, distinguished by their +two or three tail feathers reaching the extraordinary length of ten or +even fifteen feet, the product of ages of special breeding. + +According to the ordinary use of the term, æsthetics has to do with +art alone. Yet it also has intimate relations with both speech and +conduct. Poetry depends for its very existence on æsthetic +considerations. Although little conscious regard is paid to æsthetic +claims in ordinary conversation, yet people of culture do, as a matter +of fact, pay it much unconscious attention. In conduct too, æsthetic +ideas are often more dominant than we suppose. The objection of the +cultured to the ways of the boorish rests on æsthetic grounds. This is +true in every land. In the matter of conduct it is sometimes hard to +draw the line between æsthetics and ethics, for they shade +imperceptibly into one another; so much so that they are seen to be +complementary rather than contradictory. Though it is doubtless true +that conduct æsthetically defective may not be defective ethically, +still is it not quite as true that conduct bad from the ethical is bad +also from the æsthetical standpoint? + +In no land have æsthetic considerations had more force in molding both +speech and conduct than in Japan. Not a sentence is uttered by a +Japanese but has the characteristic marks of æstheticism woven into +its very structure. By means of "honorifics" it is seldom necessary +for a speaker to be so pointedly vulgar as even to mention self. There +are few points in the language so difficult for a foreigner to +master, whether in speaking himself, or in listening to others, as the +use of these honorific words. The most delicate shades of courtesy and +discourtesy may be expressed by them. Some writers have attributed the +relative absence of the personal pronouns from the language to the +dominating force of impersonal pantheism. I am unable to take this +view for reasons stated in the later chapters on personality. + +Though the honorific characteristics of the language seem to indicate +a high degree of æsthetic development, a certain lack of delicacy in +referring to subjects that are ruled out of conversation by cultivated +people in the West make the contrary impression upon the uninitiated. +Such language in Japan cannot be counted impure, for no such idea +accompanies the words. They must be described simply as æsthetically +defective. Far be it from me to imply that there is no impure +conversation in Japan. I only say that the particular usages to which +I refer are not necessarily a proof of moral tendency. A realistic +baldness prevails that makes no effort to conceal even that which is +in its nature unpleasant and unæsthetic. A spade is called a spade +without the slightest hesitation. Of course specific illustrations of +such a point as this are out of place. Æsthetic considerations forbid. + +And how explain these unæsthetic phenomena? By the fact that Japan has +long remained in a state of primitive development. Speech is but the +verbal expression of life. Every primitive society is characterized by +a bald literalism shocking to the æsthetic sense of societies which +represent a higher stage of culture. In Japan, until recently, little +effort has been made to keep out of sight objects and acts which we of +the West have considered disagreeable and repulsive. Language alters +more slowly than acts. Laws are making changes in the latter, and they +in time will take effect in the former. But many decades will +doubtless pass before the cultivated classes of Japan will reach, in +this respect, the standard of the corresponding classes of the West. + +As for the æsthetics of conduct in Japan, enough is indicated by what +has been said already concerning the æsthetics of speech. Speech and +conduct are but diverse expressions of the same inner life. Japanese +etiquette has been fashioned on the feudalistic theory of society, +with its numberless gradations of inferior and superior. Assertive +individualism, while allowed a certain range among the samurai, always +had its well-marked limits. The mass of the people were compelled to +walk a narrow line of respectful obedience and deference both in form +and speech. The constant aim of the inferior was to please the +superior. That individuals of an inferior rank had any inherent +rights, as opposed to those of a superior rank, seldom occurred to +them. Furthermore, this whole feudal system, with its characteristic +etiquette of conduct and speech, was authoritatively taught by +moralists and religious leaders, and devoutly believed by the noblest +of the land. Ethical considerations, therefore, combined powerfully +with those that were social and æsthetic to produce "the most polite +race on the face of the globe." Recent developments of rudeness and +discourtesy among themselves and toward foreigners have emphasized my +general contention that these characteristics are not due to inherent +race nature, but rather to the social order. + +How are we to account for the wide æsthetic development of all classes +of the Japanese? As already suggested, the beautiful scenery explains +much. But I pass at once to the significant fact that although the +classes of Japanese society were widely differentiated in social rank, +yet they lived in close proximity to each other. There was no spatial +gulf of separation preventing the lower from knowing fully and freely +the thoughts, ideals, and customs of the upper classes. The +transmission of culture was thus an easy matter, in spite of social +gradations. + +Moreover, the character of the building materials, and the methods of +construction used by the more prosperous among the people, were easily +imitated in kind, if not in costliness, by the less prosperous. Take, +for example, the structure of the room; it is always of certain fixed +proportions, that the uniform mats may be easily fitted to it. The +mats themselves are always made of a straw "toko," "bed," and an +"omote," "surface," of woven straw; they vary greatly in value, but, +of whatever grade, may always be kept neat and fresh at comparatively +small cost. The walls of the average houses are made of mud wattles. +The outer layers of plaster consist of selected earth and tinted lime. +Whether put up at large or small expense, these walls may be neat and +attractive. So, too, with other parts of the house. + +The utter lack of independent thinking throughout the middle and lower +classes, and the constant desire of the inferior to imitate the +superior, have also helped to make the culture of the classes the +possession of the masses. This subserviency and spirit of imitation +has been further stimulated by the enforced courtesy and deference and +obedience of the common people. + +In this connection it should be noted, however, that the universality +of culture in Japan is more apparent than real. The appearance is due +in part to the lack of furniture in the homes. Without chairs or +tables, bedsteads or washstands, and the multitude of other things +invariably found in the home of the Occidental, it is easy for the +Japanese housewife to keep her home in perfect order. No special +culture is needful for this. + +How it came about that the Japanese people adopted their own method of +sitting on the feet, I cannot say; neither have I heard any plausible +explanation of the practice. Yet this habit has relieved them of all +necessity for heavy furniture. Given the custom of sitting on the +feet, and a large part of the furniture of the house will be useless. +Already is the introduction of furniture after Western patterns +producing changes in the homes of the people; and it will be +interesting to see whether the æsthetic sense of the Japanese will be +able to assimilate and harmonize with itself these useful, but bulky +and unæsthetic, elements of Occidental civilization. + +That no part of the fine taste of the Japanese is due to the general +civilization, rather than to the individual possession of the æsthetic +faculty, may be inferred from many little signs. In spite of the fact +that, following the long-established social fashions, the women +usually display good taste in the choice of colors for their clothing, +it sometimes happens that they also manifest not the slightest sense +of the harmony of colors. Daughters of wealthy families will array +themselves in brilliant discordant hues, yet apparently without +causing the wearers or their friends the slightest æsthetic +discomfort. Little children are arrayed in clothing that would +doubtless put Joseph's coat of many colors quite out of countenance. +Combinations and brilliancy that to the Western eye of culture seem +crude and gaudy, typical of barbaric splendor, are in constant use, +and are apparently thought to be fine. The Japanese display both taste +and its lack in the choice of colors for clothing; this contradiction +is the more striking in view of the taste manifest in the decorations +of the homes of all classes of the people. Few sights are more +ludicrously unæsthetic than the red, yellow, and blue worsted +crocheted caps and shawls for infants, which shock all our ideas of +æsthetic harmony. + +In connection with Western ways or articles of clothing, the native +æsthetic faculty often seems to take its flight. In a foreign house +many a Japanese seems to lose his sense of fitness. I have had +schoolboys, and even gentlemen, enter my home with hobnailed muddied +boots, without wiping their feet on the conspicuous door mat, which is +the more remarkable since, in their own homes, they invariably take +off their shoes on entering. I have frequently noticed that in railway +cars the first comers monopolize the seats, and the later ones receive +not the slightest notice, being often compelled to stand for an hour +at a time, although, with a little moving, there would be abundant +room for all. I have noticed this so often that I cannot think it an +exceptional occurrence. I do not believe it to be intentional +rudeness, but to be due simply to a lack of real heart politeness. Yet +a true and deep æsthetic development, so far at least as relates to +conduct, to say nothing of the spirit of altruism, would not permit +such indifference to another's discomfort. + +My explanation for this, and for all similar defects in etiquette, is +somewhat as follows. Etiquette is popularly conceived as consisting of +rules of conduct, rather than as the outward expression of the state +of the heart. From time immemorial rules for the ordinary affairs of +life have been formulated by superiors and have been taught the +people. In all usual and conventional relations, therefore, the +average farmer and peasant know how to express perfect courtesy. But +in certain situations, as in foreign houses and the railroad car, +where there are no precedents to follow, or rules to obey, all +evidence of politeness takes its flight. The old rules do not fit the +new conditions. Not being grounded on the inner principles of +etiquette, the people are not able to formulate new rules for new +conditions. To the Westerner, on the other hand, these seem to follow +from the simplest principles of common sense and kindliness. The +general collapse of etiquette in Japan, which native writers note and +deplore, is due, therefore, not only to the withdrawal of feudal +pressure, but also to introduction of strange circumstances for which +the people have no rules, and to the fact that the people have not +been taught those underlying principles of high courtesy which are +applicable on all occasions. + +An impression seems to have gained currency in the United States that +the unæsthetic features seen in Japan to-day are due to the debasing +influences of Western art and Occidental intercourse. There can be no +doubt that a certain type of tourist, ignorant of Japanese art, by +greedily buying strange, gaudy things at high prices, has stimulated a +morbid production of truly unæsthetic pseudo-Japanese art. But this +accounts for only a small part of the grossly inartistic features of +Japan. The instances given of hideous worsted bibs for babes and +collars for dogs, combining in the closest proximity the most +uncomplementary and mutually repellent colors, has nothing whatever to +do with foreign art or foreign intercourse. What foreigner ever +decorated a little lapdog with a red-green-yellow-blue-and purple +crocheted collar, four or five inches wide? + +Westerners have been charmed with the exquisite colored photographs +produced in Japan. It is strange, yet true, that the same artistic +hand that produces these beautiful effects will also, by a slight +change of tints, produce the most unnatural and spectral views. Yet +the strangest thing is, not that he produces them, but that he does +not seem conscious of the defect, for he will put them on sale in his +own shop or send them to purchasers in America, without the slightest +apparent hesitation. The constant care of the purchaser in selection +and his insistence on having only truly artistic work are what keep +the Japanese artist up to the standard. + +If other evidence is needed of æsthetic defect in the still +unoccidentalized Japanese taste let the doubter go to any popular +second-grade Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple. Here unæsthetic objects +and sights abound. Hideous idols, painted and unpainted, big and +little, often decorated with soiled bibs; decaying to-rii; ruined +sub-shrines; conglomerate piles of cast-off paraphernalia, consisting +of broken idols, old lanterns, stones, etc., filthy towels at the +holy-water basins, piously offered to the gods and piously used by +hundreds of dusty pilgrims; equally filthy bell-ropes hung in front of +the main shrines, pulled by ten thousand hands to call the attention +of the deity; travel-stained hands, each of which has left its mark on +the once beautiful enormous tasselated cord; ex-voto tufts of human +hair; scores of pictures, where the few may be counted works of art +while the rest are hideous beyond belief; frightful faces of tengu, +with their long noses and menacing teeth, decorated with scores of +spit-balls or even with mud-balls; these are some of the more +conspicuous unæsthetic features of multitudes of popular shrines and +temples. And none of these can be attributed to the debasing influence +of Western art. And these inartistic features will be found +accompanying scrupulous neatness in well-swept walks, new sub-shrines, +floral decorations, and much that pleases the eye--a strange compound +of the beautiful and the ugly. Truly the æsthetic development of the +Japanese is curiously one-sided. + +A survey of Japanese musical history leads to the conclusion that +while the people are fairly developed in certain aspects of the +æsthetics of music, such as rhythm, they are certainly undeveloped in +other directions--in melody, for example, and in harmony. Their +instrumental music is primitive and meager. They have no system of +musical notation. The love of music, such as it is, is well-nigh +universal. Their solo-vocal music, a semi-chanting in minors, has +impressive elements; but these are due to the passionate outbursts and +plaintive wails, rather than to the musically æsthetic character of +the melodies. The universal twanging samisen, a species of guitar, +accompanied by the shrill, hard voices of the geisha (singing girls), +marks at once the universality of the love of music and the +undeveloped quality of the musical taste, both vocal and instrumental. +But in comparing the musical development of Japan with that of the +West, we must not forget how recent is that of the former. + +The conditions which have served to develop musical taste in the West +have but recently come to Japan. Sufficient time has not yet elapsed +for the nation to make much visible progress in the lines of +Occidental music. But it has already done something. The popularity of +brass bands, the wide introduction of organs, their manufacture in +this land, their use in all public schools, the exclusive use of +Occidental music in Christian churches, the ability of trained +individuals in foreign vocal and instrumental music--all these facts +go to show that in time we may expect great musical evolution in +Japan. Those who doubt this on the ground of inherent race nature may +be reminded of the evolution which has taken place among the Hawaiians +during the past two generations. From being a race manifesting marked +deficiency in music they have developed astonishing musical taste and +ability. During a recent visit to these islands after an absence of +twenty-seven years, I attended a Sunday-school exhibition, which was +largely a musical contest; the voices were sweet and rich; and the +difficulty of the part songs, easily carried through by children and +adults, revealed a musical sense that surpasses any ordinary Sunday +school of the United States or England with which I am acquainted. + +The development of Japanese literature likewise conspicuously +reflects the ruling ideas of the social order, and reveals the +dependence of literary taste on the order. As in other aspects in +Japanese æsthetic development, so in this do we see marked lack of +balance. "It is wonderful what felicity of phrase, melody of +versification, and true sentiment can be compressed within the narrow +limits (of the Tanka). In their way nothing can be more perfect than +some of these little poems."[U] The deficiencies of Japanese poetry +have been remarked by the foreigners most competent to judge. The +following general characterization from the volume just quoted merits +attention. + + "Narrow in its scope and resources, it is chiefly remarkable for + its limitations--for what it has not, rather than what it has. In + the first place there are no long poems. There is nothing which + even remotely resembles an epic--no Iliad or Divina Commedia--not + even a Nibelungen Lied or Chevy Chase. Indeed, narrative poems of + any kind are short and very few, the only ones which I have met + with being two or three ballads of a sentimental cast. Didactic, + philosophical, political, and satirical poems are also + conspicuously absent. The Japanese muse does not meddle with such + subjects, and it is doubtful whether, if it did, the native Pegasus + possesses sufficient staying power for them to be dealt with + adequately. For dramatic poetry we have to wait until the + fourteenth century. Even then there are no complete dramatic poems, + but only dramas containing a certain poetical element. + + "Japanese poetry is, in short, confined to lyrics, and what, for + want of a better word, may be called epigrams. It is primarily an + expression of emotion. We have amatory verse poems of longing for + home and absent dear ones, praise of love and wine, elegies on the + dead, laments over the uncertainty of life. A chief place is given + to the seasons, the sound of purling streams, the snow of Mount + Fuji, waves breaking on the beach, seaweed drifting to the shore, + the song of birds, the hum of insects, even the croaking of frogs, + the leaping of trout in a mountain stream, the young shoots of fern + in spring, the belling of deer in autumn, the red tints of the + maple, the moon, flowers, rain, wind, mist; these are among the + favorite subjects which the Japanese poets delight to dwell upon. + If we add some courtly and patriotic effusions, a vast number of + conceits more or less pretty, and a very few poems of a religious + cast, the enumeration is tolerably complete. But, as Mr. + Chamberlain has observed, there are curious omissions. War + songs--strange to say--are almost wholly absent. Fighting and + bloodshed are apparently not considered fit themes for poetry."[V] + +The drama and the novel have both achieved considerable development, +yet judged from Occidental standards, they are comparatively weak and +insipid. They, of course, conspicuously reflect the characteristics of +the social order to which they belong. Critics call repeated attention +to the lack of sublimity in Japanese literature, and ascribe it to +their inherent race nature. While the lack of sublimity in Japanese +scenery may in fact account for the characteristic in question, still +a more conclusive explanation would seem to be that in the older +social order man, as such, was not known. The hidden glories of the +soul, its temptations and struggles, its defects and victories, could +not be the themes of a literature arising in a completely communal +social order, even though it possessed individualism of the Buddhistic +type.[W] These are the themes that give Western literature--poetic, +dramatic, and narrative--its opportunity for sustained power and +sublimity. They portray the inner life of the spirit. + +The poverty of poetic form is another point of Western criticism. Mr. +Aston has shown how this poverty is directly due to the phonetic +characteristics of the language. Diversities of both rhyme and rhythm +are practically excluded from Japanese poetry by the nature of the +language. And this in turn has led to the "preference of the national +genius for short poems." But language is manifestly the combined +product of linguistic heredity and the social order, and can in no +sense be ascribed to inherent race nature. Thus directly are social +heredity and social order determinative of the literary +characteristics and æsthetic tastes of a nation. + +Even more manifestly may Japanese architectural development be traced +to the social heredity derived from China and India. The needs of the +developing internal civilization have determined its external +manifestation. So far as Japanese differs from Chinese architecture, +it may be attributed to Japan's isolation, to the different demands of +her social order, to the difference of accessible building materials, +and to the different social heredity handed down from prehistoric +times. That the distinguishing characteristics of Japanese +architecture are due to the inherent race nature cannot for a moment +be admitted. + +We conclude that the Japanese are not possessed of a unique and +inherent æsthetic taste. In some respects they are as certainly ahead +of the Occidental as they are behind him in other respects. But this, +too, is a matter of social development and social heredity, rather +than of inherent race character, of brain structure. If æsthetic +nature were a matter of inherited brain structure, it would be +impossible to account for rapid fluctuations in æsthetic judgment, for +the great inequality of æsthetic development in the different +departments of life, or for the ease of acquiring the æsthetic +development of alien races.[X] + + + + +XVI + +MEMORY--IMITATION + + +The differences which separate the Oriental from the Occidental mind +are infinitesimal as compared with the likenesses which unite them. +This is a fact that needs to be emphasized, for many writers on Japan +seem to ignore it. They marvel at the differences. The real marvel is +that the differences are so few and so superficial. The Japanese are a +race whose ancestors were separated from their early home nearly three +thousand years ago; during this period they have been absolutely +prevented from intermarriage with the parent stock. Furthermore, that +original stock was not the Indo-European race. And no one has ventured +to suggest how long before the migration of the ancestors of the +Japanese to Japan their ancestors parted from those who finally became +the progenitors of modern Occidental peoples. For thousands of years, +certainly, the Japanese and Anglo-Saxon races have had no ancestry in +common. Yet so similar is the entire structure and working of their +minds that the psychological textbooks of the Anglo-Saxon are adopted +and perfectly understood by competent psychological students among the +Japanese. I once asked a professor of psychology in the Matsuyama +Normal School if he had no difficulty in teaching his classes the +psychological system of Anglo-Saxon thinkers, if there were not +peculiarities of the Anglo-Saxon mind which a Japanese could not +understand, and if there were not psychological phenomena of the +Japanese mind which were ignored in Anglo-Saxon psychological +text-books. The very questions surprised him; to each he gave a +negative reply. The mental differences that characterize races so +dissimilar as the Japanese and the Anglo-Saxon, I venture to repeat, +are insignificant as compared with their resemblances. + +Our discussions shall have reference, not to those general +psychological characteristics which all races have in common, but only +to those which may seem to stamp the Japanese people as peculiar. We +wish to understand the distinguishing features of the Japanese mind. +We wish to know whether they are due to brain structure, to inherent +race nature, or whether they are simply the result of education, of +social heredity. This is our ever-recurring question. + +First, in regard to Japanese brain development. Travelers have often +been impressed with the unusual size of the Japanese head. It has +sometimes been thought, however, that the size is more apparent than +real, and the appearance has been attributed to the relatively short +limbs of the people and to the unusual proportion of round heads which +one sees everywhere. It may also be due to the shape of the head. But, +after all has been said, it remains true that the Japanese head, as +related to his body, is unexpectedly large. + +Prof. Marsh of Yale University is reported to have said that, on the +basis of brain size, the Japanese is the race best fitted to survive +in the struggle for existence, or at least in the struggle for +pre-eminence. + +Statements have been widely circulated to the effect that not only +relatively to the body, but even absolutely, the Japanese possess +larger brains than the European, but craniological statistics do not +verify the assertion. The matter has been somewhat discussed in +Japanese magazines of late, to which, through the assistance of a +Japanese friend, I am indebted for the following figures. They are +given in Japanese measurements, but are, on this account, however, +none the less satisfactory for comparative purposes. + +According to Dr. Davis, the average European male brain weighs 36,498 +momme, and the Australian, 22,413, while the Japanese, according to +Dr. Taguchi weighs 36,205. Taking the extremes, the largest English +male brain weighs 38,100 momme and the smallest 35,377, whereas the +corresponding figures for Japan are 43,919 and 30,304, respectively, +showing an astonishing range between extremes. According to Dr. E. +Baelz of the Imperial University of Tokyo, the lower classes of Japan +have a larger skull circumference than either the middle or upper +classes (1.8414, 1.7905, and 1.8051 feet, respectively), and the Ainu +(1.8579) exceed the Japanese. From these facts it might almost appear +that brain size and civilizational development are in inverse ratio. +Were the Japanese brain larger, then, than that of the European, it +might plausibly be argued that they are therefore inferior in brain +power. This would be in accord with certain of De Quatrefages's +investigations. He has shown that negroes born in America have smaller +brains, but are intellectually superior to their African brothers. +"With them, therefore, intelligence increases, while the cranial +capacity diminishes."[Y] + +Those who trace racial and civilizational nature to brain development +cannot gain much consolation from a comparative statistical study of +race brains. De Quatrefages's conclusion is repeatedly forced home: +"We must confess that there can be no real relation between the +dimension of the cranial capacity and social development."[Z] "The +development of the intellectual faculties of man is, to a great +extent, independent of the capacity of the cranium and the volume of +the brain."[AA] + +We may conclude at once, then, that Japanese intellectual +peculiarities are in no way due to the size of their brains, but +depend rather on their social evolution. Yet it will not be amiss to +study in detail the various mental peculiarities of the race, real and +supposed, and to note their relation to the social order. + +In becoming acquainted with the Japanese and Chinese peoples, an +Occidental is much impressed with their powers of memory, and this +especially in connection with the written language, the far-famed +"Chinese Character," or ideograph. My Chinese dictionary contains over +50,000 different characters. The task of learning them is appalling. +How the Japanese or Chinese do it is to us a constant wonder. We +assume at once their possession of astonishing memories. We argue +that, for hundreds of years, each generation has been developing +powers of memory through efforts to conquer this cumbersome +contrivance for writing, and that, as a consequence for the nations +using this system, there is now prodigious ability to remember. + +It is my impression, however, that we greatly overrate these powers. +In the first place, few Japanese claim any acquaintance with the +entire 50,000 characters; only the educated make any pretense of +knowing more than a few hundred, and a vast majority even of learned +men do not know more than 10,000 characters. Some Japanese newspapers +have undertaken to limit themselves in the use of the ideograph. It is +said that between four and five thousand characters suffice for all +the ordinary purposes of communication. These are, without doubt, +fairly well known to the educated classes. But for the masses, there +is need that the pronunciation be placed beside each printed +character, before it can be read. Furthermore, we must remember that a +Japanese youth gives the best years of his life to the bare memorizing +of these symbols.[AB] + +Were European or American youth to devote to the study of Chinese the +same number of hours each day for the same number of years, I doubt if +there would be any conspicuous difference in the results. We should +not forget also that some Occidentals manifest astonishing facility in +memorizing Chinese characters. + +In this connection is the important fact that the social order serves +to sift out individuals of marked mnemonic powers and bring them into +prominence, while those who are relatively deficient are relegated to +the background. The educated class is necessarily composed of those +who have good powers of memory. All others fail and are rejected. We +see and admire those who succeed; of those who fail we know nothing +and we even forget that there are such. + +In response to my questions Japanese friends have uniformly assured me +that they are not accustomed to think of the Japanese as possessed of +better memories than the people of the West. They appear surprised +that the question should be raised, and are specially surprised at our +high estimate of Japanese ability in this direction. + +If, however, we inquire about their powers of memory in connection +with daily duties and the ordinary acquisition of knowledge and its +retention, my own experience of twelve years, chiefly with the middle +and lower classes of society, has left the impression that, while some +learn easily and remember well, a large number are exceedingly slow. +On the whole, I am inclined to believe that, although the Japanese may +be said to have good memories, yet it can hardly be maintained that +they conspicuously exceed Occidentals in this respect. + +In comparing the Occidental with the Oriental, it is to be remembered +that there is not among Occidental nations that attention to bare +memorizing which is so conspicuous among the less civilized nations. +The astonishing feats performed by the transmitters of ancient poems +and religious teachings seem to us incredible. Professor Max Müller +says that the voluminous Vedas have been handed down for centuries, +unchanged, simply from mouth to mouth by the priesthood. Every +progressive race, until it has attained a high development of the art +of writing, has manifested similar power of memory. Such power is not, +however, inherent; that is to say, it is not due to the innate +peculiarity of brain structure, but rather to the nature of the social +order which demands such expenditure of time and strength for the +maintenance of its own higher life. Through the art of writing +Occidental peoples have found a cheaper way of retaining their history +and of preserving the products of their poets and religious teachers. +Even for the transactions of daily life we have resorted to the +constant use of pen and notebook and typewriter, by these devices +saving time and strength for other things. As a result, our memories +are developed in directions different from those of semi-civilized or +primitive man. The differences of memory characterizing different +races, then, are for the most part due to differences in the social +order and to the nature of the civilization, rather than to the +intrinsic and inherited structure of the brain itself. + +Since memory is the foundation of all mental operations, we have given +to it the first place in the present discussion. And that the Japanese +have a fair degree of memory argues well for the prospect of high +attainment in other directions. With this in mind, we naturally ask +whether they show any unusual proficiency or deficiency in the +acquisition of foreign languages? In view of her protracted separation +from the languages of other peoples, should we not expect marked +deficiency in this respect? On the contrary, however, we find that +tens of thousands of Japanese students have acquired a fairly good +reading knowledge of English, French, and German. Those few who have +had good and sufficient teaching, or who have been abroad and lived in +Occidental lands, have in addition secured ready conversational use of +the various languages. Indeed, some have contended that since the +Japanese learn foreign languages more easily than foreigners learn +Japanese, they have greater linguistic powers than the foreigner. It +should be borne in mind, however, that in such a comparison, not only +are the time required and the proficiency; attained to be considered, +but also the inherent difficulty of the language studied and the +linguistic helps provided the student. + +I have come gradually to the conclusion that the Japanese are neither +particularly gifted nor particularly deficient in powers of language +acquisition. They rank with Occidental peoples in this respect. + +To my mind language affords one of the best possible proofs of the +general contention of this volume that the characteristics which +distinguish the races are social rather than biological. The reason +why the languages of the different races differ is not because the +brain-types of the races are different, but only because of the +isolated social evolution which the races have experienced. Had it +been possible for Japan to maintain throughout the ages perfect and +continuous social intercourse with the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxon +race, while still maintaining biological isolation, _i.e._, perfect +freedom from intermarriage, there is no reason to think that two +distinct languages so different as English and Japanese would have +arisen. The fact that Japanese children can accurately acquire +English, and that English or American children can accurately acquire +Japanese, proves conclusively that diversities of language do not rest +on brain differences and brain heredity, but exclusively on social +differences and social heredity. + +If this is true, then the argument can easily be extended to all the +features that differentiate the civilizations of different races; for +the language of any race is, in a sense, the epitome of the +civilization of that race. All its ideas, customs, theologies, +philosophies, sciences, mythologies; all its characteristic thoughts, +conceptions, ideals; all its distinguishing social features, are +represented in its language. Indeed, they enter into it as determining +factors, and by means of it are transmitted from age to age. This +argument is capable of much extension and illustration. + +The charge that the Japanese are a nation of imitators has been +repeated so often as to become trite, and the words are usually spoken +with disdain. Yet, if the truth were fully told, it would be found +that, from many points of view, this quality gives reason rather for +congratulation. Surely that nation which can best discriminate and +imitate has advantage over nations that are so fixed in their +self-sufficiency as to be able neither to see that which is +advantageous nor to imitate it. In referring to the imitative powers +of the Japanese, then, I do not speak in terms of reproach, but rather +in those of commendation. "Monkeyism" is not the sort of imitation +that has transformed primitive Japan into the Japan of the early or +later feudal ages, nor into the Japan of the twentieth century. Bare +imitation, without thought, has been relatively slight in Japan. If it +has been known at times, those times have been of short duration. + +In his introduction to "The Classic Poetry of the Japanese" Professor +Chamberlain has so stated the case for the imitative quality of the +people that I quote the following: + + "The current impression that the Japanese are a nation of imitators + is in the main correct. As they copy us to-day, so did they copy + the Chinese and Koreans a millennium and a half ago. Religion, + philosophy, laws, administration, written characters, all arts but + the very simplest, all science, or at least what then went by that + name, everything was imported from the neighboring continent; so + much so that of all that we are accustomed to term 'Old Japan' + scarce one trait in a hundred is really and properly Japanese. Not + only are their silk and lacquer not theirs by right of invention, + nor their painting (albeit so often praised by European critics for + its originality), nor their porcelain, nor their music, but even + the larger part of their language consists of mispronounced + Chinese; and from the Chinese they have drawn new names for already + existing places, and new titles for their ancient Gods." + +While the above cannot be disputed in its direct statements, yet I can +but feel that it makes, on the whole, a false impression. Were these +same tests applied to any European people, what would be the result? +Of what European nation may it be said that its art, or method of +writing, or architecture, or science, or language even, is "its own by +right of invention"? And when we stop to examine the details of the +ancient Japanese civilization which is supposed to have been so, +slavishly copied from China and India, we shall find that, though the +beginnings were indeed imitated, there were also later developments of +purely Japanese creation. In some instances the changes were vital. + +In examining the practical arts, while we acknowledge that the +beginnings of nearly all came from Korea or China, we must also +acknowledge that in many important respects. Japan has developed along +her own lines. The art of sword-making, for instance, was undoubtedly +imported; but who does not know of the superior quality and beauty of +Japanese swords, the Damascus blades of the East? So distinct is this +Japanese production that it cannot be mistaken for that of any other +nation. It has received the impress of the Japanese social order. Its +very shape is due to the habit of carrying the sheath in the "obi" or +belt. + +If we study the home of the laborer, or the instruments in common use, +we shall find proof that much more than imitation has been involved. + +Were the Japanese mere imitators, how could we explain their +architecture, so different from that of China and Korea? How explain +the multiplied original ways in which bamboo and straw are used? + +For a still closer view of the matter, let us consider the imported +ethical and religious codes of the country. In China the emphasis of +Confucianism is laid on the duty of filial piety. In Japan the primary +emphasis is on loyalty. This single change transformed the entire +system and made the so-called Confucianism of Japan distinct from that +of China. In Buddhism, imported from India, we find greater changes +than Occidental nations have imposed on their religion imported from +Palestine. Indeed, so distinct has Japanese Buddhism become that it is +sometimes difficult to trace its connections in China and India. And +the Buddhistic sects that have sprung up in Japan are more radically +diverse and antagonistic to each other and to primitive Buddhism than +the denominations of Christianity are to each other and to primitive +Christianity. + +In illustration is the most popular of all the Buddhist sects to-day, +Shinshu. This has sometimes been called by foreigners "Reformed" +Buddhism; and so similar are many of its doctrines to those of +Christianity that some have supposed them to have been derived from +it, but without the slightest evidence. All its main doctrines and +practices were clearly formulated by its founder, Shinrah, six hundred +years ago. The regular doctrines of Buddhism that salvation comes only +through self-effort and self-victory are rejected, and salvation +through the merits of another is taught. "Ta-riki," "another's power," +not "Ji-riki," "self-power," is with them the orthodox doctrine. +Priests may marry and eat meat, practices utterly abhorrent to the +older and more primitive Buddhism. The sacred books are printed in the +vernacular, in marked contrast to the customs of the other sects. +Women, too, are given a very different place in the social and +religious scale and are allowed hopes of attaining salvation that are +denied by all the older sects. "Penance, fasting, prescribed diet, +pilgrimages, isolation from society, whether as hermits or in the +cloister, and generally amulets and charms, are all tabooed by this +sect. Monasteries imposing life vows are unknown within its pale. +Family life takes the place of monkish seclusion. Devout prayer, +purity, earnestness of life, and trust in Buddha himself as the only +worker of perfect righteousness, are insisted on. Morality is taught +as more important than orthodoxy."[AC] It is amazing how far the Shin +sect has broken away from regular Buddhistic doctrine and practice. +Who can say that no originality was required to develop such a system, +so opposed at vital points to the prevalent Buddhism of the day? + +Another sect of purely Japanese origin deserving notice is the "Hokke" +or "Nicheren." Its founder, known by the name of Nichiren, was a man +of extraordinary independence and religious fervor. Wholly by his +original questions and doubts as to the prevailing doctrines and +customs of the then dominant sects, he was led to make independent +examination into the history and meaning of Buddhistic literature and +to arrive at conclusions quite different from those of his +contemporaries. Of the truth and importance of his views he was so +persuaded that he braved not only fierce denunciations, but prolonged +opposition and persecution. He was rejected and cast out by his own +people and sect; he was twice banished by the ruling military powers. +But he persevered to the end, finally winning thousands of converts to +his views. The virulence of the attacks made upon him was due to the +virulence with which he attacked what seemed to him the errors and +corruption of the prevailing sects. Surely his was no case of servile +imitation. His early followers had also to endure opposition and +severe persecution. + +Glancing at the philosophical ideas brought from China, we find here +too a suggestion of the same tendency toward originality. It is true +that Dr. Geo. Wm. Knox, in his valuable monograph on "A Japanese +Philosopher," makes the statement that, "In acceptance and rejection +alike no native originality emerges, nothing beyond a vigorous power +of adoption and assimilation. No improvements of the new philosophy +were even attempted. Wherein it was defective and indistinct, +defective and indistinct it remained. The system was not thought out +to its end and independently adopted. Polemics, ontology, ethics, +theology, marvels, heroes--all were enthusiastically adopted on faith. +It is to be added that the new system was superior to the old, and so +much of discrimination was shown."[AD] And somewhat earlier he +likewise asserts that "There is not an original and valuable +commentary by a Japanese writer. They have been content to brood over +the imported works and to accept unquestioningly politics, ethics, and +metaphysics." After some examination of these native philosophers, I +feel that, although not without some truth, these assertions cannot be +strictly maintained. It is doubtless true that no powerful thinker and +writer has appeared in Japan that may be compared to the two great +philosophers of China, Shushi and Oyomei. The works and the system of +the former dominated Japan, for the simple reason that governmental +authority forbade the public teaching or advocacy of the other. +Nevertheless, not a few Japanese thinkers rejected the teachings and +philosophy of Shushi, regardless of consequences. Notable among those +rejecters was Kaibara Yekken, whose book "The Great Doubt" was not +published until after his death. In it he rejects in emphatic terms +the philosophical and metaphysical ideas of Shushi. An article[AE] by +Dr. Tetsujiro Inouye, Professor of Philosophy in the Imperial +University in Tokyo, on the "Development of Philosophical Ideas in +Japan," concludes with these words: + + "From this short sketch the reader can clearly see that + philosophical considerations began in our country with the study of + Shushi and Oyomei. But many of our thinkers did not long remain + faithful to that tradition; they soon formed for themselves new + conceptions of life and of the world, which, as a rule, are not + only more practical, but also more advanced than those of the + Chinese." + +An important reason for our Western thought, that the Japanese have +had no independence in philosophy, is our ignorance of the larger part +of Japanese and Chinese literature. Oriental speculation was moving in +a direction so diverse from that of the West that we are impressed +more with the general similarity that prevails throughout it than with +the evidences of individual differences. Greater knowledge would +reveal these differences. In our generalized knowledge, we see the +uniformity so strongly that we fail to discover the originality. + +As a traveler from the West, on reaching some Eastern land, finds it +difficult at first to distinguish between the faces of different +individuals, his mind being focused on the likeness pervading them +all, so the Occidental student of Oriental thought is impressed with +the remarkable similarity that pervades the entire Oriental +civilization, modes of thought, and philosophy, finding it difficult +to discover the differences which distinguish the various Oriental +races. In like manner, a beginner in the study of Japanese philosophy +hardly gives the Japanese credit for the modifications of Chinese +philosophy which they have originated. + +In this connection it is well to remember that, more than any +Westerner can realize, the Japanese people have been dependent on +governmental initiative from time immemorial. They have never had any +thought but that of implicit obedience, and this characteristic of the +social order has produced its necessary consequences in the present +characteristics of the people. Individual initiative and independence +have been frowned upon, if not always forcibly repressed, and thus the +habit of imitation has been stimulated. The people have been +deliberately trained to imitation by their social system. The +foreigner is amazed at the sudden transformations that have swept the +nation. When the early contact with China opened the eyes of the +ruling classes to the fact that China had a system of government that +was in many respects better than their own, it was an easy thing to +adopt it and make it the basis for their own government. This +constituted the epoch-making period in Japanese history known as the +Taikwa Reform. It occurred in the seventh century, and consisted of a +centralizing policy; under which, probably for the first time in +Japanese history, the country was really unified. Critics ascribe it +to an imitation of the Chinese system. Imitation it doubtless was; but +its significant feature was its imposition by the few rulers on the +people; hence its wide prevalence and general acceptance. + +Similarly, in our own times, the Occidentalized order now dominant in +Japan was adopted, not by the people, but by the rulers, and imposed +by them on the people; these had no idea of resisting the new order, +but accepted it loyally as the decision of their Emperor, and this +spirit of unquestioning obedience to the powers that be is, I am +persuaded, one of the causes of the prevalent opinion respecting +Japanese imitativeness as well as of the fact itself. + +The reputation for imitativeness, together with the quality itself, +is due in no small degree, therefore, to the long-continued dominance +of the feudal order of society. In a land where the dependence of the +inferior on the superior is absolute, the wife on the husband, the +children on the parents, the followers on their lord, the will of the +superior being ever supreme, individual initiative must be rare, and +the quality of imitation must be powerfully stimulated. + + + + +XVII + +ORIGINALITY--INVENTIVENESS + + +Originality is the obverse side of imitation. In combating the notion +that Japan is a nation of unreflective imitators, I have given +numerous examples of originality. Further extensive illustration of +this characteristic is, accordingly, unnecessary. One other may be +cited, however. + +The excellence of Japanese art is admitted by all. Japanese temples +and palaces are adorned with mural paintings and pieces of sculpture +that command the admiration of Occidental experts. The only question +is as to their authors. Are these, properly speaking, Japanese works +of art--or Korean or Chinese? That Japan received her artistic +stimulus, and much of her artistic ideas and technique, from China is +beyond dispute. But did she develop nothing new and independent? This +is a question of fact. Japanese art, though Oriental, has a +distinctive quality. A magnificent work entitled "Solicited Relics of +Japanese Art" is issuing from the press, in which there is a large +number of chromo-xylographic and collotype reproductions of the best +specimens of ancient Japanese art. Reviewing this work, the _Japan +Mail_ remarks: + + "But why should the only great sculptors that China or Korea ever + produced have come to Japan and bequeathed to this country the + unique results of their genius? That is the question we have to + answer before we accept the doctrine that the noblest masterpieces + of ancient Japan were from foreign lands. When anything comparable + is found in China or Korea, there will be less difficulty in + applying this doctrine of over-sea-influence to the genius that + enriched the temples of antique Japan."[AF] + +Under the early influence of Buddhism (900-1200 A.D.) Japan fairly +bloomed. Those were the days of her glory in architecture, literature, +and art. But a blight fell upon her from which she is only now +recovering. The causes of this blight will receive attention in a +subsequent chapter. Let us note here only one aspect of it, namely, +official repression of originality. + +Townsend Harris, in his journal, remarks on the way in which the +Japanese government has interfered with the originality of the people. +"The genius of their government seems to forbid any exercise of +ingenuity in producing articles for the gratification of wealth and +luxury. Sumptuary laws rigidly enforce the forms, colors, material, +and time of changing the dress of all. As to luxury of furniture, the +thing is unknown in Japan.... It would be an endless task to attempt +to put down all the acts of a Japanese that are regulated by +authority." + +The Tokugawa rule forbade the building of large ships; so that, by the +middle of the nineteenth century, the art of ship-building was far +behind what it had been two centuries earlier. Government authority +exterminated Christianity in the early part of the seventeenth century +and freedom of religious belief was forbidden. The same power that put +the ban on Christianity forbade the spread of certain condemned +systems of Confucianism. Even in the study of Chinese literature and +philosophy, therefore, such originality as the classic models +stimulated was discouraged by the all-powerful Tokugawa government. +The avowed aim and end of the ruling powers of Japan was to keep the +nation in its _status quo_. Originality was heresy and treason; +progress was impiety. The teaching of Confucius likewise lent its +support to this policy. To do exactly as the fathers did is to honor +them; to do, or even to think, otherwise is to dishonor them. There +have not been wanting men of originality and independence in both +China and Japan; but they were not great enough to break over, or +break down, the incrusted system in which they lived--the system of +blind devotion to the past. This system, that deliberately opposed all +invention and originality, has been the great incubus to national +progress, in that it has rejected and repressed every tendency to +variation. What results might not the country have secured, had +Christianity been allowed to do its work in stimulating individual +development and in creating the sense of personal responsibility +towards God and man! + +A curious anomaly still remains in Japan on the subject of liberty in +study and belief. Though perfect liberty is the rule, one topic is +even yet under official embargo. No one may express public dissent +from the authorized version of primitive Japanese history. A few years +ago a professor in the Imperial University made an attempt to +interpret ancient Japanese myths. His constructions were supposed to +threaten the divine descent of the Imperial line, and he was summarily +dismissed. + +Dr. E. Inouye, Professor of Buddhist Philosophy in the Imperial +University, addressing a Teachers' Association of Sendai, delivered a +conservative, indirectly anti-foreign speech. He insisted, as reported +by a local English correspondent, that the Japanese people "were +descended from the gods. In all other countries the sovereign or +Emperor was derived from the people, but here the people had the honor +of being derived from the Emperor. Other countries had filial piety +and loyalty, but no such filial piety and loyalty as exist in Japan. +The moral attainments of the people were altogether unique. He +informed his audience that though they might adopt foreign ways of +doing things, their minds needed no renovating; they were good enough +as they were."[AG] + +As a result of this position, scholarship and credulity are curiously +combined in modern historical production. Implicit confidence seems to +be placed in the myths of the primitive era. Tales of the gods are +cited as historical events whose date, even, can be fixed with some +degree of accuracy. Although writing was unknown in Japan until early +in the Christian era, the chronology of the previous six or eight +hundred years is accepted on the authority of a single statement in +the Kojiki, written 712 years A.D. This statement was reproduced from +the memory of a single man, who remembered miraculously the contents +of a book written shortly before, but accidentally destroyed by fire. +In the authoritative history of Japan, prepared and translated into +English at the command of the government for the Columbian Exposition, +we find such statements as these: + +"From the time that Amaterasu-Omikami made Ninigi-no-mikoto to descend +from the heavens and subject to his administrative sway +Okini-nushi-no-mikoto and other offspring of the deities in the land, +descendants of the divine beings have sat upon the throne, generation +after generation in succession."[AH] "Descended in a direct line from +the heavenly deities, the Emperor has stood unshaken in his high place +through all generations, his prestige and dignity immutable from time +immemorial and independent of all the vicissitudes of the world about +him."[AI] "Never has there been found a single subject of the realm +who sought to impair the Imperial prestige."[AJ] It is true that in a +single passage the traditions of the "age of the Deities" are +described as "strange and incredible legends," but it is added that, +however singular they are, in order to understand the history of the +Empire's beginnings, they must be studied. Then follows, without a +word of criticism or dissent, the account of the doings of the +heavenly deities, in creating Japan and its people, as well as the +myriads of gods. There is no break between the age of the gods and the +history of men. The first inventions and discoveries, such as those of +fire, of mining, and of weaving are ascribed to Amate rasu-Omikami +(the Sun Goddess). According to these traditions and the modern +histories built upon them, the Japanese race came into existence +wholly independently of all other races of men. Such is the +authoritative teaching in the schools to-day. + +Occidental scholars do not accept these statements or dates. That the +Japanese will evince historical and critical ability in the study of +their own early history, as soon as the social order will allow it, +can hardly be doubted. Those few who even now entertain advanced ideas +do not dare to avow them. And this fact throws an interesting light on +the way in which the social order, or a despotic government, may +thwart for a time the natural course of development. The present +apparent credulity of Japanese historical scholarship is due neither +to race character nor to superstitions lodged in the inherited race +brain, but simply to the social system, which, as yet, demands the +inviolability of the Imperial line. + +Now that the Japanese have been so largely relieved from the incubus +of the older social order, the question rises whether they are showing +powers of originality. The answer is not doubtful, for they have +already made several important discoveries and inventions. The Murata +rifle, with which the army is equipped, is the invention of a +Japanese. In 1897 Colonel Arisaka invented several improvements in +this same rifle, increasing the velocity and accuracy, and lessening +the weight. Still more recently he has invented a rapid-fire +field-piece to superintend whose manufacture he has been sent to +Europe. Mr. Shimose has invented a smokeless powder, which the +government is manufacturing for its own use. Not infrequently there +appear in the papers notices of new inventions. I have recently noted +the invention of important improvements in the hand loom universally +used in Japan, also a "smoke-consumer" which not only abolishes the +smoke, but reduces the amount of coal used and consequently the +expense. These are but a few of the ever-increasing number of Japanese +inventions. + +In the, field of original scientific research is the famous +bacteriologist, Dr. Kitazato. Less widely known perhaps, but none the +less truly original explorers in the field of science, are Messrs. +Hirase and Ikeno, whose discoveries of spermatozoids in Ginko and +Cycas have no little value for botanists, especially in the +development of the theory of certain forms of fertilization. These +instances show that the faculty of original thought is not entirely +lacking among the Japanese. Under favorable conditions, such as now +prevail, there is good reason for holding that the Japanese will take +their place among the peoples of the world, not only as skillful +imitators and adapters, but also as original contributors to the +progress of civilization and of science. + +Originality may be shown in imitation as well as in production, and +this type of originality the Japanese have displayed in a marked way. +They have copied the institutions of no single country. It might even +be difficult to say which Western land has had the greatest influence +in molding the new social order of Japan. In view of the fact that it +is the English language which has been most in favor during the past +thirty years, it might be assumed that England and America are the +favored models. But no such hasty conclusion can be drawn. The +Japanese have certainly taken ideas and teachers from many different +sources; and they have changed them frequently, but not thoughtlessly. +A writer in _The Far East_ brings this points out clearly: + + "While Japan remained secluded from other countries, she had no + necessity for and scarcely any war vessels, but after the country + was opened to the free intercourse of foreign powers--immediately + she felt the urgent necessity of naval defense and employed a Dutch + officer to construct her navy. In 1871 the Japanese government + employed a number of English officers, and almost wholly + reconstructed her navy according to the English system. But in the + matter of naval education our rulers found the English system + altogether unsatisfactory, and adopted the American system for the + model of our naval academy. So, in discipline, our naval officers + found the German principle much superior to the English, and + adopted that in point of discipline. Thus the Japanese navy is not + wholly after the English system, or the American, or the French, or + the German system. But it has been so constructed as to include the + best portions of all the different systems. In the case of the + army, we had a system of our own before we began to utilize + gunpowder and foreign methods of discipline. Shortly before the + present era we reorganized our army by adopting the Dutch system, + then the English, then the French, and after the Franco-Prussian + war, made an improvement by adopting the German system. But on + every occasion of reorganization we retained the most advantageous + parts of the old systems and harmonized them with the new one. The + result has been the creation of an entirely new system, different + from any of those models we have adopted. So in the case of our + civil code, we consulted most carefully the laws of many civilized + nations, and gathered the cream of all the different codes before + we formulated our own suited to the customs of our people. In the + revision of our monetary system, our government appointed a number + of prominent economists to investigate the characteristics of + foreign systems, as to their merits and faults, and also the + different circumstances under which various systems present their + strength and weakness. The investigation lasted more than two + years, which finally culminated in our adoption of the gold in the + place of the old silver standard." + +This quotation gives an idea of the selective method that has been +followed. There has been no slavish or unconscious imitation. On the +contrary, there has been a constant conscious effort to follow the +best model that the civilized world afforded. Of course, it may be +doubted whether in fact they have always chosen the best; but that is +a different matter. The Japanese think they have; and what foreigner +can say that, under the circumstances and in view of the conditions of +the people, they have not? One point is clear, that on the whole the +nation has made great progress in recent decades, and that the conduct +of the government cannot fail to command the admiration of every +impartial student of Oriental lands. This is far from saying that all +is perfection. Even the Japanese make no such claim. Nor is this +equivalent to an assertion of Japan's equality with the leading lands +of the West, although many Japanese are ready to assert this. But I +merely say that the leaders of New Japan have revealed a high order of +judicious originality in their imitation of foreign nations. + + + + +XVIII + +INDIRECTNESS--"NOMINALITY" + + +The Japanese have two words in frequent use which aptly describe +certain striking aspects of their civilization. They are "tomawashi +ni," "yumei-mujitsu," the first translated literally signifying +"roundabout" or "indirect," the second meaning "having the name, but +not the reality." Both these aspects of Japanese character are forced +on the attention of any who live long in Japan. + +Some years ago I had a cow that I wished to sell. Being an American, +my natural impulse was to ask a dairyman directly if he did not wish +to buy; but that would not be the most Japanese method. I accordingly +resorted to the help of a "go-between." This individual, who has a +regular name in Japanese, "nakadachi," is indispensable for many +purposes. When land was being bought for missionary residences in +Kumamoto, there were at times three or even four agents acting between +the purchaser and the seller and each received his "orei," "honorable +politeness," or, in plain English, commission. In the purchase of two +or three acres of land, dealings were carried on with some fifteen or +more separate landowners. Three different go-betweens dealt directly +with the purchaser, and each of these had his go-between, and in some +cases these latter had theirs, before the landowner was reached. A +domestic desiring to leave my employ conferred with a go-between, who +conferred with his go-between, who conferred with me! In every +important consultation a go-between seems essential in Japan. That +vexatious delays and misunderstandings are frequent may be assumed. + +The system, however, has its advantages. In case of disagreeable +matters the go-between can say the disagreeable things in the third +person, reducing the unpleasant utterances to a minimum. + +I recall the case of two evangelists in the employ of the Kumamoto +station. Each secured the other to act as go-between in presenting his +own difficulties to me. To an American the natural course would have +been for each man to state his own grievances and desires, and secure +an immediate settlement. + +The characteristic of "roundaboutness" is not, however, confined to +Japanese methods of action, but also characterizes their methods of +speech. In later chapters on the alleged Japanese impersonality we +shall consider the remarkable deficiency of personal pronouns in the +language, and the wide use of "honorifics." This substitution of the +personal pronouns by honorifics makes possible an indefiniteness of +speech that is exceedingly difficult for an Anglo-Saxon to appreciate. +Fancy the amount of implication in the statement, "Ikenai koto-we +shimashita" which, strictly translated, means "Can't go thing have +done." Who has done? you? or he? or I? This can only be inferred, for +it is not stated. If a speaker wishes to make his personal allusion +blind, he can always do so with the greatest ease and without the +slightest degree of grammatical incorrectness. "Caught cold," "better +ask," "honorably sorry," "feel hungry," and all the common sentences +of daily life are entirely free from that personal definiteness which +an Occidental language necessitates. We shall see later that the +absence of the personal element from the wording of the sentence does +not imply, or prove, its absence from the thought of either the +speaker or hearer. The Japanese language abounds in roundabout methods +of expression. This is specially true in phrases of courtesy. Instead +of saying, "I am glad to see you," the Japanese say, "Well, honorably +have come"; instead of, "I am sorry to have troubled you," they say, +"Honorable hindrance have done"; instead of "Thank you," the correct +expression is, "It is difficult." + +In a conversation once with a leading educator, I was maintaining that +a wide study of English was not needful for the Japanese youth; that +the majority of the boys would never learn enough English to make it +of practical use to them in after-life, and that it would be wiser for +them to spend the same amount of time on more immediately practical +subjects. The reply was that the boys needed to have the drill in +English in order to gain clear methods of thought: that the sharp +distinctness of the English sentence, with its personal pronouns and +tense and number, affords a mental drill which the Japanese can get in +no other way; and that even if the boys should never make the +slightest after-use of English in reading or conversation, the +advantage gained was well worth the time expended. I have since +noticed that those men who have spent some time in the study of a +foreign language speak very much more clearly in Japanese than those +who have not had this training. In the former case, the enunciation is +apt to be more distinct, and the sentences rounded into more definite +periods. The conversation of the average Japanese tends to ramble on +in a never-ending sentence. But a marked change has come over vast +numbers of the people during the last three decades. The +roundaboutness of to-day is as nothing to that which existed under the +old order of society. For the new order rests on radically different +ideas; directness of speech and not its opposite is being cultivated, +and in absolute contrast to the methods of the feudal era, directness +of governmental procedure is well-nigh universal to-day. In trade, +too, there has come a straightforwardness that is promising, though +not yet triumphant. It is safe to assume that in all respectable +stores the normal price is charged; for the custom of fixed prices has +been widely adopted. If individuals are known to have the "beating +down" habit, special prices are added for their sakes. + +A personal experience illustrates the point. My wife and I had priced +several lamps, had made note of the most satisfactory, and had gone +home without buying. The next day a domestic was sent to secure the +one which pleased us best. He was charged more than we had been, and +in surprise mentioned the sum which we had authorized him to pay. The +shopkeeper explained by saying that he always told us the true price +in the beginning, because we never tried to beat him down. In truth, +modern industrial conditions have pretty well banished the old-time +custom of haggling. A premium is set on straightforwardness in +business unknown to the old social order. + +Roundaboutness is, however, closely connected with "yumei-mujitsu," +the other characteristic mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. +This, for the sake of simplicity, I venture to call "nominality." +Japanese history is a prolonged illustration of this characteristic. +For over a thousand years "yumei-mujitsu" has been a leading feature +in governmental life. Although the Emperor has ostensibly been seated +on the throne, clothed with absolute power, still he has often reigned +only in name.[AK] Even so early as 130 A.D., the two families of Oomi +and Omuraji began to exercise despotic authority in the central +government, and the feudal system, as thus early established, +continued with but few breaks to the middle of the present century. +There were also the great families which could alone furnish wives to +the Imperial line. These early took possession of the person of the +Emperor, and the fathers of the wives often exercised Imperial power. +The country was frequently and long disturbed by intense civil wars +between these rival families. In turn the Fujiwaras, the Minamotos, +and the Tairas held the leading place in the control of the Emperor; +they determined the succession and secured frequent abdication in +favor of their infant sons, but within these families, in turn, there +appeared the influence of the "yumei-mujitsu" characteristic. Lesser +men, the retainers of these families, manipulated the family leaders, +who were often merely figureheads of the contending families and +clans. Emperors were made and unmade at the will of these men behind +the scenes, most of whom are quite unknown to fame. The creation of +infant Emperors, allowed to bear the Imperial name in their infancy +and youth, but compelled to abdicate on reaching manhood, was a common +device for maintaining nominal Imperialism with actual impotence. + +When military clans began to monopolize Imperial power, the people +distinctly recognized the nature of their methods and gave it the name +of "Bakufu" or "curtain government," a roundabout expression for +military government. There has been a succession of these "curtain +governments," the last and most successful being that of the Tokugawa, +whose fall in 1867-68 brought the entire system to an end and placed +the true Emperor on the throne. + +But this "yumei-mujitsu" characteristic of Japanese life has been by +no means limited to the national government. Every daimyate was more +or less blighted by it; the daimyo, or "Great Name," was in too many +cases but a puppet in the hands of his "kerai," or family retainers. +These men, who were entirely out of sight, were, in very many cases, +the real holders of the power which was supposed to be exercised by +the daimyo. The lord was often a "great name" and nothing more. That +this state of affairs was always attended with evil results is by no +means the contention of these pages. Not infrequently the people were +saved by it from the incompetence and ignorance and selfishness of +hereditary rulers. Indeed, this system of "yumei-mujitsu" government +was one of the devices whereby the inherent evils of hereditary rulers +were more or less obviated. It may be questioned, however, whether the +device did not in the long run cost more than it gained. Did it not +serve to maintain, if not actually to produce, a system of +dissimulation and deception which could but injure the national +character? It certainly could not stimulate the straightforward +frankness and outspoken directness and honesty so essential to the +well-being of the human race. + +Although "yumei-mujitsu" government is now practically extinct in +Japan, yet in the social structure it still survives. + +The Japanese family is a maze of "nominality." Full-grown young men +and women are adopted as sons and daughters, in order to maintain the +family line and name. + +A son is not a legal son unless he is so registered, while an +illegitimate child is recognized as a true son if so registered. A man +may be the legal son of his grandmother, or of his sister, if so +registered. Although a family may have no children, it does not die +out unless there has been a failure to adopt a son or daughter, and an +extinct family may be revived by the legal appointment of someone to +take the family name and worship at the family shrine. The family +pedigree, therefore, does not describe the actual ancestry, but only +the nominal, the fictitious. There is no deception in this. It is a +well-recognized custom of Old Japan. Its origin, moreover, is not +difficult to explain. Nor is this kind of family peculiar to Japan. It +is none the less a capital illustration of the "yumei-mujitsu" +characteristic permeating the feudal civilization, and still exerting +a powerful influence. Even Christians are not free from "nominalism," +as we have frequently found in our missionary work. + +A case in mind is of an evangelist employed by our mission station. He +was to receive a definite proportion of his salary from the church for +which he worked and the rest from the station. On inquiry I learned +that he was receiving only that provided by the station, and on +questioning him further he said that probably the sum promised by the +church was being kept as his monthly contribution to the expenses of +the church! Instances of this kind are not infrequent. While in Kyushu +I more than once discovered that a body of Christians, whose +evangelists we were helping to support proportionately, were actually +raising not a cent of their proportion. On inquiry, I would be told +that the evangelists themselves contributed out of their salary the +sums needed, and that, therefore, the Christians did not need to raise +it. + +The mission, at one time, adopted the plan of throwing upon the local +churches the responsibility of deciding as to the fitness of young men +for mission aid in securing a theological education. It was agreed by +representatives of the churches and the mission that each candidate +should secure the approval of the deacons of the church of which he +was a member, and that the church should pay a certain proportion of +the candidate's school expenses. It was thought that by this method +the leading Christians of the young man's acquaintance would become +his sponsors, and that they would be unwilling to take this +responsibility except for men in whom they had personal confidence, +and for whom they would be willing to make personal contributions. In +course of time the mission discovered that the plan was not working as +expected. The young men could secure the approval of the deacons of +their church without any difficulty; and as for the financial aid from +the church, that could be very easily arranged for by the student's +making a monthly contribution to the church of the sum which the +church should contribute toward his expenses. Although this method +seems to the average Occidental decidedly deceptive, it seemed to the +Japanese perfectly proper. The arrangement, it is needless to state, +was not long continued. I am persuaded that the correct explanation of +these cases is "yumei-mujitsu." + +Not long since express trains were put on between Kobe and Tokyo. One +morning at Osaka I planned to take the early express to Kyoto, distant +about thirty miles. These are the second and third cities of Japan, +and the travel between them is heavy. On applying for a ticket I was +refused and told there was no train for Kyoto. But as multitudes were +buying tickets, and going out upon the platform, I asked an official +what the trouble was, and received the explanation that for this +express train no tickets could be sold for less than forty miles; but +if I would buy a ticket for the next station beyond Kyoto, it would be +all right; I could get off at Kyoto. I was assured that I would be +allowed to land and leave the station at Kyoto. This I did then, and +have repeatedly done since. The same absurd rule is applied, I am +told, between Yokohama and Tokyo. + +But our interest in these illustrations is the light they shed on +Japanese character. They indicate the intellectual angle from which +the people have looked out on life. What is the origin of the +characteristic? Is it due to deep-lying race nature, to the quality of +the race brain? Even more clearly than in the case of +"roundaboutness," it seems to me that "nominality" is due to the +nature of the old social order. Feudalism has always exhibited more or +less of these same features. To Anglo-Saxons, reared in a land blessed +by direct government of the people, by the people, and for the people, +such methods were not only needless but obnoxious. Nominal +responsibility without real power has been seen to breed numberless +evils. We have learned to hate all nominalism, all fiction in +government, in business and, above all, in personal character. But +this is due to the Anglo-Saxon social order, the product in large +measure of centuries of Christian instruction. + +Through contact with Westerners and the ideas they stand for, +directness and reality are being assimilated and developed by the +Japanese. This would be impossible were the characteristic in question +due to inherent race nature necessarily bequeathed from generation to +generation by intrinsic heredity. + + + + +XIX + +INTELLECTUALITY + + +Some writers hold that the Japanese are inherently deficient in the +higher mental faculties. They consider mediocre mentality to be an +inborn characteristic of Japan and assert that it lies at the root of +the civilizational differences distinguishing the East from the West. +The puerility of Oriental science in all its departments, the +prevalence of superstition even among the cultivated, the lack of +historical insight and interpretation of history are adduced as +conclusive evidences of this view. + +Foreign teachers in Japanese employ have told me that Japanese +students, as compared with those of the West, manifest deficient +powers of analysis and of generalization. Some even assert that the +Japanese have no generalizing ability whatever, their progress in +civilization being entirely due to their remarkable power of clever +imitation. Mr. W.G. Aston, in ascribing the characteristic features of +Japanese literature to the fundamental nature of the race, says they +are "hardly capable of high intellectual achievement."[AL] + +While we may admit that the Japanese do not seem to have at present +the same power of scientific generalization as Occidentals, we +naturally ask ourselves whether the difference is due to natal +deficiency, or whether it may not be due to difference in early +training. We must not forget that the youth who come under the +observation of foreign teachers in Japanese schools are already +products of the Japanese system of education, home and school, and +necessarily are as defective as it is. + +In a previous chapter a few instances of recent invention and +important scientific discovery were given. + +These could not have been made without genuine powers of analysis and +generalization. We need not linger to elaborate this point. + +Another set of facts throwing light on our problem is the success of +so many Japanese students, at home and in foreign lands, in mastering +modern thought. Great numbers have come back from Europe and America +with diplomas and titles; not a few have taken high rank in their +classes. The Japanese student abroad is usually a hard worker, like +his brother at home. I doubt if any students in the new or the old +world study more hours in a year than do these of Japan. It has often +amazed me to learn how much they are required to do. This is one fair +sign of intellectuality. The ease too with which young Japan, educated +in Occidental schools and introduced to Occidental systems of thought, +acquires abstruse speculations, searching analyses, and generalized +abstractions proves conclusively Japanese possession of the higher +mental faculties, in spite of the long survival in their civilization +of primitive puerility and superstitions and the lack of science, +properly so called. + +Japanese youths, furthermore, have a fluency in public speech +decidedly above anything I have met with in the United States. Young +men of eighteen or twenty years of age deliver long discourses on +religion or history or politics, with an apparent ease that their +uncouth appearance would not lead one to expect. In the little school +of less than 150 boys in Kumamoto there were more individuals who +could talk intelligibly and forcefully on important themes of national +policy, the relation of religion and politics, the relation of Japan +to the Occident and the Orient, than could be found in either of the +two colleges in the United States with which I was connected. I do not +say that they could bring forth original ideas on these topics. But +they could at least remember what they had heard and read and could +reproduce the ideas with amazing fluency. + +A recent public meeting in Tokyo in which Christian students of the +University spoke to fellow-students on the great problems of religion, +revealed a power of no mean order in handling the peculiar +difficulties encountered by educated young men. A competent listener, +recently graduated from an American university and widely acquainted +with American students, declared that those Japanese speakers revealed +greater powers of mind and speech than would be found under similar +circumstances in the United States. + +The fluency with which timid girls pray in public has often surprised +me. Once started, they never seem to hesitate for ideas or words. The +same girls would hardly be able to utter an intelligible sentence in +reply to questions put to them by the pastor or the missionary, so +faint would be their voices and so hesitating their manner. + +The question as to whether the Japanese have powers of generalization +receives some light from a study of the language of the people. An +examination of primitive Japanese proves that the race, prior to +receiving even the slightest influence from China, had developed +highly generalized terms. It is worth while to call attention here to +a simple fact which most writers seem to ignore, namely, that all +language denotes and indeed rests on generalization. Consider the word +"uma," "horse"; this is a name for a whole class of objects, and is +therefore the product of a mind that can generalize and express its +generalization in a concept which no act of the imagination can +picture; the imagination can represent only individuals; the mind that +has concepts of classes of things, as, for instance, of horses, +houses, men, women, trees, has already a genuine power of +generalization. Let me also call attention to such words as "wake," +"reason"; "mono," "thing"; "koto," "fact"; "aru," "is"; "oro," +"lives"; "aru koto," "is fact," or "existence"; "ugoku koto," +"movement"; "omoi," "thought"; this list might be indefinitely +extended. Let the reader consider whether these words are not highly +generalized; yet these are all pure Japanese words, and reveal the +development of the Japanese mind before it was in the least influenced +by Chinese thought. Evidently it will not do to assert the entire lack +of the power of generalization to the Japanese mind. + +Still further evidence proving Japanese possession of the higher +mental faculties may be found in the wide prevalence and use of the +most highly generalized philosophical terms. Consider for instance, +"Ri" and "Ki," "In" and "Yo." No complete translation can be found for +them in English; "Ri" and "Ki" may be best translated as the rational +and the formative principles in the universe, while "In" and "Yo" +signify the active and the passive, the male and the female, the light +and the darkness; in a word, the poles of a positive and negative. It +is true that these terms are of Chinese origin as well as the thoughts +themselves, but they are to-day in universal use in Japan. Similar +abstract terms of Buddhistic origin are the possession of the common +people. + +Of course the possession of these Chinese terms is not offered as +evidence of independent generalizing ability. But wide use proves +conclusively the possession of the higher mental faculties, for, +without such faculties, the above terms would be incomprehensible to +the people and would find no place in common speech. We must be +careful not to give too much weight to the foreign origin of these +terms. Chinese is to Japanese what Latin and Greek are to modern +European languages. The fact that a term is of Chinese origin proves +nothing as to the nature of the modern Japanese mind. The developing +Japanese civilization demanded new terms for her new instruments and +increasing concepts. These for over fifteen centuries have been +borrowed from, or constructed out of, Chinese in the same way that all +our modern scientific terms are constructed out of Latin and Greek. It +is doubtful if any of the Chinese terms, even those borrowed bodily, +have in Japan the same significance as in China. If this is true, then +the originating feature of Japanese power of generalization becomes +manifest. + +Indeed from this standpoint, the fact that the Japanese have made such +extensive use of the Chinese language shows the degree to which the +Japanese mind has outgrown its primitive development, demanding new +terms for the expression of its expanding life. But mental growth +implies energy of acquisition. The adoption of Chinese terms is not a +passive but an active process. + +Acquisition of generalized terms can only take place with the +development of a generalizing mind. Foreign terms may help, but they +do not cause that development. + +In a study of the question whether or not the Japanese possess +independent powers of analysis and generalization, we must ever +remember the unique character of the social environment to which they +have been subjected. Always more or less of an isolated nation, they +have been twice or thrice suddenly confronted with a civilization much +superior to that which they in their isolation had developed. Under +such circumstances, adoption and modification of ideas and language as +well as of methods and machinery were the most rational and natural +courses. + +The explanation usually given for the puerilities of Oriental science, +history, and religion has been short and simple, namely, the inherent +nature of the Oriental races, as if this were the final fact, needing +and admitting no further explanation. That the Orient has not +developed history or science is doubtless true, but the correct +explanation of this fact is, in my opinion, that the educational +method of the entire Orient has rested on mechanical memorization; +during the formative period of the mind the exclusive effort of +education has been to develop a memory which acts by arbitrary or +fanciful connections and relations. A Japanese boy of Old Japan, for +instance, began his education at from seven to eight years of age and +spent three or four years in memorizing the thousands of Chinese +hieroglyphic characters contained in the Shisho and Gokyo, nine of the +Chinese classics. This completed, his teacher would begin to explain +to him the meaning of the characters and sentences. The entire +educational effort was to develop the powers of observing and +memorizing accidental, superficial, or even purely artificial +relations. This double faculty of observing trifling and irrelevant +details, and of remembering them, became phenomenally and abnormally +developed. + +Recent works on the psychology of education, however, have made plain +how an excessive development of a child's lower mental faculties may +arrest its later growth in all the higher departments of its +intellectual nature; the development of a mechanical memory is well +known as a serious obstacle to the higher activities of reason. Now +Japanese education for centuries, like Chinese, has developed such +memory. It trained the lower and ignored the higher. Much of the +Japanese education of to-day, although it includes mathematics, +science, and history, is based on the mechanical memory method. The +Orient is thus a mammoth illustration of the effects of +over-development of the mechanical memory, and the consequent arrest +of the development of the remaining powers of the mind. + +Encumbered by this educational ideal and system, how could the ancient +Chinese and Japanese men of education make a critical study of +history, or develop any science worthy of the name? The childish +physics and astronomy, the brutal therapeutics and the magical and +superstitious religions of the Orient, are a necessary consequence of +its educational system, not of its inherent lack of the higher mental +powers. + +If Japanese children brought up from infancy in American homes, and +sent to American schools from kindergarten days onward, should still +manifest marked deficiencies in powers of analysis and generalization, +as compared with American children, we should then be compelled to +conclude that this difference is due to diverse natal psychic +endowment. Generalizations as to the inherent intellectual +deficiencies of the Oriental are based on observations of individuals +already developed in the Oriental civilization, whose psychic defects +they accordingly necessarily inherit through the laws of social +heredity. Such observations have no relevancy to our main problem. We +freely admit that Oriental civilization manifests striking +deficiencies of development of the higher mental faculties, although +it is not nearly so great as many assert; but we contend that these +deficiencies are due to something else than the inherent psychic +nature of the Oriental individual. Innumerable causes have combined to +produce the Oriental social order and to determine its slow +development. These cannot be stated in a sentence, nor in a paragraph. + +In the final analysis, however, the causes which produce the +characteristic features of Japanese social order are the real sources +of the differentiating intellectual traits now characterizing the +Japanese. Introduce a new social heredity,--a new system of +education,--one which relegates a mechanical memory to the +background,--one which exalts powers of rational observation of the +profound causal relations of the phenomena of nature, and which sets a +premium on such observation, analysis, and generalization, and the +results will show the inherent psychic nature of the Oriental to be +not different from that of the Occidental. + + + + +XX + +PHILOSOPHICAL ABILITY + + +We are now prepared to consider whether or not the Japanese have +philosophical ability. The average educated Japanese believe such to +be the case. The rapidity and ease with which the upper classes have +abandoned their superstitious faiths is commonly attributed by +themselves to the philosophical nature of their minds. Similarly the +rapid spread of so-called rationalism and Unitarian thought and Higher +Criticism among once earnest Christians, during the past decade, they +themselves ascribe to their interest in philosophical questions, and +to their ability in handling philosophical problems. + +Foreigners, on the other hand, usually deny them the possession of +philosophical ability. + +Dr. Peery, in his volume entitled "The Gist of Japan," says: "By +nature, I think, they are more inclined to be practical than +speculative. Abstract theological ideas have little charm for them. +There is a large element in Japan that simulates a taste for +philosophical study. Philosophy and metaphysics are regarded by them +as the profoundest of all branches of learning, and in order to be +thought learned they profess great interest in these studies. Not only +are the highly metaphysical philosophies of the East studied, but the +various systems of the West are looked into likewise. Many of the +people are capable of appreciating these philosophies, too; but they +do it for a purpose." Other writers make the same general charge of +philosophical incompetence. One or two quotations from Dr. Knox's +writings were given on this subject, under the head of Imitation.[AM] + +What, then, are the facts? Do the Japanese excel in philosophy, or +are they conspicuously deficient? In either case, is the +characteristic due to essential race nature or to some other cause? + +We must first distinguish between interest in philosophical problems +and ability in constructing original philosophical systems. In this +distinction is to be found the reconciliation of many conflicting +views. Many who argue for Japanese philosophical ability are impressed +with the interest they show in metaphysical problems, while those who +deny them this ability are impressed with the dependence of Japanese +on Chinese philosophy. + +The discussions of the previous chapter as to the nature of Japanese +education and its tendency to develop the lower at the expense of the +higher mental faculties, have prepared us not to expect any +particularly brilliant history of Japanese philosophy. Such is indeed +the case. Primitive Japanese cosmology does not differ in any +important respect from the primitive cosmology of other races. The +number of those in Old Japan who took a living interest in distinctly +metaphysical problems is indisputably small. While we admit them to +have manifested some independence and even originality, as Professor +Inouye urges,[AN] yet it can hardly be maintained that they struck out +any conspicuously original philosophical systems. There is no +distinctively Japanese philosophy. + +These facts, however, should not blind us to the distinction between +latent ability in philosophical thought and the manifestation of that +ability. The old social order, with its defective education, its habit +of servile intellectual dependence on ancestors, and its social and +legal condemnation of independent originality, particularly in the +realm of thought, was a mighty incubus on speculative philosophy. +Furthermore, crude science and distorted history could not provide the +requisite material from which to construct a philosophical +interpretation of the universe that would appeal to the modern +Occidental. + + +In spite, however, of social and educational hindrances, the Japanese +have given ample evidence of interest in metaphysical problems and of +more or less ability in their solution. Religious constructions of the +future life, conceptions as to the relations of gods and men and the +universe, are in fact results of the metaphysical operations of the +mind. Primitive Japan was not without these. As she developed in +civilization and came in contact with Chinese and Hindu metaphysical +thought, she acquired their characteristic systems. Buddhist first, +and later Confucian, metaphysics dominated the thought of her educated +men. In view of the highly metaphysical character of Buddhist +doctrines and the interest they have produced at least among the +better trained priests, the assertion that the Japanese have no +ability in metaphysics cannot be maintained. + +At one period in the history of Buddhism in Japan, prolonged public +discussions were all the fashion. Priests traveled from temple to +temple to engage in public debate. The ablest debater was the abbot, +and he had to be ready to face any opponent who might appear. If a +stranger won, the abbot yielded his place and his living to the +victor. Many an interesting story is told of those times, and of the +crowds that would gather to hear the debates. But our point is that +this incident in the national life shows the appreciation of the +people for philosophical questions. And although that particular +fashion has long since passed away, the national interest in +discussions and arguments still exists. No monks of the West ever +enjoyed hair-splitting arguments more than do many of the Japanese. +They are as adept at mental refinements and logical juggling as any +people of the West, though possibly the Hindus excel them. + +If it be said that Confucianism was not only non-metaphysical, but +uniquely practical, and for this reason found wide acceptance in +Japan, the reply must be first that, professing to be +non-metaphysical, it nevertheless had a real metaphysical system of +thought in the background to which it ever appealed for authority, a +system, be it noted, more in accord with modern science and philosophy +than Buddhist metaphysics; and secondly, although Confucianism became +the bulwark of the state and the accepted faith of the samurai, it +was limited to them. The vast majority of the nation clung to their +primitive Buddhistic cosmology. That Confucianism rested on a clearly +implied and more or less clearly expressed metaphysical foundation may +be seen in the quotations from the writings of Muro Kyuso which are +given in chapter xxiv. We should note that the revolt of the educated +classes of Japan from Buddhism three hundred years ago, and their +general adoption of Confucian doctrine, was partly in the interests of +religion and partly in the interests of metaphysics. In both respects +the progressive part of the nation had become dissatisfied with +Buddhism. The revolt proves not lack of religious or metaphysical +interest and insight, but rather the reverse. + +Not a little of the teaching of Shushi (1130-1200 A.D.) and of Oyomei +(1472-1528 A.D.), Chinese philosophical expounders of Confucianism, is +metaphysical. The doctrine of the former was widely studied and was +the orthodox doctrine in Japan for more than two centuries, all other +doctrine and philosophy being forbidden by the state. It is true that +the central interest in this philosophical instruction was the +ethical. It was felt that the entire ethical system rested on the +acceptance of a particular metaphysical system. But so far from +detracting from our argument this statement rather adds. For in what +land has not the prime interest in metaphysics been ethical? A study +of the history of philosophy shows clearly that philosophy and +metaphysics arose out of religious and ethical problems, and have ever +maintained their hold on thinking men, because of their mutually vital +relations. In Japan it has not been otherwise. If anyone doubts this +he should read the Japanese philosophers--in the original, if +possible; if not, then in such translations and extracts as Dr. Knox +has given us in his "A Japanese Philosopher," and Mr. Aston in his +"Japanese Literature." The ethical interest is primary, and the +metaphysical interest is secondary,[AO] to be sure, but not to be +denied. + +Occidental philosophy has found many earnest and capable Japanese +students. The Imperial University has a strong corps of philosophical +instructors. Occidental metaphysical thought, both materialistic and +idealistic, has found many congenial minds. Indeed, it is not rash to +say that in the thought of New Japan the distinguishing Oriental +metaphysical conceptions of the universe have been entirely displaced +by those of the West. Christians, in particular, have entirely +abandoned the old polytheistic, pantheistic, and fatalistic +metaphysics and have adopted thoroughgoing monotheism. + +Ability to understand and sufficient interest to study through +philosophical and metaphysical systems of foreign lands indicate a +mental development of no slight order, whatever may be the ability, or +lack of it, in making original contributions to the subject. That +educated Japanese have shown real ability in the former sense can +hardly be doubted by those who have read the writings of such men as +Goro Takahashi, ex-president Hiroyuki Kato, Prof. Yujiro Motora, Prof. +Rikizo Nakashima, or Dr. Tetsujiro Inouye. The philosophical +brightness of many of Japan's foreign as well as home-trained scholars +argues well for the philosophical ability of the nation. + +A recent conversation with a young Japanese gives point to what has +just been said. The young man suddenly appeared at my study door, and, +with unusually brief salutations, said that he wished me to talk to +him about religion. In answer to questions he explained that he had +been one of my pupils ten years ago in the Kumamoto Boys' School; that +he had been baptized as a Christian at that time, but had become cold +and filled with doubts; that he had been studying ever since, having +at one time given considerable attention to the Zen sect of Buddhism; +but that he had found no satisfaction there. He accordingly wished to +study Christianity more carefully. For three hours we talked, he +asking questions about the Christian conception of God, of the +universe, of man, of sin, of evolution, of Christ, of salvation, of +the object of life, of God's purpose in creation, of the origin and +nature of the Bible. Toward the latter part of our conversation, +referring to one idea expressed, he said, "That is about what Hegel +held, is it not?" As he spoke he opened his knapsack, which I then saw +to be full of books, and drew out an English translation of Hegel's +"Philosophy of History"; he had evidently read it carefully, making +his notes in Japanese on the margin. I asked him if he had read it +through. "Yes," he replied, "three times." He also incidentally +informed me that he had thought of entering our mission theological +training class during the previous winter, but that he was then in the +midst of the study of the philosophy of Kant, and had accordingly +decided to defer entering until the autumn. How thoroughly he had +mastered these, the most profound and abstruse metaphysicians that the +West can boast, I cannot state. But this at least is clear; his +interest in them was real and lasting. And in his conversation he +showed keen appreciation of philosophical problems. It is to be noted +also that he was a self-taught philosopher--for he had attended no +school since he studied elementary English, ten years before, while a +lad of less than twenty. + +As a sample of the kind of men I not infrequently meet, let me cite +the case of a young business man who once called on me in the hotel at +Imabari, popularly called "the little philosopher." He wished to talk +about the problem of the future life and to ask my personal belief in +the matter. He said that he believed in God and in Jesus as His unique +son and revealer, but that he found great difficulty in believing in +the continued life of the soul after death. His difficulty arose from +the problems of the nature of future thinking; shall we continue to +think in terms of sense perception, such as time, space, form, color, +pleasure, and pain? If not, how can we think at all? And can we then +remember our present life? If we do, then the future life will not be +essentially different from this, _i.e._, we must still have physical +senses, and continue to live in an essentially physical world. Here +was a set of objections to the doctrine of the future life that I +have never heard as much as mentioned by any Occidental youth. Though +without doubt not original with him, yet he must have had in some +degree both philosophical ability and interest in order to appreciate +their force and to seek their solution. + +In conversation not long since with a Buddhist priest of the Tendai +sect, after responding to his request for a criticism of Buddhism, I +asked him for a similarly frank criticism of Christianity. To my +surprise, he said that while Christianity was far ahead of Buddhism in +its practical parts and in its power to mold character, it was +deficient in philosophical insight and interest. This led to a +prolonged conversation on Buddhistic philosophy, in which he explained +the doctrines of the "Ku-ge-chu," and the "Usa and Musa." Without +attempting to explain them here, I may say that the first is amazingly +like Hegel's "absolute nothing," with its thesis, antithesis, and +synthesis, and the second a psychological distinction between +volitional and spontaneous emotions. + +In discussing Japanese philosophical ability, a point often forgotten +is the rarity of philosophical ability or even interest in the West. +But a small proportion of college students have the slightest interest +in philosophical or metaphysical problems. The majority do not +understand what the distinctive metaphysical problems are. In my +experience it is easier to enter into a conversation with an educated +man in Japan on a philosophical question than with an American. If +interest in philosophical and metaphysical questions in the West is +rare, original ability in their investigation is still rarer. + +We conclude, then, that in regard to philosophical ability the +Japanese have no marked racial characteristic differentiating them +from other races. Although they have not developed a distinctive +national philosophy, this is not due to inherent philosophical +incompetence. Nor, on the other hand, is the relatively wide interest +now manifest in philosophical problems attributable to the inherent +philosophical ability of the race. So far as Japan is either behind or +in advance of other races, in this respect, it is due to her social +order and social inheritance, and particularly to the nature, methods, +and aims of the educational system, but not to her intrinsic psychic +inheritance. + + + + +XXI + +IMAGINATION + + +In no respect, perhaps, have the Japanese been more sweepingly +criticised by foreigners than in regard to their powers of imagination +and idealism. Unqualified generalizations not only assert the entire +lack of these powers, but they consider this lack to be the +distinguishing inherent mental characteristic of the race. The +Japanese are called "prosaic," "matter-of-fact," "practical," +"unimaginative." + +Mr. Walter Dening, describing Japanese mental characteristics, says: + + "Neither their past history nor their prevailing tastes show any + tendency to idealism. They are lovers of the practical and the + real; neither the fancies of Goethe nor the reveries of Hegel are + to their liking. Our poetry and our philosophy and the mind that + appreciates them are alike the results of a network of subtle + influences to which the Japanese are comparative strangers. It is + maintained by some, and we think justly, that the lack of idealism + in the Japanese mind renders the life of even the most cultivated a + mechanical, humdrum affair when compared with that of Westerners. + The Japanese cannot understand why our controversialists should wax + so fervent over psychological, ethical, religious, and + philosophical questions, failing to perceive that this fervency is + the result of the intense interest taken in such subjects. The + charms that the cultured Western mind finds in the world of fancy + and romance, in questions themselves, irrespective of their + practical bearings, is for the most part unintelligible to the + Japanese."[AP] + +Mr. Percival Lowell expends an entire chapter in his "Soul of the Far +East," in showing how important imagination is as a factor in art, +religion, science, and civilization generally, and how strikingly +deficient Japanese are in this faculty. "The Far Orientals," he +argues, "ought to be a particularly unimaginative set of people. Such +is precisely what they are. Their lack of imagination is a +well-recognized fact."[AQ] + +Mr. Aston, characterizing Japanese literature, says: + + "A feature which strikingly distinguishes the Japanese poetic muse + from that of Western nations is a certain lack of imaginative + power. The Japanese are slow to endow inanimate objects with life. + Shelley's 'Cloud,' for example, contains enough matter of this kind + for many volumes of Japanese verse. Such lines as: + + 'From my wings are shaken + The dews that waken + The sweet buds every one, + When rocked to rest + On their mother's breast + As she dances about the sun,' + + would appear to them ridiculously overcharged with metaphor, if not + absolutely unintelligible."[AR] + + +On the other hand, some writers have called attention to the contrary +element of Japanese mental nature. Prof. Ladd, for instance, maintains +that the characteristic mental trait of the Japanese is their +sentimentality. He has shown how their lives are permeated with and +regulated by sentiment. Ancestral worship, patriotism, Imperial +apotheosis, friendship, are fashioned by idealizing sentiment. In our +chapters on the emotional elements of Japanese character we have +considered how widespread and powerful these ideals and sentiments +have been and still are. + +Writers who compare the Chinese with the Japanese remark the practical +business nature of the former and the impractical, visionary nature of +the latter. + +For a proper estimate of our problem we should clearly distinguish +between the various forms of imagination. It reveals itself not merely +in art and literature, in fantastic conception, in personification and +metaphor, but in every important department of human life. It is the +tap-root of progress, as Mr. Lowell well points out. It pictures an +ideal life in advance of the actual, which ideal becomes the object of +effort. The forms of imagination may, therefore, be classified +according to the sphere of life in which it appears. In addition to +the poetic fancy and the idealism of art and literature generally, we +must distinguish the work of imagination in the æsthetic, in the +moral, in the religious, in the scientific, and in the political life. +The manifestation of the imaginative faculty in art and in literature +is only one part of the æsthetic imagination. + +In studying Japanese æsthetic characteristics, we noted how unbalanced +was the development of their æsthetic sense. This proposition of +unbalanced development applies with equal force to the imaginative +faculty as a whole. Conspicuously lacking in certain directions, it is +as conspicuously prominent in others. Rules of etiquette are the +products of the æsthetic imagination, and in what land has etiquette +been more developed than in feudal Japan? Japanese imagination has +been particularly active in the political world. The passionate +loyalty of retainers to their lord, of samurai to their daimyo, of all +to their "kuni," or clan, in ancient times, and now, of the people to +their Emperor, are the results of a vivid political idealizing +imagination. Imperial apotheosis is a combination of the political and +religious imagination. And in what land has the apotheosizing +imagination been more active than in Japan? Ambition and self-conceit +are likewise dependent on an active imaginative faculty. + +There can be no doubt the writers quoted above have drawn attention to +some salient features of Japanese art. In the literature of the past, +the people have not manifested that high literary imagination that we +discover in the best literature of many other nations. + +This fact, however, will not justify the sweeping generalizations +based upon it. Judging from the pre-Elizabethan literature, who would +have expected the brilliancy of the Elizabethan period? Similarly in +regard to the Victorian period of English literature. Because the +Japanese have failed in the past to produce literature equal to the +best of Western lands, we are not justified in asserting that she +never will and that she is inherently deficient in literary +imagination. In regard to certain forms of light fancy, all admit that +Japanese poems are unsurpassed by those of other lands. Japanese +amative poetry is noted for its delicate fancies and plays on words +exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, of translation, or even of +expression, to one unacquainted with the language. + +The deficiencies of Japanese literature, therefore, are not such as to +warrant the conclusion that they both mark and make a fundamental +difference in the race mind. For such differences as exist are capable +of a sociological explanation. + +The prosaic matter-of-factness of the Japanese mind has been so widely +emphasized that we need not dwell upon it here. There is, however, +serious danger of over-emphasis, a danger into which all writers fall +who make it the ground for sweeping condemnatory criticism. + +They are right in ascribing to the average Japanese a large amount of +unimaginative matter-of-factness, but they are equally wrong in +unqualified dogmatic generalizations. They base their inductions on +insufficient facts, a habit to which foreigners are peculiarly liable, +through ignorance of the language and also of the inner thoughts and +life of the people. + +The prosaic nature of the Japanese has not impressed me so much as the +visionary tendency of the people, and their idealism. The Japanese +themselves count this idealism a national characteristic. They say +that they are theorizers, and numberless experiences confirm this +view. + +They project great undertakings; they scheme; they discuss +contingencies; they make enormous plans; all with an air of +seriousness and yet with a nonchalance which shows a semi-conscious +sense of the unreality of their proposals. In regard to Korea and +China and Formosa, they have hatched political and business schemes +innumerable. The kaleidoscopic character of Japanese politics is in +part due to the rapid succession of visionary schemes. One idea reigns +for a season, only to be displaced by another, causing constant +readjustment of political parties. Frequent attacks on government +foreign policy depend for their force on lordly ideas as to the part +Japan should play in international relations. Writing about the recent +discussions in the public press over the question of introducing +foreign capital into Japan, one contributor to the _Far East_ remarks +that "It has been treated more from a theoretical than from a +practical standpoint.... This seems to me to arise from a peculiar +trait of Japanese mind which is prone to dwell solely on the +theoretical side until the march of events compels a sudden leap +toward the practical." This visionary faculty of the Japanese is +especially conspicuous in the daily press. Editorials on foreign +affairs and on the relations of Japan to the world are full of it. + +I venture to jot down a few illustrations of impractical idealism out +of my personal knowledge. An evangelist in the employ of the Kumamoto +station exemplified this visionary trait in a marked degree. Nervous +in the extreme, he was constantly having new ideas. For some reason +his attention was turned to the subject of opium and the evils China +was suffering from the drug, forced on her by England. Forthwith he +came to me for books on the subject; he wished to become fully +informed, and then he proposed to go to China and preach on the +subject. For a few weeks he was full of his enterprise. It seemed to +him that if he were only allowed the opportunity he could convince the +Chinese of their error, and the English of their crime. One of his +plans was to go to England and expostulate with them on their +un-Christian dealings with China. A few weeks later his attention was +turned to the wrongs inflicted on the poor on account of their +ignorance about law and their inability to get legal assistance. This +idea held him longer than the previous. + +He desired to study law and become a public pleader in order to +defend the poor against unjust men of wealth. In his theological ideas +he was likewise extreme and changeable; swinging from positive and +most emphatic belief to extreme doubt, and later back again. In his +periods of triumphant faith it seemed to him that he could teach the +world; and his expositions of truth were extremely interesting. He +proposed to formulate a new theology that would dissolve forever the +difficulties of the old theology. In his doubts, too, he was no less +interesting and assertive. His hold on practical matters was +exceedingly slender. His salary, though considerably larger than that +of most of the evangelists, was never sufficient. He would spend +lavishly at the beginning of the month so long as he had the money, +and then would pinch himself or else fall into debt. + +Mr. ----, the head of the Kumamoto Boys' School during the period of +its fierce struggles and final collapse, whom I have already referred +to as the Hero-Principal,[AS] is another example of this impractical +high-strung visionariness. No sooner had he reached Kumamoto, than +there opened before our enchanted eyes the vision of this little +insignificant school blooming out into a great university. True, there +had been some of this bombast before his arrival; but it took on new +and gorgeous form under his master hand. The airs that he put on, +displaying his (fraudulent) Ph.D., and talking about his schemes, are +simply amusing to contemplate from this distance. His studies in the +philosophy of religion had so clarified his mind that he was going to +reform both Christianity and Buddhism. His sermons of florid eloquence +and vociferous power, never less than an hour in length, were as +marked in ambitious thoughts as in pulpit mannerisms. He threw a spell +over all who came in contact with him. He overawed them by his +vehemence and tremendous earnestness and insistence on perfect +obedience to his masterful will. In one of his climactic sermons, +after charging missionaries with teaching dangerous errors, he said +that while some were urging that the need of the times was to "his +back to Luther," and others were saying, that we must "his back to +Christ" (these English words being brought into his Japanese sermon), +they were both wrong; we must "hie back to God"; and he prophesied a +reformation in religion, beginning there in Kumamoto, in that school, +which would be far and away more important in the history of the world +than was the Lutheran Reformation. + +The recent history of Christianity in Japan supplies many striking +instances of visionary plans and visionary enthusiasts. The confident +expectation entertained during the eighties of Christianizing the +nation before the close of the century was such a vision. Another, +arising a few years later, was the importance of returning all foreign +missionaries to their native lands and of intrusting the entire +evangelistic work to native Christians, and committing to them the +administration of the immense sums thus set free. For it was assumed +by these brilliant Utopians that the amount of money expended in +supporting missionaries would be available for aggressive work should +the missionaries be withdrawn, and that the Christians in foreign +lands would continue to pour in their contributions for the +evangelization of Japan. + +Still another instance of utopian idealism is the vision that Japan +will give birth to that perfect religion, meeting the demands of both +heart and head, for which the world waits. In January, 1900, Prof. T. +Inouye, of the Imperial University, after showing quite at length, and +to his own satisfaction, the inadequacy of all existing religions to +meet the ethical and religious situation in Japan, maintained this +ambitious view. + +Some Japanese Christians are declaring the need of Japonicized +Christianity. "Did not the Greeks transform Christianity before they +accepted it? And did not the Romans, and finally the Germans, do the +same? Before Japan will or can accept the religion of Christ, it must +be Japonicized." So they argue; "and who so fit to do it as we?" lies +in the background of their thought. + +Many a Christian pastor and evangelist, although not sharing the +ambition of Prof. Inouye, nevertheless glows with the confident +expectation that Japonicized Christianity will be its most perfect +type. "No one need wonder if Japan should be destined to present to +the world the best type of Christianity that has yet appeared in +history," writes an exponent of this view, at one time a Christian +pastor. In this connection the reader may recall what was said in +chapter xiv. on Japanese Ambition and Conceit, qualities depending on +the power of seeing visions. We note, in passing, the optimistic +spirit of New Japan. This is in part due, no doubt, to ignorance of +the problems that lie athwart their future progress, but it is also +due to the vivid imaginative faculty which pictures for them the +glories of the coming decades when they shall lead not only the +Orient, but also the Occident, in every line of civilization, material +and spiritual, moral and religious. A dull, unimaginative, prosaic +nature cannot be exuberantly optimistic. It is evident that writers +who proclaim the unimaginative matter-of-factness of the Japanese as +universal and absolute, have failed to see a large side of Japanese +inner life. + +Mr. Percival Lowell states that the root of all the peculiarities of +Oriental peoples is their marked lack of imagination. This is the +faculty that "may in a certain sense be said to be the creator of the +world." The lack of this faculty, according to Mr. Lowell, is the root +of the Japanese lack of originality and invention; it gives the whole +Oriental civilization its characteristic features. He cites a few +words to prove the essentially prosaic character of the Japanese mind, +such as "up-down" for "pass" (which word, by the way, is his own +invention, and reveals his ignorance of the language), "the being (so) +is difficult," in place of "thank you." "A lack of any fanciful +ideas," he says, "is one of the most salient traits of all Far Eastern +peoples, if indeed a sad dearth can properly be called salient. +Indirectly, their want of imagination betrays itself in their everyday +sayings and doings, and more directly in every branch of thought." I +note, in passing, that Mr. Lowell does not distinguish between fancy +and imagination. Though allied faculties, they are distinct. Mr. +Lowell's extreme estimate of the prosaic nature of the Japanese mind I +cannot share. Many letters received from Japanese friends refute this +view by their fanciful expressions. The Japanese language, too, has +many fanciful terms. Why "pass" is any more imaginative than +"up-down," to accept Mr. Lowell's etymology, or "the being (so) is +difficult" than "thank you," I do not see. To me the reverse +proposition would seem the truer. And are not "breaking-horns" for "on +purpose," and "breaking-bones" for "with great difficulty," distinctly +imaginative terms, more imaginative than the English? In the place of +our English term "sun," the Japanese have several alternative terms in +common use, such as "_hi_," "day," "_Nichirin_," "day-ball," "_Ten-to +Sama_," "the god of heaven's light;" and for "moon," it has "_tsuki_," +"month," "_getsu-rin_," "month ball." The names given to her +men-of-war also indicate a fanciful nature. The torpedo destroyers are +named "Dragon-fly," "Full Moon," "The Moon in the Cloud," "Seabeach," +"Dawn of Day," "Clustering Clouds," "Break of Day," "Ripples," +"Evening Mist," "Dragon's Lamp," "Falcon," "Magpie," "White-naped +Crane," and "White Hawk." Surely, it cannot be maintained that the +Japanese are utterly lacking in fancy. + +Distinguishing between fancy as "the power of forming pleasing, +graceful, whimsical, or odd mental images, or of combining them with +little regard to rational processes of construction," and imagination, +in its more philosophical use, as "the act of constructive intellect +in grouping the materials of knowledge or thought into new, original, +and rational systems," we assert without fear of successful +contradiction, that the Japanese race is not without either of these +important mental faculties. + +In addition to the preceding illustrations of visionary and fanciful +traits, let the reader reflect on the significance of the comic and of +caricature in art. Japanese _Netsuke_ (tiny carvings of exquisite +skill representing comical men, women, and children) are famous the +world over. Surely, the fancy is the most conspicuous mental +characteristic revealed in this branch of Japanese art. In Japanese +poetry "a vast number of conceits, more or less pretty," are to be +found, likewise manifesting the fancy of both the authors who wrote +and the people who were pleased with and preserved their writings.[AT] +The so-called "impersonal habit of the Japanese mind," with a +corresponding "lack of personification of abstract qualities," +doubtless prevents Japanese literature from rising to the poetic +heights attained by Western nations. But this lack does not prove the +Japanese mind incapable of such flights. As describing the actual +characteristics of the literature of the past the assertion of "a lack +of imaginative power" is doubtless fairly correct. But the inherent +nature of the Japanese mind cannot be inferred from the deficiencies +of its past literature, without first examining the relation between +its characteristic features and the nature of the social order and the +social inheritance. + +Are the Japanese conspicuously deficient in imagination, in the sense +of the definition given above? The constructive imagination is the +creator of civilization. Not only art and literature, but, as already +noted, science, philosophy, politics, and even the practical arts and +prosaic farming are impossible without it. It is the tap-root of +invention, of discovery, of originality. + +It is needless to repeat what has been said in previous chapters[AU] +on Japanese imitation, invention, discovery, and originality. Yet, in +consideration of the facts there given, are we justified in counting +the Japanese so conspicuously deficient in constructive, imagination +as to warrant the assertion that such a lack is the fundamental +characteristic of the race psychic nature? + +As an extreme case, look for a moment at their imitativeness. Although +imitation is considered a proof of deficient originality, and thus of +imagination, yet reflection shows that this depends on the nature of +the imitation. Japanese imitation has not been, except possibly for +short periods, of that slavish nature which excludes the work of the +imagination. Indeed, the impulse to imitation rests on the +imagination. But for this faculty picturing the state of bliss or +power secured in consequence of adopting this or that feature of an +alien civilization, the desire to imitate could not arise. In view, +moreover, of the selective nature of Japanese imitation, we are +further warranted in ascribing to the people no insignificant +development of the imagination. + +In illustration, consider Japan's educational system. Established no +doubt on Occidental models, it is nevertheless a distinctly Japanese +institution. Its buildings are as characteristically Japonicized +Occidental school buildings as are its methods of instruction. +Japanese railroads and steamers, likewise constructed in Japan, are +similarly Japonicized--adapted to the needs and conditions of the +people. To our eyes this of course signifies no improvement, but +assuredly, without such modification, our Western railroads and +steamers would be white elephants on their hands, expensive and +difficult of operation. + +What now is the sociological interpretation of the foregoing facts? +How are the fanciful, visionary, and idealistic characteristics, on +the one hand, and, on the other, the prosaic, matter-of-fact, and +relatively unimaginative characteristics, related to the social order? + +It is not difficult to account for the presence of accentuated +visionariness in Japan. Indeed, this quality is conspicuous among the +descendants of the military and literary classes; and this fact +furnishes us the clew. "From time immemorial," to use a phrase common +on the lips of Japanese historians, up to the present era, the samurai +as a class were quite separated from the practical world; they were +comfortably supported by their liege lords; entirely relieved from the +necessity of toiling for their daily bread, they busied themselves not +only with war and physical training, but with literary accomplishments, +that required no less strenuous mental exertions. + +Furthermore, in a class thus freed from daily toil, there was sure to +arise a refined system of etiquette and of rank distinctions. Even a +few centuries of life would, under such conditions, develop highly +nervous individuals in large numbers, hypersensitive in many +directions. These men, by the very development of their nervous +constitutions, would become the social if not the practical leaders of +their class; high-spirited, and with domineering ideas and scheming +ambitions, they would set the fashion to all their less nervously +developed fellows. Freed from the exacting conditions of a practical +life, they would inevitably fly off on tangents more or less +impractical, visionary. + +If, therefore, this trait is more marked in Japanese character than in +that of many other nations, it may be easily traced to the social +order that has ruled this land "from time immemorial." More than any +other of her mental characteristics, impractical visionariness may be +traced to the development of the nervous organization at the expense +of the muscular. This characteristic accordingly may be said to be +more inherently a race characteristic than many others that have been +mentioned. Yet we should remember that the samurai constitute but a +small proportion of the people. According to recent statistics (1895) +the entire class to-day numbers but 2,050,000, while the common people +number over 40,000,000. It is, furthermore, to be remembered that not +all the descendants of the samurai are thus nervously organized. Large +numbers have a splendid physical endowment, with no trace of abnormal +nervous development. While the old feudal order, with its constant +carrying of swords, and the giving of honor to the most impetuous, +naturally tended to push the most high-strung individuals into the +forefront and to set them up as models for the imitation of the young, +the social order now regnant in Japan faces in the other direction. +Such visionary men are increasingly relegated to the rear. Their +approach to insanity is recognized and condemned. Even this trait of +character, therefore, which seems to be rooted in brain and nerve +structure is, nevertheless, more subject to the prevailing social +order than would at first seem possible. + +Its rise we have seen was due to that order, and the setting aside of +these characteristics as ideals at least, and thus the bringing into +prominence of more normal and healthy ideals, is due to the coming in +of a new order. + +Japanese prosaic matter-of-factness may similarly be shown to have +intimate relations to the nature of the social order. Oppressive +military feudalism, keeping the vast majority of the people in +practical bondage, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, would +necessarily render their lives and thoughts narrow in range and +spiritless in nature. Such a system crushes out hope. From sunrise to +sunset, "_nembyaku nenju_," "for a hundred years and through all the +year," the humdrum duties of daily life were the only psychic stimuli +of the absolutely uneducated masses. Without ambition, without +self-respect, without education or any stimulus for the higher mental +life, what possible manifestation of the higher powers of the mind +could be expected? Should some "sport" appear by chance, it could not +long escape the sword of domineering samurai. Even though originally +possessing some degree of imagination, cringing fear of military +masters, with the continuous elimination by ruthless slaughter of the +more idealizing, less submissive, and more self-assertive individuals +of the non-military classes, would finally produce a dull, imitative, +unimaginative, and matter-of-fact class such as we find in the +hereditary laboring and merchant classes. + +Furthermore, Japanese civilization, like that of the entire Orient, +with its highly communalized social order, is an expression of passive +submission to superior authority. Although an incomplete +characterization, there is still much truth in saying that the Orient +is an expression of Fate, the Occident of Freedom. We have seen that a +better contrasted characterization is found in the terms communal and +individual. The Orient has known nothing of individualism. It has not +valued the individual nor sought his elevation and freedom. In every +way, on the contrary, it has repressed and opposed him. The high +development of the individual culminating in powerful personality has +been an exceptional occurrence, due to special circumstances. A +communal social order, often repressing and invariably failing to +evoke the higher human faculties, must express its real nature in the +language, literature, and customs of the people. Thus in our chapter +on the Æsthetic Characteristics of the Japanese[AV] we saw how the +higher forms of literature were dependent on the development of +manhood and on a realization of his nature. A communal social order +despising, or at least ignoring the individual, cannot produce the +highest forms of literature or art, because it does not possess the +highest forms of psychic development. Take from Western life all that +rests on or springs from the principles of individual worth, freedom, +and immortality, and how much of value or sublimity will remain? The +absence from Japanese literature and language of the higher forms of +fancy, metaphor, and personification on the one hand, and, on the +other, the presence of widespread prosaic matter-of-factness, are thus +intimately related to the communal nature of Japan's long dominant +social order. + +Similarly, in regard to the constructive imagination, whose +conspicuous lack in Japan is universally asserted by foreign critics, +we reply first that the assertion is an exaggeration, and secondly, +that so far as it is fact, it is intimately related to the social +order. In our discussions concerning Japanese Intellectuality and +Philosophical Ability,[AW] we saw how intimate a relation exists +between the social order, particularly as expressed in its educational +system, and the development of the higher mental faculties. Now a +moment's reflection will show how the constructive imagination, +belonging as it does to the higher faculties, was suppressed by the +system of mechanical and superficial education required by the social +order. Religion apotheosized ancestral knowledge and customs, thus +effectively condemning all conscious use of this faculty. So far as it +was used, it was under the guise of reviving old knowledge or of +expounding it more completely. + +This, however, has been the experience of every race in certain +stages of its development. Such periods have been conspicuously +deficient in powerful literature, progressive science, penetrating +philosophy, or developing political life. When a nation has once +entered such a social order it becomes stagnant, its further +development is arrested. The activity of the higher faculties of the +mind are in abeyance, but not destroyed. It needs the electric shock +of contact and conflict with foreign races to startle the race out of +its fatal repose and start it on new lines of progress by demanding, +on pain of death, or at least of racial subordination, the +introduction of new elements into its social order by a renewed +exercise of the constructive imagination. For without such action of +the constructive imagination a radical and voluntary modification of +the dominant social order is impossible. + +Old Japan experienced this electric shock and New Japan is the result. +She is thus a living witness to the inaccuracy of those sweeping +generalizations as to her inherent deficiency of constructive +imagination. + +It is by no means our contention that Japanese imagination is now as +widely and profoundly exercised as that of the leading Western +nations. We merely contend that the exercise of this mental faculty is +intimately related to the nature of the whole social order; that under +certain circumstances this important faculty may be so suppressed as +to give the impression to superficial observers of entire absence, and +that with a new environment necessitating a new social order, this +faculty may again be brought into activity. + +The inevitable conclusion of the above line of thought is that the +activity and the manifestation of the higher faculties is so +intimately related to the nature of the social order as to prevent our +attributing any particular mental characteristics to a race as its +inherent and unchangeable nature. The psychic characteristics of a +race at any given time are the product of the inherited social order. +To transform those characteristics changes in the social order, +introduced either from without, or through individuals within the +race, are alone needful. This completes our specific study of the +intellectual characteristics of the Japanese. It may seem, as it +undoubtedly is, quite fragmentary. But we have purposely omitted all +reference to those characteristics which the Japanese admittedly have +in common with other races. We have attempted the consideration of +only the more outstanding characteristics by which they seem to be +differentiated from other races. We have attempted to show that in so +far as they are different, the difference is due not to inherent +psychic nature transmitted by organic heredity, but to the nature of +the social order, transmitted by social heredity. + + + + +XXII + +MORAL IDEALS + + +Even a slight study of Japanese history suffices to show that the +faculty of moral discrimination was highly developed in certain +directions. In what land have the ideal and practice of loyalty been +higher? The heroes most lauded by the Japanese to-day are those who +have proved their loyalty by the sacrifice of their lives. When +Masashige Kusunoki waged a hopeless war on behalf of one branch of the +then divided dynasty, and finally preferred to die by his own hand +rather than endure the sight of a victorious rebel, he is considered +to have exhibited the highest possible evidence of devoted loyalty. +One often hears his name in the sermons of Christian preachers as a +model worthy of all honor. The patriots of the period immediately +preceding the Meiji era, known as the "Kinnoka," some of whom lost +their lives because of their devotion to the cause of their then +impotent Emperor, are accorded the highest honor the nation can give. + +The teachings of the Japanese concerning the relations that should +exist between parents, and children, and, in multitudes of instances, +their actual conduct also, can hardly be excelled. We can assert that +they have a keen moral faculty, however further study may compel us to +pronounce its development and manifestations to be unbalanced. + +Better, however, than generalizations as to the ethical ideals of +Japan, past and present, are actual quotations from her moral +teachers. The following passages are taken from "A Japanese +Philosopher," by Dr. Geo. W. Knox, the larger part of the volume +consisting of a translation of one of the works of Muro Kyuso--who +lived from 1658 to 1734. It was during his life that the famous +forty-seven ronin performed their exploit, and Kyu-so gave them the +name by which they are still remembered, Gi-shi, the "Righteous +Samurai." The purpose of the work is the defense of the Confucian +faith and practice, as interpreted by Tei-shu, the philosopher of +China whom Japan delighted to honor. It discusses among other things +the fundamental principles of ethics, politics, and religion. Dr. Knox +has done all earnest Western students of Japanese ethical and +religious ideas an inestimable service in the production of this work +in English. + + "The 'Way' of Heaven and Earth is the 'Way' of Gyo and Shun + [semi-mythical rulers of ancient China idealized by Confucius]; the + 'Way' of Gyo and Shun is the 'Way' of Confucius and Mencius, and + the 'Way' of Confucius and Mencius is the 'Way' of Tei-Shu. + Forsaking Tei-Shu, we cannot find Confucius and Mencius; forsaking + Confucius and Mencius, we cannot find Gyo and Shun; and forsaking + Gyo and Shun, we cannot find the 'Way' of Heaven and Earth. Do not + trust implicitly an aged scholar; but this I know, and therefore I + speak. If I say that which is false, may I be instantly punished by + Heaven and Earth."[AX] + + "Recently I was astounded at the words of a philosopher: 'The "Way" + comes not from Heaven,' he said, 'it was invented by the sages. Nor + is it in accord with nature; it is a mere matter of æsthetics and + ornament. Of the five relations, only the conjugal is natural, + while loyalty, filial obedience, and the rest were invented by the + sages, and have been maintained by their authority ever since.' + Surely, among all heresies from ancient days until now, none has + been so monstrous as this."[AY] + + "Kujuro, a lad of fifteen years, quarreled with a neighbor's son + over a game of _go_, lost his self-control, and before he could be + seized, drew his sword and cut the boy down. While the wounded boy + was under the surgeon's care, Kujuro was in custody, but he showed + no fear, and his words and acts were calm beyond his years. After + some days the boy died, and Kujuro was condemned to hara-kiri. The + officers in charge gave him a farewell feast the night before he + died. He calmly wrote to his mother, took ceremonious farewell of + his keeper and all in the house, and then said to the guests: 'I + regret to leave you all, and should like to stay and talk till + daybreak; but I must not be sleepy when I commit hara-kiri + to-morrow, so I'll go to bed at once. Do you stay at your ease and + drink the wine.' So he went to his room and fell asleep, all being + filled with admiration as they heard him snore. On the morrow he + rose early, bathed and dressed himself with care, made all his + preparations with perfect calmness, and then, quiet and composed, + killed himself. No old, trained, self-possessed samurai could have + excelled him. No one who saw it could speak of it for years without + tears.... I have told you this that Kujuro may be remembered. It + would be shameful were it to be forgotten that so young a boy + performed such a deed."[AZ] + + "We are not to cease obeying for the sake of study, nor must we + establish the laws before we begin to obey. In obedience we are to + establish its Tightness and wrongness."[BA] + + "We learn loyalty and obedience as we are loyal and obedient. + To-day I know yesterday's short-comings, and to-morrow I shall know + to-day's.... In our occupations we learn whether conduct conforms + to right and so advance in the truth by practice."[BB] + + "Besides a few works on history, like the Sankyo Ega Monogatari, + which record facts, there are no books worth reading in our + literature. For the most part they are sweet stories of the + Buddhas, of which one soon wearies. But the evil is traditional, + long-continued, and beyond remedy. And other books are full of + lust, not even to be mentioned, like the Genji Monogatari, which + should never be shown to a woman or a young man. Such books lead to + vice. Our nobles call the Genji Monogatari a national treasure, + why, I do not know, unless it is that they are intoxicated with its + style. That is like plucking the spring blossom unmindful of the + autumn's fruit. The book is full of adulteries from beginning to + end. Seeing the right, ourselves should become good, seeing the + wrong, we should reprove ourselves. The Genji Monogatari, Chokonka, + and Seishoki are of a class, vile, mean, comparable to the books of + the sages as charcoal to ice, as the stench of decay to the perfume + of flowers."[BC] + + "To the samurai, first of all is righteousness; next life, then + silver and gold. These last are of value, but some put them in the + place of righteousness. But to the samurai even life is as dirt + compared to righteousness. Until the middle part of the middle ages + customs were comparatively pure, though not really righteous. + Corruption has come only during this period of government by the + samurai. A maid servant in China was made ill with astonishment + when she saw her mistress, soroban (abacus) in hand, arguing prices + and values. So was it once with the samurai. They knew nothing of + trade, were economical and content."[BD] + + "Even in the days of my youth, young folks never mentioned the + price of anything; and their faces reddened if the talk was of + women. Their joy was in talk of battles and plans for war. And they + studied how parents and lords should be obeyed, and the duty of + samurai. But nowadays the young men talk of loss and gain, of + dancing girls and harlots and gross pleasures. It is a complete + change from fifty or sixty years ago.... Said Aochi to his son: + 'There is such a thing as trade. See that you know nothing of it. + In trade the profit should always go to the other side.... To be + proud of buying high-priced articles cheap is the good fortune of + merchants, but should be unknown to samurai. Let it not be even so + much as mentioned.... Samurai must have a care of their words, and + are not to speak of avarice, cowardice, or lust.'"[BE] + +A point of considerable interest to the student of Japanese ethical +ideals is the fact that the laws of Old Japan combined legal and moral +maxims. Loyalty and morality were conceived as inseparable. Ieyasu +(abdicated in 1605, and died in 1616), the founder of the Tokugawa +Shogunate, left a body of laws to his successors as his last will, in +accordance with which they should rule the land. These laws were not +made public, but were kept strictly for the guidance of the rulers. +They are known as the Testament or "Honorable Will" of Ieyasu, and +consist of one hundred rules. It will serve our purpose here to quote +some of those that refer to the moral ideal. + + "No one is to act simply for the gratification of his own desires, + but he is to strive to do what may be opposed to his desires, + _i.e_., to exercise self-control, in order that everyone may be + ready for whatever he may be called upon by his superiors to do." + + "The aged, whether widowers or widows, and orphans, and persons + without relations, every one should assist with kindness and + liberality; for justice to these four is the root of good + government." + + "Respect the gods [or God], keep the heart pure, and be diligent in + business during the whole life." + + "When I was young I determined to fight and punish all my own and + my ancestors' enemies, and I did punish them; but afterwards, by + deep consideration, I found that the way of heaven was to help the + people, and not to punish them. Let my successors follow out this + policy, or they are not of my line. In this lies the strength of + the nation." + + "To insure the Empire peace, the foundation must be laid in the + ways of holiness and religion, and if men think they can be + educated, and will not remember this, it is as if a man were to go + to a forest to catch fish, or thought he could draw water out of + fire. They must follow the ways of holiness." + + "Japan is the country of the gods [or God--'Shinkoku']. Therefore, + we have among us Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, and other + sects. If we leave our gods [or God] it is like refusing the wages + of our master and taking them from another." + + "In regard to dancing women, prostitutes, brothels, night work, + and all other improper employments, all these are like caterpillars + or locusts in the country. Good men and writers in all times have + written against them." + + "It is said that the Mikado, looking down on his people, loves them + as a mother does her children. The same may be said of me and my + government. This benevolence of mind is called Jin. This Jin may be + said to consist of five parts; these are humanity, integrity, + courtesy, wisdom, and truth. My mode of government is according to + the way of heaven. This I have done to show that I am impartial, + and am not assisting my own relatives and friends only."[BF] + +These quotations are perhaps sufficient, though one more from a recent +writer has a peculiar interest of its own, from the fact that the +purpose of the book from which the quotation is taken was the +destruction of the tendencies toward approval of Western thought. It +was published in 1857. The writer, Junzo Ohashi, felt himself to be a +witness for truth and righteousness, and, in the spirit of the +doctrine he professed, sealed his faith with a martyr's suffering and +death, dying (in August, 1868) from the effect of repeated examination +by torture for a supposed crime, innocence of which he maintained to +the end. It is interesting to note that two of his granddaughters, +"with the physics and astronomy of the West, have accepted its +religion." + + "The West knows not the 'Ri'[BG] of the virtues of the heart which + are in all men unchangeably the same. Nor does it know that the + body is the organ of the virtues, however careful its analysis of + the body may be. The adherents of the Western Philosophy indeed + study carefully the outward appearances, but they have no right to + steal the honored name of natural philosophy. As when 'Ki' is + destroyed, 'Ri' too disappears, so, with their analysis of 'Ki,' + they destroy 'Ri,' and thus this learning brings benevolence and + righteousness and loyalty and truth to naught. Among the + Westerners who from of old have studied details minutely, I have + not heard of one who was zealous for the Great Way, for + benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and truth, and who opposed the + absurdities of the Lord of Heaven [God].'[BH] 'Let then the child + make its parent, Heaven; the retainer, his lord; the wife, her + husband; and let each give up life for righteousness. Thus will + each serve Heaven. But if we exalt Heaven above parent or lord, we + shall come to think that we can serve it though they be disobeyed, + and like wolf or tiger shall rejoice to kill them. To such fearful + end does the Western learning lead."[BI] + +The foregoing quotations reveal the exalted nature of the ideals held +by at least some of the leaders of ethical thought in Japan. Taken as +a whole, the moral ideals characterizing the Japanese during their +entire historical period have been conspicuously communal. The feudal +structure of society has determined the peculiar character of the +moral ideal. Loyalty took first rank in the moral scale; the +subordination of the inferior to the superior has come next, including +unquestioning obedience of children to parents, and of wife to +husband. The virtues of a military people have been praised and often +gloriously exemplified. The possession of these various ideals and +their attainment in such high degree have given the nation its +cohesiveness. They make the people a unit. The feudal training under +local daimyos was fitting the people for the larger life among the +nations of the world on which they are now entering. Especially is +their sense of loyalty, as exhibited toward the Emperor, serving them +well in this period of transition from Oriental to Occidental social +ideals. + +Let us now examine some defective moral standards and observe their +origin in the social order. Take, for instance, the ideal of +truthfulness. Every Occidental remarks on the untruthfulness of the +Japanese. Lies are told without the slightest apparent compunction; +and when confronted with the charge of lying, the culprit often seems +to feel little sense of guilt. This trait of character was noted +repeatedly by the early negotiators with Japan. Townsend Harris and +Sir Rutherford Alcock made frequent mention of it. When we inquire as +to the moral ideal and actual instruction concerning truthfulness, we +are amazed to find how inadequate it was. The inadequacy of the +teaching, however, was not the primal cause of the characteristic. +There is a far deeper explanation, yet very simple, namely, the nature +of the social order. The old social order was feudal, and not +industrial or commercial. History shows that industrial and commercial +nations develop the virtue of truthfulness far in advance of military +nations. For these virtues are essential to them; without them they +could not long continue to prosper. + +So in regard to all the aspects of business morality, it must be +admitted that, from the Occidental standpoint, Old Japan was very +deficient. But it must also be stated that new ideals are rapidly +forming. Buying and selling with a view to making profit, though not +unknown in Old Japan, was carried on by a despised section of the +community. Compared with the present, the commercial community of +feudal times was mean and small. Let us note somewhat in detail the +attitude of the samurai toward the trader in olden times, and the +ideals they reveal. + +The pursuit of business was considered necessarily degrading, for he +who handled money was supposed to be covetous. The taking of profit +was thought to be ignoble, if not deceitful. They who condescended to +such an occupation were accordingly despised and condemned to the +lowest place in the social scale. These ideas doubtless helped to make +business degrading; traders were doubtless sordid and covetous and +deceitful. In the presence of the samurai they were required to take +the most abject postures. In addressing him, they must never stand, +but must touch the ground with their foreheads; while talking with him +they must remain with their hands on the ground. Even the children of +samurai always assumed the lordly attitude toward tradesmen. The sons +of tradesmen might not venture into a quarrel with the sons of +samurai, for the armed children of the samurai were at liberty to cut +down and kill the children of the despicable merchant, should they +insult or even oppose them. + +All this, however, has passed away. Commerce is now honored; trade and +manufacture are recognized not only as laudable, but as the only hope +of Japan for the future. The new social order is industrial and +commercial. The entire body of the former samurai, now no longer +maintaining their distinctive name, are engaged in some form of +business. Japan is to-day a nation of traders and farmers. +Accompanying the changes in the social order, new standards as to +honesty and business integrity are being formulated and enforced.[BJ] + + + + +XXIII + +MORAL IDEALS + +(_Continued_) + + +An Occidental is invariably filled with astonishment on learning that +a human being, as such, had no value in Old Japan. The explanation +lies chiefly in the fact that the social order did not rest on the +inherent worth of the individual. As in all primitive lands and times, +the individual was as nothing compared to the family and the tribe. As +time went on, this principle took the form of the supreme worth of the +higher classes in society. Hence arose the liberty allowed the samurai +of cutting down, in cold blood, a beggar, a merchant, or a farmer on +the slightest provocation, or simply for the purpose of testing his +sword. + +Japanese social and religious philosophy had not yet discovered that +the individual is of infinite worth in himself, apart from all +considerations of his rank in society. As we have seen, the absence of +this idea from Japanese civilization resulted in various momentous +consequences, of which the frequency of murder and suicide is but one. + +Another, and this constitutes one of the most striking differences +between the moral ideals of the East and the West, is the low estimate +put upon the inherent nature and value of woman, by which was +determined her social position and the moral relations of the sexes. +Japan seems to have suffered somewhat in this respect from her +acceptance of Hindu philosophy. For there seems to be considerable +unanimity among historians that in primitive times in Japan there +prevailed a much larger liberty, and consequently a much higher +regard, for woman than in later ages after Buddhism became powerful. +With regard, however, to that earlier period of over a thousand years +ago, it is of little use to speculate. I cannot escape the feeling, +however, that the condition of woman then has been unconsciously +idealized, in order to make a better showing in comparison with the +customs of Western lands. Be that as it may, the notions and ideals +presented by Buddhism in regard to woman are clear, and clearly +degrading. She is the source of temptation and sin; she is essentially +inferior to man in every respect. Before she may hope to enter Nirvana +she must be born again as man. How widely these extreme views of woman +have found acceptance in Japan, I am not in a position to state. It is +my impression, however, that they never received as full acceptance +here as in India. Nevertheless, as has already been shown,[BK] the +ideals of what a woman should do and be make it clear that her social +position for centuries has been relatively low; as wife she is a +domestic rather than a helpmeet. The "three obediences," to parents, +to husband, to son, set forth the ideal, although, without doubt, the +strict application of the third, obedience to one's son after he +becomes the head of the household, is relatively rare. + +What especially strikes the notice of the Occidental is the slight +amount of social intercourse that prevails to-day between men and +women. Whenever women enter into the social pleasures of men, they do +so as professional singers and dancers, they being mere girls and +unmarried young women; this social intercourse is all but invariably +accompanied with wine-drinking, even if it does not proceed to further +licentiousness. The statement that woman is man's plaything has been +often heard in Japan. Confucian no less than Buddhistic ethics must +bear the responsibility for putting and keeping woman on so low a +level. Concubinage, possibly introduced from China, was certainly +sanctioned by the Chinese classics. + + +The Lei-ki allows an Emperor to have in addition to the Empress three +consorts, nine maids of high rank, and twenty-seven maids of lower +rank, all of whom rank as wives, and, beside these, eighty-one other +females called concubines. Concubinage and polygamy, being thus +sanctioned by the classics, became an established custom in Japan. + +The explanation for this ideal and practice is not far to seek. It +rests in the communal character of the social order. The family was +the social unit of Japan. No individual member was of worth except the +legal head and representative, the father. A striking proof of the +correctness of this explanation is the fact that even the son is +obeyed by the father in case he has become "in kio,"[BL] that is, has +abdicated; the son then becomes the authoritative head. The ideals +regarding woman then were not unique; they were part of the social +order, and were determined by the principle of "communalism" +unregulated by the principle of "individualism." Ideals respecting man +and woman were equally affected. So long as man is not valued as a +human being, but solely according to his accidental position in +society, woman must be regarded in the same way. She is valued first +as a begetter of offspring, second as a domestic. And when such +conceptions prevail as to her nature and function in society, +defective ideals as to morality in the narrower sense of this term, +leading to and justifying concubinage, easy divorce, and general loose +morality are necessary consequences. + +But this moral or immoral ideal is by no means peculiar to Japan. The +peculiarity of Japan and the entire Orient is that the social order +that fostered it lasted so long, before forces arose to modify it. +But, as will be shown later,[BM] the great problem of human evolution, +after securing the advantages of "communalism," and the solidification +of the nation, is that of introducing the principle of individualism +into the social order. In the Orient the principle of communalism +gained such headway as effectually to prevent the introduction of this +new principle. There is, in my opinion, no probability that Japan, +while maintaining her isolation, would ever have succeeded in making +any radical change in her social order; her communalism was too +absolute. She needed the introduction of a new stimulus from without. +It was providential that this stimulus came from the Anglo-Saxon race, +with its pronounced principle of "individualism" wrought out so +completely in social order, in literature, and in government. Had +Russia or Turkey been the leading influences in starting Japan on her +new career, it is more than doubtful whether she would have secured +the principles needful for her healthful moral development. + +Justice to the actual ideals and life of Old Japan forbids me to +leave, without further remark, what was said above regarding the +ideals of morality in the narrower significance of this word. +Injunctions that women should be absolutely chaste were frequent and +stringent. Nothing more could be asked in the line of explicit +teaching on this theme. And, furthermore, I am persuaded, after +considerable inquiry, that in Old Japan in the interior towns and +villages, away from the center of luxury and out of the beaten courses +of travel, there was purity of moral life that has hardly been +excelled anywhere. I have repeatedly been assured that if a youth of +either sex were known to have transgressed the law of chastity, he or +she would at once be ostracised; and that such transgressions were, +consequently, exceedingly rare. It is certainly a fact that in the +vast majority of the interior towns there have never, until recent +times, been licensed houses of prostitution. Of late there has been a +marked increase of dancing and singing girls, of whom it is commonly +said that they are but "secret prostitutes." These may to-day be found +in almost every town and village, wherever indeed there is a hotel. +Public as well as secret prostitution has enormously increased during +the last thirty or forty years.[BN] + +Thanks to Mr. Murphy's consecrated energy, the appalling legalized +and hopeless slavery under which these two classes of girls exist is +at last coming to light. He has shown, by several test cases, that +although the national laws are good to look at they are powerless +because set aside by local police regulations over which the courts +are powerless! In September, 1900, however, in large part due no doubt +to the facts made public by him, and backed up by the public press, +and such leaders of Japan's progressive elements as Shimada Sabur, the +police regulations were modified, and with amazing results. Whereas, +previous to that date, the average monthly suicides throughout the +land among the public prostitutes were between forty and fifty, during +the two months of September and October there were none! In that same +period, out of about five thousand prostitutes in the city of Tokyo, +492 had fled from their brothels and declared their intentions of +abandoning the "shameful business," as the Japanese laws call it, and +in consequence a prominent brothel had been compelled to stop the +business! We are only in the first flush of this new reform as these +lines are written, so cannot tell what end the whole movement will +reach. But the conscience of the nation is beginning to waken on this +matter and we are confident it will never tolerate the old slavery of +the past, enforced as it was by local laws, local courts, so that +girls were always kept in debt, and when they fled were seized and +forced back to the brothels in order to pay their debts! + +But in contrast to the undoubted ideal of Old Japan in regard to the +chastity of women, must be set the equally undoubted fact that the +sages have very little to say on the subject of chastity for men. +Indeed there is no word in the Japanese language corresponding to our +term "chastity" which may be applied equally to men and women. In his +volume entitled "Kokoro," Mr. Hearn charges the missionaries with the +assertion that there is no word for chastity in Japanese. "This," he +says, "is true in the same sense only that we might say that there is +no word for chastity in the English language, because such words as +honor, virtue, purity, chastity have been adopted into English from +other languages."[BO] I doubt if any missionary has made such a +statement. His further assertion, that "the word most commonly used +applies to both sexes," would have more force, if Mr. Hearn had stated +what the word is. His English definition of the term has not enabled +me to find the Japanese equivalent, although I have discussed this +question with several Japanese. It is their uniform confession that +the Japanese language is defective in its terminology on this topic, +the word with which one may exhort a woman to be chaste being +inapplicable to a man. The assertion of the missionaries has nothing +whatever to do with the question as to whether the terms used are pure +Japanese or imported Chino-Japanese; nor has it any reference to the +fact that the actual language is deficient in abstract terms. It is +simply that the term applicable to a woman is not applicable to a man. +And this in turn proves sharp contrasts between the ideals regarding +the moral duties of men and of women. + +An interesting point in the Japanese moral ideal is the fact that the +principle of filial obedience was carried to such extremes that even +prostitution of virtue at the command of the parents, or for the +support of the parents, was not only permitted but, under special +conditions, was highly praised. Modern prostitution is rendered +possible chiefly through the action of this perverted principle. +Although the sale of daughters for immoral purposes is theoretically +illegal, yet, in fact, it is of frequent occurrence. + +Although concubinage was not directly taught by Confucius, yet it was +never forbidden by him, and the leaders and rulers of the land have +lent the custom the authority and justification of their example. As +we have already seen, the now ruling Emperor has several concubines, +and all of his children are the offspring of these concubines. In Old +Japan, therefore, there were two separate ideals of morality for the +two sexes. + +The question may be raised how a social order which required such +fidelity on the part of the woman could permit such looseness on the +part of the man, whether married or not. How could the same social +order produce two moral ideals? The answer is to be found in several +facts. First, there is the inherent desire of each husband to be the +sole possessor of his wife's affections. As the stronger of the two, +he would bring destruction on an unfaithful wife and also on any who +dared invade his home. Although the woman doubtless has the same +desire to be the sole possessor of her husband's affection, she has +not the same power, either to injure a rival or to punish her +faithless husband. Furthermore, licentiousness in women has a much +more visibly disastrous effect on her procreative functions than equal +licentiousness in man. This, too, would serve to beget and maintain +different ethical standards for the two sexes. Finally, and perhaps no +less effective than the two preceding, is the fact that the general +social consciousness held different conceptions in regard to the +social positions of man and woman. The one was the owner of the +family, the lord and master; to him belonged the freedom to do as he +chose. The other was a variety of property, not free in any sense to +please herself, but to do only as her lord and master required. + +An illustration of the first reason given above came to my knowledge +not long since. Rev. John T. Gulick saw in Kanagawa, in 1862, a man +going through the streets carrying the bloody heads of a man and a +woman which he declared to be those of his wife and her seducer, whom +he had caught and killed in the act of adultery. This act of the +husband's was in perfect accord with the practices and ideals of the +time, and not seldom figures in the romances of Old Japan. + +The new Civil Code adopted in 1898 furnishes an authoritative +statement of many of the moral ideals of New Japan. For the following +summary I am indebted to the _Japan Mail_.[BP] In regard to marriage +it is noteworthy that the "prohibited degrees of relationship are the +same as those in England"--including the deceased wife's sister. "The +minimum age for legal marriage is seventeen in the case of a man and +fifteen in the case of a woman, and marriage takes effect on +notification to the registrar, being thus a purely civil contract. As +to divorce, it is provided that the husband and wife may effect it by +mutual consent, and its legal recognition takes the form of an entry +by the registrar, no reference being necessary to the judicial +authorities. Where mutual consent is not obtained, however, an action +for divorce must be brought, and here it appears that the rights of +the woman do not receive the same recognition as those of the man. +Thus, although adultery committed by the wife constitutes a valid +ground of divorce, we do not find that adultery on the husband's part +furnishes a plea to the wife. Ill-treatment or gross insult, such as +renders living together impracticable, or desertion, constitutes a +reason for divorce from the wife's point of view." The English +reviewer here adds that "since no treatment can be worse nor any +insult grosser than open inconstancy on the part of a husband, it is +conceivable that a judge might consider that such conduct renders +living together impracticable. But in the presence of an explicit +provision with regard to the wife's adultery and in the absence of any +such provision with regard to the husband's, we doubt whether any +court of law would exercise discretion in favor of the woman." The +gross "insult of inconstancy" on the part of the husband is a plea +that has never yet been recognized by Japanese society. The reviewer +goes on to say: "One cannot help wishing that the peculiar code of +morality observed by husbands in this country had received some +condemnation at the hands of the framers of the new Code. It is +further laid down that a 'person who is judicially divorced or +punished because of adultery cannot contract a marriage with the other +party to the adultery.' If that extended to the husband it would be an +excellent provision, well calculated to correct one of the worst +social abuses of this country. Unfortunately, as we have seen, it +applies apparently to the case of the wife only." The provision for +divorce by "mutual consent" is striking and ominous. It makes divorce +a matter of entirely private arrangement, unless one of the parties +objects. In a land where women are so docile, is it likely that the +wife would refuse to consent to divorce when her lord and master +requests or commands her to leave his home? "There are not many women +in Japan who could refuse to become a party to the 'mutual consent' +arrangement if they were convinced that they had lost their husband's +affection and that he could not live comfortably with them." It would +appear that nothing whatever is said by the Code with reference to +concubinage, either allowing or forbidding it. Presumably a man may +have but one legitimate wife, and children by concubines must be +registered as illegitimate. Nothing, however, on this point seems to +be stated, although provision is made for the public acknowledgment of +illegitimate children. "Thus, a father can acknowledge a natural +child, making what is called a 'shoshi,' and if, subsequent to +acknowledgment, the father and mother marry, the 'shoshi,' acquires +the status of a legitimate child, such status reckoning back, +apparently to the time of birth." Evidently, this provision rests on +the implication that the mother is an unmarried woman--presumably a +concubine. + +Recent statistics throw a rather lurid light on these provisions of +the Code. The Imperial Cabinet for some years past has published in +French and Japanese a résumé of national statistics. Those bearing on +marriage and divorce, in the volume published in 1897, may well be +given at this point. + + MARRIAGES DIVORCES LEGITIMATE BIRTHS ILLEGITIMATE + 1890 325,141 109,088 1,079,121 66,253 + 1891 325,651 112,411 1,033,653 64,122 + 1892 349,489 133,498 1,134,665 72,369 + 1893 358,398 116,775 1,105,119 73,677 + 1894 361,319 114,436 1,132,897 76,407 + 1895 365,633 110,838 1,166,254 80,168 + 1897 395,207 124,075 1,335,125 89,996[BQ] + +These authoritative statistics show how divorce is a regular part of +the Japanese family system, one out of three marriages proving +abortive. + +Morally Japan's weak spot is the relation of the sexes, both before +and after marriage. Strict monogamy, with the equality of duties of +husband and wife, is the remedy for the disease. + +This slight sketch of the provision of the new Code as it bears on the +purity of the home, and on the development of noble manhood and +womanhood, shows that the Code is very defective. It practically +recognizes and legalizes the present corrupt practices of society, and +makes no effort to establish higher ideals. Whether anything more +should be expected of a Code drawn up under the present circumstances +is, of course, an open question. But the Code reveals the +astonishingly low condition of the moral standards for the home, one +of the vital weaknesses of New Japan. The defectiveness of the new +Code in regard to the matters just considered must be argued, however, +not from the failure to embody Occidental moral standards, but rather +from the failure to recognize the actual nature of the social order of +New Japan. While the Code recognizes the principle of individualism +and individual rights and worth in all other matters, in regard to the +home, the most important social unit in the body politic, the Code +legalizes and perpetuates the old pre-Meiji standards. Individualism +in the general social order demands its consistent recognition in +every part. + +We cannot conclude our discussion of Japanese ideas as to woman, and +the consequent results to morality, without referring to the great +changes which are to-day taking place. Although the new Civil Code has +not done all that we could ask, we would not ignore what it has +secured. Says Prof. Gubbins in the excellent introduction to his +translation of the Codes: + +"In no respect has modern progress in Japan made greater strides than +in the improvement of the position of woman. Though she still labors +under certain disabilities, a woman can now become a head of a family, +and exercise authority as such; she can inherit and own property and +manage it herself; she can exercise parental authority; if single, or +a widow, she can adopt; she is one of the parties to adoption effected +by her husband, and her consent, in addition to that of her husband, +is necessary to the adoption of her child by another person; she can +act as guardian, or curator, and she has a voice in family councils." +In all these points the Code marks a great advance, and reveals by +contrast the legally helpless condition of woman prior to 1898. But in +certain respects practice is preceding theory. We would call special +attention to the exalted position and honor publicly accorded to the +Empress. On more than one historic occasion she has appeared at the +Emperor's side, a thing unknown in Old Japan. The Imperial Silver +Wedding (1892) was a great event, unprecedented in the annals of the +Orient. Commemorative postage stamps were struck off which were first +used on the auspicious day. + +The wedding of the Prince Imperial (in May, 1900) was also an event of +unique importance in Japanese social and moral history. Never before, +in the 2600 years claimed by her historians, has an heir to the throne +been honored by a public wedding. The ceremony was prepared _de novo_ +for the occasion and the pledges were mutual. In the reception that +followed, the Imperial bride stood beside her Imperial husband. On +this occasion, too, commemorative postage stamps were issued and first +used on the auspicious day; the entire land was brilliantly decorated +with flags and lanterns. Countless congratulatory meetings were held +throughout the country and thousands of gifts, letters, and +telegraphic messages expressed the joy and good will of the people. + +But the chief significance of these events is the new and exalted +position accorded to woman and to marriage by the highest personages +of the land. It is said by some that the ruling Emperor will be the +last to have concubines. However that may be, woman has already +attained a rank and marriage an honor unknown in any former age in +Japan, and still quite unknown in any Oriental land save Japan. + +A serious study of Japanese morality should not fail to notice the +respective parts taken by Buddhism and Confucianism. The contrast is +so marked. While Confucianism devoted its energies to the inculcation +of proper conduct, to morality as contrasted to religion, Buddhism +devoted its energies to the development of a cultus, paying little +attention to morality. A recent Japanese critic of Buddhism remarks +that "though Buddhism has a name in the world for the excellence of +its ethical system, yet there exists no treatise in Japanese which +sets forth the distinctive features of Buddhist ethics." Buddhist +literature is chiefly occupied with mythology, metaphysics, and +eschatology, ethical precepts being interwoven incidentally. The +critic just quoted states that the pressing need of the times is that +Buddhist ethics should be disentangled from Buddhist mythology. The +great moralists of Japan have been Confucianists. Distinctively +Japanese morality has derived its impulse from Confucian classics. A +new spirit, however, is abroad among the Buddhist priesthood. Their +preaching is increasingly ethical. The common people are saying that +the sermons heard in certain temples are identical with those of +Christians. How widely this imitation of Christian preaching has +spread I cannot say; but that Christianity has in any degree been +imitated is significant, both ethically and sociologically. + +Buddhism is not alone, however, in imitating Christianity. A few years +ago Dr. D.C. Greene attended the preaching services of a modern Shinto +sect, the "Ten-Ri-Kyo," the Heaven-Reason-Teaching, and was surprised +to hear almost literal quotations from the "Sermon on the Mount"; the +source of the sentiment and doctrine was not stated and very likely +was not known to the speaker. Dr. Greene, who has given this sect +considerable study, is satisfied that the insistence of its teachers +on moral conduct is general and genuine. When I visited their +headquarters, not far from Nara, in 1895, and inquired of one of the +priests as to the chief points of importance in their teaching, I was +told that the necessity of leading an honorable and correct life was +most emphasized. There are reasons for thinking that the Kurozumi sect +of Shintoism, with its emphasis on morality, is considerably indebted +to Christianity both for its origin and its doctrine. + +It is evident that Christianity is having an influence in Japan, far +beyond the ranks of its professed believers. It is proving a stimulus +to the older faiths, stirring them up to an earnestness in moral +teaching that they never knew in the olden times. It is interesting to +note that this widespread emphasis on ethical truth comes at a time +when morality is suffering a wide collapse. + +An important point for the sociological student of Japanese moral +ideals is the fact that her moralists have directed their attention +chiefly to the conduct of the rulers. The ideal of conduct as stated +by them is for a samurai. If any action is praised, it is said that it +becomes a samurai; if condemned, it is on the ground that it is not +becoming to a samurai. Anything wrong or vulgar is said to be what you +might expect of the common man. All the terms of the higher morality, +such as righteousness, duty, benevolence, are expounded from the +standpoint of a samurai, that is, from the standpoint of loyalty. The +forty-seven ronin were pronounced "righteous samurai" because they +avenged the death of their lord, even though in doing so they +committed deeds that, by themselves, would have been condemned. +Japanese history and literature proclaim the same ideal. They are +exclusively concerned with the deeds of the higher class, the court +and the samurai. The actual condition of the common people in ancient +times is a matter not easily determined. The morality of the common +people was more a matter of unreasoning custom than of theory and +instruction. But these facts are susceptible of interpretation if we +remember that the interest of the historian and the moralist was not +in humanity, as such, but in the external features of the social +order. Their gaze was on the favored few, on the nobility, the court, +and the samurai. + +In closing our discussion of Japanese moral ideals it may not be amiss +to append the Imperial Edict concerning the moral education of the +youth of Japan, issued by the Emperor November 31, 1890. This is +supposed to be the distilled essence of Shinto and Confucian teaching. +It is to-day the only authoritative teaching on morality given in the +public schools. It is read with more reverence than is accorded to the +Bible in England or America. It is considered both holy and inspired. + + + IMPERIAL EDICT ON MORAL EDUCATION + + "We consider that the Founder of Our Empire and the ancestors of + Our Imperial House placed the foundation of the country on a grand + and permanent basis, and established their authority on the + principles of profound humanity and benevolence. + + "That Our subjects have throughout ages deserved well of the state + by their loyalty and piety, and by their harmonious co-operation, + is in accordance with the essential character of Our nation; and on + these very same principles Our education has been founded. + + "You, Our subjects, be therefore filial to your parents; be + affectionate to your brothers; be harmonious as husbands and wives; + and be faithful to your friends; conduct yourselves with propriety + and carefulness; extend generosity and benevolence toward your + neighbors; attend to your studies and follow your pursuits; + cultivate your intellects and elevate your morals; advance public + benefits and promote social interests; be always found in the good + observance of the laws and constitution of the land; display your + personal courage and public spirit for the sake of the country + whenever required; and thus support the Imperial prerogative, + which is coexistent with the Heavens and the Earth. + + "Such conduct on your part will not only strengthen the character + of Our good and loyal subjects, but conduce also to the maintenance + of the fame of your worthy forefathers. + + "This is the instruction bequeathed by Our ancestors and to be + followed by Our subjects; for it is the truth which has guided and + guides them in their own affairs and their dealings toward aliens. + + "We hope, therefore, that We and Our subjects will regard these + sacred precepts with one and the same heart in order to attain the + same ends." + + + + +XXIV + +MORAL PRACTICE + + +One noticeable characteristic of the Japanese is the publicity of the +life of the individual. He seems to feel no need for privacy. Houses +are so constructed that privacy is practically impossible. The slight +paper shoji and fusuma between the small rooms serve only partially to +shut out peering eyes; they afford no protection from listening ears. +Moreover, these homes of the middle and lower classes open upon public +streets, and a passer-by may see much of what is done within. Even the +desire for privacy seems lacking. The publicity of the private (?) +baths and sanitary conveniences which the Occidental puts entirely out +of sight has already been noted. + +I once passed through a village and was not a little amazed to see two +or three bathtubs on the public road, each occupied by one or more +persons; nor were the occupants children alone, but men and women +also. Calling at the home of a gentleman in Kyushu with whom I had +some business, and gaining no notice at the front entrance, I went +around to the side of the house only to discover the lady of the place +taking her bath with her children, in a tub quite out of doors, while +a manservant chopped wood but a few paces distant. + +The natural indifference of the Japanese to the exposure of the +unclothed body is an interesting fact. In the West such indifference +is rightly considered immodest. In Japan, however, immodesty consists +entirely in the intention of the heart and does not arise from the +accident of the moment or the need of the occasion. With a fellow +missionary, I went some years since to some famous hot springs at the +foot of Mount Ase, the smoking crater of Kyushu. The spot itself is +most charming, situated in the center of an old crater, said to be the +largest in the world. Wearied with a long walk, we were glad to find +that one of the public bath tubs or tanks, some fifteen by thirty feet +in size, in a bath house separate from other houses, was quite +unoccupied; and on inquiry we were told that bathers were few at that +hour of the day, so that we might go in without fear of disturbance. +It seems that in such places the tiers of boxes for the clothing on +either side of the door, are reserved for men and women respectively. +Ignorant of this custom, we deposited our clothing in the boxes on the +left hand, and as quickly as we could accommodate ourselves to the +heat of the water, we got into the great tank. We were scarcely in, +when a company of six or eight men and women entered the bath house; +they at once perceived our blunder, but without the slightest +hesitation, the women as well as the men went over to the men's side +and proceeded to undress and get into the tank with us, betraying no +consciousness that aught was amiss. So far as I could see there was +not the slightest self-consciousness in the entire proceeding. In the +tank, too, though it is customary for women to occupy the left side, +on this occasion they mingled freely with the men. I suppose it is +impossible in England or America to conceive of such a state of +unconsciousness. Yet it seems to be universal in Japan. It is +doubtless explained by the custom, practiced from infancy, not only of +public bathing, but also of living together so unreservedly. The heat +of the summer and the nature of Japanese clothing, so easily thrown +off, has accustomed them to the greater or less exposure of the +person. All these customs have prevented the development of a sense of +modesty corresponding to that which has developed in the West. Whether +this familiarity of the sexes is conducive to purity of life or not, +is a totally different question, on which I do not here enter. + +In this connection I can do no better than quote from a popular, and +in many respects deservedly popular, writer on Japan. Says Mr. Hearn, +"There is little privacy of any sort in Japan. Among the people, +indeed, what we term privacy in the Occident does not exist. There are +only walls of paper dividing the lives of men; there are only sliding +screens instead of doors; there are neither locks nor bolts to be used +by day; and whenever the weather permits, the fronts and perhaps even +the sides of the houses are literally removed, and its interior widely +opened to the air, the light, and the public gaze. Within a hotel or +even a common dwelling house, nobody knocks before entering your room; +there is nothing to knock at except a shoji or a fusuma, which cannot +be knocked at without being broken. And in this world of paper walls +and sunshine, nobody is afraid or ashamed of fellow-man or +fellow-woman. Whatever is done is done after a fashion in public. Your +personal habits, your idiosyncrasies (if you have any), your foibles, +your likes and dislikes, your loves and your hates must be known to +everybody. Neither vices nor virtues can be hidden; there is +absolutely nowhere to hide them.... There has never been, for the +common millions at least, even the idea of living unobserved." The +Japanese language has no term for "privacy," nor is it easy to convey +the idea to one who does not know the English word. They lack the term +and the clear idea because they lack the practice. + +These facts prove conclusively that the Japanese individual is still a +gregarious being, and this fact throws light on the moral life of the +people. It follows of necessity that the individual will conform +somewhat more closely to the moral standards of the community, than a +man living in a strong segregarious community. + +The converse of this principle is that in a community whose +individuals are largely segregarious, enjoying privacy, and thus +liberty of action, variations from the moral standards will be +frequent and positive transgressions not uncommon. In the one case, +where "communalism" reigns, moral action is, so to speak, automatic; +it requires no particular assertion of the individual will to do +right; conformity to the standard is spontaneous. In the latter case, +however, where "individualism" is the leading characteristic of the +community, the acceptance of the moral standards usually requires a +definite act of the individual will. + +The history of Japan is a capital illustration of this principle. The +recent increase of immorality and crime is universally admitted. The +usual explanation is that in olden times every slight offense was +punished with death; the criminal class was thus continuously +exterminated. Nowadays a robber can ply his trade continuously, though +interrupted by frequent intervals of imprisonment. In former times, +once caught, he never could steal again, except in the land of the +shades. While this explanation has some force, it does not cover the +ground. A better explanation for the modern increase of lawlessness is +the change in the social order itself. The new order gives each man +wider liberty of individual action. He is free to choose his trade and +his home. Formerly these were determined for him by the accident of +his birth. His freedom is greater and so, too, are his temptations. + +Furthermore, the standards of conduct themselves have been changing. +Certain acts which would have brought praise and honor if committed +fifty years ago, such, for instance, as "kataki uchi," revenge, would +to-day soon land one behind prison doors. In a word, "individualism" +is beginning to work powerfully on conduct; it has not yet gained the +ascendancy attained in the West; it is nevertheless abroad in the +land. The young are especially influenced by it. Taking advantage of +the liberty it grants, many forms of immorality seem to be on the +increase. So far as I can gather by inquiry, there has been a great +collapse not only in honesty, but also in the matter of sexual +morality. It will hardly do to say dogmatically that the national +standards of morality have been lowered, but it is beyond question +that the power of the community to enforce those standards has +suddenly come to naught by reason of the changing social order. +Western thought and practice as to the structure of society and the +freedom of the individual have been emphasized; Spencer and Mill and +Huxley have been widely read by the educated classes.[BR] + +Furthermore, freedom and ease of travel, and liberty to change one's +residence at will, and thus the ability to escape unpleasant +restraints, have not a little to do with this collapse in morality. +Tens of thousands of students in the higher schools are away from +their homes and are entirely without the steadying support that home +gives. Then, too, there is a wealth among the common people that was, +never known in earlier times. Formerly the possession of means was +limited to a relatively small number of families. To-day we see +general prosperity, and a consequent tendency to luxury that was +unknown in any former period. + +To be specific, let us note that in feudal times there were some 270 +daimyo living in the utmost luxury. About 1,500,000 samurai were +dependent on them as retainers, while 30,000,000 people supported +these sons of luxury. In 1863 the farmers of Japan raised 30,000,000 +koku of rice, and paid 22,000,000 of it to the government as taxes. +Taxed at the same rate to-day the farmers would have to pay +280,000,000 yen, whereas the actual payment made by them is only +38,000,000 yen. "The farmer's manner of life has radically changed. He +is now prosperous and comfortable, wearing silk where formerly he +could scarcely afford cotton, and eating rice almost daily, whereas +formerly he scarcely knew its taste."[BS] + +It is stated by the _Japan Mail_ that whereas but "one person out of +ten was able thirty years ago to afford rice, the nine being content +to live from year's end to year's end on barley alone or barley mixed +with a modicum of rice, six persons to-day out of ten count it a +hardship if they cannot sit down to a square meal of rice daily.... +Rice is no longer a luxury to the mass of the people, but has become a +necessity." + +Financially, then, the farming and middle classes are incomparably +better off to-day than in olden times. The amount of ready money which +a man can earn has not a little to do with his morality. If his +uprightness depends entirely or chiefly on his lack of opportunity to +do wrong, he will be a moral man so long as he is desperately poor or +under strict control. But give him the chance to earn ready cash, +together with the freedom to live where he chooses, and to spend his +income as he pleases, and he is sure to develop various forms of +immorality. + +I have made a large number of inquiries in regard to the increase or +decrease of concubinage during the present era. Statistics on this +subject are not to be had, for concubines are not registered as such +nor yet as wives. If a concubine lives in the home of the man, she is +registered as a domestic, and her children should be registered as +hers, although I am told that they are very often illegally registered +as his. If she lives in her own home, the concubine still retains the +name and registry of her own parents. The government takes no notice +of concubinage, and publishes no statistics in regard to it. The +children of concubines who live with their own parents are, I am told, +usually registered as the children of the mother's father; otherwise +they are registered as illegitimate; statistics, therefore, furnish no +clew as to the increase or decrease or amount of concubinage and +illegitimacy, most important questions in Japanese sociology. But my +informants are unanimous in the assertion that there has been a marked +increase of concubinage during recent years. The simple and uniform +explanation given is that multitudes of merchants and officials, and +even of farmers, can afford to maintain them to-day who formerly were +unable to do so. The older ideals on this subject were such as to +allow of concubinage to the extent of one's financial ability. + +During the year 1898 the newspapers and leading writers of Japan +carried on a vigorous discussion concerning concubinage. The _Yorozu +Choho_ published an inventory of 493 men maintaining separate +establishments for their concubines, giving not only the names and +the business of the men, but also the character of the women chosen to +be concubines. Of these 493 men, 9 are ministers of state and +ex-ministers; 15 are peers or members of House of Peers; 7 are +barristers; 3 are learned doctors; the rest are nearly all business +men. The women were, previous to concubinage, Dancing girls, 183; +Servants, 69; Prostitutes, 17; "Ordinary young girls," 91; Adopted +daughters, 15; Widows, 7; Performers, 7; Miscellaneous, 104. In this +discussion it has been generally admitted that concubinage has +increased in modern times, and the cause attributed is "general +looseness of morals." Some of the leading writers maintain that the +concubinage of former times was largely confined to those who took +concubines to insure the maintenance of the family line; and also that +the taking of dancing girls was unknown in olden times. + +It is interesting to note in this connection that some of those who +defend the practice of concubinage appeal to the example of the Old +Testament, saying that what was good enough for the race that gave to +Christians the greater part of their Bible is good enough for the +Japanese. Another point in the discussion interesting to the +Occidental is the repeated assertion that there is no real difference +between the East and the West in point of practice; the only +difference is that whereas in the East all is open and above board, in +the West extra-marital relations are condemned by popular opinion, and +are therefore concealed.[BT] A few writers publicly defend +concubinage; most, however, condemn it vigorously, even though making +no profession of Christian faith. Of the latter class is Mr. Fukuzawa, +one of Japan's leaders of public opinion. In his most trenchant +attack, he asserts that if Japan is to progress in civilization she +must abandon her system of concubinage. That new standards in regard +to marital relations are arising in Japan is clear; but they have as +yet little force; there is no consensus of opinion to give them +force. He who transgresses them is still recognized as in good +standing in the community. + +Similarly, with respect to business honesty, it is the opinion of all +with whom I have conversed on the subject that there has been a great +decline in the honesty of the common people. In feudal days thefts and +petty dishonesty were practically unknown. To-day these are +exceedingly common. Foreign merchants complain that it is impossible +to trust Japanese to carry out verbal or written promises, when the +conditions of the market change to their disadvantage. It is +accordingly charged that the Japanese have no sense of honor in +business matters. + +The _Kokumin Shinbun_ (People's News) has recently discussed the +question of Japanese commercial morality, with the following results: +It says, first, that goods delivered are not up to sample; secondly, +that engagements as to time are not kept; thirdly, that business men +have no adequate appreciation of the permanent interests of business; +fourthly, that they are without ability to work in common; and +fifthly, that they do not get to know either their customers or +themselves.[BU] + +"The Japanese consul at Tientsin recently reported to the Government +that the Chinese have begun to regard Japanese manufactures with +serious distrust. Merchandise received from Japan, they allege, does +not correspond with samples, and packing is, in almost all cases, +miserably unsubstantial. The consul expresses the deepest regret that +Japanese merchants are disposed to break their faith without regard to +honor."[BV] + +In this connection it may not be amiss to revert to illustrations that +have come within my own experience. I have already cited instances of +the apparent duplicity to which deacons and candidates for the +ministry stoop. I do not believe that either the deacons or the +candidates had the slightest thought that they were doing anything +dishonorable. Nor do I for a moment suppose that the President and the +Trustees of the Doshisha at all realized the gravity of the moral +aspect of the course they took in diverting the Doshisha from its +original purposes. They seemed to think that money, once given to the +Doshisha, might be used without regard to the wishes of the donors. I +cannot help wondering how much of their thought on this subject is due +to the custom prevalent in Japan ever since the establishment of +Buddhist temples and monasteries, of considering property once given +as irrevocable, so that the individuals who gave it or their heirs, +have no further interest or right in the property. Large donations in +Japan have, from time immemorial, been given thus absolutely; the +giver assumed that the receiver would use it aright; specific +directions were not added as to the purposes of the gift. American +benefactors of the Doshisha have given under the standards prevailing +in the West. The receivers in Japan have accepted these gifts under +the standards prevailing in the East. Is not this in part the cause of +the friction that has arisen in recent years over the administration +of funds and lands and houses held by Japanese for mission purposes? + +In this connection, however, I should not fail to refer to the fact +that the Christians of the Kumiai churches,[BW] in their annual +meeting (1898), took strong grounds as to the mismanagement of the +Doshisha by the trustees. The action of the latter in repealing the +clause of the constitution which declared the six articles of the +constitution forever unchangeable, and then of striking out the word +"Christian" in regard to the nature of the moral education to be given +in all departments of the institution, was characterized as "fu-ho," +that is to say, unlawful, unrighteous, or immoral. Resolutions were +also passed demanding that the trustees should either restore the +expunged words or else resign and give place to men who would restore +them and carry out the will of the donors. This act on the part of a +large majority of the delegates of the churches shows that a standard +of business morality is arising in Japan that promises well for the +future. + +Before leaving this question, it is important for us to consider how +widely in lands which have long been both Christian and commercial, +the standards of truthfulness and business morality are transgressed. +I for one do not feel disposed to condemn Japanese failure very +severely, when I think of the failure in Western lands. Then, again, +when we stop to think of it, is it not a pretty fine line that we draw +between legitimate and illegitimate profits? What a relative +distinction this is! Even the Westerner finds difficulty in +discovering and observing it, especially so when the man with whom he +is dealing happens to be ignorant of the real value of the goods in +question. Let us not be too severe, then, in condemning the Japanese, +even though we must judge them to be deficient in ideals and conduct. +The explanation for the present state of Japan in regard to business +morality is neither far to seek nor hard to find. It has nothing +whatever to do with brain structure or inherent race character, but is +wholly a matter of changing social order. Feudal communalism has given +way to individualistic commercialism. The results are inevitable. +Japan has suddenly entered upon that social order where the +individuals of the nation are thrown upon their own choice for +character and life as they have been at no previous time. Old men, as +well as young, are thrown off their feet by the new temptations into +which they fall. + +One of the strongest arguments in my mind for the necessity of a rapid +introduction into Japan of the Gospel of Christ, is to be built on +this fact. An individualistic social order demands an individualizing +religion. So far as I know, the older religions, with the lofty moral +teachings which one may freely admit them to have, make no determined +or even distinct effort to secure the activity of the individual will +in the adoption of moral ideals. The place both of "conversion" and of +the public avowal of one's "faith" in the establishment of individual +character, and the peculiar fitness of a religion having such +characteristics to a social order in which "individualism" is the +dominant principle, have not yet been widely recognized by writers on +sociology. These practices of the Protestant churches are, +nevertheless, of inestimable value in the upbuilding both of the +individual and of society. And Japan needs these elements at the +earliest possible date in order to supplement the new order of society +which is being established. Without them it is a question whether in +the long run this new order may not prove a step downward rather than +upward. + +This completes our detailed study of Japanese moral characteristics as +revealed alike in their ideals and their practices. Let us now seek +for some general statement of the facts and conclusions thus far +reached. It has become clear that Japanese moralists have placed the +emphasis of their ethical thinking on loyalty; subordinated to this +has been filial piety. These two principles have been the pivotal +points of Japanese ethics. All other virtues flowed out of them, and +were intimately dependent upon them. These virtues are especially +fitted to upbuild and to maintain the feudal order of society. They +are essentially communal virtues. The first group, depending on and +growing out of loyalty, was concerned with the maintenance of the +larger communal unity, formerly the tribe, and now the nation. The +virtues connected with the second principle--filial piety--were +concerned with the maintenance of the smaller unit of society--- the +family. Righteousness and duty, of which much was made by Japanese +moralists, consisted in the observance of these two ideals. + +The morality of individualism was largely wanting. From this lack +sprang the main defects of the moral ideal and of the actual practice. +The chief sins of Old Japan--and, as a matter of fact, of all the +heathen world, as graphically depicted by Mr. Dennis in his great work +on "Christian Missions and Social Progress"--were sins of omission and +commission against the individual. The rights of inferiors practically +received no consideration at the hands of the moralists. In the +Japanese conception of righteousness and duty, the rights and value of +the individual, as such, whatever his social standing or sex, were not +included. + +One class of defects in the Japanese moral ideal arose out of the +feudal order itself, namely, its scorn of trade. Trade had no vital +relation to the communal unity; hence it found and developed no moral +sanctions for its guidance. The West conceives of business deceit as +concerned not only with the integrity of the community, but also with +the rights of the individual. The moral ideals and sanctions for +business honesty are therefore doubly strong with us. The old order of +Japan was in no way dependent for its integrity on business honor and +honesty, and, as we have seen, individuals, as such, were not thought +to have inherent rights. Under such conditions, it is difficult to +conceive how universal moral ideals and sanctions for business +relations could be developed and maintained. + +One further point demands attention. We naturally ask what the grounds +were on which the ethical ideals were commonly supposed to have +authority. So far as my knowledge goes, this question received almost +no consideration by the ordinary person, and but little from the +moralist. Old Japan was not accustomed to ask "Why?" It accepted +everything on the authority of the teacher, as children do, and as all +primitive peoples do. There was little or no thought as to the source +of the moral ideals or as to the nature or the function of the social +sanctions. If, as in a few instances, the questions were raised as to +their authority, the reply ordinarily would be that they had derived +their teachings from ancient times. And, if the matter were pressed, +it would be argued that the most ancient times were nearer the +beginning of men, and, therefore, nearer to Heaven, which decreed that +all the duties and customs of men; in the final resort, therefore, +authority would be attributed to Heaven. But such a questioner was +rare. Moral law was unhesitatingly accepted on the authority of the +teacher, and no uncomfortable questions were asked. It is easy to see +that both of the pivotal moral ideals, _i.e._, loyalty and filial +piety, would support this unquestioning habit of mind, for to ask +questions as to authority is the beginning both of disloyalty to the +master and of irreverence to the parents and ancestors. + +The whole social order, being one of authority, unquestioned and +absolute, moral standards were accepted on the ipse dixit of great +teachers. + +In closing, we revert to our ever-recurring question: Are the moral +characteristics wherein the Japanese differ from other races inherent +and necessary, as are their physiological characteristics, or are they +incidental and transient, liable to transformation? Light has been +thrown on this problem by every illustration adduced. We have seen in +detail that every characteristically Japanese moral trait is due to +the nature of her past social order, and is changing With that order. +Racial moral traits, therefore, are not due to inherent nature, to +essential character, to brain structure, nor are they transmitted from +father to son by the mere fact of physical generation. On the +contrary, the distinguishing ethical characteristics of races, as seen +in their ethical ideals and their moral conduct, are determined by the +dominant social order, and vary with it. Ethical characteristics are +transmitted by association, transmission is therefore not limited to +the relation of parents and children. The bearing of this fact on the +problem of the moral transformation of races could be easily shown. + + + + +XXV + +ARE THE JAPANESE RELIGIOUS? + + +Said Prof. Pfleiderer to the writer in the winter of 1897: "I am sorry +to know that the Japanese are deficient in religious nature." In an +elaborate article entitled, "Wanted, a Religion," a missionary +describes the three so-called religions of Japan, Buddhism, +Confucianism, and Shintoism, and shows to his satisfaction that none +of these has the essential characteristics of religion. + +Mr. Percival Lowell has said that "Sense may not be vital to religion, +but incense is."[BX] In my judgment, this is the essence of nonsense, +and is fitted to incense a man's sense. + +The impression that the Japanese people are not religious is due to +various facts. The first is that for about three hundred years the +intelligence of the nation has been dominated by Confucian thought, +which rejects active belief in supra-human beings. When asked by his +pupils as to the gods, Confucius is reported to have said that men +should respect them, but should have nothing to do with them. The +tendency of Confucian ethics, accordingly, is to leave the gods +severely alone, although their existence is not absolutely denied. +When Confucianism became popular in Japan, the educated part of the +nation broke away from Buddhism, which, for nearly a thousand years, +had been universally dominant. To them Buddhism seemed superstitious +in the extreme. It was not uncommon for them to criticise it severely. +Muro Kyu-so,[BY] speaking of the immorality that was so common in the +native literature, says: "Long has Buddhism made Japan to think of +nothing as important except the worship of Buddha. + +So it is that evil customs prevail, and there is no one who does not +find pleasure in lust.... Take out the lust and Buddhism from that +book, and the scenery and emotions are well described.... Had he +learned in the 'Way' of the sages, he had not fallen into +Buddhism."[BZ] The tendency of all persons trained in Confucian +classics was toward thoroughgoing skepticism as to divine beings and +their relation to this world. For this reason, beyond doubt, has +Western agnosticism found so easy an entrance into Japan. This ready +acceptance of Western agnosticism is a second fact that has tended to +give the West the impression referred to above. Complete indifference +to religion is characteristic of the educated classes of to-day. +Japanese and foreigners, Christians and non-Christians, alike, unite +in this opinion. The impression usually conveyed by this statement, +however, is that agnosticism is a new thing in Japan. In point of +fact, the old agnosticism is merely re-enforced by the support it +receives from the agnosticism of the West. + +The Occidental impression of Japanese irreligious race nature is +further strengthened by the frequent assertion of it by writers, some +of whom at least are neither partial nor ignorant. Prof. Basil H. +Chamberlain, for instance, repeatedly makes the assertion or +necessitates the inference. Speaking of pilgrimages, he remarks that +the Japanese "take their religion lightly." Discussing the general +question of religion, he speaks of the Japanese as "essentially +undevotional," but he guards against the inference that they are +therefore specially immoral. Yet, in the same paragraph, he adds, +"Though they pray little and make light of supernatural dogma, the +religion of the family binds them down in truly social bonds." +Percival Lowell also, as we have seen, makes light of Japanese +religion. + +This conclusion of foreigner observers is rendered the more convincing +to the average reader when he learns that such an influential man as +Mr. Fukuzawa declares that "religion is like tea," it serves a social +end, and nothing more; and that Mr. Hiroyuki Kato, until recently +president of the Imperial University, and later Minister of Education, +states that "Religion depends on fear." Marquis Ito, Japan's most +illustrious statesman, is reported to have said: "I regard religion +itself as quite unnecessary for a nation's life; science is far above +superstition, and what is religion--Buddhism or Christianity--but +superstition, and therefore a possible source of weakness to a nation? +I do not regret the tendency to free thought and atheism, which is +almost universal in Japan, because I do not regard it as a source of +danger to the community."[CA] + +If leaders of national thought have such conceptions as to the nature +and origin of religion, is it strange that the rank and file of +educated people should have little regard for it, or that foreigners +generally should believe the Japanese race to be essentially +non-religious? + +But before we accept this conclusion, various considerations demand +our notice. Although the conception of religion held by the eminent +Japanese gentlemen just quoted is not accepted by the writer as +correct, yet, even on their own definitions, a study of Japanese +superstitions and religious ceremonies would easily prove the people +as a whole to be exceedingly religious. Never had a nation so many +gods. It has been indeed "the country of the gods." Their temples and +shrines have been innumerable. Priests have abounded and worshipers +swarmed. For worship, however indiscriminate and thoughtless, is +evidence of religious nature. + +Furthermore, utterances like those quoted above in regard to the +nature and function of religion, are frequently on the lips of +Westerners also, multitudes of whom have exceedingly shallow +conceptions of the real nature of religion or the part it plays in the +development of society and of the individual. But we do not pronounce +the West irreligious because of such utterances. We must not judge the +religious many by the irreligious few. + +Again, are they competent judges who say the Japanese are +non-religious? Can a man who scorns religion himself, who at least +reveals no appreciation of its real nature by his own heart +experience, judge fairly of the religious nature of the people? Still +further, the religious phenomena of a people may change from age to +age. In asking, then, whether a people is religious by nature, we must +study its entire religious history, and not merely a single period of +it. The life of modern Japan has been rudely shocked by the sudden +accession of much new intellectual light. The contents of religion +depends on the intellect; sudden and widespread accession of knowledge +always discredits the older forms of religious expression. An +undeveloped religion, still bound up with polytheistic symbolism, with +its charms and mementoes, inevitably suffers severely at the hands of +exact modern science. For the educated minority, especially, the +inevitable reaction is to complete skepticism, to apparent irreligion. +For the time being, religion itself may appear to have been +discredited. In an advancing age, prophets of religious dissolution +are abundant. Such prophecies, with reference to Christianity, have +been frequent, and are not unheard even now. Particular beliefs and +practices of religion have indeed changed and passed away, even in +Christianity. But the essentially religious nature of man has +re-asserted itself in every case, and the outward expressions of that +nature have thereby only become freer from elements of error and +superstition. Exactly this is taking place in Japan to-day. The +apparent irreligion of to-day is the groundwork of the purer religion +of to-morrow. + +If the Japanese are emotional and sentimental, we should expect them +to be, perhaps more than most peoples, religious. This expectation is +not disappointed by a study of their history. However imperfect as a +religion we must pronounce original Shinto to have been, consisting of +little more than a cultus and a theogony, yet even with this alone the +Japanese should be pronounced a religious people. The universality of +the respect and adoration, not to say love, bestowed throughout the +ages of history on the "Kami" (the multitudinous Gods of Shintoism), +is a standing witness to the depth of the religious feeling in the +Japanese heart. True, it is associated with the sentiments of love of +ancestors and country, with filial piety and loyalty; but these, so +far from lowering the religion, make it more truly religious? + +Unending lines of pilgrims, visiting noted Shinto temples and climbing +sacred mountain peaks, arrest the attention of every thoughtful +student of Japan. These pilgrims are numbered by the hundreds of +thousands every year. The visitors to the great shrine at Kizuki of +Izumo number about 250,000 annually. "The more prosperous the season, +the larger the number of pilgrims. It rarely falls below two hundred +thousand." In his "Occult Japan," Mr. Lowell has given us an +interesting account of the "pilgrim clubs," The largest known to him +numbered about twelve thousand men, but he thinks they average from +one hundred to about five hundred persons each. The number of yearly +visitors to the Shinto shrines at Ise is estimated at half a million, +and ten thousand pilgrims climb Mt. Fuji every summer. The number of +pilgrims to Kompira, in Shikoku, is incredibly large; according to the +count taken during the first half of 1898, the first ever taken, the +average for six months was 2500 each day; at this rate the number for +the year is nearly 900,000. The highest for a single day was over +12,000. These figures were given me by the chief official of this +district. The highest mountain in Shikoku, Ishidzuchi San, some six +thousand feet in height, is said to be ascended by ten thousand +pilgrims each summer. These pilgrims eat little or nothing at hotels, +depending rather on what they carry until they return from their +arduous three days' climb; nor do they take any prolonged rest until +they are on the homeward way. The reason for this is that the climb is +supposed to be a test of the heart; if the pilgrim fail to reach the +summit, the inference is that he is at fault, and that the god does +not favor him. They who offer their prayers from the summit are +supposed to be assured of having them answered. + +But beside these greater pilgranages to mountain summits and national +shrines, innumerable lesser ones are made. Each district has a more or +less extended circuit of its own. In Shikoku there is a round known as +the "Hachi-Ju-hakka sho mairi," or "The Pilgrimage to the 88 Places," +supposed to be the round once made by Kobo Daishi (A.D. 774-834), the +founder of the Shinton sect of Buddhism. The number of pilgrims who +make this round is exceedingly large, since it is a favorite circuit +for the people not only of Shikoku, but also of central and western +Japan. Many of the pilgrims wear on the back, just below the neck, a +pair of curious miniature "waraji" or straw sandals, because Kobo +Daishi carried a real pair along with him on his journey. I never go +to Ishite Temple (just out of Matsuyama), one of the eighty-eight +places of the circuit, without seeing some of these pilgrims. But this +must suffice. The pilgrim habit of the Japanese is a strong proof of +widespread religious enthusiasm, and throws much light on the +religious nature of the people. There seems to be reason for thinking +that the custom existed in Japan even before the introduction of +Buddhism. If this is correct, it bears powerful testimony to the +inherently religious nature of the Japanese race. + +The charge has been made that these pilgrimages are mere pleasure +excursions. Mr. Lowell says, facetiously, that "They are peripatetic +picnic parties, faintly flavored with piety; just a sufficient +suspicion of it to render them acceptable to the easy-going gods." +Beneath this light alliterative style, which delights the literary +reader, do we find the truth? To me it seems like a slur on the +pilgrims, evidently due to Mr. Lowell's idea that a genuine religious +feeling must be gloomy and solemn. Joy may seem to him incompatible +with heartfelt religion and aspiration. That these pilgrims lack the +religious aspiration characteristic of highly developed Christians of +the West, is, of course, true; but that they have a certain type of +religious aspiration is equally indisputable. They have definite and +strong ideas as to the advantage of prayer at the various shrines; +they confidently believe that their welfare, both in this world and +the next, will be vitally affected by such pilgrimages and such a +faithful worship. It is customary for pilgrims, who make extended +journeys, to carry what may be called a passbook, in which seals are +placed by the officials of each shrine. This is evidence to friends +and to the pilgrim himself, in after years, of the reality of his long +and tedious pilgrimage. Beggars before these shrines are apt to +display these passbooks as an evidence of their worthiness and need. +For many a pilgrim supports himself, during his pilgrimage, entirely +by begging. + +Pilgrims also buy from each shrine of note some charm, "o mamori," +"honorable preserver," and "o fuda," "honorable ticket," which to them +are exceedingly precious. There is hardly a house in Japan but has +some, often many, of these charms, either nailed on the front door or +placed on the god-shelf. I have seen a score nailed one above another. +In some cases the year-names are still legible, and show considerable +age. The sale of charms is a source of no little revenue to the +temples, in some cases amounting to thousands of yen annually. We may +smile at the ignorance and superstition which these facts reveal, but, +as I already remarked, these are external features, the material +expression or clothing, so to speak, of the inner life. Their +particular form is due to deficient intellectual development. I do not +defend them; I merely maintain that their existence shows conclusively +the possession by the people at large of a real religious emotion and +purpose. If so, they, are not to be sneered at, although the mood of +the average pilgrim may be cheerful, and the ordinary pilgrimage may +have the aspect of a "peripatetic picnic, faintly flavored with +piety." The outside observer, such as the foreigner of necessity is, +is quick to detect the picnic quality, but he cannot so easily discern +the religious significance or the inner thoughts and emotions of the +pilgrims. The former is discernible at a glance, without knowledge of +the Japanese language or sympathy with the religious heart; the latter +can be discovered only by him who intimately understands the people, +their language and their religion. + +If religion were necessarily gloomy, festivals and merry-making would +be valid proof of Japanese religious deficiency. But such is not the +case. Primitive religions, like primitive people, are artless and +simple in religious joy as in all the aspects of their life. Developed +races increasingly discover the seriousness of living, and become +correspondingly reflective, if not positively gloomy. Religion shares +this transformation. But those religions in which salvation is a +prominent idea, and whose nature is such as to satisfy at once the +head and the heart, restore joyousness as a necessary consequence. +While certain aspects of Christianity certainly have a gloomy +look,--which its critics are much disposed to exaggerate, and then to +condemn,--yet Christianity at heart is a religion of profound joy, and +this feature shows itself in such universal festivals as Christmas and +Easter. Even though the Japanese popular religious life showed itself +exclusively in festivals and on occasions of joy, therefore, that +would not prove them to be inherently lacking in religious nature. + +But there is another set of phenomena, even more impressive to the +candid and sympathetic student. It is the presence in every home of +the "Butsu-dan," or Buddha shelf, and the "Kami-dana," or God shelf. +The former is Buddhist, and the latter Shinto. Exclusive Shintoists, +who are rare, have the latter alone. Where both are found, the +"I-hai," ancestral memorial tablets, are placed on the "Butsu-dan"; +otherwise they are placed on the "Kami-dana." The Kami-dana are always +quite simple, as are all Shinto charms and utensils. The Butsu-dan are +usually elaborate and beautiful, and sometimes large and costly. The +universality of these tokens of family religion, and the constant and +loving care bestowed upon them, are striking testimony to the +universality of the religion in Japan. The pathos of life is often +revealed by the faithful devotion of the mother to these silent +representatives of divine beings and departed ancestors or children. I +have no hesitation in saying that, so far as external appearances go, +the average home in Japan is far more religious than the average home +in enlightened England or America, especially when compared with such +as have no family worship. There may be a genuine religious life in +these Western homes, but it does not appear to the casual visitor. Yet +no casual visitor can enter a Japanese home, without seeing at once +the evidences of some sort, at least, of religious life. + +It is impossible for me to believe, as many assert, that all is mere +custom and hollow form, without any kernel of meaning or sincerity. +Customs may outlast beliefs for a time, and this is particularly the +case with religious customs; for the form is so often taken to involve +the very essence of the reality. But customs which have lost all +significance, and all belief, inevitably dwindle and fade away, even +if not suddenly rejected; they remain them; they leave their trace +indeed, but so faintly that only the student of primitive customs can +detect them and recognize their original nature and purpose. The +Butsu-dan and Kami-dana do not belong to this order of beliefs. The +average home of Japan would feel itself desecrated were these to be +forcibly removed. The piety of the home centers, in large measure, +about these expressions of the religious heart. Their practical +universality is a significant witness to the possession by the people +at large of a religious nature. + +If it is fair to argue that the Christian religion has a vital hold on +the Western peoples because of the cathedrals and churches to be found +throughout the length and breadth of Christendom, a similar argument +applies to Japan and the hold of the religions of this land upon its +people. For over a thousand years the external manifestations of +religion in architecture have been elaborate. Temples of enormous +size, comparing not unfavorably with the cathedrals of Europe as +regards the cost of erection, are to be found in all parts of the +land. Immense temple bells of bronze, colossal statues of Buddha, and +lesser ones of saints and worthies innumerable, bear witness to the +lavish use of wealth in the expression of religious devotion. It is +sometimes said that Buddhism is moribund in Japan. It is seriously +asserted that its temples are falling into decay. This is no more true +of the temples of Buddhism in Japan, than of the cathedrals Of +Christendom. Local causes greatly affect the prosperity of the various +temples. Some are falling into decay, but others are being repaired, +and new ones are being built. No one can have visited any shrine of +note without observing the large number of signboards along either +side of the main approach, on which are written the sums contributed +for the building or repairing of the temple. These gifts are often +munificent, single gifts sometimes reaching the sum of a thousand yen; +I have noticed a few exceeding this amount. The total number of these +temples and shrines throughout the country is amazing. According to +government statistics, in 1894 the Buddhist temples numbered 71,831; +and the Shinto temples and shrines which have received official +registration reached the vast number of 190,803. The largest temple in +Japan, costing several million dollars, the Nishihongwanji in Kyoto, +has been built during the past decade. Considering the general poverty +of the nation, the proportion of gifts made for the erection and +maintenance of these temples and shrines is a striking testimony to +the reality of some sort of religious zeal. That it rests entirely on +form and meaningless rites, is incredible. + + + + +XXVI + +SOME RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA + + +Without doubt, many traits are attributed to the Japanese by the +casual observer or captious critic, through lack of ability to read +between the lines. We have already seen how the stoical element of +Japanese character serves to conceal from the sociologist the +emotional nature of the people. If a Japanese conceals his ordinary +emotions, much more does he refrain from public exhibition of his +deeper religious aspirations. Although he may feel profoundly, his +face and manner seldom reveal it. When torn with grief over the loss +of a parent or son, he will tell you of his loss with smiles, if not +with actual laughter. "The Japanese smile" has betrayed the solemn +foreigner into many an error of individual and racial character +interpretation. Particularly frequent have been such errors in matters +of religion. + +Although the light and joyous, "smiling" aspect of Japanese religious +life is prominent, the careful observer will come incidentally and +unexpectedly on many signs of an opposite nature, if he mingle +intimately with the people. Japan has its sorrows and its tragedies, +no less than other lands. These have their part in determining +religious phenomena. + +The student who takes his stand at a popular shrine and watches the +worshipers come and go will be rewarded by the growing conviction +that, although many are manifestly ceremonialists, others are clearly +subjects of profound feeling. See that mother leading her toddling +child to the image of Binzuru, the god of healing, and teaching it to +rub the eyes and face of the god and then its own eyes and face. See +that pilgrim before a bare shrine repeating in rapt devotion the +prayer he has known from his childhood, and in virtue of which he has +already received numberless blessings. Behold that leper pleading with +merciful Kwannon of the thousand hands to heal his disease. Hear that +pitiful wail of a score of fox-possessed victims for deliverance from +their oppressor. Watch that tearful maiden performing the hundred +circuits of the temple while she prays for a specific blessing for +herself or some loved one. Observe that merchant solemnly worshiping +the god of the sea, with offering of rice and wine. Count those +hundreds of votive pictures, thanksgiving remembrances of the sick who +have been healed, in answer, as they firmly believe, to their prayers +to the god of this particular shrine. These are not imaginary cases. +The writer has seen these and scores more like them. Here is a serious +side to Japanese religious life easily overlooked by a casual or +unsympathetic observer. + +In addition to these simpler religious phenomena, we find in Japan, as +in other lands, the practice of ecstatic union with the deity. In +Shinto it is called "Kami-oroshi," the bringing down of the gods. It +is doubtless some form of hypnotic trance, yet the popular +interpretation of the phenomenon is that of divine possession. + +Among Buddhists, the practice of ecstasy takes a different form. The +aim is to attain absolute vacuity of mind and thus complete union with +the Absolute. When attained, the soul becomes conscious of blissful +superiority to all the concerns of this mundane life, a foretaste of +the Nirvana awaiting those who shall attain to Buddhahood. The actual +attainment of this experience is practically limited to the +priesthood, who alone have the time and freedom from the cares of the +world needful for its practice. For it is induced only by long and +profound "meditation." Especially is this experience the desire of the +Zen sect, which makes it a leading aim, taking its name "zen" (to sit) +from this practice. To sit in religious abstraction is the height of +religious bliss. + +The practical business man of the West may perhaps find some +difficulty in seeing anything particularly religious in ecstasy or +mental vacuity. But if I mistake not, this religious phenomenon of the +Orient does not differ in essence from the mystical religious +experience so common in the middle and subsequent ages in Europe, and +represented to-day by mystical Christians. Indeed, some of the finest +religious souls of Western lands have been mystics. Mystic +Christianity finds ready acceptance with certain of the Japanese. + +The critical reader may perhaps admit, in view of the facts thus far +presented, that the ignorant millions have some degree of religious +feeling and yet, in view of the apparently irreligious life of the +educated, he may still feel that the religious nature of the race is +essentially shallow. He may feel that as soon as a Japanese is lifted +out of the superstitious beliefs of the past, he is freed from all +religious ideas and aspirations. I admit at once that there seems to +be some ground for such an assertion. Yet as I study the character of +the samurai of the Tokugawa period, who alone may be called the +irreligious of the olden times, I see good reasons for holding that, +though rejecting Buddhism, they were religious at heart. They +developed little or no religious ceremonial to replace that of +Buddhism, yet there were indications that the religious life still +remained. Intellectual and moral growth rendered it impossible for +earnest and honest men to accept the old religious expressions. They +revolted from religious forms, rather than from religion, and the +revolt resulted not in deeper superstitions and a poorer life, but in +a life richer in thought and noble endeavor. Muro Kyu-so, the +"Japanese Philosopher" to whom we have referred more than once, +rejected Buddhism, as we have already seen. The high quality of his +moral teachings we have also noticed. Yet he had no idea that he was +"religious." Those who reject Buddhism often use the term +"Shukyo-kusai," "stinking religion." For them religion is synonymous +with corrupt and superstitious Buddhism. To have told Muro that he was +religious would doubtless have offended him, but a few quotations +should satisfy anyone that at heart he was religious in the best sense +of the term. + +"Consider all of you. Whence is fortune? From Heaven. Even the world +says, Fortune is in Heaven. So then there is no resource save prayer +to Heaven. Let us then ask: what does Heaven hate, and what does +Heaven love? It loves benevolence and hates malevolence. It loves +truth and hates untruth.... That which in Heaven begets all things, in +man is called love. So doubt not that Heaven loves benevolence and +hates its opposite. So too is it with truth. For countless ages sun +and moon and stars constantly revolve and we make calendars without +mistake. Nothing is more certain. It is the very truth of the +universe.... I have noticed prayers for good luck, brought year by +year from famous temples and hills, decorating the entrances to the +homes of famous samurai. But none the less they have been killed or +punished, or their line has been destroyed and house extinguished. Or +at least to many, shame and disgrace have come. They have not learned +fortune, but foolishly depend on prayers and charms. Confucius said: +'When punished by Heaven there is no place for prayer.' Women of +course follow the temples and trust in charms, but not so should men. +Alas! Now all are astray, those who should be teachers, the samurai +and those higher still" (pp. 63-5). "Sin is the source of pain and +righteousness of happiness. This is the settled law. The teaching of +the sages and the conduct of superior men is determined by principles +and the result is left to Heaven. Still, we do not obey in the hope of +happiness, nor do we forbear to sin from fear. Not with this meaning +did Confucius and Mencius teach that happiness is in virtue and pain +in sin. But the 'way' is the law of man. It is said, 'The way of +Heaven blesses virtue and curses sin.' That is intended for the +ignorant multitude. Yet it is not like the Buddhist 'hoben' (pious +device), for it is the determined truth" (p. 66). "Heaven is forever +and is not to be understood at once, like the promises of men. +Shortsighted men consider its ways and decide that there is no reward +for virtue or vice. So they doubt when the good are virtuous and fear +not when the wicked sin. They do not know that there is no victory +against Heaven when it decrees" (p. 67). "Reason comes from Heaven, +and is in men.... The philosopher knows the truth as the drinker knows +the taste of _saké_ and the abstainer the taste of sweets. How shall +he forget it? How shall he fall into error? Lying down, getting up, +moving, resting, all is well. In peace, in trouble, in death, in joy, +in sorrow, all is well. Never for a moment will he leave this 'way.' +This is to know it in ourselves" (p. 71). + +One day, five or six students remained after the lecture to ask Kyu-so +about his view as to the gods, stating their own dissatisfaction with +the fantastic interpretations given to the term "Shinto" by the native +scholars. Making some quotations from the Chinese classics, he went on +to say for himself: + +"I cannot accept that which is popularly called Shinto.... I do not +profess to understand the profound reason of the deities, but in +outline this is my idea: The Doctrine of the Mean speaks of the +'virtue of the Gods' and Shu-shi explains this word 'virtue' to mean +the 'heart and its revelation.' Its meaning is thus stated in the +Saden: 'God is pure intelligence and justice.' Now all know that God +is just, but do not know that he is intelligent. But there is no such +intelligence elsewhere as God's. Man hears by the ear and where the +ear is not he hears not ...; man sees with his eyes, and where they +are not he sees not ...; with his heart man thinks and the swiftest +thought takes time. But God uses neither ear nor eye, nor does he pass +over in thought. Directly he feels, and directly does he respond.... +Is not this the divinity of Heaven and Earth? So the Doctrine of the +Mean says: 'Looked for it cannot be seen, listened to it cannot be +heard. It enters into all things. There is nothing without it.' ... +'Everywhere, everywhere, on the right and on the left.' This is the +revealing of God, the truth not to be concealed. Think not that God is +distant, but seek him in the heart, for the heart is the House of God. +Where there is no obstacle of lust, there is communion of one spirit +with the God of Heaven and Earth.... And now for the application. +Examine yourselves, make the truth of the heart the foundation, +increase in learning and at last you will attain. Then will you know +the truth of what I speak" (pp. 50-52). + +In the above passage Dr. Knox has translated the term "Shin," the +Chinese ideograph for the Japanese word "Kami," by the English +singular, God. This lends to the passage a fullness of monotheistic +expression which the original hardly, if at all, justifies. The +originals are indefinite as to number and might with equal truth be +translated "gods," as Dr. Knox suggests himself in a footnote. + +These and similar passages are of great interest to the student of +Japanese religious development. They should be made much of by +Christian preachers and missionaries. Such writers and thinkers as +Muro evidently was might not improperly be called the pre-Christian +Christians of Japan. They prepared the way for the coming of more +light on these subjects. Japanese Christian apologists should collect +such utterances from her wise men of old, and by them lead the nation +to an appreciation of the truths which they suggest and for which they +so fitly prepare the way. Scattered as they now are, and seldom read +by the people, they lie as precious gems imbedded in the hills, or as +seed safely stored. They can bear no harvest till they are sown in the +soil and allowed to spring up and grow. + +The more I have pondered the implications of these and similar +passages, the more clear has it become that their authors were +essentially religious men. Their revolt from "religion" did not spring +from an irreligious motive, but from a deeper religious insight than +was prevalent among Buddhist believers. The irrational and often +immoral nature of many of the current religious expressions and +ceremonials and beliefs became obnoxious to the thinking classes, and +were accordingly rejected. The essence of religion, however, was not +rejected. They tore off the accumulated husks of externalism, but kept +intact the real kernel of religion. + +The case for the religious nature of modern, educated Japan is not so +simple. Irreligious it certainly appears. Yet it, too, is not so +irreligious as perhaps the Occidental thinks. Though immoral, a +Japanese may still be a filial son and a loyal subject, +characteristics which have religious value in Japan, Old and New. It +would not be difficult to prove that many a modern Japanese writer who +proclaims his rejection of religion--calling all religion but +superstition and ceremony--is nevertheless a religious man at heart. +The religions he knows are too superstitious and senseless to satisfy +the demands of his intellectually developed religious nature. He does +not recognize that his rejection of what he calls "religion" is a real +manifestation of his religious nature rather than the reverse. + +The widespread irreligious phenomena of New Japan are, therefore, not +difficult of explanation, when viewed in the light of two thousand +years of Japanese religious history. They cannot be attributed to a +deficient racial endowment of religious nature. They are a part of +nineteenth-century life by no means limited to Japan. If the +Anglo-Saxon race is not to be pronounced inherently irreligious, +despite the fact that irreligious phenomena and individuals are in +constant evidence the world over, neither can New Japan be pronounced +irreligious for the same reason. The irreligion now so rampant is a +recent phenomenon in Japan. It may not immediately pass away, but it +must eventually. Religion freed from superstition and ceremonialism, +resting in reality, identifying moral and scientific with religious +truth, is already finding hearty support from many of Japan's educated +men. If appeal is made under the right conditions, the Japanese +manifest no lack of a genuine religious nature. That they seem to be +deficient in the sense of reverence is held by some to be proof +presumptive of a deficient religious nature. A few illustrations will +make clear what the critic means and will guide us to an +interpretation of the phenomena. Occidentals are accustomed to +consider a religious service as a time of solemn quiet, for we feel +ourselves in a special sense in the presence of God; His majesty and +glory are realities to the believing worshiper. But much occurs during +a Christian service in Japanese churches which would seem to indicate +a lack of this feeling. It is by no means uncommon for little children +to run about without restraint during the service, for mothers to +nurse their infants, and for adults to converse with each other in an +undertone, though not so low but that the sound of the conversation +may be heard by all. I know a deacon occupying a front mat in church +who spends a large part of service time during the first two sabbaths +of each month in making out the receipts of the monthly contributions +and distributing them among the members. His apparent supposition is +that he disturbs no one (and it is amazing how undisturbed the rest of +the congregation is), but also that he is in no way interfering with +the solemnity or value of the service. The freedom, too, with which +individuals come and go during the service is in marked contrast to +our custom. From our standpoint, there is lack of reverence. + +I recently attended a young men's meeting at which the places for each +were assigned by written quotations, from the Bible, one-half of which +was given to the individual and the other half placed at the seat. One +quotation so used was the text, "The birds of the air have nests, but +the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." It would hardly seem +as if earnest Christians could have made such use of this text. Some +months ago at a social gathering held in connection with the annual +meeting of the churches of Shikoku, one of the comic performances +consisted in the effort on the part of three old men to sing through +to the end without a break-down the song which to us is so sacred, +"Rock of Ages, cleft for me." Only one man succeeded, the others going +through a course of quavers and breaks which was exceedingly +laughable, but absolutely irreverent. The lack of reverence which has +sometimes characterized the social side of the Christmas services in +Japan has been the source of frequent regret to the missionaries. In a +social gathering of earnest young Christians recently, a game +demanding forfeits was played; these consisted of the recitation of +familiar texts from the Bible. There certainly seems to be a lack of +the sense of the fitness of things. + +But the question is, are these practices due to an inherent +deficiency of reverence, arising from the character of the Japanese +nature, or are they due rather to the religious history of the past +and the conditions of the present? That the latter seems to me the +correct view I need hardly state. The fact that the Japanese are an +emotional people renders it probable, a priori, that under suitable +conditions they would be especially subject to the emotion of +reverence. And when we look at their history, and observe the actual +reverence paid by the multitudes to the rulers, and by the +superstitious worshipers to the "Kami" and "Hotoke," it becomes +evident that the apparent irreverence in the Christian churches must +be due to peculiar conditions. Reverence is a subtle feeling; it +depends on the nature of the ideas that possess the mind and heart. +From the very nature of the case, Japanese Christians cannot have the +same set of associations clustering around the church, the service, +the Bible, or any of the Christian institutions, as the Occidental who +has been reared from childhood among them, and who has derived his +spiritual nourishment from them. All the wealth of nineteen centuries +of experience has tended to give our services and our churches special +religious value in our eyes. The average Christian in Japan and in any +heathen land cannot have this fringe of ideas and subtle feelings so +essential to a profound feeling of reverence. But as the significance +of the Christian conception of God, endowed with glory and honor, +majesty and might, is increasingly realized, and as it is found that +the spirit of reverence is one that needs cultivation in worship, and +especially as it is found that the spirit of reverence is important to +high spiritual life and vitalizing spiritual power, more and more will +that spirit be manifested by Japanese Christians. But its possession +or its lack is due not to the inherent character of the people, but +rather to the character of the ideas which possess them. In taking now +a brief glance at the nature and history of the three religions of +Japan it seems desirable to quote freely from the writings of +recognized authorities on the subject. + + "_Shinto_, which means literally 'the way of the Gods,' is the name + given to the mythology and vague ancestor-and nature-worship which + preceded the introduction of Buddhism into Japan--Shinto, so often + spoken of as a religion, is hardly entitled to that name. It has no + set of dogmas, no sacred book, no moral code. The absence of a + moral code is accounted for in the writings of modern native + commentators by the innate perfection of Japanese humanity, which + obviates the necessity for such outward props.... It is necessary, + however, to distinguish three periods in the existence of Shinto. + During the first of these--roughly speaking, down to A.D. 550--the + Japanese had no notion of religion as a separate institution. To + pay homage to the gods, that is, to the departed ancestors of the + Imperial family, and to the names of other great men, was a usage + springing from the same soil as that which produced passive + obedience to, and worship of, the living Mikado. Besides this, + there were prayers to the wind-gods, to the god of fire, to the god + of pestilence, to the goddess of food, and to deities presiding + over the sauce-pan, the caldron, the gate, and the kitchen. There + were also purifications for wrongdoing.... But there was not even a + shadowy idea of any code of morals, or any systematization of the + simple notions of the people concerning things unseen. There was + neither heaven nor hell--only a kind of neutral-tinted Hades. Some + of the gods were good and some were bad; nor was the line between + men and gods at all clearly drawn." + +The second period of Shinto began with the introduction of Buddhism +into Japan, in which period Shinto became absorbed into Buddhism +through the doctrine that the Shinto deities were ancient incarnations +of Buddhas. In this period Shinto retained no distinctive feature. +"Only at court and at a few great shrines, such as those of Ise and +Idzumo, was a knowledge of Shinto in its native simplicity kept up; +and it is doubtful whether changes did not creep in with the lapse of +ages. Most Shinto temples throughout the country were served by +Buddhist priests, who introduced the architectural ornaments and the +ceremonial of their own religion. Thus was formed the Ryobu Shinto--a +mixed religion founded on a compromise between the old creed and the +new, and hence the tolerant ideas on theological subjects of most of +the middle-lower classes, who worship indifferently at the shrines of +either faith." + +The third period began about 1700. It was introduced by the scholarly +study of history. "Soon the movement became religious and +political--above all, patriotic.... The Shogunate was frowned on, +because it had supplanted the autocracy of the heaven-descended +Mikados. Buddhism and Confucianism were sneered at because of their +foreign origin. The great scholars Mabuchi (1697-1769), Motoori +(1730-1801), and Hirata (1776-1843) devoted themselves to a religious +propaganda--if that can be called a religion which sets out from the +principle that the only two things needful are to follow one's natural +impulses and to obey the Mikado. This order triumphed for a moment in +the revolution of 1868." It became for a few months the state +religion, but soon lost its status.[CB] + +_Buddhism_ came to Japan from Korea _via_ China in 552 A.D. It was +already a thousand years old and had, before it reached Japan, broken +up into numerous sects and subsects differing widely from each other +and from the original teaching of Sakya Muni. After two centuries of +propagandism it conquered the land and absorbed the religious life of +the people, though Shinto was never entirely suppressed. "All +education was for centuries in Buddhist hands; Buddhism introduced +art, and medicine, molded the folklore of the country, created its +dramatic poetry, deeply influenced politics and every sphere of social +and intellectual activity. In a word, Buddhism was the teacher under +whose instruction the Japanese nation grew up. As a nation they are +now grossly forgetful of this fact. Ask an educated Japanese a +question about Buddhism, and ten to one he will smile in your face. A +hundred to one that he knows nothing about the subject and glories in +his nescience." "The complicated metaphysics of Buddhism have awakened +no interest in the Japanese nation. Another fact, curious but true, is +that these people have never been at the trouble to translate the +Buddhist canon into their own language. The priests use a Chinese +version, and the laity no version at all, though ... they would seem +to have been given to searching the Scriptures a few hundred years +ago. The Buddhist religion was disestablished and disendowed during +the years 1871-74, a step taken in consequence of the temporary +ascendency of Shinto." Although Confucianism took a strong hold on the +people in the early part of the seventeenth century, yet its influence +was limited to the educated and ruling classes. The vast multitude +still remained Shinto-Buddhists. + +As for doctrine, philosophic Buddhism with its dogmas of salvation +through intellectual enlightenment, by means of self-perfecting, with +its goal of absorption into Nirvana, has doubtless been the belief and +aim of the few. But such Buddhism was too deep for the multitudes. "By +the aid of hoben, or pious devices, the priesthood has played into the +hands of popular superstition. Here, as elsewhere, there have been +evolved charms, amulets, pilgrimages, and gorgeous temple services, in +which the people worship not only the Buddha, who was himself an +agnostic, but his disciple, and even such abstractions as Amida, which +are mistaken for actual divine personages."[CC] The deities of Shinto +have been more or less confused with those of popular Buddhism; in +some cases, inextricably so. + +_Confucianism_, as known in Japan, was the elaborated doctrine of +Confucius. "He confined himself to practical details of morals and +government, and took submission to parents and political rulers as the +corner stone of his system. The result is a set of moral truths--some +would say truisms--of a very narrow scope, and of dry ceremonial +observances, political rather than personal." "Originally introduced +into Japan early in the Christian era, along with other products of +Chinese civilization, the Confucian philosophy lay dormant during the +middle ages, the period of the supremacy of Buddhism. It awoke with a +start in the early part of the seventeenth century when Iccasu, the +great warrior, ruler, and patron of learning, caused the Confucian +classics to be printed in Japan for the first time. During the two +hundred and fifty years that followed, the intellect of the country +was molded by Confucian ideas. Confucius himself had, it is true, +labored for the establishment of a centralized monarchy. But his main +doctrine of unquestioning submission to rulers and parents fitted in +perfectly with the feudal ideas of Old Japan; and the conviction of +the paramount importance of such subordination lingers on, an element +of stability, in spite of the recent social cataclysm which has +involved Japanese Confucianism, properly so-called, in the ruin of all +other Japanese institutions."[CD] + +_Christianity_ was first brought to Japan by Francis Xavier, who +landed in Kagoshima in 1549. His zeal knew no bounds and his results +were amazing. "The converts were drawn from all classes alike. +Noblemen, Buddhist priests, men of learning, embraced the faith with +the same alacrity as did the poor and ignorant.... One hundred and +thirty-eight European missionaries" were then on the field. "Until the +breaking out of the persecution of 1596 the work of evangelization +proceeded apace. The converts numbered ten thousand yearly, though all +were fully aware of the risk to which they exposed themselves by +embracing the Catholic faith." "At the beginning of the seventeenth +century, the Japanese Christians numbered about one million, the fruit +of half a century of apostolic labor accomplished in the midst of +comparative peace. Another half-century of persecution was about to +ruin this flourishing church, to cut off its pastors, more than two +hundred of whom suffered martyrdom, and to leave its laity without the +offices of religion.... The edicts ordering these measures remained in +force for over two centuries." Tens of thousands of Christians +preferred death to perjury. It was supposed that Christianity was +entirely exterminated by the fearful and prolonged persecutions. Yet +in the vicinity of Nagasaki over four thousand Christians were +discovered in 1867, who were again subject to persecution until the +pressure of foreign lands secured religious toleration in Japan. + +Protestant Christianity came to Japan with the beginning of the new +era, and has been preached with much zeal and moderate success. For a +time it seemed destined to sweep the land even more astonishingly than +did Romanism in the sixteenth century. But in 1888 an anti-foreign +reaction began in every department of Japanese life and thought which +has put a decided check on the progress of Christian missions. + +This must suffice for our historical review of the religious life of +the Japanese. Were we to forget Japan's long and repeated isolations, +and also to ignore fluctuations of belief and of other religious +phenomena in other lands, we might say, as many do, that the Japanese +have inherently shallow and changeable religious convictions. But +remembering these facts, and recalling the persecutions of Buddhists +by each other, of Christianity by the state, and knowing to-day many +earnest, self-sacrificing and persistent Christians, I am convinced +that such a judgment is mistaken. There are other and sufficient +reasons to account for this appearance of changeableness in religion. + +I close this chapter with a single observation on the religious +history just outlined. Bearing in mind the great changes that have +come over Japanese religious thinking and forms of religion I ask if +religious phenomena are the expressions of the race nature, as some +maintain, and if this nature is inherent and unchangeable, how are +such profound changes to be accounted for? If the religious character +of the Japanese people is inherent, how is it conceivable that they +should so easily adopt foreign religions, even to the exclusion of +their own native religion, as did those who became Buddhist or +Confucian or Christian? I conclude from these facts, and they are +paralleled in the history of many other peoples, that even religious +characteristics are not dependent on biological, but are wholly +dependent on social evolution. It seems to me capable of the clearest +proof that the religious phenomena of any age are dependent on the +general development of the intellect, on the ruling ideas, and on the +entire conditions of the civilization of the age rather than on brain +structure or essential race nature. + + + + +XXVII + +SOME RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS + + +The conceptions of the common people in regard to deity are chaotic. +They believe in local spirits who are to be worshiped; some of these +are of human origin, and some antedate all human life. The gods of the +Shinto pantheon are "yaoyorodzu" in number, eight thousand myriads; +yet in their "norito," or prayer rituals, reference is made not only +to the "yaoyorodzu" who live in the air, but also to the "yaoyorodzu" +who live on earth, and even to the "yaoyorodzu" who live beneath the +earth. If we add these together there must be at least twenty-four +thousand myriads of gods. These of course include sun, moon, stars, +and all the forces of nature, as well as the spirits of men. Popular +Buddhism accepts the gods of Shinto and brings in many more, +worshiping not only the Buddha and his immediate "rakan," disciples, +five hundred in number, but numberless abstractions of ideal +qualities, such as the varieties of Kwannon (Avelokitesvara, gods and +goddesses of mercy), Amida (Amitabha, the ideal of boundless light), +Jizo (Kshitigarbha, the helper of those in trouble, lost children, and +pregnant women), Emma O (Yama-raja, ruler of Buddhist hells), Fudo +(Achala, the "immovable," "unchangeable"), and many others. Popular +Buddhism also worships every man dead or living who has become a +"hotoke," that is, has attained Buddhahood and has entered Nirvana. +The gods of Japan are innumerable in theory and multitudinous in +practice. Not only are there gods of goodness but also gods of lust +and of evil, to whom robbers and harlots may pray for success and +blessing. + +In the Japanese pantheon there is no supreme god, such, for instance, +as the Roman Jupiter, or the Greek Chronos, nor is there a +thoroughgoing divine hierarchy. + +According to the common view (although there is no definite thought +about it), the idea seems to be that the universe with its laws and +nature were already existent before the gods appeared on the scene; +they created specific places, such as Japan, out of already existing +material. Neither in Shinto nor in popular Buddhism is the conception +formed of a primal fount of all being with its nature and laws. In +this respect Japanese thought is like all primitive religious thought. +There is no word in the Japanese language corresponding to the English +term "God." The nearest approach to it are the Confucian terms +"Jo-tei," "Supreme Emperor," "Ten," "Heaven," and "Ten-tei," "Heavenly +Emperor"; but all of these terms are Chinese, they are therefore of +late appearance in Japan, and represent rather conceptions of educated +and Confucian classes than the ideas of the masses. These terms +approach closely to the idea of monotheism; but though the doctrine +may be discovered lying implicit in these words and ideas it was never +developed. Whether "Heaven" was to be conceived as a person, or merely +as fate, was not clearly thought out; some expressions point in one +direction while others point in the other. + +I may here call attention to a significant fact in the history of +recent Christian work in Japan. Although the serious-minded Japanese +is first attracted to Christianity by the character of its ethical +thought--so much resembling, also so much surpassing that of +Confucius, it is none the less true that monotheism is another +powerful source of attraction. I have been repeatedly told by +Christians that the first religious satisfaction they ever experienced +was upon their discovery of monotheism. How it affected Dr. Neesima, +readers of his life cannot have overlooked. He is a type of +multitudes. In the earlier days of Christian work many felt that they +had become Christians upon rejection of polytheism and acceptance of +monotheism. And in truth they were so far forth Christian, although +they knew little of Christ, and felt little need of His help as a +personal Saviour. The weakness of the Church in recent years is due in +part, I doubt not, to the acceptance into its membership of numbers +who were, properly speaking, monotheistic, but not in the complete +sense of the term Christian. Their discovery later that more was +needed than the intellectual acceptance of monotheism ere they could +be considered, or even be, truly "Christian," has led many such +"believers" to abandon their relations with the Church. This, while on +many accounts to be regretted, was nevertheless inevitable. The bare +acceptance of the monotheistic idea does not secure that +transformation of heart and produce that warmth of living faith which +are essential elements in the altruistic life demanded of the +Christian. + +Nor is it difficult to understand why monotheism has proved such an +attraction to the Japanese when we consider that through it they first +recognized a unity in the universe and even in their own lives. +Nature, and human nature took on an intelligibility which they never +had had under the older philosophy. History likewise was seen to have +a meaning and an order, to say nothing of a purpose, which the +non-Christian faiths did not themselves see and could not give to +their devotees. Furthermore the monotheistic idea furnished a +satisfactory background and explanation for the exact sciences. If +there is but one God, who is the fount and cause of all being, it is +easy to see why the truths of science should be universal and +absolute, rather than local and diverse, as they would be were they +subject to the jurisdiction of various local deities. The universality +of nature's laws was inconceivable under polytheism. Monotheism thus +found a ready access to many minds. Polytheism pure and simple is the +belief of no educated Japanese to-day. He is a monist of some kind or +other. Philosophic Buddhism always was monistic, but not monotheistic. +Thinking Confucianists were also monistic. But neither philosophic +Buddhism nor Confucianism emphasized their monistic elements; they did +not realize the importance to popular thought of monistic conceptions. +But possessing these ideas, and being now in contact with aggressive +Christian monotheism, they are beginning to emphasize this truth. + +As Japan has had no adequate conception of God, her conception of man +has been of necessity defective. Indeed, the cause of her inadequate +conception of God is due in large measure to her inadequate conception +of man, which we have seen to be a necessary consequence of the +primitive communal order. Since, however, we have already given +considerable attention to Japan's inadequate conception of man, we +need do no more than refer to it in this connection. + +Corresponding to her imperfect doctrines of God and of man is her +doctrine of sin. That the Japanese sense of sin is slight is a fact +generally admitted. This is the universal experience of the +missionary. Many Japanese with whom I have conversed seem to have no +consciousness of it whatever. Indeed, it is a difficult matter to +speak of to the Japanese, not only because of the etiquette involved, +but for the deeper reason of the deficiency of the language. There +exists no term in Japanese which corresponds to the Christian word +"sin." To tell a man he is a sinner without stopping to explain what +one means would be an insult, for he is not conscious of having broken +any of the laws of the land. Yet too much stress must not be laid on +this argument from the language, for the Buddhistic vocabulary +furnishes a number of terms which refer to the crime of transgressing +not the laws of the land, but those of Buddha. + +In Shinto, sin is little, if anything, more than physical impurity. +Although Buddhism brought a higher conception of religion for the +initiated few, it gave no help to the ignorant multitudes, rather it +riveted their superstitions upon them. It spoke of law indeed, and +lust and sin; and of dreadful punishments for sin; but when it +explained sin it made its nature too shallow, being merely the result +of mental confusion; salvation, then, became simply intellectual +enlightenment; it also made the consequences of sin too remote and the +escape from them too easy. The doctrine of "Don," suddenness of +salvation, the many external and entirely formal rites, short +pilgrimages to famous shrines, the visiting of some neighboring temple +having miniature models of all the other efficacious shrines +throughout the land, the wearing of charms, the buying of "o fuda," +and even the single utterance of certain magic prayers, were taught +to be quite enough for the salvation of the common man from the worst +of sins. Where release is so easily obtained, the estimate of the +heinousness of sin is correspondingly slight. How different was the +consciousness of sin and the conception of its nature developed by the +Jewish worship with its system of sin offerings! Life for life. +Whatever we may think of the efficacy of offering an animal as an +expiation for sin, it certainly contributed far more toward deepening +the sense of sin than the rites in common practice among the +Buddhists. So far as I know, human or animal sacrifice has never been +known in Japan. + +In response to the not unlikely criticism that sacrifice is the result +of profound sense of sin and not its cause, I reply that it is both. +The profound sense is the experience of the few at the beginning; the +practice educates the multitudes and begets that feeling in the +nation. + +Ceremonial purification is an old rite in Japan. In this connection we +naturally think of the "Chozu-bachi" which may be found before every +Shinto shrine, containing the "holy water" with which to rinse the +mouth and wash the hands. Pilgrims and worshipers invariably make use +of this water, wiping their hands on the towels provided for the +purpose by the faithful. To our eyes, few customs in Japan are more +conducive to the spread of impurity and infectious disease than this +rite of ceremonial purification. No better means could be devised for +the wide dissemination of the skin diseases which are so common. The +reformed religion of New Japan--whether Buddhist, Shinto, or +Christian--could do few better services for the people at large than +by entering on a crusade against this religious rite. It could and +should preach the doctrine that sin and defilement of the hearts are +not removed by such an easy method as the rite implies and the masses +believe. If retained as a symbol, the purification rite should at +least be reformed as a practice. + +Whether the use of purificatory water is to be traced to the sense of +moral or spiritual sin is doubtful to my mind; in view of the general +nature of primitive Shinto. The interpretation given the system by +W.E. Griffis, in his volume on the "Religions of Japan," is +suggestive, but in view of all the facts does not seem conclusive. +"One of the most remarkable features of Shinto" he writes, "was the +emphasis laid on cleanliness. Pollution was calamity, defilement was +sin, and physical purity at least was holiness. Everything that could +in any way soil the body or clothing was looked upon with abhorrence +and detestation."[CE] The number of specifications given in this +connection is worthy of careful perusal. But it is a strange nemesis +of history that the sense of physical pollution should develop a +religious rite fitted to become the very means for the dissemination +of physical pollution and disease. + +Japanese personal cleanliness is often connected in the descriptions +of foreigners with ceremonial purification, but the facts are much +exaggerated. In contrast to nearly if not quite all non-Christian +peoples, the Japanese are certainly astonishingly cleanly in their +habits. But it is wholly unnecessary to exaggerate the facts. The +"tatami," or straw-mats, an inch or more in thickness, give to the +room an appearance of cleanliness which usually belies the truth. The +multitudes of fleas that infest the normal Japanese home are +convincing proof of the real state of the "tatami." There are those +who declare that a Japanese crowd has the least offensive odor of any +people in the world. One writer goes so far as to state that not only +is there no unpleasant odor whatever, but that there is even a +pleasant intimation of lavender about their exhalations. This exactly +contradicts my experience. Not to mention the offensive oil with which +all women anoint their hair to give it luster and stiffness, the +Japanese habit of wearing heavy cotton wadded clothing, with little or +no underwear, produces the inevitable result in the atmosphere of any +closed room. In cold weather I always find it necessary to throw open +all the doors and windows of my study or parlor, after Bible classes +of students or even after the visits of cultured and well-to-do +guests. That the Japanese bathe so frequently is certainly an +interesting fact and a valuable feature of their civilization; it +indicates no little degree of cleanliness; but for that, their +clothing would become even more disagreeable than it is, and the evil +effect upon themselves of wearing soiled garments would be much +greater. In point of fact, their frequent baths do not wholly remove +the need of change in clothing. To a Japanese the size of the weekly +wash of a foreigner seems extravagant. + +As to the frequent bathing, its cleanliness is exaggerated by Western +thought, for instead of supplying fresh water for each person, the +Japanese public baths consist usually of a large tank used by +multitudes in common. Clean water is allowed for the face, but the +main tank is supplied with clean hot water only once each day. In +Kumamoto, schoolgirls living with us invariably asked permission to go +to the bath early in the day that they might have the first use of the +water. They said that by night it was so foul they could not bear to +use it. Each hotel has its own private bath for guests; this is +usually heated in the afternoon, and the guests take their baths from +four o'clock on until midnight, the waiting girls of the hotel using +it last. My only experience with public baths has been mentioned +already. At first glance the conditions were reassuring, for a large +stream of hot water was running in constantly, and the water in the +tank itself was quite transparent. But on entering I was surprised, +not to say horrified, to see floating along the margin of the tank and +on the bottom of it suggestive proofs of previous bathers. On inquiry +I learned that the tank was never washed out, nor the water entirely +discharged at a single time; the natural overflow along the edge of +the tank being considered sufficient. In the interest of accuracy it +is desirable to add that New Japan is making progress in the matter of +public baths. In some of the larger cities, I am told, provision is +sometimes made for entirely fresh water for each bather in separate +bathrooms. + +In view of these facts--as unpleasant to mention as they are essential +to a faithful description of the habits of the people--it is clear +that the "horror of physical impurity" has not been, and is not now, +so great as some would have us believe. Whatever may have been the +condition in ancient times, it would be difficult to believe that the +rite of ceremonial purification could arise out of the present +practices and habits of thought. One may venture the inquiry whether +the custom of using the "purificatory water" may not have been +introduced from abroad. + +But whatever be the present thought of the people, on the general +subject of sin, it may be shown to be due to the prevailing system of +ideas, moral and religious, rather than to the inherent racial +character. In an interesting article by Mr. G. Takahashi on the "Past, +Present, and Future of Christianity in Japan" I find the statement +that the preaching of the monks who came to Japan in the sixteenth +century was of such a nature as to produce a very deep consciousness +of sin among the converts. "The Christians or martyrs repeatedly cried +out 'we miserable sinners,' 'Christ died for us,' etc., as their +letters abundantly prove. It was because of this that their +consciences were aroused by the burning words of Christ, and kept +awake by means of contrition and confession." Among modern Christians +the sense of sin is much more clear and pronounced than among the +unconverted. Individual instances of extreme consciousness of sin are +not unknown, especially under the earlier Protestant preaching. If the +Christians of the last decade have less sense of sin, it is due to the +changed character of recent preaching, in consequence of the changed +conception of Christianity widely accepted in Protestant lands. Who +will undertake to say that Christians in New England of the nineteenth +century have the same oppressive sense of sin that was customary in +the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries? The sense of sin +is due more to the character of the dominant religious ideas of the +age than to brain structure or to race nature. I cannot agree with Mr. +Takahashi that "To be religious one needs a Semitic tinge of mind." It +is not a question of mind, of race nature, but of dominant ideas. + +In this connection I may refer to an incident that came under my +notice some years ago. A young man applied for membership in the +Kumamoto Church, who at one time had been a student in one of my Bible +classes. I had not known that he had received any special help from +his study with me, until I heard his statement as to how he had +discovered his need of a Saviour, and had found that need satisfied in +Christ. In his statement before the examining committee of the church, +he said that when he first read the thirteenth chapter of 1 +Corinthians, he was so impressed with its beauty as a poem that he +wrote it out entire on one of the fusuma (light paper doors) of his +room, and each morning, as he arose, he read it. This practice +continued several weeks. Then, as we continued our study of the Bible, +we took up the third chapter of John, and when he came to the +sixteenth verse, he was so impressed with its statement that he wrote +that beside the poem from Corinthians, and read them together. +Gradually this daily reading, together with the occasional sermons and +other Christian addresses which he heard at the Boys' School, led him +to desire to secure for himself the love described by Paul, and to +know more vitally the love of God described by John. It occurred to +him, that, to secure these ends, he should pray. Upon doing so he said +that, for the first time in his life, his unworthiness and his really +sinful nature overwhelmed him. This was, of course, but the beginning +of his Christian life. He began then to search the Scriptures in +earnest, and with increasing delight. It was not long before he wished +to make public confession of his faith, and thus identify himself with +the Christian community. This brief account of the way in which this +young man was brought to Christ illustrates a good many points, but +that for which I have cited it is the testimony it bears to the fact +that under similar circumstances the human heart undergoes very much +the same religious experience, whatever be the race or nationality of +the individual. + +In regard to the future life, Shinto has little specific doctrine. It +certainly implies the continued existence of the soul after death, as +its ancestral worship shows, but its conception as to the future state +is left vague in the extreme. Confucius purposely declined to teach +anything on this point, and, in part, for this reason, it has been +maintained that Confucianism cannot properly be called a religion. +Buddhism brought to Japan an elaborate system of eschatological ideas, +and so far as the common people of Japan have any conception of the +future life, it may be attributed to Buddhistic teachings. Into their +nature I need not inquire at any length. According to popular +Buddhism, the future world, or more properly speaking, worlds (for +there are ten of them, into any one of which a soul may be born either +immediately or in the course of its future transmigrations), does not +differ in any vital way from the present world. It is a world of +material blessings or woes; the successive stages or worlds are graded +one above the other in fantastic ways. Salvation consists in passing +to higher grades of life, the final or perfect stage being paradise, +which, once attained, can never be lost. Transmigration is universal, +the period of life in each world being determined by the merits and +demerits of the individual soul. + +Here we must consider two widely used terms "ingwa" and "mei." The +first of these is Buddhistic and the other Confucianistic; though +differing much in origin and meaning, yet in the end they amount to +much the same thing. "Ingwa" is the law of cause and effect. According +to the Buddhistic teaching, however, the "in," or cause, is in one +world, while the "gwa," or effect, is in the other. The suffering, for +instance, or any misfortune that overtakes one in this present life, +is the "gwa" or effect of what was done in the previous, and is thus +inevitable. The individual is working off in this life the "gwa" of +his last life, and he is also working up the "in" of the next He is +thus in a kind of vise. His present is absolutely determined for him +by his past, and in turn is irrevocably fixing his future. Such is the +Buddhistic "wheel of the law." The common explanation of misfortune, +sickness, or disease, or any calamity, is that it is the result of +"ingwa," and that there is, therefore, no help for it. The paralyzing +nature of this conception on the development of character, or on +activity of any kind, is apparent not only theoretically but actually. +As an escape from the inexorable fatality of this scheme of thought, +the Buddhist faith of the common people has resorted to magic. Magic +prayers, consisting of a few mystic syllables of whose meaning the +worshiper may be quite ignorant, are the means for overcoming the +inexorableness of "ingwa," both for this life and the next. "Namu +Amida Butsu," "Namu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo," "Namu Hen Jo Kongo," are the +most common of such magic formulæ. These prayers are heard on the lips +of tens of thousands of pious pilgrims, not only at the temples, but +as they pass along the highways. It is believed that each repetition +secures its reward. Popular Buddhism's appeal to magic was not only +winked at by philosophical Buddhism, but it was encouraged. Magic was +justified by religious philosophy, and many a "hoben," "pious device," +for saving the ignorant was invented by the priesthood. It will be +apparent that while Buddhism has in certain respects a vigorous system +of punishment for sin, yet its method of relief is such that the +common people can gain only the most shallow and superficial views of +salvation. Buddhism has not served to deepen the sense of +responsibility, nor helped to build up character. That the more +serious-minded thinkers of the nation have, as a rule, rejected +Buddhism is not strange. + +One point of great interest for us is the fact that this +eschatological and soteriological system was imported, and is not the +spontaneous product of Japan. The wide range of national religious +characteristics thus clearly traceable to Buddhistic influence shows +beyond doubt how large a part of a nation's character is due to the +system of thought that for one reason or another prevails, rather than +to the essential race character. + +The other term mentioned above, "mei," literally means "command" or +"decree"; but while the English terms definitely imply a real being +who decides, decrees, and commands, the term "mei" is indeterminate on +this point. It is frequently joined to the word "Ten," or Heaven; +"Ten-mei," Heaven's decree, seeming to imply a personality in the +background of the thought. Yet, as I have already pointed out, it is +only implied; in actual usage it means the fate decreed by Heaven; +that is, fated fate, or absolute fate. The Chinese and the Japanese +alike failed to inquire minutely as to the implication of the deepest +conceptions of their philosophy. But "mei" is commonly used entirely +unconnected with "Ten," and in this case its best translation into +English is probably "fate." In this sense it is often used. Unlike +Buddhism, however, Confucianism provided no way of escape from "mei" +except moral conduct. One of its important points of superiority was +its freedom from appeal to magic in any form, and its reliance on +sincerity of heart and correctness of conduct. + +Few foreigners have failed to comment on the universal use by the +Japanese of the phrase "Shikataga nai," "it can't be helped." The +ready resignation to "fate," as they deem it, even in little things +about the home and in the daily life, is astonishing to Occidentals. +Where we hold ourselves and each other to sharp personal +responsibility, the sense of subjection to fate often leads them to +condone mistakes with the phrase "Shikataga nai." + +But this characteristic is not peculiar to Japan. China and India are +likewise marked by it. During the famines in India, it was frequently +remarked how the Hindus would settle down to starve in their huts in +submission to fate, where Westerners would have been doing something +by force, fighting even the decrees of heaven, if needful. But it is +important to note that this characteristic in Japan is undergoing +rapid change. The spirit of absolute submission, so characteristic of +the common people of Old Japan, is passing away and self-assertion is +taking its place. Education and developing intelligence are driving +out the fear of fate. Had our estimate of the Japanese race character +been based wholly on the history of Old Japan, it might have been easy +to conclude that the spirit of submission to rulers and to fate was a +national characteristic due to racial nature; but every added year of +New Japan shows how erroneous that view would have been. Thus we see +again that the characteristics of Japan, Old and New, are not due to +race nature, but to the prevailing civilization in the broadest sense +of the term. The religious characteristics of a people depend +primarily on the dominant religious ideas, not on the inherent +religious nature. + + + + +XXVIII + +SOME RELIGIOUS PRACTICES + + +Among the truly religious sentiments of the Japanese are those of +loyalty and filial piety. Having already given them considerable +attention, we need not delay long upon them here. The point to be +emphasized is that these two principles are exalted into powerful +religious sentiments, which have permeated and dominated the entire +life of the nation. Not only were they at the root of courage, of +fidelity, of obedience, and of all the special virtues of Old Japan, +but they were also at the root of the larger part of her religion. +These emotions, sentiments, and beliefs have built 190,000 Shinto +shrines. Loyalty to the daimyo was the vital part of the religion of +the past, as loyalty to the Emperor is the vital part of the popular +religion of to-day. Next to loyalty came filial piety; it not only +built the cemeteries, but also maintained god-shelves and family +ancestral worship throughout the centuries. One of the first questions +which many an inquirer about Christianity has put to me is as to the +way we treat our parents living and dead, and the tombs and memories +of our ancestors. These two religious sentiments of loyalty and filial +piety were essential elements of primitive Shinto. The imported +religions, particularly Confucianism and Christianity, served to +strengthen them. In view of the indubitable religious nature of these +two sentiments it is difficult to see how anyone can deny the name of +religion to the religions that inculcate them, Shinto and +Confucianism. It shows how defective is the current conception of the +real nature of religion. + +Despite the reality of these religious, sentiments, however, many +things are done in Japan quite opposed to them. Of course this is so. +These violations spring from irreligion, and irreligion is found in +every land. Furthermore, many things done in the name of loyalty and +piety seem to us Westerners exceedingly whimsical and illogical. Deeds +which to us seem disloyal and unfilial receive no rebuke. Filial piety +often seems to us more active toward the dead than toward the living. + +Closely connected with loyalty and filial piety, and in part their +expression, is one further religious sentiment, namely, gratitude. In +his chapter in "Kokoro" "About Ancestor-Worship," Mr. Hearn makes some +pertinent remarks as to the nature of Shinto. "Foremost among the +moral sentiments of Shinto is that of loving gratitude to the past." +This he attributes to the fact that "To Japanese thought the dead are +not less real than the living. They take part in the daily life of the +people, sharing the humblest sorrows and the humblest joys ... and +they are universally thought of as finding pleasure in the offerings +made to them or the honors conferred upon them." There is much truth +in these statements, though I by no means share the opinion that in +connection with the Japanese belief in the dead there "have been +evolved moral sentiments wholly unknown to Western civilization," or +that their "loving gratitude to the past" is "a sentiment having no +real correspondence in our own emotional life." Mr. Hearn may be +presumed to be speaking for himself in these matters; but he certainly +does not correctly represent the thought or the feelings of the circle +of life known to me. The feeling of gratitude of Western peoples is as +real and as strong as that of the Japanese, though it does not find +expression in the worship of the dead. That the Japanese are profuse +in their expressions of gratitude to the past and to the powers that +be is beyond dispute. It crops out in sermons and public speeches, as +well as in the numberless temples to national heroes. + +But it is a matter of surprise to note how often there is apparent +ingratitude toward living benefactors. Some years ago I heard a +conversation between some young men who had enjoyed special +opportunities of travel and of study abroad by the liberality of +American gentlemen. + +It appeared that the young men considered that instead of receiving +any special favors, they were conferring them on their benefactors by +allowing the latter to help such brilliant youth as they, whose +subsequent careers in Japan would preserve to posterity the names of +their benefactors. I have had some experience in the line of giving +assistance to aspiring students, in certain cases helping them for +years; a few have given evidence of real gratitude; but a large +proportion have seemed singularly deficient in this grace. It is my +impression that relatively few of the scores of students who have +received a large proportion of their expenses from the mission, while +pursuing their studies, have felt that they were thereby under any +special debt of gratitude. An experience that a missionary had with a +class to which he had been teaching the Bible in English for about a +year is illustrative. At the close of the school year they invited him +to a dinner where they made some very pleasant speeches, and bade each +other farewell for the summer. The teacher was much gratified with the +result of the year's work, feeling naturally that these boys were his +firm friends. But the following September when he returned, not only +did the class not care to resume their studies with him, but they +appeared to desire to have nothing whatever to do with him. On the +street many of them would not even recognize him. Other similar cases +come to mind, and it should be remembered that missionaries give such +instruction freely and always at the request of the recipient. In the +case cited the teacher came to the conclusion that the elaborate +dinner and fine farewell speeches were considered by the young men as +a full discharge of all debts of gratitude and a full compensation for +services. This, however, is to be said: the city itself was at that +time the seat of a determined antagonism to Christianity and, of +course, to the Christian missionary; and this fact may in part, but +not wholly, account for the appearance of ingratitude. + +The Japanese pride themselves on their gratitude. It is, however, +limited in its scope. It is vigorous toward the dead and toward the +Emperor, but as a grace of daily life it is not conspicuous. + +Few achievements of the Japanese have been more remarkable than the +suppression of certain religious phenomena. Any complete statement of +the religious characteristics of the Japanese fifty years ago would +have included most revolting and immoral practices under the guise of +religion. Until suppressed by the government in the early years of +Meiji there were in many parts of Japan phallic shrines of +considerable popularity, at which, on festivals at least, sexual +immorality seemed to be an essential part of the worship. At Uji, not +far from Kyoto, the capital of the Empire, for a thousand years and +more, and the center of Buddhism, there was a shrine of great repute +and popularity. Thither resorted the multitudes for bacchanalian +purposes. Under the auspices of the Goddess Hashihime and the God +Sumiyoshi, free rein was given to lust. Since the beginning of the new +régime such revels have been forbidden and apparently stopped; the +phallic symbols themselves are no longer visible, although it is +asserted by the keeper of the shrine that they are still there, +concealed in the boxes on the pedestals formerly occupied by the +symbols. When I visited the place some years since with a fellow +missionary we were told that multitudes still come there to pray to +the deities; those seeking divorce pray to the female deity, while +those seeking a favorable marriage pray to the male deity; on asking +as to the proportion of the worshipers, we were told that there are +about ten of the former to one of the latter, a significant indication +of the unhappiness of many a home. Prof. Edmund Buckley has made a +special study of the subject of phallic worship in Japan; in his +thesis on the topic he gives a list of thirteen places where these +symbols of phallic worship might be seen a few years since. It is +significant that at Uji, not a stone's throw from the phallic shrine, +is a temple to the God Agata, whose special function is the cure of +venereal diseases. + +But though phallic worship and its accompanying immorality have been +extirpated, immorality in connection with religion is still rampant in +certain quarters. Not far from the great temples at Ise, the center of +Shintoism and the goal for half a million pilgrims yearly, are large +and prosperous brothels patronized by and existing for the sake of +the pilgrims. A still more popular resort for pilgrims is that at +Kompira, whither, as we have seen, some 900,000 come each year; here +the best hotels, and presumably the others also, are provided with +prostitutes who also serve as waiting girls; on the arrival of a guest +he is customarily asked whether or not the use of a prostitute shall +be included in his hotel bill. It seems strange, indeed, that the +government should take such pains to suppress phallicism, and allow +such immorality to go on under the eaves of the greatest national +shrines; for these shrines are not private affairs; the government +takes possession of the gifts, and pays the regular salaries of the +attending priests. It would appear from its success in the +extermination of distinctly phallic worship that the government could +put a stop to all public prostitution in connection with religion if +it cared to do so. + +One point of interest in connection with the above facts is that the +old religions, however much of force, beauty, and truth we may concede +to them, have never made warfare against these obscene forms of +worship, nor against the notorious immorality of their devotees. +Whatever may be said of the profound philosophy of life involved in +phallic worship, for many hundreds of years it has been a source of +outrageous immorality. Nevertheless, there has never been any +continued and effective effort on the part of the higher types of +religion to exterminate the lower. But Japan is not peculiar in this +respect. India is even now amazingly immoral in certain forms of her +worship. + +Another point of interest in this connection is that the change of the +nation in its attitude to this form of religion was due largely, +probably wholly, to contact with the nations of the West. The +uprooting of phallic worship was due, not to a moral reformation, but +to a political ambition. It was carried out, not in deference to +public opinion, but wholly by government command, though without doubt +the nobler opinion of the land approved of the government action. But +even this nobler public sentiment was aroused by the Occidental +stimulus. The success of the effort must be attributed not a little to +the age-long national custom of submitting absolutely to governmental +initiative and command. + +Another point of interest is that, in consequence of official +pressure, the religious character of a large number of the people +seems to have undergone a radical change. The ordinary traveler in +Japan would not suspect that phallicism had ever been a prominent +feature of Japanese religious life. Only an inquisitive seeker can now +find the slightest evidences of this once popular cult. Here we have +an apparent change in the character of a people sudden and complete, +induced almost wholly by external causes. It shows that the previous +characteristic was not so deeply rooted in the physical or spiritual +nature of the race as many would have us believe. Can we escape the +conclusion that national characteristics are due much more to the +circle of dominant ideas and actual practices, than to the inherent +race nature? + +The way in which phallicism has been suppressed during the present era +raises the general question of religious liberty in Japan. In this +respect, no less than in many others, a change has taken place so +great as to amount to a revolution. During two hundred and fifty years +Christianity was strictly forbidden on pain of extreme penalties. In +1872 the edict against Christianity was removed, free preaching was +allowed, and for a time it seemed as if the whole nation would become +Christian in a few decades; even non-Christians urged that +Christianity be made the state religion. What an amazing volte-face! +Religious liberty is now guaranteed by the constitution promulgated in +1888. There are those who assert that until Christianity invaded +Japan, religious freedom was perfect; persecutions were unknown. This +is a mistake. When Buddhism came to Japan, admission was first sought +from the authorities, and for a time was refused. When various sects +arose, persecutions were severe. We have seen how belief in +Christianity was forbidden under pain of death for more than two +hundred and fifty years. Under this edict, many thousand Japanese +Christians and over two hundred European missionaries were put to +death. Yet, on the whole, it may be said that Old Japan enjoyed no +little religious freedom. Indeed, the same man might worship freely +at all the shrines and temples in the land. To this day multitudes +have never asked themselves whether they are Shinto or Buddhist or +Confucianist. The reason for this religious eclecticism was the +fractional character of the old religions; they supplemented each +other. There was no collision between them in doctrine or in morals. +The religious freedom was, therefore, not one of principle but of +indifference. As Rome was tolerant of all religions which made no +exclusive claims, but fiercely persecuted Christianity, so Japan was +tolerant of the two religions that found their way into her territory +because they made no claims of exclusiveness. But a religion that +demanded the giving up of rivals was feared and forbidden. + +New Japan, however, following Anglo-Saxon example, has definitely +adopted religious freedom as a principle. First tacitly allowed after +the abolition of the edict against Christianity in 1872, it was later +publicly guaranteed by the constitution promulgated in 1888. Since +that date there has been perfect religious liberty for the individual. + +Yet this statement must be carefully guarded. If we may judge from +some recent decrees of the Educational Department, it would appear +that a large and powerful section of the nation is still ignorant of +the real nature and significance of "religious liberty." Under the +plea of maintaining secular education, the Educational Department has +forbidden informal and private Christian teaching, even in private +schools. An adequate statement of the present struggle for complete +religious liberty would occupy many pages. We note but one important +point. + +In the very act of forbidding religious instruction in all schools the +Educational Department is virtually establishing a brand-new religion +for Japan, a religion based on the Imperial Educational Edict.[CF] The +essentially religious nature of the attitude taken by the government +toward this Edict has become increasingly clear in late years. In the +summer of 1898 one who has had special opportunities of information +told me that Mr. Kinoshita, a high official in the Educational +Department, suggested the ceremonial worship of the Emperor's picture +and edict by all the schools, for the reason that he saw the need of +cultivating the religious spirit of reverence together with the need +for having religious sanctions for the moral law. He felt convinced +that a national school system without any such sanctions would be +helpless in teaching morality to the pupils. His suggestion was +adopted by the Educational Department and has been enforced. + +In this attitude toward the religious character of entirely private +schools, the government is materially abridging the religious liberty +of the people. It is abridging their liberty of carrying belief into +action in one important respect, that, namely, of giving a Christian +education. It virtually insists on the acceptance of that form of +religion which apotheosizes the Emperor, and finds the sanctions for +morality in his edict; it excludes from the schools every other form +of religion. It should, of course, be said that this attitude is +maintained not only toward Christian schools, but theoretically also +toward all religious schools. It, however, operates more severely on +Christian schools than upon others, because Christians are the only +ones who establish high-grade schools for secular education under +religious influences. + +It is evident, therefore, that in the matter of religious liberty the +present attitude of the government is paradoxical, granting in one +breath, what, in an important respect, it denies in the next. But +throughout all these changes and by means of them we see more and more +clearly that even religious tolerance is a matter of the prevailing +social ideas and of the dominant social order, rather than of inherent +race character. By a single transformation of the social order, Japan +passed from a state of perfect religious intolerance to one just the +reverse, so far as individual belief was concerned. + +Taking a comprehensive review of our study thus far, we see that the +forms of Japanese religious life have been determined by the history, +rather than by any inherent racial character of the people. Although +they had a religion prior to the coming of any external influence, +yet they have proved ready disciples of the religions of other lands. +The religion of India, its esoteric, and especially its exoteric +forms, has found wide acceptance and long-continued popularity. The +higher life of the nation readily took on in later times the religious +characteristics of the Chinese, predominantly ethical, it is true, and +only slightly religious as to forms of worship. When Roman Catholic +Christianity came to Japan in the sixteenth century, it, too, found +ready acceptance. It is true that it presented a view of the nature of +religion not very different from that held by Buddhism in many +respects, yet in others there was a marked divergence, as for +instance, in the doctrine of God, of individual sin, and of the nature +and method of salvation. The Japanese have thus shown themselves ready +assimilators of all these diverse systems of religious expression. +Just at present a new presentation of Christianity is being made to +the Japanese; some are urging upon them the acceptance of the Roman +Catholic form of it; others are urging the Greek; and still others are +presenting the Protestant point of view. Each of these groups of +missionaries seems to be reaping good harvests. Speaking from my own +experience, I may say, that many of the Japanese show as great an +appreciation of the essence of the religious life, and find the ideas +and ideals, doctrines and ceremonies, of Christianity as fitted to +their heart's deepest needs, as do any in the most enlightened parts +of Christendom. It is true that the Christian system is so opposed to +the Buddhistic and Shinto, and in some respects to the Confucian, that +it is an exceedingly difficult matter at the beginning to give the +Buddhist or Shintoist any idea of what Christianity is. Yet the +difficulty arises not from the structure of the brain, nor from the +inherent race character, but solely from the diversity of hitherto +prevailing systems of thought. When once the passage from the one +system of thought to the other has been effected, and the significance +of the Christian system and life has been appreciated,--in other +words, when the Japanese Buddhist or Shintoist or Confucianist has +become a Christian,--he is as truly a Christian and as faithful as is +the Englishman or American. + +Of course I do not mean to say that he looks at every doctrine and at +every ceremony in exactly the same way as an Englishman or American. +But I do say that the different point of view is due to the differing +social and religious history of the past and the differing +surroundings of the present, rather than to inherent racial character +or brain structure. The Japanese are human beings before they are +Japanese. + +For these reasons have I absolute confidence in the final acceptance +of Christianity by the Japanese. There is no race characteristic in +true Christianity that bars the way. Furthermore, the very growth of +the Japanese in recent years, intellectually and in the reorganization +of the social order, points to their final acceptance of Christianity +and renders it necessary. The old religious forms are not satisfying +the religious needs of to-day. And if history proves anything, it +proves that only the religion of Jesus can do this permanently. +Religion is a matter of humanity, not of nationality. It is for this +reason that the world over, religions, though of so many forms, are +still so much alike. And it is because the religion of Jesus is +pre-eminently the religion of humanity and has not a trace of +exclusive nationality about it, that it is the true religion, and is +fitted to satisfy the deepest religious wants of the most highly +developed as well as the least developed man of any and every race and +nation. In proportion as man develops, he grows out of his narrow +surroundings, both physical and mental and even moral; he enters a +larger and larger world. The religious expressions of his nature in +the local provincial and even national stages of his life cannot +satisfy his larger potential life. Only the religion of humanity can +do this. And this is the religion of Jesus. The white light of +religion, no less than that of scientific truth, has no local or +national coloring. Perfect truth is universal, eternal, unchangeable. +Occidental or Oriental colorations are in reality defects, +discolorations. + + + + +XXIX + +SOME PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL EVOLUTION + + +And now, having studied somewhat in detail various distinctive +Japanese characteristics, it is important that we gain an insight into +the general principles which govern the development of unified, +national life. These principles render Japanese history luminous. + +Let us first fix our attention on the fact that every step in the +progress of mankind has been from smaller to larger communities. In +other words, human progress has been through the increasing extension +of the communal principle. The primitive segregative man, if there +ever really was such a being, hardly deserves to be called man. Social +qualities he had very slight, if at all; his altruistic actions and +emotions were of the lowest and feeblest type. His life was so +self-centered--we may not call it selfish, for he was not conscious of +his self-centeredness--that he was quite sufficient to himself except +for short periods of time. It was a matter of relative indifference to +him whether his kinsmen survived or perished. His life was in only the +slightest degree involved in theirs. The first step of progress for +him depended on the development of some form of communal life. The +primary problem of the social evolution of man was that of taking the +wild, self-centered, self-sufficient man, and of teaching him to move +in line with his fellow-men. And this problem confronted not only +mankind at the beginning, but it has also been the great problem of +each successive stage. After the individual has been taught to live +with, to work with and for, and to love, his immediate kinsmen (in +other words to merge his individual interests in those of the family, +and to count the family interests of more importance than his own), +the next step was to induce the family to look beyond its little +world and be willing to work with and for neighboring families. When, +after ages of conflict, this step was in a measure secured and the +family-tribe was fairly formed, this group in turn must be taught to +take into its view a still larger group, the tribal nation. Throughout +the ages the constant problem has been the development of larger and +larger communal groups. This general process has been very aptly +called by Mr. Bagehot the taming process. The selfward thoughts and +ambitions of the individual man have been thus far driven more and +more into the background of fact, if not of consciousness. The +individual has been brought into vital and organic relations with +ever-increasing multitudes of his fellow-men. It is, therefore, +pre-eminently a process of social or associational development. It not +only develops social relations in an ever-increasing scale, but also +social qualities and ideals and desires. + +Now this taming, this socializing process, has been successful because +it has had back of it, always enforcing it, the law of the survival of +the strongest. What countless millions of men must have perished in +the first step! They consisted of the less fit; of those who would +not, or did not, learn soon enough the secret of existence through +permanent family union. And what countless millions of families must +have perished because they did not discover the way, or were too +independent, to unite with kindred families in order to fight a common +foe or develop a common food supply. And still later, what countless +tribes must have perished before the secret of tribal federation was +widely accepted! In each case the problem has been to secure the +subordination of the interests of the smaller and local community to +those of the larger community. Death to self and life to the larger +interest was often the condition of existence at all. How slow men +always have been and still are to learn this great lesson of history! + +The method whereby this taming process has been carried on has been +through the formation of increasingly comprehensive and rigid customs +and ideas. Through the development and continued existence of a common +language, series of common customs, and sets of common ideas, unity +was secured for the community; these, indeed, are the means whereby a +group is transformed into a community. As the smaller community gave +way to the larger, so the local languages, customs, and ideas had to +break up and become so far modified as to form a new bond of unity. +Until this unity was secured the new community was necessarily weak; +the group easily broke up into its old constituent elements. We here +gain a glimpse into one reason why the development of large composite +communities, uniting and for the most part doing away with smaller +ones, was so difficult and slow. + +The process of absorption of smaller groups and their unification into +larger ones, when carried out completely in any land, tends to arrest +all further growth, not simply because there is no further room for +expansion by the absorption of other divergent tribes, but also +because the "cake of custom" is apt to become so hard, the uniformity +enforced on all the individuals is liable to become so binding, that +fruitful variation from within is effectually cut off. The evolution +of relatively isolated or segregated groups necessarily produces +variety; and the process whereby these divergent types of life and +thought and organization are gradually brought together into one large +community provides wide elements of variation, in the selection and +general adoption of which the evolution of the whole community may be +secured. But let the divergent elements of the lesser groups once be +entirely absorbed by the composite community and let the "cake of +custom" become so rigid that every individual who varies from it is +branded as a heretic and a traitor, and the progressive evolution of +that community must cease. + +The great problem, therefore, which then confronts man and seems to +threaten all further progress is, how to break the bondage of custom +so as to secure local or individual variations. This can be done only +through some form of individualism. The individual must be free to +think and act as experience or fancy may suggest, without fear of +being branded as a traitor, or at least he must have the courage to do +so in spite of such fears. And to produce an effect on the community +he must also be more or less protected in his idiosyncrasies by +popular toleration. + +He must be allowed to live and work out his theories, proving whether +they are valuable or not. But since individualism is just what all +previous communal development has been most assiduous in crushing out, +how is the rise of individualism possible, or even desirable? If the +first and continued development of man depended on the attainment and +the maintenance of the communal principle, we may be sure that his +further progress will not consist in the reversal of that principle. +If, therfore, individualism must be developed, it must manifestly be +of a variety which does not conflict with or abrogate communalism. +Only as the individualistic includes the communal principle will it be +a source of strength; otherwise it can only be a source of weakness to +the community. But is not this an impossible condition to satisfy? +Certainly, before the event, it would seem to be so. The rarity with +which this step in human evolution has been taken would seem to show +that it is far more difficult to accomplish than any of the previous +steps. To give it a name we may call it communo-individualism. What +this variety of individualism is, how this forward step was first +actually taken, and how it is maintained and extended to-day, we shall +consider in a later chapter. In the present place its importance for +us is twofold. First we must realize the logical difficulty of the +step--its apparently self-contradictory nature. And secondly we need +to see that fully developed and continuously progressive national life +is impossible without it. The development of a nation under the +communal principle may advance far, even to the attainment of a +relatively high grade of civilization. But the fully centralized and +completely self-conscious nation cannot come into existence except on +the basis of this last step of communo-individualism. The growth of +nationalism proper, and the high development of civilization through +the rise of the sciences and the arts based upon individualism, all +await the dawn of the era of which communo-individualism is the +leading, though at first unrecognized, characteristic. + +This individualistic development of the communal principle is its +intensive development; it is the focalizing and centralizing of the +consciousness of the national unity in each individual member. The +extensive process of communal enlargement must ever be accompanied by +the intensive establishment in the individual of the communal ideal, +the objective by the subjective, the physical by the psychical, if the +accidental association for individual profit is to develop into the +permanent association for the national as well as the individual life. +The intensive or subjective development of the communal principle +does, as a matter of fact, take place in all growing communities, but +it is largely unconscious. Not until the final stages of national +development does it become a self-conscious process, deserving the +distinctive name I have given it here, communo-individualism.[CG] + +The point just made is, however, only one aspect of a more general +fact, too, of cardinal importance for the sociologist and the student +of human evolution. It is that, throughout the entire period of the +expansion of the community, there has been an equally profound, +although wholly unconscious, development of the individual. This fact +seems to have largely escaped the notice of all but the most recent +thinkers and writers on the general topic of human and social +evolution. The fact and the importance of the communal life have been +so manifest that, in important senses, the individual has been almost, +if not wholly, dropped out of sight. The individual has been +conceived to have been from the very beginning of social evolution +fully endowed with mind, ideas, and brains, and to be perfectly +regardless of all other human beings. The development of the community +has accordingly been conceived to be a progressive taming and subduing +of this wild, self-centered, primitive man; a process of eliminating +his individualistic instincts. So far as the individual is concerned, +it has been conceived to be chiefly a negative process; a process of +destroying his individual desires and plans and passions. Man's +natural state has been supposed to be that of absolute selfishness. +Only the hard necessity of natural law succeeded in forcing him to +curb his natural selfish desires and to unite with his fellows. Only +on these terms could he maintain even an existence. Those who have not +accepted these terms have been exterminated. Communal life in all its +forms, from the family upward to the most unified and developed +nation, is thus conceived as a continued limiting of the individual--a +necessity, indeed, to his existence, but none the less a limitation. + +I am unable to take this view, which at best is a one-sided statement. +It appears to me capable of demonstration, that communal and +individual development proceed pari passu; that every gain in the +communal life is a gain to the individual and vice versa. They are +complementary, not contradictory processes. Neither can exist, in any +proper sense, apart from the other; and the degree of the development +of the one is a sure index of the degree of the development of the +other. So important is this matter that we must pause to give it +further consideration. + +Consider, first, man in his earliest stage of development. A +relatively segregarious animal; with a few ideas about the nuts and +fruits and roots on which he lives; with a little knowledge as to +where to find them; the subject of constant fear lest a stronger man +may suddenly appear to seize and carry off his wife and food; +possessing possibly a few articulate sounds answering to words; such +probably was primitive man. He must have been little removed from the +ape. His "self," his mind, was so small and so empty of content that +we could hardly recognize him as a man, should we stumble on him in +the forest. + +Look next upon him after he has become a family-man. Living in the +group, his life enlarges; his existence broadens; his ideas multiply; +his vocabulary increases with his ideas and experiences; he begins to +share the life and thinking and interests and joys and sorrows of +others; their ideas and experiences become his, to his enormous +advantage. What he now is throws into the shade of night what he used +to be. So far from being the loser by his acceptance of even this +limited communal life, he is a gainer in every way. He begins to know +what love is, and hate; what joy is, and sorrow; what kindness is, and +cruelty; what altruism is, and selfishness. Thus, not only in ideas +and language, in industry and property, but also in emotions, in +character, in morality, in religion, in the knowledge of self, and +even in opportunity for selfishness, he is the gainer. In just the +degree that communal life is developed is the life of the individuals +that compose it extended both subjectively and objectively. Human +psychogenesis takes place in the communal stage of his life. Human +association is its chief external cause. + +It matters not at what successive stage of man's developing life we +may choose to look at him, the depth and height and breadth, in a +word, the fullness and vigor and character of the inner and private +life of the individual, will depend directly on the nature and +development of the communal life. As the community expands, taking in +new families or tribes or nations, reaching out to new regions, +learning new industries, developing new ideas of man, of nature, of +the gods, of duty, inventing new industries, discovering new truths, +and developing a new language, all these fresh acquirements of the +community become the possession of its individual members. In the +growing complexity of society the individual unit, it is true, is +increasingly lost among the millions of his fellow-units, yet all +these successive steps serve to render his life the larger and richer. +His horizon is no longer the little family group in which he was born; +he now looks out over large and populous regions and feels the thrill +of his growing life as he realizes the unity and community of his +life and interests with those of his fellow-countrymen. His language +is increasingly enriched; it serves to shape all his thinking and thus +even the structure of his mind. His knowledge reaches far beyond his +own experience; it includes not only that of the few persons whom he +knows directly, but also that of unnumbered millions, remote in time +and space. He increasingly discovers, though he never has analyzed, +and is perhaps wholly unable to analyze, the discovery that he is not +a thing among things; his life has a universal aspect. He lives more +and more the universal life, subjecting the demands of the once +domineering present to decisions of a cool judgment that looks back +into the past and carefully weighs the interests of the future, +temporal and eternal. Every advance made by the community is thus +stored up to the credit of its individual members. So far, then, from +the development of the communal principle consisting of and coming +about through a limitation of the individual, it is exactly the +reverse. Only as the individual develops are communal unity and +progress possible. And on the other hand, only where the communal +principle has reached its highest development, both extensively and +intensively, do we find the most highly developed personality. The one +is a necessary condition of the other. The deepest, blackest +selfishness, even, can only come into existence where the communal +principle has reached its highest development. + +The preceding statement, however, is not equivalent to saying that +when communalism and individualism arose in human consciousness they +were both accepted as equally important. The reverse seems always to +have been the case. As soon as the two principles are distinguished in +thought, the communal is at once ranked as the higher, and the +individual principle is scorned if not actually rejected. And the +reason for this is manifest. From earliest times the constant foe +which the community has had to fight and exterminate has been the +wanton, selfish individual. Individualism of this type was the +spontaneous contrast to the communal life, and was ever manifesting +itself. No age or race has been without it, nor ignorant of it. As +soon as the two principles became clearly contrasted in thought, +therefore, because of his actual experience, man could conceive of +individualism only as the antithesis to communalism; it was felt that +the two were mutually destructive. It inevitably followed that +communalism as a principle was accepted and individualism condemned. +In their minds not only social order, but existence itself, was at +stake. And they were right. Egoistic individualism is necessarily +atomistic. No society can long maintain its life as a unified and +peaceful society, when such a principle has been widely accepted by +its members. The social ills of this and of every age largely arise +from the presence of this type of men, who hold this principle of +life. + +If, therefore, after a fair degree of national unity has been +attained, the higher stages of national evolution depend on the higher +development of individualism, and if the only kind of individualism of +which men can conceive is the egoistic, it becomes evident that +further progress must cease. Stagnation, or degeneration, must follow. +This is what has happened to nearly all the great nations and races of +the world. They progressed well up to a certain point. Then they +halted or fell back. The only possible condition under which a new +lease of progressive life could be secured by them was a new variety +of individualism, which would unite the opposite and apparently +contradictory poles of communalism and egoism, namely, +communo-individualism. Inconceivable though it be to those men and +nations who have not experienced this type of life, it is nevertheless +a fact, and a mighty factor in human and in national evolution. In its +light we are able to see that the communal life itself has not reached +its fullest development until the individualistic principle has been +not only recognized in thought, but exalted, both in theory and in +fact, to its true and coordinate position beside the communal +principle. Only then does the nation become fully and completely +organized. Only then does the national organism contain within itself +the means for an endless, because a self-sustained, life. + +It is important to guard against a misunderstanding of the principles +just enunciated which may easily arise. In saying that the +development of the individual has proceeded pari passu with that of +the community, that every gain by the community has contributed +directly to the development of the individual, I do not say that the +communal profits are at once distributed among all the members of the +group, or that the distribution is at all equal. Indeed, such is far +from the case. Some few individuals seem to appropriate a large and +unfair proportion of the communal bank account. So far as a people +live a simple and relatively undifferentiated life, all sharing in +much the same kind of pursuits, and enjoying much the same grade of +life,--such as prevailed in a large measure in the earlier times, and +decreasingly as society has become industrial,--and so far also as the +new acquirements of thought are transformed into practical life and +common language, all the members of the community share these +acquirements in fairly equal measure. So far, however, as the communal +profits consist of more or less abstract ideas, embodied in religious +and philosophic thought, and stored away in books and literature +accessible only to scholars, they are distributed very unequally. The +more highly developed and consequently differentiated the society, the +more difficult does distribution become. The very structure of the +highly differentiated communal organism forbids the equal distribution +of these goods. The literary and ruling minority have exclusive access +to the treasures. The industrial majority are more and more rigidly +excluded from them. Thus, although it is strictly true that every +advance in the communal principle accrues to the benefit of the +individual, it is not true that such advance necessarily accrues to +the benefit of every individual, or equally to all individuals. In its +lowest stages, developing communalism lifts all its individual members +to about the same level of mental and moral acquirement. In its middle +stages it develops all individuals to a certain degree, and certain +individuals to a high degree. In its highest stages it develops among +all its members a uniformly high grade of personal worth and +acquirement. + +Now the great problem on whose solution depends the possibility of +continued communal evolution is, from this view-point, the problem of +distributing the gains of the community to all its members more and +more equally. It is the problem of giving to each human unit all the +best and truest thought and character, all the highest and noblest +ideals and motives, which the most advanced individuals have secured. +If we stop to inquire minutely and analytically just what is the +nature of the greatest attainments made by the community, we discover +that it is not the possession of wealth in land or gold, it is not the +accident of social rank, it is not any incident of temporal happiness +or physical ease of life. It consists, on the contrary, in the +discovery of the real nature of man. He is no mere animal, living in +the realm of things and pleasures, limited by the now and the here. He +is a person, a rational being. His thoughts and desires can only be +expressed in terms of infinity. Nothing short of the infinite can +satisfy either his reason or his heart Though living in nature and +dependent on it, he is above it, and may and should understand it and +rule it. His thoughts embrace all time and all being. In a very real +sense he lives an infinite and eternal life, even here in this passing +world. + +The discovery of this set of facts, slowly emerging into +consciousness, is the culmination of all past history, and the +beginning of all man's higher life. It is the turning point in the +history of the human race. Every onward step in man's preceding life, +whereby he has united to form higher and higher groups, has been +leading onward and upward to the development of strong personality, to +the development of individuals competent to make this great discovery. +But this is not enough. + +The next step is to discover the fact, _and to believe it_, that this +infinite life is the potential possession of every member of the +community; that the bank account which the community has been storing +up for ages is for the use not only of a favored few, but also of the +masses. That since every man is a man, he has an infinite and an +eternal life and value, which no accident of birth, or poverty, can +annul. Each man needs to discover himself. The great problem, then, +which confronts progressive communal evolution is to take this +enlarged definition of the individual and scatter it broadcast over +the land, persuading all men to accept and believe it both for +themselves and for others. This definition must be carried in full +confidence to the lowest, meanest, most ignorant man that lives in the +community, and by its help this down-most man must be shown his +birthright, and in the light of it he must be raised to actual +manhood. He must "come to himself"; only so can he qualify for his +heritage. + +After a nation, therefore, has secured a large degree of unity, of the +confederated tribal type, the step which must be taken, before it can +proceed to more complete nationalization even, is, first, the +discovery of personality as the real and essential characteristic of +men, and secondly the discovery that high-grade personality may and +can and must be developed in all the members of the community. In +proportion as the members of the community become conscious persons, +fully self-conscious and self-regulating, fully imbued with the idea +and the spirit of true personality, of communo-individualism, in that +proportion will the community be unified and centralized, as well as +capable of the most complex and differentiated internal structure. The +strength of such a nation will be indefinitely greater than that of +any other less personalized and so less communalized nation. + + + + +XXX + +ARE THE JAPANESE IMPERSONAL? + + +Few phases of the Japanese character have proved so fascinating to the +philosophical writer on Japan as that of the personality of this Far +Eastern people. From the writings of Sir Rutherford Alcock, the first +resident English minister in Japan, down to the last publication that +has come under my eye, all have something to say on this topic. One +writer, Mr. Percival Lowell, has devoted an entire volume to it under +the title of "The Soul of the Far East," in which he endeavors to +establish the position that the entire civilization of the Orient, in +its institutions, such as the family and the state, in the structure +of its language, in its conceptions of nature, in its art, in its +religion, and finally in its inherent mental nature, is essentially +_impersonal_. One of the prominent and long resident missionaries in +Japan once delivered a course of lectures on the influence of +pantheism in the Orient, in which he contended, among other things, +that the lack of personal pronouns and other phenomena of Japanese +life and religion are due to the presence and power in this land of +pantheistic philosophy preventing the development of personality. + +The more I have examined these writings and their fundamental +assumptions, the more manifest have ambiguities and contradictions in +the use of terms become. I have become also increasingly impressed +with the failure of advocates of Japanese "impersonality" to +appreciate the real nature of the phenomena they seek to explain. They +have not comprehended the nature or the course of social evolution, +nor have they discovered the mutual relation existing between the +social order and personality. The arguments advanced for the +"impersonal" view are more or less plausible, and this method of +interpreting the Orient appeals for authority to respectable +philosophical writers. No less a philosopher than Hegel is committed +to this interpretation. The importance of this subject, not only for a +correct understanding of Japan, but also of the relation existing +between individual, social, and religious evolution, requires us to +give it careful attention. We shall make our way most easily into this +difficult discussion by considering some prevalent misconceptions and +defective arguments. I may here express my indebtedness to the author +of "The Soul of the Far East" for the stimulus received from his +brilliant volume, differ though I do from his main thesis. We begin +this study with a few quotations from Mr. Lowell's now classic work. + +"Capability to evolve anything is not one of the marked +characteristics of the Far East. Indeed, the tendency to spontaneous +variation, Nature's mode of making experiments, would seem there to +have been an enterprising faculty that was early exhausted. Sleepy, no +doubt, from having got up betimes with the dawn, these inhabitants of +the land of the morning began to look upon their day as already far +spent before they had reached its noon. They grew old young, and have +remained much the same age ever since. What they were centuries ago, +that at bottom they are to-day. Take away the European influences of +the past twenty years, and each man might almost be his own +great-grandfather. In race character, he is yet essentially the same. +The traits that distinguished these peoples in the past have been +gradually extinguishing them ever since. Of these traits, stagnating +influences upon their career, perhaps the most important is the great +quality of "impersonality."[CGa] "The peoples inhabiting it [the +northern hemisphere] grow steadily more personal as we go West. So +unmistakable is this gradation that we are almost tempted to ascribe +it to cosmical rather than to human causes.... The sense of self grows +more intense as we follow the wake of the setting sun, and fades +steadily as we advance into the dawn. America, Europe, the Levant, +India, Japan, each is less personal than the one before. We stand at +the nearer end of the scale, the Far Orientals at the other. If with +us the 'I' seems to be the very essence of the soul, then the soul of +the Far East may be said to be 'Impersonality.'"[CH] + +Following the argument through the volume we see that individual +physical force and aggressiveness, deficiency of politeness, and +selfishness are, according to this line of thought, essential elements +of personality. The opposite set of qualities constitutes the essence +of impersonality. "The average Far Oriental, indeed, talks as much to +no purpose as his Western cousin, only in his chit-chat politeness +takes the place of personalities. With him, self is suppressed, and an +ever-present regard for others is substituted in its stead. A lack of +personality is, as we have seen, the occasion of this courtesy; it is +also its cause.... Considered a priori, the connection between the two +is not far to seek. Impersonality, by lessening the interest in one's +self, induces one to take an interest in others. Introspection tends +to make a man a solitary animal, the absence of it a social one. The +more impersonal the people, the more will the community supplant the +individual in the popular estimation.... Then, as the social desires +develop, politeness, being the means of their enjoyment, develops +also."[CI] + +Let us take a look at some definitions: + +"Individuality, personality, and the sense of self, are only three +aspects of the same thing. They are so many various views of the soul, +according as we regard it from an intrinsic, an altruistic, or an +egoistic standpoint.... By individuality we mean that bundle of ideas, +thoughts, and day-dreams which constitute our separate identity, and +by virtue of which we feel each one of us at home within himself.... +Consciousness is the necessary attribute of mental action. Not only is +it the sole way we have of knowing mind; without it there would be no +mind to know. Not to be conscious of one's self is, mentally +speaking, not to be. This complex entity, this little cosmos of a +world, the 'I,' has for its very law of existence, self-consciousness, +while personality is the effect it produces upon the consciousness of +others."[CJ] + +The more we study the above definitions, the more baffling they +become. Try as I may, I have not been able to fit them, not only to +the facts of my own experience, which may not be strange, but I cannot +reconcile them even to each other. There seem to me inherent +ambiguities and self-contradictions lurking beneath their scientific +splendor. Individuality is stated to be "that bundle of ideas, +thoughts, and day-dreams which constitute our separate identity." This +seems plain and straightforward, but is it really so? Consciousness is +stated to be not only "the necessary attribute of mental action" (to +which exception might be taken on the ground of abundant proof of +unconscious mental action), but it is also considered to be the very +cause of mind itself. Not only by consciousness do we know mind, but +the consciousness itself constitutes the mind; "without it there would +be no mind to know." "Not to be conscious of one's self is not to be." +Do we then cease to be, when we sleep? or when absorbed in thought or +action? And do we become new-created when we awake? What is the bond +of connection that binds into one the successive consciousnesses of +the successive days? Does not that "bundle of ideas" become broken +into as many wholly independent fragments as there are intervals +between our sleepings? Or rather is not each fragment a whole in +itself, and is not the idea of self-continuity from day to day and +from week to week a self-delusion? How can it be otherwise if +consciousness constitutes existence? For after the consciousness has +ceased and "the bundle of ideas," which constitutes the individuality +of that day, has therefore gone absolutely out of existence, it is +impossible that the old bundle shall be resurrected by a new +consciousness. Only a new bundle can be the product of a new +consciousness. Evidently there is trouble somewhere. But let us pass +on. + +"The 'I' has for its very law of existence self-consciousness." Is +not "self-consciousness" here identified with "consciousness" in the +preceding sentence? The very existence of the mind, the "I," is +ascribed to each in turn. Is there, then, no difference between +consciousness and self-consciousness? Finally, personality is stated +to be "the effect it [the "I"] produces on the self-consciousness of +others." I confess I gain no clear idea from this statement. But +whatever else it may mean, this is clear, that personality is not a +quality or characteristic of the "I," but only some effect which the +"I" produces on the consciousness of another. Is it a quality, then, +of the other person? And does impersonality mean the lack of such an +effect? But does not this introduce us to new confusion? When a human +being is wholly absorbed in an altruistic act, for instance, wholly +forgetful of self, he is, according to a preceding paragraph, quite +impersonal; yet, according to the definition before us, he cannot be +impersonal, for he is producing most lively effects on the +consciousness of the poor human being he is befriending; in his +altruistic deed he is strongly personal, yet not he, for personality +does not belong to the person acting, but somehow to the person +affected. How strange that the personality of a person is not his own +characteristic but another's! + +But still more confusing is the definition when we recall that if the +benevolent man is wholly unconscious of self, and is thinking only of +the one whom he is helping, then he himself is no longer existing. But +in that case how can he help the poor man or even continue to think of +him? Perfect altruism is self-annihilation! Knowledge of itself by the +mind is that which constitutes it! But enough. It has become clear +that these terms have not been used consistently, nor are the +definitions such as to command the assent of any careful psychologist +or philosopher. What the writer means to say is, I judge, that the +measure of a man's personality is the amount of impression he makes on +his fellows. For the whole drift of his argument is that both the +physical and mental aggressiveness of the Occidental is far greater +than that of the Oriental; this characteristic, he asserts, is due to +the deficient development of personality in the Orient, and this +deficient development he calls "impersonality." If those writers who +describe the Orient as "impersonal" fail in their definition of the +term "personal," their failure to define "impersonal" is even more +striking. They use the term as if it were so well known as to need no +definition; yet their usage ascribes to it contrary conceptions. As a +rule they conceive of "impersonality" as a deficiency of development; +yet, when they attempt to describe its nature, they speak of it as +self-suppression. A clear statement of this latter point may be found +in a passage already quoted: "Politeness takes the place of +personalities. With him [the Oriental], self is suppressed, and an +ever-present regard for others is substituted." "Impersonality, by +lessening the interest in one's self, induces one to take interest in +others." In this statement it will be noted the "_self is +suppressed_." Does "impersonality" then follow personality, as a +matter of historical development? It would so appear from this and +kindred passages. But if this is true, then Japan is _more_ instead of +less developed than the Occident. Yet this is exactly the reverse of +that for which this school of thought contends. + +Let us now examine some concrete illustrations adduced by those who +advocate Japanese impersonality. They may be arranged in two classes: +those that are due wholly to invention, and those that are doubtless +facts, but that may be better accounted for by some other theory than +that of "impersonality." + +Mr. Lowell makes amusing material out of the two children's festivals, +known by the Japanese as "Sekku," occurring on March 3 and June 5 (old +calendar). Because the first of these is exclusively for the girls and +the second is exclusively for the boys, Mr. Lowell concludes that they +are general birthdays, in spite of the fact which he seems to know +that the ages are not reckoned from these days. He calls them "the +great impersonal birthdays"; for, according to his supposition, all +the girls celebrate their birthdays on the third day of the third moon +and all the boys celebrate theirs on the fifth day of the fifth moon, +regardless of the actual days on which they may have been born. With +regard to this understanding of the significance of the festival, I +have asked a large number of Japanese, not one of whom had ever heard +of such an idea. Each one has insisted that individual birthdays are +celebrated regardless of these general festivals; the ages of children +are never computed from these festivals; they have nothing whatever to +do with the ages of the children.[CK] + +The report of the discussions of the Japanese Society of Comparative +Religion contains quite a minute statement of all the facts known as +to these festivals, much too long in this connection, but among them +there is not the slightest reference to the birthday feature +attributed to them by Mr. Lowell.[CL] + +Mr. Lowell likewise invents another fact in support of his theory by +his interpretation of the Japanese method of computing ages. Speaking +of the advent of an infant into the home he says, that "from the +moment he makes his appearance he is spoken of as a year old, and this +same age he continues to be considered in most simple cases of +calculation, till the beginning of the next calendar year. When that +epoch of general rejoicing arrives, he is credited with another year +himself. So is everybody else. New Year's day is a common birthday for +the community, a sort of impersonal anniversary for his whole world." +Now this is a very entertaining conceit, but it will hardly pass +muster as a serious argument with one who has any real understanding +of Japanese ideas on the subject. The simple fact is that the Japanese +does not ordinarily tell you how old the child is, but only in how +many year periods he has lived. Though born December 31, on January 1 +he has undoubtedly lived in two different year periods. This method of +counting, however, is not confined to the counting of ages, but it +characterizes all their counting. If you ask a man how many days +before a certain festival near at hand he will say ten where we would +say but nine. In other words, in counting periods the Japanese count +all, including both the first and the last, whereas we omit the first. +This as a custom is an interesting psychological problem, but it has +not the remotest connection with "personality" or "impersonality." +Furthermore, the Japanese have another method of signifying the age of +a child which corresponds exactly to ours. You have but to ask what is +the "full" age of a child to receive a statement which satisfies our +ideas of the problem. The idea of calling New Year's day a great +"impersonal" birthday because forsooth all the members of the +community and the nation then enter on a new year period, and of using +that as an argument for the "impersonality" of the whole race, is as +interesting as it is inconclusive. + +Much is made of the fact that Japanese art has paid its chief +attention to nature and to animals, and but little to man. This +proves, it is argued, that the Japanese artist and people are +"impersonal"--that they are not self-conscious, for their gaze is +directed outward, toward "impersonal" nature; had they been an +aggressive personal people, a people conscious of self, their art +would have depicted man. The cogency of this logic seems questionable +to me. Art is necessarily objective, whether it depicts nature or man; +the gaze is always and necessarily outward, even when it is depicting +the human form. In our consideration of the æsthetic elements of +Japanese character[CM] we gave reasons for the Japanese love of +natural beauty and for their relatively slight attention to the human +form. If the reasons there given were correct, the fact that Japanese +art is concerned chiefly with nature has nothing whatever to do with +the "impersonality" of the people. If "impersonality" is essentially +altruistic, if it consists of self-suppression and interest in others, +then it is difficult to see how art that depicts the form even of +human beings can escape the charge of being "impersonal" except when +the artist is depicting himself. If, again, supreme interest in +objective "impersonal" nature proves the lack of "personality," should +we not argue that the West is supremely "impersonal" because of its +extraordinary interest in nature and in the natural and physical +sciences? Are naturalists and scientists "impersonal," and are +philosophers and psychologists "personal" in nature? If it be argued +that art which depicts the human emotions is properly speaking +subjective, and therefore a proof of developed personality, will it be +maintained that Japan is devoid of such art? How about the pictures +and the statues of warriors? How about the passionate features of the +Ni-o, the placid faces of the Buddhas and other religious imagery? Are +there not here the most powerful representations possible of human +emotions, both active and passive? But even so, is not the gaze of the +artist still _outward_ on others, _i.e._, is he not altruistic; and, +therefore, "impersonal," according to this method of thought and use +of terms? Are European artists who revel in landscape and animal +scenes deficient in "personal" development, and are those who devote +their lives to painting nude women particularly developed in +"personality"? Truly, a defective terminology and a distorted +conception of what "personality" is, land one in most contradictory +positions. + +Those who urge the "impersonality" of the Orient make much of the +Japanese idea of the "family," with the attendant customs. The fact +that marriage is arranged for by the parents, and that the two +individuals most concerned have practically no voice in the matter, +proves conclusively, they argue, that the latter have little +"personality." Here again all turns on the definition of this +important word. If by "personality" is meant consciousness of one's +self as an independent individual, then I do not see what relation the +two subjects have. If, however, it means the willingness of the +subjects of marriage to forego their own desires and choices; because +indeed they do not have any of their own, then the facts will not bear +out the argument. These writers skillfully choose certain facts out of +the family customs whereby to illustrate and enforce this theory, but +they entirely omit others having a significant bearing upon it. Take, +for instance, the fact that one-third of the marriages end in divorce. +What does this show? It shows that one-third of the individuals in +each marriage are so dissatisfied with the arrangements made by the +parents that they reject them and assert their own choice and +decision. According to the argument for "impersonality" in marriage, +these recalcitrant, unsubmissive individuals have a great amount of +"personality," that is, consciousness of self; and this consciousness +of self produces a great effect on the other party to the marriage; +and the effect on the other party (in the vast majority of the cases +women), that is to say, the effect of the divorce on the consciousness +of the women, constitutes the personality of the men! The marriage +customs cited, therefore, do not prove the point, for no account is +taken of the multitudinous cases in which one party or the other +utterly refuses to carry out the arrangements of the parents. Many a +girl declines from the beginning the proposals of the parents. These +cases are by no means few. Only a few days before writing the present +lines a waiting girl in a hotel requested me to find her a place of +service in some foreign family. On inquiry she told me how her parents +wished her to marry into a certain family; but that she could not +endure the thought and had run away from home. One of the facts which +strike a missionary, as he becomes acquainted with the people, is the +frequency of the cases of running away from home. Girls run away, +probably not as frequently as boys, yet very often. Are we to believe +that these are individuals who have an excessive amount of +"personality"? If so, then the development of "personality" in Japan +is far more than the advocates of its "impersonality" recognize or +would allow us to believe. Mr. Lowell devotes three pages to a +beautiful and truthful description of the experience known in the West +as "falling in love." Turning his attention to the Orient, because of +the fact that marriages are arranged for by the families concerned, he +argues that: "No such blissful infatuation falls to the lot of the Far +Oriental. He never is the dupe of his own desire, the willing victim +of his self-delusion. He is never tempted to reveal himself, and by +thus revealing, realize.... For she is not his love; she is only his +wife; and what is left of a romance when the romance is left out?" +Although there is an element of truth in this, yet it is useless as a +support for the theory of Japanese "impersonality." For it is not a +fact that the Japanese do not fall in love; it is a well-known +experience to them. It is inconceivable how anyone at all acquainted +with either Japanese life or literature could make such an assertion. +The passionate love of a man and a woman for each other, so strong +that in multitudes of cases the two prefer a common death to a life +apart, is a not uncommon event in Japan. Frequently we read in the +daily papers of a case of mutual suicide for love. This is +sufficiently common to have received a specific name "joshi."[CN] + + +So far as the argument for "impersonality" is concerned this +illustration from the asserted lack of love is useless, for it is one +of those manufactured for the occasion by imaginative and resourceful +advocates of "impersonality." + +But I do not mean to say that "falling in love" plays the same +important part in the life and development of the youth in Japan that +it does in the West. It is usually utterly ignored, so far as parental +planning for marriage is concerned. Love is not recognized as a proper +basis for the contraction of marriage, and is accordingly frowned +upon. It is deemed a sign of mental and moral weakness for a man to +fall in love. Under these conditions it is not at all strange that +"falling in love" is not so common an experience as in the West. +Furthermore, this profound experience is not utilized as it is in the +West as a refining and elevating influence in the life of a young man +or woman. In a land where "falling in love" is regarded as an immoral +thing, a breaking out of uncontrollable animal passion, it is not +strange that it should not be glorified by moralists or sanctified by +religion. There are few experiences in the West so ennobling as the +love that a young man and a young woman bear to each other during the +days of their engagement and lasting onward throughout the years of +their lengthening married life. The West has found the secret of +making use of this period in the lives of the young to elevate and +purify them of which the East knows little. + +But there are still other and sadder consequences following from the +attitude of the Japanese to the question of "falling in love." It can +hardly be doubted that the vast number of divorces is due to the +defective method of betrothal, a method which disregards the free +choice of the parties most concerned. The system of divorce is, we may +say, the device of society for remedying the inherent defects of the +betrothal system. It treats both the man and the woman as though they +were not persons but unfeeling machines. Personality, for a while +submissive, soon asserts its liberty, in case the married parties +prove uncongenial, and demands the right of divorce. Divorce is thus +the device of thwarted personality. But in addition to this evil, +there is that of concubinage or virtual polygamy, which is often the +result of "falling in love." And then, there is the resort of +hopelessly thwarted personality known in the West as well as in the +East, murder and suicide, and oftentimes even double suicide, referred +to above. The marriage customs of the Orient are such that hopeless +love, though mutual, is far more frequent than in the West, and the +death of lovers in each other's arms, after having together taken the +fatal draught, is not rare. The number of suicides due to hopeless +love in 1894 was 407, and the number of murders for the same cause was +94. Here is a total of over five hundred deaths in a single year, very +largely due to the defective marriage system. Do not these phenomena +refute assertions to the effect that the Japanese are so impersonal as +not to know what it is to "fall in love"? If the question of the +personality of the Japanese is to be settled by the phenomena of +family life and the strength of the sexual emotion, would we not have +to pronounce them possessed of strongly developed personality? + + + + +XXXI + +THE JAPANESE NOT IMPERSONAL + + +We must now face the far more difficult task of presenting a positive +statement in regard to the problem of personality in the Orient. We +need to discover just what is or should be meant by the terms +"personality" and "impersonality." We must also analyze this Oriental +civilization and discover its elementary factors, in order that we may +see what it is that has given the impression to so many students that +the Orient is "impersonal." In doing this, although our aim is +constructive, we shall attain our end with greater ease if we rise to +positive results through further criticism of defective views. We +naturally begin with definitions. + +"Individuality" is defined by the Standard Dictionary as "the state or +quality of being individual; separate or distinct existence." +"Individual" is defined as "Anything that cannot be divided or +separated into parts without losing identity.... A single person, +animal, or thing." "Personality" is defined as "That which constitutes +a person; conscious, separate existence as an intelligent and +voluntary being." "Person" is defined as "Any being having life, +intelligence, will, and separate individual existence." On these +various definitions the following observations seem pertinent. + +"Individuality" has reference only to the distinctions existing +between different objects, persons, or things. The term draws +attention to the fact of distinctness and difference and not to the +qualities which make the difference, and least of all to the +consciousness of identity by virtue of which "we feel each one of us +at home within himself." + +"Personality" properly has reference only to that which constitutes a +person. As contrasted with an animal a person has not only life, but +also a highly developed and self-conscious intelligence, feeling, and +will; these involve moral relations toward other persons and religious +relations toward God. + +Consciousness is not attendant on every act of the person, much less +is self-consciousness, although both are always potential and more or +less implicit. A person is often so absorbed in thought or act as to +be wholly unconscious of his thinking or acting; the consciousness is, +so to speak, submerged for the time being. Self-consciousness implies +considerable progress in reflection on one's own states of mind, and +in the attainment of the consciousness of one's own individuality. It +is the result of introspection. Self-consciousness, however, does not +constitute one's identity; it merely recognizes it. + +The foundation for a correct conception of the term "personality" +rests on the conception of the term "soul" or "spirit." In my +judgment, each human being is to be conceived as being a separate +"soul," endowed by its very nature with definite capacities or +qualities or attributes which we describe as mental, emotional, and +volitional, having powers of consciousness more or less developed +according to the social evolution of the race, the age of the +individual, his individual environment, and depending also on the +amount of education he may have received. The possession of a soul +endowed with these qualities constitutes a person; their possession in +marked measure constitutes developed personality, and in defective +measure, undeveloped personality. + +The unique character of a "person" is that he combines perfect +separateness with the possibility and more or less of the actuality of +perfect universality. A "person" is in a true sense a universal, an +infinite being. He is thus through the constitution of his psychic +nature a thinking, feeling, and willing being. Through his intellect +and in proportion to his knowledge he becomes united with the whole +objective universe; through his feelings he may become united in +sympathy and love with all sentient creation, and even with God +himself, the center and source of all being; through his active will +he is increasingly creator of his environment. Man is thus in a true +sense creating the conditions which make him to be what he is. Thus +in no figurative sense, but literally and actually, man is in the +process of creating himself. He is realizing the latent and hitherto +unsuspected potentialities of his nature. He is creating a world in +which to express himself; and this he does by expressing himself. In +proportion as man advances, making explicit what is implicit in his +inner nature, is he said to grow in personality. A man thus both +possesses personality and grows in personality. He could not grow in +it did he not already actually possess it. In such growth both +elements of his being, the individual and the universal, develop +simultaneously. A person of inferior personal development is at once +less individual and less universal. This is a matter, however, not of +endowment but of development. We thus distinguish between the original +personal endowment, which we may call intrinsic or inherent +personality, and the various forms in which this personality has +manifested and expressed itself, which we may call extrinsic or +acquired personality. Inherent personality is that which +differentiates man from animal. It constitutes the original involution +which explains and even necessitates man's entire evolution. There may +be, nay, must be, varying degrees of expression of the inherent +personality, just as there may be and must be varying degrees of +consciousness of personality. These depend on the degree of evolution +attained by the race and by the individuals of the race. + +It is no part of our plan to justify this conception of the nature of +personality, or to defend these brief summary statements as to its +inherent nature. It is enough if we have gained a clear idea of this +conception on which the present chapter, and indeed this entire work, +rests. In discussing the question as to personality in the Orient, it +is important for us ever to bear in mind the distinctions between the +inherent endowment that constitutes personal beings, the explicit and +external expression of that endowment, and the possession of the +consciousness of that endowment. For these are three things quite +distinct, though intimately related. + +The term "impersonality" demands special attention, being the most +misused and abused term of all. The first and natural signification of +the word is the mere negation of personality; as a stone, for +instance, is strictly "impersonal." This is the meaning given by the +dictionaries. But in this sense, of course, it is inapplicable to +human beings. What, then, is the meaning when applied to them? When +Mr. Lowell says, "If with us [of the West] the 'I' seems to be of the +very essence of the soul, then the soul of the Far East may be said to +be 'impersonal,'" what does he mean? He certainly does not mean that +the Chinese and Japanese and Hindus have no emotional or volitional +characteristics, that they are strictly "impersonal"; nor does he mean +that the Oriental has less development of powers of thinking, willing, +feeling, or of introspective meditation. The whole argument shows that +he means that _their sense of the individuality or separateness of the +Ego is so slight that it is practically ignored; and this not by their +civilization alone, but by each individual himself_. The supreme +consciousness of the individual is not of himself, but of his family +or race; or if he is an intensely religious man, his consciousness is +concerned with his essential identity with the Absolute and Ultimate +Being, rather than with his own separate self. In other words, the +term "impersonal" is made to do duty for the non-existent negative of +"individual." "Impersonal" is thus equivalent to "universal" and +personal to "individual." To change the phraseology, the term +"impersonal" is used to signify a state of mind in which the +separateness or individuality of the individual ego is not fully +recognized or appreciated even by the individual himself. The +prominent element of the individual's consciousness is the unity or +the universalism, rather than the multiplicity or individualism. + +Mr. Lowell in effect says this in his closing chapter entitled +"Imagination." His thesis seems to be that the universal mind, of +which, each individual receives a fragment, becomes increasingly +differentiated as the race mind evolves. In proportion as the +evolution has progressed does the individual realize his +individuality--his separateness; this individualization, this +differentiation of the individual mind is, in his view, the measure as +well as the cause of the higher civilization. The lack of such +individualization he calls "impersonality"; in such a mind the +dominant thought is not of the separateness between, but of the unity +that binds together, himself and the universal mind. + +If the above is a correct statement of the conception of those who +emphasize the "impersonality" of the Orient, then there are two things +concerning it which may be said at once. First, the idea is a +perfectly clear and intelligible one, the proposition is definite and +tangible. But why do they not so express it? The terms "personality" +and "individuality" are used synonymously; while "impersonal" is +considered the equivalent of the negative of individual, +un-individual--a word which has not yet been and probably never will +be used. But the negation of individual is universal; "impersonal," +therefore, according to the usage of these writers, becomes equivalent +to universal. + +But, secondly, even after the use of terms has become thus understood, +and we are no longer confused over the words, having arrived at the +idea they are intended to convey, the idea itself is fundamentally +erroneous. I freely admit that there is an interesting truth of which +these writers have got a glimpse and to which they are striving to +give expression, but apparently they have not understood the real +nature of this truth and consequently they are fundamentally wrong in +calling the Far East "impersonal," even in their sense of the word. +They are furthermore in error, in ascribing this "impersonal" +characteristic of the Japanese to their inherent race nature, If they +are right, the problem is fundamentally one of biological evolution. + +In contrast to this view, it is here contended, first, that the +feature they are describing is not such as they describe it; second, +that it is not properly called "impersonality"; third, that it is not +a matter of inherent race nature, of brain structure, or of mind +differentiation, but wholly a matter of social evolution; and, fourth, +that if there is such a trait as they describe, it is not due to a +deficiently developed but on the contrary to a superlatively developed +personality, which might better be called super-personality. To state +the position here advocated in a nutshell, it is maintained that the +asserted "impersonality" of the Japanese is the result of the +communalistic nature of the social order which has prevailed down to +the most recent times; it has put its stamp on every feature of the +national and individual life, not omitting the language, the +philosophy, the religion, or even the inmost thoughts of the people. +This dominance of the communalistic type of social order has doubtless +had an effect on the physical and psychic, including the brain, +development of the people. These physical and psychical developments, +however, are not the cause, but the product, of the social order. They +are, furthermore, of no superlative import, since they offer no +insuperable obstacle to the introduction of a social order radically +different from that of past millenniums. + +Before proceeding to elaborate and illustrate this general position, +it seems desirable to introduce two further definitions. + +Communalism and individualism are the two terms used throughout this +work to describe two contrasted types of social order. + +By communalism I mean that order of society, whether family, tribal, +or national, in which the idea and the importance of the community are +more or less clearly recognized, and in which this idea has become the +constructive principle of the social order, and where at the same time +the individual is practically ignored and crushed. + +By individualism I mean that later order of society in which the worth +of the individual has been recognized and emphasized, to the extent of +radically modifying the communalism, securing a liberty for individual +act and thought and initiative, of which the old order had no +conception, and which it would have considered both dangerous and +immoral. Individualism is not that atomic social order in which the +idea of the communal unity has been rejected, and each separate human +being regarded as the only unit. Such a society could hardly be called +an order, even by courtesy. Individualism is that developed stage of +communalism, wherein the advantages of close communal unity have been +retained, and wherein, at the same time, the idea and practice of the +worth of the individual and the importance of giving him liberty of +thought and action have been added. Great changes in the internal +structure, of society follow, but the communial unity or idea is +neither lost nor injured. In taking up our various illustrations +regarding personality in Japan, three points demand our attention; +what are the facts? are they due to, and do they prove, the asserted +"impersonality" of the people? and are the facts sufficiently +accounted for by the communal theory of the Japanese social order? + +Let us begin, then, with the illustration of which advocates of +"impersonality" make so much, Japanese politeness. As to the reality +of the fact, it is hardly necessary that I present extended proof. +Japanese politeness is proverbial. It is carried into the minutest +acts of daily life; the holding of the hands, the method of entering a +room, the sucking in of the breath on specific occasions, the +arrangement of the hair, the relative places of honor in a +sitting-room, the method of handing guests refreshments, the exchange +of friendly gifts--every detail of social life is rigidly dominated by +etiquette. Not only acts, but the language of personal address as +well, is governed by ideas of politeness which have fundamentally +affected the structure of the language, by preventing the development +of personal pronouns. + +Now what is the cause of this characteristic of the Japanese? It is +commonly attributed by writers of the impersonal school to the +"impersonality" of the Oriental mind. "Impersonality" is not only the +occasion, it is the cause of the politeness of the Japanese people. +"Self is suppressed, and an ever-present regard for others is +substituted in its stead." "Impersonality, by lessening the interest +in one's self, induces one to take interest in others."[CO] Politeness +is, in these passages, attributed to the impersonal nature of the +Japanese mind. The following quotations show that this characteristic +is conceived of as inherent in race and mind structure, not in the +social order, as is here maintained. "The nation grew up to man's +estate, keeping the mind of its childhood."[CP] "In race +characteristics, he is yet essentially the same.... Of these traits +... perhaps the most important is the great quality of +impersonality."[CQ] "The peoples inhabiting it [the earth's temperate +zone] grow steadily more personal as we go West. So unmistakable is +this gradation that one is almost tempted to ascribe it to cosmical +rather than human causes.... The essence of the soul of the Far East +may be said to be impersonality."[CR] + +In his chapter on "Imagination," Mr. Lowell seeks to explain the cause +of the "impersonality" of the Orient. He attributes it to their marked +lack of the faculty of "imagination"--the faculty of forming new and +original ideas. Lacking this faculty, there has been relatively little +stimulus to growth, and hence no possibility of differentiation and +thus of individualization. + +If politeness were due to the "impersonal" nature of the race mind, it +would be impossible to account for the rise and decline of Japanese +etiquette, for it should have existed from the beginning, and +continued through all time, nor could we account for the gross +impoliteness that is often met with in recent years. The Japanese +themselves deplore the changes that have taken place. They testify +that the older forms of politeness were an integral element of the +feudal system and were too often a thin veneer of manner by no means +expressive of heart interest. None can be so absolutely rude as they +who are masters of the forms of politeness, but have not the kindly +heart. The theory of "impersonality" does not satisfactorily account +for the old-time politeness of Japan. + +The explanation here offered for the development and decline of +politeness is that they are due to the nature of the social order. +Thoroughgoing feudalism long maintained, with its social ranks and +free use of the sword, of necessity develops minute unwritten rules of +etiquette; without the universal observance of these customs, life +would be unbearable and precarious, and society itself would be +impossible. Minute etiquette is the lubricant of a feudal social +order. The rise and fall of Japan's phenomenal system of feudal +etiquette is synchronous with that of her feudal system, to which it +is due rather than to the asserted "impersonality" of the race mind. + +The impersonal theory is amazingly blind to adverse phenomena. Such a +one is the marked sensitiveness of the middle and upper classes to the +least slight or insult. The gradations of social rank are scrupulously +observed, not only on formal occasions, but also in the homes at +informal and social gatherings. Failure to show the proper attention, +or the use of language having an insufficient number of honorific +particles and forms, would be instantly interpreted as a personal +slight, if not an insult.[CS] + +Now if profuse courtesy is a proof of "impersonality," as its +advocates argue, what does morbid sensitiveness prove but highly +developed personality? But then arises the difficulty of understanding +how the same individuals can be both profusely polite and morbidly +sensitive at one and the same time? Instead of inferring +"impersonality" from the fact of politeness, from the two facts of +sensitiveness and politeness we may more logically infer a +considerable degree of personality. Yet I would not lay much stress on +this argument, for oftentimes (or is it always true?) the weaker and +more insignificant the person, the greater the sensitiveness. Extreme +sensitiveness is as natural and necessary a product of a highly +developed feudalism as is politeness, and neither is particularly due +to the high or the low development of personality. + +Similarly with respect to the question of altruism, which is +practically identified with politeness by expounders of Oriental +"impersonality." They make this term (altruism) the virtual +equivalent of "impersonality"--interest in others rather than in self, +an interest due, according to their view, to a lack of differentiation +of the individual minds; the individuals, though separate, still +retain the universalism of the original mind-stuff. This use of the +term altruism makes it a very different thing from the quality or +characteristic which in the West is described by this term. + +But granting that this word is used with a legitimate meaning, we ask, +is altruism in this sense an inherent quality of the Japanese race? +Let the reader glance back to our discussion of the possession by the +Japanese of sympathy, and the humane feelings.[CT] We saw there marked +proofs of their lack. The cruelty of the old social order was such as +we can hardly realize. Altruism that expresses itself only in polite +forms, and does not strive to alleviate the suffering of fellow-men, +can have very little of that sense, which this theory requires. So +much as to the fact. Then as to the theory. If this alleged altruism +were inherent in the mental structure, it ought to be a universal +characteristic of the Japanese; it should be all-pervasive and +permanent. It should show itself toward the foreigner as well as +toward the native. But such is far from the case. Few foreigners have +received a hearty welcome from the people at large. They are suspected +and hated; as little room as possible is made for them. The less of +their presence and advice, the better. So far as there is any interest +in them, it is on the ground of utility, and not of inherent good will +because of a feeling of aboriginal unity. Of course there are many +exceptions to these statements, especially among the Christians. But +such is the attitude of the people as a whole, especially of the +middle and upper classes toward the foreigners. + +If we turn our attention to the opposite phase of Japanese character, +namely their selfishness, their self-assertiveness, and their +aggressiveness, whether as a nation or as individuals, and consider at +the same time the recent rise of this spirit, we are again impressed +both with the narrow range of facts to which the advocates of +"impersonality" call our attention, and also with the utter +insufficiency of their theory to account for the facts they overlook. +According to the theory of altruism and "impersonality," these are +characteristics of undeveloped races and individuals, while the +reverse characteristics, those of selfishness and self-assertiveness, +are the products of a later and higher development, marks of strong +personality. But neither selfishness nor individual aggressiveness is +a necessary element of developed "personality." If it were, children +who have never been trained by cultivated mothers, but have been +allowed to have their own way regardless of the rights or desires of +others, are more highly developed in "personality" than the adult who +has, through a long life of self-discipline and religious devotion, +become regardless of his selfish interests and solicitous only for the +welfare of others. If the high development of altruism is equivalent +to the development of "impersonality," then those in the West who are +renowned for humanity and benevolence are "impersonal," while robbers +and murderers and all who are regardless of the welfare of others are +possessed of the most highly developed "personality." And it also +follows that highly developed altruistic benefactors of mankind are +such, after all, because they are _undeveloped_,--their minds are +relatively undifferentiated,--hence their fellow-feeling and kindly +acts. There is a story of some learned wit who met a half-drunken +boor; the latter plunged ahead, remarking, "I never get out of the way +of a fool"; to which the quick reply came, "I always do." According to +this argument based on self-assertive aggressiveness, the boor was the +man possessed of a strong personality, while the gentleman was +relatively "impersonal." If pure selfishness and aggressiveness are +the measure of personality, then are not many of the carnivorous +animals endowed with a very high degree of "personality"? + +The truth is, a comprehensive and at the same time correct contrast +between the East and the West cannot be stated in terms of personality +and impersonality. They fail not only to take in all the facts, but +they fail to explain even the facts they take in. Such a contrast of +the East and the West can be stated only in the terms of communalism +and individualism. As we have already seen,[CU] every nation has to +pass through the communal stage, in order to become a nation at all. +The families and tribes of which it is composed need to become +consolidated in order to survive in the struggle for existence with +surrounding families, tribes, and nations. In this stage the +individual is of necessity sunk out of sight in the demands of the +community. This secures indeed a species of altruism, but of a +relatively low order. It is communal altruism which nature compels on +pain of extermination. This, however, is very different from the +altruism of a high religious experience and conscious ethical +devotion. This latter is volitional, the product of character. This +altruism can arise chiefly in a social order where individualism to a +large extent has gained sway. It is this variety of altruism that +characterizes the West, so far as the West is altruistic. But on the +other hand, in a social order in which individualism has full swing, +the extreme of egoistic selfishness can also find opportunity for +development. It is accordingly in the West that extreme selfishness, +the most odious of sins, is seen at its best, or rather its worst. + +So again we see that selfish aggressiveness and an exalted +consciousness of one's individuality or separateness are not necessary +marks of developed personality, nor their opposite the marks of +undeveloped personality--so-called "impersonality." On the contrary, +the reverse statement would probably come nearer the truth. He who is +intensely conscious of the great unities of nature and of human +nature, of the oneness that unites individuals to the nation and to +the race, and who lives a corresponding life of goodness and kindness, +is by far the more developed personality. But the manifestations of +personality will vary much with the nature of the social order. This +may change with astonishing rapidity. Such a change has come over the +social order of the Japanese nation during the past thirty years, +radically modifying its so-called impersonal features. Their primitive +docility, their politeness, their marriage customs, their universal +adoption of Chinese thoughts, language, and literature, and now, in +recent times, their rejection of the Chinese philosophy and science, +their assertiveness in Korea and China and their aggressive attitude +toward the whole world--all these multitudinous changes and complete +reversals of ideals and customs, point to the fact that the former +characteristics of their civilization were not "impersonal," but +communal, and that they rested on social development rather than on +inherent nature or on deficient mental differentiation. + +A common illustration of Japanese "impersonality," depending for its +force wholly on invention, is the deficiency of the Japanese language +in personal pronouns and its surplus of honorifics. At first thought +this argument strikes one as very strong, as absolutely invincible +indeed. Surely, if there is a real lack of personal pronouns, is not +that proof positive that the people using the language, nay, the +authors of the language, must of necessity be deficient in the sense +of personality? And if the verbs in large numbers are impersonal, does +not that clinch the matter? But further consideration of the argument +and its illustrations gradually shows its weakness. At present I must +confess that the argument seems to me utterly fallacious, and for the +sufficient reason that the personal element is introduced, if not +always explicitly yet at least implicitly, in almost every sentence +uttered. The method of its expression, it is true, is quite different +from that adopted by Western languages, but it is none the less there. +It is usually accomplished by means of the titles, "honorific" +particles, and honorific verbs and nouns. "Honorable shoes" can't by +any stretch of the imagination mean shoes that belong to me; every +Japanese would at once think "your shoes"; his attention is not +distracted by the term "honorable" as is that of the foreigner; the +honor is largely overlooked by the native in the personal element +implied. The greater the familiarity with the language the more clear +it becomes that the impressions of "impersonality" are due to the +ignorance of the foreigner rather than to the real "impersonal" +character of the Japanese thought or mind. In the Japanese methods of +linguistic expression, politeness and personality are indeed, +inextricably interwoven; but they are not at all confused. The +distinctions of person and the consciousness of self in the Japanese +_thought_ are as clear and distinct as they are in the English +thought. In the Japanese _sentence_, however, the politeness and the +personality cannot be clearly separated. On that account, however, +there is no more reason for denying one element than the other. + +So far from the deficiency of personal pronouns being a proof of +Japanese "impersonality," _i.e._, of lack of consciousness of self, +this very deficiency may, with even more plausibility, be used to +establish the opposite view. Child psychology has established the fact +that an early phenomenon of child mental development is the emphasis +laid on "meum" and "tuum," mine and yours. The child is a +thoroughgoing individualist in feelings, conceptions, and language. +The first personal pronoun is ever on his lips and in his thought. +Only as culture arises and he is trained to see how disagreeable in +others is excessive emphasis on the first person, does he learn to +moderate his own excessive egoistic tendency. Is it not a fact that +the studied evasion of first personal pronouns by cultured people in +the West is due to their developed consciousness of self? Is it +possible for one who has no consciousness of self to conceive as +impolite the excessive use of egoistic forms of speech? From this +point of view we might argue that, because of the deficiency of her +personal pronouns, the Japanese nation has advanced far beyond any +other nation in the process of self-consciousness. But this too would +be an error. Nevertheless, so far from saying that the lack of +personal pronouns is a proof of the "impersonality" of the Japanese, I +think we may fairly use it as a disproof of the proposition. + +The argument for the inherent impersonality of the Japanese mind +because of the relative lack of personal pronouns is still further +undermined by the discovery, not only of many substitutes, but also of +several words bearing the strong impress of the conception of self. +There are said to be three hundred words which may be used as personal +pronouns--"Boku," "servant," is a common term for "I," and "kimi," +"Lord," for "you"; these words are freely used by the student class. +Officials often use "Konata," "here," and "Anata," "there," for the +first and second persons. "Omaye," "honorably in front," is used both +condescendingly and honorifically; "you whom I condescend to allow in +my presence," and "you who confer on me the honor of entering your +presence." The derivation of the most common word for I, "Watakushi," +is unknown, but, in addition to its pronominal use, it has the meaning +of "private." It has become a true personal pronoun and is freely used +by all classes. + +In addition to the three hundred words which may be used as personal +pronouns the Japanese language possesses an indefinite number of ways +for delicately suggesting the personal element without its express +utterance. This is done either by subtle praise, which can then only +refer to the person addressed or by more or less bald +self-depreciation, which can then only refer to the first person. "Go +kanai," "honorable within the house," can only mean, according to +Japanese etiquette, "your wife," or "your family," while "gu-sai," +"foolish wife," can only mean "my wife." "Gufu," "foolish father," +"tonji," "swinish child," and numberless other depreciatory terms such +as "somatsu na mono," "coarse thing," and "tsumaranu mono," "worthless +thing," according to the genius of the language can only refer to the +first person, while all appreciative and polite terms can only refer +to the person addressed. The terms, "foolish," "swinish," etc., have +lost their literal sense and mean now no more than "my," while the +polite forms mean "yours." To translate these terms, "my foolish +wife," "my swinish son," is incorrect, because it twice translates the +same word. In such cases the Japanese _thought_ is best expressed by +using the possessive pronoun and omitting the derogative adjective +altogether. Japanese indirect methods for the expression of the +personal relation are thus numberless and subtile. May it not be +plausibly argued since the European has only a few blunt pronouns +wherewith to state this idea while the Japanese has both numberless +pronouns and many other delicate ways of conveying the same idea, that +the latter is far in advance of the European in the development of +personality? I do not use this argument, but as an argument it seems +to me much more plausible than that which infers from the paucity of +true pronouns the absence, or at least the deficiency, of personality. + +Furthermore, Japanese possesses several words for self. "Onore," +"one's self," and "Ware," "I or myself," are pure Japanese, while "Ji" +(the Chinese pronunciation for "onore"), "ga," "self," and "shi" (the +Chinese pronunciation of "watakushi," meaning private) are +Sinico-Japanese words, that is, Chinese derived words. These +Sinico-Japanese terms are in universal use in compound words, and are +as truly Japanese as many Latin, Greek and Norman-derived words are +real English. "Ji-bun," "one's self"; "jiman," "self-satisfaction"; +"ji-fu," "self-assertion"; "jinin," "self-responsibility"; "ji-bo +ji-ki," "self-destruction, self-abandonment"; "ji-go ji-toku," +"self-act, self-reward"--always in a bad sense; "ga-yoku," "selfish +desire"; "ga-shin," "selfish heart"; "ga we oru," "self-mastery"; +"muga," "unselfish"; "shi-shin shi-yoku," "private or self-heart, +private or self-desire," that is, selfishness"; "shi-ai shi-shin," +"private-or self-love, private-or-self heart," _i.e._, +selfishness--these and countless other compound words involving the +conception of self, can hardly be explained by the "impersonal," +"altruistic" theory of Japanese race mind and language. In truth, if +this theory is unable to explain the facts it recognizes, much less +can it account for those it ignores. + +To interpret correctly the phenomena we are considering, we must ask +ourselves how personal pronouns have arisen in other languages. Did +the primitive Occidental man produce them outright from the moment +that he discovered himself? Far from it. There are abundant reasons +for believing that every personal pronoun is a degenerate or, if you +prefer, a developed noun. Pronouns are among the latest products of +language, and, in the sphere of language, are akin to algebraic +symbols in the sphere of mathematics or to a machine in the sphere of +labor. A pronoun, whether personal, demonstrative, or relative, is a +wonderful linguistic invention, enabling the speaker to carry on long +trains of unbroken thought. Its invention was no more connected with +the sense of self, than was the invention of any labor-saving device. +The Japanese language is even more defective for lack of relative +pronouns than it is for lack of personal pronouns. Shall we argue from +this that the Japanese people have no sense of relation? Of course +personal pronouns could not arise without or before the sense of self, +but the problem is whether the sense of self could arise without or +exist before that particular linguistic device, the personal pronoun? +On this problem the Japanese language and civilization throw +conclusive light. + +The fact is that the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxon and Japanese peoples +parted company so long ago that in the course of their respective +linguistic evolutions, not only have all common terms been completely +eliminated, but even common methods of expression. The so-called +Indo-European races hit upon one method of sentence structure, a +method in which pronouns took an important part and the personal +pronoun was needed to express the personal element, while the Japanese +hit upon another method which required little use of pronouns and +which was able to express the personal element wholly without the +personal pronoun. The sentence structure of the two languages is thus +radically different. + +Now the long prevalent feudal social order has left its stamp on the +Japanese language no less than on every other feature of Japanese +civilization. Many of the quasi personal pronouns are manifestly of +feudal parentage. Under the new civilization and in contact with +foreign peoples who can hardly utter a sentence without a personal +pronoun, the majority of the old quasi personal pronouns are dropping +out of use, while those in continued use are fast rising to the +position of full-fledged personal pronouns. This, however, is not due +to the development of self-consciousness on the part of the people, +but only to the development of the language in the direction of +complete and concise expression of thought. It would be rash to say +that the feudal social order accounts for the lack of pronouns, +personal or others, from the Japanese language, but it is safe to +maintain that the feudal order, with its many gradations of social +rank, minute etiquette, and refined and highly developed personal +sensitiveness would adopt and foster an impersonal and honorific +method of personal allusion. Even though we may not be able to explain +the rise of the non-pronominal method of sentence structure, it is +enough if we see that this is a problem in the evolution of language, +and that Japanese pronominal deficiency is not to be attributed to +lack of consciousness of self, much less to the inherent +"impersonality" of the Japanese mind. + +An interesting fact ignored by advocates of the "impersonal" theory is +the Japanese inability of conceiving nationality apart from +personality. Not only is the Emperor conceived as the living symbol of +Japanese nationality, but he is its embodiment and substance. The +Japanese race is popularly represented to be the offspring of the +royal house. Sovereignty resides completely and absolutely in him. +Authority to-day is acknowledged only in those who have it from him. +Popular rights are granted the people by him, and exist because of his +will alone. A single act of his could in theory abrogate the +constitution promulgated in 1889 and all the popular rights enjoyed +to-day by the nation. The Emperor of Japan could appropriate, without +in the least shocking the most patriotic Japanese, the long-famous +saying of Louis XIV., "L'état, c'est moi." Mr. H. Kato, ex-president +of the Imperial University, in a recent work entitled the "Evolution +of Morality and Law" says this in just so many words: "Patriotism in +this country means loyalty to the throne. To the Japanese, the Emperor +and the country are the same. The Emperor of Japan, without the +slightest exaggeration, can say, 'L'état, c'est moi.' The Japanese +believe that all their happiness is bound up with the Imperial line +and have no respect for any system of morality or law that fails to +take cognizance of this fact." + +Mr. Yamaguchi, professor of history in the Peeresses' School and +lecturer in the Imperial Military College, thus writes in the _Far +East_: "The sovereign power of the State cannot be dissociated from +the Imperial Throne. It lasts forever along with the Imperial line of +succession, unbroken for ages eternal. If the Imperial House cease to +exist, the Empire falls." "According to our ideas the monarch reigns +over and governs the country in his own right.... Our Emperor +possesses real sovereignty and also exercises it. He is quite +different from other rulers, who possess but a partial sovereignty." +This is to-day the universally accepted belief in Japan. It shows +clearly that national unity and sovereignty are not conceived in Japan +apart from personality. + +One more point demands our attention before bringing this chapter to a +close. If "impersonality" were an inherent characteristic of Japanese +race nature, would it be possible for strong personalities to arise? + +Mr. Lowell has described in telling way a very common experience. +"About certain people," he says, "there exists a subtle something +which leaves its impress indelibly upon the consciousness of all who +come in contact with them. This something is a power, but a power of +so indefinable a description that we beg definition by calling it +simply the personality of the man.... On the other hand, there are +people who have no effect upon us whatever. They come and they go with +a like indifference.... And we say that the difference is due to the +personality or the want of personality of the man."[CV] The first +thing to which I would call attention is the fact that "personality" +is here used in its true sense. It has no exclusive reference to +consciousness of self, nor does it signify the effect of +self-consciousness on the consciousness of another. It here has +reference to those inherent qualities of thinking and feeling and +willing which we have seen to be the essence of personality. These +qualities, possessed in a marked way or degree, make strong +personalities. Their relative lack constitutes weak personality. Bare +consciousness of self is a minor evidence of personality and may be +developed to a morbid degree in a person who has a weak personality. + +In the second place this distinction between weak and strong +personalities is as true of the Japanese as of the Occidental. There +have been many commanding persons in Japanese history; they have been +the heroes of the land. There are such to-day. The most commanding +personality of recent times was, I suppose, Takamori Saigo, whose very +name is an inspiration to tens of thousands of the choicest youth of +the nation. Joseph Neesima was such a personality. The transparency of +his purpose, the simplicity of his personal aim, his unflinching +courage, fixedness of belief, lofty plans, and far-reaching ambitions +for his people, impressed all who came into contact with him. No one +mingles much with the Japanese, freely speaking with them in their own +language, but perceives here and there men of "strong personality" in +the sense of the above-quoted passage. Now it seems to me that if +"impersonality" in the corresponding sense were a race characteristic, +due to the nature of their psychic being, then the occurrence of so +many commanding personalities in Japan would be inexplicable. Heroes +and widespread hero-worship[CW] could hardly arise were there no +commanding personalities. The feudal order lent itself without doubt +to the development of such a spirit. But the feudal order could hardly +have arisen or even maintained itself for centuries without commanding +personalities, much less could it have created them. The whole feudal +order was built on an exalted oligarchy. It was an order which +emphasized persons, not principles; the law of the land was not the +will of the multitudes, but of a few select persons. While, therefore, +it is beyond dispute that the old social order was communal in type, +and so did not give freedom to the individual, nor tend to develop +strong personality among the masses, it is also true that it did +develop men of commanding personality among the rulers. Those who from +youth were in the hereditary line of rule, sons of Shoguns, daimyos, +and samurai, were forced by the very communalism of the social order +to an exceptional personal development. They shot far ahead of the +common man. Feudalism is favorable to the development of personality +in the favored few, while it represses that of the masses. +Individualism, on the contrary, giving liberty of thought and act, +with all that these imply, is favorable to the development of the +personality of all. + +In view of the discussions of this chapter, is it not evident that +advocates of the "impersonal" theory of Japanese mind and civilization +not only ignore many important elements of the civilization they +attempt to interpret, but also base their interpretation on a mistaken +conception of personality? We may not, however, leave the discussion +at this point, for important considerations still demand our attention +if we would probe this problem of personality to its core. + + + + +XXXII + +IS BUDDHISM IMPERSONAL? + + +Advocates of Japanese "impersonality" call attention to the phenomena +of self-suppression in religion. It seems strange, however, that they +who present this argument fail to see how "self-suppression" +undermines their main contention. If "self-suppression" be actually +attained, it can only be by a people advanced so far as to have passed +through and beyond the "personal" stage of existence. +"Self-suppression" cannot be a characteristic of a primitive people, a +people that has not yet reached the stage of consciousness of self. If +the alleged "impersonality" of the Orient is that of a primitive +people that has not yet reached the stage of self-consciousness, then +it cannot have the characteristic of "self-suppression." If, on the +other hand, it is the "impersonality" of "self-suppression," then it +is radically different from that of a primitive people. Advocates of +"impersonality" present both conceptions, quite unconscious apparently +that they are mutually exclusive. If either conception is true, the +other is false. + +Furthermore, if self-suppression is a marked characteristic of +Japanese politeness and altruism (as it undoubtedly is when these +qualities are real expressions of the heart and of the general +character), it is a still more characteristic feature of the higher +religious life of the people, which certainly does not tend to +"impersonality." The ascription of esoteric Buddhism to the common +people by advocates of the "impersonal" theory is quite a mistake, and +the argument for the "impersonality" of the race on this ground is +without foundation, for the masses of the people are grossly +polytheistic, wholly unable to understand Buddhistic metaphysics, or +to conceive of the nebulous, impersonal Absolute of Buddhism. Now if +consciousness of the unity of nature, and especially of the unity of +the individual soul with the Absolute, were a characteristic of +undeveloped, that is, of undifferentiated mind, then all primitive +peoples should display it in a superlative degree. It should show +itself in every phase of their life. The more primitive the people, +the more divine their life--because the less differentiated from the +original divine mind! Such are the requirements of this theory. But +what are the facts? The primitive undeveloped mind is relatively +unconscious of self; it is wholly objective; it is childlike; it does +not even know that there is self to suppress. Primitive religion is +purely objective. Implicit, in primitive religion without doubt, is +the fact of a unity between God and man, but the primitive man has not +discovered this implication of his religious thinking. This is the +state of mind of a large majority of Japanese. + +Yet this is by no means true of all. No nation, with such a continuous +history as Japan has had, would fail to develop a class capable of +considerable introspection. In Japan introspection received early and +powerful impetus from the religion of Buddha. It came with a +philosophy of life based on prolonged and profound introspection. It +commanded each man who would know more than the symbols, who desired, +like Buddha, to attain the great enlightenment and thus become a +Tathagata, a Blessed one, a Buddha, an Enlightened one, to know and +conquer himself. The emphasis laid by thoughtful Buddhism on the need +of self-knowledge, in order to self-suppression, is well recognized by +all careful students. Advocates of Oriental "impersonality" are not +one whit behind others in recognizing it. In this connection we can +hardly do better than quote a few of Mr. Lowell's happy descriptions +of the teaching of philosophic Buddhism. + +"This life, it says, is but a chain of sorrows.... These desires that +urge us on are really causes of all our woe. We think they are +ourselves. We are mistaken. They are all illusion.... This +personality, this sense of self, is a cruel deception.... Realize once +the true soul behind it, devoid of attributes ... an invisible part of +the great impersonal soul of nature, then ... will you have found +happiness in the blissful quiescence of Nirvana" [p. 186]. "In desire +alone lies all the ill. Quench the desire, and the deeds [sins of the +flesh] will die of inanition. Get rid, then, said Buddha, of these +passions, these strivings, for the sake of self. As a man becomes +conscious that he himself is something distinct from his body, so if +he reflect and ponder, he will come to see that in like manner, his +appetites, ambitions, hopes, are really extrinsic to the spirit +proper.... Behind desire, behind even the will, lies the soul, the +same for all men, one with the soul of the universe. When he has once +realized this eternal truth, the man has entered Nirvana.... It +[Nirvana] is simply the recognition of the eternal oneness of the two +[the individual and the universal soul]" [p. 189]. + +Accepting this description of philosophic Buddhism as fairly accurate, +it is plain that the attainment of this consciousness of the unity of +the individual self with the universal is the result, according to +Buddha, and also according to the advocates of "impersonality," of a +highly developed consciousness of self. It is not a simple state of +undifferentiated mind, but a complex and derivative one--absolutely +incomprehensible to a primitive people. The means for this suppression +of self _depends entirely on the development of the consciousness of +self_. The self is the means for casting out the self, and it is done +by that introspection which ultimately leads to the realization of the +unity. If, then, Japanese Buddhism seeks to suppress the self, this +very effort is the most conclusive proof we could demand of the +possession by this people of a highly developed consciousness of self. + +It is one of the boasts of Buddhism that a man's saviour is himself; +no other helper, human or divine, can do aught for him. Those who +reject Christianity in Christian lands are quite apt to praise +Buddhism for this rejection of all external help. They urge that by +the very nature of the case salvation is no external thing; each one +must work out his own salvation. It cannot be given by another. +Salvation through an external Christ who lived 1900 years ago is an +impossibility. Such a criticism of Christianity shows real +misunderstanding of the Christian doctrine and method of salvation. +Yet the point to which attention is here directed is not the +correctness or incorrectness of these characterizations of +Christianity, but rather to the fact that "ji-riki," salvation through +self-exertion, which is the boast of Buddhism, is but another proof of +the essentially self-conscious character of Buddhism. It aims at +Nirvana, it is true, at self-suppression, but it depends on the +attainment of clear self-consciousness in the first place, and then on +prolonged self-exertion for the attainment of that end. In proportion +as Buddhism is esoteric is it self-conscious. + +Such being the nature of Buddhism, we naturally ask whether or not it +is calculated to develop strongly personalized men and women. If +consciousness of self is the main element of personality, we must +pronounce Buddhism a highly personal rather than impersonal religion, +as is commonly stated. But a religion of the Buddhistic type, which +casts contempt on the self, and seeks its annihilation as the only +means of salvation, has ever tended to destroy personality; it has +made men hermits and pessimists; it has drawn them out of the great +current of active life, and thus has severed them from their +fellow-men. But a prime condition of developed personalities is +largeness and intensity of life, and constant intercourse with +mankind. Personality is developed in the society of persons, not in +the company of trees and stones. Buddhism, which runs either to gross +and superstitious polytheism on its popular side or to pessimistic +introspection on its philosophical side, may possibly, by a stretch of +the term, be called "impersonal" in the sense that it does not help in +the production of strong, rounded personality among its votaries, but +not in the sense that it does not produce self-consciousness. +Buddhism, therefore, cannot be accurately described in terms of +personality or impersonality. + +We would do well in this connection to ponder the fact that although +Buddhism in its higher forms does certainly develop consciousness of +self, it does not attribute to that self any worth. In consequence of +this, it never has modified, and however long it might be allowed to +run its course, never could modify, the general social order in the +direction of individualism. This is one reason why the whole Orient +has maintained to modern times its communal nature, in spite of its +high development in so many ways, even in introspection and +self-consciousness. + +This failure of Buddhism is all the more striking when we stop to +consider how easy and, to us, natural an inference it would have been +to pass from the perception of the essential unity between the +separate self and the universal soul, to the assertion of the supreme +worth of that separate soul because of the fact of that unity. But +Buddhism never seems to have made that inference. Its compassion on +animals and even insects depended on its doctrine of the +transmigration of souls, not on its doctrine of universal soul unity. +Its mercy was shown to animals in certain whimsical ways, but the +universal lack of sympathy for suffering man, man who could suffer the +most exquisite pains, exposed the shallowness of its solicitude about +destroying life. The whole influence of Buddhism on the social order +was not conducive to the development of personality in the Orient. The +so-called impersonal influence of Buddhism upon the Eastern peoples, +then, is not due to its failure to recognize the separateness of the +human self, on the one hand, nor to its emphasis on the universal +unity subsisting between the separate finite self and the infinite +soul, on the other; but only on its failure to see the infinite worth +of the individual; and in consequence of this failure, its inability +to modify the general social order by the introduction of +individualism. + +The asserted "impersonal" characteristic of Buddhism and of the +Orient, therefore, I am not willing to call "impersonality"; for it is +a very defective description, a real misnomer. I think no single term +can truly describe the characteristic under consideration. As regards +the general social order, the so-called impersonal characteristic is +its communal nature; as regards the popular religious thought, whether +of Shintoism or Buddhism, its so-called impersonality is its simple, +artless objectivity; as regards philosophic Buddhism its so-called +impersonality is its morbid introspective self-consciousness, leading +to the desire and effort to annihilate the separateness of the self. +These are different characteristics and cannot be described by any +single term. So far as there are in Japan genuine altruism, real +suppression of selfish desires, and real possession of kindly feelings +for others and desires to help them, and so far as these qualities +arise through a sense of the essential unity of the human race and of +the unity of the human with the divine soul, this is not +"impersonality"--but a form of highly developed personality--not +infra-personality, but true personality. + +We have noted that although esoteric Buddhism developed a highly +accentuated consciousness of self, it attributed no value to that +self. This failure will not appear strange if we consider the +historical reasons for it. Indeed, the failure was inevitable. Neither +the social order nor the method of introspective thought suggested it. +Both served, on the contrary, absolutely to preclude the idea. + +When introspective thought began in India the social order was already +far beyond the undifferentiated communal life of the tribal stage. +Castes were universal and fixed. The warp and woof of daily life and +of thought were filled with the distinctions of castes and ranks. +Man's worth was conceived to be not in himself, but in his rank or +caste. The actual life of the people, therefore, did not furnish to +speculative thought the slightest suggestion of the worth of man as +man. It was a positive hindrance to the rise of such an idea. + +Equally opposed to the rise of this idea was the method of that +introspective thought which discovered the fact of the self. It was a +method of abstraction; it denied as part of the real self everything +that could be thought of as separate; every changing phase or +expression of the self could not be the real self, it was argued, +because, if a part of the real self, how could it sometimes be and +again not be? Feeling cannot be a part of the real self, for sometimes +I feel and sometimes I do not. Any particular desire cannot be a part +of my real self, for sometimes I have it and sometimes I do not. A +similar argument was applied to every objective thing. In the famous +"Questions of King Melinda," the argument as to the real chariot is +expanded at length; the wheels are not the chariot; the spokes are not +the chariot; the seat is not the chariot; the tongue is not the +chariot; the axle is not the chariot; and so, taking up each +individual part of the chariot, the assertion is made that it is not +the chariot. But if the chariot is not in any of its parts, then they +are not essential parts of the chariot. So of the soul--the self; it +does not consist of its various qualities or attributes or powers; +hence they are not essential elements of the self. The real self +exists apart from them. + +Now is it not evident that such a method of introspection deprives the +conception of self of all possible value? It is nothing but a bare +intellectual abstraction. To say that this self is a part of the +universal self is no relief,--brings no possible worth to the separate +self,--for the conception of the universal soul has been arrived at by +a similar process of thought. It, too, is nothing but a bare +abstraction, deprived of all qualities and attributes and powers. I +can see no distinction between the absolute universal soul of +Brahmanism and Buddhism, and the Absolute Nothing of Hegel.[CX] + +Both are the farthest possible abstraction that the mind can make. The +Absolute Soul of Buddhism, the Atman of Brahmanism, and Hegel's +Nothing are the farthest possible remove from the Christian's +conception of God. The former is the utter emptiness of being; the +latter the perfect fullness of being and completeness of quality. The +finite emptiness receives and can receive no richness of life or +increase in value by its consciousness of unity with the infinite +emptiness; whereas the finite limited soul receives in the Christian +view an infinite wealth and value by reason of the consciousness of +its unity with the divine infinite fullness. The usual method of +stating the difference between the Christian conception of God and the +Hindu conception of the root of all being is that the one is personal +and the other impersonal. But these terms are inadequate. Rather say +the one is perfectly personal and the other perfectly abstract. +Impersonality, even in its strictest meaning, _i.e._, without +"conscious separate existence as an intelligent and voluntary being," +only partially expresses the conception of Buddhism. The full +conception rejects not only personality, but also every other quality; +the ultimate and the absolute of Buddhism--we may not even call it +being--is the absolutely abstract. + +With regard, then, to the conception of the separate self and of the +supreme self, the Buddhistic view may be called "impersonal," not in +the sense that it lacks the consciousness of a separate self; not in +the sense that it emphasizes the universal unity--nay, the identity of +all the separate abstract selves and the infinite abstract self; but +in the sense that all the qualities and characteristics of human +beings, such as consciousness, thought, emotion, volition, and even +being itself, are rejected as unreal. The view is certainly +"impersonal," but it is much more. My objection to the description of +Buddhism as "impersonal," then, is not because the word is too strong, +but because it is too weak; it does not sufficiently characterize its +real nature. It is as much below materialism, as materialism is below +monotheism. Such a scheme of thought concerning the universe +necessarily reacts on those whom it possesses, to destroy what sense +they may have of the value of human personality; that which we hold to +be man's glory is broken into fragments and thrown away. + +But this does not constitute the whole of the difficulty. This method +of introspective thought necessarily resulted in the doctrine of +Illusion. Nothing is what it seems to be. The reality of the chariot +is other than it appears. So too with the self and everything we see +or think. The ignoant are perfectly under the spell of the illusion +and cannot escape it. The deluded mind creates for itself the world of +being, with all its woes and evils. The great enlightenment is the +discovery of this fact and the power it gives to escape the illusion +and to see that the world is nothing but illusion. To see that the +illusion is an illusion destroys it as such. It is then no longer an +illusion, but only a passing shadow. We cannot now stop to see how +pessimism, the doctrine of self-salvation, and the nature of that +salvation through contemplation and asceticism and withdrawal from +active life, all inevitably follow from such a course of thought. That +which here needs emphasis is that all this thinking renders it still +more impossible to think of the self as having any intrinsic worth. +On-the contrary, the self is the source of evil, of illusion. The +great aim of Buddhism is necessarily to get rid of the self, with all +its illusions and pains and disappointments. + +Is it now clear why Buddhism failed to reach the idea of the worth of +the individual self? It was due to the nature of the social order, and +the nature of its introspective and speculative thinking. Lacking, +therefore, the conception of individual worth, we see clearly why it +failed, even after centuries of opportunity, to secure individualism +in the social order and a general development of personality either as +an idea or as a fact among any of the peoples to which it has gone. It +is not only a fact of history, but we have seen that it could not have +been otherwise. The very nature of its conception of self and, in +consequence, the nature of its conception of salvation absolutely +prohibited it.[CY] + +We have thus far confined our view entirely to philosophic Buddhism. +It is important, therefore, to state again that very few of the +Japanese people outside of the priesthood have any such ideas with +regard to the abstract nature of the individual, of the absolute self, +and of their mutual relations as I have just described. These ideas +are a part of esoteric Buddhism, the secret truth, which is an +essential part of the great enlightenment, but far too profound for +the vulgar multitudes. The vast majority, even of the priesthood, I am +told, do not get far enough to be taught these views. The sweep of +such conceptions, therefore, is very limited. That they are held, +however, by the leaders, that they are the views of the most learned +expounders and the most advanced students of Buddhism serves to +explain why Buddhism has never been, and can never become, a power in +reorganizing society in the direction of individualism. + +Popular Buddhism contains many elements alien to philosophic Buddhism. +For a full study of the subject of this chapter we need to ask whether +popular Buddhism tended to produce "impersonality," and if so, in what +sense. The doctrine of "ingwa,"[CZ] with its consequences on +character, demands fresh attention at this point. According to this +doctrine every event of this life, even the minutest, is the result of +one's conduct in a previous life, and is unalterably fixed by +inflexible law. "Ingwa" is the crude idea of fate held by all +primitive peoples, stated in somewhat philosophic and scientific form. +It became a central element in the thought of Oriental peoples. Each +man is born into his caste and class by a law over which neither he +nor his parents have any control, and for which they are without +responsibility. The misfortunes of life, and the good fortunes as +well, come by the same impartial, inflexible laws. By this system of +thought moral responsibility is practically removed from the +individual's shoulders. This doctrine is held in Japan far more widely +than the philosophic doctrine of the self, and is correspondingly +baleful. + +This system of thought, when applied to the details of life, means +that individual choice and will, and their effect in determining both +external life and internal character have been practically lost sight +of. As a sociological fact the origin of this conception is not +difficult to understand. The primitive freedom of the individual in +the early communal order of the tribe became increasingly restricted +with the multiplication and development of the Hindu peoples; each +class of society became increasingly specialized. Finally the +individual had no choice whatever left him, because of the extreme +rigidity of the communal order. As a matter of fact, the individual +choice and will was allowed no play whatever in any important matter. +Good sense saw that where no freedom is, there moral responsibility +cannot be. All one's life is predetermined by the powers that be. Thus +we again see how vital a relation the social order bears to the +innermost thinking and belief of a people. + +Still further. Once let the idea be firmly grounded in an individual +that he has no freedom of belief, of choice, or of act, and in the +vast majority of cases, as a matter of fact, he will have none. "As a +man thinketh in his heart, so is he." "According to your faith be it +unto you." This doctrine of individual freedom is one of those that +cannot be forced on a man who does not choose to believe it. In a true +sense, it is my belief that I am free that makes me free. As Prof. +James well says, the doctrine of the freedom of the will cannot be +rammed down any man's intellectual throat, for that very act would +abridge his real freedom. Man's real freedom is proved by his freedom +to reject even the doctrine of his freedom. But so long as he rejects +it, his freedom is only potential. Because of his belief in his +bondage he is in bondage. Now this doctrine of fate has been the warp +and woof of the thinking of the bulk of the Japanese people in their +efforts to explain all the vicissitudes of life. Not only, therefore, +has it failed to stimulate the volitional element of the psychic +nature, but in the psychology of the Orient little if any attention +has been given to this faculty. Oriental psychology practically knows +nothing of personality because it has failed to note one of its +central elements, the freedom of the will. The individual, therefore, +has not been appealed to to exercise his free moral choice, one of +the highest prerogatives of his nature. Moral responsibility has not +been laid on his individual shoulders. A method of moral appeal fitted +to develop the deepest element of his personality has thus been +precluded. + +It thus resulted that although philosophic Buddhism developed a high +degree of self-consciousness, yet because it failed to discover +personal freedom it did not deliver popular Buddhism from its grinding +doctrine of fate, rather it fastened this incubus of social progress +more firmly upon it. Philosophic and popular Buddhism alike thus threw +athwart the course of human and social evolution the tremendous +obstacle of fatalism, which the Orient has never discovered a way +either to surmount or evade. Buddhism teaches the impotence of the +individual will; it destroys the sense of moral responsibility; it +thus fails to understand the real nature of man, his glory and power +and even his divinity, which the West sums up in the term personality. +In this sense, then, the influence of Buddhism and the condition of +the Orient may be called "impersonal," but it is the impersonality of +a defective religious psychology, and of communalism in the social +order. Whether it is right to call this feature of Japan +"impersonality," I leave with the reader to judge. + +We draw this chapter to a close with a renewed conception of the +inadequacy of the "impersonal" theory to explain Japanese religious +and social phenomena. Further considerations, however, still merit +attention ere we leave this subject. + + + + +XXXIII + +TRACES OF PERSONALITY IN SHINTOISM, BUDDHISM, AND CONFUCIANISM + + +Regret as we sometimes must the illogicalness of the human mind, yet +it is a providential characteristic of our as yet defective nature; +for thanks to it few men or nations carry out to their complete +logical results erroneous opinions and metaphysical speculations. +Common sense in Japan has served more or less as an antidote for +Buddhistic poison. The blighting curse of logical Buddhism has been +considerably relieved by various circumstances. Let us now consider +some of the ways in which the personality-destroying characteristics +of Buddhism have been lessened by other ideas and influences. + +First of all there is the distinction, so often noted, between +esoteric and popular Buddhism. Esoteric Buddhism was content to allow +popular Buddhism a place and even to invent ways for the salvation of +the ignorant multitudes who could not see the real nature of the self. +Resort was had to the use of magic prayers and symbols and idols. +These were bad enough, but they did not bear so hard on the +development of personality as did esoteric Buddhism. + +The doctrine of the transmigration of the soul was likewise a relief +from the pressure of philosophic Buddhism, for, according to this +doctrine, the individual soul continues to live its separate life, to +maintain its independent identity through infinite ages, while passing +through the ten worlds of existence, from nethermost hell to highest +heaven; and the particular world into which it is born after each +death is determined by the moral character of its life in the +immediately preceding stage. By this doctrine, then, a practical +appeal is made to the common man to exert his will, to assert his +personality, and so far forth it was calculated to undo a part of the +mischief done by the paralyzing doctrine of fate and illusion. + +But a more important relief from the blight of Buddhistic doctrine was +afforded by its own practice. At the very time that it declared the +worthlessness of the self and the impotence of the will, it declared +that salvation can come only from the self, by the most determined +exercise of the will. What more convincing evidence of powerful, +though distorted, wills could be asked than that furnished by Oriental +asceticism? Nothing in the West exceeds it. As an _idea_, then, +Buddhism interfered with the development of the conception of +personality; but by its _practice_ it helped powerfully to develop it +as a fact in certain phases of activity. The stoicism of the Japanese +is one phase of developed personality. It shows the presence of a +powerful, disciplined will keeping the body in control, so that it +gives no sign of the thoughts and emotions going on in the mind, +however fierce they may be. + +That in Japan, however, which has interfered most powerfully with the +spread and dominance of Buddhism has been the practical and prosaic +Confucian ethics. Apparently, Confucius never speculated. Metaphysics +and introspection alike had no charm for him. He was concerned with +conduct. His developed doctrine demanded of all men obedience to the +law of the five relations. In spite, therefore, of the fact that he +said nothing about individuality and personality, his system laid real +emphasis on personality and demanded its continuous activity. In all +of his teachings the idea of personality in the full and proper sense +of this word is always implicit, and sometimes is quite distinct. + +The many strong and noble characters which glorify the feudal era are +the product of Japonicized Confucianism, "Bushido," and bear powerful +witness to its practical emphasis on personality. The loyalty, filial +piety, courage, rectitude, honor, self-control, and suicide which it +taught, defective though we must pronounce them from certain points of +view, were yet very lofty and noble, and depended for their +realization on the development of personality. + +Advocates of the "impersonal" interpretation of the Orient have much +to say about pantheism. They assert the difficulty of conveying to the +Oriental mind the idea of the personality of the Supreme Being. +Although some form of pantheism is doubtless the belief of the +learned, the evidence that a personal conception of deity is +widespread among the people seems so manifest that I need hardly do +more than call attention to it. This belief has helped to neutralize +the paralyzing tendency of Buddhist fatalistic pantheism. + +Shinto is personal from first to last. Every one of its myriads of +gods is a personal being, many of them deified men. + +The most popular are the souls of men who became famous for some +particularly noble, brave, or admirable deed. Hero-worship is nothing +if not personal. Furthermore, in its doctrine of "San-shin-ittai," +"three gods, one body," it curiously suggests the doctrine of the +Trinity. + +Popular Buddhism holds an equally personal conception of deity. The +objects of its worship are personifications of various qualities. +"Kwannon," the goddess of mercy; "Jizo," the guardian of travelers and +children; "Emma O," "King of Hell," who punishes sinners; "Fudo Sama," +"The Immovable One," are all personifications of the various +attributes of deity and are worshiped as separate gods, each being +represented by a uniform type of idol. It is a curious fact that +Buddhism, which started out with such a lofty rejection of deity, +finally fell to the worship of idols, whereas Shinto, which is +peculiarly the worship of personality, has never stooped to its +representation in wood or stone. + +Confucianism, however, surpasses all in its intimations of the +personality of the Supreme Being. Although it never formulated this +doctrine in a single term, nor definitely stated it as a tenet of +religion, yet the entire ethical and religious thinking of the +classically educated Japanese is shot through with the idea. Consider +the Chinese expression "Jo-Tei," which the Christians of Japan freely +use for God; it means literally "Supreme Emperor," and refers to the +supreme ruler of the universe; he is here conceived in the form of a +human ruler having of course human, that is to say, personal, +attributes. A phrase often heard on the lips of the Japanese is: + +"Aoide Ten ni hajizu; fushite Chi ni hajizu." + +"Without self-reproach, whether looking up to Heaven, or down to +Earth." + +This phrase has reference to the consciousness of one's life and +conduct, such that he is neither ashamed to look up in the face of +Heaven nor to look about him in the presence of man. Paul expressed +this same idea when he wrote "having a conscience void of offense to +God and to man." Or take another phrase: + +"Ten-mo kwaikwai so ni shite morasazu." + +"Heaven's net is broad as earth; and though its meshes are large, none +can escape it." This is constantly used to illustrate the certainty +that Heaven punishes the wicked. + +"Ten ni kuchi ari; kabe ni mimi ari." + +"Heaven has a mouth and even the wall has ears," signifies that all +one does is known to the ruler of heaven and earth. Another still more +striking saying ascribing knowledge to Heaven is the "Yoshin no +Shichi," "the four knowings of Yoshin." This sage was a Chinaman of +the second century A.D. Approached with a large bribe and urged to +accept it with the assurance that no one would know it, he replied, +"Heaven knows it; Earth knows it; you know it; and I know it. How say +you that none will know it?" This famous saying condemning bribery is +well known in Japan. The references to "Heaven" as knowing, seeing, +doing, sympathizing, willing, and always identifying the activity of +"Heaven" with the noblest and loftiest ideals of man, are frequent in +Chinese and Japanese literature. The personality of God is thus a +doctrine clearly foreshadowed in the Orient. It is one of those great +truths of religion which the Orient has already received, but which in +a large measure lies dormant because of its incomplete expression. The +advent of the fully expressed teaching of this truth, freed from all +vagueness and ambiguity, is a capital illustration of the way in which +Christianity comes to Japan to fulfill rather than to destroy; it +brings that fructifying element that stirs the older and more or less +imperfectly expressed truths into new life, and gives them adequate +modes of expression. But the point to which I am here calling +attention is the fact that the idea of the personality of the Supreme +Being is not so utterly alien to Oriental thought as some would have +us think. Even though there is no single word with which conveniently +to translate the term, the idea is perfectly distinct to any Japanese +to whom its meaning is explained. + +The statement is widely made that because the Japanese language has no +term for "personality" the people are lacking in the idea; that +consequently they have difficulty in grasping it even when presented +to them, and that as a further consequence they are not to be +criticised for their hesitancy in accepting the doctrine of the +"Personality of God." It must be admitted that if "personality" is to +be defined in the various ambiguous and contradictory ways in which we +have seen it defined by advocates of Oriental "impersonality" much can +be said in defense of their hesitancy. Indeed, no thinking Christian +of the Occident for a moment accepts it. But if "personality" is +defined in the way here presented, which I judge to be the usage of +thoughtful Christendom, then their hesitancy cannot be so defended. It +is doubtless true that there is in Japanese no single word +corresponding to our term "personality." But that is likewise true of +multitudes of other terms. The only significance of this fact is that +Oriental philosophy has not followed in exactly the same lines as the +Occidental. As a matter of fact I have not found the idea of +personality to be a difficult one to convey to the Japanese, if clear +definitions are used. The Japanese language has, as we have seen, many +words referring to the individuality, to the self of manhood; it +merely lacks the general abstract term, "personality." This is, +however, in keeping with the general characteristics of the language. +Abstract terms are, compared with English, relatively rare. Yet with +the new civilization they are being coined and introduced. +Furthermore, the English term "personality" is readily used by the +great majority of educated Christians just as they use such words as +"life," "power," "success," "patriotism," and "Christianity." + +In the summer of 1898, with the Rev. C.A. Clark I was invited to speak +on the "Outlines of Christianity" in a school for Buddhist priests. At +the close of our thirty-minute addresses, a young man arose and spoke +for fifty minutes, outlining the Buddhist system of thought; his +address consisted of an exposition of the law of cause and effect; he +also stated some of the reasons why the Christian conception of God +and the universe seemed to him utterly unsatisfactory; the objections +raised were those now current in Japan--such, for example, as that if +God really were the creator of the universe, why are some men rich and +some poor, some high-born and some low-born. He also asked the +question who made God? In a two-minute reply I stated that his +objections showed that he did not understand the Christian's position; +and I asked in turn what was the origin of the law of cause and +effect. The following day the chief priest, the head of the school and +its most highly educated instructor, dined with us. We of course +talked of the various aspects of Christian and Buddhist doctrine. +Finally he asked me how I would answer the question as to who created +God, and as to the origin of the law of cause and effect. I explained +as clearly as I could the Christian view of God, in his personality +and as being the original and only source of all existence, whether of +physical or of human nature. He seemed to drink it all in and +expressed his satisfaction at the close in the words, "Taihen ni man +zoku shimashita," "That is exceedingly satisfactory"; these words he +repeated several times. This is not my first personal proof of the +fact that the idea of personality is not alien or incomprehensible to +the Orient, nor even to a Buddhist priest, steeped in Buddhist +speculation, provided the idea is clearly stated. + +Before bringing to a close this discussion of the problem of +personality in Japan, it would seem desirable to trace the history of +the development of Japanese personality. In view of all that has now +been said, and not forgetting what was said as to the principles of +National Evolution,[DA] this may be done in a paragraph. + +The amalgamation of tribes, the development of large clans, and +finally the establishment of the nation, with world-wide relations, +has reacted on the individual members of the people, giving them +larger and richer lives. This constitutes one important element of +personal development. The subordination of individual will to that of +the group, the desire and effort to live for the advantage, not of the +individual self, but of the group, whether family, tribe, clan, +nation, or the world, is not a limitation of personality. On the +contrary, it is its expansion and development. Shinto and Japonicized +Confucianism contributed powerful motives to this subordination, and +thus to this personal development. These were attended, however, by +serious limitations in that they confined their attention to the upper +and ruling classes. The development of personality was thus extremely +limited. Buddhism contributed to the development of Japanese +personality in so far as it taught Japanese the marvels revealed by +introspection and self-victory. Its contribution, however, was +seriously hampered by defects already sufficiently emphasized. Japan +has developed personality to a high degree in a few and to a +relatively low degree in the many. The problem confronting New Japan +is the development of a high degree of personality among the masses. +This is to be accomplished by the introduction of an individualistic +social order. + +One further topic demands our attention in closing. What is the nature +of personal heredity? Is it biological and inherent, or, like all the +characteristics of the Japanese people thus far studied, is +personality transmitted by social heredity? Distinguishing between +intrinsic or inherent personality,[DB] which constitutes the original +endowment differentiating man from animal, and extrinsic or acquired +personality, which consists of the various forms in which the inherent +personality has manifested itself in the different races of men and +the different ages of "history, it is safe to say that the latter is +transmitted according to the laws of association or social heredity. +Intrinsic personality can be inherited only by lineal offspring, +passing from father to son. Extrinsic personality may fail to be +inherited by lineal descendants and may be inherited by others than +lineal descendants. It is transmitted and determined by social +inheritance. Yet it is through personality that the individual may +break away from the dominant currents of the social order, and become +thus the means for the transformation of that order. The secret of +social progress lies in personality. In proportion as the social order +is fitted, accordingly, widely to develop high-grade personality,[DC] +is its own progress rapid and safe. + +Does acquired personality react on intrinsic personality? This is the +problem of "the inheritance of acquired characteristics." Into this +problem I do not enter further than to note that in so far as newly +developed personal traits produce transformations of body and brain +transmittable from parent to offspring by the bare fact of parentage, +in that degree does acquired pass over into intrinsic personality and +thereby become intrinsic. In regard to the degree in which acquired +has passed over into intrinsic personality, thus differentiating the +leading races of mankind, we contend that it is practically +non-existent. The phenomena of personality characterizing the chief +races of men are due, not to intrinsic, but to acquired personality; +in other words they are the products of the respective social orders +and are transmitted from generation to generation by social rather +than by biological heredity. + + + + +XXXIV + +THE BUDDHIST WORLD-VIEW + + +Fully to comprehend the genius and history of Japan and her social +order, we need to gain a still more thorough insight into the various +conceptions of the universe that have influenced the people. What have +been their views as to the nature of the ultimate reality lying behind +all phenomena? What as to the relation of mankind to that Ultimate +Reality? And what has been the relation of these world-views to the +social order? To prepare the way for our final answer to these +questions, we confine ourselves in this chapter to a study of the +inner nature of the Buddhist world-view. + +Since the Buddhist conception of the Ultimate Reality and of the +universe is one of the three important types of world-views dominating +the human mind, a type too that is hardly known in Western lands, in +order to set it forth in terms intelligible to the Occidental and the +Christian, it will be necessary in expounding it to contrast it with +the two remaining types; namely, the Greek and the Christian. As +already pointed out, according to the Buddhistic conception, the +Ultimate is a thoroughgoing Abstraction. All the elements of +personality are denied. It is perfectly passionless, perfectly +thoughtless, and perfectly motionless. It has neither feeling, idea, +nor will. As a consequence, the phenomena of the universe are wholly +unrelated to it; all that is, is only illusion; it has no reality of +being. Human beings who think the world real, and who think even +themselves real, are under the spell. This illusion is the great +misery and source of pain. Salvation is the discovery of the illusion; +and this discovery is the victory over it; for no one fears the lion's +skin, however much he may fear the lion. This discovery secures the +dropping back from the little, limited, individual self-line, into +the infinite passionless, thoughtless, and motionless existence of the +absolute being, Nirvana. + +The Ancient Greek and not a little modern thought, conceived of the +Ultimate as a thorough-going intellectualism. One aspect of +personality was perceived and emphasized. God was conceived as a +thinker, as one who contemplates the universe. He does not create +matter, nor force, nor does he rule them. They are eternal and real, +and subject to fate. God simply observes. He is absolute reason. The +Greek view is thus essentially dualistic. Sin, from the Greek point of +view, is merely ignorance, and salvation the attainment of knowledge. + +In vital and vitalizing contrast to both the Buddhist and Greek +conceptions is the Judæo-Christian. To the Christian the Ultimate is a +thoroughgoing personality. To him the central element in God is will, +guided by reason and controlled by love and righteousness. God creates +and rules everything. There is nothing that is not wholly subject to +him. There is no dualism for the Christian, nor any illusion. Sin is +an act of human will, not an illusion nor a failure of intellect. +Salvation is the correction of the will, which comes about through a +"new birth." + +The elemental difference, then, between these three conceptions of the +Ultimate is that in Buddhism the effort to rationalize and ethicize +the universe of experience is abandoned as a hopeless task; the world +entirely and completely resists the rational and ethical process. The +universe is pronounced completely irrational and non-moral. Change is +branded as illusion. There is no room for progress in philosophic, +thoroughgoing Buddhism. + +In the Greek view the universe is subject in part to the rationalizing +process; but only in part. The effort at ethicization is entirely +futile. The Greek view, equally with the Buddhistic, is at a loss to +understand change. It does not brand it as unreal, but change produced +by man is branded as a departure from nature. Greeks and Hindus alike +have no philosophy of history. In the Christian view the universe is +completely subject to the rational and ethical process. God is creator +of all that is and it is necessarily good. God is an active will and +He is, therefore, still in the process of creating; hence change, +evolution, is justified and understood. History is rational and has a +philosophy. Evolution and revelation have their place at the very +heart of the universe. Hence it is that science, philosophy, and +history, in a word a high-grade civilization, finds its intellectual +justification, its foundation, its primary postulates, its +possibility, only in a land permeated with the Christian idea of God. + +In the Buddhistic conception God is an abstract vacuity; in the Greek, +a static intellect; in the Christian, a dynamic will. As is the +conception of God, so is the conception and character of man. The two +are so intimately interdependent that it is useless at this time to +discuss which is the cause and which the result. They are doubtless +the two aspects of the same movement of thought. The following +differences are necessary characteristics of the three religions: + +The Buddhist seeks salvation through the attainment of +vacuity--Nirvana--in order to escape from the world in which he says +there is no reason and no morality. The Greek seeks salvation through +the activity of the intellect; all that is needful to salvation is +knowledge of the truth. The Christian seeks salvation through the +activity of the will; this is secured through the new birth. The +Buddhist leaves each man to save himself from his illusion by the +discovery that it is an illusion. The Greek relies on intellectual +education, on philosophy--the Christian recreates the will. The +Buddhist and Greek gods make no effort to help the lost man. The +Christian God is dominated by love; He is therefore a missionary God, +sending even His only begotten Son to reconcile and win the world of +sinning, willful children back to Himself. + +In Buddhism salvation is won only by the few and after ages of toil +and ceaseless re-births. In the Greek plan only the philosopher who +comes to full understanding can attain salvation. In the Christian +plan salvation is for all, for all are sons of God, in fact, and may +through Christ become so in consciousness. In the Buddhistic plan the +hopeless masses resort to magic and keep on with their idolatry and +countless gross superstitions. In the Greek plan the hopeless resort +to the "mysteries" for the attainment of salvation. In the Christian +plan there are no hopeless masses, for all may gain the regenerated +will and become conscious sons of God. + +The Buddhist mind gave up all effort to grasp or even to understand +reality. The Greek mind thought it could arrive at reality through the +intellect. But two thousand years of philosophic study and evolution +drove philosophy into the absurd positions of absolute subjective +idealism on the one hand and sensationalism and absolute materialism +on the other. The Christian mind lays emphasis on the will and +accordingly is alone able to reach reality, a reality justifiable +alike to the reason and to the heart. For will is the creative faculty +in man as well as in God. As God through His will creates reality, so +man through his will first comes to know reality. Mere intellect can +never pass over from thought to being. Being can be known as a reality +only through the will. + +In consequence of the above-stated methods of thought, the Buddhist +was of necessity a pessimist; the Greek only less so; while the Jew +and the Christian could alone be thoroughgoing optimists. The Buddhist +ever asserts the is-not; the Greek, the is; while the Jew and +Christian demand the ought-to be, as the supreme thing. Hence flows +the perennial life of the Christian civilization. + +Those races and civilizations whose highest and deepest conception of +the ultimate is that of mere reason, no less than those races and +civilizations whose highest and deepest conception of reality is that +of an abstract emptiness, must be landed in an unreal world, must +arrive at irrational results, for they have not taken into account the +most vital element of thought and life. Such races and civilizations +cannot rise to the highest levels of which man is capable; they must +of necessity give way to those races and that civilization which build +on larger and more complete foundations, which worship Will, Human and +Divine, and seek for its larger development both in self and in all +mankind. + +But I must not pause to trace the contrasts further. Enough has been +said to show the source of Occidental belief in the infinite worth of +man. In almost diametrical contrast to the Buddhist conception, +according to the Christian view, man is a real being, living in a real +world, involved in a real intellectual problem, fighting a real +battle, on whose issue hang momentous, nay, infinite results. So great +is man's value, not only to himself, but also to God, his Father, that +the Father himself suffers with him in his sin, and for him, to save +him from his sin. The question will be asked how widely the Buddhistic +interpretation of the universe has spread in Japan. The doctrine of +illusion became pretty general. We may doubt, however, whether the +rationale of the philosophy was very generally understood. One Sutra, +read by all Japanese sects, is taught to all who would become +acquainted with the essentials of Buddhist doctrine. It is so short +that I give it in full.[DD] + + +THE SMALLER-PRAGNA-PARAMITA-HRIDYA-SUTRA + + "Adoration to the Omniscient. The venerable Bodhisattva + Avalokitesvara performing his study in the deep Pragna-paramita + [perfection of Wisdom] thought thus: There are the five Skandhas, + and these he considered as by their nature empty [phenomenal]. O + Sariputra, he said, form here is emptiness, and emptiness indeed is + form. Emptiness is not different from form, and form is not + different from emptiness. What is form that is emptiness, what is + emptiness that is form. The same applies to perception, name, + conception, and knowledge. + + "Here, O Sariputra, all things have the character of emptiness; + they have no beginning, no end, they are faultless and not + faultless, they are not imperfect and not perfect. Therefore, O + Sariputra, in this emptiness there is no form, no perception, no + name, no concepts, no knowledge. No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, + mind. No form, sound, smell, taste, touch, objects.... There is no + knowledge, no ignorance, no destruction of knowledge, no + destruction of ignorance, etc., there is no decay and death, no + destruction of decay and death; there are not the four truths, + viz., that there is pain, the origin of pain, stopping of pain, and + the path to it. There is no knowledge, no obtaining of Nirvana. + + "A man who has approached the Pragna-paramita of the Bodhisattva + dwells enveloped in consciousness. But when the envelop of + consciousness has been annihilated, then he becomes free of all + fear, beyond the reach of change, enjoying final Nirvana. All + Buddhas of the past, present, and future, after approaching the + Pragna-paramita, have awakened to the highest perfect knowledge. + + "Therefore one ought to know the great verse of the + Pragna-paramita, the verse of the great wisdom, the unsurpassed + verse, the peerless verse, which appeases all pain; it is truth + because it is not false; the verse proclaimed in the + Pragna-paramita: 'O wisdom, gone, gone, gone, to the other shore, + landed at the other shore, Shava.' + + "Thus ends the heart of the Pragna-paramita." + +A study of this condensed and widely read Buddhist Sutra will convince +anyone that the ultimate conceptions of the universe and of the final +reality, are as described above. However popular Buddhism might differ +from this, it would be the belief of the thoughtless masses, to whom +the rational and ethical problems are of no significance or concern, +and who contribute nothing to the development of thought or of the +social order. Those nobler and more earnestly inquiring souls whose +energy and spiritual longing might have been used for the benefit of +the masses, were shunted off on a side track that led only into the +desert of atomistic individualism, abandonment of society, ecstatic +contemplation, and absolute pessimism. The Buddhist theory of the +universe and method of thought denied all intelligible reality, and +necessitated the conclusion that the universe of experience is neither +rational nor ethical. The common beliefs of the unreflective and +uninitiated masses in the ultimate rationality and morality of the +universe were felt to have no foundation either in religion or +philosophy and were accordingly pronounced mere illusions. + + + + +XXXV + +COMMUNAL AND INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF JAPANESE +RELIGIOUS LIFE + + +Our study of Japanese religion and religious life thus far has been +almost, if not exclusively, from the individualistic standpoint. An +adequate statement, however, cannot be made from this standpoint +alone, for religion through its mighty sanctions exerts a powerful +influence on the entire communal life. Indeed, the leading +characteristic of primitive religions is their communal nature. The +science of religion shows how late in human history is the rise of +individualistic religions. + +In the present chapter we propose to study Japanese religious history +from the communal standpoint. This will lead us to study her present +religious problem and the nature of the religion required to solve it. + +The real nature of the religious life of Japan has been and still is +predominantly communal. Individualism has had a place, but, as we have +repeatedly seen, only a minor place in forming the nation. From the +communo-individualistic standpoint, in the study of Japan's religious +and social evolution, not only can we see clearly that the three +religions of Japan are real religions, but we can also understand the +nature of the relations of these three religions to each other and the +reasons why they have had such relations. Japanese religious history +and its main phenomena become luminous in the light of +communo-individualistic social principles. + +Shinto, the primitive religion of Japan, corresponded well with the +needs of primitive times, when the development of strong communal life +was the prime problem and necessity. It furnished the religious +sanctions for the social order in its customs of worshiping not only +the gods, but also the Emperor and ancestors. It gave the highest +possible justification of the national social order in its deification +of the supreme ruler. Shinto was so completely communal in its nature +that the individual aspect of religion was utterly ignored. It +developed no specific moral code, no eschatological and soteriological +systems, no comprehensive view of nature or of the gods. These +deficiencies, however, are no proofs that it was not a religion in the +proper sense of the term. The real question is, did it furnish any +supra-mundane, supra-legal, supra-communal sanctions both for the +conduct of the individual in his social relations and for the fact and +the right of the social order. Of this there can be no doubt. Those +who deny it the name of a religion do so because they judge religion +only from the point of view of a highly developed individualistic +religion. + +In view of this undoubted fact, it is a strange commentary on the +failure of Shinto leaders to realize the real function of the faith +they profess that they have sought and obtained from the government +the right to be considered and classified no longer as a religion, but +only as a society for preserving the memories and shrines of the +ancestors of the race. Thus has modern Shinto, so far as it is +organized and has a mouth with which to speak, following the +abdicating proclivities of the ancient social order, excommunicated +itself from its religious heritage, aspiring to be nothing more than a +gate-keeper of cemeteries. + +The sources of the power of the Shinto sanctions lies in the nature of +its conception of the universe. Although it attempted no +interpretation of the universe as a whole, it conceived of the origin +of the country and people of Japan as due to the direct creative +energy of the gods. Japan was accordingly conceived as a divine land +and the people a divine people. The Emperor was thought to have +descended in direct line from the gods and thus to be a visible +representative of the gods to the people, and to possess divine power +and authority with which to rule the people. Whenever Japanese came +into contact with foreign peoples, it was natural to consider them +outside of the divine providence, aliens, whose presence in the +divine land was more or less of a pollution. This world-view was well +calculated to develop a spirit of submissive obedience and loyal +adherence to the hereditary rulers of the land, and of fierce +antagonism to foreigners. This view constituted the moral foundation +for the social order, the intellectual framework within which the +state developed. Paternal feudalism was the natural, if not the +necessary, accompaniment of this world-view. Even to this day the +scholars of the land see no other ground on which to found Imperial +authority, no other basis for ethics and religion, than the divine +descent of the Emperor.[DE] + +The Shinto world-view, conceiving of men as direct offspring of the +gods, has in it potentially the doctrine of the divine nature of all +men, and their consequent infinite worth. Shinto never developed this +truth, however. It did not discover the momentous implications of its +view. Failing to discover them, it failed to introduce into the social +order that moral inspiration, that social leaven which would have +gradually produced the individualistic social order. + +No attempt has been made either in ancient or modern times to square +this Shinto world-view with advancing knowledge of the world, +particularly with the modern scientific conception of the universe. +Anthropology, ethnology, and the doctrine of evolution both cosmic and +human, are all destructive of the primitive Shinto world-view. It +would not be difficult to show, however, that in this world-view +exists a profound element of truth. The Shinto world-conception needs +to be expanded to take the universe and all races of men into its +view; and to see that Japan is not alone the object of divine +solicitude, but that all races likewise owe their origin to that same +divine power, and that even though the Emperor is not more directly +the offspring of the gods than are all men, yet in the providence of +Him who ruleth the affairs of men, the Emperor is in fact the visible +representative of authority and power for the people over whom he +reigns. With this expansion and the consequences that flow from it, +the world-view that has cradled Old Japan will come into accord with +the scientific Christian world-view, and become fitted to be the +foundation for the new and individualistic social order, now arising +in Japan, granting full liberty of thought and action, knowing that +only so can truth come out of error, and assured that truth is the +only ground of permanent welfare. + +Throughout the centuries including the present era of Meiji, it is the +Shinto religion that has provided and that still provides religious +sanctions for the social order--even for the new social order that has +come in from the West. It is the belief of the people in the divine +descent of the Emperor, and his consequent divine right, that to-day +unifies the nation and causes it to accept so readily the new social +order; desired by him, they raise no questions, make no opposition, +even though in some respects it brings them trouble and anxiety. + +Our study of Buddhism has brought to light its extremely +individualistic nature, and its lack of asocial ideal. Its world-view +we have sufficiently examined in the preceding chapter. We are told +that when Buddhism came to Japan it made little headway until it +adopted the Shinto deities into its theogony. What does this mean? +That only on condition of accepting the Shinto sanctions for the +communal order of society was it able to commend itself to the people +at large. And Buddhism had no difficulty in fulfilling this condition, +because it had no ideal order of society to present and no religious +sanctions for any kind of social order; in this respect Buddhism had +no ground for conflict with Shinto. Shinto had the field to itself; +and Buddhism was perfectly at liberty to adopt, or at least to allow, +any social order that might present itself. Furthermore, by its +doctrines of incarnation and transmigration, according to which noble +souls might appear and reappear in different worlds and different +lands, Buddhism could identify Shinto deities with its own deities of +Hindu origin, asserting their pre-incarnation. Having accepted the +Shinto deities, ideals, and sanctions for the social order, Buddhism +became not only tolerable to the people, but also exceedingly popular. + +The Shinto-Buddhistic was in truth a new religion, each of the old +religions supplying an essential element. + +One real reason, beside its accommodation to Shintoism, why Buddhism +was so popular was that it brought an indispensable element into the +national life. For the first time emphasis began to be laid on the +individual. Introspection and deliberate meditation were brought into +play. Arts demanding individual skill were fostered. A gorgeous +ritual, elaborate architecture, complex religious organism, letters +and literature, all gave play to individual activity and development +whether in manual, in mental, or in æsthetic lines. The hitherto +cramped and primitive life of the Japanese responded to these appeals +and opportunities with profound joy. The upper classes especially felt +themselves growing in richness and fullness of life. They felt the +stimulus in many directions. The reason, then, why Buddhism flourished +so mightily, and at the same time caused the nation to bloom, was +because it helped develop the individual. The reason, on the other +hand, why it failed to carry the nation on from its first bloom into +full fruitage was because it failed to develop individualism in the +social order. Its religious individualism was, as we have seen, in +reality defective. It was abstract and one-sided. It did not discover +the whole of the individual. It did not know anything of personality, +either human or divine. It accordingly could not recognize the +individual's worth, but only his separateness and his weakness. It +taught an abstract impoverished idea of self, and made, as the whole +aim of the salvation it offered, the final annihilation of all +separateness of this individual self. We can now see that its +individualism was essentially defective in that it poured contempt on +the self, and that if its individualizing salvation were consistently +carried out, it was not only no help to the social order, but a +positive injury to it. Its individualism was of a nature which could +not become an integral part of any social order. + +This character led to another inevitable difficulty. Although Buddhism +ostensibly adopted Shinto deities and the Shinto sanctions for the +social order, it could not wholeheartedly accept the sanctions nor +take the deities into full and legitimate partnership. It found no +place in its circle of doctrine to teach the important tenets of +Shintoism. + +It left them to survive or perish as chance would have it. In +proportion as Buddhism absorbed the life and love of the people, +Shinto fell into decay and with it its sanctions. Then came the +centuries of civil war during which Imperial power and authority sank +to a minimum, and Japan's ignominy and disorder reached their maximum. +What the land now needed was the re-introduction, first, of social +order, even though it must be by the hand of a dictator, and second, +the development of religious sanctions for the order that should be +established. The first was secured by those three great generals of +Japan, Oda Nobunaga, the Taiko Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. "The +first conceived the idea of centralizing all the authority of the +state in a single person; the second, who has been called the Napoleon +of Japan, actually put the idea into practice," but died before +consolidating his work; the third, by his unsurpassed skill as a +diplomat and administrator, carried the idea completely out, arranging +the details of the new order so that, without special military genius +or power on the part of his successors, the order maintained itself +for 250 years. + +Yet it is doubtful if this long maintenance of the social order +introduced by Ieyasu would have been possible had he not found ready +to hand a system of essentially religious sanctions for the social +order he had established by force. Confucianism had lain for a +thousand years a dormant germ, receiving some study from learned men, +but having no special relation to the education of the day or to the +political problems that became each century more pressing. In the +Confucian doctrines of loyalty to ruler and piety to parents, a +doctrine sanctioned by Heaven and by the customs of all the ancients, +Ieyasu, with the insight of a master mind, found just the sanctions he +desired. He had the Confucian classics printed--it is said for the +first time in Japan--"and the whole intellect of the country became +molded by Confucian ideas." The classics, edited with diacritical +marks for Japanese students, "formed the chief vehicle of every boy's +education." These were interpreted by learned Chinese commentators. +The intelligence of the land drank of this stream as the European mind +refreshed itself with the classic waters of the Renaissance. The +Japanese were weary of Buddhistic puerilities and transcendental +doctrines that led nowhere. They demanded sanctions for the moral life +and the social order; in response to this need Buddhism gave them +Nirvana--absolute mental and moral vacuity. Confucianism gave them +principles whose working and whose results they could see and +understand. Its sanctions appealed both to the imagination and to the +reason, antiquity and learning and piety being all in their favor. The +sanctions were also seen to be wholly independent of puerile +superstitions and foolish fears. The Confucian ideals and sanctions, +moreover, coincided with the essential elements of the old Shinto +world-view and sanctions. In a true sense, the doctrines of Confucius +were but the elaborated and succinctly stated implications of their +primitive faith. Confucianism, therefore, swept the land. _It was +_accepted as the groundwork and authority for the most flourishing +feudal order the world has ever seen. Japan bloomed again.[DF] + +This difference, however, is to be noted between the Shinto ideal +social order and the Confucian, or rather that development of +Confucian ethics and civics which arose during the Tokugawa Shogunate; +Shinto appears to have been, properly speaking, nationalistic, while +feudal Confucianism was tribal. Although in Confucian theory the +supreme loyalty may have been due the Emperor, in point of fact it was +shown to the local daimyo. Confucian ethics was communal and might +easily have turned in the direction of national communalism; it would +then have coincided completely with Shinto in this respect. But for +various reasons it did not so turn, but developed an intensely local, +a tribal communalism, and pushed loyalty to the Emperor as a vital +reality entirely into the background. This was one of the defects of +feudal Confucianism which finally led to its own overthrow. Shinto, +as we have seen, had long been pushed aside by Buddhism and was +practically forgotten by the people. The zeal for Confucian doctrine +brought, therefore, no immediate revival to the Shinto cultus, +although it did revive the essential elements of the old communal +religion. We might say that the old religion was revived under a new +name; having a new name and a new body, the real and vital connection +between the two was not recognized. We thus discern how the religious +history of Japan was not a series of cataclysms or of disconnected +leaps in the dark, but an orderly development, one step naturally +following the next, as the sun follows the dawn. The different stages +of Japan's religious progress have received different names, because +due to specific stimuli brought from abroad; the religious life +itself, however, has been a continuous development. + +Another difference between Shinto and Confucianism as it existed in +Japan should not escape our attention, namely, in regard to their +respective world-views. Shinto was confessedly a religion; it frankly +believed in gods, whom it worshiped and on whose help it relied. +Confucianism, or to use the Japanese name, Bushido, was confessedly +agnostic. It did not assume to understand the universe, as Buddhism +assumed. Nor did it admit the practical existence of gods or their +power in this world, as Shinto believed. It maintained that, "if only +the heart follows the way of truth, the gods will protect one even +though he does not pray." It laid stress on practical moralities, +regardless of their philosophical presumptions, into which it would +not probe. When pressed it would ascribe all to "Heaven," and, as we +have seen, it had many implications that would lead the inquiring mind +to a belief in the personal nature of "Heaven." Had it developed these +implications, Bushido would have become a genuine religion. It was +indeed a system of ethics touched with emotion, it was religious, but +it failed to become the religion it might have become because it +insisted on its agnosticism and refused to worship the highest and +best it knew. + +It is interesting to observe that the ideals and sanctions of +Confucianism produced effects which proved its ruin. They did this in +two ways; first, by developing the prolonged peace necessary for a +high grade of scholarship which, turning its attention to ancient +history, discovered that the Shogunate was assuming powers not in +accord with the primitive practice nor in accord with the theory of +the divine descent of the Imperial house. Imperialistic patriots +arose, whose aim was to overthrow the Shogunate and restore the +Emperor. They felt that, doing this, they were right; that is to say, +they became inspired by the Shinto sanctions for a national life. They +thus discovered the defect of the disjointed feudal system sanctioned +by feudal Confucianism. The second cause of its undoing grew out of +the first. The scholarship which led the patriots against the usurper +in political life led them also against all foreign innovations such +as Buddhism and Confucianism, which they scorned as modern and +anti-imperial. The Shinto cultus thus received a powerful revival. +With the overthrow of the Shogunate in 1868 Confucianism naturally +went with it, and for a time Shinto was the state religion. But its +poverty in every line, except the communal sanctions, caused it in a +short time to lose its place. + +The two causes just assigned for the fall of Bushido, however, could +hardly have wrought its ruin had it been more than a utilitarian and +agnostic system of morality, calculated to maintain the social +ascendency of a small fraction of the nation. As a religion, Bushido +would have secured a conservative power enabling it to survive, by +adapting itself to a changed social order. As it was, Bushido was +snuffed out by a single breath of the breeze that began to blow from +foreign lands. As an ethical system it has conferred a blessing on +Japan that should never be forgotten. But its identification with a +class and a clan social order rendered it too narrow for the national +and international life into which the nation was forced by +circumstances beyond its control, and its agnostic utilitarianism did +not provide it with sufficient moral power to cope with the problems +of the new individualistic age that had suddenly burst upon it. In all +Japan there remains to the present day only one of those old +Confucian schools with its temple to Confucius. All the rest have +fallen into ruins or have been used for other purposes, while the +gold-covered statues of the once deified teacher have been sold to +curio-dealers or for their bullion value. In the worship of Confucius, +Bushido almost became a religion, but it worshiped the teacher instead +of the Creator, maintaining its agnosticism as to the Creator, as to +"Heaven," to the end, and thus lapsed from the path of religious +evolution. + +This brings us down to modern times--into the seventies. Already in +the sixties Japan had discovered herself in a totally new environment. +She found that foreign nations had made great progress in every +direction since she shut them out two hundred and fifty years before. +She discovered her helplessness, she discovered, too, that the social +order of Western peoples was totally distinct from hers. These +discoveries served to break down all the remaining sanctions for her +particular type of social order--Confucianistic feudalism. The whole +nation was eager to know the political systems of the West. So long as +the Shinto ideal of nationalism was not interfered with, the nation +was free to adopt any new social order. Japan's political and +commercial intercourse being with England and America, the social +order of the Anglo-Saxon had the greatest influence on the Japanese +mind. Japan accordingly has become predominantly Anglo-Saxon in its +social ideas. Much has been made of the fact that the new social order +has come in so easily; that the people have gained rights without +fighting for them; and this has been attributed to the peculiarity of +Japanese human nature. This is an error. The real reason for the ease +with which the individualistic Anglo-Saxon social order has been +introduced has been the collapse of the sanctions for the Confucian +order. No one had any ground of duty on which to stand and fight. The +national mind was open to any newcomer that might have appeared. I am +referring, of course, to the thinking classes. All the rest, +accustomed to submissive obedience, never thought of any other course +than to accept the will of superiors. + +Furthermore, the new social order in one important respect fell in +with and helped to re-establish the old Shinto ideal, that, namely, of +nationalism. In the treaty negotiations, the West would deal with no +intermediaries, only with the responsible national head. Western +ideals, too, demanded a strong national unity. In this respect, then, +the foreign ideals and foreign social order were powerful influences +in building up the new patriotism, in re-enforcing the old Shinto +social sanctions. + +Thus has Japan come to the parting of the ways. What Japan needs +to-day is a religion satisfying the intellect as to its world-view, +and thus justifying the sanctions it holds out. These must be neither +exclusively communal, like those of Shinto, nor exclusively +individual, like those of Buddhism. While maintaining at their full +value the sanctions for the social life, it must add thereto the +sanctions for the individual. It must not look upon the individual as +a being whose salvation depends on his being isolated from, taken out +of the community, as Buddhism did and does, nor yet as a mere fraction +of the community, as Confucianism did, but as a complete, imperishable +unit of infinite worth, necessarily living a double life, partly +inseparable from the social order and partly superior to it. This +religion must provide not only sanctions, but ideals, for a perfect +social order in which, while the most complex organization of society +shall be possible, the freedom and the high development of the +individual's personality shall also be secured. + +The fulfillment of such conditions would at first thought seem to be +impossible. How can a religion give sanctions which at the very time +that they authorize the fullest development and organization of +society, apparently making society its chief end, also assume the +fullest liberty and development of the individual, making him and his +salvation its chief end? Are not these ends incompatible? What has +been said already along this general line of thought has prepared us +to see that they are not. The great, though unconscious, need of the +ages, and the unconscious effort of all religious evolution has been +the development of just such a religion. As the "cake" of social +custom was at first the great need for, and afterwards the great +obstacle in the way of, social evolution, so the sanctions of a +communal religion were at first the great need for, and afterwards the +great obstacle in the way of, religious evolution and of personal +development. Through its sanctions religion is the most powerful of +all the factors of the higher human evolution, either helping it +onward or holding it back. + +Has, then, any religion secured such a dual development as we have +just seen to be necessary? As a matter of fact, one and only one has +done so, Christianity. This religion clearly attains and maintains the +apparently impossible combination of individualism and communalism by +the nature of its conception of the method of individual salvation. +Its communalism is guaranteed by, because it rests on, its +individualism. At the very moment that it pronounces the individual of +inestimable worth,--a son of God,--it commands him to show that +sonship by loving all God's other sons, and by serving them to the +extent of self-sacrifice, and of death if need be. Its communalism is +thus inseparable from its individualism and its individualism from its +communalism. + +Christian individualism embraces and includes thoroughgoing +communalism. True and full Christians are the most devoted patriots. +As the acorn sends forth far-reaching; roots into the soil for +moisture and nourishment, and a mighty trunk and spreading branches +upward for air and sunlight, so the seed of Christian life develops in +two directions, individualism as the root and communalism as the +beautiful tree. They are not contradictory, but supplementary +principles. While his own final gain is a real aim of the individual, +it is only a part of his aim; he also desires and labors for the gain +of all; and even the individual gain, he well knows, can be secured +only through the communal principle, through service to his +fellow-men. His own welfare, whether temporal or eternal, is +inseparably bound up with that of his fellows. + +The Christian religion finds the sanctions for any and every social +order that history knows, in the fact that all physical and social +laws and organisms are part of the divine plan. Because any particular +social order is the association of imperfect men and women, it must be +more or less imperfect. But the Christian, even while he is seeking +to reform the social order and to bring it up to his ideal, must be +loyal to it. And for this loyalty to fellow-men and to God, the +highest conceivable sanctions are held out, namely, an endless and +infinite life of conscious, joyous fellowship with souls made perfect +in the Kingdom of God, and with God himself. + +A comprehensive study, therefore, of the real nature and the true +function of religion in relation to man's development, whether +individual or communal, shows that Christianity fulfills the +conditions. A comparative study would show that, of all the existing +religions, Christianity alone does this. It alone combines in perfect +proportion the individual and the communal elements, and the requisite +sanctions. + +An expansion of communal religion is taking place in modern times. The +community now arising is international in scope, interracial and +universal in character. Cultivated men and women the world around are +beginning to talk of national rights and national duties. Europe is +thought to be justified in suppressing the slave trade and its +accompanying horrors in Africa, and condemned for not preventing the +Turk from carrying on his wholesale slaughter of innocent Armenians. +The Spaniard is despised and condemned for his prolonged inhumanities +in Cuba and the Philippines, and the American is approved in warring +for humanity and justified in interfering with Spain's sovereignty. +The conscience of the world is beginning to discover that no nation, +though sovereign, has an absolute right over its people. Right is only +measured by righteousness. International righteousness, duty and +rights, regardless of military power, are coming to the forefront of +the thinking of advanced nations. + +Looked at closely, and studied in its implications, what is this but a +developing form of communal religion? No nation is conceived as +existing apart; each exists as but one fraction of the world-wide +community; in its relations it has both rights and duties. Does this +not mean that appeal has been made from the communal sanctions of +might to the supra-communal sanctions of right? We do not simply ask +what do other nations think of this or that national act, but what is +right, in view of the whole order of the nature which has brought man +into being and set him in families and nations. In other words, +national rights and duties are felt to flow from the supra-mundane +source, God the Creator of heaven and earth and all that in them is. +The sanctions for national rights and duties are religious sanctions +and rest on a religious world-view. + +Now the point, of interest for us is the fact that Japan has entered +into this universal community and is feeling the sanctions of this +universal communal religion. The international rights and duties of +Japan are a theme of frequent discourse and conversation. Japan +stoutly maintained that the war with China was a "gi-sen," a righteous +war, waged primarily for the sake of Korea. Many a Japanese waxes +indignant over the cruelty of the Turk, the savage barbarity of the +Spaniard, and the impotence and supineness of England and Europe. I +have already spoken of the young man who became so indignant at +England's compelling China to take Indian opium, that he proposed to +go to England to preach an anti-opium crusade. Japan is beginning to +enter into the larger communal life of the world, although, of course, +she has as yet little perception of its varied implications. + +Many a student of New Japan perceives that she is abandoning her old +religious conceptions, and that many moral and social evils are +entering the land, who yet does not see that the wide acceptance of +some new religion by the people is important for the maintenance of +the nation. Some earnest Japanese thinkers are beginning to realize +that religion is, indeed, needful to steady the national life, but +they fail to see that Christianity alone fulfills the condition. Many +are saying that a religion scientifically constructed must be +manufactured especially for Japan. + +The reason why individualistic religion takes such an important part +in the higher evolution of man is, in a word, because the religious +sanctions are so much more powerful than all others, either legal or +social. For the legal sanctions are chiefly negative; they are also +partial and uncertain, and easily evaded by the selfish individual. +The social sanctions, too, are often far from just or impartial or +wise. Furthermore, the rise of individualism in the social order +secures privacy for the individual, and so far forth removes him from +the restraints and stimuli of the social sanctions. It is the +religious sanctions alone that follow the man in every waking moment. +Not one of all his acts escapes the eye of the religious judgment. He +is his own judge, and he cannot escape bearing witness against +himself. + +Now, it is manifest that where superior beings and man's relation to +these and the corresponding religious sanctions are defectively +conceived, as, for instance, quite apart either from the individual or +the communal life, they are valueless to the higher evolution of man +and have little interest for the student of social evolution. In +proportion, however, as man advances in intellectual grasp of +religious truths and in susceptibility to the moral ideas and +religious sanctions they provide, conceiving of morality and religion +as inseparable parts of the same system, the more powerfully does +religion enter into and promote man's higher evolution. An +individualistic social order demands the religious sanctions more +imperatively than a communal social order; for, in proportion as it is +individualistic, the social order is weak in compelling, through the +legal and social sanctions alone, the communal or altruistic activity +of the individual. Altruistic spirit and action, however, are +essential to the maintenance even of that individualistic order. The +more highly society develops, therefore, the more religious must each +member of the society become. + +The same truth may be stated from another standpoint. The higher man +develops, the more impatient he becomes with illogical reasonings and +defective conceptions; he thus becomes increasingly skeptical in +regard to current traditional religions with their crude, primitive +ideas; he is accordingly increasingly freed from the restraints they +impose. But unless he finds some new religious sanctions for the +communal life, for social conduct, and for the individual +life,--ideals and sanctions that command his assent and direct his +life,--he will drop back into a thoroughgoing atomic, individualistic, +selfish life, which can be only a hindrance to the higher development +both of society and of the individual. In order that men advancing in +intellectual ability may remain useful members of society, they must +remain subject to those ideals and sanctions which will actually +secure social conduct. While disregarding the chaff of primitive +religious superstitions and ceremonials man must retain the wheat; he +must feel the force of the religious spirit in a deeper and +profounder, because more personal way than did his ancestors. +Increasing intellectual power and knowledge must be balanced by +increasing individual experience of the religious motives and spirit. +This is the reason why each advancing age should study afresh the +whole religious problem, and state in the terms of its own experience +the prominent and permanent religious truths of all the ages and the +sanctions that flow from them. Hence it is that a religion only +traditional and ceremonial is quite unfitted for a developing life. + +Japan is no exception to the general laws of human evolution. As her +intellectual abilities increase, the forms of her old religious life +will become increasingly unacceptable to the people at large. If, in +rejecting the obsolete forms of religious thought, she rejects +religion and its sanctions altogether, atomistic individualism can be +the only result, and with it wide moral corruption will eat out the +vitality of the national life. + +That Christianity alone, of all the religions of the world, fulfills +the conditions will not need many words to prove. As a matter of fact +Christianity alone has succeeded in surviving the criticism of the +nineteenth century. In Christendom, all religions but Christianity +have perished. This is a mere matter of fact. As for the reason, +Christianity alone gives complete intellectually satisfactory +sanctions for both the communal and the individualistic principles of +social progress. Christianity, as we have sufficiently shown, has both +principles not unrelated to each other, but vitally interrelated. For +these reasons it is safe to maintain not only that Japan needs to find +a new religion, but that the religion must be Christianity in +substance, whatever be the name given it. + +The Japanese have been described as essentially irreligious in nature. +We have seen how defective such a description is. But have we not now +traced one root of this seeming characteristic of New Japan? The old +religious conceptions have been largely outgrown by the educated. They +have come to the conclusion that the old religious forms constitute +the whole of religion, and that consequently they are unworthy of +attention. The spirit of New Japan is indifferent to religion; but +this is not due to an inherently non-religious or irreligious nature, +but to the empty externalism and shallow puerilities of the only +religions they know. How can they be zealous for them or recognize any +authority in them? Those few Japanese who have come within the +influence of the larger conception of religion brought to Japan by +Christianity are showing a religious zeal and power supporting the +contention that the generally asserted lack of a religious nature is +only apparent and temporary. Preaching the right set of ideas, those +which appeal to the national sense of communal needs, by supplying the +demand for sanctions for the social order; ideas which appeal to +intellects molded by modern thought, by supplying such an intellectual +understanding of the universe as justifies the various supra-communal +sanctions; and ideas which appeal to the heart, by supplying the +personal demand of each individual for a larger life, for intercourse +with the Father of all Spirits and for strength for the prolonged +battle of life--preach these and kindred ideas, and the Japanese will +again become as conspicuously a religious people as they were when +Buddhism came to Japan a thousand years ago.[DG] + +But if the real nature of a full and perfect religion is to save not +only the individual, providing sanctions for his conduct, but also to +justify the social order, and to provide sanctions that shall secure +its maintenance, any religion which fails to have both characteristics +can hardly claim the name universal. We have seen that Buddhism lacks +one of these elements. In my judgment it is not properly universal. So +long as it exists in or goes to a land already provided with other +religions securing the social order, it may continue to thrive. But, +on the one hand, it can never become the exclusive religion of any +land for it cannot do without and therefore it cannot depose the other +religions; and, on the other hand, it must give way before the +stronger religion which has both the individual and communal elements +combined. Buddhism, therefore, lacks a vital characteristic of a +universal religion. It may better be called a non-local, or an +international religion. We now see another reason why Buddhism, +although found in many Oriental lands, has never annihilated any of +the pre-existing religions, but has only added one more to the many +varieties already existing. It is so in Thibet, in China, in Burmah, +and in Japan. And in India, its home, it has utterly died out. + +Many of the efforts made by students of comparative religion to +classify the various religions, seem to the writer defective through +lack of the perception that social and religious evolution are vitally +connected. From this point of view, the classification of religions as +communal, individual, and communo-individual, would seem to be the +best. + + + + +XXXVI + +WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORIENT? + +We have now passed in rather detailed review the emotional, æsthetic, +intellectual, moral, and religious characteristics of the Japanese +race. We have, furthermore, given considerable attention to the +problem of personality. We have tried to understand the relation of +each characteristic to the Japanese feudal system and social order. + +The reader will perhaps feel some dissatisfaction with the results of +this study. "Are there, then," he may say, "no distinctive Japanese +psychical characteristics by which this Eastern race is radically +differentiated from those of the Occident?" "Are there no peculiar +features of an Oriental, mental and moral, which infallibly and always +distinguish him from an Occidental?" The reply to this question given +in the preceding chapters of this work is negative. For the sake, +however, of the reader who may not yet be thoroughly satisfied, it may +be well to examine this problem a little further, analyzing some of +the current characterizations of the Orient. + +That Oriental and Occidental peoples are each possessed of certain +unique psychic characteristics, sharply and completely differentiating +them from each other, is the opinion of scientific sociologists as +well as of more popular writers. An Occidental entering the Orient is +well-nigh overwhelmed with amusement and surprise at the antipodal +characteristics of the two civilizations. Every visible expression of +Oriental civilization, every mode of thought, art, architecture; +conceptions of God, man, and nature; pronunciation and structure of +the language--all seem utterly different from their corresponding +elements in the West. Furthermore, as he visits one Oriental country +after another, although he discovers differences between Japanese, +Koreans, Chinese, and Hindus, yet he is impressed with a strange, a +baffling similarity. + +The tourist naturally concludes that the unity characterizing the +Orient is fundamental; that Oriental civilization is due to Oriental +race brain, and Occidental civilization is due to Occidental race +brain. + +This impression and this conclusion of the tourist are not, however, +limited to him. The "old resident" in the East becomes increasingly +convinced with every added year that an Oriental is a different kind +of human being from a Westerner. As he becomes accustomed to the +externals of the Oriental civilization, he forgets its comical +aspects, he even comes to appreciate many of its conveniences. But in +proportion as he becomes familiar with its languages, its modes of +thought and feeling, its business methods, its politics, its +literature, its amusements, does he increasingly realize the gulf set +between an Oriental and an Occidental. The inner life of the spirit of +an Oriental would be utterly inane, spiritless to the average +Occidental. The "old resident" accordingly knows from long experience +what the tourist only guesses from a hasty glance, that the +characteristic differences distinguishing the peoples of the East and +the West are racial and ineradicable. An Oriental is an Oriental, and +that is the ultimate, only thoroughgoing explanation of his nature. + +The conception of the tourist and the "old resident" crops up in +nearly every article and book touching on Far Eastern peoples. +Whatever the point of remark or criticism, if it strikes the writer as +different from the custom of Occidentals, it is laid to the account of +Orientalism. + +This conception, however, of distinguishing Oriental characteristics, +is not confined to popular writers and unscientific persons. Even +professed and eminent sociologists advocate it. Prof. Le Bon, in his +sophistic volume on the "Psychology of Peoples," advocates it +strenuously. A few quotations from this interesting work may not be +out of place. + +"The object of this work is to describe the psychological +characteristics which constitute the soul of races, and to show how +the history of a people and its civilization is determined by these +characteristics."[DH] "The point that has remained most clearly fixed +in mind, after long journeys through the most varied countries, is +that each people possesses a mental constitution as unaltering as its +anatomical characteristics, a constitution which is the source of its +sentiments, thoughts, institutions, beliefs, and arts."[DI] + +"The life of a people, its institutions, beliefs, and arts, are but +the visible expression of its invisible soul. For a people to +transform its institutions, beliefs, and arts it must first transform +its soul."[DJ] + +"Each race possesses a constitution as unvarying as its anatomical +constitution. There seems to be no doubt that the former corresponds +to a certain special structure of the brain."[DK] + +"A negro or a Japanese may easily take a university degree or become a +lawyer; the sort of varnish he thus acquires is, however, quite +superficial and has no influence on his mental constitution. What no +education can give him, because they are created by heredity alone, +are the forms of thought, the logic, and above all the character of +the Western man."[DL] + +"Cross-breeding constitutes the only infallible means at our disposal +of transforming in a fundamental manner the character of a people, +heredity being the only force powerful enough to contend with +heredity. Cross-breeding allows of the creation of a new race, +possessing new physical and psychological characteristics."[DM] + +Such, then, being the opinion of travelers, residents, and +professional sociologists, it is not to be lightly rejected. Nor has +it been lightly rejected by the writer. For years he agreed with this +view, but repeated study of the problem has convinced him of the +fallacy of both the conception and the argument, and has brought him +to the position maintained in this work. + +The characteristics differentiating Occidental and + +Oriental peoples and civilizations are undoubtedly great. But they +are differences of social evolution and rest on social, not on +biological heredity. Anatomical differences are natal, racial, and +necessary. Not so with social characteristics and differences. These +are acquired by each individual chiefly after birth, and depend on +social environment which determines the education from infancy upward. +Furthermore, an entire nation or race, if subjected to the right +social environment, may profoundly transform its institutions, +beliefs, and arts, which in turn transform what Prof. Le Bon and +kindred writers call the invisible "race soul." Racial activity +produces race character, for "Function produces organism." I cannot +agree with these writers in the view that the race soul is a given +fixed entity. Social psychogenesis is a present and a progressive +process. Japan is a capital illustration of it. In the development of +races and civilizations involution is as continuous a process as +evolution. Evolution is, indeed, only one-half of the process. Without +involution, evolution is incomprehensible. And involution is the more +interesting half, as it is the more significant. In modern discussion +much that passes by the name of evolution is, in reality, a discussion +of involution. + +The attentive reader will have discovered that the real point of the +discussion of Japanese characteristics given in the preceding chapters +has been on the point of involution. How have these characteristics +arisen? has been our ever-recurring question. The answer has +invariably tried to show their relation to the social order. In this +way we have traversed a large number of leading characteristics of the +Japanese. We have seen how they arose, and also how they are now being +transformed by the new Occidentalized social order. We have seen that +not one of the characteristics examined is inherent, that is, due to +brain structure, to biological heredity. We have concluded, therefore, +that the psychical characteristics which differentiate races are all +but wholly social. + +It is incumbent on advocates of the biological view to point out in +detail the distinguishing inherent traits of the Orient. Let them also +catalogue the essential psychic characteristics of Occidentals. Such +an attempt is seldom made. And when it is made it is singularly +unconvincing. Although Prof. Le Bon states that the mental +constitution of races is as distinctive and unaltering as their +anatomical characteristics, he fails to tell us what they are. This is +a vital omission. If the differences are as distinct as he asserts, it +would seem to be an easy matter to describe them. Whatever the +clothing adopted, it is an easy matter for one to distinguish a +European from an Asiatic, an Englishman from an Italian, a Japanese +from a Korean, a Chinaman from a Hindu. The anatomical characteristics +of races are clear and easily described. If the psychic +characteristics are equally distinct, why do not they who assert this +distinctness describe and catalogue these differences? + +Occasionally a popular writer makes something of an attempt in this +direction, but with astonishingly slight results. A recent writer in +the London _Daily Mail_ has illustrated afresh the futility of all +attempts to catalogue the distinguishing characteristics of the +Oriental. He names the inferior position assigned to women, the +licentiousness of men, licensed prostitution, lack of the play +instinct among Oriental boys, scorn of Occidental civilization, and +the rude treatment of foreigners. Many of his statements of facts are +sadly at fault. But supposing them to be true, are they the +differentiating characteristics of the Orient? Consider for a moment +what was the position of woman in ancient times in the Occident, and +what was the moral character of Occidental men? Is not prostitution +licensed to-day in the leading cities of Europe? And is there not an +unblushing prostitution in the larger cities of England and America +which would put to shame the licensed prostitution of Japan? Are +Orientals and their civilization universally esteemed and +considerately treated in the Occident? Surely none of these are +uniquely Oriental characteristics, distinguishing them from Occidental +peoples as clearly as the anatomical characteristics of oblique eyes +and yellow skin. + +Mr. Percival Lowell has made a careful philosophical effort to +discover the essential psychic nature of the Orient. He describes it, +as we have seen, as "Impersonality." The failure of his effort we +have sufficiently considered. + +There remain a few other characterizations of the Orient that we may +well examine briefly. + +It has been stated that the characteristic psychic trait +distinguishing the East from the West is that the former is intuitive, +while the latter is logical. In olden times Oriental instruction +relied on the intuitions of the student. No reliance was placed on the +logical process. Religion, so far as it was not ceremony and magic, +was intuitional, "Satori," "Enlightenment," was the keyword. Each man +attains enlightenment by himself--through a flash of intuition. Moral +instruction likewise was intuitional. Dogmatic statements were made +whose truth the learner was to discover for himself; no effort was +made to explain them. Teaching aimed to go direct to the point, not +stopping to explain the way thither. + +That this was and is a characteristic of the Orient cannot be +disputed. The facts are abundant and clear. But the question is +whether this is a racial psychic characteristic, such that it +inevitably controls the entire thinking of an Oriental, whatever his +education, and also whether the Occident is conspicuously deficient in +this psychic characteristic. Thus stated, the question almost answers +itself. + +Orientals educated in Western methods of thought acquire logical +methods of reasoning and teaching. The old educational methods of +Japan are now obsolete. On the other hand, intuitionalism is not +unknown in the West. Mystics in religion are all conspicuously +intuitional. So too are Christian scientists, faith-healers, and +spiritualists. Great preachers and poets are intuitionalists rather +than logicians. + +Furthermore, if we look to ancient times, we shall see that even +Occidentals were dominated by intuitionalism. All primitive knowledge +was dominated by intuitions, and was as absurd as many still prevalent +Oriental conceptions of nature. The bane of ancient science and +philosophy was its reliance on a priori considerations; that is, on +intuition. Inductive, carefully logical methods of thought, of +science, of philosophy, and even of religion, are relatively modern +developments of the Occidental mind. We have learned to doubt +intuitions unverified by investigation and experimental evidence. The +wide adoption of the inductive method is a recent characteristic of +the West. + +Modern progress has consisted in no slight degree in the development +of logical powers, and particularly in the power of doubting and +examining intuitions. To say that the East is conspicuously +intuitional and the West is conspicuously logical is fairly true, but +this misses the real difference. The West is intuitional plus logical. +It uses the intuitional method in every department of life, but it +does not stop with it. An intuition is not accepted as truth until it +has been subjected by the reason to the most thorough criticism +possible. The West distrusts the unverified and unguided intuitive +judgment. On the other hand, the East is not inherently deficient in +logical power. When brought into contact with Occidental life, and +especially when educated in Occidental methods of thought, the +Oriental is not conspicuously deficient in logical ability. + +This line of thought leads to the conclusion that the psychic +characteristics distinguishing the East from the West, profound though +they are, are sociological rather than biological. They are the +characteristics of the civilization rather than of essential race +nature. + +A fact remarked by many thoughtful Occidentals is the astonishing +difficulty--indeed the impossibility--of becoming genuinely and +intimately acquainted with the Japanese. Said a professor of Harvard +University to the writer some years ago: "Do you in Japan find it +difficult to become truly acquainted with the Japanese? We see many +students here, but we are unable to gain more than a superficial +acquaintance. They seem to be incrusted in a shell that we are unable +to pierce." The editor of the _Japan Mail_, speaking of the difficulty +of securing "genuinely intimate intercourse with the Japanese people," +says: "The language also is needed. Yet even when the language is +added, something still remains to be achieved, and what that something +is we have never been able to discover, though we have been +considering the subject for thirty-three years. No foreigner has ever +yet succeeded in being admitted into the inner circle of Japanese +intercourse." + +Is this a fact? If not, why is it so widespread a belief? If it is a +fact, what is the interpretation? Like most generalizations it +expresses both a truth and an error. As the statement of a general +experience, I believe it to be true. As an assertion of universal +application I believe it to be false. As a truth, how is it to be +explained? Is it due to difference of race soul, and thus to racial +antipathy, as some maintain? If so, it must be a universal fact. This, +however, is an error, as we shall see. The explanation is not so hard +to find as at first appears. + +The difficulty under consideration is due to two classes of facts. The +first is that the people have long been taught that Occidentals desire +to seize and possess their land. Although the more enlightened have +long since abandoned this fear and suspicion, the people still suspect +the stranger; they do not propose to admit foreigners to any leading +position in the political life of the land. They do not implicitly +trust the foreigners, even when taken into their employ. That +foreigners should not be admitted to the inner circle of Japanese +political life, therefore, is not strange. Nor is it unique to Japan. +It is not done in any land except the United States. Secondly, the +diverse methods of social intercourse characterizing the East and the +West make a deep chasm between individuals of these civilizations on +coming into social relations. The Oriental bows low, utters +conventional "aisatsu" salutations, listens respectfully, withholds +his own opinion, agrees with his vis-à-vis, weighs every word uttered +with a view to inferring the real meaning, for the genius of the +language requires him to assume that the real meaning is not on the +surface, and chooses his own language with the same circumspection. +The Occidental extends his hand for a hearty shake--if he wishes to be +friendly--looks his visitor straight in the eye, speaks directly from +his heart, without suspicion or fear of being misunderstood, expresses +his own opinions unreservedly. The Occidental, accustomed to this +direct and open manner, spontaneously doubts the man who lacks it. It +is impossible for the Occidental to feel genuinely acquainted with an +Oriental who does not respond in Occidental style of frank open +intercourse. Furthermore, it is not Japanese custom to open one's +heart, to make friends with everyone who comes along. The +hail-fellow-well-met characteristic of the Occident is a feature of +its individualism, that could not come into being in a feudal +civilization in which every respectable man carried two swords with +which to take instant vengeance on whoever should malign or doubt him. +Universal secretiveness and conventionality, polite forms and veiled +expressions, were the necessary shields of a military feudalism. Both +the social order and the language were fitted to develop to a high +degree the power of attention to minutest details of manner and speech +and of inferring important matters from slight indications. The whole +social order served to develop the intuitional method in human +relations. Reliance was placed more on what was not said than on what +was clearly expressed. A doubting state of mind was the necessary +psychological prerequisite for such an inferential system. And doubt +was directly taught. "Hito wo mireba dorobo to omoye," "when you see a +man, count him a robber," may be an exaggeration, but this ancient +proverb throws much light on the Japanese chronic state of mind. +Mutual suspicion--and especially suspicion of strangers--was the rule +in Old Japan. Among themselves the Japanese make relatively few +intimate friends. They remark on Occidental skill in making friends. + +That the foreigner is not admitted to the inner social life of the +Japanese is likewise not difficult of explanation, if we bear in mind +the nature of that social life. Is it possible for one who keeps +concubines, who takes pleasure in geisha, and who visits houses of +prostitution, to converse freely and confidentially with those who +condemn these practices? Can he who stands for a high-grade morality, +who criticises in unsparing measure the current morality of Japanese +society, expect to be admitted to its inner social circles? +Impossible. However friendly the relations of Japanese and foreigners +may be in business and in the diplomatic corps, the moral chasm +separating the social life of the Occident from that of the Orient +effectually prevents a foreigner from being admitted to its inner +social life. + +It might be thought that immoral Occidentals would be so admitted. Not +so. The Japanese distinguish between Occidentals. They know well that +immoral Occidentals are not worthy of trust. Although for a season +they may hobnob together, the intimacy is shallow and short-lived; it +rests on lust and not on profound sympathies of head and heart. + +And this suggests the secret of genuine acquaintance. Men become +profoundly acquainted in proportion as they hold in common serious +views of life, and labor together for the achievement of great moral +ends. Now a gulf separates the ordinary Japanese, even though +educated, from the serious-minded Occidental. Their views of life are +well-nigh antipodal. If their social intercourse is due only to the +accident of business or of social functions, what true intimacy can +possibly arise? The acquaintance can only be superficial. Nothing +binds the two together beyond the temporary and accidental. Let them, +however, become possessed of a common and a serious view of life; let +them strive for the attainment of some great moral reform, which they +feel of vital importance to the welfare of the nation and the age, and +immediately a bond of connection and intercourse will be established +which will ripen into real intimacy. + +I dispute the correctness of the generalization above quoted, however, +not only on theoretical considerations, but also as a matter of +experience. Among Christians, the conditions are fulfilled for +intimate relations between Occidentals and Orientals which result, as +a matter of fact, in genuine and intimate friendship. The relations +existing between many missionaries and the native Christians and +pastors refute the assertion of the editor of the _Japan Mail_ that, +"no foreigner has ever yet succeeded in being admitted into the inner +circle of Japanese intercourse." This assertion is doubtless true in +regard to the relation of foreigners to non-Christian society. The +reason, for the fact, however, is not because one is Occidental and +the other Oriental in psychic nature, but solely because of diverse +moral views, aims, and conduct. + +It is not the contention of these pages, however, that intimate +friendships between Occidental and Oriental Christians are as easily +formed as between members of two Occidental nations. Although common +views of life, and common moral aims and conduct may provide the +requisite foundations for such intimate friendships, the diverse +methods of thought and of social intercourse may still serve to hinder +their formation. It is probably a fact that missionaries experience +greater difficulty in making genuine intimate friendships with +Japanese Christians than with any other race on the face of the globe. +The reasons for this fact are manifold. The Japanese racial ambition +manifests itself not only in the sphere of political life; it does not +take kindly to foreign control in any line. The churches manifest this +characteristic. It is a cause of suspicion of the foreign missionary +and separation from him; it has broken up many a friendship. Intimacy +between missionaries and leading native pastors and evangelists was +more common in the earlier days of Christian work than more recently, +because the Japanese church organization has recently developed a +self-consciousness and an ambition for organic independence which have +led to mutual criticisms. + +Furthermore, Japanese Christians are still Japanese. Their methods of +social intercourse are Oriental; they bow profoundly, they repeat +formal salutations, they refrain from free expression of personal +opinion and preference. The crust of polite etiquette remains. The +foreigner must learn to appreciate it before he can penetrate to the +kindly, sincere, earnest heart. This the foreigner does not easily do, +much to the detriment of his work. + +And on the other hand, before the Oriental can penetrate to the +kindly, sincere, and earnest heart of the Occidental, he must abandon +the inferential method; he must not judge the foreigner by what is +left unsaid nor by slight turns of that which is said, but by the +whole thought as fully expressed. In other words, as the Occidental +must learn and must trust to Oriental methods of social intercourse, +so the Oriental must learn and must trust to the corresponding +Occidental methods. The difficulty is great in either case, though of +an opposite nature. Which has the greater difficulty is a question I +do not attempt to solve. + +Another generalization as to the essential difference marking Oriental +and Occidental psychic natures is that the former is meditative and +appreciative, and the latter is active. This too is a characterization +of no little truth. The easy-going, time-forgetting, dreaming +characteristics of the Orient are in marked contrast to the rush, +bustle, and hurry of the Occident. One of the first and most forcible +impressions made on the Oriental visiting the West is the tremendous +energy displayed even in the ordinary everyday business. In the home +there is haste; on the streets men, women, and children are "always on +the run." It must seem to be literally so, when the walk of the +Occidental is compared with the slow, crawling rate at which the +Oriental moves. Horse cars, electric cars, steam cars, run at high +speed through crowded streets. Conversation is short and hurried. +Visits are curtailed--hardly more than glimpses. Everyone is so +nervously busy as to have no time for calm, undisturbed thought. So +does the Orient criticise and characterize the Occident. + +In the Orient, on the contrary, time is nothing. Walking is slow, +business is deliberate, visiting is a fine art of bows and +conventional phrases preliminary to the real purpose of the call; +amusements even are long-drawn-out, theatrical performances requiring +an entire day. In the home there is no hurry, on the street there is +no rush. To the Occidental, the Oriental seems so absorbed in a dream +life that the actual life is to him but a dream. + +If the characterization we are considering is meant to signify that +the Orient possesses a power of appreciation not possessed by the +West, then it seems to me an error. The Occident is not deficient in +appreciation. A better statement of the difference suggested by the +above characterization is that Western civilization is an expression +of Will, whereas Eastern civilization is an expression of +subordination to the superior--to Fate. This feature of Oriental +character is due to the fact that the Orient is still as a whole +communal in its social order, whereas the Occident is individualistic. +In the West each man makes his own fortune; his position in society +rests on his own individual energy. He is free to exert it at will. +Society praises him in proportion as he manifests energy, grit, +independence, and persistence. The social order selects such men and +advances them in political, in business, in social, and in academic +life. The energetic, active characteristics of the West are due, then, +to the high development of individualism. The entire Occidental +civilization is an expression of free will. + +The communal nature of the Orient has not systematically given room +for individual progress. The independent, driving man has been +condemned socially. Submission, absolute and perpetual, to parents, to +lord, to ancestors, to Fate, has been the ruling idea of each man's +life. Controlled by such ideas, the easy-going, time-ignoring, +dreaming, contemplative life--if you so choose to call it--of the +Orient is a necessary consequence. + +But has this characteristic become congenital, or is it still only +social? Is dreamy appreciation now an inborn racial characteristic of +Oriental mind, while active driving energy is the corresponding +essential trait of Occidental mind? Or may these characteristics +change with the social order? I have no hesitancy whatever in +advocating the latter position. The way in which Young Japan, clad in +European clothing, using watches and running on "railroad time," has +dropped the slow-going style of Old Japan and has acquired habits of +rapid walking, direct clear-cut conversation, and punctuality in +business and travel (comparatively speaking) proves conclusively the +correctness of my contention. New Japan is entering into the hurry and +bustle of Occidental life, because, in contact with the West, she has +adopted in a large measure, though not yet completely, the +individualism of the West. + +As time goes on, Japanese civilization will increasingly manifest the +phenomena of will, and will proportionally become assimilated to the +civilization of the West. But the ultimate cause of this +transformation in civilization will be the increasing introduction of +individualism into the social order. And this is possible only because +the so-called racial characteristics are sociological, and not +biological. The transformation of "race soul" therefore does not +depend on the intermarriage of diverse races, but only on the adoption +of new ideas and practices through social intercourse. + +We conclude, then, that the only thoroughgoing interpretation of the +differences characterizing Eastern and Western psychic nature is a +social one, and that social differences can be adequately expressed +only by contrasting the fundamental ideas ruling their respective +social orders, namely, communalism for the East and individualism for +the West. + +The unity that pervades the Orient, if it is not due to the +inheritance of a common psychic nature, to what is it due? Surely to +the possession of a common civilization and social order. It would be +hard to prove that Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Siamese, Burmese, +Hindus (and how many distinct races does the ethnologist find in +India), Persians, and Turks are all descendants from a common ancestry +and are possessed therefore by physical heredity of a common racial +psychic nature. Yet such is the requirement of the theory we are +opposing. That the races inhabiting the Asiatic continent have had +from ancient times mutual social intercourse, whereby the +civilization, mental, moral, and spiritual, of the most developed has +passed to the other nations, so that China has dominated Eastern Asia, +and India has profoundly influenced all the races inhabiting Asia, is +an indisputable fact. The psychic unity of the Orient is a +civilizational, a social unity, as is also the psychic unity of the +Occident. The reason why the Occident is so distinct from the Orient +in social, in psychic, and in civilizational characteristics is +because these two great branches of the human race have undergone +isolated evolution. Isolated biological evolution has produced the +diverse races. These are now fixed physical types, which can be +modified only by intermarriage. But although isolated social evolution +has produced diverse social and psychic characteristics these are not +fixed and unalterable. To transform psychic and social +characteristics, intimate social intercourse, under special +conditions, is needful alone. + +If the characteristics differentiating the Eastern from the Western +peoples are only social, it might be supposed that the results of +association would be mutual, the East influencing the West as much as +the West influences the East, both at last finding a common level. +Such a result, however, is impossible, from the laws regulating +psychic and social intercourse. The less developed psychic nature can +have no appreciable effect on the more highly developed, just as +undeveloped art cannot influence highly developed art, nor crude +science and philosophy highly developed science and philosophy. The +law governing the relations of diverse civilizations when brought into +contact is not like the law of hydrostatics, whereby two bodies of +water of different levels, brought into free communication, finally +find a common level, determined by the difference in level and their +respective masses. In social intercourse the higher civilization is +unaffected by the lower, in any important way, while the lower is +mightily modified, and in sufficient time is lifted to the grade of +the higher in all important respects. This is a law of great +significance. The Orient is becoming Occidentalized to a degree and at +a rate little realized by travelers and not fully appreciated by the +Orientals themselves. They know that mighty changes have taken place, +and are now taking place, but they do not fully recognize their +nature, and the multitudes do not know the source of these changes. In +so far as the East has surpassed the West in any important direction +will the East influence the West. + +In saying, then, as we did in our first chapter, that the Japanese +have already formed an Occidento-Oriental civilization, we meant that +Japan has introduced not only the external and mechanical elements of +Western civilization into her new social order, but also its inner and +determinative principle--individualism. In saying that, as the +Ethiopian cannot change his skin nor the leopard his spots, so Japan +will never become thoroughly Occidentalized, we did not intend to say +that she was so Oriental in her physiological nature, in her "race +soul," that she could make no fundamental social transformation; but +merely that she has a social heredity that will always and inevitably +modify every Occidental custom and conception that may be brought to +this land. Although in time Japan may completely individualize her +social order, it will never be identical with that of the West. It +will always bear the marks of her Oriental social heredity in +innumerable details. The Occidental traveler will always be impressed +with the Orientalisms of her civilization. Although the Oriental +familiar with the details of the pre-Meiji social order will be +impressed with what seems to him the complete Occidentalization of her +new civilization and social order, although to-day communalism and +individualism are the distinguishing characteristics respectively of +the East and the West, they are not necessary characteristics due to +inherent race nature. The Orient is sure to become increasingly +individualistic. The future evolution of the great races of the earth +is to be increasingly convergent in all the essentials of individual +and racial prosperity, but in countless non-essential details the +customs of the past will remain, to give each race and nation +distinctive psychic and social characteristics. + + + + +XXXVII + +GENERAL CONCLUSIONS + + +The aim of the present work has been to gain insight into the real +nature of both Japanese character and its modern transformation. + +In doing this we have necessarily entered the domain of social +science, where we have been compelled to take issue with many, to us, +defective conceptions. Our discussions of social principles have, +however, been narrowly limited. We have confined our attention to the +interpretation of those social and psychic characteristics +differentiating the Japanese from other races. Our chief contention +has been that these characteristics are due to the nature of the +social order that has prevailed among them, and not to the inherent +nature of the people; and that the evolution of the psychic +characteristics of all races is due to social more than to biological +evolution. + +This position and the discussions offered to prove it imply more than +has been explicitly stated. In this closing chapter it seems desirable +to state concisely, and therefore with technical terminology, some of +the more fundamental principles of social philosophy assumed or +implied in this work. Brevity requires that this statement take the +form of dogmatic propositions and unillustrated abstractions. The +average reader will find little to interest him, and is accordingly +advised to omit it entirely. + +Let us first clearly see that we have made no effort to account for +the origin or inherent nature of psychic life. That association or the +social order is the original producing cause of psychic life is by no +means our contention. Given the psychic nature as we find it in man, +the problem is to account for its diverse manifestation in the +different races and civilizations. This, and this alone, has been our +problem. + +Psychic nature is the sole and final cause of social life. Without +psychic nature there could be no association. Personalized psychic +nature is the sole and final cause of human social life. Numberless +conditions determine by stimulation or imitation the manifestation of +psychic life. These conditions differ for different lands, peoples, +ages, and political relations, producing diverse social orders for +each separated group. These diverse social orders determine the +psychic characteristics differentiating the various groups. Social +life and social order are objective expressions of a reality of which +psychic nature is the subjective and therefore deeper reality. The two +cannot be ruthlessly torn apart and remain complete, nor can they be +understood, or completely interpreted, apart from each other. They are +correlative and complementary expressions for the same reality. + +Similarly physical and psychical life are to be conceived as +profoundly interrelated, being respectively objective and subjective +expressions of a reality incapable of separate interpretation. Yet +each has markedly distinct characteristics and is the subject of +distinct laws of activity and development. + +Heredity is of two kinds, biological heredity, transmitting innate +characters, and social heredity, transmitting acquired habits and +their physiological results. + +The innate characters transmitted by biological heredity are either +physiological, anatomical, or psychical. + +The acquired habits transmitted by social heredity are essentially +psychical: but they may result in acquired physiological, or even +anatomical, characters. Here belong the physiological effects of diet, +housing, clothing, occupation, education, etc., which have not yet +been taken up and incorporated into the innate physiological +constitution by biological heredity. The physiological effects of +social heredity are through the daily physical life and activity of +each individual, in accordance with the requirements of the social +order in which he is reared; and these are reached through its +influence on the acquired psychical habits, which are transmitted +through association, imitation, and the control of activities by +language and education. In biological heredity the transmission is +exclusively prior to birth, while in social heredity it is chiefly, if +not entirely, after birth. + +In social heredity the transmission is not determined by +consanguinity, and therefore extends to members of alien races when +they are incorporated in the social organization. + +While the transmission of biological inheritance to each offspring is +inevitable and complete, that of social inheritance is largely +voluntary. It is also more or less complete, according to the +knowledge, purpose, and effort of the individuals concerned. The +transmission of acquired social and psychic characteristics even from +parents to offspring depends on their association, and the imposition +on their offspring by parents of their own modes of life. Sharing with +parents their bodily activities, their language and their environment, +both social and psychical, the offspring necessarily develop psychic +and social characteristics similar to those of the parents. + +Evolution takes place through the transformation of inheritance. The +evolution of _innate_ physiological, anatomical, and psychical +characters takes place through the transformation of biological +inheritance; and the evolution of society and of _acquired_ characters +chiefly through the transformation of social inheritance. + +Nearly all biologists admit that change in the form of natural +selection is one of the principles transforming biological +inheritance; but whether the _acquired_ characters of parents are even +in the least degree inherited by the offspring, thus becoming _innate_ +characters, is one of the important biological problems of recent +years. Into this problem we have not entered, though we recognize that +it must have important bearings on sociological science. Briefly +stated, it is this: Do social and psychic characteristics, acquired by +individuals or by groups of individuals, affect the intrinsic +inherited and transmissible psychic nature in such ways that +offspring, by the mere fact of being offspring, necessarily manifest +those characteristics, regardless of the particular social environment +in which they may be reared? Into this problem, thus broadly stated, +we do not enter. Limiting our view to those advanced races which +manifest practically equal physiological development, we ask whether +or not their differentiating psychic characteristics are due to +modifications of their inherited and intrinsic psychic nature, such +that those characteristics are necessarily transmitted to offspring +through intrinsic biological heredity. Current popular and scientific +sociology seems to give an affirmative answer to this question. The +reply of this work emphasizes the negative. Although it is not +maintained that there is absolutely no difference whatever in the +psychic nature of the different races, or that the psychic differences +distinguishing the races are entirely transmitted by social heredity, +it is maintained that this is very largely the case--far more largely +than is usually perceived or admitted. Such inherent differences, if +they exist, are so vague and intangible as practically to defy +discovery and clear statement, and may be practically ignored. + +The only adequate disproof of the position here maintained would be +about as follows. Let a Japanese infant be reared in an American home +from infancy, not only fed and clothed as an American, but loved as a +member of the family and trained as carefully and affectionately as +one's own child. The full conditions require that not only the child +himself, but everyone else, be ignorant of his parentage and race in +order that he be thought to be, and be treated as though he were, a +genuine member of his adopting home and people. What would be the +psychic characteristics of that child when grown to manhood? If he +should manifest psychic traits like those of his Japanese parents, if +he should think in the Japanese order, if he should have a tendency to +use prepositions as postpositions, if he should drop pronouns and +should use honorific words in their place, if he should be markedly +suspicious and inferential, if he should bow in making his salutations +rather than shake hands, if he should show marked preference for +sitting on the floor rather than on chairs, and for chopsticks to +knives and forks, and if developing powers as an artist he should +naturally paint Japanese pictures, Japanese landscapes, and Japanese +faces, finding himself unable to draw according to the canons of +Western art, if on developing poetic tastes he should find special +pleasure in seventeen syllable or thirty-one syllable exclamatory +poems, finding little interest in Longfellow or Shakespeare, if, in +short, he should develop a predilection for any distinctive Japanese +custom, habit of thought, method of speech, emotion or volition, it +would evidently be due to his intrinsic heredity. If in all these +matters, however, he should prove to be like an American, acquiring an +American education like any American boy, and if on being brought to +Japan, at, say, thirty years of age, still supposing himself to be an +American, he should have equal difficulty with any American in +mastering the language and adapting himself to and understanding the +Japanese people, then it would follow that his psychic characteristics +have been inherited socially and he is what he is, nationally, because +of his social heritage. Such a result would show that the psychic +traits differentiating races are social and not intrinsic. + +We have limited our discussion to the advanced races because the +problem is then relatively simple, the material abundant, and the +issue clear. Much discussion in theology, psychology, and sociology is +futile because it concerns that practically mythical being, the +aboriginal man, about whose social and psychic life no one knows +anything, and any theorizer can say what he chooses without fear of +shipwreck on incontrovertible facts. Whether the lowest races known +to-day are differentiated from the highest only by acquired social and +psychic characteristics, or also by differences of psychic nature, may +perhaps be an open question. However this may be, the case is fairly +clear in regard to the higher races inhabiting the earth. Their +differentiating psychic characteristics are, for the most part, not +due to diverse psychic nature, but to diverse social orders, while the +transmission of these characteristics takes place, as a matter of +observation, through social heredity. + +The discussions of this work are exclusively concerned with the +evolution of society and of psychic characteristics. But even in this +limited field we have not attempted to cover the whole ground. We have +given our chief attention to the interdependence of social phenomena +and psychic characteristics. The causes of evolution in the social +order have not been the main subject under discussion. + +Segregation is the essential condition on which divergent evolution is +dependent. Many forms of segregation may be specified, under each of +which evolution proceeds on a different principle. In brief, it may be +said that biological segregation prevents the swamping of incipient +organic divergences, by preventing the intermarriage of those +possessing such divergences, while social segregation prevents the +swamping of incipient social divergences and their corresponding +incipient psychic characteristics by preventing the inter-association +of those having such tendencies. + +Biologically segregated groups undergo divergent biological evolution +through segregated marriage, producing distinct physiological unities +or racial types. These racial types are now relatively fixed and can +be appreciably modified only by the intermarriage of different races. + +Socially segregated groups undergo divergent social evolution through +the segregated social intercourse of the members of each group, +producing distinct civilizational and psychic unities. The differences +between these social or psychic groups are relatively plastic and are +the subject of constant variation. The modification of the social and +psychic characteristics of a group takes place through a change in the +physical or social environment of the group, or through the rise of +strong personalities within the group. + +Biologically distinct groups may thus be unified biologically only by +intermarriage, while socially physically distinct groups may be +unified socially and psychically without intermarriage, but +exclusively through association. + +The psychic defects of the offspring of interracial marriages may be +largely due to the defective social heredity transmitted by the +parents, rather than to mixed intrinsic inheritance. + +The term "race soul" is a convenient, though delusive, because highly +figurative, expression for the psychic unity of a social group. The +unity is due entirely to the more or less complete possession by the +individual members of the group, of common ideas, ideals, methods of +thought, emotions, volitions, customs, institutions, arts, and +beliefs. + +Each individual is molded psychically to the type of the social group +in which he is reared. The "race soul" is thus imposed on the +individual by conscious and unconscious education. + +The psychic evolution of social groups is divergent so long as +isolation is fairly complete, but becomes convergent in proportion to +association. Perfect association produces complete psychic unity, +though it should be noted that perfect association of geographically +separated social groups is practically unattainable. + +The essential elements constituting national unity are psychic and +social, not biological. Racial unity is biological. The same race may +accordingly separate into different social and psychic groups. And +members of different races may belong to the same social psychic +group. + +The so-called "race soul" of many sociologists is, therefore, a +fiction and indicates mental confusion. The term refers not to the +racial unity of inherent psychic nature, but only to the social unity +of socially inherited psychic characteristics. Groups thus socially +unified may or may not be racially homogeneous. In point of fact no +race is strictly homogeneous biologically, nor is any social group +completely unified psychically. + +In sociology as in biology function produces organism, that is to say, +activity produces the organ or faculty fitted to perform the +activity.[2] The psychic characteristics differentiating social groups +are chiefly, and perhaps exclusively, due to diverse social +activities. These activities are determined by innumerable causes, +geographical, climatic, economic, political, intellectual, emotional, +and personal. + +The plasticity of a psychic group is due to the plasticity of the +infant mind and brain, which is wonderfully capable of acquiring the +language, thought forms, and differentiating characteristics of any +group in which it may be reared. To what extent this plasticity +extends only carefully conducted experiments can show. In the higher +Asiatic and European races we find it to be much greater than is +generally supposed to be the case, but it is not improbable that the +lowest races possess it in a much lower degree. + +The relative fixity of a psychic group is due to the fact that in +full-grown adults, who form the majority of every group, function has +produced structure. Body, brain, and mind have "set" or crystallized +in the mold provided by the social order. Influences sufficiently +powerful to transform the young have little effect on the adult. The +relative fixity of a psychic group is also due to the +difficulty--well-nigh impossibility--of bringing new psychic +influences to bear on all members of the group simultaneously. The +majority, being oblivious to the new psychic forces, maintain the old +psychic régime. The difficulty of reform, of transforming a social +order, is principally due to these two causes. + +The "character" of a people (psychic group) consists of its more or +less unconscious, because structuralized or incarnate, ideas, +emotions, and volitions. Chief among them are those concerning the +character of God, the nature and value of man and woman, the necessary +relation of character to destiny, the nature and meaning of life and +death, and the nature and the authority of moral law. In proportion as +the social order incorporates high or low views on these vital +subjects, is the character of the people elevated and strong, or +debased and weak. + +The destiny of a people, and the rôle it plays in history, are +determined not by chance nor yet by environment, but in the last +analysis by its own character. Yet this character is not something +given it complete at the start, an intrinsic psychical inheritance, +nor is it dependent for transmission on biological heredity, passing +only from parents to offspring. Character belongs to the sphere of +social psychic life and is the subject of social heredity. Through +social intercourse the moral character dominating a psychic group may +be transmitted to members of an alien psychic group. This usually +takes place through missionary activity. The moral character of a +psychic group may in this way be fundamentally transformed, and with +character, destiny. + +Floating ideas, not yet woven into the warp and woof of life, not yet +incarnate in the individual or in the social order, have little +influence on the character of the individual or the group, however +beautiful, true, or elevating such ideas may be in themselves. The +character of a people is to be judged, therefore, not by the beauty or +elevation of every idea that may be found in its literature, but only +by those ideas that have been assimilated, that have become +incorporated into the social order. These determine a people's +character and destiny. According as these ideas persist in the social +order, is its character permanent. + +Progress consists of expanding life, communal and individual, +extensive and intensive, physical and psychical. True progress is +balanced. High communal development, that is, highly organized +society, is impossible without the wide attainment of highly developed +individuals. Progressive mastery of nature likewise is impossible +apart from growing psychic development in all its branches, emotional, +intellectual and volitional, communal and individual. + +Historically, communalism is the first principle to emerge in +consciousness. To succeed, however, it must be accompanied by at least +a certain degree of individualism, even though it be quite implicit. +The full development of the communal principle is impossible apart +from the correspondingly full development of the individual principle. +These are complementary principles of progress. Each alone is +impossible. In proportion as either is emphasized at the expense of +the other, is progress impeded. Arrested civilizations are due to the +disproportionate and excessive development of one or the other of +these principles. + +Personality, expressing and realizing itself in communal and +individual life, in objective and subjective forms, is at once the +cause and the goal of progress. Social and psychic evolution are, +therefore, in the last analysis, personal processes. The irreducible +and final factor in social evolution and in social science is +personality; for personality is the determinative factor of a human +being. + +Progress in personal development consists of increasing extent and +accuracy of knowledge, refinement and elevation of emotions, and +nobility and reliability of volitions. Progress in personal +development requires the individual to pass from objective +heterocratic to subjective autocratic or self-regulative ethical life. +He must pass from the traditional to the enlightened, from the +communal to the individualistic stage in ethics and religion. He must +feel with increasing force the binding nature of the supra-communal +sanctions for communal and individual life, accepting the highest +dictates of the enlightened moral consciousness as the laws of the +universe. But this means that the individual must secure increasing +insight into the immutable and eternal laws of spiritual being and +must identify his personal interests, his very self with those laws, +with the Heart of the. Universe, with God himself. Only so will he +become completely autonomous, self-regulative. Only thus will the +individual become and remain an altruistic communo-individual, fitted +to meet and survive the relaxation of the historic communal and +supra-communal sanctions for communal and individual life, a +relaxation induced by growing political liberty and growing +intellectual rejection of primitive or defective religious beliefs. + +Progress in personality is thus at bottom an ethico-religious process. +The wide attainment of developed personality permits the formation of +enlarging highly organized psychic groups, accompanied by increasing +specialization of its individual members. This communal expansion, +ramifying organization and individual specialization, secures +increasing extensive and intensive intellectual understanding of the +universe, and this in turn active mastery of nature, with all the +consequences of growing ease and richness of life. + +Ethico-religious, autonomous personality is thus the tap-root of +highly developed and permanently progressive civilizations. +Personality is, therefore, the criterion of progress. Mere ease of +physical life, freedom from anxiety, light-hearted, care-free +happiness, mastery of nature, material civilization, highly developed +art, literature, and music, or even refined culture, are partial and +inadequate, if not positively false, criteria. + +Personality, as a nature, is an inherent psychic heritage shared by +all human beings. It is transmitted only from parents to offspring, +and its transmission depends only on that relation. Personality, as a +varying psychic characteristic, is a matter of social inheritance, and +is profoundly dependent, therefore, on the nature of the social order +and the social evolution. + +Religion, as incorporated in life, is the most important single factor +determining the personality and character of its adherents, either +hindering or promoting their progress. + +Japanese social and psychic evolution have in no respects violated the +universal laws of evolution. Japanese personal and other psychic +characteristics are the product not of essential, but of social +inheritance and social evolution. Japan has recently entered into a +new social inheritance from which she is joyfully accepting new +conceptions and principles of communal and individual life. These she +is working into her social organism. + +Already these are producing profound, and we may believe permanent, +transformations in her social order and correspondingly profound and +permanent transformations of her character and destiny. + + + +THE END + + + + +INDEX + +"Abdication": in church work, 84; + due to past social conditions, 86; + explains prominence of young men, 86, 161 + +Æsthetic characteristics: development unbalanced, 174; + speech and conduct, 178; + development of masses, 180; + development, social not racial, 188 + +Adoption; family maintained, 215 + +Affection: post-marital, 102; + its expression, 105 + +Agnosticism, old not new, 247 + +Alcock, Sir Rutherford: quotation misleading, 172; + on untruthfulness, 255 + +Altruism, social or racial? 365 + +Ambition, 137 + +Ancestral worship and the importance of sons, 98 + +Apotheosis, 147; + "Divine right of kings," 151; + in Japan expresses unity, 152 + +Architectural development and social heredity, 188 + +Arisaka, Colonel, inventions, 207 + +Arnold, Sir Edwin, 16, 17 + +Art; simplicity its characteristic, 173; + lacking the nude, 175-177; + its ideal in representing gods and men, 174; + defects, 184; + original or imitative? 203; + not "impersonal," 351 + +Artistic and inartistic contrasts, 184 + +Aston, Mr. W.G.: on poetic form, 187; + intellectual inferiority of Japanese claimed, 218; + "Japanese Literature," 228 + +Baelz, Dr. E., measurements of skull, 191 + +"Bakufu," "curtain government," 214 + +Bargaining, a personal experience, 212 + +Baths, public, 274; + cleanliness, 316 + +Birthday festivals, 349; + method of reckoning age, 350 + +Brain weights, comparative figures, 190 + +Brown, Rev. S.R., 90 + +Buckley, Prof. E., Phallic worship, 325 + +Buddhism: relation to the family, 112; + suppression of emotion, 166; + modified in Japan, 197; + early influence, 204; + teachings about woman, 259; + lack of moral teachings, 269; + religious ecstasy, 297; + nature and history, 306, 307; + terms "ingwa" and "mei," 319; + "impersonal"? 377-388; + introspection, 378; + salvation through self, 379; + consciousness of self, highly developed, 379-380; + attributes no worth to self, 380; + failure of its influence, 381; + mercy to animals and shallow reasoning, 381; + thought of self an intellectual abstraction, 383; + not impersonal, but abstract, 384; + doctrine of illusion, 384; + failure of social order, 385; + popular acceptance not philosophical, 386; + not logically + carried out, 389-390. + appeal to personal activity, 390. + conversion of a priest to Christianity, 394. + conception of God, 398. + the universe characterized, 400. + Nirvana, 400. + supplementary to Shintoism, 407. + popularity explained, 408. + individualism defective, 408. + not exclusive in any land, 421. + +Buddhistic doctrines and sociological consequences, 388. + + + +Caricature in art: its prominence, 177. + +Cary's, Rev. Otis, "Japan and Its Regeneration," 10. + +Chamberlain, Prof. B.H., 17, 55, 159. + quotation on imitation,--over-emphasis, 196. + people irreligious, 287. + +Character and destiny, 445. + how judged, 446 + +Children: their festivals, 96. + love for the young in Occident and Orient compared, 97. + infanticide, 100. + +Chinese characters and the common schools, 192. + +Chinese philosophy not accepted without question, 200. + +Christianity: relation to the family, 111-114. + the support of new ideals, 112. + fluctuating interest in, 162, 163. + influence on woman, 168. + criticised by a Japanese, 231. + relation to new social order, 282. + its growth in Japan, 308. + monotheism, its attraction, 311. + its view of the universe, 399. + involving communalism and individualism, 415. + +Civilization: two types in conflict, 13. + social not racial, 28. + its rapid modernization, 30. + +Clark, Pres., 90 + +Cleanliness: exaggerated reputation, 315, 316. + +Cocks of Tosa: the abnormal, 178. + +Communalism: and human progress, 332, 333. + defined, 361. + its altruism, 367. + throws light on religious history, 404. + difficulty of combining it with individualistic religious elements, 414. + Japan appreciates its spirit, 417 + +Comte, 22. + +Conceit, 139. + not the only conceited nation, 142. + +Concubinage: children of the Emperor, 151. + Buddhistic and Confucian teaching, 259. + its sociological interpretation, 260. + increase of, 278. + statistics of, 279. + +Confidence and suspicion, 120. + feudal explanation, 121. + +Confucian ethics: leave gods alone, 286, 287. + antidote to Buddhism, 390. + +Confucianism: its relation to the family, 112. + modified in Japan, 197. + metaphysical foundation of, 228. + its relation to morality, 269. + nature and history of, 307, 308. + its doctrines restored, 409. + its limitations, 410. + not a religion, 411. + cause of failure, 412. + +Confucius and Lao-tse about returning good for evil, 128. + influence opposed to progress, 204. + +Constitution, authority from Emperor, 149. + +Conversation: realistic baldness, 179. + +Courtesy: conventional not racial, 182. + phrases of, 211. + not proof of "impersonality," 362, 363. + +Culture: more apparent than real, 181. + +Curiosity: real though concealed,--illustration, 166. + +"Curtain government," its significance, 214. + + + +Daimyo, a figurehead, 214. + +Darwin, 22 + +Decoration of rooms, 171 + +Dening, Mr, Walter, lack of idealism, 233 + +De Quatrefages, African brains, 191 + +Deity: conception of, 310; + monotheistic terms, 311; + common people, 391 + +Disposition: apparently cheerful, 115; + pessimists out of sight, 116 + +Divorce: grounds for, 56; + frequency of, 99; + Civil Code of 1898, 265; + statistics, 267; + divorce and "impersonality," 352, 355 + +Doshisha, endangered, 123, 124; + American benefactors of, 281 + +Drama and novel: weakness explained, 187 + +Drummond, 22 + +Dwarfed plants,--delight in the abnormal, 177 + + + +Eastern and Western civilizations blending, 30-32 + +Educational Department and Imperial Edict, 328 + +Emotional nature, 82-84; + due to social order, 169 + +Emperor: concubines and children of, 151 + +English study and methods of thinking, 212 + +Ethics: pivotal points, 283 + +Etiquette: superficial not radical requirements, 183; + its collapse explained, 183; + relation to imagination, 235 + +Evolution: real explanation of progress, 24-27, 33-34; + national, 332-343; + intellectual, 419; + Involution one half the process, 425; + defined, 440 + +Express train, "nominal" destination, 216 + + + +Fairbanks, Prof., 20 + +"Falling in love" not recognized, 102 + +Family life: false registration checks affection, 107 + +_Far East_: quotation from, adaptation of foreign systems, 208 + +Farmer, higher rank than merchant, 257 (note) + +Fate: "Ingwa," in development of personality, 386 + +Feudal times: moderation, 118; + courage cultivated, 153, 154; + trade, 284 + +Fickleness: its manifestation, 159; + a modern trait, 160; + shown chiefly in methods, 160; + among Christians, apparent not real, 161 + +Filial obedience: extreme application, 263; + piety, moral ideal, 249; + piety and religion, 322 + +Fiske, 22 + +Flexibility of mental constitution, 77-78 + +Flowering trees, 171 + +Forty-seven Ronin, 89, 250 + +Freedom: relation of belief to the fact, 387 + +Fukuzawa, Mr., on monogamy, 109, 112; + condemning concubinage, 279; + on religion, 287 + +Furniture; recent introduction, 181 + +Future life: Shinto, Confucian, 318; + Buddhistic, 319 + + + +"Geisha," dancing girl, vivacity, 168 + +Generalization, capacity for, 220; + use of philosophical terms, 221 + +Giddings, Prof., 19, 22 + +"Go-between," illustrations, 210; + advantages, 211 + +God: Greek, Buddhist, Christian, 399; + conceptions compared, 400 + +Governmental initiative: explains rapid reforms, 201 + +Gratitude: religious sentiment, 323; + ingratitude shown 324 + +Greek universe characterized, 400 + +Green, T.H., 397 (note) + +Greene, Dr. D.C., teaching of Shinto sect, 269 + +Griffis, W.E., on suicide, 155; + on religions, 315 + +Gubbins, introduction to translation of New Civil Code of Japan, 86; + on woman's position, 268 + + + +Harris, Townsend, quoted, 132; + regulation by authority, 204; + as to untruthfulness, 256 + +Hawaii, musical development, 185 + +Head, size of, 190 + +Hearn, Mr. Lafcadio, 16, 17, 68; + mistaken contention, 263; + privacy, 275; + gratitude, 323 + +Hegel, 345; "Nothing" and Universal Soul of Buddhism, 383 (note) + +Heredity: social and physiological contrasted, 21; + defined and analyzed, 439 + +Heroes and hero-worship, 89-95; + "The forty-seven Ronin" as heroes, 89; + craving for modern heroes, 90-92; + Omi Sajin, 93; + Dr. Neesima, 375 + +Hirase, Mr., scientist, 207 + +History, research suppressed, 205; + its claims, 206; + apparent credulity of scholars due to social system, 207 + +"Holy towels," physical disease, 314 + +Honesty: decline of, 280; + explanation, 282 + +"Honorifics," shades of courtesy, 179; + indefiniteness of speech, 211 + +Houses, privacy impossible, 273 + +Housewife, simple requirements, 181 + + + +Idealizing tendency, 94, 236 + +Idols, imported feature of Japanese religion, 174 + +Ikeno, Mr., scientific discovery, 207 + +Illusion, 398 + +Imagination: is it lacking? 233; + shown in etiquette, political life, ambition, self-conceit, etc., 235; + seen in optimism, 240; + related to fancy,--caricature, 241; + not disproved by imitation, 242; + sociological explanation, 243; + constructive, 246; + suppression of, 246 + +Imitation in Japanese progress, 78-81; + creditable characteristic, 196 + +Immorality, increase of, 261 + +Impassiveness, "putty-face," 164 + +Imperial and popular sovereignty, conflict between, 152-153 + +Imperial Edict, 328 + +Imperialists during the Shogunate, 146 + +Imperial succession of Oriental type, 150 + +"Impersonality": Hegel, 345: + definitions contradictory, 347, 348; + related, to art, 351; + family life, 352; + divorce, 352; + "falling in love," 354; + definition, 359, 360; + outcome of social order, 361; + not proved by courtesy of people, 362, 363, + nor by lack of personal pronouns, 368; + arguments against, 377; + diverse elements analyzed, 381; + objection to term, 385 + +"Impersonality" and altruism, 365 + +Impractical idealism: claimed by Japanese, 236; + illustrations, 237, 238 + +"In," and "Yo," significance of, 221 + +India and Japan contrasted, 32-34 + +Indirectness, 210 + +Individual, small value, 258 + +Individualism: expressed, 245, 246; + changing social order and honesty, 282; + importance of, 334; + how possible, 335; + defined, 361; + easy acceptance explained, 413 + +Individualistic religion as a sociological factor in higher, human + evolution, 418 + +Infanticide, 100-101 + +"Ingwa," fate, 386 + +Inouye, Dr. T., Japonicized Christianity, 39; + claims for Japanese, 205; + philosophical writer, 229 + +Intellectual characteristics, social, 244 + +Inventions: originality, 207 + +Irreligious phenomena explained, 302, 303 + +Ishii, Mr., father of orphan asylums in Japan, 94, 131, 145 + +Isolation of nations impossible, 71 + +Ito, Marquis, on religion, 288 + +Iyeyasu: his testament, 253; + use of Confucian doctrines, 409 + + + +Japanese people: international responsibility, 13; + need of understanding them, 15-20; + change of opinion regarding, 23-25; + defects, conscious of, 143; + acquaintance with, 428; + reasons for difficulty in, acquaintance with, 429, 430; + secret of acquaintance, 431 + +_Japan Mail_: quotation, 130; + originality of Japanese art, 203: + on wealth, 277; + on honesty, 280; + on acquaintance, 428 + +Jealousy and women, 127-128 + + + +Kato, Mr. H., 229; + on religion, 288; + patriotism is loyalty to throne, 373 + +"Ki," defined, 221 + +Kidd, 22 + +Kissing unknown, 105 + +Kitazato, Dr., scientific research, 207 + +Knapp, Mr. A.M., 16 + +Knox, Dr. G.W., quotation, 199; + "A Japanese Philosopher," 228; + translator of Muro Kyuso, 249 + + + +Ladd, Prof. G.T., 94; + sentimentality of Japanese, 234 + +Language: its acquirement and Japanese students, 194; + diversities of, not due to diversities in brain type, 195 + +Lao-tse, on doing good in return for evil, 128 + +Le Bon's physiological theory of character inadequate, 13-20; + quotation, 51; + dissent from opinion, 168; + quotation, 424 + +Le Conte, 22 + +Literature, ancient, its impurity, 253 + +Lowell, Mr. Percival, "The Soul of the Far East," 103, 344; + Japanese unimaginative, 234; + opinion criticised, 241; + "sense and incense," 286; + pilgrimages, 291; + "impersonality," 359, 363, 374; + teaching of philosophic Buddhism, 378 + +Loyalty and religion, 322; + sentimental, 148, 149 + +Lunatics and lepers, cruel treatment, 130 + + + +Magic formulæ, 320 + +Man and nature: differing artistic treatment of, 175 + +Manners; influenced by Western ways, 182 + +Marriage, Civil Code of 1898, 265 + +Marsh, Prof., size of Japanese brain, 190 + +"Matter-of-factness" explained, 245 + +Memorizing: mechanical, 222; + defective method, 223; + as related to higher mental powers, 223 + +Memory; power overrated, 192; + in daily affairs not exceedng + +Occidental, 193; + characteristics sociological, not biological, 194 + +Mnemonic power and social selection, 193 + +Mencius, teaching, the "Way" of Heaven and Earth, 250 + +Mental faculties: are the Japanese deficient? 218; + power of generalization, 221 + +Metaphysical tendencies, 227: + denial of ability unjustifiable, 227 + +Metaphysics and ethics, 228 + +Monotheism, why attractive, 312 + +Morality: courage in persecucution, 156; + illustration, 158; + discrimination developed, 249; + parents, children, patriots, 249; + ideals communal, 255; + standards differing for men and women, 263; + teaching focused on rulers, 270; + Imperial Edict, 271; + standards of, and individualism, 275, 276; + social, not racial, 283; + on authority, 284; + morality and Old Japan, 261, 264 + +Motora, Prof. Y., 229 + +Müller, Prof. Max, statement about Vedas, 193 + +Murata rifle, invention of, 207 + +Muro Kyuso, philosopher, 249; + ancient books condemned, 252; + on immorality, 286; + teachings, 299, 300 + +Music, Japanese deficiency, 185 + + + +Nakashima, Prof. Rikizo, 229 + +Nash, Prof. H.S., on Apotheosis in Rome, 153 + + +National life, stimulus from the West, 43-48 + +Natural scenery in art, 173 + +Neesima, Dr., founder of the Doshisha, 94; + monotheism, 311; + his character, 375 + +"Netsuke," comical carvings, 241 + +New æon, characterized, 14; + the consequences, 15 + +Newton's, Rev. J.C.E., "Japan: Country, Court, and People" 10, 46 + +"Nichiren," a sect, 198 + +Nirvana characterized, 400 + +Nitobe's, Prof. J., "Bushido: The Soul of Japan," 10 + +"Nominal": Pedigree, 215; + church contributions, 216; + express train, 216 + +"Nominality": illustrated in history, 213; + in family life, 214; + in Christian work, 216; + explained by old order, 217; + giving way under Western influence, 217 + +Norman, Mr. Henry, 17; + his "Real Japan," 46 + +Nude in art: its lack, 175-177 + + + +Obsequiousness, 140 + +Occident and Orient: conflict not unending, 13; + social intercourse and mutual influence, 436 + +Occidental civilization; a defect in, 71 + +Ohashi, Junzo, opposed to Western thought, 254 + +Old Japan, 35-37; + its oppression, 53, 54; + emptiness of common life, 54; + condition of woman, 54, 56; + divorce, 56, 57; + moral and legal maxims, 252, 253; + its morality, 244, 261 + +"Omi Sajin," Sage of Omi, 93 + +Oriental characteristics: are they distinctive? 422; + general opinion of, 423; + view of author, 425; + social, not racial, 425, 434 + +Originality in art, 203; + judicious imitation, 209 + +Orphan asylums, 131 + +Oyomei, 228 + + + +Patriotism, 48-51; + relation to apotheosis, 144, 158; + to war, 145; + Christian orphans, 145 + +Peasants, stolidity, 165 + +Pedigree, "nominal" not actual ancestry, 215 + +Peery, Dr., Japanese philosophical incompetence, 225 + +Personality: 21-22; + importance of, 342; + defined, 356-357; + characteristics of, 358; + "strong" and "weak," 374, 375; + Confucian ethics, 390; + Supreme Being, 391; + gods of popular Buddhism, 391; + idea grasped by Japanese, 393; + sketch of development, 394; + racial or social inheritance, 395; + progress in ethico-religious process, 447; + the criterion of progress, 447 + +Personality in conception of nationality, 373 + +Personal pronouns, their lack possible proof of personality, 369; + "honorific" particles, 368; + substitutes, 370, 371 + +Pfleiderer, Prof., religious deficiency of Japanese, 286 + +Phallicism: its suppression, 325; + Western influence, 326 + +Philosophy: Occidental ignorance of its history in Japan, 200; + terms used, 221; + Japanese students of, 229; + individuals interested, 229 + +Philosophical ability, 225-232; + Japanese claims, 225; + constructive power, 226; + writers mentioned, 229; + East and West compared, 231 + +Pilgrimages: statistics, 290-291; + immorality, 326 + +Poetry characterized, 186 + +Powder, smokeless, invention of, 207 + +Pride, sociological explanation, 19, 21 + +Progress, modern characteristic, 52-60; + defined, 57; + light-heartedness no proof of, 59; + its method, 61-71; + recognition of individual worth, 63-67; + knowledge of implements and methods, 67-70; + imitation, 78-81; + passion for it, 143 + +Psychic nature and social life, 439 + +Psychic evolution, 444 + +Psychic function and psychic organism, 445 + +Psychological similarities, Japanese and Anglo-Saxon, 189 + +Public speaking, fluency, 219 + +"Putty-face," 164 + + + +"Race-soul," 444 + +Ransome, Mr. Stanford, quoted, 51; + "Japan in Transition," 46 + +Reforms, governmental initiative, 201 + +Religion: its characteristics social, not racial, 309; + loyalty and filial piety, 322; + liberty in belief, 327; + the Imperial Edict, 328; + forms determined by history, 329; + the problem of to-day, 414; + Religions classified, 421 + +Religious or not? appearances explained, 286; + judged by phenomena, 288; + prayer, shrines, charms, 292; + Buddha-shelves, God-shelves, 293; + emotion and social training, 296; + emotion shown in abstraction, 297 + +Religious life, 404, 421; + communal, 404; + present difficulty in Japan, 420 + +Renaissance of Japan, 29-30 + +Revenge: the ancient law, 128; + teachings of Confucius and Lao-tse, 128-129 + +Reverence, apparent lack of, 304 + +"Ri" defined, 221 + +Roman alphabet: adoption recommended by many, 192 + +"Roundaboutness": characteristic of speech and action, 211; + recent improvement, 212 + + + +Sadness and isolation of many, 116 + +Sage of Omi, _see_ "Omi Sajin." + +Salvation and sin, 314; + Buddhist and Christian, 379 + +Samurai: high mental power, + social leaders, impractical, + 244; their relation to trade, + 252; new ideals, 256; revolt + from religious forms, 298 + +Segregation and divergent evolution, 443 + +Self-confidence not without + grounds, 141, 143; reorganization + by young men, 141-142 + +Self-control: moral teaching, + 250; Kujuro, the self-controlled, 251 + +Sensitiveness to environment, + 72, 81; illustrated by students + abroad, 73, by life in Japan, 73-77 + +Shimose, Mr., invention, smokeless powder, 207 + +"Shinshu," "Reformed" Buddhism, 198 + +Shinto: nature and history, + 305, 306; personal gods, 391; + communal, 405; no longer a + religion, 405; world view, + 406; religious sanction for + social order, 407; revived, 412 + +Sin, terminology, 313; consciousness + of, 317; instance of conversion, 318 + +Shusi, 228 + +Social evil, the, 261 (note) + +Social segregation and social divergence, 21 + +Social and racial unity distinguished, 443 + +Social evolution convergent, + 14; principle revealed, 15; + personal process, 446 + +Social heredity, transmitting results of toil, 71 + +Social intercourse of Occident and Orient, 436 + +Social order from the West, + 413; the parting of the ways, 414 + +Sociological theory of: character, + 14, 446; pride, 30; fear + of ridicule, 73; cruelty, 135; + kindness, 136; stolidity, 163; + power of generalization, 222; + philosophical development, + 231; apparent deficiency in + imagination, 236; differences + characterizing Eastern and + Western psychic nature, 247, + 435; untruthfulness, 256; concubinage, + 260; religious characteristics, + 309, 321; the suppression + of Phallicism, 327; + religious tolerance, 329; divorce + and "falling in love," + 355; courtesy, 363, 364; the + personal pronoun, 372; the + failure of Buddhism, 385; + the conception of Fate, 387 + +Sociology and individual religion, 405; + and Shintoism, 407 + +Southerland, 23 + +"Soul of Japan," the, 144 + +"Soul of the Far East," quotation, 234 + +Spencer, 22 + +Stolidity: easily distinguished + from stoicism, 164, 165; the + peasants, 165; social, not + racial, 167; cultivated, 168 + +Students: testimony of foreign + teachers, 218; at home and abroad, 219 + +Suicide, a matter of honor, 154-156 + +Sutra, translation of, 402 + +Suspiciousness and military feudalism, 125-126 + + + +Taguchi, Dr., brain statistics, 190 + +Tai-ku Reform, epoch-making period, 201 + +Takahashi, Mr. G., 229; the + monks and consciousness of sin, 317 + +Taste and lack of taste in woman's dress, 182 + +Temples, statistics, 296 + +Tokugawa Shogunate, 38-40; + how overthrown, 40-43; prohibitive + of progress, 204; last + of "Curtain governments," 214 + +Torture, in Japan, 132; in Europe, 133 + +Toys and toy-stores, 96 + +Trade estimates, 256; Old Japan, + the Greeks, the Jews + compared, 257, note; trade + and the feudal order, 284 + +Transmigration, 319; theory + illogical, but helpful, 389 + +Truthfulness, undeveloped, 255 + +Tyranny and Western wives 106 + + + +Unæsthetic phenomena, 179 + + + +Verbeck, Dr. G.F., 91 + +Visionary tendency, 236, 237 + +Vivacity, Geisha girl, 168 + + +Wallace, 22 + +Ward, 22 + +"Way," _see_ Muro Kyuso, 250; + reference to, 287 + +Wealth increasing, 277 + +Wedding, Prince Imperial, 268; + Imperial silver wedding, 268 + +Woman: obedience, 55, 56; + estimates of East and West + contrasted, 102-103; Western + estimates, recent growth, + 111, 113 (note); Buddhist and + Confucian teaching, 112, 259; + jealousy, 127; her position, + 258; influenced by Hindu + philosophy, 258; improvement, 268 + +Writing, a fine art, 173 + + + +Xavier, Francis, 308 + + + +Yamaguchi, Mr., quotation, 149; + the Imperial throne, 373 + +"Yamato Damashii," _see_ "The Soul of Japan." + +"Yumei-mujitsu," _see_ "Nominality." + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: "Things Japanese," p. 156.] + +[Footnote B: Let not the reader gather from the very brief glance at +the attainments of New Japan, that she has overtaken the nations of +Christendom in all important respects; for such is far from the case. +He needs to be on his guard not to overestimate what has been +accomplished.] + +[Footnote C: Prof. B.H. Chamberlain.] + +[Footnote D: Only since the coming of the new period has it become +possible for a woman to gain a divorce from her husband.] + +[Footnote E: Chapter xxix. Some may care to read this chapter at this +point.] + +[Footnote F: _Cf._ chapter ii.] + +[Footnote G: "Kokoro," by L. Hearn, p. 31.] + +[Footnote H: _Japan Mail_, September 30, 1899.] + +[Footnote I: Part II. p. xxxii.] + +[Footnote J: _Japan Mail_, June 4, 1898, p. 586.] + +[Footnote K: If all that has been said above as to the relative lack +of affection between husband and wife is true, it will help to make +more credible, because more intelligible, the preceding chapter as to +the relative lack of love for children. Where the relation between +husband and wife is what we have depicted it, where the children are +systematically taught to feel for their father respect rather than +love, the relation between the father and the children, or the mother +and the children, cannot be the same as in lands where all these +customs are reversed.] + +[Footnote L: The effect of Christian missions cannot be measured by +the numbers of those who are to be counted on the church rolls; almost +unconsciously the nation is absorbing Christian ideals from the +hundreds of Christian missionaries and tens of thousands of Christian +natives. The necessities of the new social order make their teachings +intelligible and acceptable as the older social order did not and +could not. This accounts for the astonishing change in the +anti-Christian spirit of the Japanese. This spirit did not cease at +once on the introduction of the new social order, nor indeed is it now +entirely gone. But the change from the Japan of thirty years ago to +the Japan of to-day, in its attitude toward Christianity, is more +marked than that of any great nation in history. A similar change in +the Roman Empire took place, but it required three hundred years. This +change in Japan may accordingly be called truly miraculous, not in the +sense, however, of a result without a cause, for the causes are well +understood. + +Among the Christians, especially, the old order is rapidly giving way +to the new. Christianity has brought a new conception of woman and her +place in the home and her relation to her husband. Japanese Christian +girls, and recently non-Christian girls, are seeking an education +which shall fit them for their enlarging life. Many of the more +Christian young men do not want heathen wives, with their low estimate +of themselves and their duties, and they are increasingly unwilling to +marry those of whom they know nothing and for whom they care not at +all. Already the idea that love is the only safe foundation for the +home is beginning to take root in Japan. This changing ideal is +bringing marked social changes. In some churches an introduction +committee is appointed whose special function is to introduce +marriageable persons and to hold social meetings where the young +people may become acquainted. Here an important evolution in the +social order is taking place before our eyes, but not a few of the +world's wise men are too exalted to see it. Love and demonstrative +affection between husband and wife will doubtless become as +characteristic of Japan in the future as their absence has been +characteristic in the past. To recapitulate: these distinctive +characteristics of the emotional life of the Japanese might at first +seem to be so deep-rooted as to be inherent, yet they are really due +to the ideas and customs of the social order, and are liable to change +with any new system of ideas and customs that may arise. The higher +development of the emotional life of the Japanese waits now on the +reorganization of the family life; this rests on a new idea as to the +place and value of woman as such and as a human being; this in turn +rests on the wide acceptance of Christian ideals as to God and their +mutual relations. It involves, likewise, new ideals as to man's final +destiny. In Japan's need of these Christian ideals we find one main +ground and justification, if justification be needed, for missionary +enterprise among this Eastern people.] + +[Footnote M: Chapter v. p. 82.] + +[Footnote N: P. 133] + +[Footnote O: "Résumé Statistique l'Empire du Japan," published by the +Imperial Cabinet, 1897.] + +[Footnote P: As illustrating the point under discussion see portions +of addresses reported in "The World's Parliament of Religions," vol. +ii. pp. 1014, 1283.] + +[Footnote Q: _Japan Mail_, December 10, 1898.] + +[Footnote R: I have found it difficult to secure exact information on +the subject of the Imperial concubines (who, by the way, have a +special name of honor), partly for the reason that this is not a +matter of general information, and partly because of the unwillingness +to impart information to a foreigner which is felt to tarnish the +luster of the Imperial glory. A librarian of a public library refused +to lend a book containing the desired facts, saying that foreigners +might be freely informed of that which reveals the good, the true, and +the beautiful of Japanese history, customs, and character, but nothing +else. By the educated and more earnest members of the nation much +sensitiveness is felt, especially in the presence of the Occidental, +on the subject of the Imperial concubinage. It is felt to be a blot on +Japan's fair name, a relic of her less civilized days, and is, +accordingly, kept in the background as much as possible. The +statements given in the text in regard to the number of the concubines +and children are correct so far as they go. A full statement might +require an increase in the figures given.] + +[Footnote S: P. 59.] + +[Footnote T: P. 119.] + +[Footnote U: Aston's "Japanese Literature," p. 29.] + +[Footnote V: "Japanese Literature," p. 24.] + +[Footnote W: _Cf._ chapter xxxiii.] + +[Footnote X: Gustave Le Bon maintains, in his brilliant, but +sophistical, work on "The Psychology of Peoples," that the "soul of a +race" unalterably determines even its art. He states that a Hindu +artist, in copying an European model several times, gradually +eliminates the European characteristics, so that, "the second or third +copy ... will have become exclusively Hindu." His entire argument is +of this nature; I must confess that I do not in the least feel its +force. The reason the Hindu artist transforms a Western picture in +copying it is because he has been trained in Hindu art, not because he +is a Hindu physiologically. If that same Hindu artist, taken in +infancy to Europe and raised as a European and trained in European +art, should still persist in replacing European by Hindu art +characteristics, then the argument would have some force, and his +contention that the "soul of races" can be modified only by +intermarriage of races would seem more reasonable.] + +[Footnote Y: "The Human Species," p. 283.] + +[Footnote Z: _Ibid._, p. 282.] + +[Footnote AA: _Ibid._, p. 384.] + +[Footnote AB: The manuscript of this work was largely prepared in 1897 +and 1898. Since writing the above lines, a vigorous discussion has +been carried on in the Japanese press as to the advantages and +disadvantages of the present system of writing. Many have advocated +boldly the entire abandonment of the Chinese character and the +exclusive use of the Roman alphabet. The difficulties of such a step +are enormous and cannot be appreciated by anyone not familiar with the +written language of Japan. One or the strongest arguments for such a +course, however, has been the obstacle placed by the Chinese in the +way of popular education, due to the time required for its mastery and +the mechanical nature of the mind it tends to produce. In August of +1900 the Educational Department enacted some regulations that have +great significance in this connection. Perhaps the most important is +the requirement that not more than one thousand two hundred Chinese +characters are to be taught to the common-school children, and the +form of the character is not to be taught independently of the +meaning. The remarks in the text above are directed chiefly to the +ancient methods of education.] + +[Footnote AC: Griffis' "Religions of Japan," p. 272.] + +[Footnote AD: P. 24.] + +[Footnote AE: _Far East_ for January, 1898.] + +[Footnote AF: January 20, 1900.] + +[Footnote AG: _Japan Mail_, November 12, 1898.] + +[Footnote AH: P. 17.] + +[Footnote AI: P. 18.] + +[Footnote AJ: P. 18.] + +[Footnote AK: "History of the Empire of Japan," compiled and +translated for the Imperial Japanese Commission of the World's +Columbian Exposition.] + +[Footnote AL: "Japanese Literature," p. 4.] + +[Footnote AM: _Cf._ chapter xvi. p. 199.] + +[Footnote AN: _Cf._ chapter xvii.] + +[Footnote AO: Quotations from "A Japanese Philosopher" will be found +in chapters xxiv. and xxvi.] + +[Footnote AP: "Things Japanese," p. 133.] + +[Footnote AQ: P. 213.] + +[Footnote AR: P. 30.] + +[Footnote AS: _Cf._ chapter vii.] + +[Footnote AT: _Cf._ chapter xv. pp. 186, 187.] + +[Footnote AU: _Cf._ chapters xvi. and xvii.] + +[Footnote AV: Chapter xv.] + +[Footnote AW: Chapters xix. and xx.] + +[Footnote AX: P. 39.] + +[Footnote AY: P. 36.] + +[Footnote AZ: Pp. 42, 43.] + +[Footnote BA: P. 45.] + +[Footnote BB: P. 61.] + +[Footnote BC: P. 120.] + +[Footnote BD: P. 129.] + +[Footnote BE: P. 130.] + +[Footnote BF: Dickenson's "Japan," chapter vii.] + +[Footnote BG: _Cf._ chapter xxi.] + +[Footnote BH: P. 163.] + +[Footnote BI: P. 169.] + +[Footnote BJ: It is interesting to observe that the contempt of Old +Japan for trade, and the feeling that interest and profit by commerce +were in their nature immoral, are in close accord with the old Greek +and Jewish ideas regarding property profits and interest. Aristotle +held, for instance, that only the gains of agriculture, of fishing, +and of hunting are natural gains. Plato, in the Laws, forbids the +taking of interest. Cato says that lending money on interest is +dishonorable, is as bad as murder. The Old Testament, likewise, +forbids the taking of interest from a Jew. The reason for this +universal feeling of antiquity, both Oriental and Occidental, lies in +the fact that trade and money were not yet essential parts of the +social order. Positive production, such as hunting and farming, seemed +the natural method of making a living, while trade seemed +unnatural--living upon the labor of others. That Japan ranked the +farmer higher in the social scale than the merchant is, thus, natural. +In moral character, too, it is altogether probable that they were much +higher.] + +[Footnote BK: _Cf_. chapter ix. p. 103.] + +[Footnote BL: Chapter vi.] + +[Footnote BM: Chapter xxix. p. 339.] + +[Footnote BN: An anonymous writer, in a pamphlet entitled "How the +Social Evil is Regulated in Japan," gives some valuable facts on this +subject. He describes the early history of the "Social Evil," and the +various classes of prostitutes. He distinguishes between the "jigoku" +(unlicensed prostitutes), the "shogi" (licensed prostitutes), and the +"geisha" (singing and dancing girls). He gives translations of the +various documents in actual use at present, and finally attempts to +estimate the number of women engaged in the business. The method of +reaching his conclusions does not commend itself to the present writer +and his results seem absurdly wide of the mark, when compared with +more carefully gathered figures. They are hardly worth quoting, yet +they serve to show what exaggerated views are held by some in regard +to the numbers of prostitutes in Japan. He tells us that a moderate +estimate for licensed prostitutes and for geisha is 500,000 each, +while the unlicensed number at least a million, making a total of +2,000,000 or 10 per cent. of the total female population of Japan! A +careful statistical inquiry on this subject has been recently made by +Rev. U.G. Murphy. His figures were chiefly secured from provincial +officers. According to these returns the number of licensed +prostitutes is 50,553 and of dancing girls is 30,386. Mr. Murphy's +figures cannot be far astray, and furnish us something of a basis for +comparison with European countries. Statistics regarding unlicensed +prostitutes are naturally not to be had.] + +[Footnote BO: P. 148.] + +[Footnote BP: June 25, 1898.] + +[Footnote BQ: The last line of figures, those for 1897, is taken from +Rev. U.G. Murphy's statistical pamphlet on "The Social Evil in +Japan."] + +[Footnote BR: It is stated that Mill's work on "Representative +Government," which, translated, fills a volume of five hundred pages +in Japanese, has reached its third edition.] + +[Footnote BS: The _Japan Mail_ for February 5, 1896; quoting from the +_Jiji Shimpo_.] + +[Footnote BT: The best summary of this discussion which I have seen in +English is found in the _Japan Mail_ for February 4, 1899.] + +[Footnote BU: _Japan Mail, _January 14, 1899.] + +[Footnote BV: _Japan Mail, _June 24, 1898.] + +[Footnote BW: The constituency of the Doshisha consists principally of +Kumiai Christians.] + +[Footnote BX: "Occult Japan," p. 23.] + +[Footnote BY: _Cf._ chapter xxiv.] + +[Footnote BZ: "A Japanese Philosopher," p. 120.] + +[Footnote CA: In immediate connection with this oft-quoted statement, +however, I would put the following, as much more recent, and probably +representing more correctly the Marquis's matured opinion. Mr. Kakehi, +for some time one of the editors of the Osaka _Mainichi Shinbun_ +(Daily News), after an interview with the illustrious statesman in +which many matters of national importance were discussed, was asked by +the Marquis where he had been educated. On learning that he was a +graduate of the Doshisha, the Marquis remarked: "The only true +civilization is that which rests on Christian principles, and that +consequently, as Japan must attain her civilization on these +principles, those young men who receive Christian education will be +the main factors in the development of future Japan."] + +[Footnote CB: Chamberlain's "Things Japanese," p. 358.] + +[Footnote CC: "Things Japanese," p. 70, and Murray's "Hand-book for +Japan," p. 37.] + +[Footnote CD: "Things Japanese," p. 93.] + +[Footnote CE: P. 85.] + +[Footnote CF: _Cf._ chapter xxiii. p. 271.] + +[Footnote CG: By the term "centralization" I mean personal +centralization. Political centralization is the gathering of all the +lines of governmental authority to a single head or point. Personal +centralization, on the contrary, is the development in the individual +of enlarging and joyous consciousness of his relations with his +fellow-countrymen, and the bringing of the individual into +increasingly immediate relations of interdependence with +ever-increasing numbers of his fellow-men, economically, +intellectually, and spiritually. These enlarging relations and the +consciousness of them must be loyally and joyfully accepted. They +should arouse enthusiasm. The real unity of society, true national +centralization, includes both the political and the personal phase. +The more conscious the process and the relation, the more real is the +unity. By this process each individual becomes of more importance to +the entire body, as well as more dependent upon it. While each +individual becomes with increasing industrial development more +specialized in economic function, if his personal development has been +properly carried on, he also becomes in mind and in character a +micro-community, summing up in his individual person the national +unity with all its main interests, knowledge, and character.] + +[Footnote CGa: P. 14.] + +[Footnote CH: P. 15.] + +[Footnote CI: Pp. 88, 89.] + +[Footnote CJ: Pp. 203, 204.] + +[Footnote CK: _Cf._ chapter viii.] + +[Footnote CL: See the _Rikugo Zasshi_ for March, 1898.] + +[Footnote CM: _Cf._ chapter xv.] + +[Footnote CN: Buddhism is largely responsible for the wide practice of +"joshi," through its doctrine that lovers whom fate does not permit to +be married in this world may be united in the next because of the +strength of their love.] + +[Footnote CO: P. 88.] + +[Footnote CP: P. 12.] + +[Footnote CQ: P. 14.] + +[Footnote CR: P. 15.] + +[Footnote CS: In their relations with foreigners, the people, but +especially the Christians, are exceedingly lenient, forgiving and +overlooking our egregious blunders both of speech and of manner, +particularly if they feel that we have a kindly heart. Yet it is the +uniform experience of the missionary that he frequently hurts unawares +the feelings of his Japanese fellow-workers. Few thoughts more +frequently enter the mind of the missionary, as he deals with +Christian workers, than how to say this needful truth and do that +needful deed so as not to hurt the feelings of those whom he would +help. The individual who feels slighted or insulted will probably give +no active sign of his wound. He is too polite or too politic for that. +He will merely close like a clam and cease to have further cordial +feelings and relations with the person who has hurt him.] + +[Footnote CT: _Cf._ chapter xiii.] + +[Footnote CU: See chapter xxix.] + +[Footnote CV: P. 201.] + +[Footnote CW: _Cf._ chapter vii.] + +[Footnote CX: It seems desirable to guard against an inference that +might be made from what I have said about Hegel's "Nothing." Hegel saw +clearly that his "Nothing" was only the farthest limit of abstraction, +and that it was consequently absolutely empty and worthless. It was +only his starting point of thought, not his end, as in the case of +Brahmanism and of Buddhism. Only after Hegel had passed the "Nothing" +through all the successive stages of thesis, antithesis, and +synthesis, and thus clothed it with the fullness of being and +character, did he conceive it to be the concrete, actual Absolute. +There is, therefore, the farthest possible difference between Hegel's +Absolute Being and Buddha's Absolute. Hegel sought to understand and +state in rational form the real nature of the Christian's conception +of God. Whether he did so or not, this is not the place to say.] + +[Footnote CY: I remark, in passing, that Western non-Christian thought +has experienced, and still experiences, no little difficulty in +conceiving the ultimate nature of being, and thus in solving the +problem, into which, as a cavernous tomb, the speculative religions of +the Orient have fallen. Western non-Christian systems, whether +materialism, consistent agnosticism, impersonal pantheism, or other +systems which reject the Christian conception of God as perfect +personality endowed with all the fullness of being and character, +equally with philosophic Buddhism, fail to provide any theoretic +foundation for the doctrine of the value of man as man, and +consequently fail to provide any guarantee for individualism in the +social order and the wide development of personality among the +masses.] + +[Footnote CZ: _Cf._ chapter vi.] + +[Footnote DA: Foot of chapter xxix.] + +[Footnote DB: Chapter xxxiii. p. 498.] + +[Footnote DC: It seems desirable to append a brief additional +statement on the doctrine of the "personality of God," and its +acceptability to the Japanese. I wish to make it clear, in the first +place, that the difficulties felt by the Japanese in adopting this +doctrine are not due primarily to the deficiency either of the +Japanese language or to the essential nature of the Japanese mind, +that is to say, because of its asserted structural "impersonality." We +have seen how the entire thought of the people, and even the direct +moral teachings, imply both the fact of personality in man, and also +its knowledge. The religious teachings, likewise, imply the +personality even of "Heaven." + +That there are philosophical or, more correctly speaking, metaphysical +difficulties attending this doctrine, I am well aware; and that they +are felt by some few Japanese, I also know. But I maintain that these +difficulties have been imported from the West. The difficulties raised +by a sensational philosophy which results in denying the reality even +of man's psychic nature, no less than the difficulties due to a +thoroughgoing idealism, have both been introduced among educated +Japanese and have found no little response. I am persuaded that the +real causes of the doubt entertained by a few of the Christians in +Japan as to the personality of God are of foreign origin. These doubts +are to be answered in exactly the same way as the same difficulties +are answered in other lands. It must be shown that the sensational and +"positive" philosophies, ending in agnosticism as to all the great +problems of life and of reality, are essentially at fault in not +recognizing the nature of the mind that knows. The searching criticism +of these assumptions and methods made by T.H. Green and other careful +thinkers, and to which no answer has been made by the sensational and +agnostic schools of thought, needs to be presented in intelligible +Japanese for the fairly educated Japanese student and layman. So, too, +the discussions of such writers and philosophical thinkers as Seth, +and Illingworth, and especially Lotze, whose discussions of +"personality" are unsurpassed, should be presented to Japanese +thinkers in native garb. But, again I repeat, it seems to me that the +difficulty felt in Japan on these subjects is due not to the +"impersonality" of the language or the native mind, or to the hitherto +prevalent religions, but wholly to the imported philosophies and +sciences. The individuals who feel or at least express any sense of +difficulty on these topics--so far at least as my knowledge of the +subject goes--are not those who know nothing but their own language +and their own native religions, but rather those who have had +exceptional advantages in foreign study, many of them having spent +years abroad in Western universities. They furnish a fresh revelation +of the quickness with which the Japanese take up with new ideas. They +did not evolve these difficulties for themselves, but gathered them +from their reading of Western literature and by their mingling with +men of unevangelical temper and thought in the West.] + +[Footnote DD: "Sacred Books of the East," vol. xlix, part ii. p. 147.] + +[Footnote DE: _Cf._ chapters xiii. and xxxi.] + +[Footnote DF: It is not strange that in all the centers of this new +learning Confucius was deified and worshiped. In connection with many +schools established for the study of his works, temples were built to +his honor, in which his statue alone was placed, before which a +stately religious service was performed at regular intervals. Thus did +Confucianism become a living and vitalizing, although, as we shall +soon see, an incomplete religion.] + +[Footnote DG: Writers on the history and philosophy of religion have +much to say about the differences between national and universal +religions. The three religions which they pronounce universal are +Mahomedanism, Buddhism, and Christianity. The ground for this +statement is the fact that each of these religions has developed +strong individualistic characteristics. They are concerned with +individual salvation. The importance of this element none will deny, +least of all the writer. But I question the correctness of the +descriptive adjective. Because of their individualistic character they +are fitted to leap territorial boundaries and can find acceptance in +every community; for this they are not dependent on the territorial +expansion of the communities in which they arose.] + +[Footnote DH: P. xvii.] + +[Footnote DI: P. xviii.] + +[Footnote DJ: P. 19.] + +[Footnote DK: P. 6.] + +[Footnote DL: P. 37.] + +[Footnote DM: P. 83.] + +[Footnote 2: Whether or not the activity modifies the transmissible +nature is the problem as to the inheritance of acquired +characteristics. The dictum that function produces organism does not +say whether that organism is transmissible or not, either in biology +or sociology.] + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And +Psychic, by Sidney L. Gulick + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13831 *** |