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diff --git a/28598.txt b/28598.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..151a5b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/28598.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3271 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Religion in Japan by George A. Cobbold, +B.A. + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Religion in Japan + +Author: George A. Cobbold, B.A. + +Release Date: April 24, 2009 [Ebook #28598] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION IN JAPAN*** + + + + + + Religion in Japan: + + Shintoism--Buddhism--Christianity. + + By + + George A. Cobbold, B.A. + + Pembroke College, Oxford + + With Illustrations. + + Printed Under The Direction of the Tract Committee. + + London: + + Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge, + + Northumberland Avenue, W.C.; 43, Queen Victoria Street, E.C. + + Brighton: 129, North Street + + New York: E. S. Gorham + + 1905 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Introductory. +I. Shintoism. +II. Buddhism. +III. Buddhism In Japan. +IV. Buddhism And Christianity. +V. Christianity In Japan. +Publications Of The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. +Footnotes + + + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +It may well be questioned whether, in the course of a like period of time, +any country has ever undergone greater transitions, or made more rapid +strides along the path of civilization than has Japan during the last +quarter of a century. A group of numerous islands, situated on the +high-road and thoroughfare of maritime traffic across the Pacific, between +the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and in area considerably exceeding +Great Britain and Ireland,--Japan, until thirty years ago, was a _terra +incognita_ to the rest of the world; exceeding even China in its +conservatism and exclusiveness. And now, within a space of some +five-and-twenty years, such changes have come about as to have given birth +to the expression,--"the transformation of Japan." The more conspicuous of +these changes are summed up by a recent writer in the following +words:--"New and enlightened criminal codes have been enacted; the methods +of judicial procedure have been entirely changed; thoroughly efficient +systems of police, of posts, of telegraphs, and of national education have +been organized; an army and a navy modelled after Western patterns have +been formed; the finances of the Empire have been placed on a sound basis; +railways, roads, and harbours have been constructed; an efficient +mercantile marine has sprung into existence; the jail system has been +radically improved; an extensive scheme of local government has been put +into operation; a competitive civil service has been organized; the whole +fiscal system has been revised; an influential and widely-read newspaper +press has grown up with extraordinary rapidity; and government by +parliament has been substituted for monarchical absolutism."(1) At the +present day, an Englishman travelling in Japan is constantly meeting +numbers of his countrymen, intent on either business or pleasure; while at +all the principal cities and places of resort, handsome new hotels, fitted +in Western style, are to be found. The Mikado may be seen driving through +his Capital in a carriage that would not be out of place in the Parks of +London or Paris; and at Court ceremonies European dress is _de rigueur_. +English is taught in all the better-class schools, and at the Universities +the works of such authors as Bacon, Locke, Macaulay, Darwin, John Stuart +Mill, Herbert Spencer, are in constant request with the students. In +short, on every side evidence is afforded, that be it for better or for +worse, the old order is fast changing and giving place to new. + +The circumstances which have brought about these wonderful changes can +only be very briefly indicated here. It was towards the middle of the +sixteenth century that Japan first came into contact with the Western +world; the first traders to arrive being the Portuguese, who were followed +some sixty years later by the Dutch, and in 1613 by a few English ships. +To all of these alike a hospitable reception appears to have been +accorded; nor is there any doubt that Japanese exclusiveness was a thing +of subsequent growth, and that it was based only on a sincere conviction +that the nation's well-being and happiness would be best consulted by +refusing to have dealings with the outer world. And indeed, that the +Japanese should have arrived at this decision is by no means to be +wondered at; their first experience of foreign intercourse having been +singularly unfortunate. The unhappy breach, which eventually led to Japan +entirely closing her ports to foreign traffic, was, it would seem, due +partly to the attitude of harsh intolerance and general interference +adopted by certain of the Roman Catholic missionaries, who by this time +had arrived in the country: and partly to the insinuations made by the +Dutch that the Portuguese were aiming at territorial aggrandizement. +Anyhow, in 1624, Japan was entirely closed to foreign trade, save for some +concessions,--accompanied by the severest restrictions,--permitted to the +Dutch; no foreigners were allowed to enter, and no natives to leave, the +empire; the missionaries were expelled, and Christianity was prohibited +under pain of death. The Japanese, as has been said, "suspected everybody +and shut out the world." Previous to this crisis the English had retired; +but when, in 1673, our country sought to resume friendly relations, the +connexion existing between the English and Portuguese courts proved an +insuperable obstacle.(2) Subsequent overtures made in 1849, were +courteously but firmly rejected; though the period of Japan's isolation +was, as later events proved, almost at an end. In 1853, the Government of +the United States despatched a fleet across the Pacific, under the command +of Commodore Perry, to insist upon the surrender of a policy which, it was +urged, no one nation of the world had a right to adopt towards the rest. +Whether the arguments with which this position was advanced would of +themselves have prevailed, is impossible to say; but since it was evident +that should words fail, sterner measures would be resorted to, Japan had +no choice but to submit. Treaties were accordingly concluded, first with +the United States, and subsequently with England and other European +powers; by virtue of which a few ports were grudgingly opened, and +Japanese subjects permitted to engage in commercial transactions with the +outside world. For the first few years, it is certain that a strong +feeling of suspicion and dislike towards foreigners was rife; but in 1868 +events occurred which brought about a complete change in the whole +situation. For some six hundred years a dual system of government had +existed in Japan. On the one hand, was the Mikado, supposed to trace a +lineage of unbroken descent from the gods, and accorded a veneration +semi-divine, but living in seclusion at the city of Kyoto, with such +powers of administration as he still retained confined to matters of +religion and education. On the other hand, was the Shogun, or Tycoon, the +acknowledged head of a feudalism, which, while nominally recognizing the +Mikado's authority, had usurped the sovereign power, and really governed +the country. But in 1868, the altered circumstances in which Japan found +herself brought about a revolution. The ancient nobility were filled with +indignation and disgust at the Tycoon so far violating Japanese tradition +as to enter into treaties with foreign countries; and, as a consequence of +this rupture, the Shogunate, whose power had for some time been waning, +completely collapsed. The Mikado was restored to imperial power, and at +once entered upon a policy which has been consistently adhered to, and +received with favour by the people generally, who had grown impatient of +the restraint which environed them. That policy may be termed the +Europeanization of the Empire; and in it we have the explanation of the +Japan of to-day. + +It is not surprising that the interest excited in England, with regard to +a country which has experienced such remarkable changes, should be of the +greatest--especially when it is remembered in how large a degree English +influence has contributed to produce them. We may be certain, also, that +the still further developments the future has in store, will be followed +in our own country with a close attention. Equally natural is it that, in +these days of so great fashion and facility for travelling, increasing +numbers of English people should avail themselves of the opportunity of +exploring a country so entirely unique, and so rich in its attractions of +nature and of art. These circumstances have combined to call into +existence a large number of books on Japan, from which any, who are unable +to visit it in person, may obtain as good an idea as is possible by +reading of the country, its people, and its customs. Indeed it is by no +means easy for any writer now to fasten upon an aspect of the subject, in +which he does not find himself forestalled. That, however, on which, so +far as I understand, least has been written, is precisely that towards +which my own main attention was directed from the time of my leaving +England, and throughout the period of my visit to the country,--namely, the +_religious_ aspect. That the following pages must be very imperfect in the +statement they supply, I am well aware; and that, despite my efforts to +obtain trustworthy information, they will not prove free from inaccuracy +or mistake is extremely probable. But I was induced to enter upon their +preparation by a series of circumstances that appeared to favour such a +task, and need not be specified here. For the material supplied to me, +however, by one kind friend in particular, without whose assistance these +articles would never have been attempted, I must express my special +obligation. I would gladly refer to him by name, did I feel at liberty to +do so without obtaining his permission, which I have not, at the time of +writing, the opportunity of asking. Also, among the books I have consulted +on the subject, I must acknowledge my great indebtedness to Messrs. +Chamberlain and Mason's excellent _Handbook for Japan_ (Murray, 1891); and +to a copy of Dr. E. J. Eitel's _Lectures on Buddhism_ (Truebner, 1871), +given me by the author, at the close of a most interesting day spent under +his guidance. The sketch Map of Japan is inserted by the kind permission +of the "Guild of St. Paul." + +_November, 1893._ + + + + + +I. SHINTOISM. + + +When, in the sixth century of the Christian era, Buddhism was introduced +into Japan from China, by way of Korea, the need was felt of some term by +which the ancient indigenous religion of the country might be +distinguished from the new importation. The term thus adopted was +_Shinto_, or _Kami-no-michi_; the former being a Chinese word, and the +latter its Japanese equivalent. The meaning of either, in English, is the +"Way of the Genii, or Spirits."(3) It will, accordingly, be seen that the +_word_ "Shinto" has only been in use for some thirteen centuries, while +the creed it designates claims to trace its origin from the remotest +antiquity. Indeed, the investigation of Shintoism takes us back not merely +to the earliest annals of Japanese history, but to the fabulous legends of +a mythological period. The history of Japan is commonly reckoned to +commence with the accession of the Emperor Jimmu Tenno, the date of which +is given as February 11, 660 B.C.; and when, in 1889, the new Constitution +was promulgated, the anniversary of this event was the day selected--the +idea evidently being to confirm the popular belief in the continuity of +the country's history. This Jimmu Tenno--accounted by the Japanese their +first human sovereign--is supposed to have been descended from Ama-terasu, +the sun-goddess, who was born from the left eye of Izanagi, the creator of +Japan; and this it is that accounts for the semi-deification in which the +Emperors of Japan have ever been held. It is, then, the countless heroes +and demi-gods of the mythological age referred to--the children of Izanagi +reigning over Japan, generation after generation, for many thousands of +years--that are the chief objects of Shinto veneration; for while it is +usual to speak of Shintoism as being a combination of ancestor-worship and +nature-worship, it would seem that the latter of these elements was +largely due to the contact of Japan with the Taouism of China, and with +metaphysical Buddhism. Thus the essential principle of Shintoism, it will +be seen, is closely akin to that filial piety, which forms so conspicuous +a feature in the religious, political, and social life of China, and +which--deserving as it is, in many ways, of respect and +admiration--presents, when carried to excess, so vast a hindrance to +development and progress. + +"Shintoism," in the words of Diayoro Goh, Chancellor of the Japanese +Consulate General in London, "originated in the worship offered by a +barbarous people to the mythological persons of its own invention." To +speak accurately, it is not so much a religion as patriotism exalted to +the rank of a creed. It is a veneration of the country's heroes and +benefactors of every age, legendary and historical, ancient and more +recent; the spirits of these being appealed to for protection. Interwoven +with this, its fundamental characteristic, and to a great extent obscuring +it, is a worship of the personified forces of nature; expressing itself +often in the most abject superstition, and, until lately, also in that +grosser symbolism with which the religion of Ancient Egypt abounded. This +latter feature was widely prevalent in Japan at the time that the country +was first opened to foreigners; but after the Revolution in 1868, it was +everywhere suppressed. It would appear that the personal cleanliness for +which the Japanese, as a nation, are celebrated, had its origin in the +idea of the purification of the body symbolizing the cleansing of the +soul; and in a vague and hazy sort of way, Shintoism would seem to +recognize a future state of bliss or misery, for which the present life is +a period of probation. Practically, however, this is the only world with +which Shintoism concerns itself; nor does it inculcate any laws of +morality or conduct, conscience and the heart being accounted sufficient +guides. It provides neither public worship, nor sermons; while its +application is limited to subjects of the Mikado. "It is the least +exacting of all religions." When this is once understood, there ceases to +be anything surprising in the fact of two religions--of which Shintoism was +one, and the other a creed so accommodating as Buddhism--running, side by +side, for centuries in the same country, and being professed +simultaneously by the same people, until the two were so closely +interwoven that it became scarcely possible to distinguish their +respective elements. In the eighteenth century an attempt was made to +restore Shintoism to its primitive simplicity, and to mould it into a +philosophical system which might minister to the higher aspirations of +humanity. But the movement was a failure, and the Ryobu-Shinto, or "double +religion,"--the combination, that is to say, of Shintoism and +Buddhism--continued as before. It was only so lately as the year 1868 that +any important change took place in the religious history of Japan. In that +year, Shintoism--for reasons wholly political--was adopted as the State, or +"established" religion; Buddhism having always been the religion favoured +by the Shogunate, and the ancient nobility whom the Shogun represented. +Upon this, every temple was required to declare itself either Shinto or +Buddhist, and to remove the emblems and ornaments peculiar to the +discarded cult, whichever that might be. That no little excitement and +dispute followed upon this proclamation, will be readily understood; +especially when we bear in mind that, for several hundred years, Buddhist +and Shinto clergy had taken their turns of officiating in the same +buildings and at the same altars.(4) A grant of some L60,000 a year was +made by the Government for the maintenance of the Shinto temples and +shrines, which are said to number in all about 98,000, and to be dedicated +to no less than 3,700 different Genii, or Kami. Already, however, +Shintoism has lost the greater part of the importance into which it was +brought at the time of the Revolution; and, apart from the fact that it is +supported out of the imperial revenues, and that the presence of its +principal officials is required at certain of the state functions, its +general position has in no way improved. The people still practise the +observances of both religions alike; the only difference being that, to +effect this, they have now to visit two temples instead of one. A new-born +child, for instance, is taken by its parents to both Shinto and Buddhist +temples, for the purpose of solemn dedication. Another of the changes +brought about is that, instead of all funerals being conducted by Buddhist +priests, as was the case until 1868, the dead are now buried by either +Shinto or Buddhist clergy, as the relatives may prefer. Of the many signs +which indicate that Shintoism has well nigh run its course, not the least +remarkable was the announcement made last year (1892) by the Government +itself, to the effect that its rites were to be regarded as simply +traditional and commemorative, and devoid of any real religious +significance. The relief thus afforded to the minds and consciences of +Christians in Japan was, as might be supposed, very great. + +Of the various sects the _Zhikko_,--founded 1541 A.D.,--is, perhaps, the +most influential. This sect--as indeed do Shintoists generally--recognizes +one eternal absolute Deity, a being of infinite benevolence; and here--as +in other heathen religions--we find vague references to a Trinity engaged +in the work of Creation. + + [Illustration.] + + Group of Shinto Priests With Torii. + + +Despite the dissociation of the two religions, many of the Shinto temples +still retain traces of the Buddhist influence. Of Shintoism proper the +prevailing characteristic is a marked simplicity, which, however, is often +found combined with great artistic beauty. Sometimes the shrine consists +only of a rude altar, situated amid a grove of trees; but, even in the +case of large temples with a complete group of buildings, the architecture +is extremely plain, the material employed being unornamented white wood +with a thatch of chamaecyparis. The entrance to the temple grounds is +always through gateways, called _Torii_; these are made sometimes of +stone, but more properly of wood, and consist of two unpainted +tree-trunks, with another on the top and a horizontal beam beneath. Near +the entrance are commonly found stone figures of dogs or lions, which are +supposed to act as guardians. The principal shrine, or _Honsha_, is +situated at the further end of the sacred enclosure, and is divided by a +railing into an ante-room and an inner sanctuary. Within the sanctuary an +altar is erected, on which, however, no images or adornments are seen, but +simply offerings of rice, fruit, wine, &c. Above the altar, in a +conspicuous position, a large mirror is generally placed; and in a box +beneath are usually kept a sword, and a stone. These three,--the mirror, +the sword, and the stone,--constitute the Japanese regalia, and they are +all connected with the early legends. One of the traditions respecting the +sacred mirror deserves quotation. + +"When the time was come that Izanagi and his consort should return +together to the celestial regions, he called his children together, +bidding them dry their tears, and listen attentively to his last wishes. +He then committed to them a disc of polished silver, bidding them each +morning place themselves on their knees before it, and there see reflected +on their countenances the impress of any evil passions deliberately +indulged; and again each night carefully to examine themselves, that their +last thoughts might be after the happiness of that higher world whither +their parents had preceded them." The legend goes on to relate with what +faithfulness "the children of Izanagi, and afterwards their descendants, +carried out these injunctions; erecting an altar of wood to receive the +sacred mirror, and placing upon it vases and flowers,--and how, as a reward +for their obedience and devotion, they became in their turn, the spirits +of good, the undying Kami."(5) + +Another of the most common of the Shinto emblems is a slim wand of +unpainted wood, called _Gohei_, to which strips of white paper--originally +they were of cloth--are attached. These are thought to attract the deities, +and are held in great veneration. + +Leaving the principal shrine, and proceeding to make the tour of the +grounds, the visitor comes, in turn, to the buildings where the business +arrangements of the temple are transacted, and where the priests, in some +cases, reside; to smaller shrines and oratories; to cisterns for the +purpose of ceremonial ablution, &c. Sometimes, also, at the more important +temples is found a long covered platform, called the _Kagura-do_, where, +on festivals and special occasions, a number of girls--those I saw at Nara +were still quite children--perform the _Kagura_, or sacred dance. The +dancing is in honour of the divinity to whom the temple is dedicated; and +commemorates a supposed incident of the mythological period. In the +grounds of Shinto and Buddhist temples alike are frequently found numerous +stone-lanterns, erected by way of votive offerings, and lighted on any +great occasions. + +It has already been remarked that Shintoism has nothing corresponding to +our public worship; but every morning and evening the priests--whose office +seems held in no particular sanctity, and who are at liberty, at any time, +to adopt a more secular calling--perform a service before the altar, vested +in white dresses, somewhat resembling albs and confined at the waist by a +girdle. The service consists of the presentation of offerings and of the +recital of various invocations, chiefly laudatory. The devotions of the +people are remarkable for their brevity and simplicity. The worshipper, on +arriving at the shrine, rings a bell, or sounds a gong, to engage the +attention of the deity he desires to invoke; throws a coin of the smallest +possible value on to the matting within the sanctuary rails; makes one or +two prostrations; and then, clapping his hands, to intimate to his patron +that his business with him is over, retires--it not being considered +necessary to give to the petition any verbal expression. The making of +pilgrimages, however, still occupies a prominent place in the Shinto +system, and though of late years the number of pilgrims has considerably +decreased, long journeys are still undertaken to the great temple of the +sun-goddess at Ise--the "Mecca of Japan,"--and other celebrated shrines. The +chief object of the pilgrimage is the purchase of _O-harai_, or sacred +charms, which can only be obtained on the spot. These, when brought home, +are placed on the _Kamidana_, or god-shelf--a miniature temple of wood, +found in every Shinto house, to which are attached the names of various +patron deities, and the monumental tablets of the family. His purchase of +the O-harai completed, the pilgrim betakes himself to the enjoyment of the +various shows and other amusements provided for him in the neighbourhood +of the temple. + +To conclude this brief sketch of Shintoism. Such influence as the cult +still possesses may be attributed to the superstition of the poor and +illiterate; and to a reluctance, on the part of the more educated, to +break with so venerable a past. The latter, however, though they continue +to conform to them, do not regard its observances seriously; while the +importance attached to them by the State is, as we have seen, wholly +political. In the words of Diayoro Goh, spoken in the course of a lecture +delivered in London two or three years since: "Shintoism, being so +restricted in its sphere, offers little obstacle to the introduction of +another religion,"--provided, as he added, that the veneration of the +Mikado, which has always formed the fundamental feature of Japanese +government, is not interfered with. The truth of this statement has +already been abundantly exemplified in the position which Buddhism for so +many centuries held in the religious life of Japan. In the same way, when, +three hundred years ago, Christianity was introduced into the country by +the Portuguese, it was largely owing to the attitude which some of the +missionaries adopted towards these national rites, that the complications +arose, which eventually led to the expulsion of foreigners, and the +persecution of Christians. And surely, when we think of it, it is not +strange that an intense jealousy should be exhibited on behalf of +observances and ceremonies, traceable back to such remote antiquity, and +so intimately bound up with the whole political and social life of the +nation. It is, indeed, highly probable that, in the great changes Japan is +undergoing, she will find other methods of cherishing the continuity of +her, in many ways, illustrious past. But meanwhile, Christians in Japan +may rejoice that they are permitted, with a quiet conscience, to manifest +a respectful regard for a system that is by no means destitute of +praiseworthy features. + + + + + +II. BUDDHISM. + + +It is quite possible that to some of the readers of these pages the very +name of Shintoism was unknown; whereas all will have heard and read at +least something of Buddhism, one of the four most prevalent religions of +the world, and claiming at the present day considerably more than four +hundred millions of adherents.(6) At the same time, our inquiry into +Buddhism cannot be comprised within such narrow limits as sufficed for our +examination of the indigenous religion of Japan; the subject being one of +the vastest dimensions. Perhaps, then, it may be better if, at the outset, +I allude to some of the literature, published within the last few years, +which has been most instrumental in attracting attention, both in England +and America, to the subject. Nor, in this connexion, can all reference be +omitted to the writings of the late Madame Blavatsky, Mr. Sinnett, and +their school; though I refer to them only in order to caution my readers +against forming from them any estimate of Buddhism. The only literature, +as far as I know, that has appeared in England from what claims to be an +enthusiastic Buddhist stand-point, these writings are, I believe, +calculated to convey a curiously erroneous idea of the great system with +which we are now concerned, to any who would turn for information to them +exclusively. This, indeed, becomes obvious when it is understood that the +Buddhism, of which these books profess to treat, is not the Buddhism of +history and the sacred books, not the Buddhism which forms the popular +religion of hundreds of millions of Asiatics at the present day, but an +"esoteric" Buddhism, a knowledge of which, it is admitted, is confined to +a comparative few, even in the country where it is said to be most +prevalent.(7) In short, the "esoteric Buddhism" of Mr. Sinnett and his +friends would seem to be scarcely, if at all, distinguishable from the +movement which has recently acquired a brief notoriety in England under +the name of Theosophy; and with this, Buddhism proper--i.e. the historical, +popular Buddhism with which we have to do--can hardly be said to have +anything in common. + +With the book, however, which probably more than any other work of the day +has been the means of drawing the attention of English-speaking people to +Buddhism, we cannot deal in so summary a fashion. For in Sir Edwin +Arnold's poem, _The Light of Asia_, we have a work which is simply a +rendering of the life of Buddha, in general accordance with the received +traditions, and one, moreover, which has met with a cordial welcome at the +hands of Buddhists. Nor can it be questioned that the book is a production +of great power, or that it appeals altogether to a very different class of +readers from that likely to be influenced by the _Occult World_, or _Isis +Unveiled_. + +It is indeed, the great beauty of its poetry, and the book's consequent +popularity, that only make the more necessary a reference which must to +some extent take the form of a protest. To put it briefly, the case is +this:--Men and women have risen from a perusal of the _Light of Asia_ with +a sense of damage done to their Christian faith, and with a +feeling--confused, perhaps, but not the less real--that in Gautama Buddha +they have been confronted with a formidable rival to Jesus Christ. How far +the poem is responsible for this result we will not attempt to determine; +and that such was no part of the author's intention we may readily +believe. But that the minds of not a few have been perplexed and disturbed +by the reading of this book is a certain fact; making it neither +surprising nor regrettable that its publication should have been followed +by works on the subject, written from an emphatically Christian point of +view. To the fullest and ablest of these,--the Rev. S. H. Kellogg's _The +Light of Asia and the Light of the World: a Comparison of the Legend, the +Doctrine and the Ethics of the Buddha, with the Story, the Doctrine and +the Ethics of Christ_ (Macmillan, 1885),--I would refer those desirous of +investigating fully the points at issue; contenting myself now with a few +brief observations. + +It is, then, important to bear in mind that Sir E. Arnold's poem is +written in the person, and from the stand-point of an imaginary Buddhist. +This is indicated plainly on the title-page, in the preface, and in the +course of the poem itself; and when the book comes to be read by the light +of this explanation, a limitation is cast about much of its more startling +language. To take, for instance, such expressions as "Our Lord," +"Saviour," "come to save the world," constantly assigned to Buddha in the +course of the poem. However accustomed Christians may be to associate such +terms with One only, and however pained they may feel at their being +referred, under any circumstances and with any restrictions, to another, +still it is obvious that their use becomes less open to objection, when +placed in the mouth of a disciple, singing the praise of his Master,--and +that Master, one who, it can hardly be disputed, wrought no mean work of +deliverance on the earth. Far less admitting of satisfactory explanation +are passages in the book in which we find transferred to Buddha and +Buddhism ideas and language distinctively Christian; the solemn saying of +Simeon to the Holy Mother, "A sword shall pierce through thine own soul +also," and the still more solemn, "It is finished" of the Cross, being +made to supply particularly distressing instances of such treatment.(8) + +Or once again: but what I would say now has already been urged by Dr. +Eitel, in words which I cannot do better than quote. "I believe," he says, +"it would be unjust to pick out any of those queer and childish sayings +with which the Buddhist Scriptures and especially popular Buddhist books +abound, and to lead people to imagine that Buddhism is little better than +a string of nonsense. It is even doubtful whether the earliest Buddhist +texts contained such statements at all; for, unlike our Bible, the +Buddhist canon has undergone wholesale textual alterations.... As to the +popular literature of Buddhism, and its absurdities, we might as well +collect those little pamphlets on dreams, on sorcery, on lucky and unlucky +days, on the lives and miracles of saints, which circulate among Roman +Catholic peasants,--but would that give us a true picture of Roman +Catholicism? Thus it is with Buddhism."(9) In other words, Dr. Eitel would +urge that in order to deal fairly with such a subject, we must try to +distinguish the essence of the thing itself from the abuses and follies +that may, from time to time, have gathered round it; and this, it is to be +feared, has not always been done by English writers, in treating of +Buddhism. + +For the sake of clearness, we may next proceed to trace a brief outline of +the life of Buddha, according to the belief of Buddhists generally, and +stripped of such legends and superstitions as find no credence with the +more educated and intellectual. It is true that a doubt has sometimes been +expressed as to the existence of Gautama Buddha at all; while even so +eminent an authority as Mr. Spence Hardy declares his conviction that, +owing to the lack of really authentic information, "it is impossible to +rely implicitly on any single statement made in relation to him."(10) But +even supposing the Buddha of the commonly-received traditions to be, +whether in part or in entirety, a mere creation of Indian thought, the +case undergoes no vital alteration; seeing that it is with the religion of +Buddhism that we are mainly concerned, and only in quite a subordinate +degree with the person of its supposed founder. The point is one that +deserves careful attention, suggesting as it does at once the essential +difference between Buddhism and Christianity, and the immeasurable +distance which divides the two. For of Christianity it is no exaggeration +to say that upon the truth of the received accounts of its Founder's Life +and Person its whole position absolutely depends; whereas, could it be +proved that Gautama never even lived, the system associated with his name +would suffer no material loss,--and this, because in Buddha we are invited +to contemplate only a teacher and a guide, one who would have men seek +purification and deliverance by the same means as he himself needed to +employ, and one who never claimed to be more than human. Most persons, +however, will prefer to accept as, in the main, historically correct the +commonly accepted outline of the life of Buddha which may thus be given-- + +The reputed founder of Buddhism was one Siddhartha, known in later life as +Gautama, and later still, by the title of Buddha, or the "Enlightened +One." Siddhartha was a prince of the Sakya tribe, whose territories were +situated some hundred miles north-east of the city of Benares. Hence he is +often spoken of under the name of _Sakya-muni_, or the "Sakya sage." As +regards his date, widely different opinions are held; sometimes it is +placed as early as the tenth, and sometimes as late as the third century +B.C. The most competent authorities, however, agree in following the +Buddhists of Ceylon, and take 543 B.C. as the date of his death.(11) His +father's name was Suddhodana; his mother was called Maia. Of the earlier +years of Siddhartha's life we have little information that is at all to be +relied on; but his early manhood appears to have been spent amid the +luxury and self-indulgence customary with Oriental princes. Gautama, +however, was a man of great benevolence, and we are told that, while still +quite young, he pondered deeply on the mystery of the pain and suffering +which held the human race in bondage. Presently, becoming dissatisfied +with his own life of ease and pleasure, he made the "Great Renunciation;" +turning his back, at the age of thirty, on wife and parents, home and +wealth. After spending some years in travel, he retired to the forest, +where he attached himself to a little band of ascetics, and practised +severe forms of discipline and self-mortification; hoping thus to discover +the secret of release from suffering. But meeting with no success, and +still fast bound by the trammels of ignorance, he betook himself to +contemplation; until one day, as he was seated beneath the +Bo-tree,--henceforth to be accounted sacred(12)--the struggles of his soul +prevailed, and he passed out of darkness into light. He was now Buddha, He +who Knew, the Enlightened. The four truths to the knowledge of which +Gautama thus attained, and which form the very foundation of the Buddhist +doctrine, are these--(i) That man is born to suffering, both mental and +physical: he experiences it himself, he inflicts it upon others; (ii) that +this suffering is occasioned by desire; (iii) that the condition of +suffering in which man finds himself admits of amelioration and relief; +(iv) the way of release, and the attainment to Nirvana. + +Here we must pause to make the inquiry, What is meant by _Nirvana_,--the +goal of the Buddhist's hope and aim? Literally, the word means +"extinction"; and hence it has often come to be regarded as a mere synonym +for annihilation. The variety of opinions held by European scholars as to +its meaning is, there is little doubt, due to the fact that Buddhists +themselves are by no means agreed as to its precise significance. Is +Nirvana a state of consciousness or unconsciousness? Is the personality +perpetuated, or is the _ego_ absorbed,--i.e. into Buddha? Such questions +are differently answered by the different schools. Concerning the nature +of Nirvana, Buddha himself, in his agnosticism, would seem to have been +almost wholly silent. He appears to have simply taught that by the +suppression and "extinction" of the natural passions and desires--anger, +avarice, sorrow, and the like(13)--it was possible even here to enter upon +a state of tranquillity, rest, and peace, which should attain hereafter to +more perfect fulfilment. Of the various meanings attached to Nirvana by +the different Buddhist sects, one extreme makes it scarcely +distinguishable from complete annihilation, while the opposite extreme +introduces us to the doctrine of the Paradise of the West, the Pure Land +presided over by Amitabha Buddha, the abode of perfect happiness and +delight. This remarkable development of Buddhism will claim our attention +later.(14) + + [Illustration.] + + Daibatsu At Kamakura. + + +To return. After his enlightenment, it is said that Gautama was seized by +the temptation to enter at once into Nirvana, without proclaiming his +doctrine to the world. But putting the temptation from him, he began his +ministry by announcing the tidings of release to the companions of his +ascetic life, who, after scoffing for awhile, were at length convinced. In +the course of this, his first sermon, Buddha proceeded to enunciate the +eight steps on the path which leads to Nirvana--(i) Right faith, (ii) right +resolution, (iii) right speech, (iv) right action, (v) right living, (vi) +right effort, (vii) right thought, (viii) right self-concentration. As +time went on, Gautama began to gather round him a number of disciples, who +became his constant companions. Part of each year he spent in rest and +retirement; teaching and training his disciples, and receiving such as, +attracted by his growing reputation, sought him out. The remaining months +he occupied in travelling from place to place, proclaiming the good news +of deliverance in the towns and villages through which he passed. Soon we +find him establishing a Society or Brotherhood; the members of which +severed their connexion with all worldly things, handed over their +property to the Order, adopted the tonsure and a distinctive dress, and, +following the Master's doctrine with strictness themselves, devoted their +lives to its propagation. Any member, however, was at liberty to leave the +Brotherhood, should he wish to do so. It is noticeable that Buddha's +earliest followers were chiefly drawn--not, as in the case of a Greater +than he, from the ranks of the poor and simple--but from the upper classes. +Indeed, Gautama seems to have regarded the weak and ignorant as incapable +of receiving his teaching. Children are hardly mentioned in the early +Buddhist writings; and with regard to women, it was only with great +reluctance that Sakya-muni eventually consented to the formation of a +Sisterhood, the members of which were, as far as possible, to observe the +same rules as the men--together with several additional ones, chiefly +concerned with their subjection to the Brethren. In the same way, it is +still the teaching of Buddhism that it should be a woman's highest +aspiration to be reborn as a man, in a future state of existence. When, +however, the two Orders--for men and for women--had been formed, there still +remained a large number of either sex, who, without leaving their places +in the world, were desirous of being reckoned among Buddha's followers. +These were admitted as lay-adherents, one of their chief obligations being +to contribute to the maintenance of the Brethren. + +Having exercised his public ministry for forty years--without, as would +appear, encountering any great opposition--and having committed his work to +the Brotherhood, to carry on after his decease, Buddha died, aged about +eighty, and was buried with great pomp. It is recorded that, as the time +of his departure drew nigh, he replied to his disciples' expressions of +apprehension and sorrow, by saying that when he should no longer be with +them in person, he would still be present with them in his sayings, in his +doctrine. Another point on which he laid great stress before his death was +that the Brotherhood should regularly assemble in convocation. Hence it +came about that from very early times, the declaration, "I seek refuge in +Buddha, Dharma (the Law), Samgha (the Brotherhood)," was adopted as the +formula which any one, desirous of becoming a Buddhist, was required to +profess. And it is the Trinity thus formed, which, represented to-day by +the three great images above the altar of many a Buddhist temple, has its +multitude of ignorant worshippers, who doubt not that three several +divinities are the objects of their adoration and their prayer. + +Such, then, as would appear, was the origin of Buddhism. Strictly +speaking, and apart from its later developments, Buddhism is a religion +which knows no God, which attaches no value to prayer, which has no place +for a priesthood. Nowhere, perhaps, is its agnosticism more conspicuous +than in the five main prohibitions, which are addressed alike to clergy +and laity. The _first_ of these forbids the taking of life,--human life +chiefly, but other life as well; the _second_ is against theft, whether by +force or fraud; the _third_ is against falsehood; the _fourth_ forbids +impurity, in act, word, or thought; the _fifth_ requires abstinence from +all intoxicants. The whole idea of _GOD_, it will be noticed, is entirely +absent from the Buddhist Commandments. Infinitely removed above that other +agnosticism, which cries, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," +Buddhism starts with the idea of the entire abnegation of self. But a +self-denial that is undertaken, not for God, and in God for man, but +merely to secure one's own peace and well-being--what is this but +selfishness after all? Enjoining a rule of life that is essentially +negative--the natural product of that blank despair of the world and of +human nature which led to the Great Renunciation--Buddhism, as a religious +system, has yielded but scanty fruits of positive holiness, of active +benevolence. And yet,--wholly inadequate as such a system as this, even at +its purest and best, must be to meet the needs of humanity,--false and even +debased as are sometimes its teachings,--the one great message that +Buddhism proclaims is a message of undeniable, if most imperfect, truth: +the truth that would have man cultivate self-reliance, and attain to +self-deliverance by means of self-control. "Work out your own salvation" +is the injunction of Christianity. "By one's self," taught Sakya-muni, +"the evil is one; by one's self must come remedy and release." So far the +two systems are at one; the difference between them lies in the fact that +the one places in our hands those supernatural weapons which alone make +real victory possible, and that these the other knows not how to supply. + +Hitherto, we have made no reference to the relation of Buddhism to +Brahmanism. And yet we can no more hope to understand the work of +Sakya-muni, without observing its connexion with Brahmanism, than we could +afford to omit all mention of the Jewish Law and of Jewish Pharisaism, in +speaking of the liberation wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ. The work and +doctrine of Gautama Buddha,--with their mean between an ascetic severity, +on the one hand, and a licentious self-indulgence on the other--their +disregard of caste distinctions--their rejection of burdensome and +profitless traditions--may be said to bear to the heavy yoke of Brahmanism +a relation not dissimilar to that which freedom has to bondage. Laying +hold of that which was ready to his hand, if so be he might mould and +purify it, Buddha was a liberator and reformer in respect to what had gone +before. Let us take, for example, the doctrine of metempsychosis, or, as +it is commonly called, the "transmigration of souls." No doubt, there is a +great deal connected with this doctrine in the Buddhist books that cannot +but appear to us puerile and shocking; but still, we do not well, we do +not justly, if, as do so many, we fasten such strange fancies on Buddha, +or on Buddhism, as though it were from these that they sprang. So far from +Sakya-muni being the originator of the theory of transmigration, a belief +in it had, for centuries previously, been almost universal throughout the +East; and his doctrine of Nirvana supplied an antidote to the belief in a +practically interminable series of metempsychoses current at the time. +With the theory of transmigration accepted on all sides, Buddha seems to +have made use of it to the extent that he did, as affording a convenient +solution of the difficulty presented by the unequal distribution of +happiness in this life, and the absence of any satisfactory exercise of +justice in the way of reward or punishment. + +That the doctrine of metempsychosis should have been applied by Buddhists +to their great Master himself, is only what we should expect to find. +Gautama is accredited by Buddhists with some five hundred previous +existences, in the course of which he passed through numerous stages of +vegetable, animal and human life, until at length he attained to the +highest degree of manhood. Throughout the changing circumstances of his +being, he is said to have exhibited a transcendent and ever-increasing +unselfishness and charity, which culminated in his freely giving himself +to be re-born as Buddha for the world's deliverance. And it is this +belief, probably, which has been the most potent factor in exalting the +Philosopher and the Guide to a height, which is scarcely, if at all, +distinguishable from the Throne of God. + +I may conclude this chapter by quoting a passage from the late Dean +Stanley's _History of the Jewish Church_, where he is referring to Gautama +Buddha: "It is difficult for those who believe the permanent elements of +the Jewish and Christian religion to be universal and Divine not to hail +these corresponding forms of truth and goodness elsewhere, or to recognize +that the mere appearance of such saint-like and god-like characters in +other parts of the earth, if not directly preparing the way for a greater +manifestation, illustrates that manifestation by showing how mighty has +been the witness borne to it even under circumstances of such +discouragement, and even with effects inadequate to their grandeur."(15) + + + + + +III. BUDDHISM IN JAPAN. + + +In the last Chapter we sketched in outline the life and teaching of +Gautama Buddha; omitting the many fanciful legends that have gathered +round his name, and confining ourselves to what would be accepted by +Buddhists generally. Of the long period that divides the death of +Sakya-muni from the introduction of Buddhism into Japan about 550 A.D., it +is no part of our purpose to treat in detail. But enough must be said to +connect in some intelligible way these two events. + +After the death of Gautama, his disciples are said to have gathered +together, and recited all that they remembered of his teaching, arranging +it in three divisions. This was the origin of the sacred books known as +the _Tripitaca_, i.e. the "three baskets," the "three receptacles." The +first of these--consisting of sayings, aphorisms, parables, &c., attributed +to Buddha, together with his first sermon addressed to the ascetics, (the +"Wheel of the Law,")--is known as the _Sutra_ or "Canon;" the second is +called the _Vinaya_ or "Book of Discipline;" and the third, the +_Abhidharma_, i.e. the "Book of Metaphysics," the "Further Doctrine." Of +the three books, the Sutra, being mainly ethical, would have a more +general application than the other two; while the Vinaya would be chiefly +applicable to the Brotherhood, and the Abhidharma concerned with abstruse +philosophical dissertations. The Tripitaca, of which the Buddhists of +Ceylon are the custodians, are written in Pali, an early modification of +Sanskrit, and the sacred language of Buddhism; and they are, undoubtedly, +the oldest and purest of the numerous Buddhist scriptures. The Sutra, in +particular, is believed to be a faithful record of the actual teaching of +Gautama. At the same time, it must be remembered that for some centuries +after Sakya-muni's death, there is no proof of the existence of any +written Canon; the probability being that his teaching was, for the most +part, transmitted orally from generation to generation, and that it +underwent in the process considerable alteration and addition. + +With regard to the history of Buddhism, from the time of its founder's +death until the middle of the third century B.C., we are practically +without information. It appears, however, that parties and schools were +already beginning to be formed. But about 260 B.C., India, from being +divided into a number of petty kingdoms, became almost wholly united under +the rule of one Asoka. Asoka's grandfather--the founder of the empire that +was soon to assume such vast proportions--had revenged himself for the +contempt in which, for his low birth, he was held by the Brahmans, by +patronizing Buddhism; and Asoka, in turn, bestowed upon it all possible +support. He made Buddhism the state religion, founded an immense number of +monasteries, and sent forth missionaries in all directions. China was one +of the countries visited; while a mission to Ceylon, in which Mahendra, +Asoka's own son, took a prominent part, resulted in the conversion of the +whole island. + +Shortly, however, after Asoka's death, his empire collapsed, and Buddhism +never afterwards exerted the same influence in India; though it remained +widely prevalent until the eighth century A.D., and it was not until four +centuries later that it became practically extinct. The Brahmans now +regained their former ascendency; declared Gautama to be an "avatar"--or +incarnation--of their god Vishnu; proceeded to incorporate into their own +creed some of the most popular features of the Buddhist system; and then +entered upon a destruction of the monasteries, and a severe persecution of +all Buddhists living in India. But, as in the history of the Christian +Church, persecution only resulted in the Gospel being afforded a wider +area, so was it now with Buddhism. "They that were scattered abroad went +everywhere, preaching the word." Among other countries to which the +doctrine of Sakya-muni penetrated was Cashmere, whose king, Kanishka, a +contemporary of Christ, extended to it his enthusiastic support. + +At this point was reached an important crisis in the history of Buddhism. +Already controversies about discipline and various minor questions had +called into existence several different schools; but now a breach +occurred, of such magnitude and destined to prove so lasting in its +results, as to often have suggested comparison with the schism between +Western and Eastern Christendom. A council was held under king Kanishka, +which the Ceylon Buddhists refused to recognize; and from that time +Buddhism has been divided into two main branches, known as the _Mahayana_ +and _Hinayana_,--the "Greater and Lesser Vehicles." The division thus +brought about became, to a great extent, a geographical one; the Hinayana +having its home in Ceylon, and, somewhat less exclusively, in Burmah and +Siam, while the schools of the Mahayana predominate in Cashmere, Thibet, +China and Japan. + +Let us glance, for a moment, at their respective characteristics. The +Hinayana and the Mahayana, then, are the names given to two great systems, +or "schools of thought," which offer to "carry" or "convey" their +followers to the rest of Nirvana. + +Of the two, the Hinayana, or Lesser Conveyance, presents a much closer +resemblance to early Buddhism. The distinguishing features of the Hinayana +may be declared to be its adherence to the strict morality of primitive +Buddhism, its greater simplicity of worship, its smaller Canon of +scripture, and the fact that it appeals rather to the comparatively few, +to those, that is to say, who are able and willing to make the surrender +it requires. Whereas, in the Mahayana, or Greater Vehicle, we see a system +characterized by that increased ease and laxity, which too often accompany +a season of repose and the cessation of the enthusiasm that attends the +establishment of a new movement. The chief features of the Mahayana may be +pronounced to be its less exacting standard of practical morality, its +willingness to descend to the level of the multitude, its subtle +metaphysical distinctions, its meditative inactivity, its elaborate +ceremonial, and its more extensive Canon of scripture. + +We are now, at last, in a position to examine the history of Japanese +Buddhism. If an apology seems needed for the length of our digression, I +can only say that it appeared to me necessary for any profitable treatment +of our subject. We have already seen how, as early as 250 B.C., China was +visited by Buddhist missionaries from India. These are said to have been +eighteen in number; and their effigies may be seen in many a Chinese +temple, where they are held in great veneration. In the first century +A.D., Buddhism in China began to receive imperial patronage; some of its +books being about the same time translated into the language of the +country. The spirit of accommodation and adaptation, which has always +formed so conspicuous a feature of Buddhism, manifested itself now in an +association with Taouism which has continued ever since. + +552 A.D. is the date assigned to the introduction of Buddhism into Japan, +by way of Korea. At first, it appears to have made little progress, until +the diplomatic action of one of its clergy brought it into favour with the +Court. Prostrating himself one day, before the little son of the Mikado, +the priest declared that he recognized in him the re-incarnation of one of +the disciples of Buddha, and one who was destined to effect a great +spiritual work in Japan. The Mikado was prevailed upon to confide the +boy's education to the Buddhist priests; with the result that, when he +grew up, he supported their cause with such zeal as to cause him to be +sometimes spoken of as the "Constantine of Japanese Buddhism." Shotoku +Taishi--for such was his name--acted for some time as regent, but never +himself ascended the throne. + +There is no doubt that the progress of Buddhism in Japan was largely +facilitated by the adoption of tactics, which had been successfully +employed in dealing with the barbarous tribes of India, and--as we have +just noticed,--with China also. Indeed, its readiness to adapt itself to +the circumstances, instincts, and prejudices of the people, with whom it +has to do, is, as has already been implied, one of the most powerful and +most striking peculiarities of Buddhism. In Japan, the Shinto demi-gods +were Buddhaized, and declared to be manifestations of Gautama; while +practices borrowed from the ancient national creed were introduced into +the Buddhist ceremonial. In the eighth century, we find orders issued for +the erection of two temples and a pagoda in every province; until, about +the twelfth century, the two religions became associated in the manner +indicated in our first chapter,--Buddhist and Shinto clergy officiating by +turns in the same buildings, and the Shinto temples becoming filled with +images, alike of their own demi-gods, and of Buddha and his companions. +This state of things continued until 1868, when the Shinto cult was chosen +to receive the exclusive recognition of the State, many of the Buddhist +monasteries at the same time suffering spoliation. Within the last few +years, however, Buddhism has been making strenuous efforts to recover its +former power and position, and there is little doubt that it still exerts +a real influence in Japan; while the collapse of Shintoism is, as +certainly, a matter of no distant time. At Tokio, the capital, where the +number of temples is enormous, the proportion of Buddhist to Shinto is in +the ratio of ten to one; and on several occasions during my stay in Japan +I noticed handsome new Buddhist temples in course of erection, or old ones +being redecorated and restored. On the other hand, numbers are closed, or +falling to pieces, for want of funds to maintain them. + +At the present time, there are some twelve or more _principal_ Buddhist +sects in Japan, several of these being subdivided. The distinction between +the various schools is much more closely preserved than in China; and, at +least in the larger cities, each sect will be found represented by a +temple of its own. The difference between the schools consists not only in +the varied attitudes adopted towards some controverted question, but +frequently also in the degrees of importance attached to some point which +is held by all in common. For, as cannot be too emphatically stated, +Buddhism is a _many-sided_ religion.(16) The following extract from Sir +Monier Williams' _Buddhism_, for instance, draws attention to the variety +of aspects, from which it may, and indeed needs to be regarded by the +student. + +"In different places and at different times, its teaching has become both +negative and positive, agnostic and gnostic. It passes from apparent +atheism and materialism to theism, polytheism, and spiritualism. It is, +under one aspect, mere pessimism; under another, pure philanthropy; under +another, monastic communion; under another, high morality; under another, +a variety of materialistic philosophy; under another, simple demonology; +under another, a mere farrago of superstitions, including necromancy, +witchcraft, idolatry, and fetishism. In some form or other it may be held +with almost any religion, and embraces something from almost every creed." + +To the same effect writes Dr. Eitel in his _Lectures on Buddhism_ (pp. +1-2): "Buddhism is a system of vast magnitude, for it comprises the +earliest gropings after science throughout those various branches of +knowledge which our Western nations have long been accustomed to divide +for separate study. It embodies in one living structure grand and peculiar +views of physical science, refined and subtle theorems on abstract +metaphysics, an edifice of fanciful mysticism, a most elaborate and +far-reaching system of practical morality, and finally a church +organization as broad in its principles and as finely wrought in its most +intricate network as any in the world." + +It would hardly be worth while to attempt any detailed description of the +many Buddhist sects represented in Japan. To observe the main +characteristics of the principal ones, and their points of difference from +one another, will be amply sufficient for our purpose. The greater number +of the schools were introduced from China, but a few are Japanese +developments. + +Let us take, first of all, the schools of the Hinayana, or Minor Vehicle, +which, as we should expect, is not extensively represented in Japan. The +Hinayana is represented by four philosophical schools, in two of which the +materialistic element predominates, and in the two other the idealistic; +while eschatological questions afford further ground for difference. The +points in dispute between these philosophical schools of Buddhism are +altogether so subtle and abstruse as to be extremely difficult of +comprehension to any not thoroughly versed in such distinctions. Of the +four sects referred to, one, called the _Kusha_, has for its +characteristic the fact that it bases its teaching on the Abhidharma +Pitaca. + +To the Minor Vehicle belongs the curious system known as the "Holy Path." +This has been described as a "debtor and creditor account kept with divine +justice." Much less common than in China, the system of the "Holy Path" is +yet widely practised in Japan. Elaborate tables are drawn up, containing a +list of all good and bad actions it is possible to perform, with the +numbers added which each counts on the side of merit or demerit. The +numbers range from one to a hundred, or even more; and the tables afford +an insight into the relative importance in which all kinds of actions +present themselves to the Oriental mind. He who would tread life's journey +along the Holy Path must, at least, aim at setting off his bad deeds by a +corresponding number of good acts of equal value. At the end of each year, +the account is balanced, and the overplus or deficit is transferred to the +succeeding one. That such a system is liable to the gravest abuse, +especially in the case of the more ignorant, is obvious; though, when +conscientiously practised, it need not be supposed to be unproductive of +good.(17) + +At present we have made no mention of the _Madhyameka_, or Middle Vehicle, +which, as its name implies, occupies an intermediate place between the +Greater and Lesser Conveyances. A compromise between these two great +systems, the Madhyameka may be said to be characterized by a marked +moderation, i.e. between an excessive strictness, on the one hand, and a +too great liberty on the other. But though it is thus a faithful exponent +of Sakya-muni's original doctrine, the Madhyameka has never attracted any +extensive following. It is represented in Japan by the sect called the +_Sanron_. + +We pass on to examine the schools of the Greater Vehicle. In the same way +that the Kusha sect regards as its chief authority the Abhidharma Pitaca, +there are two schools belonging to the Greater Vehicle, which base their +teaching on the Sutra and Vinaya Pitacas respectively. The _Kagon_ make +the parables and sayings of Buddha contained in the Sutra their especial +study; while the _Ritzu_, as adhering to the more ascetic side of +Buddhism, have for their favourite book the Vinaya, or "Discipline." + +The _Dhyana_ or _Zen_ sect is a Chinese school with numerous +sub-divisions. Its distinguishing feature is the prominence it assigns to +the life of contemplation. Mysticism is represented by the _Shingon_, the +Mantra school of India transferred through China to Japan; and also by the +_Tendai_, so called from a mountain in China, where the head-quarters of +the sect are situated. The temples of the Shingon may usually be +recognized by the two guardian figures at the entrance, with open and shut +mouths, suggesting the mystic syllable A-UM. A peculiarity of both of +these sects is the use of the prayer-wheels and cylinders so common in +Thibet. + +An element of mysticism also pervades the influential _Hokkai_ sect, a +Japanese offshoot of the Tendai, founded in the thirteenth century by a +priest named Nichiren, who is said to have been born supernaturally of a +virgin mother. The Hokkai are most jealously attached to their own ritual, +and to other observances peculiar to themselves; and, inheriting the +disposition attributed to their founder, exhibit a narrowness and +intolerance rarely met with in Japan. Their characteristic may be said to +consist in an emotional fanaticism; and a visitor to one of their temples +will generally find a number of devotees,--who thus remain engaged for +hours at a time,--chanting the invocation of the sect, "Adoration to the +Lotus of the Law," to a deafening accompaniment of drums. + +Two sects only now remain, but these by no means the least interesting or +least popular: the _Jodo_ and the _Shin-Jodo_ (i.e. the New-Jodo). The +distinguishing features of these sects,--which also find a place in the +system of the Hokkai,--are their acknowledgement of the need of external +aid, and their doctrine of the Western Paradise, presided over by Amitabha +Buddha. How marked a departure from the original teaching of Sakya-muni, +as observed by us, these schools present is sufficiently obvious; +nevertheless, it is alleged that the revelation of the Paradise in the +West was first made by Buddha himself to one of his principal disciples. +In the distant West is said to dwell one named Amida, or Amitabha, that is +to say "Illimitable Light." Immortal himself, immortal also and freed from +all the trammels of transmigration are the vast multitudes of men(18) who +inhabit the boundless regions which he rules. In that "Pure Land,"(19) +that "Undefiled Ground," everything beautiful and enchanting has a place, +neither is pain or sorrow known; and thither nought that is evil or that +defileth can come. Whosoever would attain to this heavenly country must +rely, most of all, on faithful invocation of the name of Amida; he having, +as is recorded, made a vow that he would only accept Buddhahood on +condition that salvation should be placed within reach of all sincerely +desirous of achieving it. Such is the doctrine of the Western Paradise, +some of the descriptions of which read almost like echoes of the last +chapters of the Bible. Unknown to the Buddhism of Ceylon, Siam, and +Burmah, it can be traced back as far as the second century A.D., when it +was certainly known in Cashmere, though it was not until three centuries +later that it began to spread widely over Northern Buddhism. But the whole +question of its origin remains wrapped in obscurity. At the present day, +the devotion to Amida is very widely practised in Japan, and it is +extremely popular. No doubt, the more educated and intellectual +Buddhist,--and the distinction thus suggested needs constantly to be +insisted on,--would explain the Paradise of the West as being a mere +allegory, and regard Amitabha, as he was originally conceived to be, as +merely an ideal personification of boundless light. But to the people +generally the Undefiled Ground and its presiding deity are actual, +literal, realities. + + [Illustration.] + + Kiyomizu-Dera, Kyoto. + + +We have said that the two sects in which the doctrine of the Western +Paradise appears in greatest prominence are called the Jodo and Shin-Jodo. +The former of these is Chinese in origin, but was established in Japan +about 1200 A.D. by a priest, Enko Daishi by name, who was also a member of +the imperial family. The head-quarters of this sect are at Kyoto, where +the magnificent monastery of Chion-in forms one of the principal sights of +that most interesting of Japanese cities. But of all the temples of Japan, +those of the New-Jodo (or _Monto_) sect are at once the most handsome, the +most frequented, and the most attractive to the European traveller. +Everything here, too, is of a dignified and stately character; there is a +striking absence of the tawdry and the puerile. Founded in the year 1262, +this sect is, at the present day, foremost in learning, influence, and +activity. Another purely Japanese development, it is--owing to differences +about "church government"--composed of two sub-divisions, the +_Nishi-Hongwanji_ and the _Higashi-Hongwanji_, or the Eastern and Western +Divisions of the True Petition,--the reference being to the vow of Amida. +In most of the larger towns, handsome temples of either branch are to be +found, situated usually in the poorer districts. + +It is in the temples of the Shin-Jodo that the remarkable similarity, of +which every one has heard, between the Buddhist ceremonial and that of the +Roman Church is most conspicuous. Nowhere, perhaps, did the resemblance in +question,--to which I shall have occasion to refer again,--impress me more +forcibly than it did in the New-Jodo temple at Nagasaki, at the first +Buddhist service at which I was ever present. The day of our visit chanced +to be the founder's anniversary, and from a raised lectern in the chancel, +a venerable priest, of benign countenance,--wearing a rich vestment not +unlike a dalmatic, and a cap resembling a biretta,--was recounting to a +congregation, composed chiefly of women, old men, and children, the +virtues of their deceased benefactor. Presently, the sermon came to an +end, and the colloquial delivery of the discourse was changed for the +monotone of a litany recitation: the people answering with ready response, +and many of them employing the aid of their rosaries. The fragrance of +incense filled the air; tapers and flowers adorned the altar, above which +was the statue, not--as one entering by chance might almost have expected +to see--of a Christian saint, but of some manifestation of Gautama Buddha. +Despite, however, its elaborate ritual, the Shin-Jodo sect has been called +the "Protestantism of Japan;" the reason being that it sanctions the +marriage of its clergy, approves the reading of the scriptures in the +"vulgar tongue," permits a wider freedom in respect to food and drink, and +affords other indications of a "reforming spirit." The priesthood in this +sect is, practically, a hereditary office. + +In the _Great Indian Religions_ of the late Mr. Bettany, there is given a +summary of the Shin-Jodo Belief, in the words of one of its principal +teachers. I will take the liberty of re-quoting it here. "Rejecting all +religious austerities and other action, giving up all idea of self-power, +we rely upon Amida Buddha with the whole heart for our salvation in the +future life, which is the most important thing: believing that at the +moment of putting our faith in Amida Buddha our salvation is settled. From +that moment invocation of his name is observed as an expression of +gratitude and thankfulness for Buddha's mercy. Moreover, being thankful +for the reception of this doctrine from the founder and succeeding chief +priests whose teachings were so benevolent, and as welcome as light in a +dark night, we must also keep the laws which are fixed for our duty during +our whole life." The mutual relation of faith and works is especially to +be noticed; and indeed the strikingly _evangelical_ character of the whole +Confession. + + [Illustration.] + + Statues of Kwannon, San-Ju-San-Gen-Do. + + +Vast, however, as is the power attributed to Amitabha, and great as is the +merit to be acquired by the invocation of his name, there is found in the +temples in which he is worshipped an image which receives even more +veneration than his. That colossal female effigy, with the many heads and +countless hands, before which a number of votaries, composed largely of +women, are kneeling in prayer, is meant to represent the mighty +Avalokitesvara, or--to substitute for the Sanskrit the less formidable +titles by which she is known in China and Japan,--the all-powerful Kwanyin +or Kwannon. Here, again, we are confronted with a devotion the origin of +which is wrapped in uncertainty, but which, closely connected with the +doctrine of the Western Paradise, seems to have arisen some three +centuries after the commencement of our era. At the present day, it is +spread extensively over Thibet, Mongolia, China, and Japan; but it is +unknown to the countries of Southern Buddhism. With regard to the meaning +of this great image before us, Kwannon is commonly explained to be the +reflex or spiritual son of Amitabha Buddha, sent by him to earth to +preside on earth over the Buddhist faith, and appearing, at first in male +and subsequently in female shape. But the probability is that the various +personages, with whom Kwannon is supposed to be identified, had merely a +fictitious existence; and that in her statues, we see simply an apotheosis +of Mercy, an allegorical _Mater Misericordiae_, whose many eyes and hands +are intended to signify the unremitting vigilance and the untiring energy +with which she ministers to all sorrow and distress.(20) + +The island of Pootau, off Ning-po, in the Chusan Archipelago, is the great +centre of Kwannon worship; the most popular of the many legends concerning +her associating her with this locality, and offering an explanation of her +thousand heads and hands more clumsy even than is the manner of such +myths. The island belongs to the Buddhist priesthood, and is a great +resort of pilgrims. In Japan, the shrines and statues of Kwannon are to be +met with everywhere: many of her images being of enormous size, richly +gilt and beautifully wrought. Sometimes the statues are kept concealed +from view, either on account of alleged miraculous properties, or for some +other reason of special sanctity. The highly-venerated image, for +instance, at the Asakusa temple, Tokio, is never shown; it is only two +inches high, and is accredited with supernatural qualities. But of all the +shrines of Kwannon, it may be doubted whether the impression created by +any is greater than by her temple of San-ju-san-gen-do at Kyoto, where no +less than 33,333 images of the goddess may be seen. Of these a thousand +are gilded statues, five feet in height, and ranged in tiers along a vast +gallery. The remaining effigies are depicted on the foreheads, hands and +nimbi of the larger ones. The temple and its contents originated in the +votive offering of a Mikado of the twelfth century for recovery from +sickness. + + [Illustration.] + + The Altar of San-Ju-San-Gen-Do. + + + + + +IV. BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY. + + + [Illustration.] + + Guardian Nio. + + +The Buddhist temples in Japan are for the most part built on a much +grander and more elaborate scale than those belonging to the Shinto +worship. The roofing is not of thatch, but of tiles; and instead of the +torii, the entrance is through a _Sammon_, or two-storied gateway, in the +recesses of which stand two huge figures of ferocious appearance. These +are called _Nio_, and their office is to guard the sacred precincts from +the approach of evil spirits. These images are commonly seen spotted all +over with pellets of paper. "A worshipper writes his petition on paper, or +better still, has it written for him by the priest, chews it to a pulp, +and spits it at the divinity. If, having been well aimed, the paper +sticks, it is a good omen." Passing through the Sammon, and proceeding in +a straight direction--often between rows of votive stone-lanterns--the +visitor soon arrives at the two largest buildings of the temple group. One +of these is the _Hondo_, or main shrine; while the other may be either the +Hall of the Founder of the particular sect to which the Temple belongs, or +it may contain a colossal image of Amida, and be specially dedicated to +his worship. Sometimes, again, this second building is known as the +Refectory, from the spiritual nourishment supplied there in the form of +sermons, for which the preacher takes as his text some passage of the +Sutra, or, it may be, some saying of Confucius.(21) Removing our boots, +which we leave at the foot of the wooden steps, we ascend to the Hondo, +and, if need be, push aside the sliding-doors of paper-covered woodwork, +which afford access to the building. Should no service chance to be in +progress, a little company of priests, acolytes, &c., will probably be +found, seated on the matting with which the floor is covered,--engaged in +the perusal of book or newspaper, or chatting together over miniature cups +of tea, and, if it be winter-time, spreading their hands to receive the +grateful warmth of the hibachi.(22) Beside them, on the floor, is arranged +a miscellaneous assortment of sacred pictures, leaflets, candles, +incense-sticks, charms, and other articles; any of which may be purchased +by a very modest expenditure. As we enter, we observe that several pairs +of eyes are fastened on us in undisguised curiosity; but our low +salutation is promptly responded to, if indeed it has not been +anticipated, and one of the group will courteously come forward to supply +us with any assistance or information we require. Before the railing, +which encloses the sanctuary, two or three worshippers are kneeling in +prayer; and these also examine us for a while with close attention. Or, it +may be that at the time of our visit some religious function is +proceeding. If so, the clergy with their servers are found within the +chancel, clad in gorgeous yellow robes, and genuflecting now and again +before the images which stand above the richly-vested altar. Outside the +sanctuary rails, the congregation is assembled in greater or less numbers, +according to the importance of the day. Around is a profusion of lights +and flowers; while the air is fragrant with the fumes of incense. The +prayers, which the officiating priest recites in monotone, are in Pali, a +form of Sanskrit; and if an air of perfunctoriness pervades his devotions, +let it be remembered that every day, month after month, and year after +year, he may be found chanting these same litanies, of the significance of +which he has but the vaguest idea. Not, however, that he is without belief +in their efficacy; nay, it may be that his very ignorance of their meaning +causes the words he utters to have, in his eyes, a transcendent value. +Above the high altar, in seated posture on lotus-blossoms,(23) are three +colossal images, cunningly wrought and richly gilded, and bearing on their +countenances an expression of placid repose. Perhaps, it is the +_Triratna_, or Three Jewels, that these represent, the Trinity of Buddha, +the Law, and the Order. Or, possibly, this is Buddha, in his triple forms +of existence:--as Sakya-muni, the form under which he lived as man among +men; as Amitabha, his metaphysical existence in Nirvana; as +Avalokitesvara, his reflex in the world of forms, his spiritual son, +generated to propagate the religion established by him during his earthly +career. Or once again, these three images may portray the Buddhas of the +Past, Present, and Future:--Gautama who _was_, the historic founder of +Buddhism; Kwannon, or Avalokitesvara, the head of the present Buddhist +hierarchy, the Buddha who _is_; and Maitreya, or Meroku, the deliverer yet +_to come_, the rehabilitation of past Buddhas foretold by Sakya-muni. Now +and again one may meet with a Buddhist of superior intellectual +attainments, who would explain the acts of worship he offers to these +images, as signifying merely reverence for Gautama's teaching; but to the +multitude, as has been seen already, the images represent distinct and +all-powerful deities. Indeed, the people are encouraged thus to regard +them by their ecclesiastical superiors; it being one of the methods of +Buddhism thus to adapt its teaching to the capacity of dense and ignorant +minds. And thus it comes about that a religion, commencing with +agnosticism, meets the "craving for divinity," so deeply implanted in the +nature of our race, by passing into what is, practically, a deification of +humanity. + + [Illustration.] + + Pagoda at Nikko. + + +Leaving the Hondo, we next proceed to explore the grounds and remaining +buildings connected with the temple. This lofty _Pagoda_, for instance, +several stories high, is erected over some holy relic,--perhaps the +vitrified remains of the founder, after cremation. A little further on, we +come to the _Rinzo_, or Revolving Library, containing an entire set of the +Buddhist scriptures. As these consist altogether of some 6,700 or 6,800 +large volumes, it is clearly impossible for any one person to read them +all. This, however, need not be regretted seeing that whatever merit might +be obtained by a complete perusal, is freely extended to all, who will +take the trouble to make this huge stand revolve; the structure being so +arranged that a single push is sufficient for the purpose! The Rinzo was +an invention of a Chinese priest, and is said to date from the sixth +century. Owing to their costliness they are rarely met with; and the only +two I remember seeing were at Asakusa, Tokio, and at Ikegami, the +head-quarters of the Hokkai sect. Elsewhere in the grounds we come upon +the _Shoro_, or Great Bell,--used not for summoning the faithful, but for +the purpose of invocation and worship;--the _Koro_, or Drum-tower; the +_Emado_, or "Ex-voto" Shed, the walls of which are covered with pictures, +charms, and other offerings; cisterns for the purpose of ceremonial +purification; a printing and publishing department; and, perhaps, a grotto +with ghastly representations of the sufferings endured in the Buddhist +hells. Usually, too, to be found in the sacred precincts, is a specimen of +the _Ficus religiosa_, or sacred tree, under which Sakya-muni attained his +enlightenment. At the rear of the temple buildings are situated the +priests' apartments,--often a quadrangle enclosed by a colonnade,--the +reception-rooms of which are beautifully decorated with _kakemonos_. Here +the visitor is sometimes invited to a light repast of tea, cake, and +fruit; the priests waiting on him the while with the most courteous +attention. And here may I be permitted to say a word about the Buddhist +priests of Japan as I found them? They are commonly spoken of as lazy and +ignorant, mercenary and corrupt; and it is to be feared that with regard +to many, especially of the lower orders of the clergy, this witness is +true. But speaking of those with whom I came into direct contact--the +priests, for the most part, attached to the more important temples--I feel +bound to say, that the impression I formed of them was, on the whole, a +distinctly favourable one. With countenances often indicating close +spiritual application, they appeared to perform their sacred duties with +reverence and attention; while of the disinterested kindness and +hospitality I received at their hands, as well as of the courtesy and +patience with which they replied to my numerous questions, I would speak +in terms of grateful appreciation. + + [Illustration.] + + Plan Of Buddhist Temple At Ikegami, Near Tokio. (_Head-quarters of the + Hokkai or Nichiren sect._) The path to the left from the Entrance Gate +leads to the Main Temple; that to the right to the Founder's Hall. To the +right of the plan are the Drum-tower and Pagoda. Behind the Main Temple is + the Rinzo or Revolving Library; and in the lower left-hand corner of the + picture is the Reliquary. The two small buildings in the foreground are + the Belfry and the Emado. In the background are the Priests' Apartments + and Reception-rooms. + + +A visit to a Buddhist temple, however, can hardly fail to suggest to any, +who are at all familiar with the observances of the Roman ritual, a +comparison to which we have already referred,--I mean the striking +resemblance between the Buddhist ceremonies and such as have found place +in the Christian Church. The high-altar with its haloed statues, flowers, +candelabra, and ever-burning lamps; the side-altars, similarly adorned, +above one of which, it may be, is seen the image of Maia, the mother of +Gautama, bearing her infant-son in her arms; the priests, tonsured, +mitred, arrayed in their rich vestments, and attended by their acolytes; +the people, bending low in adoration, or telling their rosaries as they +pray; the tinkling of bells and the perfume of incense; the dim light of +the sanctuary, and the monotonous chant, in the unknown tongue, of the +litanies uplifted for living and for dead:--these are only some of the +points of correspondence with Roman Catholic observances which meet us in +almost every Buddhist temple. Indeed, to attempt to specify such +resemblances in detail would prove a laborious task. But while the +similarity to which I refer is far too close and remarkable to be +accounted for by mere coincidence, its explanation is by no means easy. +Some would solve the difficulty by referring to the unquestionable fact +that many of the ceremonies practised in the Christian Church are +adaptations of ancient heathen rites: a leading captive of captivity of +which, as it seems to me, Christianity has far more reason to be proud +than ashamed. But though the Buddhist observances are, without doubt, of +considerable antiquity, this explanation cannot be said to be adequate to +the requirements of the case. Far more satisfactory is the theory that +ascribes the phenomenon to an early contact of China with some form of +Christianity--probably Nestorianism--and to the readiness which Buddhism has +ever exhibited to extend its influence by a conformity to other faiths. +The problem, however, is one which we must, to a great extent, be +satisfied to leave unsolved; the most eminent authorities in Orientalism +having confessed themselves baffled. It is only the fact of the +resemblance that admits of no dispute. + + [Illustration.] + + A Buddhist Priest. + + +It is curious to notice the different effects produced by an observation +of the Buddhist ceremonial on the minds of Roman Catholic missionaries +upon their first arrival in the East. By some its likeness to their own +ritual has been regarded as a manoeuvre of Satan, designed for the +hindrance of Christian truth; while others have regarded the resemblance +with satisfaction, as calculated to diminish the difficulties of their +work. Without entering further into this question, I may be allowed to +express the conviction that an elaborate ceremonial forms at any rate no +necessary factor of Christian work in Japan. So far from this being the +case, I was informed, on no prejudiced authority, that, the breach once +made with the old associations, converts are disposed to regard anything +tending even remotely to suggest them as more of a hindrance than a help; +and this view finds support in the large number of adherents gained by +several of the Protestant Missions, with whom anything in the way of +ceremonial is reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, must be remembered +the very successful work accomplished in Japan, alike by the Roman and +Orthodox Churches, whose combined total of some 65,000 adherents is more +than double that of the various Protestant sects,--the Churches of England +and America, with 4,000 members, not being included in this computation. + +Hitherto, I have referred only to the resemblance outwardly existing +between the ceremonies and observances of Christianity and Buddhism. But +an extension of the comparison results in what is, at first sight, an even +more startling similarity between incidents recorded of Gautama Buddha, +and events in the life of Jesus Christ, as narrated in the Gospels. Thus, +we are told that Gautama was born of a virgin mother; that angels appeared +at his nativity; that an ancient seer prostrated himself before him, and +saluted him as one come down from heaven; that, as a child, he confounded +his teachers by the understanding he displayed, and the questions which he +asked; that, assailed by the Evil One(24) with the keenest +temptations,--including the offer of Sovereignty over all the world, if he +would renounce his mission,--he yet emerged victorious from all; that once, +being on a mountain, he was enveloped in a cloud of heavenly light; that +he went down into hell; and that he ascended into heaven. Indeed, the +Christian may be pardoned if, for the moment, he feels completely +staggered at all that he finds advanced on behalf of Sakya-muni; and if +his perplexity only begins to give place to relief, when he discovers that +there is absolutely no trace of such extraordinary coincidence in the +early Buddhist writings, and that there is no reason for supposing that +these alleged events in the life of Gautama were ever heard of until the +Christian era was already several centuries old. + +We have now, as far as our limits permit, made an examination of Buddhism +with especial reference to Japan. But before leaving this part of our +subject, I would humbly, but very earnestly, submit the question, Is there +in Buddhism generally,--is there in Buddhism as it exists in Japan at the +present day,--nothing upon which Christianity may profitably fasten, +nothing to which Christianity may properly appeal? Is that great +proclamation of Christian tact, which, eighteen centuries ago, the Apostle +Paul delivered on the Areopagus at Athens, "Whom ye ignorantly worship, +Him declare I unto you," one that cannot, more often than it does, find a +place on the lips of our missionaries of to-day? Is the position a useless +one to take, that both the faiths of Jesus Christ and of Buddha agree in +this, that either has for its object the amelioration of man's lot, here +and hereafter, and his release from the curse of suffering; only, as we +believe, with this great difference, that the founder of Christianity was +possessed of resources to which Sakya-muni laid no claim? These are +questions which were constantly presenting themselves to my mind during my +visit to Japan; but they are questions also which I heard asked more than +once by men who had closely studied the whole subject and were deeply +interested in mission work. But whatever the true answer to these +questions be, of this we may be certain: that by no reckless denunciation +of a creed, of the very elements of which the denouncer is content to be +in ignorance, will any victory of Christ's Cross be achieved. Be the +errors and shortcomings of Buddhism what they may,--and we must, to be +honest, pronounce them in our judgment to be many and great,--it is, at +least, a system of very great antiquity, in whose strength thousands of +millions of our fellow-creatures have lived and died, both better and +happier. Men cannot be expected lightly to abandon their allegiance to +such a faith as this, nor would it be to their credit if they did; while +in Christianity, even when faithfully represented, there is very much +calculated to perplex and estrange one who has been trained in the tenets +of Buddhism. Moreover, however little he may agree with them, the Buddhist +holds that the religious convictions of others are entitled to respect, +and that their feelings should never be wounded, if this can be avoided; +it is only natural that he, in his turn, should be quickly alienated by +unsympathetic treatment. I was told by an English resident of long +standing that infidelity is largely on the increase in Japan, especially +among the men of the upper and middle classes; and that among the causes +of this was certainly to be reckoned the contemptuous and merely +destructive attitude towards Buddhism, with which some--let us hope they +are the very few--would think to serve the cause of Jesus Christ. "Depend +upon it," it was said to me, "it is irreligion that commonly succeeds to +the vacant place, not Christianity. Carlyle was right when he said, +'Better even to believe a lie than to believe nothing.' " And Buddhism is +not all a lie! + +"The perishing heathen." Many of us have been revolted by such expressions +when heard at home. But it is only when one is living in the midst of the +people of whom they are spoken, that it is possible to realize the full +horror of their meaning. That men, women, and little children, who are +distinguished by so many good qualities,(25) and who--with, as we believe, +such immeasurably inferior opportunities--present, in many points, so +favourable a contrast to ourselves, should be condemned to a future of +hopeless and unending misery, for not believing that of which, it may be, +they have not even heard, or heard only in crude, distorted statement--can +any man _really_ think this, who recognizes the providence of a Father of +Love; nay, I will dare to say, of a Deity of bare Justice? And yet +language thus fearfully misrepresenting the Faith of Christ is still used +by some who are called by His name; and that it is used is known by the +people of Japan.(26) + +But again. There is, I have observed, much in the scheme of Christianity +calculated to prove a stumbling-block to those who have been educated in +the doctrines of Buddhism. Let me proceed to state some of the +difficulties that would be experienced, some of the objections that would +be raised, by a Buddhist of a certain amount of intellectual capacity, +when confronted with the claims of the Christian Faith. + +Thus, (_a_) _the Bible_. "We are unable," the Buddhist would say, "to +recognize in your Old and New Testaments an inspired revelation. Why +should we accept your Scriptures, with all their alleged miracles and +supernatural occurrences, when you reject ours? Besides, you are not +agreed among yourselves as to inspiration, authenticity, translation, +interpretation. Some of you, again, are for diffusing the Bible broadcast, +others would keep it in the background. Again, the Christian doctrine of +immortality appears to us entirely absent from the pages of the Old +Testament; while even the Jews, 'God's chosen people,' refuse to see in +the New Testament the fulfilment of the Old." + +(_b_) _The Old Testament._ "We cannot regard the story of Creation, as +given in the Book of Genesis, as anything more than a myth, containing a +germ of truth. Neither can we accept, as historically true, the story of +the temptation in the Garden of Eden. And yet, upon this is made to rest +your whole theory of the Fall, of Original Sin, and of Christian +Redemption. As for the history of the Jewish people, we can see in it +nothing but one long story of cruelty and bloodshed; how can a Creator, a +God of Love, be supposed to have permitted and approved such things?" + +(_c_) _The Incarnation._ The whole doctrine of the Incarnation is full of +difficulty to the mind of an Oriental; _not_ because of its strangeness +and novelty, but owing to his very familiarity with stories of miraculous +birth in his own legends. + +(_d_) _The Atonement._ "Why should Jehovah require the sacrifice of His +own Son?" This is a difficulty that would present itself with especial +force to the Buddhist; by whom all life is held sacred, and whom such +texts as "Without shedding of blood there is no remission," fill with +repugnance. The explanation offered by Buddhists themselves of the +Christian doctrine of Atonement is, that its origin must be sought in the +fact that, from the most ancient times, the idea of sacrifice, and of +human sacrifice, has existed; and this explanation they go on to apply to +the Holy Eucharist. + +(_e_) _Eternal Punishment._ "How," it is asked, "is your doctrine of +Everlasting Punishment consistent with that of the Remission of Sins? And +how, on the other hand, is not your scheme of salvation ethically wrong, +if it allows people, after sinning all their lives, to be forgiven on +their death-beds, that so they may enter a Paradise, wherein good and bad +alike have a place?" + +(_f_) _Faith and Belief._ "What right have you to ask us to believe +anything that does not accord with science and experience, when you have +no better opportunities of knowing than we?" + +(_g_) _Christian Ethics._ "Some of these--e.g. the doctrine of the Sermon +on the Mount--we admit to be good; but they are not peculiar to +Christianity--our own teaching is very similar. In other of your ethics, we +see only an ignoble and selfish storing of treasure; it appears to us that +a good action, done for the sake of reward or gain, must entirely lose its +merit." + +(_h_) _Missionary Work._ "We do not claim that our religion is the only +way of salvation, but readily recognize the good points in other systems +as well. You, on the contrary, appear to hold that there is no other way +but your own; and indeed it is only on this supposition that we can +understand the strenuous efforts which you make to bring us to abandon our +religion for yours."(27) + +It forms no part of my purpose to discuss these objections; which, let me +add, are merely representative, and by no means exhaustive. With many of +them we are already familiar at home; and the Japanese, I would mention, +are fully aware of the unbelief prevalent in England, and well acquainted +with its arguments. Indeed, few English people, it is probable, have any +idea how closely their history and their literature are studied by nations +living at the other side of the globe, who are to them simply "the +heathen." Some, again, of the above objections would seem to have been +suggested by imperfect and distorted statements of Christian truth. I have +thought it worth while to refer to them, in the hope that the fact of such +questions being raised may serve to impress upon us these two important +points:--(i) the need of missionaries, at the present day, being not only +men of holy and devoted lives, but also fully equal in intellectual +equipment and culture to our home clergy; and (ii) the fallacy of trusting +to the circulation of the Bible, as an instrument of mission work, unless +it be accompanied--or rather preceded--by the teaching of the living agent. + +It must not, however, be imagined that the obstacles to the progress of +the Gospel in Japan are wholly, or even mainly, of the character I have +referred to. Another great hindrance is most unquestionably presented in +the large number of competing sects and organizations, which, here as in +other countries where mission work is being carried on, address the people +in the name of Christianity. It is true that Buddhists themselves are +divided into numerous sects and schools; but between these there can +scarcely be said to be anything of party animosity and strife. It will, +indeed, be heard with satisfaction that the feeling towards one another of +the various Christian bodies in Japan is, speaking generally, free from +bitterness; and that each would appear desirous of doing its own work, in +the wide field before it, without interference with the efforts of others. +"The feeling here," it was observed to me, "is nothing like so bad as it +is at home."(28) And as in England bigotry and suspicion are steadily +giving place to mutual toleration and respect, so may we hope that, both +in our colonies and abroad, counsels of charity may more and more prevail. +Still, at the best, so long as Romanists, Orthodox, Anglicans, and +Sectarians adhere to the positions they at present occupy, so long must +any real unity of action be impossible; neither can peace be sought by +surrender or compromise of principle. But meanwhile there is, of course, a +lamentable want of compactness among the converts--as a recent writer in +the _Japan Mail_, remarked "they are more like scattered groups of +soldiers than an army";--while the perplexity occasioned to those we are +seeking to convince is terrible and great. + +The following extract from Miss Bickersteth's recently-published _Japan as +we saw it_ (Sampson Low, 1893), draws an able contrast between the +religious condition of Japan at the present day and the position of +Christianity in the time of St. Francis Xavier. "It was impossible not to +be struck with the present complication of religious matters in the +country as compared with the days of Xavier. Then, on the one side, there +was the Buddhist-Shinto creed, undermined by no Western science, still +powerful in its attraction for the popular mind, and presenting a more or +less solid resistance to the foreign missionary; and, on the other, +Christianity as represented by Roman Catholicism, imperfect truly, but +without a rival in dogma or in ritual. Now the ranks of Buddhist-Shintoism +are hopelessly broken; the superstition of its votaries is exposed by the +strong light of modern science, and their enthusiasm too often quenched in +the deeper darkness of atheism. Christianity, though present in much +greater force than in the days of Xavier, is, alas, not proportionately +stronger. The divisions of Christendom are nowhere more evident than in +its foreign missions to an intellectual people like the Japanese. The +Greek, the Roman, the Anglican churches, the endless 'splits' of +Nonconformity, must and do present to the Japanese mind a bewildering +selection of possibilities in religious truth." + +To refer to but one other hindrance to Christian progress in Japan--which, +although the last mentioned, is by no means the least serious--I mean the +estimate formed by the natives of the practical influence of the Christian +religion upon English people and upon other nations professing it. +Applying to Christianity the test of its results, they urge that it has, +at any rate, only very partially succeeded. For instance, the Japanese +comment upon the fact that numbers of Englishmen in Japan never attend the +services of their Church; and that the lives of many of them display a +flagrant disregard for the principles which should regulate the conduct of +Christians. Without, however, denying either the justice of these charges, +or the reasonableness of the mood which advances them, I think it may be +urged with fairness that the influence of Christianity on us as a nation +cannot rightly be estimated in this particular way. As a rule, the +Englishman can scarcely be said to appear to advantage abroad. Too often +he assumes an attitude of insolent superiority to the people whose guest +he is; while the position in which our countrymen are placed in a country +like Japan--coupled with the freedom from restraint, so much greater than +at home--has, for reasons which we need not now enter into, its peculiar +difficulties. Neither is it by any means certain that a Japanese, paying a +short visit to England, will gather any just impression of what hold +Christianity has on us as a people. In all probability the range of his +observations will be very limited and superficial; his wanderings will be +chiefly confined to the great thoroughfares of the principal cities; while +the circle of his acquaintance will, it is likely, be equally restricted, +and equally unrepresentative of English life. Not that, in saying this, we +would seek to excuse ourselves, or deny that there is far more truth than +we could wish, and than there ought to be, in the charges brought against +us. We would merely submit that there is another side to the picture which +ought not, in fairness, to be overlooked. Admitting as we must, for +instance, the great prevalence of infidelity in our England of to-day, +there is yet to be placed over against it,--and may I not add, drawing it +out into the light?--the increased activity of the Church during this last +half-century, the remarkable power she has exhibited of adapting herself +to meet the needs of her times, the influence for good that she has not +only been in the past, but remains at the present day, in the nation at +large, and in thousands and thousands of English homes. "By their fruits +ye shall know them": and Christianity must not and need not deprecate the +application of that test to herself. Only, we would urge, that is not a +fair judgment, which takes account only of what the Church of Jesus Christ +has failed to do, without recognizing also all that, in the strength of +her Divine Head, she has been permitted to accomplish. + + + + + +V. CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN. + + +I propose now to place before my readers some account of the various +Missions at work in Japan. I am enabled to do this the better from having +obtained, in the course of my visit, a useful table, compiled by the Rev. +H. Loomis, of the American Bible Society, Yokohama, giving statistics of +the different organizations up to the beginning of the year 1893. The plan +adopted by Mr. Loomis is to arrange his statistics into three classes: (1) +"Protestant Missions," (2) "Catholic Missions," and (3) "The Greek Church +in Japan." Under the head of "Protestant Missions," are included the +Church of England, the Episcopal Church of America, a large number of +other American denominations, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the +Swiss Evangelical Protestant Mission, the Society of Friends, U.S.A., +Universalists, Unitarians and others; while under the head of "Catholic +Missions" we find particulars of only one branch of the Holy Catholic +Church--the Church of Rome. This is not the arrangement I should have made +myself; but, as a matter of convenience, we will follow it more or less +closely.(29) It is right to add that of the thirty "Protestant Missions" +seven are grouped together under the title of the "Church of Christ in +Japan," and work, it would appear, in general harmony on Presbyterian +principles. In the same way, the American Episcopal Church, the Church of +England--represented by both the Church Missionary Society and the Society +for the Propagation of the Gospel--and the Mission of Wyckliffe College, +Canada, are associated together; leaving some twenty sects working +independently.(30) + +Before, however, proceeding to an examination of Mr. Loomis' table, we +must briefly observe the past history of Christianity in Japan. This dates +from the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in 1549, seven years after the +country was discovered by the Portuguese. For some while the missionaries +were permitted to prosecute their work without molestation, and +considerable progress was being effected. A deputation of native priests +appealed to the Tycoon, but their remonstrances were unheeded. With +thirty-five religious sects already represented in Japan, the country, he +answered, might very well find room for a thirty-sixth religion, viz. +Christianity. Presently, however, the Jesuits being followed by the +Dominicans and Franciscans, mutual factions broke out; while, elated by +their success, some of the missionaries began to adopt an attitude of +high-handed intolerance and interference. For the first time in their +history, the Japanese found themselves entangled in all the turmoil and +animosity of religious strife. In 1587 the first persecution of the +Christians took place, but apparently soon subsided. The warning, however, +was disregarded; and the fatal policy of arrogance and oppression was +still persisted in. Native priests were put to death; Buddhist monasteries +were destroyed; the Inquisition was set up. In 1614 we find a Japanese +embassy despatched to Rome, in order, so it is said, to make an act of +submission to the spiritual supremacy of the Pope. Meanwhile the Dutch, +jealous of the position that was being gained by the Portuguese traders, +accused the Roman propagandists to the Japanese authorities of aiming at a +territorial ascendency; and that intrigues were actually being carried on +by the Jesuits for the overthrow of the Shogun there seems little doubt. +In the massacre which ensued several thousand Christians were put to +death. "Their unflinching devotion compels our admiration. One may search +the grim history of early Christian martyrology without finding anything +to surpass the heroism of the Roman Catholic Martyrs of Japan. Burnt on +stakes made of crosses, torn limb from limb, buried alive, they yet +refused to recant. We are told of one Jesuit priest, Christopher Ferreya, +who, after enduring horrible tortures, was at length hung by his feet in +such a way that his head was buried in a hole in the ground from which air +and light were excluded. His right-hand was left loose that he might make +the sign of recantation. He hung for four hours, and then made the sign; +whereupon, with a rare refinement of cruelty, he was appointed the +president of the tribunal before which Christians were brought for +condemnation. Then, after a lull, in 1637 thousands of Christians rose in +armed rebellion. After two months they were forced to surrender, and +37,000 were slaughtered. Stern decrees were then issued, forbidding the +admission of any foreign vessel; an exception being made in favour of the +Chinese and Dutch. For more than two hundred years, notice-boards stood +beside highways, ferries, and mountain-passes, containing, among other +prohibitions, the following:--'So long as the sun shall warm the earth, let +no Christian be so bold as to come to Japan; and let all know that the +King of Spain himself, or the Christians' God, or the great God of all, if +he violate this commandment, shall pay for it with his head.' For +centuries the name 'Christian' would blanch the cheek and pale the lip. +Christianity was remembered only as an awful scar on the national annals. +But in the Southern Island the smouldering fire was never quite +extinguished; while, as recently as 1829, six men and an old woman were +crucified at Osaka."(31) + +At the time of the closing of the country to foreigners, an exception was +made of the one port of Nagasaki, the scene of the final great massacre, +when thousands of native Christians were hurled from a rocky islet into +the sea. Here, however, as has been already mentioned, the Dutch were the +only Europeans permitted to trade; they being closely confined to the +small island of Deshima. In addition to having pay a heavy rental, they +were subjected to the closest espionage, not being suffered, under any +circumstances, to pass beyond the narrow limits assigned to them. Several +times in each year they were summoned before the authorities, and required +to tread under foot the Crucifix, and other symbols of the Catholic Faith. +Several of the trampling-boards employed on these occasions are still to +be seen at the Ueno Museum, Tokio. The Dutch, it would appear, quieted any +qualms of conscience by regarding their action as amounting to an +abnegation, not of Christianity, but of Romanism. It was not until thirty +years ago that intercourse between Japan and other nations began to be +resumed; and that, after a short period of ill-feeling and suspicion, +circumstances were brought about which enabled both Roman Catholics and +other Christians to work without hindrance. In 1872 the interdict against +Christianity was formally removed; and the release from imprisonment and +return from banishment of hundreds of Christians took place. + +Such is the past history of Christianity in Japan. It has, indeed, its +elements of glorious and heroic martyrdom, but it has elements, also, on +which few of us can look back without a deep sense of shame. Let us trust +that by this time the people of Japan have come to understand that the +conflict of their forefathers was not with Christianity, but rather with +Christians who had forgotten "what spirit they were of." + +Turning now to the condition of Christian Missions at the present day, it +seems right to commence with those of the Roman Church. Not only has the +Roman Church in Japan a history which extends over three hundred years, +but it reckons at the present time considerably more than double the +number of adherents claimed by any other Christian body. The Roman +influence has been particularly successful in the Goto Islands, in the +neighbourhood of Nagasaki, where the devoted labours of the missionaries +have won over a considerable portion of the population. + +To come to the statistics. These give one Archbishop, three Bishops, +seventy-eight missionary, and fifteen native priests, with over 300 +(native) minor clergy and catechists; 185 churches and chapels, with 244 +congregations. Seventy-six sisters of the Order of St. Paul de Chartres +are stationed in Japan, and there are further nineteen native novices. +Other statistics include seventeen orphanages, with an average of over 100 +children; twenty Industrial Schools; eight Nursing establishments; a +Hospital for the Aged; and a Hospital for Lepers, with sixty-two inmates, +situated at Gotemba, at the foot of Fuji-san. The number of infant +baptisms for 1892 is given as, children of Christian parents 1,337, and +Heathen parents 1,166; these, with 2,806 adult baptisms, and forty-five +"conversions of heretics," bringing the total of baptisms and conversions +for the year to 5,354. The work that is being done by the Roman +missionaries is commended on all sides; a prominent feature in their +methods being a consideration for, and adaptation to, the habits and +prejudices of the people, that greatly facilitate their progress, +especially among the poor of the country districts. The whole number of +Roman Catholics in Japan amounts, as has been said already, to about +45,000. + +I pass on to speak of the condition of the Greek, or Orthodox Russian, +Church in Japan; whose relations with the Church of England are here, as +elsewhere, of a friendly though not, of course, of a very intimate +character. Its head-quarters are at Tokio, where an imposing Cathedral, +situated on high ground and in a central position, has recently been +erected. Unfortunately our information in this case is very incomplete; +but assuming the correctness of the numbers before us, one is struck by +the paucity of missionary clergy, viz. one bishop and three priests. To +these must be added eighteen native clergy, and 128 unordained teachers +and workers. There are in all 219 congregations. The number of adult +baptisms in 1892 is given as 952; and the total membership at the present +time exceeds 20,000. Scanty as these details are, they indicate much +activity and progress. The proximity of Russian territory to +Japan--Vladivostock being only some 700 miles N. of Nagasaki--is, of course, +a circumstance highly favourable to the Orthodox Mission. + +Coming now to the various bodies arranged by Mr. Loomis under the title of +"Protestant," we will take first the _Nippon Sei Kokwai_, or Church of +Japan, which is the name given to the union formed by the Missions of the +American Episcopal Church, the Church of England, and the English Church +in Canada. It is, however, only fair to say that the total number of +adherents of the Nippon Sei Kokwai are greatly less than half the number +claimed by the Presbyterian Churches, as also by the Churches of the +American Board's Mission. The Missions, then, of the American Church and +of the Church of England are to a great extent worked independently of +each other, each being under its own Episcopal control; but at the same +time, the two Churches enjoy, of course, full intercommunion, and are +practically one,--often taking counsel together, and dividing the various +districts by mutual arrangement in such a way as to make the best use of +their resources. To the American Church belongs the honour of being the +first body to commence Christian work in Japan in the present century; the +Rev. C. M. Williams, afterwards Bishop for Japan and China, establishing +himself at Tokio in 1859, and proceeding at once to translate portions of +the Bible and Prayer-Book, hold services for the benefit of +English-speaking people, and set on foot schemes for the study of our +language. There are now twelve missionary clergy at work, and twenty-one +female missionaries; together with seven native clergy and nineteen +unordained workers and preachers. Of the twenty-seven organized churches +only one is wholly self-supporting. The number of baptisms in 1892 was, +adults 208, children fifty-eight; while the total membership amounts to +over 1,400, with a like number of children receiving instruction in Sunday +Schools. In 1873, Dr. Henry Laming was appointed missionary physician, and +arrived at Osaka, where he has done and is still doing an excellent work. +A good deal of secular educational work is also carried on in connexion +with the mission. + + [Illustration.] + + Sketch Map of Japan. + + +We next come to the work of the Church Missionary Society, which commenced +operations in Japan in 1869. The Society has now twenty-two missionary and +seven native clergy engaged; forty-two female missionaries, and sixty +unordained preachers. Of its sixteen organized churches one is +self-supporting. The number of baptisms in 1892 was, adults 267, children +121; and the total membership at the present time amounts to 2,126, with +600 children in Sunday Schools. + +The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel commenced work in 1873; and +has its headquarters at Tokio. The work of the two Community Missions, +founded by Bishop Bickersteth in 1887, is apparently included in the +statistics assigned to the S. P. G. in the table before us. At St. +Andrew's University Mission, five clergy--all of whom are University +Graduates,--live in community with several native students preparing for +Ordination, while at St. Hilda's Mission, a staff of English ladies is +engaged in work, which includes schools, a hospital, and a home for +mission women. Both these Missions are supported by the "Guild of St. +Paul,"--a society which has branches all over England,--whose occasional +papers are full of interesting information. Several other priests of the +S. P. G. are engaged at various mission stations; and these, with seven +native ministers, make in all some nineteen clergy at work in Japan. The +adult baptisms in 1892 numbered 151, and the membership at the present +time is given as 784. + +The Wyckliffe College Mission was sent out by the Canadian Church in 1888. +At present it provides only three clergy, who are engaged at Nagoya, a +flourishing commercial city situated about midway between Kyoto and Tokio. +Bishop Bickersteth, however, in his recent Pastoral Letter, refers to its +work in hopeful and appreciative terms. + +The total number of adherents of the Nippon Sei Kokwai will thus be seen +to be about 4,300 (with upwards of 2,000 Sunday Scholars); and of these +the Church of England can claim barely 3,000. At the same time evidence is +by no means lacking that the work is being carried on upon thoroughly +sound principles and along right lines; and there are many reasons for +believing that, with adequate resources, a future awaits it, under God, +far exceeding the calculations that might be suggested by its present +numerical strength. Some of the readers of these pages may, possibly, be +in greater sympathy with the general position of the S. P. G. than of the +C. M. S; but no consideration of this sort should allow us to be +inappreciative of the splendid work which the C. M. S. has done in the +past, and is still doing in non-Christian countries. Its chief centre in +Japan is at Osaka, another huge commercial city, some twenty miles from +Kyoto where there is a considerable European settlement. Bishop +Bickersteth--as does also the American Bishop, Dr. Williams(32)--resides at +Tokio, the capital; where the services at St. Andrew's Church, adjoining +the Episcopal residence, are such as may well gladden the heart of an +English Churchman, who finds himself 11,000 miles from home. They include, +I may mention, a Daily Celebration. A striking feature of the Nippon Sei +Kokwai is presented in its Biennial Synods, three, if not four, of which +have already been held. The Synods are composed of clergy and laity, every +congregation of twenty persons being entitled to send its representative; +and they indicate a stage of organization rarely, if ever, attained to by +so youthful a Church. In a word, what is being aimed at throughout is not +to Europeanize, but to Christianize; not to form a "branch of the Church +of England," but to establish, on those lines of Catholic and Apostolic +Christianity which we believe the Church of England faithfully represents, +a _Japanese Church_, which may be committed, as soon as ever circumstances +allow, entirely into the hands of the Japanese themselves. + +The Bishop's Pastoral Letter to his Clergy (Advent 1892) treats, among +other matters, of the Marriage Law of the Church, of Old Testament +Criticism,--in the course of his comments upon which, he makes the +quotation, "The central object of our Faith is not the Bible, but our +Lord"--and of the Bishop of Lincoln's case. It exhibits throughout a tone +of earnest Catholicity, of sanctified prudence, and of Apostolic charity. +The Bishop's observations on the confirmation by the Privy Council of the +Lambeth Judgment will be read with satisfaction by many:-- + +"The principle of allowed variety in matters of ritual has now been +authoritatively recognized. Such recognition is essential to the welfare +of a great and living Church in our day. Among other good results which +may follow from the decision, I cannot but hope will be the liberation of +the energies and interests of a great and historic party, hitherto far too +closely confined within the boundaries of our own country, for wider and +more extended work, above all in eastern countries. Its own position is +now legally secured. Any outstanding questions of ritual could be speedily +settled by the application to them of the same principles which are +embodied in the recent judgments. This is so plain that probably no such +decisions will be challenged. May it not then be hoped that there will +shortly be a marked cessation of controversy at home, as for some years +past we are told there has been in our sister Church in the United States, +and coincidently a far more determined effort on the part of the whole +Church than has yet been known, inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirit +of Truth, to win the East to the Faith of Christ?" + +We come next to the _Church of Christ in Japan_, another amalgamation of +religious bodies; comprising, in this case, the Presbyterian Church of the +United States, two or three other American sects, and the United +Presbyterian Church of Scotland. By far the greater number of +denominations engaged in Japan are of American origin; and this is, +practically, an American work; the Scotch Presbyterians being represented +by only two missionaries with a single station, and only joining the +Mission in 1875--fifteen years after two of the American bodies had +commenced their work. The number of male missionaries in connexion with +this movement amounts to fifty-two; and to these must be added fifty-three +native ministers, 100 female missionaries, and over 100 lay preachers and +workers. Of the seventy-four organized churches no less than one-third are +wholly self-supporting. Baptisms in 1892 were, adults 789, children 100; +and the total present membership amounts to 11,190, with over 2,000 +children in Sunday Schools. The fact that the Presbyterians of Japan have +recently adopted the Apostles' Creed as their Confession of Faith, in +place of the formularies with which their bodies have hitherto been +associated, is hardly the occasion for satisfaction that would at first +sight appear; the course in question being, I understand, to some extent +due to the prevalence of views similar to those held by a large number of +the Congregationalists of Japan, to which I shall presently refer. The +work of the Presbyterians however, must be accounted among the most +successful efforts for the evangelization of the country; while they have +had from the beginning the advantage of being supported by men of national +reputation and position. + +We come now to the _Kumi-ai Churches_ in connexion with the American +Board's Mission; i.e. the Congregationalists. This work owes its +foundation to a Japanese gentleman,--a Mr. Neesima,--who was converted to +Christianity, whilst on a visit to America. Its head-quarters are at +Kyoto. Starting in 1869--several years after the Presbyterians, their +relations with whom are of a cordial character,--the Congregationalists +very closely approach them in numerical strength. The Mission is worked by +twenty-six missionary and twenty-eight native ministers; with fifty-seven +female missionaries and 100 lay agents. Of ninety-two organized churches +one half are self-supporting; a large proportion of the converts belonging +to the middle and upper classes. 1,096 adults were baptized in 1892 and +sixty-six children. Total adherents 10,700, with upwards of 6,000 children +in Sunday Schools. In connexion with this Mission is a large college, in +which the greater number of the students are Christians, and many of these +candidates for the ministry; and mention must also be made of two +hospitals under the care of missionary physicians. The above figures, +without doubt, bear witness to great energy on the part of the +Congregationalist body; and it is with regret that we find ourselves +compelled to regard them with somewhat modified satisfaction. + +"Speaking generally, it cannot be too clearly felt that systems which do +not definitely teach the truths contained in the Apostolic and Nicene +Creeds, whatever benefits may accrue to individuals from the moral +teaching which they impart, are not merely negative in tendency and +results, but retard the progress of the Kingdom of Christ in Eastern +lands." Such are the weighty words of Bishop Bickersteth,(33) the occasion +which drew them forth being the adoption by the Congregationalists of +Japan of the following Declaration of Belief:--"We believe (i) in the One +God, (ii) in Jesus Christ who came on earth to save sinners, (iii) in the +Holy Spirit from Whom we receive new life, (iv) in the Bible which shews +us the way of salvation, and (v) in Baptism and the Holy Supper, in +punishments and rewards given by God according to our merits, in +everlasting life if we are righteous, and in the Resurrection of the +Dead." Several of the clauses in this statement are open to grave +objection; but the fact that the second clause was deliberately adopted in +place of the words, "in Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, Who +suffered and died to atone for the sins of the world"--an alteration which +was heartily welcomed by the Unitarians of Japan--is full of painful +significance. The Bishop, while expressing his thankfulness that there are +large numbers in the Congregationalist body, who have no share in the +prevailing scepticism, points out that in dealing with others, with whom +this is not the case, nothing can be gained by any attempt at +co-operation. "At such times a severe exclusiveness may be the truest +exhibition of a heartfelt sympathy." + +To the remaining Missions at work in Japan we can only very briefly refer. +The American Methodist Episcopal Church has eighteen missionaries and +twenty-nine native ministers; fifty-eight churches; and a total following +of nearly 4,000, exclusive of children in Sunday Schools. The Canadian +Methodists number over 1,800 adults; and the Baptist Missionary Union +(U.S.A.) about 1,300. Two other American sects place their total at 500 +each. The German Swiss Protestants number 240; the "Universalists" +seventy-eight; and the Society of Friends (U.S.A.) forty-three. The +Scandinavian Church, whose mission has only recently commenced its work, +has seven clergy engaged; and the Unitarians are represented by two +ministers--my only reason for mentioning these last-named bodies together +being that no further particulars of either are to hand. + +But it is time to be bringing these remarks to a conclusion. We may, then, +declare the total number in Japan of those professing Christianity in any +form--[I should, by the way, have mentioned that the number of male +converts would appear to exceed by about one-third the number of +women,]--to be not more than 100,000; while the entire population of the +country is estimated at from thirty-eight to forty millions. In other +words, not more than one person in every 400 can be said to be, in any +sense, a Christian. I emphasize this fact, not because I think it +discouraging, but because it seems becoming the fashion for the cause of +Christianity in Japan to be spoken of as already won. That Japan has still +great changes and developments to undergo in the near future scarcely +admits of question. "The nation is working out its spiritual redemption;" +and, as Mr. Loomis well says in his letter to _The Christian_ before +referred to, "As Japanese society advances, there will be all the more a +place for Christian influence. _The social problems of the people can only +find solution through religion._" We may well believe and hope that, as +time goes on, the true faith of Jesus Christ and of His Church will more +and more prevail. So, too, we may rejoice that the foundations have been +laid, and that some real and steady progress has been effected; we may +hope that more is, even now, being accomplished by the leaven of influence +than can at present find place in tables and statistics. And yet, as we +look the position boldly in the face, we must see that elements to +occasion anxiety are by no means lacking; and especially must we see how +much more remains to be done that has already been achieved. The +possibility of some form of Christianity being adopted as the national +religion, is a matter as to the desirability of which it is extremely +difficult to express an opinion, until the proposition assumes a more +definite shape than is likely for some time to be the case. + +That both Christianity and Christians are subjected to searching criticism +at the hands of the more educated natives we have already seen; while, +from time to time, tidings are received of bitter opposition encountered +by those engaged in the work of evangelization among the poor of the +country districts. Moreover, in that spirit of accommodation to which we +have several times referred, as forming so striking a feature of the +system, Buddhism appears now to be striving to maintain its position in +Japan, by a re-statement of its doctrines in such terms as to place itself +in accordance with the modern systems of philosophy, which have found such +favour and acceptance with the educated classes. At the same time, there +is, without doubt, a widespread persuasion throughout Japan--in many cases +most reluctantly arrived at--that the former ascendency of Buddhism has for +ever passed away. "A dull apathy as regards religion has settled down upon +the educated classes of Japan. The gods of heathenism have crumbled to +nothing before modern science and civilization, and the glimmer of light +and truth to which they pointed has gone as well."(34) Sometimes, again, +Christianity is spoken of by Buddhists in terms which encourage us to hope +that there are those who, while they have not as yet taken the decisive +step, are still "not far from the kingdom of God." Take, for examples, +these words of a Mr. Nakanishi. "It is the glory of mankind that Jesus +lived. Much that Christ taught will never decay. Did Christ's teaching +come from man, or from above man? Every word, every phrase, of Christ +should influence us. In the Four Gospels, the noblest and wisest morality +of the world appears. So simple is it, so easily understood and applied. +'Love God and love man,' as central principles, suffice to regenerate +society and lead men to heaven. Christ's character and teachings stand for +ever." + +With a brief reference to one or two further points suggested by Mr. +Loomis' table, I will bring this, my last chapter, to a close. One of +these is the distinction he draws--and it is a distinction quite worth +drawing--between married and unmarried missionaries. Of course, the Roman +clergy are all unmarried, as are also the four missionaries of the +Orthodox Church; but when we come to the "Protestant Missions," we find +the numbers of married and unmarried clergy to be 205 and thirty-seven +respectively. Indeed, with the exception of the Church of England, the +Scandinavian Alliance, and the American Methodist Episcopal Church, which +supply six each, there is no mission with more than two unmarried clergy, +and several have not even one. Now it is certain that this is not the way +in which great mission work has been done in the past; but is the newer +way better than the old? Beyond observing that the presence of female +missionaries is in a very special degree needed in Japan, be they the +wives of the clergy or not, I will not presume to answer that question +myself; but I may, perhaps, be allowed to record the opinion, emphatically +expressed to me, of one who has lived in the East for a great many years, +and is by no means in sympathy with the compulsory celibacy of the Roman +priesthood. "It is," he remarked, "far too hastily assumed that the fact +of the married missionary usually bringing another valuable ally to the +work sufficiently determines the question. But I am convinced that, +speaking generally, it is to the unmarried missionary that wider +opportunities of usefulness are extended. Nor is it merely that his +movements are entirely free and unhampered--that he is exempt from domestic +obligations and anxieties--that he has more time for study--and that he is +thrown more in the society of his brother clergy. As a man's children +begin to grow up, educational and other considerations in connexion with +these, urge upon him the desirability of returning home, with the result +that, just as he has begun to master the difficulties of language, and to +enter into the thought and habits of the people, his place is taken by a +tyro, who, however well-meaning, cannot but have all his experience to +gain." No doubt, there is plenty of room for both married and unmarried +clergy in the mission field; but the great preponderance of the married in +the case before us may well serve to suggest the consideration:--Might not +more of that large and possibly increasing number of unmarried clergy in +England be drawn to take part in a work of such fascinating interest--"_a +work_," if I may once more quote the words of our Bishop in Japan, "_that +must be done at once if it is to be done at all_." + +Another point that can scarcely fail to strike us as we examine Mr. +Loomis' statistics, is the large number of "dismissals and exclusions" +made by those bodies which supply information under this head, and +amounting in some cases to several hundreds in a year. That such measures +are not resorted to without grave reason may be assumed, and that some +exercise of discipline is especially necessary in dealing with a young and +nascent church admits of no dispute. There is indeed every reason to hope +that by far the greater number of converts are actuated by an intense +sincerity, and evidence of this is afforded in the self-sacrifice to which +they, in many ways, readily submit for the Faith they have embraced. But, +at the same time, it is probable that the numbers in question indicate an +even larger proportion of "failures," than is the case with mission work +generally; and that they point not only to losses through "back-sliding," +but to many instances of insincerity on the part of those professing +conversion. It has been remarked that it does not belong to the Japanese +temperament to "take things _au grand serieux_;" and this characteristic +extends to matters of religion. The young fellow, for instance, who, for +some reason or another, thinks it "worth his while" to conform to +Christianity for a time, will have the very smallest scruples about doing +so; and that, with a semblance of earnestness that will baffle, at any +rate for some time, the careful scrutiny to which candidates are rightly +subjected by most, if not all, of the missionary bodies. The missionaries, +I fear, are often imposed on; and yet--anything, surely, is better than +being over suspicious and severe. After all, what we want to do is to show +these different nations to whom we go, that Christ and His Church, and we, +His members, do really care for them, alike in things temporal and +eternal. Our Faith, to be really preached, needs to be boldly, hopefully +practised. 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It is the old nobility who have been + throughout the uncompromising opponents of Christianity, and indeed + of all change; and the most zealous supporters of Buddhism. + + 5 Eden's Japan, Historical and Descriptive. + + 6 Even an approximate total is difficult to calculate. At the lowest + estimate we have a number considerably exceeding the whole mass of + Christians. But it is important to bear in mind that in China, + _which supplies more than three-fourths of the total number_, both + Taouism and Confucianism are professed in conjunction with Buddhism. + See Rhys Davids' _Buddhism_, chap. I (S.P.C.K.). + + 7 Thibet. + +_ 8 Light of Asia_, i. 142, and vi. 688. + +_ 9 Lectures on Buddhism_, pp. 62-3. + +_ 10 Legends and Theories of the Buddhists_, p. 187. + + 11 Prof. Max Mueller, however (_Hibbert Lectures_, 1878, p. 134 note), + gives weighty reasons for regarding 477 B.C. as the year of Buddha's + death. + + 12 "The Buddhists look upon the Bo-tree as most Christians have looked + upon the Cross."--Rhys Davids' _Buddhism_, p. 37 note. + + 13 It is, no doubt, owing largely to the influence of Buddhism that the + passion of _anger_ is almost unknown in Japan. In the same way, a + Japanese, though the heart were well-nigh breaking, would consider + it a most unworthy thing to let his grief betray itself. + + 14 Miss Isabella Bird (Mrs. Bishop), authoress of _Unbeaten Tracks in + Japan_, well describes the impression produced on the spectator by + the Daibutsus, or colossal images of Buddha, so common in Japan:--"He + is not sleeping, he is not waking, he is not acting, he is not + thinking, his consciousness is doubtful; he exists,--that is all; his + work is done, a hazy beatitude, a negation remain. This is the + Nirvana in which the devout Buddhist may aspire to participate." + + The Daibutsu at Kamakura, of which an illustration is given + opposite, is one of the largest in Japan. It is fifty feet high, + and, as a work of art, is without a rival. The boss protruding from + the forehead is supposed to represent a jewel, and to symbolize + Illumination. + +_ 15 History of the Jewish Church_, Vol. iii, Lecture xlv. + + 16 This is scarcely less true of Christianity; and it _must_ be true, + in some measure, of every religious system which attempts to + minister to the needs of beings, so differently constituted, and so + dissimilarly circumstanced, as are the members of the human race. As + we proceed in this chapter to refer to the various schools of + Buddhism and their characteristics, we can hardly fail to have + suggested to us, more than once, those different aspects of + Christianity, which have been the occasion of all our "schools of + thought," and, alas, of how many of our divisions! + + 17 Those who would investigate the subject further are referred to + Alabaster's _The Modern Buddhist_ (Truebner, 1870). + + 18 For it is men only who inhabit this Celestial Region: women, worthy + of attaining to it, have changed their sex. + +_ 19 Jodo_ means the "Pure Land." + + 20 Avalokitesvara="The Lord who looks down from heaven." The female + form taking the place of the male is, no doubt, due to the idea of + the woman's being supposed to be the more compassionate nature; just + as, too often in the Christian Church, the Blessed Mother has, for a + like reason, been made to encroach upon the prerogatives of her + Divine Son. Instances are recorded of the Chinese, when conversing + with Europeans, giving the name of _Kwanyin_ to the statues of the + Blessed Virgin in the Roman Churches. (Davis' _The Chinese_, chap, + xiv.) + + 21 I have not thought it necessary in this little volume to introduce + the subject of Confucianism. Even in China it is less a religion + than a system of philosophy--political, social, moral. It may, + however, be remarked that the writings of Confucius are highly + esteemed in Japan, and that, in the past at any rate, they have had + a considerable influence in forming the thought and character of its + people. The ethics of Confucius being materialistic, i.e. concerned + with the things of this present life, and the Buddhist ethics being + mainly spiritualistic, the two mutually supplement each other. The + great Confucian Temple at Yeddo was until 1868 the chief University + of Japan. Now,--so entirely have the Western systems of education + supplanted the teaching of the Chinese sage,--the building has been + converted into a Museum. + + 22 Charcoal-brazier. + + 23 "The only reason I can ascertain for the constant recurrence of the + lotus in Buddhist art and ceremonial is the idea of its being the + symbol of purity. Its scent and aspect are alike delightful, and + though rooted in mud and slime it abhors all defilement. If, + therefore, men would but take it as their model, they would escape + all the contamination of this corrupt world. Every man, it is said, + has a lotus in his bosom, which will blossom forth if he call in the + assistance of Buddha." _Unbeaten Tracks in Japan_, Vol. i. p. 292. + + 24 Buddhists believe in the existence of a personal wicked spirit, + named Mara, whose object is to solicit men to evil. + + 25 Cf. the following extract from the speech of the Bishop of Exeter at + the Annual Meeting of the C.M.S. 1892:--"If you had been asked to + sketch an ideal land, most suitable for Christian Missions, and when + itself Christianized more suited for evangelistic work among the + nations of the far East, what, I ask, would be the special + characteristics of the land and people that you would have desired? + Perhaps, first, as Englishmen or Irishmen, you would have said, + 'Give us islands, inseparably and for ever united, give us islands + which can hold their sea-girt independence, and yet near enough to + the mainland to exert influence there.' Such is Japan--the Land of + the Rising Sun. 'Give us a hardy race, not untrained in war by land + and sea; for a nation of soldiers, when won for Christ, fights best + under the banner of the Cross--for we are of the Church militant here + on earth: give us brave men;' and such are the descendants of the + old Daimios and two-sworded Samurai of Japan. 'Give us an industrial + race, not idlers nor loungers, enervated by a luxurious climate, but + men who delight in toil, laborious husbandmen, persevering + craftsmen, shrewd men of business;' and such are the Japanese + agriculturists, who win two harvests a year from their grateful + soil--such are the handicraftsmen there, whose work is the envy of + Western lands; such are the merchants, who hold their own with us in + commerce. 'Give us men of culture, with noble traditions, but not so + wedded to the past that they will not grasp the present and salute + the future;' and such are the quick-witted, myriad-minded Japanese, + who, with a marvellous power of imitation, ever somehow contrive to + engraft their own specialities upon those of Western lands. Witness + their Constitution, their Parliament, their 30,000 schools in active + operation; witness their museums and hospitals; witness their + colleges and universities. 'But,' you would also have said, 'give us + a race whose women are homespun and refined, courteous and winsome, + not tottering on tortured feet, nor immured in zenanas and harems, + but who freely mingle in social life, and adorn all they touch;' and + such, without controversy, are the women of Japan. Above all, 'give + us a reverent and a religious people, who yet are conscious that the + religion of their fathers is unsatisfying and unreal, and who are + therefore ready to welcome the Christ of God;' and such are the + thoughtful races of Japan." + + 26 See on this subject Study VI in the late Dean Plumptre's _The + Spirits in Prison_. The Christian can scarcely doubt that Gautama + has, long ere this, fallen at the feet of the Crucified,--knowing at + last the Name whereby he has been saved,--and has heard from the + Divine lips the gracious approval, waiting to be bestowed on all men + of good-will, of whatever age, of whatever land, who have "worked + righteousness," and have faithfully responded to whatever measure of + light and opportunity has been accorded them by God. + + 27 I may observe that the language, not only of the New Testament, but + of the _Athanasian Creed_, was quoted to me in this connexion by a + Buddhist priest in Japan. I endeavoured to point out to him,--how far + convincingly I cannot say,--what at the present day at least is + generally recognized amongst us; that for the Christian Church to + warn her own children, in terms the most emphatic just because the + most loving, against becoming entangled in the deadly errors + prevalent at the time when the Creed was drawn up, is a thing wholly + distinct from passing any sentence of eternal condemnation on, or, + indeed, expressing any opinion as to the future state of, such as + live and die without ever having been brought to a knowledge of the + Faith. I added, of course, that any acquaintance with the claims of + Christianity is a responsibility for which we believe all will have + to give account. + + 28 I doubt if the speaker, in his long absence from England, quite + realized the extent to which, of the last few years, bitterness and + intolerance have effaced themselves, at any rate within the limits + of the Church of England; or was aware of the marked improvement + that is exhibited amongst us in dealing with such matters of + controversy as still remain. + + 29 In the course of a letter appearing in _The Christian_ of April 20, + 1893, the Rev. H. Loomis writes, "Let the _forty thousand_ + Christians of Japan but dedicate themselves to the welfare of the + country in all its relations, and the true new Japan will be + founded." But Mr. Loomis himself has placed the total membership of + "Protestant Missions" at 35,500, of the Orthodox Church at 20,300, + and of the Roman Church at 44,800. To which sixty thousand of these + does Mr. Loomis--presumably--refuse the title of "Christian"? and are + we justified in acting thus towards any who believe in the Holy + Trinity, and have accepted Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the World, + Very God and Very Man? + + 30 Even Mr. Loomis' list does not appear to be exhaustive! The + "Plymouth Brethren," e.g., are certainly represented at Tokio. + + 31 The above is an abridgement of a passage in the _Conquests of the + Cross_ (Messrs. Cassell & Co.). + + 32 In the course of the present year (1893), the Rev. J. McKim has been + raised to the American Episcopate in Japan; Dr. Williams continuing + to reside at Tokio. It is also announced that two new Anglican + Bishops are to be consecrated for the Islands of Kyushu and Yezo + respectively. One of these is the Rev. H. Evington, Examining + Chaplain to Bishop Bickersteth, who has been connected with the C. + M. S. Mission to Japan since 1874. + +_ 33 Pastoral Letter to his Clergy_, Advent, 1892. + +_ 34 Occasional Paper_, Guild of St. Paul, Oct. 1893. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION IN JAPAN*** + + + +CREDITS + + +April 24, 2008 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by David King and the Online Distributed Proofreading + Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. 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