# The History of Japan (Kaempfer)/Volume 1/Introduction

An
Introduction
By the Translator.
t would be needleſs to ſay any thing by way of Apology for the publication of the following Hiſtory of Japan. There is ſomething, in all Books of Travels, both uſeful and entertaining to men of all ranks and profeſſions. And as to this Hiſtory in particular, if the Author had not already, by a former performance of his, (entituled Amœnitates Exoticæ, and publiſh’d at Lemgow in 1712) convinced the world of his learning, judgment, and integrity, its own curioſity and intrinſick worth, the remoteneſs of the Country, which is therein ſo particularly deſcribed, and which hath been hitherto but little known, together with the many vexations difficulties, the Author had to ſtruggle with in the purſuit of his enquiries, as hath been hinted by him in his Preface, and will appear throughout the whole work, would ſufficiently recommend it to a favourable reception. The High German Original law, in a manner, ready for the Preſs, when the Amœnitates were printed, and it was promiſed in the Preface, that it would be ſpeedily publiſh’d, but his neceſſary attendance on the practiſe of Phyſick, particularly in the Count de Lippe’s Family, to whom he was Phyſician in ordinary, with a multiplicity of other buſineſs, the want of good engravers, and probably of encouragement too, delay’d its appearing, till at leaſt his ſickneſs and death put an entire ſtop to this and ſome other intended ​works of his, the fruit of many years indefatigable pains and induſtry. Sir Hans Sloane hearing of Dr. Kæmpfer’s death, and having otherwiſe found by his Inaugural Theſes, and his Amœnitates Exoticæ, that he muſt have collected and brought with him into Europe many natural and artificial curioſities, deſired Dr. Steigerthal, his Majeſty’s chief Phyſician, in one of his journies to Hanover, to enquire what was become of them. This Gentleman was ſo obliging, as to go to Lemgow, himſelf, and being told that they were to be diſpoſed of, he immediately informed Sir Hans of, who thereupon purchaſed them for a conſiderable ſum of money, together with all his drawings and manuſcript memoirs: And it is owing to his care and generous aſſiſtance, that this Hiſtory of Japan, the original High German manuſcript of which was bought at the ſame time, is now firſt publiſhed in Engliſh. It was upon his intimation, which deſervedly hath with me the weight of a command, that I undertook to tranſlate it, a Gentleman of better abilities, who intended to do it, having been called abroad, and employ’d in affairs of a different nature. And I went about it with more chearfulneſs, as out of his known communicative diſpoſition, and unwearied endeavours to promote all uſeful, and in particular natural knowledge, he was pleaſed not only to grant me the uſe of his Library, which I may venture to call the completeſt in its kind in Europe, but likewiſe to give me leave to copy out of his invaluable treaſures of curioſities in nature and art, what would ſerve to illuſtrate and embelliſh it, for which, and the many other marks of the favour and friendſhip he hath honoured me with, ever ſince my arrival in this Country, I take this opportunity gratefully to return my ſincereſt acknowledgments. My deſign, in this Introduction, is, in a ſhort ſurvey of this preſent work, to point out ſome of its peculiar excellencies, and to illuſtrate the whole with a few additional remarks, tending to clear up ſome doubtful points from the lateſt diſcoveries, and to explain others, which have been hitherto but ſlightly, if at all, touched upon. As the tranſlation and publication of this Hiſtory led me into farther ſearches concerning the Empire of Japan, and put me upon enquiring what other authors have wrote on this ſubject, I thought that it would not be unacceptable, not altogether uſeleſs, to publiſh a liſt of them, with ſome obſervations, I made upon peruſal, on the character, tranſlations and ſeveral editions of the moſt conſiderable: I have had the ſatisfaction to find, upon the ſtricteſt ſearch, that there was nothing of moment wanting ​in the Library of Sir Hans Sloane: And it will appear by the completeneſs of this catalogue, what an immenſe charge and trouble the worthy Poſſeſſor muſt have been at, to bring together, from all parts of the world, ſo extenſive a collection of Books of Phyſick, Natural Hiſtory and Travels, and of what an advantage it would be to the learned world, to ſee ſome account of them in print, of which he was pleaſed to give us ſome hopes in the Introduction to the ſecond volume of his Natural Hiſtory of Jamaica.
I. Survey of this Hiſtory.This Hiſtory of Japan was by the Author divided into five Books. At the beginning of the firſt Book is an account of his voyage from Batavia to Siam, and from thence to Japan, together with a ſhort deſcription of the Kingdom of Siam. One would imagine, after the many and prolix accounts of the Kingdom of Siam, publiſhed (on occaſion of that memorably Embaſſy, which was ſent from thence into France in 1684, and was return’d by two others from France to Siam) by de L’Iſle, F. Tachard, the Abbot de Choiſy, Nicolas Gervaiſe, and the two Ambaſſadors ſent thither by the King of France, the Marqueſs de Chaumont, and Monſieur de la Loubere, not to mention many preceding writers, that there ſhould have been little or nothing left to be taken notice of by other Travellers: But the obſervations of Dr. Kæmpfer ſhew, that the ſubject was far from being exhauſted. His narrative of the late revolution in Siam, and the fall and execution of the famous Conſtantin Faulcon, for ſome time Prime Miniſter to the King, hath ſeveral circumſtances entirely new, and others very much differing from the account given by the French writers, particularly F. D’Orleans (who wrote the life of M. Conſtance) and it may deſerve ſome credit, as the French, by being expelled the Country, were incapacitated to give a good account of what happen’d, and as he himſelf arrived there not long after this remarkable event, when as yet it was freſh in every body’s memory. He hath made many pertinent remarks on the Religions, Cuſtoms, Chronology of the Siamites, and hath obſerved, in leſs than a month’s ſtay, ſeveral things even in and about the Capital, which eſcaped the attention of other Travellers before him. The Pyramid Pukathon, and the Courts of Berklam’s Temples, which he hath ſo accurately deſcribed and figured, and inſtances of this.
The Hiſtory of Japan begins with a Geographical Deſcription of that Empire, deliver’d in two Chapters, and taken out of their own ​authors, ſo far as it related to the number of Provinces, or Counties, the particular diſtricts they are divided into, and the Revenues of each Province. Japan proved to be an Iſland.It hath been very much doubted by ſome of the lateſt Geographers, whether or no the Empire of Japan is contiguous to the neighbouring Country of Jeſſo, as the Japaneſe call it, and conſequently, whether it is to be reckon’d among the Iſlands or Penenſula’s. Monſiquer de l’Iſle, a Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, and Geographer to the King of France, ſeem’d rather inclined to think that it is contiguous to Jeſſo, and hath given the reaſons of his conjectures in a Letter, which was publiſh’d in the third volume of the Recueil des Voyages au Nord, (p. 32.) It will not be amiſs, on this occaſion, to offer ſome obſervations, which will ſerve to clear up this doubt, and to ſhew that it actually is an Iſland. And in the firſt place it muſt be obſerved, that Monſieur de l’Iſle lays the greateſt ſtreſs of his Conjectures on the uncertainty, which the Japaneſe themſelves are in, about the antiquity of their Empire with a neighbouring continent, and ſome paſſages taken out of a Latter of F. Luis de Froes, and the memorable Embaſſies of the Dutch to the Emperors of Japan, wherein it is poſitively aſſerted, that they are contiguous. He doth not diſown, but that all the Maps of the Japaneſe Empire, made ſince its diſcovery in 1542, particularly thoſe of Texeira, Coſmographer to the King of Portugal, and of Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, Author of the Arcano del Mare, with ſome others ſent from China and Japan, concurring to make an Iſland of it, are of no ſmall weight to make one think that it is one, the rather, as this opinion is farther ſupported by moſt account from thoſe parts. As to what he quotes out of Tavernier, of a ſhip, which, he affirms, in the third volume of his Travels, to have ſailed all round Japan, that indeed might be eaſily given up, though never ſo poſitively aſſerted. That Author, himſelf ſcarce able to read or write, and obliged to borrow the Pen of another man to write the account of his Travels, was too ſuperficial in his deſcription even of thoſe Countries, where he hath been, and too apt, not only to take things upon truſt at firſt hand, but afterwards alſo to confide too much to his memory, to be any ways depended on: And in his account of that ſhip, (whereby it is plain, he meant the Breskens and Caſtrecoom fitted out by the Dutch Eaſt India Company, and purpoſely ſent upon diſcovery of the County of Jeſſo in 1643) he hath ​made, whether miſinform’d himſelf, or willing to miſinform others, too many unaccountable blunders, to deſerve the leaſt credit. But without having recourſe, to what might be gather’d for or againſt the opinion of M. de l’Iſle, either from the Maps or Writings of preceding authors, though I believe he hath even there by much the minority on his ſide, this matter is put out of all doubt, by the Maps of the Empire of Japan made by the natives, and by the lateſt diſcoveries of the Ruſſians. The Japaneſe, in all their maps, repreſent their Empire as conſiſting of very many Iſlands, great and ſmall, the largeſt whereof, which is by them called Nipon, is entirely ſeparate from a neighbouring Northern Country, which they call Jeſogaſima, or the Iſland Jeſo, and which is in all probability, the very ſame, which F. Hieronymous ab Angelis went into from Japan, and which in his ſecond account he affirms to be an Iſland, contrary to what he had advanced in the firſt. Some maps place between Japan and Jeſogaſima another ſmall Iſland called Matſumai. Several of theſe maps, which were brought out of the Country by Dr. Kæmpfer himſelf, and which I have follow’d in the map annexed to this Hiſtory, at leaſt, where I was wanting in better memoirs, are now in the hands of Sir Hans Sloane, and another was ſeveral years ago engraved by the learned Mr. Reland out of the collection of M. Benjamin Dutry. I muſt own, that theſe maps, for accuracy and preciſeneſs, fall far ſhort of our European ones, the Eaſtern Geographers being not skilled enough in Mathematicks and Aſtronomy for that: But it cannot be ſuppoſed, with regard to the Japaneſe in particular, that being ſo fully apprized, as they are, of the largeneſs, extent and diviſion of Oſiu, the moſt Northern Province of their Empire, and one of the moſt populous, they ſhould be ignorant, whether or how far it is waſh’d by the Sea, and where it borders uopn other Countries or Provinces. That there is a ſtreight, which ſeparates the moſt Northern Coaſts of Japan from a neighbouring Continent, is farther confirm’d by the lateſt diſcoveries of the Ruſſians. Some Account of Siberia.It is but of late years, that the Ruſſian Court hath been apprized of the largeneſs of Siberia, and the Great Tartary, and their vaſt extent Eaſtwards. For a long while their knowledge was in a manner bound by the River Oby, which diſcharges itſelf into the ſtreights of Weigats, and on which ſtands Tobolskoi, the Capital of Siberia, and the uſual place of baniſhment for State-Criminals. When Dr. Kæmpfer was at ​Moſcow, they had then already received ſome better memoirs, but they were as yet kept very ſecret. ’Twas from theſe, and later informations, that M. de Witſen made, ſome time after, his large map of Ruſſia and the Great Tartary, which goes a good way beyond the RIvers Jeniſea and Lena, and which was afterwards corrected in ſeveral places, and abridges, by Mr. Isbrand Ides, in his Voyage to China. But by the lateſt diſcoveries, particularly that of the Country of Kamchatka, which was made but a few years ago, it appears, that the Ruſſian Empire, in largeneſs and extent, far ſurpaſſeth any as yet known, not even the dominions of the Emperor of China excepted, though that Monarch is poſſeſs’d of a conſiderable part of the Great Tartary, and that it borders upon the Kingdoms of Sweden and Poland, the Turkiſh Empire, the Kingdom of Perſia, the Turkeſtaan and Bulgarian Tartaries, and the Dominions of the Emperor of China, nay that further Eaſtward it reaches down almoſt as far as the Iſlands of Japan. Deſcription of Kamchatka.But it is not my deſign here to enter into a deſcription of the Ruſſian Empire, and I ſhall confine myſelf to the Country of Kamſchatka, as the Ruſſians call it, a draught of which I have added to my Map of Japan (v. Tab. VIII.) as I found it repreſented in a large Map of the Ruſſian Empire, made according to the lateſt informations, the Ruſſian Court had from thoſe parts, and publiſh’d in Holland but a few months ſince. This Country ſeems to be the very ſame with that, which the Japaneſe call Oku-Jeſo, or Upper-Jeſo, and of which they know little more, but that there is ſuch a Country. According to the beſt accounts, the Ruſſians are as yet able to give, it is a Peninſula, ſeated between 150 and 170 Degrees of Longitude, and 41 and 60 of Latitude, Northward of Japan. Northward it is contiguous to Siberia, running up almoſt as far as Cape Suetoinos, which is the furthermoſt Cape of Siberia to the North-Eaſt, but to the Eaſt, South and Weſt it is waſh’d by the Sea. It is inhabited by different nations, whereof thoſe, who live about the middle, pay contribution to the Ruſſians, but others living more North, particularly the Olutorski, as they are called in this map, are their profeſs’d enemies. The Kurilski, as the Ruſſians call them, who inhabit the moſt Southern part, being alſo more civilized than the reſt, are by them ſuppoſed to be Colonies of the Japaneſe, and ſo far as the account of the Japaneſe may be depended on, they are ſubject to the Emperor of Japan, and govern’d, ​under his authority, by a Prince, who commonly reſides at Matſumai, and who repairs once a year, as do all other Princes of the Empire of Japan, to Jedo, to pay homage to the Emperor. The Commerce between Siberia and Kamchatka is carried on two different ways. Some go over the Gulph of Kamchatka, which runs up between it, and the Great Tartary and Siberia, near fifty-eight Degrees of Latitude, and they commonly paſs it from Lama, where the Ruſſians have begun to build large ships, to Priſtan, a Town built by them in Kamchatka, and inhabited by a Ruſſian Colony. But thoſe inhabitants of Siberia, who live about the River Lena, and along the Icy Ocean, commonly come with their Ships round Cape Suetoinos, and this they do to avoid falling into the hands of the Tſchalatzki, and Tſchutzki, two fierce and barbarous nations, poſſeſs’d of the North-Eaſt point of Siberia, and great enemies to the Ruſſians. By this account, which I have taken from the curious remarks upon a Genealogical Hiſtory of the Tartars, lately publiſh’d, it appears, 1. That Aſia is not contiguous to America to the North-Eaſt, but that there is a paſſage out of the Icy Sea into the Indian Ocean, and that conſequently it would be poſſible for Ships to ſail from Europe acroſs the Icy Ocean, and from thence along the Country of Jeſſo or Kamchatka, and the Eaſtern Coaſts of Japan to the Indies, were it not for the huge mountains of Ice continually floating in thoſe frozen Seas, even in the midſt of Summer, but much more for the ſcarce ever melting Ice in the Streights of Weigats, whereby the paſſage through theſe Streights is render’d abſolutely impracticable, at all times of the year. 2. That there is a Streight which ſeparates the Country of Kamchatka from Japan. According to the accounts of the Ruſſians, there are ſeveral ſmall Iſlands in theſe Streights, the largeſt whereof is in a map of Kamſchatka, publiſhed ſome years ago by J. B. Homann, call’d Matmanska, and is probably the ſame with Matſumai in ſome Japaneſe maps. And this I think ſufficient to ſhew, for what reaſons I have in the map of Japan, annexed to this Hiſtory, made an iſland of it.
From the Geographical deſcription of the Empire of Japan, Dr. Kæmpfer proceeds to take into his conſideration the original deſcent of the Natives, which he traces up to the confuſion of Tongues at Babel, ſuppoſing, that upon the Babylonians being diſperſed all over the world, the firſt Japaneſe alſo went to ſettle in that part, which was allotted by ​Providence for the future abode of themſelves and their poſterity. The Japaneſe are not a Colony of the Chineſe.He confutes the opinion of thoſe, who pretend, that the Japaneſe are only a Colony of the Chineſe. His arguments are drawn chiefly from the many and thoſe very material differences in the Language, Religion, Cuſtoms, way of Life, and inclinations of both Nations, and certainly, conſidering the warlike humour and activity of the Japaneſe, and the effeminate ſlothfulneſs of the Chineſe, one would rather take the former to be of Tartarian extraction. The Reverend F. Couplet, who, for his deep inſight into the Hiſtories of the Chineſe, may be allowed a competent Judge, is of the ſame opinion, as appears by his Introduction to the Philoſophy of Confuſius, (publiſh’d at Paris in 1687) p. LXXI. and he enforces it by a remarkable paſſage he met with in the annals of the Chineſe, whereby it appears, that in the reign of Uu Ye, (the 25th Monarch of the Family of Xam, being the ſecond Family of the Emperors of China) who came to the throne in the year before Chriſt 1196, (that is, upwards of 500 years before the foundation of the Japaneſe Monarchy) the barbarous Nations to the North of China, (that is, the Tartars) being grown too numerous, ſeveral Colonies were detach’d to people the Iſlands lying in the Eaſtern Ocean. But whatever Nation the Japaneſe are deſcended from, the Conjectures of Dr. Kæmpfer, for as ſuch only he delivers them, are certainly valuable, as they led him to make many curious and uncommon remarks, tending to the improvement of Geography, or relating to the Hiſtory and Languages of ſeveral Nations. Mean while, that there ſhould be nothing wanting on this ſubject, he hath acquainted the Reader with the viſibly fabulous traditions of the Japaneſe themſelves about their original deſcent.
He concludes the firſt Book with the Natural Hiſtory of the Metals and Minerals, Plants, Trees, Animals, Birds, Inſects, Fiſhes and Shells of Japan. It were to be wiſh’d, his obſervations, on this head, had been more numerous and extenſive, though if it be conſider’d, what difficulties he laboured under, it is rather ſurprizing, that he was able to go ſo far. He had indeed by him the deſcription and figures of ſome hundred curious Plants, which he hath obſerved in Japan, having had his hands leſs tied for Botanical ſearches, but he reſerved them for another work. His obſervations on the Tea, on the Paper manufactures of the Japaneſe, of the Moxa, of the Acupunctura, or Needle-pricking, and of Ambergreaſe, which were printed in the Amœnitates Exoticæ, ​belonging likewiſe to the Natural Hiſtory of Japan, I have tranſlated them, and they are inſerted in the Appendix to this work.
Although the Japaneſe Monarchy was founded long after the Chineſe, the firſt Emperor of Japan having begun to reign in the year before Chriſt 660, yet the Japaneſe, led by a vanity, which they have in common with moſt Eaſtern nations, boaſt of a greater antiquity, than even the Chineſe, and begin their Annals, with two Succeſſions of Deities, ſuppoſed to have governed their Country many millions of years ago. As affairs now ſtand in Japan, there are properly two Emperors, an Eccleſiaſtical and a Secular. For many Centuries the Eccleſiaſtical Monarchs were poſſeſs’d of an abſolute and unlimited authority both in Church and State affairs, and it is an inſtance, I believe, not to be parallel’d, that the Imperial Diadem continued in one family for upwards of two thouſand years: Even although in Succeſſion of time, the Crown Generals wreſted the Government of Secular affairs entirely out of their hands, yet their rank and ſplendor, their ancient title and magnificent way of life, their authority in Church affairs, and one very conſiderable prerogative of the ſupreme Power, the granting of titles and honours, were left entire. The Hiſtory of theſe Princes, during a Succeſſion of CXIV of them, who reigned from the year before Chriſt 660, to the year 1690, taken out of their own Annals, together with ſome remarks on their Court, and on the Chronology of the Japaneſe, neceſſary to make it intelligible, is the chief ſubject of the ſecond Book of this Hiſtory of Japan, and indeed not the leaſt conſiderable, no attempt of this kind having ever been made, though I find it mention’d in F. Couplet, that the Chronological Tables of the Japaneſe Monarchy, printed in Chineſe characters, were, in his time, in the Library of the King of France, and that its beginning was therein likewiſe fixed to the year before Chriſt 660. At the end of the ſecond Book is a liſt of the Secular Monarchs, from Joritomo to Tſinajos, who was poſſeſs’d of the Throne, when the Author was in Japan.
The Religions now flouriſhing, or tolerated, in Japan, that in particular, which was of old eſtabliſhed in the Country, and which very materially differs from the reſt, are deſcribed, in the third Book, with that accuracy, which is obſervable throughout the Author’s works.
In the fourth Book the Reader will find a complete and accurate deſcription of Nagaſaki, the only place in Japan now open to foreigners, ​nay indeed to the Dutch and Chineſe only, of its ſituation, its preſent ſtate and government, its remarkable buildings, the advantageous or burthenſome condition of its Inhabitants, with an account of the trade and commerce of the Portugueze, Dutch and Chineſe, conſider’d in their ſeveral periods, the fall and expulſion of the former, and the confinement and hardſhips of the latter.
The fifth and laſt Book contains an ample account of the obſervations made by the author in his two Journies to the Emperor’s Court in 1690 and 1691, together with ſome preliminary remarks on the manner of travelling in Japan, and the remarkable objects Travellers meet with on the road.
What I have tranſlated out of the Amœnitates Exoticæ, and inſerted into the Appendix to this work, hath been already touched upon, ſo far as it regards the Natural Hiſtory of Japan. In the ſixth and laſt piece, the author maintains a ſingular paradox, and illuſtrates it with the Example of the Japaneſe Empire, that a Country may be happier, and in a more flouriſhing condition, when ſhut up and kept from all commerce and communication with foreign Countries, than if it was open to the ſame.
Japan was not known to the Ancients.It doth not ſeem probable, that the ancients had any knowledge of the Iſlands of Japan, at leaſt not before, nor in the time of Ptolemy, who flouriſh’d under Trajan, Adrian, and Antoninus Pius, at Alexandria, a celebrated School of Learning, and one of the moſt eminent trading Towns in the Roman Empire, nay a great Mart even for Indian Commodities, and who, by correcting the works of Strabo, Pliny, Pomponius Mela, Marinus of Tyr, and other Geographers before him, and by reducing all the parts of the world then known to proper degrees of Longitude and Latitude, hath ſet Geography in the ſtrongeſt light, it was then as yet capable to receive. This Author mentions the Countries of the Seres and Sinæ (doubtleſs the Empire of China, perhaps with part of the Great Tartary to the North, and the Kingdoms of Tunquin and Cochinchina to the South) as the furthermoſt part of Aſia, Eaſtwards, known in his days, and ſaith expreſly, that the Seres were limited to the Eaſt, and the Sinæ both to the Eaſt and South, by γῆν ἂγνωςιν, an unknown Country, which ſeems to imply, that then they did not ſo much as know, that China was bounded to the Eaſt by the Indian Ocean, and that conſequently they muſt have been entirely ​unacquainted with whatever Countries, or Iſlands, have been ſince diſcovered beyond the Eaſtern Coaſts of this Empire.
I am not ignorant, that ſome of Ptolemy’s Commentators have thought otherwiſe, and certainly there was a large field left for conjectures, as he hath mentioned and named many Iſlands lying in the Indian Ocean, the ſituation whereof he hath not aſcertain’d, and indeed was not able to do it, with deſirable accuracy. Monſieur de l’Iſle, to inſtance in no more, hath paid a very great compliment to the ancient Geographers, in his map of thoſe parts of the world, which he ſuppoſes, were known to them. He imagines that the Inſulæ Maniolæ, which Ptolemy ſays were inhabited by Antropophagi, Cannibals, are the Philippine Iſlands, the chief whereof is called Manilhas to this day, that the three Inſulæ Satyrorum are the Iſlands of Japan, that by the Sinus Magnus muſt be underſtood the Bay of Tonquin, and by the Terra Incognita (mentioned in the Fourth Chapter of the Seventh Book of his Geography) the Country of Jeſſo, or Kamchatka, as the Ruſſians call it, which remained an unknown Country will within theſe few years laſt paſt. I ſhould have been very willing to ſubmit to ſo good an authority, in a point too, the deciſion whereof at beſt depends upon little more than conjectures, but that, upon conſulting the original text of Ptolemy, it ſeem’d to me, that this ſyſtem is too inconſiſtent with the poſitions of places, as laid down by this celebrated Geographer, to admit of any reconciliation, making even the neceſſary allowances for the Infant State of Geography in thoſe days. The Inſulæ Maniolæ, for inſtance, are placed by Ptolemy 15 Degrees Weſtwards of the Aurea Cherſoneſus, which is agreed on all hands to be the Peninſula of Malacca, and upwards of twenty of the Sinus Magnus: the three Inſulæ Satyrorum, oppoſite to the Sinus Magnus, and both theſe Iſlands to the South of the Æquinotical Line, which makes it highly improbably, if not abſolutely impoſſible, that they ſhould be either the Philippine Iſlands, or the Iſlands of Japan.
Some account of Marco Polo, the firſt European writer who mentions Japan.Marco Polo, who lived at the cloſe of the thirteenth Century, and was deſcended of a noble family at Venice, is beyond doubt the firſt European writer, who makes certain mention of the Iſlands of Japan. His account of the Eaſtern Countries, in the main, is tolberably, good, and beyond what could be naturally expected from thoſe dark ages wherein he lived. ’Tis true, he had many excellent opportunities, and ſuch as few ​Travellers meet with, to make himſelf maſter of his ſubject. He ſet out on his Travels about the year of Chriſt 1275, when he was but eighteen or nineteen years of age. He was conducted into Tartary and Chian by Nicholas his Father, and Matthew his Uncle, two experienced Travellers, who had been in thoſe Countries before. He underſtood, if we believe what he ſays himſelf, the four ſeveral Languages, ſpoke in the Dominions of the then reigning Tartarian Monarch Cublai, and lived ſeventeen years in the ſervice of this Prince, who, although he invaded and conquered China, bears yet even in the Annals of the Chineſe, the Character of a prudent and magnanimous Prince, and a munificent encourager of learning. He had ſeveral conſiderable employments at his Court, and was frequently ſent, with Commiſſions of importance, to many diſtant parts of his Empire. He went into Tartary and China by land, and returning, which no European had done before him, by the way of the Eaſt-Indies, he came back to Conſtantinople, and from thence to Venice, about the year 1295. As to Japan in particular, which he ſpeaks of in the third Book of his account of the Eaſtern Countries, he calls it Zipangri. This word bears a near affinity to Nipon, the name of the largeſt of the ſeveral Iſlands compoſing the Empire of Japan, which is by the inhabitants of Tonquin, and the Southern Provinces of China, pronounced, to this day, Sijpon, or Zipon. He owns indeed, that he had not been in the Country himſelf, and pleads this as an excuſe for the ſhortneſs, and perhaps the imperfections of his deſcription. However, there are many particularities mentioned by him, which the very lateſt accounts from thoſe parts confirm to be true, as for inſtance, the trade, which the inhabitants of Mangi, (perhaps Tonquin) a Province of South China, carried on with the Japaneſe, the great wealth of the Iſland, particularly in Gold and Pearls, the Monarchical Government, the Colour, Stature, and Religion of the Natives, the multitude of ſmaller Iſlands, which encompaſs the great Iſland Zipangri, and which he ſays, the Sailors, in his time, computed to be 7440 in number. There is one remarkable event mentioned by Marco Polo, which it would be neglect in me to paſs over in ſilence, both as it bears a near affinity to the ſubject of this preſent Hiſtory, and as it proves, in a very ſtrong manner, the veracity of this writer: This is an expedition undertaken into Japan during the author’s abode in China. The ambitious Tartarian Monarch, not ſatisfied with having made himſelf maſter of the mighty Empire ​of China, but being informed of the wealth and riches of the neighbouring Iſland Zipangri, reſolved to add that alſo to his other, though great and numerous conqueſts, in order to which a formidable fleet was ſent over with a conſiderable army on board, under the command of two renowned Generals, Abatan and Nonſachum. The Annals, both of the Chineſe and Japaneſe, take notice of this expedtion. F. Couplet, in his Chronological Tables of the Chineſe Monarchy, refers it under the reign of the Emperor Xicu, who founded the family of Yven, being the 20th family of the Emperors of China, and compleated the conqueſt of that Empire in the 17the year of the 67th Chineſe Cyclus, or the year of Chriſt 1281, near 4000 years from the foundation of that monarchy, and who is the very ſame Cublai, at whoſe Court Marco Polo had lived many years. In the Annals of the Japaneſe it is mention’d under the reign of Govda, the CXth Emperor of Japan, who came to Crown in the year of Chriſt 1275, 1935 years from the foundation of the Japaneſe Empire. There is indeed ſome difference between theſe ſeveral Accounts, with regard to the circumſtances of this expedition, and in particular to the ſtrength of the Tartarian fleet and army, which the Japaneſe, as victors are wont to magnify, ſay was compoſed of 4000 ſaild, and 240000 men. But they all agree, that it proved unſuccesful. F. Couplet, who barely mentions it, is entirely ſilent about the uſe of the ill ſucceſs. The Japaneſe, in their Annals, thankfully aſcribe it to the powerful protection of their Gods, who enraged at this ſignal inſult offered them by the Tartars, excited a moſt furious tempeſt, whereby their ſhips were ſunk, and their numerous army totally deſtroy’d, that but few eſcaped to bring back the tidings of this melancholy defeat to China. Marco Polo confirms the dreadful effects of this ſtorm, and moreover adds, that the diſſenſions and miſunderſtandings which aroſe between the two Tartar Generals, was one of the chief cauſes of the ill ſucceſs they met with, and of the loſs even of what they had already made themſelves maſters of. Not long after the return of Marco Polo into Europe, the Republick of Venice falling at variance with that of Genoa, he was honour’d with the command of a Galley. The Venetian felet was commanded by Andrea Dandola, Procurator of S. Marc, and that of the Genoeſe by Lampa Doria. Marco Polo, in defence of his Country, diſcharged his duty with courage and reſolution, bravely advancing againſt the ​Enemy, but the Venetian fleet being worſted, he was taken Priſoner himſelf, and carried to Genoa, where for his perſonal qualities, and the knowledge and experience he had acquired in foreign Countries, he was very honourably treated. ’Twas there that a Genoeſe Nobleman, whoſe name is loſt to poſterity, wrote the account of his Travels, and his obſervations on the Eaſtern Countries, from his own mouth, and in Latin, ſometime about the year 1298. A little while after it was tranſlated into Italian, but the Latin original being ſoon become extremely ſcarce, Franciſcus Pipinus, of Bologna, a Fryar, made a new tranſlation of it, which is printed in Johan. Huttichii novus orbis Regionum, publiſh’d at Baſil in 1532, and afterwards in 1555, but is withal ſo ill done, and ſo widely differing from the original, that Giovanni Battiſta Ramuſio, having recover’d one of the firſt Italian Copies, thought it would be of ſervice to the Publick, to print it in that Language, as he hath done in the ſecond volume of his valuable collection of Voyages and Travels, with an addition of many curious remarks on the family of Marc Paul, and his adventures after his return to Venice. In 1671, another Latin Edition of this Author was publiſhed at Cologn, by Andreas Mullerus, with ſeveral various lections from a manuſcript in the Library of the Elector of Brandenburg, and ſome curious remarks of his own. Before I diſmiſs this celebrated Traveller, upon whom, I am afraid, I have ſenſibly dwelt too long, it may not be amiſs to obſerve, that three Maps of the Eaſtern Countries, compoſed chiefly from his account and obſervations, are extant in that rare and famous edition of Ptolemy’s Geography, which was publiſhed at Lyons in 1535, by Michael Villanovanus, or Michael Servetus, who was afterwards burnt at Geneva as an Atheiſt.
How far the deſcription of Japan in Marco Polo was conducive to the diſcovery of America.From the time of Marco Polo, through the ignorance and darkneſs of thoſe ages, this importance diſcovery lay neglected, nay indeed all his writings in a manner buried in oblivion, for near two hundred years, till upon the reſtoration of learning, and the invention of the art of Printing, they were, together with many other curious and valuable Manuſcripts, brought to light: Very advantageouſly for the publick and himſelf, they fell into the hands of Chriſtopher Columbus, that immortal diſcoverer of the Weſtern World. He had long mediating that great deſign, influenced, by a variety of things, which made him probably conclude, that there muſt be Weſtwards of Europe a Country them as yet undiſcover’d, ​and full of well-grounded hopes, he had made application for Ships and Money, though for ſome time in vain, at the Courts of ſeveral European Princes, and amongst others that of Henry VII. of England, till at laſt he was equipp’d by Iſabella, Wife to Ferdinand King of Spain, who pawned her Jewels to fit him out. It is very much for the honour of Marco Polo, that his writings, and in particular his account of the Iſland Zipangri, at leaſt ſupported Columbus in his hopes and conjectures. The wealth and riches, which Marco Polo ſaith, that Iſland was famous for even in his days, made an attempt of that kind worth undertaking, and ſuppoſing (though erroneouſly, as appear’d by later diſcoveries) that the Empire of China lay fifteen hours Eaſtward of Europe, and conſequently Zipangri ſtill more, it was but natural for him to conclude, that the way thither muſt be ſhorter ſailing Weſtwards from Europe, than by going Eaſtwards all round Africa. Perhaps alſo he might have received ſome hints from a Sea Chart, and a Map of the World, which it is ſaid Marco Polo brought with him into Europe, and wherein were repreſented many Countries in the Eaſt-Indies, which were afterwards diſcover’d by the Portugueze. The ſucceſs of this enterprize of Columbus none of my Readers can be ignorant of, and I will only add, that theſe ſeveral conſiderations abovemention’d made ſo ſtrong an impreſſion on his mind, that when he landed at Hiſpaniola, he thought it was the very Zipangri of Marco Polo.
Diſcovery of Japan by the Portugueze.Mean while a new world was adding to the Monarchy of Spain, by the diſcovery and conqueſt of America, the Portugueze on their ſide, enlarged their dominions as ſucceſsfully in the Eaſt Indies. The diſcovery of Japan, though it was but accidental, is one of many, the honour of which is due to that Nation. It is not indeed agreed on all hands, what year that diſcovery was made, ſome authors bringing it as high as the year 1535, others to 1542, others to 1543, and ſome ſtill lower. In this uncertainty of opinions, that of Diego do Couto, the celebrated continuator of Joan de Barros his Decades, ſeems to me to deſerce moſt credit. That Gentleman, who was Hiſtoriographer to Philip II. King of Spain and Portugal, and ſpent the beſt part of his Life in the Indies, had in his cuſtody the Archives of Goa, whence he collected the Materials for that great Work of his, of the diſcoveries, conqueſts, and remarkable actions of the Portugueze in the Indies, which he brings down to the end of the ſixteenth Century. This Author informs us (Decada quinta da ​Aſia, printed as Lisbon 1612, f. - p. 183) that in the year 1542, when Martinus Alfonſus de Souſa was Viceroy of the Eaſt Indies, three Portugueze, Antonius da Mota, Franciſcus Zeimoto, and Antonius Peixota, whoſe names well deſerved to be tranſmitted to poſterity, were caſt thither in a ſtorm, on board a Junk laden with hides, and bound from Siam to China.
Their firſt eſtabliſhments there.The Portugueze, where-ever they came to ſettle in the Indies, either by Conqueſt or Treaties, turn’d their thoughts and utmoſt endeavours chiefly to two things, the increaſe of their Trade and the propagation of the Goſpel, and I believe it may be aſſerted, that they met no where with ſo ſudden and unexpected a ſucceſs in both, as they did in the Empire of Japan. As to the firſt, indeed, the flouriſhing condition of their Trade, and the immenſe wealth they got by it, their own writers are in great meaſure ſilent about, perhaps for fear of diſcovering ſo valuable a branch of commerce to other Nations: but the latter, the propagation of the Goſpel, was thought too worthy, too deſerving a ſubject, not to be enlaged upon in a variety of relations ſtill extant, wherein its early foundation, its ſurprizing progreſs, the perſecutions raiſed againſt it, the fervor of the new Converts, their unparalleled conſtancy and reſolution, and the final extirpation of Chriſtianity, effected by no leſs means than a cruel butchery of all thoſe, who would not renounce it, are conſider’d in all their wide extent, and moſt minute circumſtances.
III. The writers on the Empire of Japan.This leads me to the Liſt I propoſed to give of what Authors I met with in the Library of the worthy Sir Hans Sloane, relating either to the Eccleſiaſtical, Political, or Natural Hiſtory of Japan.
Letters of the Jeſuits.Among the Eccleſiaſtical writers, the Letters of the Jeſuits deſerve to be firſt mention’d. It is well known, that theſe Fathers are order’d once a year to ſend to their General an account of what paſſed in their Miſſions; their Letters, although they turn chiefly upon religious Matters, their progreſs in the converſion of Infidels, the difficulties they meet with, pretended Miracles, and the like, yet many Remarks are thrown in relating to the Condition, Government, Religion, and Natural Hiſtory of the Countries, where they are ſtationed, together with the Manners and Cuſtoms of the Natives, and the like. As to thoſe Letters which were ſent from Japan, and which I ſhall here confine myſelf to, many of them were firſt printed ſeparately, but afterwards collected together. To ​mention all the ſeparate Editions or Tranſlations, would be too tedious, and in the end needleſs.
The firſt Collection was publiſhed at Louvain in 1569, (in two Vol. Octavo) together with ſome Letters from other parts of the Eaſt-Indies, and a Preface of Hannardus de Gameren, wherein he diſcourſes of the riſe and progreſs of the Society of Jeſus in general, and the occaſion of S. Francis Xaviers going to the Indies, and afterwards to Japan, in particular. This Edition was followed by another in 1570, wherein the Preface of Gameren was omitted, but ſome new Letters added.
The next Collection is that of Petrus Maffeus, which was firſt printed at Paris, (1572, Octavo) together with Emanuelis Acoſtæ Hiſtoria rerum à Societate Jeſu in India geſtarum ad annum 1568. It was afterwards printed ſeparately at Cologn, 1574, Octavo. This Edition is divided into five Books, and contains all the Letters relating to the affairs of Japan, which were ſent from thence, from the year 1548, when S. Francis Xaviers went thither from Goa, to the year 1565, with a Specimen of the Japaneſe Characters, at the latter end, being the grant of a Church made to the Jeſuits by the Prince of Bungo. It was again reprinted at Cologn 1589, Folio, together with his Hiſtoria Rerum Indicarum, and his Life of Ignatius Loyola, Founder of the Society of Jeſus. This laſt Edition is divided only into four Books, and hath been augmented with ſeveral Letters, which bring down the affairs of Japan to the year 1573. The Letters of Aloiſius Froes, Gaſpar Villela, Melchior Nunnez, & Organtinus of Brixia, are the moſt curious and entertaining in the Collection of Maffeus.
The Collection made by Johannes Hayus, a Native of Scotland, is next to be conſidered. It was printed at Antwerp 1605, Octavo, by the following Title, De Rebus Japonicis, Indicis & Peruanis Epiſtolæ Recentiores. It begins with a long Letter of Aloiſius de Froes, dated at Bungo May 25. 1577, and comes down to the latter end of the year 1601. It runs through a variety of remarkable events, which make it highly worthy the peruſal of the curious. The Church of Japan in a moſt flouriſhing condition, even amidſt the beginnings of a dreadful perſecution, ſome of the Princes of the Empire of Japan not only converted to the Chriſtian Faith, but paying homage to the Pope at Rome by a ſolemn Embaſſy, the life, remarkable actions, and death of Taicoſama, that illuſtrious Prince, who from a low ſervile condition of life, ​by his own merit and excellent conduct, raiſed himſelf to the Empire of Japan, his war with the Coræans, the reception and ſucceſs of an Embaſſy, which was ſent to him upon that account by the Emperor of China, the tragical death of Quabacondono, his only nephew, whom he had already appointed to be his Succeſſor, and the Revolution, which happened in Japan, upon the death of this great Monarch, are ſome of the moſt conſiderable. There are many ſeparate accounts extant of theſe and ſome other things, which happened in Japan in that ſpace of time, but as they are all contained in this Collection, I ſhall avoid troubling the Reader with a particular account of them, and only beg leave to add a word or two concerning that memorable Embaſſy above-mentioned, which was ſent to Rome by ſome Princes of the Japaneſe Empire in 1585, and which was ſomething ſo unexpected and unuſual, that the Eyes of all Europe were then turned upon it.
Moſt accounts of this Embaſſy, which were printed in ſeveral parts of Europe, contain little elſe, but a narrative of its reception at Rome, and the ſeveral audiences, the Ambaſſadors had of Gregory XIII. who died ſoon after their arrival, and of Sixtus V. his Succeſſor. It will ſuffice to mention the two following, as the moſt ample and extenſive.
Relationi della venuta degli Ambaſciatori Giaponeſi a Roma, fino alla partita di Lisbona. Con le accoglienze fatte loro da tutti i Principi Chriſtiani, per dove ſone paſſati. Raccolte da Guido Gualtieri, Roma 1586, Octavo. This work contains, beſides a ſhort deſcription of the Empire of Japan, an account of the voyage of the Ambaſſadors into Europe, and of what happened to them during their ſtay there, untill their departure from Lisbon.
De Miſſione Legatorum Japonenſium ad Romanum Curiam, rebuſque in Europa ac toto Itinere animadverſis, Dialogus, ex Ephemeride ipſorum Legatorum collectus, & in Linguam Latinam verſus ab Edvardo de Sande, Societatis Jeſu Sacerdote. In Macaenſi partu Sinici Regni, in domo Societatis Jeſu, cum facultate oridnarii & ſuperiorum, anno 1590, Quarto. This rare and curious Treatiſe, which was printed at Macao in China, both in Latin and Japaneſe, lays open, at once, the ſtate of Europe and the Indies, as it was at that time. The Jeſuits proud of the ſucceſs of this Embaſſy, which was entirely a work of theirs, intended that the Japaneſe ſhould be informed, as it were, by the Ambaſſadors themſelves, ​of the favourable reception they had met with in Europe, and the remarkable things they had ſeen in their voyage and return. And certainly it contains as complete an account, as it was then poſſible to give, of the ſtate of Europe, its largeneſs and diviſion, its government Monarchical, Ariſtocratical, or Democratical: Of the pomp and magnificence of the European Princes, the ſplendor of their Court, their riches and power: Of the manners, cuſtoms, and way of life of the nobles and inferior ſort of people: Of the flouriſhing condition of trade and commerce: Of the way of carrying on war in Europe, both by Sea and Land: Of the principal Towns in Europe, particularly of Lisbon, Evora, Villavizioſa, Madrid, Piſa, Florence, Rome, Naples, Padua, Verona, Mantua, Cremona, Liman, Genoa, being the places which the Ambaſſadors themſelves had paſſed through, and where they had been ſhewn, in the moſt ample manner, what was curious and remarkable: Of the power and authority of the Pope at Rome, the magnificence of his Court, the ceremonies obſerved upon his demiſe and burial, as alſo upon the election of a new Pope, the ſplendor of his Coronation, the pomp of his going to take Poſſeſſion of the Church of S. John de Lateran: Of the power and grandeur of Philip II. then King of Spain, and the largeneſs of his dominions in Europe and both the Indies: Of the Republick of Venice, the nature of its government, the ſituation, riches and antiquity of that Town and Commonwealth: Of the numerous conqueſts and diſcoveries of the Portugueze in the Indies: Of ſeveral Countries in the Indies, particularly the Empire of China; and a variety of other things, too many to be here mentiontd. It was wrote by way of Dialogues, wherein the Ambaſſadors Mancius and Michael, their two companions Martinus and Julian, Leo, a brother of the Prince of Arima, and Linus, a brother of the Prince of Omura, are introduced as Interlocutors. The author hath not omitted, in proper places, to give ſome account of the Empire of Japan itſelf, and particularly to compare the manners and cuſtoms of that Country with thoſe of Europe. In ſhort, were the whole work now reprinted, I do not doubt, but that it would yet meet with a favourable reception.
But to proceed. There are many Letters of the Jeſuits, ſubſequent to the ſeveral Collections mentioned above, and many other writers on the ſame ſubject, a liſt whereof is hereby ſubjoined, ranged as nearly as poſſible in the order of time, in which the things, they treat of, happened.
​Relation del Martyrio, que ſeys Padres deſcalos Franciſcos, tres hermannos de la Companio de Jeſus, y deciſiete Japones Chriſtianos padecieron en Japon. Por F. Juan de Sancta Maria. Madrid 1601, 8vo. The Franciſcans, whoſe Martyrdom is deſcribed in this account, were ſent Ambaſſadors from the Governor of Manilhas to the Emperor Taico, and by him received and treated as ſuch, but having afterwards, contrary to his repeated commands, continued openly and without reſerve to preach at Miaco, they were ſentenced to be executed at Nagaſaki, as diſturbers of the publick tranquillity, together with three Jeſuits and ſeventeen Japaneſe, who had been all taken upon for the ſame cauſe.
Hiſtoria de las Iſlas del Archipelago Reinos della gran China, Tartaria, Cochinchina, Malaca, Siam, Camboxa, y Japan, y delo Succedido en ellos a los Religioſos deſcalos de la orden del Seraphico Padre ſan Franciſso de la Provincia de ſan Gregorio de las Philippinas. Par F. Marcello de Ribadeneyra. Barcelona 1601, 4to. Only the fourth, fifth and ſixth Book of this Hiſtory, relate to the affairs of the Church of Japan, and in particular to the execution of the Franciſcans above-mentioned.
Hiſtoria de las Miſſiones, que han hecho los Religioſos de la Compania de Jeſus, para predicar el Sancto Evangelio en la India oriental, y en los Reinos della China, y Japon. Primera y ſegunda parte. Por el P. Luis de Guzman. Alcala 1601, fol. The fifth and ſixth Book of the firſt volume, and the whole ſecond volume of this Hiſtory, contain a very ample and circumſtantial account of the affairs of the Church of Japan, from its foundation by S. Francis Xavier, to the end of the ſixteenth Century.
Relacion annual de las coſas, que han hecho los Padres de la Compania de Jeſus en la India Oriental y Japon en los annos de 1600 y 1601, y del progreſſo de la Converſion y Chriſtiandad de aquellas partes. Valladolid 1604, 8vo. This is a continuation of F. Luis Guzman his Hiſtory of the Church affairs in China and Japan. It was firſt wrote in Portugueze by F. Ferdinand Guerreiro, and tranſlated into Spaniſh by F. Antony Collaco.
Tre Lettere annue degli anni 1603, 1604, 1605, & parte del 1606, mandate dal R. P. Franciſco Paſio. Bologna 1690. Theſe three Letters are of F. Johannes Rodericus Giron.
​Literæ Japonicæ Anni 1606, Chinenſes Anni 1606 & 1607, illæ à R. P. Joh. Rodriguez, hæ à R. P. Matthæo Riccio Soc. Jeſu tranſmiſſæ ad Cl. Aquavivam, Latinè redditæ à Rhetoribus Collegii S. J. Antwerpiæ 1611, 8vo.
Literæ Japoniæ annorum 1609 & 1610. Ex Italicis Latinæ factæ ab Andrea Schotto. Antwerpiæ 1615, 8vo.
Hiſtoire des Choſes les plus memorables avenues tant ez Indies orientales, qu’autres pais de la decouverte de Portugais, en l’eſtabliſſement & progrez de la Foy Catholique, & principalement de ce que les Religieux de la Compagnie de Jeſus y ont fait & enduré pour la meſme fin, depuis qu’ils y ſone éntrez, juſquez a l’an 1600, par Pierre du Jarric, Toloſain, de la meſme Compagnie, 1. partie. Bourdeaux 1608, 4to. This Hiſtory, which relates to all the Eaſtern Countries in general, was compiled chiefly from the Letters of the Jeſuits, the Life and Letters of S. Francis Xavier, as publiſhed by F. Turſellin, the Writings of Maffeus, Acoſta, Guzman, Joannes de Lucena, Fernandus Guerreiro, and others. The ſecond Volume was publiſhed at Bourdeaux 1610, 4to. and the Third, which comes down to the Year 1610, at the ſame place, 1614, 4to. The whole Hiſtory was afterwards tranſlated into Latin by Matthias Martinez, and publiſhed at Cologn 1615, 8vo.
Rei Chriſtianæ apud Japonios Commentarius, ex Literis annuis Soc. Jeſu, Annorum 1609, 10, 11, & 12. Collectus à Nicolao Trigaultio. Auguſtæ Vindelicorum. 1615. 8vo.
Relacion del ſucceſſo, que tuvo nueſtra ſante fe’ en los Reinos de Japon deſde el anno 1612, haſte el anno de 1615, imperando Cuboſame, Compueſta por el P. Luys Pineyro. S. J. Madrin. 1617. At the latter end of this account, which was taken from the Letters of the Jeſuits in Japan to F. Mutio Vitelleſchi, then general of the order, is a Liſt of all perſons that were executed in Japan for the Chriſtian Religion, from the year 1564 to 1615: as alſo of all the Colleges, Schools, and Convents, which were taken from the Jeſuits during the Perſecution, amounting in all to 73.
A brief relation of the Perſecution lately made againſt the Catholick Chriſtians in the Kingdom of Japan. Divided into two Books. Taken out of the annual Letters of the Fathers of the Society of Jeſus, and other authentical informations, tranſlated into ​Engliſh by W. W. London. 1619. 8vo. This relates chiefly to what paſſed in the year 1619.
Hiſtoria y Relacion del Japon deſde el anno 1612, haſta el de 1615. Por el P. Pedro Morejon. S. J. Lisboa 1615. 4to.
Hiſtoria del Regno di Voxu del Giapone, dell’ antichita, nobilta e valore del ſuo Re Idate Maſamune, delli favori, ch’a fatti alla Chriſtianita, e deſiderio che tiene d’eſſer Chriſtiano, e dell’ aumento di noſtra ſanta fede in quelle parti, e dell’ Ambaſciata, che ha inviata alla ſantita di N. S. Papa Paolo V. e delli ſuoi ſucceſſi, con altre varie coſe; fatta par il Dottor Scipione Amati, Romano, Interprete a Hiſtorico dell’ Ambaſciata. Roma 1615, 4to. This was a ſecond Embaſſy from Japan to Rome. It was ſent by Idate Maſamune, Prince of Voxu, that is, Osju, the moſt Northern Province of the Empire of Japan, and F. Ludovicus Sotelo, a Franciſcan, was at the head of it. They went into Europe by the way of the Weſt-Indies, and were admitted to an audience of the Pope on the 2d of November 1615. As to a more circumſtantial account, the Reader is referred to the work itſelf.
Lettere annue del Giapone, China, Goa, Æthiopia al Generale della Compagnia di Gieſu, ſcritte dalli padri dell’ iſteſſa Compagnia nell’ anni, 1615, 16, 17, 18, 19. Volgarizate dal P. Lorenzo delle Pozze. Milano 1621, 8vo.
Hiſtoria y Relacion de los ſuccedidos en los Reinos de Japon y China deſde el anno 1615, haſta el de 1619. Por el P. Pedro Morejon. S. J. Lisboa 1621, 4to.
De Chriſtianis apud Japonios triumphis, ſive de graviſſima ibidem contra Chriſti fidem perſecutione exorta ab anno 1612, uſque ad annum 1620. Libri V. Auctore P. Nicolao Trigaultio. Cum M. Raderi auctario & Icnibus Sadelerianis. Monachij 1623, 4to.
Hiſtoire de ce qui s’eſt paſſè au Japon, tiree des Lettres eſcrites es annees 1619, 1620, & 1621. Traduite de l’Italien par le P. Pierre Morin. Paris 1625, 8vo. At the latter end of this Hiſtory there is an account of the Country of Jeſſo, by F. Hieronymus ab Angelis, who was there in 1621, being a Letter wrote by him from Matſumai, wherein he aſſerts, that although in a former account of his he had denied it to be an Iſland, yet upon later obſervations, and ​the beſt information the Natives were able to give him, he had thought fit to alter his opinion, that to his own certain knowledge it borders upon the Sea on the Eaſt, South and Weſt, and that to the North the Currents ran ſo ſtrongly, as made him conclude, that there alſo it must be waſhed by it.
Hiſtoire de ce qui s’eſt paſſè de Royaumes du Japon & de la Chine, tiree des Lettres eſcrites es annees 1621 & 22. Traduite de l’Italien en Francois par Jean Baptiſte de Machault. Paris 1627, 8vo.
Vita P. Caroli Spinolæ pro Chriſtiana Religione in Japonia mortui. Italicè ſcripta a R. P. Fabio Ambroſio Spinola. S. J. Latine reddita a P. Hermanno Hugone. S. J. Anterpiæ 1630, 8vo. F. Charles Spinola was burnt alive in Japan, on the tenth of September 1622.
Hiſtoria Eccleſiaſtica de los ſucceſſos de la Chriſtiandad de Japan deſde el de 1602, que entro en el la orden de Predicadores, haſta el de 1620. Compueſto por el P. F. Jacinto Orfanel, de la miſma orden. Y annadida haſta el fin del anno de 1620. Por el P. F. Diego Collado. Madrid 1633, fol. This work relates chiefly to the Miſſions of Fathers of the Order of S. Dominic in Japan, as doth alſo, in good meaſure, the following, which brings down the affairs of their Miſſions in the Philippine Iſlands, Japan and China, from the year 1582 to 1637.
Hiſtoria de la Provincia del S. Roſario de la orden de Predicadores en Philippinas, Japon y China, por Don Fray Diego Aduarte, Obiſpo della nueva Segovia. Annadida por el P. F. Domingo Goncalez. En Manila en el Collegio de S. Thomas, 1640, fol.
Relation verdadera y breve de la perſecution y Martyrios, que padecieron por la confeſſion de nueſtra S. Fé Catholica en Japon, quinze Religioſos de la Provincia de S. Gregorio de los deſcalcos del orden de S. Franciſco, de las Iſlas Philippinas, y otros muchos Martyres Religioſos de otras religiones, y ſeculares de diferentes eſtados, todos los quales padecieron en Japon deſde el anno de 1613, haſta el de 1624. Por el P. Diego de San Franciſco. Manila 1625, 8vo. At the latter end of this ſmall Tract are, Acta audientiæ a S. D. N. Paulo V. Pontifice opt. ​max. Regis Voxu Japoni legatis Romæ die 3 Nov. 1615. in palatio Apoſtolico exhibitæ.
Literæ annuæ e Japonia, anni 1624. ex Italico in Latinum tranſlatæ. Dilingæ 1628, 8vo.
Hiſtoire Eccleſiaſtique des Iſles & Royaumes de Japon par le R. P. Francois Solier. Paris 1627, 4to. This is a general Hiſtory of the Church of Japan, and in a Chronological order, from its foundation to the year 1624.
Narratio perſecutionis adverſus Chriſtianos excitatæ in variis Japoniæ Regnis, annis 1628, 29, 30. Ex Italito Latine reddita a Joh. Bollando. Antwerpiæ, 1635. 8vo.
Hiſtoire der Martelaaren die in Japan om de Roomſche Catholiicke Religie, ſchrickeliicke ende onverdraagelycke piinen geleedeen heben, ofte ghedoodt ziin. Bechreeven door Reyer Giisbertz. The Author of this ſhort Hiſtory, which is commonly printed with F. Caron’s Hiſtory of Japan, lived for ſome time at Nagaſaki in the ſervice of the Dutch Eaſt-India Company, and was an eye witneſs to moſt of the facts, which he therein diſcourses of, and which happen’d from the year 1622 to 1629.
Relatione della Provincia del Giapone ſcritta dal. P. Antonio Franceſco Cardim. Roma 1643, 8vo. The State of the Chriſtian Religion in Japan, Tonquin, Cochinchina, Siam, Cambodia, Laos, and the Iſland Haynan, the Embaſſy, which was ſent by the Portugueze Government of Macao to the Emperor of Japan, in the year 1640, in order to get, if poſſible, the act of the expulſion of the Portugueze repeal’d, the barbarous reception of the Ambaſſadors, and the cruel execution of their Perſons and whole Retinue, (thirteen only of the loweſt rank excepted, who were ſent back to Macao) on the 3d of Auguſt 1640, are the chief Subject of this relation.
Tractatus in quo agitur de Japoniorum Religione; de Chriſtianæ Religionis introductione in ea loca; de ejuſdem extirpatione. Adjuncta eſt de diverſa diverſarum gentium totius Telluris religione brevis informatio. Auctore Bernardo Varenio, M. D. Amſtelodami 1649, 12mo. This is only an Abſtract of the moſt material things the Author met with in ​Maffeus, ſome of the Letters of the Jeſuits, the account of Reyer Giisbertz and Francis Caron, reduced under certain heads.
Dell’ Iſtoria della Compagnia di Gieſu, l’ Aſia, deſcritta dal P. Daniello Bartoli, Parte I. & II. Roma 1660. f. The firſt part of this general Hiſtory of the Society of Jeſus, brings down the affairs of their Miſſions into Japan and other parts of Aſia, from the firſt Voyage to the Indies of S. Fr. Xavier, whither he ſet out in 1540 to the year 1569. The ſecond is wholly confined to the Church of Japan, giving a general and compleat Hiſtory thereof, from the year 1569, through the reigns of the Japaneſe Emperors Nobunanga, Taicoſama, Daifuſama, or as he was alſo called Ongoſchioſama, and Xongunſama, to its final abolition under the reign of Toxungoſama in the year 1540, when the Portugueze alſo were expelled the Country.
Hiſtoire de l’Egliſe du Japon, par M. l’ Abbé de T. Paris 1689, 4to. 2 Vols. This is the Hiſtory of the Church of Japan of F. Solier, put into better French, enlarged from ſeveral other Memoirs, and continued to the death of the Emperor Toxugunſama, which happened in 1658. It was wrote by F. Craſſet a Jeſuit, whoſe name was prefixed to the ſecond Edition. An Engliſh Tranſlation, by an unknown Hand, was printed at London 1707, in 2 Vols. 4to.
Dutch Writers.The Dutch having not only uſed the trade of Japan as early as the year 1609, but having enjoy’d it excluſive of all European Nations ever ſince 1640, it is but natural to expect more ample and ſatisfactory accounts from their Writers, whom I proceed now to take into conſideration.
John Hughes Linſchooten (Linſcotanus) is the firſt I meet with. He was a native of Enkhuyſen, and went into the Indies with Vincent Fonſeca, Archbiſhop of Goa, in 1583, ſome time before the eſtabliſhment of the Dutch Eaſt India Company. It would be foreign to my purpoſe to mention all the differing editions and tranſlations of his Travels, I will only obſerve, that they make out the ſecond, third, and fourth parts of de Bry’s India Orientalis, and that B. Paludanus, a noted Phyſician at Enkhuyſen, hath added ſome remarks, particularly on thoſe things which relate to Natural Hiſtory. His account of Japan, which is but ſhort, and not without conſiderable miſtakes, goes no farther, than the informations, the Portugueze at Goa, were then able, or willing to give him.
​In another work, entituled Le Grand Routier de Mer, which is by ſome likewiſe aſcribed to Linſchooten, there are many curious, and doubtleſs then very uſeful, obſervations, relating as well to the Navigation to the Indies in general, as in particular to that of Japan, to wit, An Account of a Voyage from Liampon in China to Japan, with a deſcription of the Coaſts of Bungo, Miaco, Cacy, and the Iſland Toca: The Courſe from Lampacon in China to Japan, and the Iſland Firando: The Voyage of a Portugueze Pilot from Macao to Japan, and the Province Bungo: Another deſcription of the Courſe from Macao along the Coaſts of China to the Iſland of Firando, and the harbour of Umbra (Omura) in Japan: A Voyage from Macao to Japan, the Iſland Cabexuma, and the harbour of Langueſaque (Nagaſaki): The Voyage of Francis Pays, a Portugueze from Macao to Japan, in 1585: Directions how to diſcover Meaxume. and how to enter the harbour of Nagaſaki: Several Voyages from Nagaſaki to Macao in 1584, 1585, and 1586: A Voyage from Firando to Macao.
The account of Japan by Francis Caron, who was Director of the Dutch Trade there, is in proportion to its ſhortneſs, beyond queſtion one of the beſt extant, though not altogether without miſtakes. It was written originally in Low Dutch, by way of anſwer to ſeveral queſtions propoſed to him by M. Lucas, then Director General of the Dutch Eaſt India Company. It was afterwards tranſlated into moſt European Languages. The Engliſh tranſlation, by Capt. Roger Manley, was printed at London 1663, 8vo. Some account of this author’s life and character hath albeen already given by Dr. Kæmpfer, p. 357 of this Hiſtory. Henry Hagenaer, who had made a Voyage to Japan himſelf, made ſome additions to this account, which M. Caron, upon his return into Europe publickly diſavow’d, and communicated a true copy of his work to Melchizedec Thevenot, who tranſlated and publiſhed it, with a ſhort Preface, in the firſt Volume of his Relations de divers Voyages curieux, qui n’ont point eté publiez. The following pieces, as relating to the ſame ſubject, are extant with moſt editions of F. Caron’s Hiſtory of Japan. 1. The remarks of Hagenaer. 2. An Account of thoſe, who ſuffered for the faith of Chriſt from 1622 to 1629, by Reyer Giisbertz, (of which above.) 3. A deſcription of the pompous reception of the ſecular Monarch of Japan at Miaco, on the 25th of October 1626, when that Prince went to ſee the Dairi, or Eccleſiaſtical Hereditary ​Emperor. Written by Conrad Crammer, then the Dutch Eaſt India Company’s Ambaſſador to the Emperor’s Court, and himſelf preſent at this Solemnity. 4. A Letter from the Director General of the Dutch Eaſt India Company to the Directors thereof in Europe, touching the trade to Japan. 5. A ſhort account of the vaſt profit and advantages, the Dutch Eaſt India Company would acquire, if they were poſſeſs’d of the trade to China, by Leonart Camps. In the High Dutch Tranſlation, which was printed at Nurnberg 1663, 8vo. there have been farther added, 1. A Map of the Empire of Japan, wherein it is repreſented as contiguous to Jeſſo. 2. Some additional remarks of John James Mercklin, relating chiefly to the affairs of the Dutch after M. Caron’s time, and in particular to the hardſhips they were obliged to undergo after the expulſion of the Portugueze. 3. The Travels of the ſaid Mercklin, who ſerved the Dutch Eaſt India Company in quality of Surgeon from 1644 to 1653, and was himſelf for ſome time in Japan.
The account of M. Caron was again reprinted, from Thevenot’s , in the third Volume of the Recueil de Voyages au Nord, printed at Amſterdam 1715, 8vo. and the following pieces added: 1. A Letter of M. de l’Iſle, touching the queſtion, Whether or no Japan be an Iſland? (This queſtion hath been amply diſcuſſed at the beginning of this Introduction.) 2. An account of the diſcovery of the Country of Jeſſo, or Eſo, ſituated to the North of Japan, which was made by the Ship Caſtrecoom in 1643. 3. The Map of Japan, publiſhed by M. Reland, contracted. 4. A deſcription of the Eaſtern Tartary, by F. Martini, wherein, among other Provinces, ſome account hath been given of the Country of Jeſſo. 5. Some obſervations relating to the original deſcent of the Japaneſe. 6. Some memoirs touching the eſtabliſhment of a Trade to Japan. Written, by order of M. Colbert, by M. Caron. Together with a copy of the Inſtructions to be given to the ſaid M. Caron, who was to be ſent in quality of Ambaſſador from the King of France to the Emperors of China and Japan, and the King’s Letters to theſe two Monarchs, which are dated in the 24th year of his reign, that is, 1667. (Dr. Kæmpfer, p. 357 of this Hiſtory, hath given the reaſons, for which M. Caron did not only quit the Service of the Dutch Eaſt India Company, but betray one of the moſt valuable branches of their commerce, as the trade to Japan then was, to other powers.) 7. The orders of the Emperor of Japan, touching the excluſion of the ​Portugueze from his dominions for ever. 8. An account of what happened at Formoſa, when as yet in the hands of the Dutch Eaſt-India Company, between Peter Nuyts, Governor of that Iſland, and ſome Japaneſe, who had been unjuſtly detained by him. (This account differs in ſome things from that given by Dr. Kæmpfer, p. 56 of the Appendix to this Hiſtory.) 9. An Hiſtorical account of the ſudden demolition of the Dutch Eaſt-India Company’s new built Warehouſe at Firando in 1640.
Deſcriptio Regni Japoniæ, cum quibuſdam affinis materiæ, ex variis Autoribus collecta, & in ordinem redacta, per Bernhardum Varenium, M. D. Amſtelodami 1629, 12mo. This is only an abridgment of the moſt material things the Author met with in ſeveral of the above-mentioned writers, and particularly in Marco Polo, the Letters of the Jeſuits, Linſchooten, Giisbertz, and Caron, reduced under certain heads.
The memorable Embaſſies of the Dutch to the Emperors of Japan, wherewith I ſhall conclude this liſt of the Dutch writers, were written originally in Low Dutch by Arnoldus Montanus, and publiſh’d at Amſterdam 1669, fol. They were ſoon after tranſlated into Engliſh, and publiſhed by John Ogilby, by the following Title: Atlas Japannenſis; being remarkable Addreſſes, by way of Embaſſy, from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces to the Emperor of Japan, containing a deſcription of their ſeveral Territories, Cities, Temples and Fortreſſes; their Religions, Laws and Cuſtoms; their prodigious Wealth and gorgeous Habits; the nature of their Soil, Plants, Beaſts, Hills, Rivers and Fountains, with the Character of the ancient and modern Japanners. Collected out of their ſeveral Writings and Journals by Arnoldus Montanus. Engliſhed and adorned with above a hundred ſeveral Sculptures, by John Ogilby, Eſq;. London 1670, fol. The French Edition was publiſhed at Amſterdam 1680, fol. with ſome additions and alterations. The ſame Cuts ſerved for the three Edition. This work doth by no means anſwer, neither the expence beſtowed on the impreſſion, nor the promiſes made in the very Title-page, nor doth it deſerve the favourable reception it hath met with. It is full of large digreſſions, often altogether foreign to the purpoſe, and although it was pretended to have been collected from the Journals and Memoirs of the ​Ambaſſadors themſelves, I believe, it will be found, upon peruſal, that if it was cleared, of what the Author hath barely, and without any order, tranſcribed from the Letters of the Jeſuits, and moſt of thoſe other writers mentioned in the preceding Catalogue, the reſt would be reduced to a few Sheets. But what is moſt material, moſt of the Cuts, which are the greateſt embelliſhments, and, as it were, the Soul of performances of this kind, do greatly deviate from truth, repreſenting things not as they were, but as the Painter fancied them to be. For as to the deſcriptive part, it muſt be owned, that the Author hath laid the publick under ſome obligations, by bringing together into one Volume, what could then be ſaid on the ſubject, and was diſperſed in many.
Trade of the Engliſh to Japan and ſome of their Writers.Beſides the Portugueze and Dutch, the Engliſh alſo were once poſſeſſed of the Trade of Japan, though they loſt it again in a few years, for what reaſons is now known. Their Factory was ſet up at Firando, under the care of Capt. John Saris, who went to Japan by the way of the Molucca’s, in the Clove, one of the three Ships (the Hector, the Thomas, and the Clove) fitted out by the Eaſt-India Company in 1611, for their eighth voyage to the Indies. Capt. Saris upon his arrival in Japan, which was in June 1613, repaired forthwith to the Court of the Emperor Ongoſchioſama, who then reſided at Surunga, and was admitted to an audience of that Monarch on the 8th of September, of whom he obtained ample privileges, very honourable to the Britiſh Nation, whoſe fame had already reached theſe remote parts of the world, and exceedingly advantageous to the Eaſt-India Company, one of which, and certainly not the leaſt conſiderable, was, that they ſhould have leave to ſet out upon diſcovery of the Country of Jedſo, or any other part in or about the Empire of Japan, a privilege, which the Portugueze, even at the time of their higheſt intereſt with the Japaneſe, were not able to procure on any terms whatever. The good ſucceſs Capt. Saris met with in his Negotiations at the Imperial Court, was owing, in great meaſure, to the aſſiſtance of one William Adams, a Kentiſh man, who had been formerly in the ſervice of the Dutch, and was chief Pilot to a fleet of five Sails ſent to the Eaſt-Indies, through the Streigts of Magellan, under the Command of Jaques Mahay, in 1598. The event of this voyage, the ſtranding of the Ship, on board which Adams was, upon Coaſts of Bungo, and his adventures in Japan, where he got into great favour with the ​Emperor, may be ſeen at large in Purchaſe his Pilgrims, (Vol. I. p. 126) as ſet forth by himſelf in two Letters written from Japan, one of which is dated October 22, 1611. The ſame Author hath given us (p. 334, & ſeq. of the firſt Volume of his Pilgrims) not only a general account of the aforeſaid eighth voyage, made by order, and for the Eaſt-India Company, but likewiſe a more particular narrative of the voyage of Capt. Saris to Japan, of his journey to the Court of the Japaneſe Emperor, and his tranſactions there, together with the obſervations he made during his ſtay in Japan, and the ſettlement of a Factory at Firando, the whole out of his own Journals. Upon the departure of Capt. Saris for Europe, one Ricahrd Cocks, a Merchant, was left at Firando, with eight Engliſhmen, three Interpreters and two Servants. Several Letters of this Richard Cocks, and others, have been printed by Purchaſe (p. 395, & ſeq. of the ſaid firſt Volume of his Pilgrims.) wherein an account is given of what paſſed at Firando after Capt. Saris was gone to the Emperor’s Court, as alſo of later occurrencies there after his departure for England, from the year 1614 to 1620. There is nothing elſe in Purchaſe relating to Japan, but a ſhort Letter of one Arthur Hatch, a Miniſter, then lately returned from thence, dated at Wingham in Kent, Nov. 25. 1623, wherein there are ſeveral very pertinent remarks on the Government of the Japaneſe Empire, and the ſtate of affairs at that time.
There was likewiſe a ſhort account of Japan printed in Swediſh (Wiiſingsborgh 1667, 4to) by Oloff Erichſon Willman, together with the voyages of Nils Matſon into Aſia and Africa, the voyage of the ſaid Willman to the Eaſt-Indies, Chine and Japan, and an account of a journey through Muſcovy into China.
Wrtiers relating to the natural Hiſtory of Japan.The Natural Hiſtory of Japan, and the State of Phyſick in that Country, have never been profeſſedly treated of by any writer. Beſides what Dr. Kæmpfer hath done himſelf, and which I have already touched upon in my account of his Life, and in ſome parts of this Introduction, the following performances of Cleyer, and Ten Rhyne, are the only one tending this way, that came to my Knowledge.
Specimen Medicinæ Sinicæ, ſive Opuſcula Medica ad mentem Sinenſium; continens, I. De Pulſibus Libros quatuor e Sinico tranſlatos. II. Tractatus de pulſibus ab erubito Europæp collectos. III. Fragmentum Operis Medici ibidem ab erudito ​Europæo conſcripti. IV. Excerpta Literis eruditi Europæi in China. V. Schemata ad meliorem præcedentium intellegentiam. VI. De Indiciis moroborum ex Linguæ coloribus & affectionibus. Cum Figuris æneis & lingeis. Edidit Andreas Cleyer, Haſſo-Caſſelanus. H. M. Licentiatus, Soc. Ind. in Nova Batavia Archiater, Pharmacop. Director & Chirurg. Ephorus. Franco forti 1682, 4to. This curious work, though it relates properly ſpeaking to the Phyſick of the Chineſe, yet it deſerves to be referr’d to Japan, as the State of Phyſick is nearly the ſame in that Country as it is in China. The Figures alſo agree in great meaſure, with thoſe of an Anatomical Treatiſe of the Japaneſe, now in the hands of Sir Hans Sloane.
Excerpta ex obſervationibus Japonicis, Phyſicis, &c. Wilhelmi Ten Rhyne, De Frutice Thee. This curious account of the Tea was printed by Jacobus Breynius his in Centuria prima Exoticarum aliarumque minus cognitarum Plantarum. Gedani 1678. fol. The ſame Author hath alſo given us (p. 2 of his Centuria) an Account of the Camphire Tree growing in Japan, chiefly from the obſervations of the ſaid Ten Rhyne, who ſent him a Branch of it. (Ten Rhyne in the Title to the Excerpta abovementioned, is wrongly called Phyſician, Botaniſt and Chymiſt to the Emperor of Japan, where he was only, like Dr. Kæmpfer, Phyſician to the Dutch Factory and Embaſſy.
Wilhelmi ten Rhyne, M. D. Diſſertatio de Arthritide: Mantiſſa ſchematica de acupunctura, & Orationes tres I. De Chymiæ ac Botaniæ antiquitate & dignitate. II. De Phyſiognomia. III. De Monſtris ſingula ipſius autoris notis illuſtrata. Londini, 1683. This diſſertation of the Gout was written chiefly with regard to the cure of this diſtemper by the Moxa, which had been very much recommended by Hermannus Buſhovius, a Miniſter of the Goſpel at Batavia. To the Mantiſſa Schematica have been added three Schemes, ſhewing what parts of the human body are to be burnt with the Moxa, according to the Chineſe and Japaneſe, and likewiſe a figure of the needle, which the Japaneſe make uſe of in the Acupunctura.
Writers relating to the Language of the Japaneſe.As to the Language of the Japaneſe, the knowledge whereof one ſhould have thought a thing of the utmoſt conſequence, not only to thoſe, who uſed the trade to Japan, but chiefly to the Jeſuits and other religious ​Perſons, employ’d in propagating of the Goſpel, who could not flatter themſelves with any hopes of ſucceſs, unleſs enabled, by a competent skill therein, to converſe and diſcourſe with the Natives, it may appear ſtrange, that ſo little hath been done to facilitate the underſtanding of it. There is indeed a ſpecimen of the Characters at the latter end of the ſecond edition of Maffeus his collection of Letters, (v. p. xxxii. of this Introduction) and another in Purchaſe, being a copy of the Privileges granted by the Emperor Ongoſchioſama to the Engliſh, but they were intended rather for curioſity than uſe. F. Didacus Collado, a Franciſcan, is the only one who publiſhed, A Grammar of the Japaneſe Language: as alſo a Dictionary, in Latin, Spaniſh, and Japaneſe, in two volumes, and likewiſe, the way of examining a Japaneſe in the auricular confeſſion, all which were printed at Rome, 1632, 4to. at the expence of the congregation de propaganda fide, but the Japaneſe words, in all theſe works, are expreſſed only in Latin Characters.
Beſides what is to be met with in ſeveral places of this Hiſtory of Japan, relating to the Language of the Country, I have added (Tab. XLV.) three Alphabets of the ſimple Characters, and ſome ſpecimens of the compound ones. But of this, more in my Explanation of the ſaid Table, to which I refer the Reader.
Liſt of the Japaneſe Writers.Before I quit this ſubject, it will not be improper to add a Liſt of the Japaneſe writers themſelves: I have met with the Titles of ſome in Dr. Kæmpfer’s manuſcript memoirs, but far the greateſt part, (which I have marked with a *) were brought by him into Europe, and are now in the valuable collection of Sir Hans Sloane.
* Nippon Odaiki. The Annals of the Japaneſe, giving an account of their origin and remarkable actions, of the ſucceſſion of all the Emperors of Japan from Sinmu to our days, and of what paſſed in every one’s reign.
* Nippon Okaitſu, in the literal ſenſe, an adumbration of the great things of Japan, is of kin a to the foregoing work, and relates likewiſe to the heroic and remarkable actions of the Japaneſe from the Foundation of their Empire. (An abſtract of the principal things, concontained in theſe two works, hath been given in the ſecond Book of this Hiſtory of Japan.
​Tai Fee ki. An account of the war between the families of Feki and Gendſi, which laſted forty years, and ended with the extirpation of the Feki family. It is a large work, divided into fourſcore parts, which are commonly bound up in forty Volumes.
Feeki mono Gattari: A Diſcourſe of the affairs of the Feeki’s, which turns upon the ſame ſubject with the laſt.
* Oſacca mono Gattari: A Diſcourſe of the affairs of Oſacca. This is an ample account of the inteſtine wars, which aroſe in Japan, upon the demiſe of Taicoſama, between the Counſellors of ſtate appointed by that Monarch, and Ongoſchioſama, whom he had made Tutor to Fide Jori, his only Son and Heir, of the celebrated ſiege of the Caſtle of Oſacca by Ongoſchioſama, the taking of that Caſtle, the untimely end of Fide Jori, and the manner of Ongoſchioſama’s ſeizing the Crown of Japan upon Fide Jori’s death. This Ongoſchioſama is the ſame Emperor, who granted the liberty of trading to Japan both to the Engliſh and Dutch.
* Simabaraki, or Simabaragaſen, an account of the war at Simabara. The rebellion of the Chriſtians of Arima, who retired to the number of 37000, into a Caſtle upon the Gulph of Simabara, the ſiege and ſurrender of this Caſtle, and the unparallel’d butchery of the beſieged, whereby the Chriſtian Religion was totally aboliſh’d in Japan, are the ſubject of this diſcourſe. Amongſt many other writings of Dr. Kæmpfer, now in poſſeſſion of Sir Hans Sloane, is a tranſlation of theſe two works.
The Hiſtory of Abino Sime, Son of the Emperor Abino-Jaſſima.
Sin dai ki. A Hiſtory of all the Gods of the Japaneſe, as they were of old worſhipped in the Country.
Tenſinki. A particular Hiſtory of the life and heroic actions of Tenſin, who is the chief of the Sintos Gods of the Japaneſe.
Nippon Idſumi no kuni Oojaſijro, that is, the wars of the Gods in Oojaſijro in the Province Idſumi.
* Dai fanja Firamitz. A Treatiſe of all the Gods worſhipped by the Budſdoiſts.
Sikki moku. The Laws and Conſtitutions of the Japaneſe Empire.
Kiuſaj. A Treatiſe of the civil Cuſtoms and Ceremonies of the Japaneſe.
​Soogakf. A Treatiſe containing the precepts of morals, as taught and practiſed by the Siutoiſts, or Philoſophers of the Japaneſe: It is divided into five parts.
Fontsjo O in ſiſi, that is, in the literal ſenſe, the artifice of the Shadow of the Japaneſe Cherry-Tree. It is a Treatiſe of the art of governing by Itakura Suwono Cami, Governor of Miaco, who in the decline of his life retired from buſineſs, and wrote this Book under a large Cherry-Tree in his Garden, whence alſo he hath borrowed that Title.
Tſure dſure Ioſijdano Kenko, that is, the Solitudes of Ioſijdanokenko, who was once a Soldier in the Emperor’s ſervice, but retired afterwards into a Convent, and turned Monk. It is a Collection of moral Sentences, very conducive to regulate the behaviour of mankind in various ſcenes of life.
Faku nin Isju, that is, the verſes of an hundred men. It is a Book of Poetry, compoſed by an hundred perſons of the Court of the Eccleſiaſtical Hereditary Emperor, every one of whom furniſhed his quota.
Kojogun. A Treatiſe of the Government of Japan.
* Nipponki. An account of the moſt remarkable things to be met with in the Empire of Japan.
* Sitzi Joſſu. A Geographical deſcription of the Empire of Japan, tranſlated in Chap. V. of the firſt Book of the Hiſtory of Japan.
* Isje mono Gattari. A diſcourſe of the affairs of Isje, by Narifide, a Perſon of the Eccleſiaſtical Hereditary Emperor his Court.
* A deſcription of the court of the Dairi, or Eccleſiaſtical Hereditary Emperor of Japan, toegether with one hundred different dreſſes of the Perſons compoſing that Court.
* Jedo Kagami. A deſcription of the Court of the Secular Monarch at Jedo, with a liſt of all of the Officers, and their Revenues.
Sikki. A Chineſe Chronicle, containing a deſcription of the moſt remarkable occurrencies in the Empire of China.
Mannengojomi, that is, an almanack for ten thouſand years, wherein it hath been calculated, what days are fortunate or unfortunate, according to the influence of the Cœleſtial Signs.
* Dſiookivi. An Almanack. They are commonly eight Inches in heighth, and five feet in length.
​* Oſasjo. A Treatiſe of the Elements, Worlds, Heavens, Stars, Comets, Meteors, &c.
* Kinmodſui. A Japaneſe Herbal, where in are the figures of near five hundred Plants and Trees growing in Japan, with their names and uſes. This Work is divided into eight Books, and the Plants are done after the ſame manner, as I have represented the Tea in a corner of Tab. XXXVIII.
A Book of the Quadrupeds of Japan, with the figures of upwards of ſixty, done after the ſame manner, and of the ſame ſize, with the Chimerical ones in Tab. IX. of this Hiſtory, which I have copied out of this Book.
* A Book of Birds, containing near fourſcore Birds, done after the ſame manner.
* Two Books, containing near an hundred figures of Fiſhes, Crabs, Shells, Snakes, Lizards, Frogs, Inſects, and the like, all done after the ſame manner. I have engraved ſome of the moſt remarkable in Tab. X. ad XIV. of this Hiſtory.
* An Anatomical Treatiſe, containing the figures of ſeveral external and internal parts of the human body, not very different from thoſe of the Chineſe, engraved in Dr. Cleyer’s Medicina Sinenſis.
* A Book of Minerals, Stones, Corals, and other curioſities.
* Two Books of their Habits, Head-dreſſes, Gowns, &c.
* Several Books, containing the figures of upwards of 400 Inſtruments, Arms, Houſhold-goods, of the Japaneſe, ſeveral of which I have engraved in Tab. XXI, XXII, XXXI, XXXII, to facilitate the underſtanding of ſome paſſages in this Hiſtory.
* Kennei Tſioofo ki Mokurokf. Inſtructions for Families, relating to what is to be known or done in a family.
* Two Books relating to the way of Building of the Japaneſe, wherein are repreſented ſeveral of their Caſtles, Temples, Houſes, Gardens, Roads, Wells, Hedges, and the like.
* A Book relating to Agriculture, containing the figures of all the Inſtruments uſed in Japan for Ploughing, Tilling, &c.
* Dodſutski. Several Road-books for the uſe of Travellers, giving an account of the diſtances of places, the prices of Victuals, and Carriage, and the like, with many figures of the Buildings, and other remarkable things to be ſeen on the Road.
​* Three Books of Heraldry, containing the Coats of Arms of the Emperor of Japan, as alſo of the Princes and Noblemen of the Empire, together with the Pikes, and other Badges and Enſigns of Authority, which are uſually carried before them. I have engraved ſeveral of theſe in the Frontiſpiece, and in Tab. XXX.
* A Dictionary, containing five thouſand Sſin, Common, Taf, and Sſo Characters: ſome ſpecimens of which are to be ſeen in Tab. XLV, in the two laſt Columns to the left.
* Several Copy-books, ſhewing the various figures of their Characters, ſimple and compound.
* A map of the whole world, according to the Japaneſe. It is two Feet broad, and four Feet three Inches long.
* Several Maps of the Empire of Japan, of two Feet, three Inches in breadth, and ſix Feet and a half in length.
* A Map of the Empire of China, divided into its ſeveral Provinces of four Feet in length and as many in breadth.
* A ground-plot of Jedo, the Capital City and Reſidence of the ſecular Emperor, of four Feet and a half in length, and as many in breadth, contracted in Tab. XXX of this Hiſtory.
* A ground-plot of Miaco, the Reſidence of the Eccleſiaſtical Hereditary Monarch, five Feet and a half long, and four Feet broad, contracted in Tab. XXVII of this Hiſtory.
* A Map of the Town of Nagaſaki, and the neighbouring Country, four Feet eleven Inches long, and two Feet two Inches broad, contracted in Tab. XIX.
* A Ground-plot of the Town of Oſacca, of three Feet in length, and two Feet eight Inches in breadth.
* A particular Map of the Road from Nagaſaki to Oſacca, with the repreſentations of the Rivers, Bridges, Towns, Caſtles, Temples, &c. in a Roll, twenty Feet long, and eleven Inches broad.
* Another Map of the Road from Oſacca to Jedo after the ſame manner, and of the ſame length and breadth.
* Views of the moſt celebrated Temples, Caſtles, and other Buildings of the Japaneſe, to the number of fifty, done by the Natives, in water colours, all of the ſame ſize and make with thoſe engraved in Tab. XVII, XVIII, XXXV, and XXXVI, which I have copied out of this very collection.
​Concluſion.Having thus gone through what I propoſed to treat of in this Introduction, it may now at laſt be reaſonably expected, that I ſhould ſay ſomething on my own behalf: I am very ſenſible, that this performance is far from being without Faults, in excuſe of which, although I could alledge ſeveral things, yet I will rather rely on the candour of my readers, in hopes, that the difficulties, which inevitably attend the tranſlating of a work of this kind, and which were not a little encreaſed by ſomething very intricate and obſcure in the author’s ſtile, together with the conſideration, that I was to tranſlate into a Language, which is not my mother tongue, will be a means to ſoften the cenſures of ſome, and that the pains, I have been at in many other reſpects, will make amends with more impartial judges, for what imperfections ſtill remain. What I chiefly aimed at, was to expreſs the ſenſe of the author, in as clear and intelligible a manner, as was not inconſiſtent with the nature of the ſubject, and the genius of the Engliſh Language; and being conſcious of my own inſufficiency, I have, for a farther ſatisfaction, deſired ſome of my friends to peruſe my tranſlation, and to correct what they found very much amiſs therein. As to the Cuts, but very few were left finiſhed by the Author: All the reſt I have drawn with my own hand, either from his unfiniſhed originals, or from the prints and drawings of the Japaneſe, in the Collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and if they ſhould appear to ſome to fall ſhort in point of elegance, though even as to that I have taken all poſſible care, I have the ſatisfaction at leaſt, that I can vouch for the truth and accuracy of them, and their conformity with the originals. But there is one thing, which I cannot forbear taking notice of, before I conclude, and that is, that the Author hath repeated, in ſome places, what he had already mentioned in others: I intended at firſt to leave out all theſe repetitions, but upon ſecond thoughts, and for ſome other reaſons, I reſolved to give the whole Hiſtory, as it had been delivered to me: the rather, as the ſaid repetitions, which the Reader is deſired candidly to excuſe, are in the end not altogether uſeleſs, both as they ſerve to refreſh the memory, and to give, in ſome places, a more ample explanation of ſuch things as were but occaſionally touched upon in others.
       May 1. 1727.