The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-04
HI.

What Is the secret of the deep and abiding
ethical influence Of Shintoisin, the prehistoric
and national religion Of Japan We find a more
satisfactory answer to this question In the book
before us than elsewhere. II is true enough
that. except in the works OF such men OF special
erudition as Chamberlain and Satow. works
with which an Occidental reader, unless himself
n specialist, Is unlikely to become familiar, little
has been written In English about Shinto which
gives an Ineligible idea OF what Shinto is. 1t
seems that Mr.. Satow himself acknowledges
that even for him II is still difficult to reply def
nitely to the question. What is the nature OF
ShintO? How il one to define the common ele-
ment in the six kinds Of Shinto which are known
IN exist, and some OF which no foreign scholar
has yet been able to examine for lack of time or
of authority or OF opportunity. Even in its
modern external form Shinto Is sufficiently
complex to task the united powers of the his
torian, philologist, and anthropologist merely
10 trace out the multitudinous lines of its evolu-
ton, and TO determine the sources oil its various
elements. These include primeval polytheism
and fetishism, traditions OF Turaniau origin,
philosophical concepts from China, Corea, and
elsewhere, all mingled with Buddhism. Taoism,
and Confucianism. Even more likely to fail is
the effort to find the relation of Shintolsm to
the national ethics by mere historical and philo-
logical analysis; as well seek 10 define the ulti-
mate secret of life by enumerating the elements
of the body which it inmates. Not until the
result of such scholarly efforts shall have been
closely combined with u deep knowledge of
Japanese thought and feeling can all that Shinto
Is he fully compruhended. Something, never
theless. of what It signifies in the simple poetry
of its beliefs, the home training OF the child, and
the worship paid by hlial piety before the
tablets OF ancestors, may be learned dur
ing a residence OF some years in japan
by one who lives the life of the
people and adopts their manners AMI Gus
toms. II is because he has had such an
experience that the author OF this book claims
the right o. possess at least his own conception
Of Shintoism. Tho conviction Of the author is
that the marvellous vitality OF Shintoism is due
To the fact that, in the course nf It's long de-
velOnment out OF unrccorded beginnings, II
became at "A very ancient epoch, and still re-
mains, a religion Of the heart. Whatever be the
origin OF its rites and traditions, its ethical
spirit has become Identified with all the deepest
and best emotions Of the race. The secret living
force OF ShintOlsm to-day, the force which re-
pels missionary efforts at proselytizing. means
something much more profound than tradition,
or worship, or ceremOnialism. IL is suggested
that Shinto may yet, without loss OF real power,
survive all these. No doubt the expansion
of the popular mind through education and the
influence of modern science must compel aban-
donment or modification Of many ancient Shinto
conceptions; but the ethics of Shinto, IL is pre-
dlcted, will endure. For Shinto signifies char
acter in the highest sense; courage, courtesy,
honor, and. above all things, loyalty. The spirit
of Shinto is the spirit Of hlial piety, the zest OF
duty, the readiness TO surrender life for a
principle, without a thought of wherefore. Il
the dOciIity Of the Japanese child,
the sweetness Of the Japanese woman. Il like
wise constitutes conservatism, the wholesome
check upon the national tendency TO cast away
the work OF the entire past in rash eagerness
10 assimilate too much Of the foreign
present. From another point OF view, IL
may be described as religion transformed
into hereditary moral impulse, religion trans
into ethical instinct. IL constitutes in
fine the whole emotional life OF the race, the
soul OF Japan. Evidently the author is no Wels-
manIist. for he ayeEs that the japanese child is
born Shinto. Home teaching and school train
Ing only give expression, he thinks TO what is in
nate; they do act plant RsE Sssdi they do but