The sun., 1895-01-20

Were We 70 ask an educated japanese what
vure Shipto Is. he would refer us to the scholar
and critic Moto0ri who lived from 1880 to 1901
and who with erudltion and acuteness analysed
tho ancient literature, and showed what were
Chinese or imported elements and what was Of
native origin. He summarized the principles of
the primitive religion, brought to light and in
terpreted the archaic documents oxpounded
and defended the old cosmogony and preached
anew the doctrines of Shinto. With ex-
traordinary combination OF naYvete and
fhusiasm, Moto0ri taught that Japan was
the first part of the earth created, and that
It Is, therefore, the land of the gods, the
country of the holy spirit. The stars,
he said, were created from tho muck
which fell from the spear Of Izanagi as
he thrust 1t into the warm earth. while the
other countries were formed by the spontaneous
consolidation of the foam OF the sea. Morals
wero invented by the Chinese because they were
An immoral people. but in Japan there is no
necessity, SO Motoori said, for any system
of morals, a. every japanese acts Alright
1f he only consults his own heart. The
duty of good Japanese consists in
obeying the Mikado without questioning
whether his commands are right or wrong. The
Mikado is a god and vicar of oil the gods. Hence
Government and religion are the same, the
Mikado being the centre Of Church and State,
which are one. 1t Is the authors personal opinion
thnt Shinto in its higher forms is simply
. cultured and intellectual atheism; in its
lower forms 1t stands for blind obedience
TO governmental and priestly dictates. A re-
mark Of Ernest Satow's Is quoted with approval:
:" Shinto, expounded by Moto0ri is nothing
, more than an engine for reducing the people to
. condition of mental slavery" 1t is pronounced
needless to dwell upon the tremendous power of
Shinto as q political system. especially when
welded to the forces generated in the minds
of the educated Japanese by modern Confucian-
ism. The Chinese ethical system, expanded into
o philosophy as fascinating as tho English
materalstic school of our own day, entered
Japan contemporaneously with the revival of
Shinto and of native learning. At the acme
of their renewed vigor in the seventeenth
century these two systems began that
evolution Of national energy which. in the
eighteenth century, was consolidated and
which q century later. though unknown and
unsuspected by Europeans or Americans, was,
in fact, all ready for phenomenal manifestation
and tremendous eruption even while Perry's
feet was bearing the olive branch to Japan.
1t was the cooperation of these internal forces
with the exterior agencies of Western civiliza-
tion which brought about the transformation of
the country. Is the revived Shinto. having thus
discharged a clvilizing function, likely to pass
away? DIR. Grifiis thinks that, in spite Of tho
conservative power of the ancestral influences,
the patriotic incentives, and tho easy morals
of Shinto, 1t Is doubtful whether. under the
pressure of purified Buddhism, and amid the
spread Of popular education and Christianity,
tho primitive indigenous religion can long re-
tain its hold upon the Japanese people. AT the
Same time. the duty is acknowledged of judging
svery religion not by its shortcomings but by
its aims. The idea OF Shinto is to make people
pure, clean, and free in all their personal and
household arrangements, to help them to live
simply, honestly. and with mutual good will;
20 make the japanese love their country, honor
their imperial house, and obey their Emperor
That Shinto lies at the base of the polit-
ical structure of Japan seems lndisputable. The
radical Shntoist to this day believes that all
political rights which the Japanese can enjoy
must come to them by virtue of the Mikados
grace and benevolence. Indeed, all Japanese,
whatever may be their religious views, consider
that their constitution depends for its safe
guard and its validity largely upon the oath
which tho Mikado swore at the shrine OF his
heavenly ancestors that he would himself obey
It and preserve its provisions inviolate.