The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-27
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innermost, intimate life of that family
will never be revealed to you. All that
you see to suggest II will be refined,
courteous, exquisite, but of the relation
of those souls to each other you VIII
-tr "t' kehind the beautiful
screens which mask the further in
terror, all is silent, gentle mystery.
There Is no reason, to the japanese
mind why it should be otherwise. Such
family life is sacred the home Is
sanctuary, of which 1t were impious 10
draw aside the veil'
Upon rare occasions, when one Is
compelled to compliment Japanese
maiden or wife, It must be prcflXed
with humble apology as II rude
ness. Kisses, caresses and embraces
are utterly unknown In Japan, except
in the maternal fondlings of infants.
and these must cease abruptly after
babyhood. Never do girls kiss one an
other. Never do parents kiss grown
children. You may see fathers and
sons. husbands Aand wives, mothers and
daughters. meeting after years of alb
sence, yet you will probably never see
the least approach to u caress between
them. They will kneel down and salute
each other, and smile, and perhaps cry
little for joy; but they will neither
rush into each others arms nor utter
extraordinary phrases of aifection. In
deed. such terms as my dear my dar-
ling etc, do not exist in Japanese. nor
any terms at all equivalent to our emo
tional idioms. japanese affection Is
not uttered in words: 1t scarcely ap-
pears even in the tone of voices; 1t Is
chiefly shown in acts Of exquisite cour-
tesy and kindness"
1t is impossible for the Occidental
mind to conceive of an art world IN
which there is no evidence of what we
call the eternal feminine-no idealization
of woman as the sum of beauty. grace
and truthfulness. Yet in Japan. art Is
utterly bereft of the feminine gender.
Even the language of the Japanese IS
untitled to convey concepts or this
ideal It's nouns not only have no gem
der. but also its adjectives, no de-
grees of comparison, and its verbs. no
persons. One of Mr.. Hearn's classes
in English literature was once called
upon to study a well-known ballad OF
Tennyson; but it tiunked completely
when 1t came to the simple line
"She is more beautiful than day."
His students could understand the use
of the adjective "beautifur' to qualify
day" and the use of the same adjec-
tive. separately, to qualify the word
maid" But that there could exist In
any mortal mind the least idea of anal
ogy between the beauty OF day ana the
beauty of a young woman quite passed
their understanding. Before the In
structor could clear up this mystery, he
found it necessary to analyze 1t psych-
ologically.-to prove possible nerV-
Gus knship between the two modes of
pleasurable feeling excited by two diff
ferent impressions.
The author utterly rejects the hypo-
thesis that this complete eclipse of the
feminine in japanese art and ideality
is due to Confucianism. 1t Is, in his
opinion, due to causes incomparably
older than the existing social structure;
older than the idea of the family, older
than ancestor worship. enormously
older than that Confucian code which Is
the reflection rather than the eXplana-
ton Of many singular facts in Oriental
life" Our author repels, also. the
charge that Shintoism and Buddhism,
as religious influences, have been OPP
posed to the natural rights of woman.
"The ancient faith of Shinto," he de-
clares, has been at least as gentle to
woman as the ancient faith of the He
brews. Its female divinities are not
less numerous than It's masculine divin-
tiles, nor are they presented to the
ina gination In form much less at
tractive than the dreams Of Greek
mythology. Virgins serve the ancient
gods, and figure in all the pageants of
the faith; and in q thousand shrines
throughout, the land the memory of
woman as wife and mother Is wor-
SHIPPED equally with the memory Of man
as hero and father. Neither can the
later and allen faith of Buddhism be
justly accused of relegating woman to
a lower place in the spiritual world
than monkish Christianity accorded
her in the West. The Buddha, like the
Christ, was born of virgin; the most
lovable divinitias Of Buddhism, JiZo eX-
cepted, are feminine, both in japanese
art and in japanese popular fancy: and
in the Buddhist as in the Roman Cath
Ole hagography, the lives of holy wo-
men hold honored place. 1t Is true that
Buddhism, like early Christianity, used
its utmost eloquence in preaching
against the temptation Of female love-
illness: and it is true that in the teach
ing of its founder, as in the teaching of
Paul, social and spiritual supremacy is
accorded to the man. Yet we must not
overlook the host of instances of favor
shown by the Buddha to women of all
classes" one of which--in which a
dogma denying to woman the highest
spiritual opportunities Is sublimeiy re-
buked by the Buddha himself the au-
thor cites in full.
It is Mr.. Hearn's conjecture that the
feminine ideal, which has so largely
dominated our western civilization
must have had It's birth in race feel
ing as ancient as Aryan speech, and
utterly alien to the East. Through
all the centuries, western fancy has
been making. nature more and more
feminine. whatever delights us, i'm.
agination has feminlzedTthe infinite
tenderness of the sky,--the mobility OF
the waters, the rose of dawn,-the vast
caress of Day,-Night, and the lights OF
heaven,--even the undulatioDs of the
eternal hills. And flowers, and the
flush Of fruit, and all things fragrant
fair and gracious; the genial seasons
with their voices: the laughter OF
streams, and whisper Of. leaves, and
ripplings OF song within the shadows
all sights, or sounds, or sensations that
can touch our love of loveliness, Of deli
cacy. Of sweetness, of gentleness, make
for us vague dreams Of woman. Where
our fancy lends masculinity to nature
1t Is only in grimness and In force,-as
IL to enhance by rugged and mighty