The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-16


Of them having ascended tho throne. but
he adds that the Introduction Of Confucian-
ism and Buddhism materially affected
their position. Yet, when these two re-
ligionB oame TO Japan, their rapid spread
In the country was RI ainly due to the earnest
endeayors OF women. The pioneers OF
Japanese Buddhism were women, and to
three members Of their sex was conhded
mission sent to India for further investiga-
ton Of the Buddhist system. Nevertheless.
these religions, once firmly planted, tended
gradually to lower the status OF woman to
one OF comparative insignifcance The
tendency became strongly marked IN the
feudal age, and especially after the Toku-
gawa Governne nt came into power. Womon
were then entirely submerged, and their
activities were forbidden to transcend the
thresholds Of their homes II there was
any education for women in that period,
It was only In the line OF worpan's etiquette,
Of sewing, weaving and cooking, the art OF
tea service and flower arrangement, to
which might be added some elementary
lessons In writing and reading. AS to their
moral education, the traditional doctrine
Of the three obediences-uncond additional
obedience to parents when young, obedience
TO husbands when married and obedience
to children when old-was daily taught
and enforced. The Tokugawa epoch was
the winter Of Japanese womanhood, when
her life seemed almost crushed under an
oppressive social system. With the intro
ductinn Of Western civilization another
spring dawned for women, and the powers
which had 20 Long stumbered in than re-
awoke. Woman's education prospered
steadily from about 1884 to 1sat, when a
period Of reaction set in. A conflict be-
tween Old idras and now could not, indeed,
be svoided In the time OF transition through
which japan was passing. Ii seemed to
the unsnlig htened public thst education
would destroy tho ideal Of japanese wonan-
hood: would make OF women self-tnportant
creatures, fun OF anectation and oonceit,
the product Of q one-sided development.
Thenceforth the scheme Of education Tor
girls tended for @ While to become con-
servative The aim Of school, 1t was now
declared, was to ma ke girls good wives
and good mothers This state Of things
continued for some years. II was Prof.
Naruse who, after returning from an In
veetiEstion OF the American educational
system, Published his views upon the s,lb-
ject tn 1856 His book was well received
and the establishment Of high schools for
girls was quickly followed by the creation
Of womsn's university, which was opened
in April, 1sol. Unless there is something
like it In India, this may be said TO- have
been the ffst institution Of the kind, not
only In Japan, but In the Orient.
It Il again by Ba,on Suyematsu chat the
chapters On srt and literature are contrib
uted. In IN outline OF the artistic achieve
ments Of his country be recalls that the Nara
period. which corresponds to the eighth oen-
fury Of the Christian era, was one OF the great
epochs, not the greatest, in the history Of
Japanese art. Nara was the imperial CAPT.
tai up to the time when the residence OF the
Milndo was transferred to kioto. The
remnants Of the art Of this period, including
many that belonged to the seventh CENTURY
A. D., must nov be sought in the Prefecture
Of Nara. The highest artistic excellence
attained at this epoch WIS exhibited in the
images, both Of bronze and of wood, and
In the dried lscquefs; painting and archi-
lecture had also made notable progress.
Artificial stone (conuete) WIS in use. DR..
Anderson, speaking Of the Nara period in
his Pictorial Art Of Japan declares that
whatever be the credihility Of the majority
Of the early records, it is certain that the
level reached by the Japanese in the ecu]p-
tIre Of metals upward Of Thousand years
ago was remRrkahfy high, and many Of
the products Of this epoch de1nonstrate a
breadth Of conception and a persistency
Of effort that could only emanate from
an intellectual and energetic race Capt.
Brinklcy, whose comprehensive work on
japan has been reviewed in these columns.
writes much to the same effect. Men that
could conceive and construct the colossal
bronze figure Of vsirochana Buddha at
Nara and numerous images preserved IN the
temple there, cannot have experienced much
necessity to employ Chinese or Corean
hands Nevertheless, though glyptio art,
the lacquerer's art and the inlayer's art
mquestiouahly attained to high stage of
development IN this epoch, pictorial art
remained in Q secondary place, the features
which constitute the chief charm, as well
as the speciality Of Japanese painting in late
ages not yet having been evolved. AS
sculptors, however, they already stood
mquestionabty at the head Of Far Eastern
artists
After the Nara came the Heian or Kioto
period, which lasted for some centuries.
1t was In this period that Japanese paint
ing reached It's highest plane. Artists like
Kanaoka and Nobusaae appeared. Pict-
ures founded upon scenes in narratives or
actual landscapes came to be generally
appreciated. Pictorial art was made use
OF for chamber decoration. Neither were
religious subjects altogether neglected.
There were many pictures OF this kind
produced in the Heian epoch still eStant
in temples The progress Of Japanese art
was not confined to Ktoto From about
the middle Of the fourteenth century,
when Ksmakura became the seat OF the
Shogmate Government, there existed a
centre Of refinement In the northern part
Of Japan, namely. m the province Of osiu.
There o great feudal lord had established
his seat OF government In city modelled
on Kioto, and from what REMAINS there
of old objects and also from an old map Of
the place, We can Judge how hourishmg
a place was the capital OF this feudal prin-
riTalftv before n WIS crushed by the forces