The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-10-20
The HEROES OF JAPAN.
IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLE AT 4
SHINTo CEREMONY.

"shudOwy Cult Of Observation-Disclosures
to Officers and Soldiers.
The priest stood on the mountain
facing the multitude. In his uplifted
hand was pine branch hung with
strips Of white aper-emblems Of the
souls purity. swish! swishl swish!
Thrice the branch swept the air above
the bowed heads on the plain below.
The simplicity Of this act of purifca-
ton, the silence of the vast congrega-
ton. the beauty Of the seene-all COM
bined to fill with awe and reverence the
alien spectator az wei! as the native
worshiper. It has been my lot to attend
many services on the field Of battle. /
have kneIt with soldiers in the desert
strewn with ten thousand dead outside
the gray wall of Omdurman; / have
heard the song of thanksgiving echo
among the ruins Of Khartoum, over
which lowered the shade Of Gordon;
and under a shell-swept hill in Lady
smith have joined in the prayer of a
besieged garrison. These are memories
that can never fade. Nor will there
pass out 0! remembrance the scene of
this day. when an army is assembled
among the mountains of Manchuria to
do honor in its dead.
No temple raised by human hands
could be so majestic and so inspiring as
this valley edged round with purple
hills and the deep blue Of heaven above.
The walls OF the tabernacle were flow
ing contours Of nearer hills clothed with
pine trees and the shelving side Of
Mount Phoenix scanned with dark
coombs, in which nestle shrines and Sc
pulchral mounds. Old marbles, ever
beautiful, were never so rich and rare
as this carpet of brown and green and
gold woven. by field and grove and Rvs
er. Upon this spacious floor stood the
soldiers eight thousand or more. They
were men of the second division. On
the right were three regiments in in-
fantry In brigade formation, "a regiment
of calvary was mounted between them
and the artillery, who were without
their guns, and on the left stood the en-
gineers and train battalions The long
lines Of khaki looked like a border of
old gold on a gorgeous prayer mat
spread before an altar raised upon the
heights.
Altar off on lofty terrace, in the
shadow of a green bluff, the priests had
built their sanctuary-an oblong inclo-
sure marked by banners. The entrance
was gate Of two slender tree stems
with cross-bar, from which hung two
f1ags-white with a red sun in the CEN
ter-emblems Of empire and of the sun
goddess from whom sprang the long
line of Mikados who have ruled Japan
On the right front Of the Enclosure float
ed a black banner, and on the left front
q yellow, synbolizing victory and the
return home. At regular intervals were
flags Of white, blue, yellow, black and
red. Each color has It's meaning though
what 1t ID must remain the subject Of
controversy. Some maintain that these
primary colors represent Ave elements
earth, air, water. fire and death. 9th
ers contend that they are emblems Of
things, Some hold that yellow signi-
fies the earth blue the east, red the
south, white the west, and black the
north. Others will urge that blue SYM
bolizes the beginning of life red pros
perity, white lsperfection, yellow the
earth and black death. That they have
meaning is certain though, like much
of the ritual Of Shinto and Buddha, it
is lost in the mist of ages.
At the back of the inclosure was the
inner sanctuary, formed by four poles
hung with rope from which were sus-
pended narrow strips of white paper
known as 'go-hei," emblems of purity.
and resting places for the souls Of the
departed. The altar was a table spread
with white cloth upon which rested a
mirror symbol Of perfection borrowed
from the Shingon sect of Buddhists On
each side stood an earthen pot, from
which rose great paper fioWers-red and
white and blue and before the altar was
a esmall table with a porcelain bowl
that held a large pine branch hung with
strips Of white paper. At the back OF
this inner sanctuary rose a tablet of
plain white wood bearing in Chinese
characters the legend ITO the memory
Of the souls of the departed" Close by
stood wooden pail with a wooden dip
per decorated with "gohei' to perform
the ceremony of lustration before pray
er, and at short distance on the right
was a small screened Enclosure where
the offerings were laid. And about the
shrine stood white covered trays and
baskets laden with sacrificial gifts for
the soIace of the lnanse-heaps of rad
ishes piles Of rice cake, bottles Of beer
TASKS of saki or rice wine fish and fowl
the fruits of the earth and of the waters
thereof.
To understand the ceremony it
may be necessary to say sone-
thing about Shintoisn1. Whatever
the country of its origin, there
can be little doubt that in
growth and development shinto is a
Genuine product Of Japanese soil. The
.,ature- worship which is a distinct part
Of its doctrine was probably inherited
from the Iinu, who first inhabited the
land, while the worship of heroes and
ancestors was imported, like Buddhism,
from the mainland of Asia. The PAN
then of Shintu is crowded with a host
of deities; every stream, every noun
tain, every tree has it's god or goddess
every hero and every ancestor has his
place in the Shinto theocracy. Yet it is
a religion only in name for the Kannus-
Xxi, or priests have no code of ethics and
no doctrine of the destiny of man.