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

feudalism. With the revival Of learning,
tho study Of the history and literature Of
Japan, together with the Chinese system
OF politico-ethics constructed by Confuoius
and Mencius, was greatly extended. The
origin and nature Of the Shogunate be-
came better understood by increasing num-
bern Of. educated men, who began to doubt
tho necessity Of continuing military
| Government. The sentiment was ex-
pressed in the popular cry for "Kinno,'
that Ia to say. for the restoration Of the
! Emperor's direct rule. The growth Of the
| city Of Yedo Todo) also caused great
change In the economical condition Of the
country and tended to weaken the basis
Of feudalism. In fact, q new epoch was
already dawning in Japan before the ar
rival Of the American feet in 1858.
The chapter on the moral ideas Of Japan
Ii contributed by Prof. Insso Ntobe.
and that on ancestor worship by Prof.
Nobushige Hosumi It Is q customary
remark Of foreign tourists that Japanese
Life Is as singularty lacking In morals as
Japanese flowers are in scent Prof. Nitobe
comedies that those who associate fra
GRANGE with roses only or morality with
conventional Christianity alone, are sure to
be disappointed In finding but little Of either
In Japan. This, he submits, is no proof
that the UNI blossoms are not fragrant,
or that ohivalry does not teach right
conduct Of life. II he wished to designate
by an English word the body Of Japanese
ethical ideas, he would use, he says, our
term 'ohivalry' as coming nearest to what
is known among the Japanese as Bushido
The literal significance Of Bxshido is Fight
mcknight Ways, and may be freely trans
Lated as the teaching Of king htly behavior.
or preoepts Of knighthood. Some prefer
the term Shado, the prefix bu military
being omitted and the meaning thus ex-
banded. Whichever term is chosen makes
little difference in substance, since gentle
men and warriors were practically identical.
Warriors In times Of peace were gentle
men. and gentlemen were warriors in times
Of war. As Bushido was the noblesse obhoe
of the samurai class, the term Samuraiism
might be used as. an equivalent II it Is
true that Bushido was not an institu ton,
which ohivalry was. and hence from one
viewpoint the latter term means more
than the former; still. as Bushido was
moral code, which ohivalry was not, 1t was
officially moro comprehensive. True to its
name, the morality Of the Bushido was based
on manhood and msnliness. As the old
Romans made no distinction between valor
and virtue. 80 was Bushido the apotheosis
Of strong manhood and Of all manly quail
ties, which by no means exclude the ten
derer side Of human nature. 1t processes
no revelation from above. and boasts Of
no founder. Its ultimate sanction lay in
the Unborn sense OF shame at wrongdoing
and the Unborn sense of satisfaction in doing
right. 1t offered no philosophical demon
stration for this belief. but accepted the
teaching Of the moral law in the conscience
as the voice OF Heaven. Long before any
thing was written about it. Bushido had
existed as a usage-a code Of honor among
the Samurai. Indeed, it antedated the es-
Establishment OF the military order by and
for which 1t YVES doubtless developed and
named.
Prof. Nitobe would define the Shido
as the totality of the moral instincts Of
the Japanese race. AS such. it was, in its
elements, coeval with their blood, and
therefore also with their indigenous re-
igion. Shintoism. The author of this
chapter Is inclined to believe that the simple
Shinto worship Of nature and Of ancestors
was the foundation OF Bushido, and that
whatever was eventually borrowed from
Confucfau philosophy or from the Buddhist
religion served merely to fertilize the native
germ. According to Prof. Nitobe, the
central moral teachings of Shintoism are
these Know myself; look into thy mind;
see in thy heart god enthroped appoint
ing this, forbidding that do but obey his
mandate and thou needest no other god.
Consider whence thou camest-namely,
from thy parents, and how they came from
theirs, and so back from generation to
generation: thou owest thy being to thy
progenitors to whom. though invisible,
thou canst still be thankful Consider,
also, where thou art-namely, in a we'll
ordered State where thou and thine are
safe and we'll only in such State could
thy mother give birth to thee and suokle
thee only In such State can thy children
thrive; forget not, therefore, him thy Lord
and King, from whom peace, law and order
emanate." In such simple wise did Shinto-
ism nstil moral responsibility into the con-
science filial love to parents and forefathers.
and loyalty to the Mikado These three
fold duties, representing respectively per-
sonal, family and social relations, are pro-
nounced the primary moral notions Of
the Japanese. in the practical exercise OF
which others necessarily follow as corol-
laries
Bushido held benevolence to be the crown
ing attribute Of a noble spirit. 1t taught
that it was cowardioe to crush fallen man;
that it was manly to help the weak and show
sympathy to women and children; that a
man Is truly a Samurai who feels pity in
his heart. Bushido at it's best went further
Bakin, in his story Of Eight Hounds. makes
Inui (who represents the virtue of benevo-
lenoe) play the part Of a good Samaritan
by saving the life OF a wounded enemy
with medicine and nursing. Where Blu
shido differs, not from the Judaism OF
the Decalogue, but from Christianity is
in the place Of primaoy which it aocords
to the virtus OF filial pity. Prof. Nitobe
reminds us that parental love man Possesses
in common with the beasts, but flial love
Is seldom II ever found among animals
after they are weaned. Was 1t the last
Of the virtues to develop In the order OF
ethical evolutior' However this may be.
there is no doubt that Christianity. as dis
tinguished from the Mosaic Decalogue,