Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-05-10
OLDEST DYNAST Y
UNPRECEDENTED REIGN OF THE
JAPANESE ROYAL FAMILY.
RULED BEFORE CHRlsI'S TINT
Present House Founded When Israel
Was Being Led Into Captivity lie
eends of Jimmu and His Descend
ants - How Dynasty Survived.

1t may be of interest to the Ottum-
vans who follow the incidents of the
war in the Orient to know that the en-
peror of the Japanese is the direct and
lineal descendant of the Oldest reign
ing family in the world. Long before
ent royal Japanese family began to
reign and without break from that
day to this the line has been unbroken.
The Japanese troops march to the
front and the Japanese warships steam
into battle to the martial strains OF
KIM go yo," the oldest and the brief
est of all national anthems. The words
of this inspiring song, containing only
thirty-one syllables, almost defy cor
rect translation, and of the many trans
lations which have been made no two
are alike.
May our sovereign live for thou
sands and ten thousands of years, until
the tiny pebble becomes moss COW
cred rock"
The author of the song is unknown
but it is Of great antiquity. 1t first ap-
peared in Japanese literature in the
eighth century of the Christian era,
but 1t is probably much older. Japan
csc have fought and died to it's mu-
sic for over thousand years. Their
prayer has been granted by the con-
tinuance of the dynasty Of the mikado
down to the present day. It is the old
est dynasty in the world = indeed,
there is no other dynasty even half as
old = and SO far from showing any
signs of decay it is more powerful and
vigorous today than it has ever been
before.
According to Japanese history or
tradition, to be strictly accurate -
Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan, as
cended the throne in $50 B. c., about
the time Assyria was in the height of
her glory and the ten tribes of Israel
were being led into captivity. Before
his advent Japan was theocratic
state, ruled by the Shinto gods. The
transition to human government was
not unduly abrupt. for Jimmu Tenno
was semi-divine. his mother, accord
ing to tradition, being the sun god
dess.
1t is incorrect, by the way, to speak
of the Emperor Jimmu Tenpo," and
the Emperor lingo Kogo," as do many
superficial students of Japanese his
tory. "Tenno' means emperor and
"Kogo" empress. In keeping with the
topsy-turviness of things japanese, the
title is an aftix instead of prefix, as in
English. 400
Names of Japanese Sovereigns.
Another popularity of the nomen-
clature Of Japanese sovereigns is that
the names by which they are known
in history were in no case borne by
them during their lifetime. Jimmu,
for example. was known to his contem-
poraries as Kamu Yamato Iware BIZ
ko. The name to which "Tenno" is af-
fixed is conferred after death.
The present emperor, Mutsuhito, will
probably be given the post mortem
name Of "Meiji Tenno," Meiji being
the chronological title Of the restora-
ton era. Even today he is not gener.
ally known in Japan as Mutsuhito, for
that word is rarely uttered or printed
there. He is "the emperor" to every
body. 1t would be the greatest disre-
spect to mention his private name. Ac-
cording to that great authority on ia
pan, Prof Basil Hall Chamberlain, the
vast majority of the people do not ev-
en- know their monarch's name, or care
to know 1t. To them he is an ideal, a
dignifled abstraction-not real man
with human weaknesses, as King Ed
ward is to the English and Emperor
William to the Germans.
OF all the monarchs of Japan, none
has taken a firmer hold on the popular
fancy than the Empress lingo, who
ruled from 201 to 269 A. D. Good
Queen Bess," Semiramis, Zenobia, and
other strenuous female rulers known
to history seem meek and peaceful by
comparison with her.
The legend says that four gods used
her as the medium to inform her hus-
band, the mikado of the day, that there
was land across the sea-Corea--
which he ought to conquer. The mika-
do laughed at the statement, saying
that nothing but sea was visible even
from the highest mountain The gods
were angry at his incredulity and pun
ished by death, almost before he had
finished speaking.
The Conquest of corea.
His empress thereupon got together
a great fleet, which was carried to Co.
rea, in default of wind, on the backs
of the fishes and on the crest of mi
raculous wave. She was enceinte, but
none the less she attired herself in the
armor of warrior and led her troops
to victory in many bloody battles, until
she conquered the country and wrote
over the palace gate of her vanquished
foe, 1.-THE king of Corea is the dog Of
Japan"
Her son was born after her return to
Japan. He became DIN Tenno. and
was deified as the war god of Japan
under the Chinese, name of Hachimah.
of which the Japanese equivalent is
\ awata. He won no distinction as a
warrior, his claim to worship by mar
tial souls being simply his prenatal
influence on his mother when she was
fighting her great battles
The last mikado who fought hard
against being mere fgurehead was
Go Daigo Tenno. monarch famous
lin japanese history for his misfort-
unes. His reign lasted from 1919 to
1889 In the early part of it he was de.
feated by the rebels and banished.
Eventually he returned and regained
power, but wicked concubine, bribed
by his enemies, poisoned his mind
against his best friends and even per-
.