The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-04-13

do not believe In ghosts; they do not
have mediums Of communication with
their dead, and they do not receive
messages from the other world, But
this world Is full Of friendly invisible
beings, encouraging, protecting and
comforting them, and the landscape Is
dotted with shrines that have been
erected for the purpose Of worshiping
good and influential men.
II q japanese is going to war he
prays before the shrine Of some great
soldier; II he is preparing for jour
ney he goes to the shrine Of a great
traveller; If he is a party to a lawsuit
he prays for the aid and guidance OF
some famous jurist; before he Lays out
his garden he prays to the spirit or
some great landscape architect and 80
on in every duty, pleasure and labor OF
life he oonsults the spirits Of his an
cestors and those Of other wise and
good men and without expecting any
direct answer has faith that they VIII
give him their encouragement, protect
him from errors and lead him In the
right way. This, the theoiogians say,
is not religion, but it Is q practical, ac-
tual, everyday thing and illustrates
the Japanese character more strongly
than any other act or word.
In 1894 was invited to witness q
beautiful ceremony In Kyoto, Of which
Admiral Togo's address to the spirits
reminds me. Iesuko, one Of the most
famous Of ceramic artists, had acciden-
tally produced remarkable example
of\a texture known as Chinese crac-
kle" on the surface Of jar. This par
ticular effect was common among pot
tiers in the interior Of China a thou
sand years ago, but has been lost art
for several centuries, and jars and
vases with that finish are very rare
and valuable. It is the ambition Of
every potter IN the east to reproduce
that particular effect, but all expert
ments have been unsuccessful, and
Iesuko was amazed to find it upon q
lar which he took from his kiln one
morning in 1893. The result was 80
unexpected that for a time he was un-
able to realize what had happened
Then he tried to recall everything that
had been done to the vase from the
hour when the clay had come to the
shop until his astounding, discovery.
he repeated the process over and over
again; he did nothing else for the rest
of his life; he neglected his ordinary
business; he refused profitable COM
missions; he shut himself up Ike q
hermit and denied himself food. rest,
sleep and exercise.and actually became
insane in his anxiety to repeat the &C
cident that he could not explain
In the meantime the jar was sent to
the Chicago exposition and was one OF
the objects most admired by the con-
noisseurs. Fabulous prices were Of
fered for It, but Mr.. Tejima, the Japa-
nese commissioner, was not authorised
to sell It and could not get q reply
from Iesuko, who was buried IN his
experiments and would not even read
bis mail. The jury Of awards gave
him a gold medal and big diploma,
upon which his triumph was inscribed,
but before these testimonials reached
Japan poor Iesuko had committed SLOW
suicide and his ashes had been placed
In an urn on the hillside overlooking
Kyoto, back of the Yaami hotel.
One day friend invited me to at
tend what he promised would be q
novel ceremony. We went together to
the little hillside cemetery, where thir'
ty or forty of the most famous artists
in Japan were gathered. A learned
Buddhist in gorgeous robes delivered
what you might call an explanatory
address. He recited briefly the story I
have told you. Then one Of the Oldest
friends Of Iesuko stepped forward and
addressed the spirit Of the dead artist,
inst az we would address person to
whom testimonial was to be ten
dered. he described the Columbian
exposition at Chicago, explained Jonn
Boyd Thacher's system OF AWARDS,
rave a detailed review Of the work OF
the Jury and finally CONCLUDED with
minute description Of the medal and
the diploma which he held In his hand.
When he had finished the medal was
sealed up in a cavity which had been
carved out Of the stone and the ddplo-
ma was burned over the grave with
incense and fitting ceremonies con-
Quoted by the priest, which, Of course,
I could not understand. But the sig-
nificance Of the ceremony was very
clear. The medal, being indestrucdble
and of material substance, could not
be transported to the other world. But
the diploma was carried there by tns
flames. Several Of the gentlemen pres
ent made brief addresses and placed
flowers upon the tomb. .