Part 2 (1/2)

It is historically certain that some Chinamen and Koreans have settled in j.a.pan and contributed toward the production of the j.a.panese race; both Chinese and j.a.panese histories contain accounts of such immigration; but it is likely that settlers were already here long before these, of whom we have historic accounts, arrived.

This problem is made more difficult by the fact that there are two separate and distinct races here--the j.a.panese and the Ainu. The latter do not appear to be Mongols. The j.a.panese call them the aborigines. When they entered j.a.pan, and where they came from, is not known. There is very little intermixing of these two races. The j.a.panese have gradually forced the Ainu back to the northern island, just as the settlers in the United States have driven back the Indians.

{34} Efforts are being made lately to better the condition of this race, but they do not meet with much success. The Ainu appear to have little capacity for civilization, and the race is rapidly becoming extinct.

So much for the origin of the people. We will endeavor to treat their history, very briefly, under three heads: mythology, mythological history, and reliable history.

_j.a.panese Mythology_

Although we of the West are perplexed as to the origin of the j.a.panese, the national records give what has been a very clear and satisfactory account of this. Hence I have included a very brief statement of this native account of the origin of the j.a.panese people under the head of history, although it is pure mythology.

j.a.panese history teaches that in the beginning all things were chaos.

There was no Creator, and no First Cause of the universe. There was merely a cosmic ma.s.s. By and by the ethereal matter sublimed and formed the heavens; what remained formed the earth. From the warm mold of the earth sprang up a germ which became a self-animate being--the first of the G.o.ds. Then four other G.o.ds were generated, all s.e.xless and self-begotten. These G.o.ds separated the {35} primordial substance into the five elements of wood, fire, metal, earth, and water, and gave to each its properties. The last of these spontaneous divine generations were a brother and a sister, named Izanagi and Izanami.

Uniting in marriage, they became the parents of the various islands of j.a.pan and of G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses innumerable. Izanami died when giving birth to the G.o.d of fire. Her divine consort afterward visits her in the lower regions to induce her to return to him. She would fain do so, but must first consult the G.o.ds of the place. Going to ask counsel of them, she does not return, and Izanagi, impatient at her tarrying, goes in search of her. He finds her a ma.s.s of putrefaction, in the midst of which the eight thunder-G.o.ds are sitting.

Disappointed in his hope, he returns to j.a.pan and purifies himself by bathing in a stream. As he bathes new G.o.ds are born from his clothing and from each part of his body. The sun-G.o.ddess was born from his left eye, the moon-G.o.d from his right eye, and Susanoo, the last of all, was born from his nose. What a prolific breeder of G.o.ds was he!

The mythology goes on relating, tale after tale, the absurd actions of these G.o.ds residing together for several generations in j.a.pan, the center of the universe, frequently visiting both heaven and h.e.l.l, and performing all kinds of miraculous feats. {36} In native history this period is called the ”period of the G.o.ds.” About six generations after Izanagi and Izanami, in the direct line of descent from them, the first human emperor of j.a.pan was born. His name was Kamu-Yamato-Ihare-Biko, posthumously called Jimmu Tenno.

Those j.a.panese to whose minds the problem of the origin of the outside nations ever occurred solved it in this fas.h.i.+on: the barbarian nations must likewise have descended from the mikado, the son of heaven, in very remote times, but have wandered off and are now far from the divine source. The j.a.panese, being still under the protection of their divine father, are very much nearer in the line of descent, and hence are the first race in the world.

Thus they trace their descent direct to the G.o.ds, and their emperor is to this day considered the divine father of his people. It is a pity we cannot join with them in accepting this easy solution of the difficult problem of their origin.

_Mythological History_

By this term I would designate that period in j.a.panese history in which mythology and history are so blended as to be inseparable. For almost one thousand years records purporting to be historical are so intermingled with that which is {37} purely mythological as to make it next to impossible to discriminate between them.

j.a.panese historians claim that the authentic history of their country dates from the time of Jimmu Tenno (600 B.C.), and the national records are unbroken from that time to the present. Most European and American historians have accepted these records as true, and yet critical scholars here feel bound to reject them. The oldest j.a.panese histories were not written until the eighth century A.D., and it does not seem probable that traditions handed down by word of mouth for more than a thousand years would be reliable. The records themselves are contradictory and self-refuting. Contemporary Chinese and Korean history, in which are frequent references to the ”land of Wa,” i.e., j.a.pan, does not agree with the j.a.panese records, which bear evidence of having been written for a purpose other than a true statement of historical facts. These and other reasons have led Messrs. Aston and Chamberlain, the scholars who have studied this subject perhaps more than any others, to conclude that j.a.panese records prior to the date 461 A.D. are unreliable.

This period in dispute (from 600 B.C. to 461 A.D.) I have designated the period of mythological history. Even in the j.a.panese so-called histories the mythology for centuries is narrated along with that which claims to be genuine {38} history; the G.o.ds still mingle with men and take part in their affairs. The legends of the G.o.ds and those of the emperors are given side by side in the same book, and as much credence attaches to the one as to the other.

Orthodox s.h.i.+nto scholars, while recognizing the fact of the parallelism of the mythology and the history, inconsistently reject the mythological legends of the G.o.ds while strenuously holding to those relating to the emperors. My own opinion is that most of the important events related in the records during this period had some basis in fact, but that the accounts of them are exaggerated and perverted.

Commencing with the period which native historians a.s.sign as the beginning of authentic history, the first important event we find is the accession of Jimmu Tenno to the throne (600 B.C.). But the very existence of Jimmu Tenno as an historical personage is not at all certain. The evidence adduced has never been sufficient to satisfy Western scholars, although the j.a.panese would consider it almost treason to disbelieve in him.

j.a.panese histories for this period are very meager. They consist, for the most part, of a recital of the names and ages of the mikados, with perhaps a sentence or two concerning the state of the country during their reigns.

One of the most important events noted in {39} this early period is the subjugation of Korea by the Empress Jingo. She is said to have collected a large army, and, by the help of the fishes great and small, and of favorable winds and currents, to have crossed over into Korea in small junks, and completely subjugated the country, reducing it to the position of a tributary state. The j.a.panese firmly believe this story, and are proud of the early success of their arms in this foreign war.

Korean records justify us in a.s.suming that j.a.panese influence was predominant in Korea at this time, but the story of the Empress Jingo, especially in its details, must be received with caution. She is perhaps an historical personage, but whether she invaded Korea or not is doubtful.

The next event of importance in the records is the introduction of Chinese art, science, and learning, which took place in the early centuries of the Christian era, and exerted an incalculable influence upon the people of j.a.pan. Learning, religion, philosophy, literature, laws, ethics, medicine, art--all were brought over bodily. From this time forward the j.a.panese were largely students and imitators of China.

Korea was the medium through which these continental influences were transmitted. With the introduction of learning and literature historical records began to be kept over all j.a.pan, and oral tradition was no longer relied upon. From this time the authentic history of j.a.pan begins.

{40}

_Reliable History_

Chamberlain, Aston, and others agree that the first trustworthy date in j.a.panese history is 461 A.D., and that for the succeeding century too much confidence must not be placed in details. This disproves the pretty stories told by the j.a.panese, and by many Western writers as well, as to the great age of this nation, and its unbroken line of emperors extending at least as far back as 600 B.C.; but it is not the first time that pretty theories have been rudely broken up by an investigation of facts. The imperial line is probably as old as that of the popes, but hardly older. j.a.pan, in fact and in authentic history, is younger than Christianity. Her existence as a state began about the time of the fall of the Roman empire.