Part 3 (2/2)
As a result of this fundamental principle of obedience, inculcated from childhood, has grown the universal respect for authority found in j.a.pan. Whatever the government does the common people do not question.
Even petty officials are respected and obeyed in a manner surprising to us independently thinking people of the West. No matter how disagreeable and unjust an act on the part of the authorities may be, it is usually accepted meekly with the comment, ”There is no help for it.”
The counterpart of this reverence and unquestioning obedience to authority is a feeling of meekness and dependence. The government is depended upon for much more than is the government in the United States. It is expected to inaugurate all great commercial and industrial enterprises. Thus the building of railroads, the construction of telegraphs, and other great works have had to be executed by the government. In recent years this spirit is changing somewhat, and private corporations are beginning to inaugurate great enterprises. But in general it may be said that the national character is lacking in independence and decision.
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Love of the beautiful is a prominent and highly developed j.a.panese trait. Their ideals of beauty differ much from Western ideals, and many things that they p.r.o.nounce beautiful would not be so judged in the Occident. Most Americans at first cannot appreciate j.a.panese art, landscape scenery, or flowers; but a short residence here and an acquaintance with native life and scenes soon bring one to appreciate them. The esthetic faculty is much more highly developed than in America. It is possessed by all cla.s.ses. The gardens of the rich are laid out with especial care, and no money or pains are spared to make them beautiful. I have seen day-laborers stand and gaze for a long time at a beautiful sunset, or go into raptures over a dwarfed cherry-bush just putting forth its tiny buds. Men who have worked in the fields all day, until they are exhausted, on their return home in the evening will stop by the wayside to pluck some beautiful shrub or flower and carry it back with them. Go into the room of a school-boy and you will almost invariably find his table brightened by a pretty bouquet of flowers. When the cherries are in bloom the whole population leaves off work and turns out to enjoy them. j.a.pan is a beauteous land, and no people are more capable of appreciating her beauty than her own.
The j.a.panese are open-minded and receptive of truth, from whatever quarter it may come. Were this not true it would have been impossible {60} for her to have become what she is to-day. When Buddhism was first brought to j.a.pan it was seen to possess elements of religious power that s.h.i.+nto did not have, and the people by and by accepted it.
When Confucianism was introduced its moral teachings were seen to be lofty and inspiring, and it was given a warm welcome. When Christianity first came many of the daimios took especial pains to examine into it to see if it were likely to benefit their country, with the full intention of accepting it. How many of them did accept it is told in another chapter. The present att.i.tude of opposition is the result of prejudice, instilled in part by past experience with Christianity, and in part by the misrepresentation of its enemies; it is not the result of natural intolerance. The readiness with which Western learning of all kinds has been adopted, and the patient hearing and investigation native scholars give to all new theories of science and knowledge, clearly show that their mind is an open and receptive one. A native professor has expressed this characteristic in these words: ”The j.a.panese as a race are open-hearted, with a mind free from prejudice and open to conviction.” But that it is as receptive of prejudice and misrepresentation as of truth and knowledge is evidenced by its present att.i.tude toward Christianity.
Many critics have p.r.o.nounced the j.a.panese a {61} very speculative people, but it is doubtful if this is true. By nature, I think, they are more inclined to be practical than speculative. Abstract metaphysical and theological ideas have little charm for them.
But there is a large element in j.a.pan that simulates a taste for philosophical study. Philosophy and metaphysics are regarded by them as the profoundest of all branches of learning, and in order to be thought learned they profess great interest in these studies. Not only are the highly metaphysical philosophies of the East studied, but the various systems of the West are looked into likewise. Many of the people are capable of appreciating these philosophies, too; but they do it for a purpose.
j.a.panese character is lacking in steadfastness and fixedness of purpose. Huge enterprises will be begun with great enthusiasm, only to be abandoned in a short while. There is not that steadfastness and fixedness which lays out far-reaching plans, extending years into the future, and which adheres to these plans until their purpose is accomplished. On the contrary, they are vacillating and changeful, as is shown by their migratory disposition. This want of steadfastness is even evinced by many ministerial candidates. It is a frequent occurrence for young men to enter the mission schools with the firm intention of {62} becoming evangelists, and, by the time their academic course is finished, to change their mind and go into some other calling. Some of those who have become evangelists are restless and vacillating, and after they have been located in one place for a few years like to be transferred to another. The ”stick-to-it-iveness” of the Anglo-Saxon is largely wanting. But we must not speak too dogmatically upon this point, for the j.a.panese government has shown itself capable of laying out far-reaching plans, and of adhering to its original purpose until it is successfully accomplished.
Inconsistency is another trait of the j.a.panese mind, which often turns square about and takes positions exactly opposed to its avowed principles, realizing no inconsistency in doing so. This is well ill.u.s.trated in the political life of the people. In theory the emperor, as the divine head of the nation, cannot go wrong, and whatever he does is necessarily right. It is the duty of every subject unquestioningly to obey the will of the emperor. To this all j.a.panese will readily agree, but in practice the people are often found arraigned against the government, which has the emperor for its head.
Lines of policy which the emperor himself has mapped out and pursued for years are often bitterly opposed; and yet the people are all unconscious of this, and resent very much any insinuation that they are opposing his will.
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Another evidence of inconsistency is seen in their opposition to Christianity. The usual objection that is made against our faith is that it is a Western religion, and there are thousands of people who oppose it solely on this ground. But, even while opposing the Western religion, they are daily using all kinds of Western inst.i.tutions gladly. All manner of material things are received from abroad with pleasure, and are considered none the worse for their foreign origin, the line being drawn at religion.
j.a.panese character is largely wanting in originality. The people have originated almost nothing, having accepted nearly everything at the hands of others. In ancient times j.a.pan had Korea for a teacher; afterward she studied under China; now she is at school to Europe and America. Her medieval civilization was accepted bodily from Asia, just as her modern is from Europe. No important inventions have been made.
Even the little jinrikisha, which is the universal means of locomotion, and which, I believe, is found nowhere else except in certain Chinese ports, is said to have been first made by an American missionary for the comfort and convenience of his invalid wife. It should be said, however, that some claim the native origin of the jinrikisha, and contend that its inventor lived in Kyoto.
But while the j.a.panese are not originators, they {64} are excellent imitators. The ability to imitate well is a power not to be despised.
This, when coupled with a.s.similation, is a very fruitful source of progress, as the j.a.pan of to-day witnesses. The ease and facility with which j.a.pan has imitated the West and a.s.similated her inst.i.tutions, applying them to new and changed conditions, is marvelous. Given a model, the people can make anything, no matter how diminutive or complicated. Even the American dude is most successfully imitated.
The j.a.panese do not slavishly follow their models, but are able to change, modify, and develop them at will. Given the general idea, they can easily construct the rest. Thus in the adoption of Western inst.i.tutions they have in some cases actually improved upon their models. Especially is this true of the postal and telegraph systems, which, though copied after our own, are in many respects superior.
They are not blind followers of their teachers, but often start out on independent exploration and investigation. Such powers of imitation are second only to those of invention, and have made j.a.pan what she is to-day.
Another national peculiarity is the slight value placed upon human life. The idea that the family, and not the individual, is of supreme importance, and the Buddhistic teaching that life itself is the greatest of all evils, are responsible for this. To {65} pour out one's blood upon the battle-field for one's lord has from of old been considered a privilege. Death has not that terror that it has in the West, and the people are not afraid to die. Hence suicides are of very frequent occurrence, and to take one's own life is, under certain circ.u.mstances, considered a meritorious act. Under the old regime a member of the samurai or warrior cla.s.ses could not be executed like a common man, but after condemnation was left to take his own life.
About seven thousand suicides occur in j.a.pan each year. The slightest reasons will induce a man to take his own life. Statistics show that the proportion of suicides varies with the success or failure of the rice crop. If sustenance is cheap, people live; if it is dear, they rid themselves of the burden of life. The number of suicides also varies much with the season of the year, showing that such little matters as heat and discomfort will outweigh the value put upon life.
A young girl recently came to Saga from Kagos.h.i.+ma as a household servant She did not like her new home, and asked her mistress to send her back to her birthplace. The mistress refused, and the next morning the poor girl was found dead in the yard, having hanged herself during the night--all, forsooth, because she could not go home. So low is the value placed upon life here! Human life is valued highly in the West {66} solely because of Christian teaching; outside of Christendom it is cheap.
It has been charged upon the j.a.panese that they are wanting in grat.i.tude, or, at least, that their grat.i.tude lasts only so long as they are looking for favors. This is but partially true. Ever since I came to j.a.pan I have been teaching a few boys English at odd hours, and they have really embarra.s.sed me by the number of their presents. On the other hand, I have helped young men with money at school, who were at first grateful apparently, and would come to my home to perform various small services in return, but by and by would object to doing the least service, even while living on my charity.
In past years j.a.pan has in various capacities employed a great number of Americans and Europeans, and has usually rendered them a very adequate return for their services. In addition to the stipulated salary, she has often given them costly presents. But recently a good deal of complaint has been made by foreign employees to the effect that, after they have given the best years of their lives to the service of j.a.pan, they have been summarily dismissed, without previous notice and without thanks.
Evidences of ingrat.i.tude are very numerous in the native church. The missionary who has left home, friends, and country for the sake of these {67} people, and who labors for them with all the powers G.o.d has given him, is often not rewarded by that grat.i.tude and kindness on the part of his converts which he reasonably expects. Frequently he takes young men from the humbler walks of life, provides both their food and clothing, gives them six or eight years' instruction in well-equipped schools, supports them liberally as evangelists, only to have them rise up against him, oppose him in his work, and p.r.o.nounce him an ignoramus.
In many parts of the native church there is a strong anti-missionary spirit, and the feeling of grat.i.tude which these churches should have for their founders, organizers, and supporters is wanting. From such facts as these we are forced to conclude that the feeling of grat.i.tude is not very strong.
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