Part 12 (2/2)

Of all foreigners who have written about j.a.pan, Lafcadio Hearn gives one the best idea of the j.a.panese character and of the literature that is its expression. Hearn married a j.a.panese lady, became Professor of English Literature at the Imperial University of Tokio, renounced his American citizens.h.i.+p, and professed belief in Buddhism. He never mastered the j.a.panese language but he surpa.s.sed every other foreign student in his ability to make real the singular faith of the j.a.panese in the presence of good and evil spirits and the national wors.h.i.+p of beauty in nature and art. Hearn's father was Greek and his mother Irish.

In mind he was a strange mixture of a Florentine of the Renaissance and a pagan of the age of Pericles. In _The West Indies_ he has given the best estimate of the influence of the tropics on the white man, and in _j.a.pan: An Interpretation_, _In Ghostly j.a.pan_, _Exotics and Retrospections_, and others, he has recorded in exquisite literary style his conception of j.a.panese character, myths and folk-legends. His work in this department is so fine that no one else ranks with him. He seems to have been able to put himself in the place of the cultivated j.a.panese and to interpret the curious national beliefs in good and evil spirits and ghosts. He has also made more real than any other foreign writer the peculiar position of the j.a.panese wife. Hearn was a conservative, despite his lawless life, and he looked with regret upon the transformation of old j.a.pan, wrought by the new desire to Europeanize the country. He paints with great art the idyllic life of the old Samauri and the loyalty of the retainers to their chief.

Sir Edwin Arnold, who in his old age married a j.a.panese lady, has given excellent pictures of life in j.a.pan in _Seas and Lands_ and _j.a.ponica_.

_Religions of j.a.pan_ by W. E. Griffis gives a good idea of the various creeds. Mr. Griffis in _The Mikado's Empire_ also furnishes a good description of j.a.pan and the j.a.panese.

In _Fifty Tears of New j.a.pan_, Count Ok.u.ma has compiled a work that gives a complete survey of j.a.panese progress during the last half century. Among the contributors are many of the leading statesmen and publicists of j.a.pan.

Of fiction, the scene of which is laid in j.a.pan, one of the most famous stories is _Madame Chrysantheme_ by Pierre Loti, a cynical sketch of the j.a.panese geisha, or professional entertainer. Another good story which lays bare the ugly fate that often befalls the geisha, is _The Lady and Sada San_ by Frances Little, the author of that popular book, _The Lady of the Decoration_.

Other books that will be found valuable are Norman, _The New j.a.pan_; Chamberlain, _Things j.a.panese_; Treves, _The Other Side of the Lantern_; Murray, _Handbook of j.a.pan_; Clement, _Handbook of Modern j.a.pan_; D'Autremer, _The j.a.panese Empire_; Hartshorne, _j.a.pan and Her People_; Fraser, _A Diplomatist's Wife In j.a.pan_; Lloyd, _Everyday j.a.pan_; Scidmore, _Jinrikisha Days In j.a.pan_; Knox, _j.a.panese Life In Town and Country_; Singleton, _j.a.pan, As Described By Great Writers_; Inouye, _Home Life In Tokio_.

MANILA

The acqusition of the Philippine Islands by the United States has led to a great increase of the literature on the islands, especially in regard to educational and industrial progress. Among the old books that have good sketches of Manila are _A Visit to the Philippine Islands_ by Sir John Browning.

For sketches of the city since the American occupation see Worcester, _The Philippine Islands and Their People_; Landor, _The Gems of the East_; Dennis, _An Observer in the Philippines_; Potter, _The East To-day and Tomorrow_; Moses, _Unofficial Letters of An Official's Wife_; Hamm, _Manila and the Philippines_; Younghusband, _The Philippines and Round About_; Stevens, _Yesterdays in the Philippines_; Arnold, The Philippines, _the Land of Palm and Pine_; and LeRoy, _Philippine Life in Town and Country_.

HONGKONG

Good descriptive sketches of Hongkong may be found in Norman, _The Peoples and Politics of the Far East_; Des Veux, _A Handbook of Hongkong_; Colquhoun, _China in Transformation_; Penfield, _East of Suez_; Treves, _The Other Side of the Lantern_; Ball, _Things Chinese_; Thomson, _The Changing Chinese_; Singleton, _China As Described by Great Writers_; and Liddell, China, _Its Marvel and Mystery_.

SINGAPORE

Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, was one of the British Empire builders who was very shabbily treated by the English government. Unaided, he prevented the Dutch from obtaining exclusive control over all the waters about Singapore and he was also instrumental in retaining Malacca, after the East India Company had decided to abandon it. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Java after the English wrested the island from the Dutch in 1810.

His ambition was to make Java ”the center of an Eastern Insular Empire,” but this project was thwarted by the restoration of Java to Holland. The Raffles Museum in Singapore, one of the most interesting in the Orient, was his gift.

Sketches of Singapore may be found in Sir Frank Swettenham's _British Malaya_, _Malay Sketches_ and _The Real Malay_; Wright and Reed, _The Malay Peninsula_; Belfield, _Handbook of the Federated Malay States_; Harrison, _Ill.u.s.trated Guide to the Federated Malay States_; Ireland, _The Far Eastern Tropics_; Boulger, _Life of Sir Stamford Raffles_; Buckley, _Records of Singapore_.

RANGOON

There is a large literature on Burma, which seems to have appealed to British travelers. Among the books that have chapters devoted to Rangoon are c.u.ming, _In the Shadow of the PaG.o.da_; Bird, _Wanderings in Burma_; Hart, _Picturesque Burma_; Kelly, _The Silken East_; MacMahon, _Far Cathay and Farther India_; Vincent, _The Land of the White Elephant_; Nisbet, _Burma Under British Rule and Before_; Hall, _The Soul of a People_ and _A People at School_.

INDIA

The literature about India is very extensive, so that only a few of the best books may be mentioned here. To the tourist the one indispensable book is Murray's _Handbook for Travelers in India, Ceylon and Burma_, which is well provided with maps and plans of cities. For general description, among the best works are Malcolm, _Indian Pictures and Problems_; Scidmore, _Winter India_; Forrest, _Cities of India_; Kipling, _From Sea to Sea_; Stevens, _In India_; Arnold, _India Revisited_; Low, _A Vision of India_ (describing the journey of the Prince of Wales in 1905-6); Caine, _Picturesque India_; _Things Seen in India_.

For the history of India, some of the best books are Lane-Poole, _Mediaeval India_ and _The Mogul Emperors_; Fanshawe, _Delhi, Past and Present_; McCrindle, _Ancient India_; Rhys-Davids, _British India_; Roberts, _Forty-one Tears in India_; Holmes, _History of the Indian Mutiny_; Innes, _The Sepoy Revolt_; Curzon, _Russia in Central Asia_; Colquhoun, _Russia Against India_.

On the religions of India: Rhys-Davids, _Buddhism_; Warren, _Buddhism in Translations_; Clarke, _Ten Great Religions_; Hopkins, _Religions of India_; Arnold, _The Light of Asia_.

<script>