{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28598/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28598","id":"gutenberg_28598","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28598","summary":null,"tags":["Buddhism","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Sociology","Christianity","Japan -- Religion","Shinto"],"text":"Religion in Japan:\n\n                     Shintoism\u2014Buddhism\u2014Christianity.\n\n                                    By\n\n                         George A. Cobbold, B.A.\n\n                         Pembroke College, Oxford\n\n                           With Illustrations.\n\n           Printed Under The Direction of the Tract Committee.\n\n                                 London:\n\n                Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge,\n\n       Northumberland Avenue, W.C.; 43, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.\n\n                       Brighton: 129, North Street\n\n                          New York: E. S. Gorham\n\n                                   1905\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nIntroductory.\nI. Shintoism.\nII. Buddhism.\nIII. Buddhism In Japan.\nIV. Buddhism And Christianity.\nV. Christianity In Japan.\nPublications Of The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n\nIt may well be questioned whether, in the course of a like period of time,\nany country has ever undergone greater transitions, or made more rapid\nstrides along the path of civilization than has Japan during the last\nquarter of a century. A group of numerous islands, situated on the\nhigh-road and thoroughfare of maritime traffic across the Pacific, between\nthe Eastern and Western hemispheres, and in area considerably exceeding\nGreat Britain and Ireland,\u2014Japan, until thirty years ago, was a _terra\nincognita_ to the rest of the world; exceeding even China in its\nconservatism and exclusiveness. And now, within a space of some\nfive-and-twenty years, such changes have come about as to have given birth\nto the expression,\u2014\u201cthe transformation of Japan.\u201d The more conspicuous of\nthese changes are summed up by a recent writer in the following\nwords:\u2014\u201cNew and enlightened criminal codes have been enacted; the methods\nof judicial procedure have been entirely changed; thoroughly efficient\nsystems of police, of posts, of telegraphs, and of national education have\nbeen organized; an army and a navy modelled after Western patterns have\nbeen formed; the finances of the Empire have been placed on a sound basis;\nrailways, roads, and harbours have been constructed; an efficient\nmercantile marine has sprung into existence; the jail system has been\nradically improved; an extensive scheme of local government has been put\ninto operation; a competitive civil service has been organized; the whole\nfiscal system has been revised; an influential and widely-read newspaper\npress has grown up with extraordinary rapidity; and government by\nparliament has been substituted for monarchical absolutism.\u201d(1) At the\npresent day, an Englishman travelling in Japan is constantly meeting\nnumbers of his countrymen, intent on either business or pleasure; while at\nall the principal cities and places of resort, handsome new hotels, fitted\nin Western style, are to be found. The Mikado may be seen driving through\nhis Capital in a carriage that would not be out of place in the Parks of\nLondon or Paris; and at Court ceremonies European dress is _de rigueur_.\nEnglish is taught in all the better-class schools, and at the Universities\nthe works of such authors as Bacon, Locke, Macaulay, Darwin, John Stuart\nMill, Herbert Spencer, are in constant request with the students. In\nshort, on every side evidence is afforded, that be it for better or for\nworse, the old order is fast changing and giving place to new.\n\nThe circumstances which have brought about these wonderful changes can\nonly be very briefly indicated here. It was towards the middle of the\nsixteenth century that Japan first came into contact with the Western\nworld; the first traders to arrive being the Portuguese, who were followed\nsome sixty years later by the Dutch, and in 1613 by a few English ships.\nTo all of these alike a hospitable reception appears to have been\naccorded; nor is there any doubt that Japanese exclusiveness was a thing\nof subsequent growth, and that it was based only on a sincere conviction\nthat the nation\u2019s well-being and happiness would be best consulted by\nrefusing to have dealings with the outer world. And indeed, that the\nJapanese should have arrived at this decision is by no means to be\nwondered at; their first experience of foreign intercourse having been\nsingularly unfortunate. The unhappy breach, which eventually led to Japan\nentirely closing her ports to foreign traffic, was, it would seem, due\npartly to the attitude of harsh intolerance and general interference\nadopted by certain of the Roman Catholic missionaries, who by this time\nhad arrived in the country: and partly to the insinuations made by the\nDutch that the Portuguese were aiming at territorial aggrandizement.\nAnyhow, in 1624, Japan was entirely closed to foreign trade, save for some\nconcessions,\u2014accompanied by the severest restrictions,\u2014permitted to the\nDutch; no foreigners were allowed to enter, and no natives to leave, the\nempire; the missionaries were expelled, and Christianity was prohibited\nunder pain of death. The Japanese, as has been said, \u201csuspected everybody\nand shut out the world.\u201d Previous to this crisis the English had retired;\nbut when, in 1673, our country sought to resume friendly relations, the\nconnexion existing between the English and Portuguese courts proved an\ninsuperable obstacle.(2) Subsequent overtures made in 1849, were\ncourteously but firmly rejected; though the period of Japan\u2019s isolation\nwas, as later events proved, almost at an end. In 1853, the Government of\nthe United States despatched a fleet across the Pacific, under the command\nof Commodore Perry, to insist upon the surrender of a policy which, it was\nurged, no one nation of the world had a right to adopt towards the rest.\nWhether the arguments with which this position was advanced would of\nthemselves have prevailed, is impossible to say; but since it was evident\nthat should words fail, sterner measures would be resorted to, Japan had\nno choice but to submit. Treaties were accordingly concluded, first with\nthe United States, and subsequently with England and other European\npowers; by virtue of which a few ports were grudgingly opened, and\nJapanese subjects permitted to engage in commercial transactions with the\noutside world. For the first few years, it is certain that a strong\nfeeling of suspicion and dislike towards foreigners was rife; but in 1868\nevents occurred which brought about a complete change in the whole\nsituation. For some six hundred years a dual system of government had\nexisted in Japan. On the one hand, was the Mikado, supposed to trace a\nlineage of unbroken descent from the gods, and accorded a veneration\nsemi-divine, but living in seclusion at the city of Kyoto, with such\npowers of administration as he still retained confined to matters of\nreligion and education. On the other hand, was the Shogun, or Tycoon, the\nacknowledged head of a feudalism, which, while nominally recognizing the\nMikado\u2019s authority, had usurped the sovereign power, and really governed\nthe country. But in 1868, the altered circumstances in which Japan found\nherself brought about a revolution. The ancient nobility were filled with\nindignation and disgust at the Tycoon so far violating Japanese tradition\nas to enter into treaties with foreign countries; and, as a consequence of\nthis rupture, the Shogunate, whose power had for some time been waning,\ncompletely collapsed. The Mikado was restored to imperial power, and at\nonce entered upon a policy which has been consistently adhered to, and\nreceived with favour by the people generally, who had grown impatient of\nthe restraint which environed them. That policy may be termed the\nEuropeanization of the Empire; and in it we have the explanation of the\nJapan of to-day.\n\nIt is not surprising that the interest excited in England, with regard to\na country which has experienced such remarkable changes, should be of the\ngreatest\u2014especially when it is remembered in how large a degree English\ninfluence has contributed to produce them. We may be certain, also, that\nthe still further developments the future has in store, will be followed\nin our own country with a close attention. Equally natural is it that, in\nthese days of so great fashion and facility for travelling, increasing\nnumbers of English people should avail themselves of the opportunity of\nexploring a country so entirely unique, and so rich in its attractions of\nnature and of art. These circumstances have combined to call into\nexistence a large number of books on Japan, from which any, who are unable\nto visit it in person, may obtain as good an idea as is possible by\nreading of the country, its people, and its customs. Indeed it is by no\nmeans easy for any writer now to fasten upon an aspect of the subject, in\nwhich he does not find himself forestalled. That, however, on which, so\nfar as I understand, least has been written, is precisely that towards\nwhich my own main attention was directed from the time of my leaving\nEngland, and throughout the period of my visit to the country,\u2014namely, the\n_religious_ aspect. That the following pages must be very imperfect in the\nstatement they supply, I am well aware; and that, despite my efforts to\nobtain trustworthy information, they will not prove free from inaccuracy\nor mistake is extremely probable. But I was induced to enter upon their\npreparation by a series of circumstances that appeared to favour such a\ntask, and need not be specified here. For the material supplied to me,\nhowever, by one kind friend in particular, without whose assistance these\narticles would never have been attempted, I must express my special\nobligation. I would gladly refer to him by name, did I feel at liberty to\ndo so without obtaining his permission, which I have not, at the time of\nwriting, the opportunity of asking. Also, among the books I have consulted\non the subject, I must acknowledge my great indebtedness to Messrs.\nChamberlain and Mason\u2019s excellent _Handbook for Japan_ (Murray, 1891); and\nto a copy of Dr. E. J. Eitel\u2019s _Lectures on Buddhism_ (Tr\u00fcbner, 1871),\ngiven me by the author, at the close of a most interesting day spent under\nhis guidance. The sketch Map of Japan is inserted by the kind permission\nof the \u201cGuild of St. Paul.\u201d\n\n_November, 1893._\n\n\n\n\n\nI. SHINTOISM.\n\n\nWhen, in the sixth century of the Christian era, Buddhism was introduced\ninto Japan from China, by way of Korea, the need was felt of some term by\nwhich the ancient indigenous religion of the country might be\ndistinguished from the new importation. The term thus adopted was\n_Shinto_, or _Kami-no-michi_; the former being a Chinese word, and the\nlatter its Japanese equivalent. The meaning of either, in English, is the\n\u201cWay of the Genii, or Spirits.\u201d(3) It will, accordingly, be seen that the\n_word_ \u201cShinto\u201d has only been in use for some thirteen centuries, while\nthe creed it designates claims to trace its origin from the remotest\nantiquity. Indeed, the investigation of Shintoism takes us back not merely\nto the earliest annals of Japanese history, but to the fabulous legends of\na mythological period. The history of Japan is commonly reckoned to\ncommence with the accession of the Emperor Jimmu Tenno, the date of which\nis given as February 11, 660 B.C.; and when, in 1889, the new Constitution\nwas promulgated, the anniversary of this event was the day selected\u2014the\nidea evidently being to confirm the popular belief in the continuity of\nthe country\u2019s history. This Jimmu Tenno\u2014accounted by the Japanese their\nfirst human sovereign\u2014is supposed to have been descended from Ama-terasu,\nthe sun-goddess, who was born from the left eye of Izanagi, the creator of\nJapan; and this it is that accounts for the semi-deification in which the\nEmperors of Japan have ever been held. It is, then, the countless heroes\nand demi-gods of the mythological age referred to\u2014the children of Izanagi\nreigning over Japan, generation after generation, for many thousands of\nyears\u2014that are the chief objects of Shinto veneration; for while it is\nusual to speak of Shintoism as being a combination of ancestor-worship and\nnature-worship, it would seem that the latter of these elements was\nlargely due to the contact of Japan with the Taouism of China, and with\nmetaphysical Buddhism. Thus the essential principle of Shintoism, it will\nbe seen, is closely akin to that filial piety, which forms so conspicuous\na feature in the religious, political, and social life of China, and\nwhich\u2014deserving as it is, in many ways, of respect and\nadmiration\u2014presents, when carried to excess, so vast a hindrance to\ndevelopment and progress.\n\n\u201cShintoism,\u201d in the words of Diayoro Goh, Chancellor of the Japanese\nConsulate General in London, \u201coriginated in the worship offered by a\nbarbarous people to the mythological persons of its own invention.\u201d To\nspeak accurately, it is not so much a religion as patriotism exalted to\nthe rank of a creed. It is a veneration of the country\u2019s heroes and\nbenefactors of every age, legendary and historical, ancient and more\nrecent; the spirits of these being appealed to for protection. Interwoven\nwith this, its fundamental characteristic, and to a great extent obscuring\nit, is a worship of the personified forces of nature; expressing itself\noften in the most abject superstition, and, until lately, also in that\ngrosser symbolism with which the religion of Ancient Egypt abounded. This\nlatter feature was widely prevalent in Japan at the time that the country\nwas first opened to foreigners; but after the Revolution in 1868, it was\neverywhere suppressed. It would appear that the personal cleanliness for\nwhich the Japanese, as a nation, are celebrated, had its origin in the\nidea of the purification of the body symbolizing the cleansing of the\nsoul; and in a vague and hazy sort of way, Shintoism would seem to\nrecognize a future state of bliss or misery, for which the present life is\na period of probation. Practically, however, this is the only world with\nwhich Shintoism concerns itself; nor does it inculcate any laws of\nmorality or conduct, conscience and the heart being accounted sufficient\nguides. It provides neither public worship, nor sermons; while its\napplication is limited to subjects of the Mikado. \u201cIt is the least\nexacting of all religions.\u201d When this is once understood, there ceases to\nbe anything surprising in the fact of two religions\u2014of which Shintoism was\none, and the other a creed so accommodating as Buddhism\u2014running, side by\nside, for centuries in the same country, and being professed\nsimultaneously by the same people, until the two were so closely\ninterwoven that it became scarcely possible to distinguish their\nrespective elements. In the eighteenth century an attempt was made to\nrestore Shintoism to its primitive simplicity, and to mould it into a\nphilosophical system which might minister to the higher aspirations of\nhumanity. But the movement was a failure, and the Ryobu-Shinto, or \u201cdouble\nreligion,\u201d\u2014the combination, that is to say, of Shintoism and\nBuddhism\u2014continued as before. It was only so lately as the year 1868 that\nany important change took place in the religious history of Japan. In that\nyear, Shintoism\u2014for reasons wholly political\u2014was adopted as the State, or\n\u201cestablished\u201d religion; Buddhism having always been the religion favoured\nby the Shogunate, and the ancient nobility whom the Shogun represented.\nUpon this, every temple was required to declare itself either Shinto or\nBuddhist, and to remove the emblems and ornaments peculiar to the\ndiscarded cult, whichever that might be. That no little excitement and\ndispute followed upon this proclamation, will be readily understood;\nespecially when we bear in mind that, for several hundred years, Buddhist\nand Shinto clergy had taken their turns of officiating in the same\nbuildings and at the same altars.(4) A grant of some \u00a360,000 a year was\nmade by the Government for the maintenance of the Shinto temples and\nshrines, which are said to number in all about 98,000, and to be dedicated\nto no less than 3,700 different Genii, or Kami. Already, however,\nShintoism has lost the greater part of the importance into which it was\nbrought at the time of the Revolution; and, apart from the fact that it is\nsupported out of the imperial revenues, and that the presence of its\nprincipal officials is required at certain of the state functions, its\ngeneral position has in no way improved. The people still practise the\nobservances of both religions alike; the only difference being that, to\neffect this, they have now to visit two temples instead of one. A new-born\nchild, for instance, is taken by its parents to both Shinto and Buddhist\ntemples, for the purpose of solemn dedication. Another of the changes\nbrought about is that, instead of all funerals being conducted by Buddhist\npriests, as was the case until 1868, the dead are now buried by either\nShinto or Buddhist clergy, as the relatives may prefer. Of the many signs\nwhich indicate that Shintoism has well nigh run its course, not the least\nremarkable was the announcement made last year (1892) by the Government\nitself, to the effect that its rites were to be regarded as simply\ntraditional and commemorative, and devoid of any real religious\nsignificance. The relief thus afforded to the minds and consciences of\nChristians in Japan was, as might be supposed, very great.\n\nOf the various sects the _Zhikko_,\u2014founded 1541 A.D.,\u2014is, perhaps, the\nmost influential. This sect\u2014as indeed do Shintoists generally\u2014recognizes\none eternal absolute Deity, a being of infinite benevolence; and here\u2014as\nin other heathen religions\u2014we find vague references to a Trinity engaged\nin the work of Creation.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                   Group of Shinto Priests With Torii.\n\n\nDespite the dissociation of the two religions, many of the Shinto temples\nstill retain traces of the Buddhist influence. Of Shintoism proper the\nprevailing characteristic is a marked simplicity, which, however, is often\nfound combined with great artistic beauty. Sometimes the shrine consists\nonly of a rude altar, situated amid a grove of trees; but, even in the\ncase of large temples with a complete group of buildings, the architecture\nis extremely plain, the material employed being unornamented white wood\nwith a thatch of chamaecyparis. The entrance to the temple grounds is\nalways through gateways, called _Torii_; these are made sometimes of\nstone, but more properly of wood, and consist of two unpainted\ntree-trunks, with another on the top and a horizontal beam beneath. Near\nthe entrance are commonly found stone figures of dogs or lions, which are\nsupposed to act as guardians. The principal shrine, or _Honsha_, is\nsituated at the further end of the sacred enclosure, and is divided by a\nrailing into an ante-room and an inner sanctuary. Within the sanctuary an\naltar is erected, on which, however, no images or adornments are seen, but\nsimply offerings of rice, fruit, wine, &c. Above the altar, in a\nconspicuous position, a large mirror is generally placed; and in a box\nbeneath are usually kept a sword, and a stone. These three,\u2014the mirror,\nthe sword, and the stone,\u2014constitute the Japanese regalia, and they are\nall connected with the early legends. One of the traditions respecting the\nsacred mirror deserves quotation.\n\n\u201cWhen the time was come that Izanagi and his consort should return\ntogether to the celestial regions, he called his children together,\nbidding them dry their tears, and listen attentively to his last wishes.\nHe then committed to them a disc of polished silver, bidding them each\nmorning place themselves on their knees before it, and there see reflected\non their countenances the impress of any evil passions deliberately\nindulged; and again each night carefully to examine themselves, that their\nlast thoughts might be after the happiness of that higher world whither\ntheir parents had preceded them.\u201d The legend goes on to relate with what\nfaithfulness \u201cthe children of Izanagi, and afterwards their descendants,\ncarried out these injunctions; erecting an altar of wood to receive the\nsacred mirror, and placing upon it vases and flowers,\u2014and how, as a reward\nfor their obedience and devotion, they became in their turn, the spirits\nof good, the undying Kami.\u201d(5)\n\nAnother of the most common of the Shinto emblems is a slim wand of\nunpainted wood, called _Gohei_, to which strips of white paper\u2014originally\nthey were of cloth\u2014are attached. These are thought to attract the deities,\nand are held in great veneration.\n\nLeaving the principal shrine, and proceeding to make the tour of the\ngrounds, the visitor comes, in turn, to the buildings where the business\narrangements of the temple are transacted, and where the priests, in some\ncases, reside; to smaller shrines and oratories; to cisterns for the\npurpose of ceremonial ablution, &c. Sometimes, also, at the more important\ntemples is found a long covered platform, called the _Kagura-do_, where,\non festivals and special occasions, a number of girls\u2014those I saw at Nara\nwere still quite children\u2014perform the _Kagura_, or sacred dance. The\ndancing is in honour of the divinity to whom the temple is dedicated; and\ncommemorates a supposed incident of the mythological period. In the\ngrounds of Shinto and Buddhist temples alike are frequently found numerous\nstone-lanterns, erected by way of votive offerings, and lighted on any\ngreat occasions.\n\nIt has already been remarked that Shintoism has nothing corresponding to\nour public worship; but every morning and evening the priests\u2014whose office\nseems held in no particular sanctity, and who are at liberty, at any time,\nto adopt a more secular calling\u2014perform a service before the altar, vested\nin white dresses, somewhat resembling albs and confined at the waist by a\ngirdle. The service consists of the presentation of offerings and of the\nrecital of various invocations, chiefly laudatory. The devotions of the\npeople are remarkable for their brevity and simplicity. The worshipper, on\narriving at the shrine, rings a bell, or sounds a gong, to engage the\nattention of the deity he desires to invoke; throws a coin of the smallest\npossible value on to the matting within the sanctuary rails; makes one or\ntwo prostrations; and then, clapping his hands, to intimate to his patron\nthat his business with him is over, retires\u2014it not being considered\nnecessary to give to the petition any verbal expression. The making of\npilgrimages, however, still occupies a prominent place in the Shinto\nsystem, and though of late years the number of pilgrims has considerably\ndecreased, long journeys are still undertaken to the great temple of the\nsun-goddess at Ise\u2014the \u201cMecca of Japan,\u201d\u2014and other celebrated shrines. The\nchief object of the pilgrimage is the purchase of _O-harai_, or sacred\ncharms, which can only be obtained on the spot. These, when brought home,\nare placed on the _Kamidana_, or god-shelf\u2014a miniature temple of wood,\nfound in every Shinto house, to which are attached the names of various\npatron deities, and the monumental tablets of the family. His purchase of\nthe O-harai completed, the pilgrim betakes himself to the enjoyment of the\nvarious shows and other amusements provided for him in the neighbourhood\nof the temple.\n\nTo conclude this brief sketch of Shintoism. Such influence as the cult\nstill possesses may be attributed to the superstition of the poor and\nilliterate; and to a reluctance, on the part of the more educated, to\nbreak with so venerable a past. The latter, however, though they continue\nto conform to them, do not regard its observances seriously; while the\nimportance attached to them by the State is, as we have seen, wholly\npolitical. In the words of Diayoro Goh, spoken in the course of a lecture\ndelivered in London two or three years since: \u201cShintoism, being so\nrestricted in its sphere, offers little obstacle to the introduction of\nanother religion,\u201d\u2014provided, as he added, that the veneration of the\nMikado, which has always formed the fundamental feature of Japanese\ngovernment, is not interfered with. The truth of this statement has\nalready been abundantly exemplified in the position which Buddhism for so\nmany centuries held in the religious life of Japan. In the same way, when,\nthree hundred years ago, Christianity was introduced into the country by\nthe Portuguese, it was largely owing to the attitude which some of the\nmissionaries adopted towards these national rites, that the complications\narose, which eventually led to the expulsion of foreigners, and the\npersecution of Christians. And surely, when we think of it, it is not\nstrange that an intense jealousy should be exhibited on behalf of\nobservances and ceremonies, traceable back to such remote antiquity, and\nso intimately bound up with the whole political and social life of the\nnation. It is, indeed, highly probable that, in the great changes Japan is\nundergoing, she will find other methods of cherishing the continuity of\nher, in many ways, illustrious past. But meanwhile, Christians in Japan\nmay rejoice that they are permitted, with a quiet conscience, to manifest\na respectful regard for a system that is by no means destitute of\npraiseworthy features.\n\n\n\n\n\nII. BUDDHISM.\n\n\nIt is quite possible that to some of the readers of these pages the very\nname of Shintoism was unknown; whereas all will have heard and read at\nleast something of Buddhism, one of the four most prevalent religions of\nthe world, and claiming at the present day considerably more than four\nhundred millions of adherents.(6) At the same time, our inquiry into\nBuddhism cannot be comprised within such narrow limits as sufficed for our\nexamination of the indigenous religion of Japan; the subject being one of\nthe vastest dimensions. Perhaps, then, it may be better if, at the outset,\nI allude to some of the literature, published within the last few years,\nwhich has been most instrumental in attracting attention, both in England\nand America, to the subject. Nor, in this connexion, can all reference be\nomitted to the writings of the late Madame Blavatsky, Mr. Sinnett, and\ntheir school; though I refer to them only in order to caution my readers\nagainst forming from them any estimate of Buddhism. The only literature,\nas far as I know, that has appeared in England from what claims to be an\nenthusiastic Buddhist stand-point, these writings are, I believe,\ncalculated to convey a curiously erroneous idea of the great system with\nwhich we are now concerned, to any who would turn for information to them\nexclusively. This, indeed, becomes obvious when it is understood that the\nBuddhism, of which these books profess to treat, is not the Buddhism of\nhistory and the sacred books, not the Buddhism which forms the popular\nreligion of hundreds of millions of Asiatics at the present day, but an\n\u201cesoteric\u201d Buddhism, a knowledge of which, it is admitted, is confined to\na comparative few, even in the country where it is said to be most\nprevalent.(7) In short, the \u201cesoteric Buddhism\u201d of Mr. Sinnett and his\nfriends would seem to be scarcely, if at all, distinguishable from the\nmovement which has recently acquired a brief notoriety in England under\nthe name of Theosophy; and with this, Buddhism proper\u2014i.e. the historical,\npopular Buddhism with which we have to do\u2014can hardly be said to have\nanything in common.\n\nWith the book, however, which probably more than any other work of the day\nhas been the means of drawing the attention of English-speaking people to\nBuddhism, we cannot deal in so summary a fashion. For in Sir Edwin\nArnold\u2019s poem, _The Light of Asia_, we have a work which is simply a\nrendering of the life of Buddha, in general accordance with the received\ntraditions, and one, moreover, which has met with a cordial welcome at the\nhands of Buddhists. Nor can it be questioned that the book is a production\nof great power, or that it appeals altogether to a very different class of\nreaders from that likely to be influenced by the _Occult World_, or _Isis\nUnveiled_.\n\nIt is indeed, the great beauty of its poetry, and the book\u2019s consequent\npopularity, that only make the more necessary a reference which must to\nsome extent take the form of a protest. To put it briefly, the case is\nthis:\u2014Men and women have risen from a perusal of the _Light of Asia_ with\na sense of damage done to their Christian faith, and with a\nfeeling\u2014confused, perhaps, but not the less real\u2014that in Gautama Buddha\nthey have been confronted with a formidable rival to Jesus Christ. How far\nthe poem is responsible for this result we will not attempt to determine;\nand that such was no part of the author\u2019s intention we may readily\nbelieve. But that the minds of not a few have been perplexed and disturbed\nby the reading of this book is a certain fact; making it neither\nsurprising nor regrettable that its publication should have been followed\nby works on the subject, written from an emphatically Christian point of\nview. To the fullest and ablest of these,\u2014the Rev. S. H. Kellogg\u2019s _The\nLight of Asia and the Light of the World: a Comparison of the Legend, the\nDoctrine and the Ethics of the Buddha, with the Story, the Doctrine and\nthe Ethics of Christ_ (Macmillan, 1885),\u2014I would refer those desirous of\ninvestigating fully the points at issue; contenting myself now with a few\nbrief observations.\n\nIt is, then, important to bear in mind that Sir E. Arnold\u2019s poem is\nwritten in the person, and from the stand-point of an imaginary Buddhist.\nThis is indicated plainly on the title-page, in the preface, and in the\ncourse of the poem itself; and when the book comes to be read by the light\nof this explanation, a limitation is cast about much of its more startling\nlanguage. To take, for instance, such expressions as \u201cOur Lord,\u201d\n\u201cSaviour,\u201d \u201ccome to save the world,\u201d constantly assigned to Buddha in the\ncourse of the poem. However accustomed Christians may be to associate such\nterms with One only, and however pained they may feel at their being\nreferred, under any circumstances and with any restrictions, to another,\nstill it is obvious that their use becomes less open to objection, when\nplaced in the mouth of a disciple, singing the praise of his Master,\u2014and\nthat Master, one who, it can hardly be disputed, wrought no mean work of\ndeliverance on the earth. Far less admitting of satisfactory explanation\nare passages in the book in which we find transferred to Buddha and\nBuddhism ideas and language distinctively Christian; the solemn saying of\nSimeon to the Holy Mother, \u201cA sword shall pierce through thine own soul\nalso,\u201d and the still more solemn, \u201cIt is finished\u201d of the Cross, being\nmade to supply particularly distressing instances of such treatment.(8)\n\nOr once again: but what I would say now has already been urged by Dr.\nEitel, in words which I cannot do better than quote. \u201cI believe,\u201d he says,\n\u201cit would be unjust to pick out any of those queer and childish sayings\nwith which the Buddhist Scriptures and especially popular Buddhist books\nabound, and to lead people to imagine that Buddhism is little better than\na string of nonsense. It is even doubtful whether the earliest Buddhist\ntexts contained such statements at all; for, unlike our Bible, the\nBuddhist canon has undergone wholesale textual alterations.... As to the\npopular literature of Buddhism, and its absurdities, we might as well\ncollect those little pamphlets on dreams, on sorcery, on lucky and unlucky\ndays, on the lives and miracles of saints, which circulate among Roman\nCatholic peasants,\u2014but would that give us a true picture of Roman\nCatholicism? Thus it is with Buddhism.\u201d(9) In other words, Dr. Eitel would\nurge that in order to deal fairly with such a subject, we must try to\ndistinguish the essence of the thing itself from the abuses and follies\nthat may, from time to time, have gathered round it; and this, it is to be\nfeared, has not always been done by English writers, in treating of\nBuddhism.\n\nFor the sake of clearness, we may next proceed to trace a brief outline of\nthe life of Buddha, according to the belief of Buddhists generally, and\nstripped of such legends and superstitions as find no credence with the\nmore educated and intellectual. It is true that a doubt has sometimes been\nexpressed as to the existence of Gautama Buddha at all; while even so\neminent an authority as Mr. Spence Hardy declares his conviction that,\nowing to the lack of really authentic information, \u201cit is impossible to\nrely implicitly on any single statement made in relation to him.\u201d(10) But\neven supposing the Buddha of the commonly-received traditions to be,\nwhether in part or in entirety, a mere creation of Indian thought, the\ncase undergoes no vital alteration; seeing that it is with the religion of\nBuddhism that we are mainly concerned, and only in quite a subordinate\ndegree with the person of its supposed founder. The point is one that\ndeserves careful attention, suggesting as it does at once the essential\ndifference between Buddhism and Christianity, and the immeasurable\ndistance which divides the two. For of Christianity it is no exaggeration\nto say that upon the truth of the received accounts of its Founder\u2019s Life\nand Person its whole position absolutely depends; whereas, could it be\nproved that Gautama never even lived, the system associated with his name\nwould suffer no material loss,\u2014and this, because in Buddha we are invited\nto contemplate only a teacher and a guide, one who would have men seek\npurification and deliverance by the same means as he himself needed to\nemploy, and one who never claimed to be more than human. Most persons,\nhowever, will prefer to accept as, in the main, historically correct the\ncommonly accepted outline of the life of Buddha which may thus be given\u2014\n\nThe reputed founder of Buddhism was one Siddhartha, known in later life as\nGautama, and later still, by the title of Buddha, or the \u201cEnlightened\nOne.\u201d Siddhartha was a prince of the Sakya tribe, whose territories were\nsituated some hundred miles north-east of the city of Benares. Hence he is\noften spoken of under the name of _Sakya-muni_, or the \u201cSakya sage.\u201d As\nregards his date, widely different opinions are held; sometimes it is\nplaced as early as the tenth, and sometimes as late as the third century\nB.C. The most competent authorities, however, agree in following the\nBuddhists of Ceylon, and take 543 B.C. as the date of his death.(11) His\nfather\u2019s name was Suddhodana; his mother was called Maia. Of the earlier\nyears of Siddhartha\u2019s life we have little information that is at all to be\nrelied on; but his early manhood appears to have been spent amid the\nluxury and self-indulgence customary with Oriental princes. Gautama,\nhowever, was a man of great benevolence, and we are told that, while still\nquite young, he pondered deeply on the mystery of the pain and suffering\nwhich held the human race in bondage. Presently, becoming dissatisfied\nwith his own life of ease and pleasure, he made the \u201cGreat Renunciation;\u201d\nturning his back, at the age of thirty, on wife and parents, home and\nwealth. After spending some years in travel, he retired to the forest,\nwhere he attached himself to a little band of ascetics, and practised\nsevere forms of discipline and self-mortification; hoping thus to discover\nthe secret of release from suffering. But meeting with no success, and\nstill fast bound by the trammels of ignorance, he betook himself to\ncontemplation; until one day, as he was seated beneath the\nBo-tree,\u2014henceforth to be accounted sacred(12)\u2014the struggles of his soul\nprevailed, and he passed out of darkness into light. He was now Buddha, He\nwho Knew, the Enlightened. The four truths to the knowledge of which\nGautama thus attained, and which form the very foundation of the Buddhist\ndoctrine, are these\u2014(i) That man is born to suffering, both mental and\nphysical: he experiences it himself, he inflicts it upon others; (ii) that\nthis suffering is occasioned by desire; (iii) that the condition of\nsuffering in which man finds himself admits of amelioration and relief;\n(iv) the way of release, and the attainment to Nirvana.\n\nHere we must pause to make the inquiry, What is meant by _Nirvana_,\u2014the\ngoal of the Buddhist\u2019s hope and aim? Literally, the word means\n\u201cextinction\u201d; and hence it has often come to be regarded as a mere synonym\nfor annihilation. The variety of opinions held by European scholars as to\nits meaning is, there is little doubt, due to the fact that Buddhists\nthemselves are by no means agreed as to its precise significance. Is\nNirvana a state of consciousness or unconsciousness? Is the personality\nperpetuated, or is the _ego_ absorbed,\u2014i.e. into Buddha? Such questions\nare differently answered by the different schools. Concerning the nature\nof Nirvana, Buddha himself, in his agnosticism, would seem to have been\nalmost wholly silent. He appears to have simply taught that by the\nsuppression and \u201cextinction\u201d of the natural passions and desires\u2014anger,\navarice, sorrow, and the like(13)\u2014it was possible even here to enter upon\na state of tranquillity, rest, and peace, which should attain hereafter to\nmore perfect fulfilment. Of the various meanings attached to Nirvana by\nthe different Buddhist sects, one extreme makes it scarcely\ndistinguishable from complete annihilation, while the opposite extreme\nintroduces us to the doctrine of the Paradise of the West, the Pure Land\npresided over by Amitabha Buddha, the abode of perfect happiness and\ndelight. This remarkable development of Buddhism will claim our attention\nlater.(14)\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                          Daibatsu At Kamakura.\n\n\nTo return. After his enlightenment, it is said that Gautama was seized by\nthe temptation to enter at once into Nirvana, without proclaiming his\ndoctrine to the world. But putting the temptation from him, he began his\nministry by announcing the tidings of release to the companions of his\nascetic life, who, after scoffing for awhile, were at length convinced. In\nthe course of this, his first sermon, Buddha proceeded to enunciate the\neight steps on the path which leads to Nirvana\u2014(i) Right faith, (ii) right\nresolution, (iii) right speech, (iv) right action, (v) right living, (vi)\nright effort, (vii) right thought, (viii) right self-concentration. As\ntime went on, Gautama began to gather round him a number of disciples, who\nbecame his constant companions. Part of each year he spent in rest and\nretirement; teaching and training his disciples, and receiving such as,\nattracted by his growing reputation, sought him out. The remaining months\nhe occupied in travelling from place to place, proclaiming the good news\nof deliverance in the towns and villages through which he passed. Soon we\nfind him establishing a Society or Brotherhood; the members of which\nsevered their connexion with all worldly things, handed over their\nproperty to the Order, adopted the tonsure and a distinctive dress, and,\nfollowing the Master\u2019s doctrine with strictness themselves, devoted their\nlives to its propagation. Any member, however, was at liberty to leave the\nBrotherhood, should he wish to do so. It is noticeable that Buddha\u2019s\nearliest followers were chiefly drawn\u2014not, as in the case of a Greater\nthan he, from the ranks of the poor and simple\u2014but from the upper classes.\nIndeed, Gautama seems to have regarded the weak and ignorant as incapable\nof receiving his teaching. Children are hardly mentioned in the early\nBuddhist writings; and with regard to women, it was only with great\nreluctance that Sakya-muni eventually consented to the formation of a\nSisterhood, the members of which were, as far as possible, to observe the\nsame rules as the men\u2014together with several additional ones, chiefly\nconcerned with their subjection to the Brethren. In the same way, it is\nstill the teaching of Buddhism that it should be a woman\u2019s highest\naspiration to be reborn as a man, in a future state of existence. When,\nhowever, the two Orders\u2014for men and for women\u2014had been formed, there still\nremained a large number of either sex, who, without leaving their places\nin the world, were desirous of being reckoned among Buddha\u2019s followers.\nThese were admitted as lay-adherents, one of their chief obligations being\nto contribute to the maintenance of the Brethren.\n\nHaving exercised his public ministry for forty years\u2014without, as would\nappear, encountering any great opposition\u2014and having committed his work to\nthe Brotherhood, to carry on after his decease, Buddha died, aged about\neighty, and was buried with great pomp. It is recorded that, as the time\nof his departure drew nigh, he replied to his disciples\u2019 expressions of\napprehension and sorrow, by saying that when he should no longer be with\nthem in person, he would still be present with them in his sayings, in his\ndoctrine. Another point on which he laid great stress before his death was\nthat the Brotherhood should regularly assemble in convocation. Hence it\ncame about that from very early times, the declaration, \u201cI seek refuge in\nBuddha, Dharma (the Law), Samgha (the Brotherhood),\u201d was adopted as the\nformula which any one, desirous of becoming a Buddhist, was required to\nprofess. And it is the Trinity thus formed, which, represented to-day by\nthe three great images above the altar of many a Buddhist temple, has its\nmultitude of ignorant worshippers, who doubt not that three several\ndivinities are the objects of their adoration and their prayer.\n\nSuch, then, as would appear, was the origin of Buddhism. Strictly\nspeaking, and apart from its later developments, Buddhism is a religion\nwhich knows no God, which attaches no value to prayer, which has no place\nfor a priesthood. Nowhere, perhaps, is its agnosticism more conspicuous\nthan in the five main prohibitions, which are addressed alike to clergy\nand laity. The _first_ of these forbids the taking of life,\u2014human life\nchiefly, but other life as well; the _second_ is against theft, whether by\nforce or fraud; the _third_ is against falsehood; the _fourth_ forbids\nimpurity, in act, word, or thought; the _fifth_ requires abstinence from\nall intoxicants. The whole idea of _GOD_, it will be noticed, is entirely\nabsent from the Buddhist Commandments. Infinitely removed above that other\nagnosticism, which cries, \u201cLet us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,\u201d\nBuddhism starts with the idea of the entire abnegation of self. But a\nself-denial that is undertaken, not for God, and in God for man, but\nmerely to secure one\u2019s own peace and well-being\u2014what is this but\nselfishness after all? Enjoining a rule of life that is essentially\nnegative\u2014the natural product of that blank despair of the world and of\nhuman nature which led to the Great Renunciation\u2014Buddhism, as a religious\nsystem, has yielded but scanty fruits of positive holiness, of active\nbenevolence. And yet,\u2014wholly inadequate as such a system as this, even at\nits purest and best, must be to meet the needs of humanity,\u2014false and even\ndebased as are sometimes its teachings,\u2014the one great message that\nBuddhism proclaims is a message of undeniable, if most imperfect, truth:\nthe truth that would have man cultivate self-reliance, and attain to\nself-deliverance by means of self-control. \u201cWork out your own salvation\u201d\nis the injunction of Christianity. \u201cBy one\u2019s self,\u201d taught Sakya-muni,\n\u201cthe evil is one; by one\u2019s self must come remedy and release.\u201d So far the\ntwo systems are at one; the difference between them lies in the fact that\nthe one places in our hands those supernatural weapons which alone make\nreal victory possible, and that these the other knows not how to supply.\n\nHitherto, we have made no reference to the relation of Buddhism to\nBrahmanism. And yet we can no more hope to understand the work of\nSakya-muni, without observing its connexion with Brahmanism, than we could\nafford to omit all mention of the Jewish Law and of Jewish Pharisaism, in\nspeaking of the liberation wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ. The work and\ndoctrine of Gautama Buddha,\u2014with their mean between an ascetic severity,\non the one hand, and a licentious self-indulgence on the other\u2014their\ndisregard of caste distinctions\u2014their rejection of burdensome and\nprofitless traditions\u2014may be said to bear to the heavy yoke of Brahmanism\na relation not dissimilar to that which freedom has to bondage. Laying\nhold of that which was ready to his hand, if so be he might mould and\npurify it, Buddha was a liberator and reformer in respect to what had gone\nbefore. Let us take, for example, the doctrine of metempsychosis, or, as\nit is commonly called, the \u201ctransmigration of souls.\u201d No doubt, there is a\ngreat deal connected with this doctrine in the Buddhist books that cannot\nbut appear to us puerile and shocking; but still, we do not well, we do\nnot justly, if, as do so many, we fasten such strange fancies on Buddha,\nor on Buddhism, as though it were from these that they sprang. So far from\nSakya-muni being the originator of the theory of transmigration, a belief\nin it had, for centuries previously, been almost universal throughout the\nEast; and his doctrine of Nirvana supplied an antidote to the belief in a\npractically interminable series of metempsychoses current at the time.\nWith the theory of transmigration accepted on all sides, Buddha seems to\nhave made use of it to the extent that he did, as affording a convenient\nsolution of the difficulty presented by the unequal distribution of\nhappiness in this life, and the absence of any satisfactory exercise of\njustice in the way of reward or punishment.\n\nThat the doctrine of metempsychosis should have been applied by Buddhists\nto their great Master himself, is only what we should expect to find.\nGautama is accredited by Buddhists with some five hundred previous\nexistences, in the course of which he passed through numerous stages of\nvegetable, animal and human life, until at length he attained to the\nhighest degree of manhood. Throughout the changing circumstances of his\nbeing, he is said to have exhibited a transcendent and ever-increasing\nunselfishness and charity, which culminated in his freely giving himself\nto be re-born as Buddha for the world\u2019s deliverance. And it is this\nbelief, probably, which has been the most potent factor in exalting the\nPhilosopher and the Guide to a height, which is scarcely, if at all,\ndistinguishable from the Throne of God.\n\nI may conclude this chapter by quoting a passage from the late Dean\nStanley\u2019s _History of the Jewish Church_, where he is referring to Gautama\nBuddha: \u201cIt is difficult for those who believe the permanent elements of\nthe Jewish and Christian religion to be universal and Divine not to hail\nthese corresponding forms of truth and goodness elsewhere, or to recognize\nthat the mere appearance of such saint-like and god-like characters in\nother parts of the earth, if not directly preparing the way for a greater\nmanifestation, illustrates that manifestation by showing how mighty has\nbeen the witness borne to it even under circumstances of such\ndiscouragement, and even with effects inadequate to their grandeur.\u201d(15)\n\n\n\n\n\nIII. BUDDHISM IN JAPAN.\n\n\nIn the last Chapter we sketched in outline the life and teaching of\nGautama Buddha; omitting the many fanciful legends that have gathered\nround his name, and confining ourselves to what would be accepted by\nBuddhists generally. Of the long period that divides the death of\nSakya-muni from the introduction of Buddhism into Japan about 550 A.D., it\nis no part of our purpose to treat in detail. But enough must be said to\nconnect in some intelligible way these two events.\n\nAfter the death of Gautama, his disciples are said to have gathered\ntogether, and recited all that they remembered of his teaching, arranging\nit in three divisions. This was the origin of the sacred books known as\nthe _Tripitaca_, i.e. the \u201cthree baskets,\u201d the \u201cthree receptacles.\u201d The\nfirst of these\u2014consisting of sayings, aphorisms, parables, &c., attributed\nto Buddha, together with his first sermon addressed to the ascetics, (the\n\u201cWheel of the Law,\u201d)\u2014is known as the _Sutra_ or \u201cCanon;\u201d the second is\ncalled the _Vinaya_ or \u201cBook of Discipline;\u201d and the third, the\n_Abhidharma_, i.e. the \u201cBook of Metaphysics,\u201d the \u201cFurther Doctrine.\u201d Of\nthe three books, the Sutra, being mainly ethical, would have a more\ngeneral application than the other two; while the Vinaya would be chiefly\napplicable to the Brotherhood, and the Abhidharma concerned with abstruse\nphilosophical dissertations. The Tripitaca, of which the Buddhists of\nCeylon are the custodians, are written in Pali, an early modification of\nSanskrit, and the sacred language of Buddhism; and they are, undoubtedly,\nthe oldest and purest of the numerous Buddhist scriptures. The Sutra, in\nparticular, is believed to be a faithful record of the actual teaching of\nGautama. At the same time, it must be remembered that for some centuries\nafter Sakya-muni\u2019s death, there is no proof of the existence of any\nwritten Canon; the probability being that his teaching was, for the most\npart, transmitted orally from generation to generation, and that it\nunderwent in the process considerable alteration and addition.\n\nWith regard to the history of Buddhism, from the time of its founder\u2019s\ndeath until the middle of the third century B.C., we are practically\nwithout information. It appears, however, that parties and schools were\nalready beginning to be formed. But about 260 B.C., India, from being\ndivided into a number of petty kingdoms, became almost wholly united under\nthe rule of one Asoka. Asoka\u2019s grandfather\u2014the founder of the empire that\nwas soon to assume such vast proportions\u2014had revenged himself for the\ncontempt in which, for his low birth, he was held by the Brahmans, by\npatronizing Buddhism; and Asoka, in turn, bestowed upon it all possible\nsupport. He made Buddhism the state religion, founded an immense number of\nmonasteries, and sent forth missionaries in all directions. China was one\nof the countries visited; while a mission to Ceylon, in which Mahendra,\nAsoka\u2019s own son, took a prominent part, resulted in the conversion of the\nwhole island.\n\nShortly, however, after Asoka\u2019s death, his empire collapsed, and Buddhism\nnever afterwards exerted the same influence in India; though it remained\nwidely prevalent until the eighth century A.D., and it was not until four\ncenturies later that it became practically extinct. The Brahmans now\nregained their former ascendency; declared Gautama to be an \u201cavatar\u201d\u2014or\nincarnation\u2014of their god Vishnu; proceeded to incorporate into their own\ncreed some of the most popular features of the Buddhist system; and then\nentered upon a destruction of the monasteries, and a severe persecution of\nall Buddhists living in India. But, as in the history of the Christian\nChurch, persecution only resulted in the Gospel being afforded a wider\narea, so was it now with Buddhism. \u201cThey that were scattered abroad went\neverywhere, preaching the word.\u201d Among other countries to which the\ndoctrine of Sakya-muni penetrated was Cashmere, whose king, Kanishka, a\ncontemporary of Christ, extended to it his enthusiastic support.\n\nAt this point was reached an important crisis in the history of Buddhism.\nAlready controversies about discipline and various minor questions had\ncalled into existence several different schools; but now a breach\noccurred, of such magnitude and destined to prove so lasting in its\nresults, as to often have suggested comparison with the schism between\nWestern and Eastern Christendom. A council was held under king Kanishka,\nwhich the Ceylon Buddhists refused to recognize; and from that time\nBuddhism has been divided into two main branches, known as the _Mahayana_\nand _Hinayana_,\u2014the \u201cGreater and Lesser Vehicles.\u201d The division thus\nbrought about became, to a great extent, a geographical one; the Hinayana\nhaving its home in Ceylon, and, somewhat less exclusively, in Burmah and\nSiam, while the schools of the Mahayana predominate in Cashmere, Thibet,\nChina and Japan.\n\nLet us glance, for a moment, at their respective characteristics. The\nHinayana and the Mahayana, then, are the names given to two great systems,\nor \u201cschools of thought,\u201d which offer to \u201ccarry\u201d or \u201cconvey\u201d their\nfollowers to the rest of Nirvana.\n\nOf the two, the Hinayana, or Lesser Conveyance, presents a much closer\nresemblance to early Buddhism. The distinguishing features of the Hinayana\nmay be declared to be its adherence to the strict morality of primitive\nBuddhism, its greater simplicity of worship, its smaller Canon of\nscripture, and the fact that it appeals rather to the comparatively few,\nto those, that is to say, who are able and willing to make the surrender\nit requires. Whereas, in the Mahayana, or Greater Vehicle, we see a system\ncharacterized by that increased ease and laxity, which too often accompany\na season of repose and the cessation of the enthusiasm that attends the\nestablishment of a new movement. The chief features of the Mahayana may be\npronounced to be its less exacting standard of practical morality, its\nwillingness to descend to the level of the multitude, its subtle\nmetaphysical distinctions, its meditative inactivity, its elaborate\nceremonial, and its more extensive Canon of scripture.\n\nWe are now, at last, in a position to examine the history of Japanese\nBuddhism. If an apology seems needed for the length of our digression, I\ncan only say that it appeared to me necessary for any profitable treatment\nof our subject. We have already seen how, as early as 250 B.C., China was\nvisited by Buddhist missionaries from India. These are said to have been\neighteen in number; and their effigies may be seen in many a Chinese\ntemple, where they are held in great veneration. In the first century\nA.D., Buddhism in China began to receive imperial patronage; some of its\nbooks being about the same time translated into the language of the\ncountry. The spirit of accommodation and adaptation, which has always\nformed so conspicuous a feature of Buddhism, manifested itself now in an\nassociation with Taouism which has continued ever since.\n\n552 A.D. is the date assigned to the introduction of Buddhism into Japan,\nby way of Korea. At first, it appears to have made little progress, until\nthe diplomatic action of one of its clergy brought it into favour with the\nCourt. Prostrating himself one day, before the little son of the Mikado,\nthe priest declared that he recognized in him the re-incarnation of one of\nthe disciples of Buddha, and one who was destined to effect a great\nspiritual work in Japan. The Mikado was prevailed upon to confide the\nboy\u2019s education to the Buddhist priests; with the result that, when he\ngrew up, he supported their cause with such zeal as to cause him to be\nsometimes spoken of as the \u201cConstantine of Japanese Buddhism.\u201d Shotoku\nTaishi\u2014for such was his name\u2014acted for some time as regent, but never\nhimself ascended the throne.\n\nThere is no doubt that the progress of Buddhism in Japan was largely\nfacilitated by the adoption of tactics, which had been successfully\nemployed in dealing with the barbarous tribes of India, and\u2014as we have\njust noticed,\u2014with China also. Indeed, its readiness to adapt itself to\nthe circumstances, instincts, and prejudices of the people, with whom it\nhas to do, is, as has already been implied, one of the most powerful and\nmost striking peculiarities of Buddhism. In Japan, the Shinto demi-gods\nwere Buddhaized, and declared to be manifestations of Gautama; while\npractices borrowed from the ancient national creed were introduced into\nthe Buddhist ceremonial. In the eighth century, we find orders issued for\nthe erection of two temples and a pagoda in every province; until, about\nthe twelfth century, the two religions became associated in the manner\nindicated in our first chapter,\u2014Buddhist and Shinto clergy officiating by\nturns in the same buildings, and the Shinto temples becoming filled with\nimages, alike of their own demi-gods, and of Buddha and his companions.\nThis state of things continued until 1868, when the Shinto cult was chosen\nto receive the exclusive recognition of the State, many of the Buddhist\nmonasteries at the same time suffering spoliation. Within the last few\nyears, however, Buddhism has been making strenuous efforts to recover its\nformer power and position, and there is little doubt that it still exerts\na real influence in Japan; while the collapse of Shintoism is, as\ncertainly, a matter of no distant time. At Tokio, the capital, where the\nnumber of temples is enormous, the proportion of Buddhist to Shinto is in\nthe ratio of ten to one; and on several occasions during my stay in Japan\nI noticed handsome new Buddhist temples in course of erection, or old ones\nbeing redecorated and restored. On the other hand, numbers are closed, or\nfalling to pieces, for want of funds to maintain them.\n\nAt the present time, there are some twelve or more _principal_ Buddhist\nsects in Japan, several of these being subdivided. The distinction between\nthe various schools is much more closely preserved than in China; and, at\nleast in the larger cities, each sect will be found represented by a\ntemple of its own. The difference between the schools consists not only in\nthe varied attitudes adopted towards some controverted question, but\nfrequently also in the degrees of importance attached to some point which\nis held by all in common. For, as cannot be too emphatically stated,\nBuddhism is a _many-sided_ religion.(16) The following extract from Sir\nMonier Williams\u2019 _Buddhism_, for instance, draws attention to the variety\nof aspects, from which it may, and indeed needs to be regarded by the\nstudent.\n\n\u201cIn different places and at different times, its teaching has become both\nnegative and positive, agnostic and gnostic. It passes from apparent\natheism and materialism to theism, polytheism, and spiritualism. It is,\nunder one aspect, mere pessimism; under another, pure philanthropy; under\nanother, monastic communion; under another, high morality; under another,\na variety of materialistic philosophy; under another, simple demonology;\nunder another, a mere farrago of superstitions, including necromancy,\nwitchcraft, idolatry, and fetishism. In some form or other it may be held\nwith almost any religion, and embraces something from almost every creed.\u201d\n\nTo the same effect writes Dr. Eitel in his _Lectures on Buddhism_ (pp.\n1-2): \u201cBuddhism is a system of vast magnitude, for it comprises the\nearliest gropings after science throughout those various branches of\nknowledge which our Western nations have long been accustomed to divide\nfor separate study. It embodies in one living structure grand and peculiar\nviews of physical science, refined and subtle theorems on abstract\nmetaphysics, an edifice of fanciful mysticism, a most elaborate and\nfar-reaching system of practical morality, and finally a church\norganization as broad in its principles and as finely wrought in its most\nintricate network as any in the world.\u201d\n\nIt would hardly be worth while to attempt any detailed description of the\nmany Buddhist sects represented in Japan. To observe the main\ncharacteristics of the principal ones, and their points of difference from\none another, will be amply sufficient for our purpose. The greater number\nof the schools were introduced from China, but a few are Japanese\ndevelopments.\n\nLet us take, first of all, the schools of the Hinayana, or Minor Vehicle,\nwhich, as we should expect, is not extensively represented in Japan. The\nHinayana is represented by four philosophical schools, in two of which the\nmaterialistic element predominates, and in the two other the idealistic;\nwhile eschatological questions afford further ground for difference. The\npoints in dispute between these philosophical schools of Buddhism are\naltogether so subtle and abstruse as to be extremely difficult of\ncomprehension to any not thoroughly versed in such distinctions. Of the\nfour sects referred to, one, called the _Kusha_, has for its\ncharacteristic the fact that it bases its teaching on the Abhidharma\nPitaca.\n\nTo the Minor Vehicle belongs the curious system known as the \u201cHoly Path.\u201d\nThis has been described as a \u201cdebtor and creditor account kept with divine\njustice.\u201d Much less common than in China, the system of the \u201cHoly Path\u201d is\nyet widely practised in Japan. Elaborate tables are drawn up, containing a\nlist of all good and bad actions it is possible to perform, with the\nnumbers added which each counts on the side of merit or demerit. The\nnumbers range from one to a hundred, or even more; and the tables afford\nan insight into the relative importance in which all kinds of actions\npresent themselves to the Oriental mind. He who would tread life\u2019s journey\nalong the Holy Path must, at least, aim at setting off his bad deeds by a\ncorresponding number of good acts of equal value. At the end of each year,\nthe account is balanced, and the overplus or deficit is transferred to the\nsucceeding one. That such a system is liable to the gravest abuse,\nespecially in the case of the more ignorant, is obvious; though, when\nconscientiously practised, it need not be supposed to be unproductive of\ngood.(17)\n\nAt present we have made no mention of the _Madhyameka_, or Middle Vehicle,\nwhich, as its name implies, occupies an intermediate place between the\nGreater and Lesser Conveyances. A compromise between these two great\nsystems, the Madhyameka may be said to be characterized by a marked\nmoderation, i.e. between an excessive strictness, on the one hand, and a\ntoo great liberty on the other. But though it is thus a faithful exponent\nof Sakya-muni\u2019s original doctrine, the Madhyameka has never attracted any\nextensive following. It is represented in Japan by the sect called the\n_Sanron_.\n\nWe pass on to examine the schools of the Greater Vehicle. In the same way\nthat the Kusha sect regards as its chief authority the Abhidharma Pitaca,\nthere are two schools belonging to the Greater Vehicle, which base their\nteaching on the Sutra and Vinaya Pitacas respectively. The _Kagon_ make\nthe parables and sayings of Buddha contained in the Sutra their especial\nstudy; while the _Ritzu_, as adhering to the more ascetic side of\nBuddhism, have for their favourite book the Vinaya, or \u201cDiscipline.\u201d\n\nThe _Dhyana_ or _Zen_ sect is a Chinese school with numerous\nsub-divisions. Its distinguishing feature is the prominence it assigns to\nthe life of contemplation. Mysticism is represented by the _Shingon_, the\nMantra school of India transferred through China to Japan; and also by the\n_Tendai_, so called from a mountain in China, where the head-quarters of\nthe sect are situated. The temples of the Shingon may usually be\nrecognized by the two guardian figures at the entrance, with open and shut\nmouths, suggesting the mystic syllable A-UM. A peculiarity of both of\nthese sects is the use of the prayer-wheels and cylinders so common in\nThibet.\n\nAn element of mysticism also pervades the influential _Hokkai_ sect, a\nJapanese offshoot of the Tendai, founded in the thirteenth century by a\npriest named Nichiren, who is said to have been born supernaturally of a\nvirgin mother. The Hokkai are most jealously attached to their own ritual,\nand to other observances peculiar to themselves; and, inheriting the\ndisposition attributed to their founder, exhibit a narrowness and\nintolerance rarely met with in Japan. Their characteristic may be said to\nconsist in an emotional fanaticism; and a visitor to one of their temples\nwill generally find a number of devotees,\u2014who thus remain engaged for\nhours at a time,\u2014chanting the invocation of the sect, \u201cAdoration to the\nLotus of the Law,\u201d to a deafening accompaniment of drums.\n\nTwo sects only now remain, but these by no means the least interesting or\nleast popular: the _Jodo_ and the _Shin-Jodo_ (i.e. the New-Jodo). The\ndistinguishing features of these sects,\u2014which also find a place in the\nsystem of the Hokkai,\u2014are their acknowledgement of the need of external\naid, and their doctrine of the Western Paradise, presided over by Amitabha\nBuddha. How marked a departure from the original teaching of Sakya-muni,\nas observed by us, these schools present is sufficiently obvious;\nnevertheless, it is alleged that the revelation of the Paradise in the\nWest was first made by Buddha himself to one of his principal disciples.\nIn the distant West is said to dwell one named Amida, or Amitabha, that is\nto say \u201cIllimitable Light.\u201d Immortal himself, immortal also and freed from\nall the trammels of transmigration are the vast multitudes of men(18) who\ninhabit the boundless regions which he rules. In that \u201cPure Land,\u201d(19)\nthat \u201cUndefiled Ground,\u201d everything beautiful and enchanting has a place,\nneither is pain or sorrow known; and thither nought that is evil or that\ndefileth can come. Whosoever would attain to this heavenly country must\nrely, most of all, on faithful invocation of the name of Amida; he having,\nas is recorded, made a vow that he would only accept Buddhahood on\ncondition that salvation should be placed within reach of all sincerely\ndesirous of achieving it. Such is the doctrine of the Western Paradise,\nsome of the descriptions of which read almost like echoes of the last\nchapters of the Bible. Unknown to the Buddhism of Ceylon, Siam, and\nBurmah, it can be traced back as far as the second century A.D., when it\nwas certainly known in Cashmere, though it was not until three centuries\nlater that it began to spread widely over Northern Buddhism. But the whole\nquestion of its origin remains wrapped in obscurity. At the present day,\nthe devotion to Amida is very widely practised in Japan, and it is\nextremely popular. No doubt, the more educated and intellectual\nBuddhist,\u2014and the distinction thus suggested needs constantly to be\ninsisted on,\u2014would explain the Paradise of the West as being a mere\nallegory, and regard Amitabha, as he was originally conceived to be, as\nmerely an ideal personification of boundless light. But to the people\ngenerally the Undefiled Ground and its presiding deity are actual,\nliteral, realities.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                          Kiyomizu-Dera, Kyoto.\n\n\nWe have said that the two sects in which the doctrine of the Western\nParadise appears in greatest prominence are called the Jodo and Shin-Jodo.\nThe former of these is Chinese in origin, but was established in Japan\nabout 1200 A.D. by a priest, Enko Daishi by name, who was also a member of\nthe imperial family. The head-quarters of this sect are at Kyoto, where\nthe magnificent monastery of Chion-in forms one of the principal sights of\nthat most interesting of Japanese cities. But of all the temples of Japan,\nthose of the New-Jodo (or _Monto_) sect are at once the most handsome, the\nmost frequented, and the most attractive to the European traveller.\nEverything here, too, is of a dignified and stately character; there is a\nstriking absence of the tawdry and the puerile. Founded in the year 1262,\nthis sect is, at the present day, foremost in learning, influence, and\nactivity. Another purely Japanese development, it is\u2014owing to differences\nabout \u201cchurch government\u201d\u2014composed of two sub-divisions, the\n_Nishi-Hongwanji_ and the _Higashi-Hongwanji_, or the Eastern and Western\nDivisions of the True Petition,\u2014the reference being to the vow of Amida.\nIn most of the larger towns, handsome temples of either branch are to be\nfound, situated usually in the poorer districts.\n\nIt is in the temples of the Shin-Jodo that the remarkable similarity, of\nwhich every one has heard, between the Buddhist ceremonial and that of the\nRoman Church is most conspicuous. Nowhere, perhaps, did the resemblance in\nquestion,\u2014to which I shall have occasion to refer again,\u2014impress me more\nforcibly than it did in the New-Jodo temple at Nagasaki, at the first\nBuddhist service at which I was ever present. The day of our visit chanced\nto be the founder\u2019s anniversary, and from a raised lectern in the chancel,\na venerable priest, of benign countenance,\u2014wearing a rich vestment not\nunlike a dalmatic, and a cap resembling a biretta,\u2014was recounting to a\ncongregation, composed chiefly of women, old men, and children, the\nvirtues of their deceased benefactor. Presently, the sermon came to an\nend, and the colloquial delivery of the discourse was changed for the\nmonotone of a litany recitation: the people answering with ready response,\nand many of them employing the aid of their rosaries. The fragrance of\nincense filled the air; tapers and flowers adorned the altar, above which\nwas the statue, not\u2014as one entering by chance might almost have expected\nto see\u2014of a Christian saint, but of some manifestation of Gautama Buddha.\nDespite, however, its elaborate ritual, the Shin-Jodo sect has been called\nthe \u201cProtestantism of Japan;\u201d the reason being that it sanctions the\nmarriage of its clergy, approves the reading of the scriptures in the\n\u201cvulgar tongue,\u201d permits a wider freedom in respect to food and drink, and\naffords other indications of a \u201creforming spirit.\u201d The priesthood in this\nsect is, practically, a hereditary office.\n\nIn the _Great Indian Religions_ of the late Mr. Bettany, there is given a\nsummary of the Shin-Jodo Belief, in the words of one of its principal\nteachers. I will take the liberty of re-quoting it here. \u201cRejecting all\nreligious austerities and other action, giving up all idea of self-power,\nwe rely upon Amida Buddha with the whole heart for our salvation in the\nfuture life, which is the most important thing: believing that at the\nmoment of putting our faith in Amida Buddha our salvation is settled. From\nthat moment invocation of his name is observed as an expression of\ngratitude and thankfulness for Buddha\u2019s mercy. Moreover, being thankful\nfor the reception of this doctrine from the founder and succeeding chief\npriests whose teachings were so benevolent, and as welcome as light in a\ndark night, we must also keep the laws which are fixed for our duty during\nour whole life.\u201d The mutual relation of faith and works is especially to\nbe noticed; and indeed the strikingly _evangelical_ character of the whole\nConfession.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                  Statues of Kwannon, San-Ju-San-Gen-Do.\n\n\nVast, however, as is the power attributed to Amitabha, and great as is the\nmerit to be acquired by the invocation of his name, there is found in the\ntemples in which he is worshipped an image which receives even more\nveneration than his. That colossal female effigy, with the many heads and\ncountless hands, before which a number of votaries, composed largely of\nwomen, are kneeling in prayer, is meant to represent the mighty\nAvalokitesvara, or\u2014to substitute for the Sanskrit the less formidable\ntitles by which she is known in China and Japan,\u2014the all-powerful Kwanyin\nor Kwannon. Here, again, we are confronted with a devotion the origin of\nwhich is wrapped in uncertainty, but which, closely connected with the\ndoctrine of the Western Paradise, seems to have arisen some three\ncenturies after the commencement of our era. At the present day, it is\nspread extensively over Thibet, Mongolia, China, and Japan; but it is\nunknown to the countries of Southern Buddhism. With regard to the meaning\nof this great image before us, Kwannon is commonly explained to be the\nreflex or spiritual son of Amitabha Buddha, sent by him to earth to\npreside on earth over the Buddhist faith, and appearing, at first in male\nand subsequently in female shape. But the probability is that the various\npersonages, with whom Kwannon is supposed to be identified, had merely a\nfictitious existence; and that in her statues, we see simply an apotheosis\nof Mercy, an allegorical _Mater Misericordiae_, whose many eyes and hands\nare intended to signify the unremitting vigilance and the untiring energy\nwith which she ministers to all sorrow and distress.(20)\n\nThe island of Pootau, off Ning-po, in the Chusan Archipelago, is the great\ncentre of Kwannon worship; the most popular of the many legends concerning\nher associating her with this locality, and offering an explanation of her\nthousand heads and hands more clumsy even than is the manner of such\nmyths. The island belongs to the Buddhist priesthood, and is a great\nresort of pilgrims. In Japan, the shrines and statues of Kwannon are to be\nmet with everywhere: many of her images being of enormous size, richly\ngilt and beautifully wrought. Sometimes the statues are kept concealed\nfrom view, either on account of alleged miraculous properties, or for some\nother reason of special sanctity. The highly-venerated image, for\ninstance, at the Asakusa temple, Tokio, is never shown; it is only two\ninches high, and is accredited with supernatural qualities. But of all the\nshrines of Kwannon, it may be doubted whether the impression created by\nany is greater than by her temple of San-ju-san-gen-do at Kyoto, where no\nless than 33,333 images of the goddess may be seen. Of these a thousand\nare gilded statues, five feet in height, and ranged in tiers along a vast\ngallery. The remaining effigies are depicted on the foreheads, hands and\nnimbi of the larger ones. The temple and its contents originated in the\nvotive offering of a Mikado of the twelfth century for recovery from\nsickness.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                     The Altar of San-Ju-San-Gen-Do.\n\n\n\n\n\nIV. BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                              Guardian Nio.\n\n\nThe Buddhist temples in Japan are for the most part built on a much\ngrander and more elaborate scale than those belonging to the Shinto\nworship. The roofing is not of thatch, but of tiles; and instead of the\ntorii, the entrance is through a _Sammon_, or two-storied gateway, in the\nrecesses of which stand two huge figures of ferocious appearance. These\nare called _Nio_, and their office is to guard the sacred precincts from\nthe approach of evil spirits. These images are commonly seen spotted all\nover with pellets of paper. \u201cA worshipper writes his petition on paper, or\nbetter still, has it written for him by the priest, chews it to a pulp,\nand spits it at the divinity. If, having been well aimed, the paper\nsticks, it is a good omen.\u201d Passing through the Sammon, and proceeding in\na straight direction\u2014often between rows of votive stone-lanterns\u2014the\nvisitor soon arrives at the two largest buildings of the temple group. One\nof these is the _Hondo_, or main shrine; while the other may be either the\nHall of the Founder of the particular sect to which the Temple belongs, or\nit may contain a colossal image of Amida, and be specially dedicated to\nhis worship. Sometimes, again, this second building is known as the\nRefectory, from the spiritual nourishment supplied there in the form of\nsermons, for which the preacher takes as his text some passage of the\nSutra, or, it may be, some saying of Confucius.(21) Removing our boots,\nwhich we leave at the foot of the wooden steps, we ascend to the Hondo,\nand, if need be, push aside the sliding-doors of paper-covered woodwork,\nwhich afford access to the building. Should no service chance to be in\nprogress, a little company of priests, acolytes, &c., will probably be\nfound, seated on the matting with which the floor is covered,\u2014engaged in\nthe perusal of book or newspaper, or chatting together over miniature cups\nof tea, and, if it be winter-time, spreading their hands to receive the\ngrateful warmth of the hibachi.(22) Beside them, on the floor, is arranged\na miscellaneous assortment of sacred pictures, leaflets, candles,\nincense-sticks, charms, and other articles; any of which may be purchased\nby a very modest expenditure. As we enter, we observe that several pairs\nof eyes are fastened on us in undisguised curiosity; but our low\nsalutation is promptly responded to, if indeed it has not been\nanticipated, and one of the group will courteously come forward to supply\nus with any assistance or information we require. Before the railing,\nwhich encloses the sanctuary, two or three worshippers are kneeling in\nprayer; and these also examine us for a while with close attention. Or, it\nmay be that at the time of our visit some religious function is\nproceeding. If so, the clergy with their servers are found within the\nchancel, clad in gorgeous yellow robes, and genuflecting now and again\nbefore the images which stand above the richly-vested altar. Outside the\nsanctuary rails, the congregation is assembled in greater or less numbers,\naccording to the importance of the day. Around is a profusion of lights\nand flowers; while the air is fragrant with the fumes of incense. The\nprayers, which the officiating priest recites in monotone, are in Pali, a\nform of Sanskrit; and if an air of perfunctoriness pervades his devotions,\nlet it be remembered that every day, month after month, and year after\nyear, he may be found chanting these same litanies, of the significance of\nwhich he has but the vaguest idea. Not, however, that he is without belief\nin their efficacy; nay, it may be that his very ignorance of their meaning\ncauses the words he utters to have, in his eyes, a transcendent value.\nAbove the high altar, in seated posture on lotus-blossoms,(23) are three\ncolossal images, cunningly wrought and richly gilded, and bearing on their\ncountenances an expression of placid repose. Perhaps, it is the\n_Triratna_, or Three Jewels, that these represent, the Trinity of Buddha,\nthe Law, and the Order. Or, possibly, this is Buddha, in his triple forms\nof existence:\u2014as Sakya-muni, the form under which he lived as man among\nmen; as Amitabha, his metaphysical existence in Nirvana; as\nAvalokitesvara, his reflex in the world of forms, his spiritual son,\ngenerated to propagate the religion established by him during his earthly\ncareer. Or once again, these three images may portray the Buddhas of the\nPast, Present, and Future:\u2014Gautama who _was_, the historic founder of\nBuddhism; Kwannon, or Avalokitesvara, the head of the present Buddhist\nhierarchy, the Buddha who _is_; and Maitreya, or Meroku, the deliverer yet\n_to come_, the rehabilitation of past Buddhas foretold by Sakya-muni. Now\nand again one may meet with a Buddhist of superior intellectual\nattainments, who would explain the acts of worship he offers to these\nimages, as signifying merely reverence for Gautama\u2019s teaching; but to the\nmultitude, as has been seen already, the images represent distinct and\nall-powerful deities. Indeed, the people are encouraged thus to regard\nthem by their ecclesiastical superiors; it being one of the methods of\nBuddhism thus to adapt its teaching to the capacity of dense and ignorant\nminds. And thus it comes about that a religion, commencing with\nagnosticism, meets the \u201ccraving for divinity,\u201d so deeply implanted in the\nnature of our race, by passing into what is, practically, a deification of\nhumanity.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                             Pagoda at Nikko.\n\n\nLeaving the Hondo, we next proceed to explore the grounds and remaining\nbuildings connected with the temple. This lofty _Pagoda_, for instance,\nseveral stories high, is erected over some holy relic,\u2014perhaps the\nvitrified remains of the founder, after cremation. A little further on, we\ncome to the _Rinzo_, or Revolving Library, containing an entire set of the\nBuddhist scriptures. As these consist altogether of some 6,700 or 6,800\nlarge volumes, it is clearly impossible for any one person to read them\nall. This, however, need not be regretted seeing that whatever merit might\nbe obtained by a complete perusal, is freely extended to all, who will\ntake the trouble to make this huge stand revolve; the structure being so\narranged that a single push is sufficient for the purpose! The Rinzo was\nan invention of a Chinese priest, and is said to date from the sixth\ncentury. Owing to their costliness they are rarely met with; and the only\ntwo I remember seeing were at Asakusa, Tokio, and at Ikegami, the\nhead-quarters of the Hokkai sect. Elsewhere in the grounds we come upon\nthe _Shoro_, or Great Bell,\u2014used not for summoning the faithful, but for\nthe purpose of invocation and worship;\u2014the _Koro_, or Drum-tower; the\n_Emado_, or \u201cEx-voto\u201d Shed, the walls of which are covered with pictures,\ncharms, and other offerings; cisterns for the purpose of ceremonial\npurification; a printing and publishing department; and, perhaps, a grotto\nwith ghastly representations of the sufferings endured in the Buddhist\nhells. Usually, too, to be found in the sacred precincts, is a specimen of\nthe _Ficus religiosa_, or sacred tree, under which Sakya-muni attained his\nenlightenment. At the rear of the temple buildings are situated the\npriests\u2019 apartments,\u2014often a quadrangle enclosed by a colonnade,\u2014the\nreception-rooms of which are beautifully decorated with _kakemonos_. Here\nthe visitor is sometimes invited to a light repast of tea, cake, and\nfruit; the priests waiting on him the while with the most courteous\nattention. And here may I be permitted to say a word about the Buddhist\npriests of Japan as I found them? They are commonly spoken of as lazy and\nignorant, mercenary and corrupt; and it is to be feared that with regard\nto many, especially of the lower orders of the clergy, this witness is\ntrue. But speaking of those with whom I came into direct contact\u2014the\npriests, for the most part, attached to the more important temples\u2014I feel\nbound to say, that the impression I formed of them was, on the whole, a\ndistinctly favourable one. With countenances often indicating close\nspiritual application, they appeared to perform their sacred duties with\nreverence and attention; while of the disinterested kindness and\nhospitality I received at their hands, as well as of the courtesy and\npatience with which they replied to my numerous questions, I would speak\nin terms of grateful appreciation.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n Plan Of Buddhist Temple At Ikegami, Near Tokio.  (_Head-quarters of the\n  Hokkai or Nichiren sect._) The path to the left from the Entrance Gate\nleads to the Main Temple; that to the right to the Founder\u2019s Hall. To the\nright of the plan are the Drum-tower and Pagoda. Behind the Main Temple is\n the Rinzo or Revolving Library; and in the lower left-hand corner of the\n picture is the Reliquary. The two small buildings in the foreground are\n the Belfry and the Emado. In the background are the Priests\u2019 Apartments\n                           and Reception-rooms.\n\n\nA visit to a Buddhist temple, however, can hardly fail to suggest to any,\nwho are at all familiar with the observances of the Roman ritual, a\ncomparison to which we have already referred,\u2014I mean the striking\nresemblance between the Buddhist ceremonies and such as have found place\nin the Christian Church. The high-altar with its haloed statues, flowers,\ncandelabra, and ever-burning lamps; the side-altars, similarly adorned,\nabove one of which, it may be, is seen the image of Maia, the mother of\nGautama, bearing her infant-son in her arms; the priests, tonsured,\nmitred, arrayed in their rich vestments, and attended by their acolytes;\nthe people, bending low in adoration, or telling their rosaries as they\npray; the tinkling of bells and the perfume of incense; the dim light of\nthe sanctuary, and the monotonous chant, in the unknown tongue, of the\nlitanies uplifted for living and for dead:\u2014these are only some of the\npoints of correspondence with Roman Catholic observances which meet us in\nalmost every Buddhist temple. Indeed, to attempt to specify such\nresemblances in detail would prove a laborious task. But while the\nsimilarity to which I refer is far too close and remarkable to be\naccounted for by mere coincidence, its explanation is by no means easy.\nSome would solve the difficulty by referring to the unquestionable fact\nthat many of the ceremonies practised in the Christian Church are\nadaptations of ancient heathen rites: a leading captive of captivity of\nwhich, as it seems to me, Christianity has far more reason to be proud\nthan ashamed. But though the Buddhist observances are, without doubt, of\nconsiderable antiquity, this explanation cannot be said to be adequate to\nthe requirements of the case. Far more satisfactory is the theory that\nascribes the phenomenon to an early contact of China with some form of\nChristianity\u2014probably Nestorianism\u2014and to the readiness which Buddhism has\never exhibited to extend its influence by a conformity to other faiths.\nThe problem, however, is one which we must, to a great extent, be\nsatisfied to leave unsolved; the most eminent authorities in Orientalism\nhaving confessed themselves baffled. It is only the fact of the\nresemblance that admits of no dispute.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                            A Buddhist Priest.\n\n\nIt is curious to notice the different effects produced by an observation\nof the Buddhist ceremonial on the minds of Roman Catholic missionaries\nupon their first arrival in the East. By some its likeness to their own\nritual has been regarded as a man\u0153uvre of Satan, designed for the\nhindrance of Christian truth; while others have regarded the resemblance\nwith satisfaction, as calculated to diminish the difficulties of their\nwork. Without entering further into this question, I may be allowed to\nexpress the conviction that an elaborate ceremonial forms at any rate no\nnecessary factor of Christian work in Japan. So far from this being the\ncase, I was informed, on no prejudiced authority, that, the breach once\nmade with the old associations, converts are disposed to regard anything\ntending even remotely to suggest them as more of a hindrance than a help;\nand this view finds support in the large number of adherents gained by\nseveral of the Protestant Missions, with whom anything in the way of\nceremonial is reduced to a minimum. On the other hand, must be remembered\nthe very successful work accomplished in Japan, alike by the Roman and\nOrthodox Churches, whose combined total of some 65,000 adherents is more\nthan double that of the various Protestant sects,\u2014the Churches of England\nand America, with 4,000 members, not being included in this computation.\n\nHitherto, I have referred only to the resemblance outwardly existing\nbetween the ceremonies and observances of Christianity and Buddhism. But\nan extension of the comparison results in what is, at first sight, an even\nmore startling similarity between incidents recorded of Gautama Buddha,\nand events in the life of Jesus Christ, as narrated in the Gospels. Thus,\nwe are told that Gautama was born of a virgin mother; that angels appeared\nat his nativity; that an ancient seer prostrated himself before him, and\nsaluted him as one come down from heaven; that, as a child, he confounded\nhis teachers by the understanding he displayed, and the questions which he\nasked; that, assailed by the Evil One(24) with the keenest\ntemptations,\u2014including the offer of Sovereignty over all the world, if he\nwould renounce his mission,\u2014he yet emerged victorious from all; that once,\nbeing on a mountain, he was enveloped in a cloud of heavenly light; that\nhe went down into hell; and that he ascended into heaven. Indeed, the\nChristian may be pardoned if, for the moment, he feels completely\nstaggered at all that he finds advanced on behalf of Sakya-muni; and if\nhis perplexity only begins to give place to relief, when he discovers that\nthere is absolutely no trace of such extraordinary coincidence in the\nearly Buddhist writings, and that there is no reason for supposing that\nthese alleged events in the life of Gautama were ever heard of until the\nChristian era was already several centuries old.\n\nWe have now, as far as our limits permit, made an examination of Buddhism\nwith especial reference to Japan. But before leaving this part of our\nsubject, I would humbly, but very earnestly, submit the question, Is there\nin Buddhism generally,\u2014is there in Buddhism as it exists in Japan at the\npresent day,\u2014nothing upon which Christianity may profitably fasten,\nnothing to which Christianity may properly appeal? Is that great\nproclamation of Christian tact, which, eighteen centuries ago, the Apostle\nPaul delivered on the Areopagus at Athens, \u201cWhom ye ignorantly worship,\nHim declare I unto you,\u201d one that cannot, more often than it does, find a\nplace on the lips of our missionaries of to-day? Is the position a useless\none to take, that both the faiths of Jesus Christ and of Buddha agree in\nthis, that either has for its object the amelioration of man\u2019s lot, here\nand hereafter, and his release from the curse of suffering; only, as we\nbelieve, with this great difference, that the founder of Christianity was\npossessed of resources to which Sakya-muni laid no claim? These are\nquestions which were constantly presenting themselves to my mind during my\nvisit to Japan; but they are questions also which I heard asked more than\nonce by men who had closely studied the whole subject and were deeply\ninterested in mission work. But whatever the true answer to these\nquestions be, of this we may be certain: that by no reckless denunciation\nof a creed, of the very elements of which the denouncer is content to be\nin ignorance, will any victory of Christ\u2019s Cross be achieved. Be the\nerrors and shortcomings of Buddhism what they may,\u2014and we must, to be\nhonest, pronounce them in our judgment to be many and great,\u2014it is, at\nleast, a system of very great antiquity, in whose strength thousands of\nmillions of our fellow-creatures have lived and died, both better and\nhappier. Men cannot be expected lightly to abandon their allegiance to\nsuch a faith as this, nor would it be to their credit if they did; while\nin Christianity, even when faithfully represented, there is very much\ncalculated to perplex and estrange one who has been trained in the tenets\nof Buddhism. Moreover, however little he may agree with them, the Buddhist\nholds that the religious convictions of others are entitled to respect,\nand that their feelings should never be wounded, if this can be avoided;\nit is only natural that he, in his turn, should be quickly alienated by\nunsympathetic treatment. I was told by an English resident of long\nstanding that infidelity is largely on the increase in Japan, especially\namong the men of the upper and middle classes; and that among the causes\nof this was certainly to be reckoned the contemptuous and merely\ndestructive attitude towards Buddhism, with which some\u2014let us hope they\nare the very few\u2014would think to serve the cause of Jesus Christ. \u201cDepend\nupon it,\u201d it was said to me, \u201cit is irreligion that commonly succeeds to\nthe vacant place, not Christianity. Carlyle was right when he said,\n\u2018Better even to believe a lie than to believe nothing.\u2019 \u201d And Buddhism is\nnot all a lie!\n\n\u201cThe perishing heathen.\u201d Many of us have been revolted by such expressions\nwhen heard at home. But it is only when one is living in the midst of the\npeople of whom they are spoken, that it is possible to realize the full\nhorror of their meaning. That men, women, and little children, who are\ndistinguished by so many good qualities,(25) and who\u2014with, as we believe,\nsuch immeasurably inferior opportunities\u2014present, in many points, so\nfavourable a contrast to ourselves, should be condemned to a future of\nhopeless and unending misery, for not believing that of which, it may be,\nthey have not even heard, or heard only in crude, distorted statement\u2014can\nany man _really_ think this, who recognizes the providence of a Father of\nLove; nay, I will dare to say, of a Deity of bare Justice? And yet\nlanguage thus fearfully misrepresenting the Faith of Christ is still used\nby some who are called by His name; and that it is used is known by the\npeople of Japan.(26)\n\nBut again. There is, I have observed, much in the scheme of Christianity\ncalculated to prove a stumbling-block to those who have been educated in\nthe doctrines of Buddhism. Let me proceed to state some of the\ndifficulties that would be experienced, some of the objections that would\nbe raised, by a Buddhist of a certain amount of intellectual capacity,\nwhen confronted with the claims of the Christian Faith.\n\nThus, (_a_) _the Bible_. \u201cWe are unable,\u201d the Buddhist would say, \u201cto\nrecognize in your Old and New Testaments an inspired revelation. Why\nshould we accept your Scriptures, with all their alleged miracles and\nsupernatural occurrences, when you reject ours? Besides, you are not\nagreed among yourselves as to inspiration, authenticity, translation,\ninterpretation. Some of you, again, are for diffusing the Bible broadcast,\nothers would keep it in the background. Again, the Christian doctrine of\nimmortality appears to us entirely absent from the pages of the Old\nTestament; while even the Jews, \u2018God\u2019s chosen people,\u2019 refuse to see in\nthe New Testament the fulfilment of the Old.\u201d\n\n(_b_) _The Old Testament._ \u201cWe cannot regard the story of Creation, as\ngiven in the Book of Genesis, as anything more than a myth, containing a\ngerm of truth. Neither can we accept, as historically true, the story of\nthe temptation in the Garden of Eden. And yet, upon this is made to rest\nyour whole theory of the Fall, of Original Sin, and of Christian\nRedemption. As for the history of the Jewish people, we can see in it\nnothing but one long story of cruelty and bloodshed; how can a Creator, a\nGod of Love, be supposed to have permitted and approved such things?\u201d\n\n(_c_) _The Incarnation._ The whole doctrine of the Incarnation is full of\ndifficulty to the mind of an Oriental; _not_ because of its strangeness\nand novelty, but owing to his very familiarity with stories of miraculous\nbirth in his own legends.\n\n(_d_) _The Atonement._ \u201cWhy should Jehovah require the sacrifice of His\nown Son?\u201d This is a difficulty that would present itself with especial\nforce to the Buddhist; by whom all life is held sacred, and whom such\ntexts as \u201cWithout shedding of blood there is no remission,\u201d fill with\nrepugnance. The explanation offered by Buddhists themselves of the\nChristian doctrine of Atonement is, that its origin must be sought in the\nfact that, from the most ancient times, the idea of sacrifice, and of\nhuman sacrifice, has existed; and this explanation they go on to apply to\nthe Holy Eucharist.\n\n(_e_) _Eternal Punishment._ \u201cHow,\u201d it is asked, \u201cis your doctrine of\nEverlasting Punishment consistent with that of the Remission of Sins? And\nhow, on the other hand, is not your scheme of salvation ethically wrong,\nif it allows people, after sinning all their lives, to be forgiven on\ntheir death-beds, that so they may enter a Paradise, wherein good and bad\nalike have a place?\u201d\n\n(_f_) _Faith and Belief._ \u201cWhat right have you to ask us to believe\nanything that does not accord with science and experience, when you have\nno better opportunities of knowing than we?\u201d\n\n(_g_) _Christian Ethics._ \u201cSome of these\u2014e.g. the doctrine of the Sermon\non the Mount\u2014we admit to be good; but they are not peculiar to\nChristianity\u2014our own teaching is very similar. In other of your ethics, we\nsee only an ignoble and selfish storing of treasure; it appears to us that\na good action, done for the sake of reward or gain, must entirely lose its\nmerit.\u201d\n\n(_h_) _Missionary Work._ \u201cWe do not claim that our religion is the only\nway of salvation, but readily recognize the good points in other systems\nas well. You, on the contrary, appear to hold that there is no other way\nbut your own; and indeed it is only on this supposition that we can\nunderstand the strenuous efforts which you make to bring us to abandon our\nreligion for yours.\u201d(27)\n\nIt forms no part of my purpose to discuss these objections; which, let me\nadd, are merely representative, and by no means exhaustive. With many of\nthem we are already familiar at home; and the Japanese, I would mention,\nare fully aware of the unbelief prevalent in England, and well acquainted\nwith its arguments. Indeed, few English people, it is probable, have any\nidea how closely their history and their literature are studied by nations\nliving at the other side of the globe, who are to them simply \u201cthe\nheathen.\u201d Some, again, of the above objections would seem to have been\nsuggested by imperfect and distorted statements of Christian truth. I have\nthought it worth while to refer to them, in the hope that the fact of such\nquestions being raised may serve to impress upon us these two important\npoints:\u2014(i) the need of missionaries, at the present day, being not only\nmen of holy and devoted lives, but also fully equal in intellectual\nequipment and culture to our home clergy; and (ii) the fallacy of trusting\nto the circulation of the Bible, as an instrument of mission work, unless\nit be accompanied\u2014or rather preceded\u2014by the teaching of the living agent.\n\nIt must not, however, be imagined that the obstacles to the progress of\nthe Gospel in Japan are wholly, or even mainly, of the character I have\nreferred to. Another great hindrance is most unquestionably presented in\nthe large number of competing sects and organizations, which, here as in\nother countries where mission work is being carried on, address the people\nin the name of Christianity. It is true that Buddhists themselves are\ndivided into numerous sects and schools; but between these there can\nscarcely be said to be anything of party animosity and strife. It will,\nindeed, be heard with satisfaction that the feeling towards one another of\nthe various Christian bodies in Japan is, speaking generally, free from\nbitterness; and that each would appear desirous of doing its own work, in\nthe wide field before it, without interference with the efforts of others.\n\u201cThe feeling here,\u201d it was observed to me, \u201cis nothing like so bad as it\nis at home.\u201d(28) And as in England bigotry and suspicion are steadily\ngiving place to mutual toleration and respect, so may we hope that, both\nin our colonies and abroad, counsels of charity may more and more prevail.\nStill, at the best, so long as Romanists, Orthodox, Anglicans, and\nSectarians adhere to the positions they at present occupy, so long must\nany real unity of action be impossible; neither can peace be sought by\nsurrender or compromise of principle. But meanwhile there is, of course, a\nlamentable want of compactness among the converts\u2014as a recent writer in\nthe _Japan Mail_, remarked \u201cthey are more like scattered groups of\nsoldiers than an army\u201d;\u2014while the perplexity occasioned to those we are\nseeking to convince is terrible and great.\n\nThe following extract from Miss Bickersteth\u2019s recently-published _Japan as\nwe saw it_ (Sampson Low, 1893), draws an able contrast between the\nreligious condition of Japan at the present day and the position of\nChristianity in the time of St. Francis Xavier. \u201cIt was impossible not to\nbe struck with the present complication of religious matters in the\ncountry as compared with the days of Xavier. Then, on the one side, there\nwas the Buddhist-Shinto creed, undermined by no Western science, still\npowerful in its attraction for the popular mind, and presenting a more or\nless solid resistance to the foreign missionary; and, on the other,\nChristianity as represented by Roman Catholicism, imperfect truly, but\nwithout a rival in dogma or in ritual. Now the ranks of Buddhist-Shintoism\nare hopelessly broken; the superstition of its votaries is exposed by the\nstrong light of modern science, and their enthusiasm too often quenched in\nthe deeper darkness of atheism. Christianity, though present in much\ngreater force than in the days of Xavier, is, alas, not proportionately\nstronger. The divisions of Christendom are nowhere more evident than in\nits foreign missions to an intellectual people like the Japanese. The\nGreek, the Roman, the Anglican churches, the endless \u2018splits\u2019 of\nNonconformity, must and do present to the Japanese mind a bewildering\nselection of possibilities in religious truth.\u201d\n\nTo refer to but one other hindrance to Christian progress in Japan\u2014which,\nalthough the last mentioned, is by no means the least serious\u2014I mean the\nestimate formed by the natives of the practical influence of the Christian\nreligion upon English people and upon other nations professing it.\nApplying to Christianity the test of its results, they urge that it has,\nat any rate, only very partially succeeded. For instance, the Japanese\ncomment upon the fact that numbers of Englishmen in Japan never attend the\nservices of their Church; and that the lives of many of them display a\nflagrant disregard for the principles which should regulate the conduct of\nChristians. Without, however, denying either the justice of these charges,\nor the reasonableness of the mood which advances them, I think it may be\nurged with fairness that the influence of Christianity on us as a nation\ncannot rightly be estimated in this particular way. As a rule, the\nEnglishman can scarcely be said to appear to advantage abroad. Too often\nhe assumes an attitude of insolent superiority to the people whose guest\nhe is; while the position in which our countrymen are placed in a country\nlike Japan\u2014coupled with the freedom from restraint, so much greater than\nat home\u2014has, for reasons which we need not now enter into, its peculiar\ndifficulties. Neither is it by any means certain that a Japanese, paying a\nshort visit to England, will gather any just impression of what hold\nChristianity has on us as a people. In all probability the range of his\nobservations will be very limited and superficial; his wanderings will be\nchiefly confined to the great thoroughfares of the principal cities; while\nthe circle of his acquaintance will, it is likely, be equally restricted,\nand equally unrepresentative of English life. Not that, in saying this, we\nwould seek to excuse ourselves, or deny that there is far more truth than\nwe could wish, and than there ought to be, in the charges brought against\nus. We would merely submit that there is another side to the picture which\nought not, in fairness, to be overlooked. Admitting as we must, for\ninstance, the great prevalence of infidelity in our England of to-day,\nthere is yet to be placed over against it,\u2014and may I not add, drawing it\nout into the light?\u2014the increased activity of the Church during this last\nhalf-century, the remarkable power she has exhibited of adapting herself\nto meet the needs of her times, the influence for good that she has not\nonly been in the past, but remains at the present day, in the nation at\nlarge, and in thousands and thousands of English homes. \u201cBy their fruits\nye shall know them\u201d: and Christianity must not and need not deprecate the\napplication of that test to herself. Only, we would urge, that is not a\nfair judgment, which takes account only of what the Church of Jesus Christ\nhas failed to do, without recognizing also all that, in the strength of\nher Divine Head, she has been permitted to accomplish.\n\n\n\n\n\nV. CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN.\n\n\nI propose now to place before my readers some account of the various\nMissions at work in Japan. I am enabled to do this the better from having\nobtained, in the course of my visit, a useful table, compiled by the Rev.\nH. Loomis, of the American Bible Society, Yokohama, giving statistics of\nthe different organizations up to the beginning of the year 1893. The plan\nadopted by Mr. Loomis is to arrange his statistics into three classes: (1)\n\u201cProtestant Missions,\u201d (2) \u201cCatholic Missions,\u201d and (3) \u201cThe Greek Church\nin Japan.\u201d Under the head of \u201cProtestant Missions,\u201d are included the\nChurch of England, the Episcopal Church of America, a large number of\nother American denominations, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the\nSwiss Evangelical Protestant Mission, the Society of Friends, U.S.A.,\nUniversalists, Unitarians and others; while under the head of \u201cCatholic\nMissions\u201d we find particulars of only one branch of the Holy Catholic\nChurch\u2014the Church of Rome. This is not the arrangement I should have made\nmyself; but, as a matter of convenience, we will follow it more or less\nclosely.(29) It is right to add that of the thirty \u201cProtestant Missions\u201d\nseven are grouped together under the title of the \u201cChurch of Christ in\nJapan,\u201d and work, it would appear, in general harmony on Presbyterian\nprinciples. In the same way, the American Episcopal Church, the Church of\nEngland\u2014represented by both the Church Missionary Society and the Society\nfor the Propagation of the Gospel\u2014and the Mission of Wyckliffe College,\nCanada, are associated together; leaving some twenty sects working\nindependently.(30)\n\nBefore, however, proceeding to an examination of Mr. Loomis\u2019 table, we\nmust briefly observe the past history of Christianity in Japan. This dates\nfrom the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in 1549, seven years after the\ncountry was discovered by the Portuguese. For some while the missionaries\nwere permitted to prosecute their work without molestation, and\nconsiderable progress was being effected. A deputation of native priests\nappealed to the Tycoon, but their remonstrances were unheeded. With\nthirty-five religious sects already represented in Japan, the country, he\nanswered, might very well find room for a thirty-sixth religion, viz.\nChristianity. Presently, however, the Jesuits being followed by the\nDominicans and Franciscans, mutual factions broke out; while, elated by\ntheir success, some of the missionaries began to adopt an attitude of\nhigh-handed intolerance and interference. For the first time in their\nhistory, the Japanese found themselves entangled in all the turmoil and\nanimosity of religious strife. In 1587 the first persecution of the\nChristians took place, but apparently soon subsided. The warning, however,\nwas disregarded; and the fatal policy of arrogance and oppression was\nstill persisted in. Native priests were put to death; Buddhist monasteries\nwere destroyed; the Inquisition was set up. In 1614 we find a Japanese\nembassy despatched to Rome, in order, so it is said, to make an act of\nsubmission to the spiritual supremacy of the Pope. Meanwhile the Dutch,\njealous of the position that was being gained by the Portuguese traders,\naccused the Roman propagandists to the Japanese authorities of aiming at a\nterritorial ascendency; and that intrigues were actually being carried on\nby the Jesuits for the overthrow of the Shogun there seems little doubt.\nIn the massacre which ensued several thousand Christians were put to\ndeath. \u201cTheir unflinching devotion compels our admiration. One may search\nthe grim history of early Christian martyrology without finding anything\nto surpass the heroism of the Roman Catholic Martyrs of Japan. Burnt on\nstakes made of crosses, torn limb from limb, buried alive, they yet\nrefused to recant. We are told of one Jesuit priest, Christopher Ferreya,\nwho, after enduring horrible tortures, was at length hung by his feet in\nsuch a way that his head was buried in a hole in the ground from which air\nand light were excluded. His right-hand was left loose that he might make\nthe sign of recantation. He hung for four hours, and then made the sign;\nwhereupon, with a rare refinement of cruelty, he was appointed the\npresident of the tribunal before which Christians were brought for\ncondemnation. Then, after a lull, in 1637 thousands of Christians rose in\narmed rebellion. After two months they were forced to surrender, and\n37,000 were slaughtered. Stern decrees were then issued, forbidding the\nadmission of any foreign vessel; an exception being made in favour of the\nChinese and Dutch. For more than two hundred years, notice-boards stood\nbeside highways, ferries, and mountain-passes, containing, among other\nprohibitions, the following:\u2014\u2018So long as the sun shall warm the earth, let\nno Christian be so bold as to come to Japan; and let all know that the\nKing of Spain himself, or the Christians\u2019 God, or the great God of all, if\nhe violate this commandment, shall pay for it with his head.\u2019 For\ncenturies the name \u2018Christian\u2019 would blanch the cheek and pale the lip.\nChristianity was remembered only as an awful scar on the national annals.\nBut in the Southern Island the smouldering fire was never quite\nextinguished; while, as recently as 1829, six men and an old woman were\ncrucified at Osaka.\u201d(31)\n\nAt the time of the closing of the country to foreigners, an exception was\nmade of the one port of Nagasaki, the scene of the final great massacre,\nwhen thousands of native Christians were hurled from a rocky islet into\nthe sea. Here, however, as has been already mentioned, the Dutch were the\nonly Europeans permitted to trade; they being closely confined to the\nsmall island of Deshima. In addition to having pay a heavy rental, they\nwere subjected to the closest espionage, not being suffered, under any\ncircumstances, to pass beyond the narrow limits assigned to them. Several\ntimes in each year they were summoned before the authorities, and required\nto tread under foot the Crucifix, and other symbols of the Catholic Faith.\nSeveral of the trampling-boards employed on these occasions are still to\nbe seen at the Ueno Museum, Tokio. The Dutch, it would appear, quieted any\nqualms of conscience by regarding their action as amounting to an\nabnegation, not of Christianity, but of Romanism. It was not until thirty\nyears ago that intercourse between Japan and other nations began to be\nresumed; and that, after a short period of ill-feeling and suspicion,\ncircumstances were brought about which enabled both Roman Catholics and\nother Christians to work without hindrance. In 1872 the interdict against\nChristianity was formally removed; and the release from imprisonment and\nreturn from banishment of hundreds of Christians took place.\n\nSuch is the past history of Christianity in Japan. It has, indeed, its\nelements of glorious and heroic martyrdom, but it has elements, also, on\nwhich few of us can look back without a deep sense of shame. Let us trust\nthat by this time the people of Japan have come to understand that the\nconflict of their forefathers was not with Christianity, but rather with\nChristians who had forgotten \u201cwhat spirit they were of.\u201d\n\nTurning now to the condition of Christian Missions at the present day, it\nseems right to commence with those of the Roman Church. Not only has the\nRoman Church in Japan a history which extends over three hundred years,\nbut it reckons at the present time considerably more than double the\nnumber of adherents claimed by any other Christian body. The Roman\ninfluence has been particularly successful in the Goto Islands, in the\nneighbourhood of Nagasaki, where the devoted labours of the missionaries\nhave won over a considerable portion of the population.\n\nTo come to the statistics. These give one Archbishop, three Bishops,\nseventy-eight missionary, and fifteen native priests, with over 300\n(native) minor clergy and catechists; 185 churches and chapels, with 244\ncongregations. Seventy-six sisters of the Order of St. Paul de Chartres\nare stationed in Japan, and there are further nineteen native novices.\nOther statistics include seventeen orphanages, with an average of over 100\nchildren; twenty Industrial Schools; eight Nursing establishments; a\nHospital for the Aged; and a Hospital for Lepers, with sixty-two inmates,\nsituated at Gotemba, at the foot of Fuji-san. The number of infant\nbaptisms for 1892 is given as, children of Christian parents 1,337, and\nHeathen parents 1,166; these, with 2,806 adult baptisms, and forty-five\n\u201cconversions of heretics,\u201d bringing the total of baptisms and conversions\nfor the year to 5,354. The work that is being done by the Roman\nmissionaries is commended on all sides; a prominent feature in their\nmethods being a consideration for, and adaptation to, the habits and\nprejudices of the people, that greatly facilitate their progress,\nespecially among the poor of the country districts. The whole number of\nRoman Catholics in Japan amounts, as has been said already, to about\n45,000.\n\nI pass on to speak of the condition of the Greek, or Orthodox Russian,\nChurch in Japan; whose relations with the Church of England are here, as\nelsewhere, of a friendly though not, of course, of a very intimate\ncharacter. Its head-quarters are at Tokio, where an imposing Cathedral,\nsituated on high ground and in a central position, has recently been\nerected. Unfortunately our information in this case is very incomplete;\nbut assuming the correctness of the numbers before us, one is struck by\nthe paucity of missionary clergy, viz. one bishop and three priests. To\nthese must be added eighteen native clergy, and 128 unordained teachers\nand workers. There are in all 219 congregations. The number of adult\nbaptisms in 1892 is given as 952; and the total membership at the present\ntime exceeds 20,000. Scanty as these details are, they indicate much\nactivity and progress. The proximity of Russian territory to\nJapan\u2014Vladivostock being only some 700 miles N. of Nagasaki\u2014is, of course,\na circumstance highly favourable to the Orthodox Mission.\n\nComing now to the various bodies arranged by Mr. Loomis under the title of\n\u201cProtestant,\u201d we will take first the _Nippon Sei Kokwai_, or Church of\nJapan, which is the name given to the union formed by the Missions of the\nAmerican Episcopal Church, the Church of England, and the English Church\nin Canada. It is, however, only fair to say that the total number of\nadherents of the Nippon Sei Kokwai are greatly less than half the number\nclaimed by the Presbyterian Churches, as also by the Churches of the\nAmerican Board\u2019s Mission. The Missions, then, of the American Church and\nof the Church of England are to a great extent worked independently of\neach other, each being under its own Episcopal control; but at the same\ntime, the two Churches enjoy, of course, full intercommunion, and are\npractically one,\u2014often taking counsel together, and dividing the various\ndistricts by mutual arrangement in such a way as to make the best use of\ntheir resources. To the American Church belongs the honour of being the\nfirst body to commence Christian work in Japan in the present century; the\nRev. C. M. Williams, afterwards Bishop for Japan and China, establishing\nhimself at Tokio in 1859, and proceeding at once to translate portions of\nthe Bible and Prayer-Book, hold services for the benefit of\nEnglish-speaking people, and set on foot schemes for the study of our\nlanguage. There are now twelve missionary clergy at work, and twenty-one\nfemale missionaries; together with seven native clergy and nineteen\nunordained workers and preachers. Of the twenty-seven organized churches\nonly one is wholly self-supporting. The number of baptisms in 1892 was,\nadults 208, children fifty-eight; while the total membership amounts to\nover 1,400, with a like number of children receiving instruction in Sunday\nSchools. In 1873, Dr. Henry Laming was appointed missionary physician, and\narrived at Osaka, where he has done and is still doing an excellent work.\nA good deal of secular educational work is also carried on in connexion\nwith the mission.\n\n                             [Illustration.]\n\n                           Sketch Map of Japan.\n\n\nWe next come to the work of the Church Missionary Society, which commenced\noperations in Japan in 1869. The Society has now twenty-two missionary and\nseven native clergy engaged; forty-two female missionaries, and sixty\nunordained preachers. Of its sixteen organized churches one is\nself-supporting. The number of baptisms in 1892 was, adults 267, children\n121; and the total membership at the present time amounts to 2,126, with\n600 children in Sunday Schools.\n\nThe Society for the Propagation of the Gospel commenced work in 1873; and\nhas its headquarters at Tokio. The work of the two Community Missions,\nfounded by Bishop Bickersteth in 1887, is apparently included in the\nstatistics assigned to the S. P. G. in the table before us. At St.\nAndrew\u2019s University Mission, five clergy\u2014all of whom are University\nGraduates,\u2014live in community with several native students preparing for\nOrdination, while at St. Hilda\u2019s Mission, a staff of English ladies is\nengaged in work, which includes schools, a hospital, and a home for\nmission women. Both these Missions are supported by the \u201cGuild of St.\nPaul,\u201d\u2014a society which has branches all over England,\u2014whose occasional\npapers are full of interesting information. Several other priests of the\nS. P. G. are engaged at various mission stations; and these, with seven\nnative ministers, make in all some nineteen clergy at work in Japan. The\nadult baptisms in 1892 numbered 151, and the membership at the present\ntime is given as 784.\n\nThe Wyckliffe College Mission was sent out by the Canadian Church in 1888.\nAt present it provides only three clergy, who are engaged at Nagoya, a\nflourishing commercial city situated about midway between Kyoto and Tokio.\nBishop Bickersteth, however, in his recent Pastoral Letter, refers to its\nwork in hopeful and appreciative terms.\n\nThe total number of adherents of the Nippon Sei Kokwai will thus be seen\nto be about 4,300 (with upwards of 2,000 Sunday Scholars); and of these\nthe Church of England can claim barely 3,000. At the same time evidence is\nby no means lacking that the work is being carried on upon thoroughly\nsound principles and along right lines; and there are many reasons for\nbelieving that, with adequate resources, a future awaits it, under God,\nfar exceeding the calculations that might be suggested by its present\nnumerical strength. Some of the readers of these pages may, possibly, be\nin greater sympathy with the general position of the S. P. G. than of the\nC. M. S; but no consideration of this sort should allow us to be\ninappreciative of the splendid work which the C. M. S. has done in the\npast, and is still doing in non-Christian countries. Its chief centre in\nJapan is at Osaka, another huge commercial city, some twenty miles from\nKyoto where there is a considerable European settlement. Bishop\nBickersteth\u2014as does also the American Bishop, Dr. Williams(32)\u2014resides at\nTokio, the capital; where the services at St. Andrew\u2019s Church, adjoining\nthe Episcopal residence, are such as may well gladden the heart of an\nEnglish Churchman, who finds himself 11,000 miles from home. They include,\nI may mention, a Daily Celebration. A striking feature of the Nippon Sei\nKokwai is presented in its Biennial Synods, three, if not four, of which\nhave already been held. The Synods are composed of clergy and laity, every\ncongregation of twenty persons being entitled to send its representative;\nand they indicate a stage of organization rarely, if ever, attained to by\nso youthful a Church. In a word, what is being aimed at throughout is not\nto Europeanize, but to Christianize; not to form a \u201cbranch of the Church\nof England,\u201d but to establish, on those lines of Catholic and Apostolic\nChristianity which we believe the Church of England faithfully represents,\na _Japanese Church_, which may be committed, as soon as ever circumstances\nallow, entirely into the hands of the Japanese themselves.\n\nThe Bishop\u2019s Pastoral Letter to his Clergy (Advent 1892) treats, among\nother matters, of the Marriage Law of the Church, of Old Testament\nCriticism,\u2014in the course of his comments upon which, he makes the\nquotation, \u201cThe central object of our Faith is not the Bible, but our\nLord\u201d\u2014and of the Bishop of Lincoln\u2019s case. It exhibits throughout a tone\nof earnest Catholicity, of sanctified prudence, and of Apostolic charity.\nThe Bishop\u2019s observations on the confirmation by the Privy Council of the\nLambeth Judgment will be read with satisfaction by many:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe principle of allowed variety in matters of ritual has now been\nauthoritatively recognized. Such recognition is essential to the welfare\nof a great and living Church in our day. Among other good results which\nmay follow from the decision, I cannot but hope will be the liberation of\nthe energies and interests of a great and historic party, hitherto far too\nclosely confined within the boundaries of our own country, for wider and\nmore extended work, above all in eastern countries. Its own position is\nnow legally secured. Any outstanding questions of ritual could be speedily\nsettled by the application to them of the same principles which are\nembodied in the recent judgments. This is so plain that probably no such\ndecisions will be challenged. May it not then be hoped that there will\nshortly be a marked cessation of controversy at home, as for some years\npast we are told there has been in our sister Church in the United States,\nand coincidently a far more determined effort on the part of the whole\nChurch than has yet been known, inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirit\nof Truth, to win the East to the Faith of Christ?\u201d\n\nWe come next to the _Church of Christ in Japan_, another amalgamation of\nreligious bodies; comprising, in this case, the Presbyterian Church of the\nUnited States, two or three other American sects, and the United\nPresbyterian Church of Scotland. By far the greater number of\ndenominations engaged in Japan are of American origin; and this is,\npractically, an American work; the Scotch Presbyterians being represented\nby only two missionaries with a single station, and only joining the\nMission in 1875\u2014fifteen years after two of the American bodies had\ncommenced their work. The number of male missionaries in connexion with\nthis movement amounts to fifty-two; and to these must be added fifty-three\nnative ministers, 100 female missionaries, and over 100 lay preachers and\nworkers. Of the seventy-four organized churches no less than one-third are\nwholly self-supporting. Baptisms in 1892 were, adults 789, children 100;\nand the total present membership amounts to 11,190, with over 2,000\nchildren in Sunday Schools. The fact that the Presbyterians of Japan have\nrecently adopted the Apostles\u2019 Creed as their Confession of Faith, in\nplace of the formularies with which their bodies have hitherto been\nassociated, is hardly the occasion for satisfaction that would at first\nsight appear; the course in question being, I understand, to some extent\ndue to the prevalence of views similar to those held by a large number of\nthe Congregationalists of Japan, to which I shall presently refer. The\nwork of the Presbyterians however, must be accounted among the most\nsuccessful efforts for the evangelization of the country; while they have\nhad from the beginning the advantage of being supported by men of national\nreputation and position.\n\nWe come now to the _Kumi-ai Churches_ in connexion with the American\nBoard\u2019s Mission; i.e. the Congregationalists. This work owes its\nfoundation to a Japanese gentleman,\u2014a Mr. Neesima,\u2014who was converted to\nChristianity, whilst on a visit to America. Its head-quarters are at\nKyoto. Starting in 1869\u2014several years after the Presbyterians, their\nrelations with whom are of a cordial character,\u2014the Congregationalists\nvery closely approach them in numerical strength. The Mission is worked by\ntwenty-six missionary and twenty-eight native ministers; with fifty-seven\nfemale missionaries and 100 lay agents. Of ninety-two organized churches\none half are self-supporting; a large proportion of the converts belonging\nto the middle and upper classes. 1,096 adults were baptized in 1892 and\nsixty-six children. Total adherents 10,700, with upwards of 6,000 children\nin Sunday Schools. In connexion with this Mission is a large college, in\nwhich the greater number of the students are Christians, and many of these\ncandidates for the ministry; and mention must also be made of two\nhospitals under the care of missionary physicians. The above figures,\nwithout doubt, bear witness to great energy on the part of the\nCongregationalist body; and it is with regret that we find ourselves\ncompelled to regard them with somewhat modified satisfaction.\n\n\u201cSpeaking generally, it cannot be too clearly felt that systems which do\nnot definitely teach the truths contained in the Apostolic and Nicene\nCreeds, whatever benefits may accrue to individuals from the moral\nteaching which they impart, are not merely negative in tendency and\nresults, but retard the progress of the Kingdom of Christ in Eastern\nlands.\u201d Such are the weighty words of Bishop Bickersteth,(33) the occasion\nwhich drew them forth being the adoption by the Congregationalists of\nJapan of the following Declaration of Belief:\u2014\u201cWe believe (i) in the One\nGod, (ii) in Jesus Christ who came on earth to save sinners, (iii) in the\nHoly Spirit from Whom we receive new life, (iv) in the Bible which shews\nus the way of salvation, and (v) in Baptism and the Holy Supper, in\npunishments and rewards given by God according to our merits, in\neverlasting life if we are righteous, and in the Resurrection of the\nDead.\u201d Several of the clauses in this statement are open to grave\nobjection; but the fact that the second clause was deliberately adopted in\nplace of the words, \u201cin Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, Who\nsuffered and died to atone for the sins of the world\u201d\u2014an alteration which\nwas heartily welcomed by the Unitarians of Japan\u2014is full of painful\nsignificance. The Bishop, while expressing his thankfulness that there are\nlarge numbers in the Congregationalist body, who have no share in the\nprevailing scepticism, points out that in dealing with others, with whom\nthis is not the case, nothing can be gained by any attempt at\nco-operation. \u201cAt such times a severe exclusiveness may be the truest\nexhibition of a heartfelt sympathy.\u201d\n\nTo the remaining Missions at work in Japan we can only very briefly refer.\nThe American Methodist Episcopal Church has eighteen missionaries and\ntwenty-nine native ministers; fifty-eight churches; and a total following\nof nearly 4,000, exclusive of children in Sunday Schools. The Canadian\nMethodists number over 1,800 adults; and the Baptist Missionary Union\n(U.S.A.) about 1,300. Two other American sects place their total at 500\neach. The German Swiss Protestants number 240; the \u201cUniversalists\u201d\nseventy-eight; and the Society of Friends (U.S.A.) forty-three. The\nScandinavian Church, whose mission has only recently commenced its work,\nhas seven clergy engaged; and the Unitarians are represented by two\nministers\u2014my only reason for mentioning these last-named bodies together\nbeing that no further particulars of either are to hand.\n\nBut it is time to be bringing these remarks to a conclusion. We may, then,\ndeclare the total number in Japan of those professing Christianity in any\nform\u2014[I should, by the way, have mentioned that the number of male\nconverts would appear to exceed by about one-third the number of\nwomen,]\u2014to be not more than 100,000; while the entire population of the\ncountry is estimated at from thirty-eight to forty millions. In other\nwords, not more than one person in every 400 can be said to be, in any\nsense, a Christian. I emphasize this fact, not because I think it\ndiscouraging, but because it seems becoming the fashion for the cause of\nChristianity in Japan to be spoken of as already won. That Japan has still\ngreat changes and developments to undergo in the near future scarcely\nadmits of question. \u201cThe nation is working out its spiritual redemption;\u201d\nand, as Mr. Loomis well says in his letter to _The Christian_ before\nreferred to, \u201cAs Japanese society advances, there will be all the more a\nplace for Christian influence. _The social problems of the people can only\nfind solution through religion._\u201d We may well believe and hope that, as\ntime goes on, the true faith of Jesus Christ and of His Church will more\nand more prevail. So, too, we may rejoice that the foundations have been\nlaid, and that some real and steady progress has been effected; we may\nhope that more is, even now, being accomplished by the leaven of influence\nthan can at present find place in tables and statistics. And yet, as we\nlook the position boldly in the face, we must see that elements to\noccasion anxiety are by no means lacking; and especially must we see how\nmuch more remains to be done that has already been achieved. The\npossibility of some form of Christianity being adopted as the national\nreligion, is a matter as to the desirability of which it is extremely\ndifficult to express an opinion, until the proposition assumes a more\ndefinite shape than is likely for some time to be the case.\n\nThat both Christianity and Christians are subjected to searching criticism\nat the hands of the more educated natives we have already seen; while,\nfrom time to time, tidings are received of bitter opposition encountered\nby those engaged in the work of evangelization among the poor of the\ncountry districts. Moreover, in that spirit of accommodation to which we\nhave several times referred, as forming so striking a feature of the\nsystem, Buddhism appears now to be striving to maintain its position in\nJapan, by a re-statement of its doctrines in such terms as to place itself\nin accordance with the modern systems of philosophy, which have found such\nfavour and acceptance with the educated classes. At the same time, there\nis, without doubt, a widespread persuasion throughout Japan\u2014in many cases\nmost reluctantly arrived at\u2014that the former ascendency of Buddhism has for\never passed away. \u201cA dull apathy as regards religion has settled down upon\nthe educated classes of Japan. The gods of heathenism have crumbled to\nnothing before modern science and civilization, and the glimmer of light\nand truth to which they pointed has gone as well.\u201d(34) Sometimes, again,\nChristianity is spoken of by Buddhists in terms which encourage us to hope\nthat there are those who, while they have not as yet taken the decisive\nstep, are still \u201cnot far from the kingdom of God.\u201d Take, for examples,\nthese words of a Mr. Nakanishi. \u201cIt is the glory of mankind that Jesus\nlived. Much that Christ taught will never decay. Did Christ\u2019s teaching\ncome from man, or from above man? Every word, every phrase, of Christ\nshould influence us. In the Four Gospels, the noblest and wisest morality\nof the world appears. So simple is it, so easily understood and applied.\n\u2018Love God and love man,\u2019 as central principles, suffice to regenerate\nsociety and lead men to heaven. Christ\u2019s character and teachings stand for\never.\u201d\n\nWith a brief reference to one or two further points suggested by Mr.\nLoomis\u2019 table, I will bring this, my last chapter, to a close. One of\nthese is the distinction he draws\u2014and it is a distinction quite worth\ndrawing\u2014between married and unmarried missionaries. Of course, the Roman\nclergy are all unmarried, as are also the four missionaries of the\nOrthodox Church; but when we come to the \u201cProtestant Missions,\u201d we find\nthe numbers of married and unmarried clergy to be 205 and thirty-seven\nrespectively. Indeed, with the exception of the Church of England, the\nScandinavian Alliance, and the American Methodist Episcopal Church, which\nsupply six each, there is no mission with more than two unmarried clergy,\nand several have not even one. Now it is certain that this is not the way\nin which great mission work has been done in the past; but is the newer\nway better than the old? Beyond observing that the presence of female\nmissionaries is in a very special degree needed in Japan, be they the\nwives of the clergy or not, I will not presume to answer that question\nmyself; but I may, perhaps, be allowed to record the opinion, emphatically\nexpressed to me, of one who has lived in the East for a great many years,\nand is by no means in sympathy with the compulsory celibacy of the Roman\npriesthood. \u201cIt is,\u201d he remarked, \u201cfar too hastily assumed that the fact\nof the married missionary usually bringing another valuable ally to the\nwork sufficiently determines the question. But I am convinced that,\nspeaking generally, it is to the unmarried missionary that wider\nopportunities of usefulness are extended. Nor is it merely that his\nmovements are entirely free and unhampered\u2014that he is exempt from domestic\nobligations and anxieties\u2014that he has more time for study\u2014and that he is\nthrown more in the society of his brother clergy. As a man\u2019s children\nbegin to grow up, educational and other considerations in connexion with\nthese, urge upon him the desirability of returning home, with the result\nthat, just as he has begun to master the difficulties of language, and to\nenter into the thought and habits of the people, his place is taken by a\ntyro, who, however well-meaning, cannot but have all his experience to\ngain.\u201d No doubt, there is plenty of room for both married and unmarried\nclergy in the mission field; but the great preponderance of the married in\nthe case before us may well serve to suggest the consideration:\u2014Might not\nmore of that large and possibly increasing number of unmarried clergy in\nEngland be drawn to take part in a work of such fascinating interest\u2014\u201c_a\nwork_,\u201d if I may once more quote the words of our Bishop in Japan, \u201c_that\nmust be done at once if it is to be done at all_.\u201d\n\nAnother point that can scarcely fail to strike us as we examine Mr.\nLoomis\u2019 statistics, is the large number of \u201cdismissals and exclusions\u201d\nmade by those bodies which supply information under this head, and\namounting in some cases to several hundreds in a year. That such measures\nare not resorted to without grave reason may be assumed, and that some\nexercise of discipline is especially necessary in dealing with a young and\nnascent church admits of no dispute. There is indeed every reason to hope\nthat by far the greater number of converts are actuated by an intense\nsincerity, and evidence of this is afforded in the self-sacrifice to which\nthey, in many ways, readily submit for the Faith they have embraced. But,\nat the same time, it is probable that the numbers in question indicate an\neven larger proportion of \u201cfailures,\u201d than is the case with mission work\ngenerally; and that they point not only to losses through \u201cback-sliding,\u201d\nbut to many instances of insincerity on the part of those professing\nconversion. It has been remarked that it does not belong to the Japanese\ntemperament to \u201ctake things _au grand serieux_;\u201d and this characteristic\nextends to matters of religion. The young fellow, for instance, who, for\nsome reason or another, thinks it \u201cworth his while\u201d to conform to\nChristianity for a time, will have the very smallest scruples about doing\nso; and that, with a semblance of earnestness that will baffle, at any\nrate for some time, the careful scrutiny to which candidates are rightly\nsubjected by most, if not all, of the missionary bodies. The missionaries,\nI fear, are often imposed on; and yet\u2014anything, surely, is better than\nbeing over suspicious and severe. After all, what we want to do is to show\nthese different nations to whom we go, that Christ and His Church, and we,\nHis members, do really care for them, alike in things temporal and\neternal. Our Faith, to be really preached, needs to be boldly, hopefully\npractised. And especially in Japan, where the only idea that such a phrase\nas \u201ceternal life\u201d would commonly suggest is that of a series of painful\nand endless transmigrations, must Christianity be ready to prove herself\nman\u2019s friend in the things of this life, if she would be looked to with\nconfidence for the things that lie beyond.\n\n\n\n\n\nPUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.\n\n\nChurch Hymns.\n\nNew Edition. Containing 658 Hymns.\n\nWords Only.\n\n_Edition A._ Long Primer, demy 18mo. In various bindings from 1_s._ to\n4_s._ 6_d._\n\n_Edition B._ Small Pica, small post 8vo. In various bindings from 1_s._\n6_d._ to 4_s._ 6_d._\n\n_Edition C._ Pearl, medium 32mo. Paper cover, 1_d._; limp cloth, cut\nflush, 2_d._\n\n_Edition D._ Diamond, medium 32mo. Limp cloth, cut flush, 4_d._\n\nWords And Music.\n\n_Edition E._ Nonpareil 8vo. In various bindings from 2_s._ 4_d._ to 5_s._\n6_d._\n\n_Edition F._ Long Primer, Imperial 16mo. 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It may\n      be mentioned here, as an instance of the liberal feeling of the\n      present (Shinto) government, that one of this same group of\n      buildings was lent for the Church of England services, before St.\n      Andrew\u2019s church was built. It is the old nobility who have been\n      throughout the uncompromising opponents of Christianity, and indeed\n      of all change; and the most zealous supporters of Buddhism.\n\n    5 Eden\u2019s Japan, Historical and Descriptive.\n\n    6 Even an approximate total is difficult to calculate. At the lowest\n      estimate we have a number considerably exceeding the whole mass of\n      Christians. But it is important to bear in mind that in China,\n      _which supplies more than three-fourths of the total number_, both\n      Taouism and Confucianism are professed in conjunction with Buddhism.\n      See Rhys Davids\u2019 _Buddhism_, chap. I (S.P.C.K.).\n\n    7 Thibet.\n\n_    8 Light of Asia_, i. 142, and vi. 688.\n\n_    9 Lectures on Buddhism_, pp. 62-3.\n\n_   10 Legends and Theories of the Buddhists_, p. 187.\n\n   11 Prof. Max M\u00fcller, however (_Hibbert Lectures_, 1878, p. 134 note),\n      gives weighty reasons for regarding 477 B.C. as the year of Buddha\u2019s\n      death.\n\n   12 \u201cThe Buddhists look upon the Bo-tree as most Christians have looked\n      upon the Cross.\u201d\u2014Rhys Davids\u2019 _Buddhism_, p. 37 note.\n\n   13 It is, no doubt, owing largely to the influence of Buddhism that the\n      passion of _anger_ is almost unknown in Japan. In the same way, a\n      Japanese, though the heart were well-nigh breaking, would consider\n      it a most unworthy thing to let his grief betray itself.\n\n   14 Miss Isabella Bird (Mrs. Bishop), authoress of _Unbeaten Tracks in\n      Japan_, well describes the impression produced on the spectator by\n      the Daibutsus, or colossal images of Buddha, so common in Japan:\u2014\u201cHe\n      is not sleeping, he is not waking, he is not acting, he is not\n      thinking, his consciousness is doubtful; he exists,\u2014that is all; his\n      work is done, a hazy beatitude, a negation remain. This is the\n      Nirvana in which the devout Buddhist may aspire to participate.\u201d\n\n      The Daibutsu at Kamakura, of which an illustration is given\n      opposite, is one of the largest in Japan. It is fifty feet high,\n      and, as a work of art, is without a rival. The boss protruding from\n      the forehead is supposed to represent a jewel, and to symbolize\n      Illumination.\n\n_   15 History of the Jewish Church_, Vol. iii, Lecture xlv.\n\n   16 This is scarcely less true of Christianity; and it _must_ be true,\n      in some measure, of every religious system which attempts to\n      minister to the needs of beings, so differently constituted, and so\n      dissimilarly circumstanced, as are the members of the human race. As\n      we proceed in this chapter to refer to the various schools of\n      Buddhism and their characteristics, we can hardly fail to have\n      suggested to us, more than once, those different aspects of\n      Christianity, which have been the occasion of all our \u201cschools of\n      thought,\u201d and, alas, of how many of our divisions!\n\n   17 Those who would investigate the subject further are referred to\n      Alabaster\u2019s _The Modern Buddhist_ (Tr\u00fcbner, 1870).\n\n   18 For it is men only who inhabit this Celestial Region: women, worthy\n      of attaining to it, have changed their sex.\n\n_   19 Jodo_ means the \u201cPure Land.\u201d\n\n   20 Avalokitesvara=\u201cThe Lord who looks down from heaven.\u201d The female\n      form taking the place of the male is, no doubt, due to the idea of\n      the woman\u2019s being supposed to be the more compassionate nature; just\n      as, too often in the Christian Church, the Blessed Mother has, for a\n      like reason, been made to encroach upon the prerogatives of her\n      Divine Son. Instances are recorded of the Chinese, when conversing\n      with Europeans, giving the name of _Kwanyin_ to the statues of the\n      Blessed Virgin in the Roman Churches. (Davis\u2019 _The Chinese_, chap,\n      xiv.)\n\n   21 I have not thought it necessary in this little volume to introduce\n      the subject of Confucianism. Even in China it is less a religion\n      than a system of philosophy\u2014political, social, moral. It may,\n      however, be remarked that the writings of Confucius are highly\n      esteemed in Japan, and that, in the past at any rate, they have had\n      a considerable influence in forming the thought and character of its\n      people. The ethics of Confucius being materialistic, i.e. concerned\n      with the things of this present life, and the Buddhist ethics being\n      mainly spiritualistic, the two mutually supplement each other. The\n      great Confucian Temple at Yeddo was until 1868 the chief University\n      of Japan. Now,\u2014so entirely have the Western systems of education\n      supplanted the teaching of the Chinese sage,\u2014the building has been\n      converted into a Museum.\n\n   22 Charcoal-brazier.\n\n   23 \u201cThe only reason I can ascertain for the constant recurrence of the\n      lotus in Buddhist art and ceremonial is the idea of its being the\n      symbol of purity. Its scent and aspect are alike delightful, and\n      though rooted in mud and slime it abhors all defilement. If,\n      therefore, men would but take it as their model, they would escape\n      all the contamination of this corrupt world. Every man, it is said,\n      has a lotus in his bosom, which will blossom forth if he call in the\n      assistance of Buddha.\u201d _Unbeaten Tracks in Japan_, Vol. i. p. 292.\n\n   24 Buddhists believe in the existence of a personal wicked spirit,\n      named Mara, whose object is to solicit men to evil.\n\n   25 Cf. the following extract from the speech of the Bishop of Exeter at\n      the Annual Meeting of the C.M.S. 1892:\u2014\u201cIf you had been asked to\n      sketch an ideal land, most suitable for Christian Missions, and when\n      itself Christianized more suited for evangelistic work among the\n      nations of the far East, what, I ask, would be the special\n      characteristics of the land and people that you would have desired?\n      Perhaps, first, as Englishmen or Irishmen, you would have said,\n      \u2018Give us islands, inseparably and for ever united, give us islands\n      which can hold their sea-girt independence, and yet near enough to\n      the mainland to exert influence there.\u2019 Such is Japan\u2014the Land of\n      the Rising Sun. \u2018Give us a hardy race, not untrained in war by land\n      and sea; for a nation of soldiers, when won for Christ, fights best\n      under the banner of the Cross\u2014for we are of the Church militant here\n      on earth: give us brave men;\u2019 and such are the descendants of the\n      old Daimios and two-sworded Samurai of Japan. \u2018Give us an industrial\n      race, not idlers nor loungers, enervated by a luxurious climate, but\n      men who delight in toil, laborious husbandmen, persevering\n      craftsmen, shrewd men of business;\u2019 and such are the Japanese\n      agriculturists, who win two harvests a year from their grateful\n      soil\u2014such are the handicraftsmen there, whose work is the envy of\n      Western lands; such are the merchants, who hold their own with us in\n      commerce. \u2018Give us men of culture, with noble traditions, but not so\n      wedded to the past that they will not grasp the present and salute\n      the future;\u2019 and such are the quick-witted, myriad-minded Japanese,\n      who, with a marvellous power of imitation, ever somehow contrive to\n      engraft their own specialities upon those of Western lands. Witness\n      their Constitution, their Parliament, their 30,000 schools in active\n      operation; witness their museums and hospitals; witness their\n      colleges and universities. \u2018But,\u2019 you would also have said, \u2018give us\n      a race whose women are homespun and refined, courteous and winsome,\n      not tottering on tortured feet, nor immured in zenanas and harems,\n      but who freely mingle in social life, and adorn all they touch;\u2019 and\n      such, without controversy, are the women of Japan. Above all, \u2018give\n      us a reverent and a religious people, who yet are conscious that the\n      religion of their fathers is unsatisfying and unreal, and who are\n      therefore ready to welcome the Christ of God;\u2019 and such are the\n      thoughtful races of Japan.\u201d\n\n   26 See on this subject Study VI in the late Dean Plumptre\u2019s _The\n      Spirits in Prison_. The Christian can scarcely doubt that Gautama\n      has, long ere this, fallen at the feet of the Crucified,\u2014knowing at\n      last the Name whereby he has been saved,\u2014and has heard from the\n      Divine lips the gracious approval, waiting to be bestowed on all men\n      of good-will, of whatever age, of whatever land, who have \u201cworked\n      righteousness,\u201d and have faithfully responded to whatever measure of\n      light and opportunity has been accorded them by God.\n\n   27 I may observe that the language, not only of the New Testament, but\n      of the _Athanasian Creed_, was quoted to me in this connexion by a\n      Buddhist priest in Japan. I endeavoured to point out to him,\u2014how far\n      convincingly I cannot say,\u2014what at the present day at least is\n      generally recognized amongst us; that for the Christian Church to\n      warn her own children, in terms the most emphatic just because the\n      most loving, against becoming entangled in the deadly errors\n      prevalent at the time when the Creed was drawn up, is a thing wholly\n      distinct from passing any sentence of eternal condemnation on, or,\n      indeed, expressing any opinion as to the future state of, such as\n      live and die without ever having been brought to a knowledge of the\n      Faith. I added, of course, that any acquaintance with the claims of\n      Christianity is a responsibility for which we believe all will have\n      to give account.\n\n   28 I doubt if the speaker, in his long absence from England, quite\n      realized the extent to which, of the last few years, bitterness and\n      intolerance have effaced themselves, at any rate within the limits\n      of the Church of England; or was aware of the marked improvement\n      that is exhibited amongst us in dealing with such matters of\n      controversy as still remain.\n\n   29 In the course of a letter appearing in _The Christian_ of April 20,\n      1893, the Rev. H. Loomis writes, \u201cLet the _forty thousand_\n      Christians of Japan but dedicate themselves to the welfare of the\n      country in all its relations, and the true new Japan will be\n      founded.\u201d But Mr. Loomis himself has placed the total membership of\n      \u201cProtestant Missions\u201d at 35,500, of the Orthodox Church at 20,300,\n      and of the Roman Church at 44,800. To which sixty thousand of these\n      does Mr. Loomis\u2014presumably\u2014refuse the title of \u201cChristian\u201d? and are\n      we justified in acting thus towards any who believe in the Holy\n      Trinity, and have accepted Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the World,\n      Very God and Very Man?\n\n   30 Even Mr. Loomis\u2019 list does not appear to be exhaustive! The\n      \u201cPlymouth Brethren,\u201d e.g., are certainly represented at Tokio.\n\n   31 The above is an abridgement of a passage in the _Conquests of the\n      Cross_ (Messrs. Cassell & Co.).\n\n   32 In the course of the present year (1893), the Rev. J. McKim has been\n      raised to the American Episcopate in Japan; Dr. Williams continuing\n      to reside at Tokio. It is also announced that two new Anglican\n      Bishops are to be consecrated for the Islands of Kyushu and Yezo\n      respectively. One of these is the Rev. H. Evington, Examining\n      Chaplain to Bishop Bickersteth, who has been connected with the C.\n      M. S. Mission to Japan since 1874.\n\n_   33 Pastoral Letter to his Clergy_, Advent, 1892.\n\n_   34 Occasional Paper_, Guild of St. Paul, Oct. 1893.","title":"Religion in Japan","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":26156}