Japan Part 25

You’re reading novel Japan Part 25 online at LightNovelFree.com. Please use the follow button to get notification about the latest chapter next time when you visit LightNovelFree.com. Use F11 button to read novel in full-screen(PC only). Drop by anytime you want to read free – fast – latest novel. It’s great if you could leave a comment, share your opinion about the new chapters, new novel with others on the internet. We’ll do our best to bring you the finest, latest novel everyday. Enjoy!

188 "In point of fact, however, making Ongoschio (Ieyasu) regent was placing a goat in charge of a kitchen garden."-_Warenius_, p. 20.

189 See Satow and Hawes' _Handbook_, p. 368.

190 See the pedigree of Ieyasu as given in _Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft_, etc., Heft i., p. 19.

191 See Dening's _Life of Toyotomi Hideyos.h.i.+_, p. 377.

192 This covenant is said to have been signed with blood in accordance with a custom still occasionally prevalent, in which a drop of blood is drawn from the middle finger and sealed by pressing it with the thumb nail. Rein's _j.a.pan_, p. 297, note.

193 See Dening's _Life of Toyotomi Hideyos.h.i.+_, p. 397.

194 This place receives its name from a barrier that was erected in the ninth century to control the travel towards the capital. Its meaning is, "Plain of the Barrier." See Chamberlain's _Handbook_, p. 268.

195 See Dening's _Life of Toyotomi Hideyos.h.i.+_, p. 399.

196 This proverb is quoted as having been used by Hideyos.h.i.+ when remonstrating with n.o.bunaga about following up his victory over Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto. See Dening's _Life of Toyotomi Hideyos.h.i.+_, p.

156.

197 Kiyomasa was a bitter enemy of the Christians, owing no doubt to the rivalry and antagonism which had sprung up with Konis.h.i.+, who was a Christian, in the Korean war. He is termed Toronosqui by the Jesuit fathers from a personal name Toronosuke which he bore in his youth, and he is characterized as "_vir ter execrandus_," on account of his persecution of the Christians in his province. Perhaps on account of this fierce opposition he was greatly admired by the Buddhists, and is wors.h.i.+pped under the name of Seishoko by the Nichiren sect at a shrine in the temple of Hommonji at Ikegami. Another monument to his memory is the Castle of k.u.mamoto, which he built and which still stands as one of the best existing specimens of the feudal castles of j.a.pan. As an evidence of its substantial character, in A.D. 1877, under the command of General Tani, it withstood the siege of the Satsuma rebels and gave the government time to bring troops to crush the rebellion.

198 The plural of this word is here and elsewhere used in its English form, although no such plural is found in j.a.panese.

_ 199 Ancien j.a.pon_, par G. Appert, Tokyo, 1888, vol. ii.

200 A full account of the Castle of Yedo will be found in a paper by Mr.

J. R. H. McClatchie in the _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part 1, p. 119.

201 See p. 207.

_ 202 Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xi., p. 124.

203 See p. 204.

204 See d.i.c.kson's _j.a.pan_, p. 227.

205 His beatification was decreed by the pope in 1609, and his canonization in 1622.

206 Hildreth's _j.a.pan_, etc., p. 176.

207 The Jesuit historians relate with malicious satisfaction how one of the Spanish friars, in a dispute with one of Adams' s.h.i.+pwrecked company, to sustain the authority of the church appealed to the miraculous power which its priests still possessed. And when the Hollander challenged an exhibition of such power, the missionary undertook to walk on the surface of the sea. A day was appointed.

The Spaniard prepared himself by confession, prayer, and fasting. A great crowd of the j.a.panese a.s.sembled to see the miracle, and the friar, after a confident exhortation to the mult.i.tude, stepped, crucifix in hand, into the water. But he was soon floundering over his head, and was only saved from drowning by some boats sent to his a.s.sistance.-Hildreth's _j.a.pan_, etc., p. 140.

208 "This will seem to you less strange, if you consider how the Apostle St. Paul commands us to obey even secular superiors and gentiles as Christ himself, from whom all well-ordered authority is derived: for thus he writes to the Ephesians (vii. 5): 'be obedient to them that are your temporal lords according to the flesh, with fear and trembling in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ; not seeming to the eye, as it were pleasing men, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of G.o.d from the heart, with a good will seeming as to the Lord and not to men.' "

The above is an extract from an Epistle of St. Ignatius, the 26th of March, 1553, which is still regarded as authoritative and is read every month to each of the houses. It was supplied to me by Dr. Carl Meyer and verified by Rev. D. H. Buel, S. J. of St. Francis Xavier's College, New York City. Dr. Meyer has also pointed out that the Second General Congregation, 1565, severely forbids any Jesuit to act as confessor or theologian to a prince longer than one or two years, and gives the minutest instructions to prevent a priest from interfering in any way with political and secular affairs in such a position.

209 This edict of Ieyasu is given by Mr. Satow in his contributions to the debate on Mr. Gubbins' _Review of the Introduction of Christianity into China and j.a.pan_. Fifteen rules to guide the Buddhist priests in guaranteeing the orthodoxy of their paris.h.i.+oners are also given.-_Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part i., p. 46.

210 See Gubbins' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part i., p. 35.

211 See Mr. Satow's contributions to the debate on Mr. Gubbins' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part i., p. 51.

_ 212 Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part 1, p. 35.

213 See chapter xi. of a _Description of the Kingdom of j.a.pan and Siam_, by Bernhard Warenius, M.D., Cambridge, Printing-House of John Hayes, Printer to the University, A.D. 1673. The volume is in Latin, which, as well as a translation of the same in ma.n.u.script, has been furnished to me by Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman, of Philadelphia.

Warenius was a Lutheran, and need not be suspected of being prejudiced in favor of the Jesuits. See also _History of the Martyrs of j.a.pan_, _Prague_, 1675, by Mathia Tanner, containing many engravings of the horrible scenes, such as burnings, crucifixions, and suspensions in the pit, etc.; also _Histoire des Vingt-six Martyrs du j.a.pon, Crucifie a Nagasaqui le 5 Fevrier, 1597_, par D.

Bouix, Paris, 1862.

214 See Woolley's "Historical Notes on Nagasaki," _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. ix., part 2, p. 134; also Mr. Satow's contributions to the discussion of Mr. Gubbins' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part 2, p. 52. Specimens of the metal plates are in the Uyeno Museum of Tokyo.

215 See Kaempfer's _Histoire de l'Empire de j.a.pon_, tome i., p. 287.

216 In the narrative which we give of this insurrection we have relied chiefly upon the accounts of Mr. Gubbins in his "Review of the Introduction of Christianity," _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol.

vi., part 1, p. 36; of Mr. Woolley in his "Historical Notes on Nagasaki," _do._, vol. ix., part 2, p. 140; and on Dr. Geerts' paper on the "Arima Rebellion and the Conduct of Koeckebacker," _do._, vol. xi., p. 51. Mr. Gubbins and Mr. Woolley had access to j.a.panese authorities, and we have in their papers been enabled to see this b.l.o.o.d.y episode for the first time from a j.a.panese standpoint. Dr.

Geerts has rendered an invaluable service in giving us translations of letters written by Koeckebacker, the head of the Dutch factory during the events, which show us how this insurrection was regarded by the Dutch East India Company.

217 A _ronin_ was a retainer who had given up the service of his feudal master, and for the time being was his own master.

218 See Dr. Geerts' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xi., p.

75.

219 The s.h.i.+ps in use at this time among the j.a.panese were far less seaworthy than those of European nations. The accompanying figures given by Charlevoix, although probably somewhat fanciful, show the impractical character of the vessels of that time.

220 See Dr. Geerts' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xi., p.

111.

221 Mr. Koeckebacker says: "The rebels counted in all, young and old, as it was said, about forty thousand. They were all killed except one of the four princ.i.p.al leaders, being an artist who formerly used to gain his livelihood by making idols. This man was kept alive and sent to Yedo."-Dr. Geerts' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xi., part 1, p. 107.

There is a tradition that a number of the prisoners who were captured at this castle were hurled down from the rocks of the island now called Papenberg in Nagasaki harbor. But Dr. Geerts ridicules this notion and says: "A little local knowledge would show it to be impossible to throw people from the rocks on Papenberg into the sea, as the rocks are by no means steep bluffs, but possess an inclined shape and a sh.o.r.e. A little knowledge of the Dutch language would further show that the name Papenberg means 'mountain of the priest,' in allusion to the shape of a Roman Catholic priest's cap or bonnet."-_Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xi., part 1, p.

115.

222 See Dr. Geerts' paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xi., part 1, pp. 110 and 111.

223 A j.a.panese writer thus sums up the result of the effort to introduce Christianity into his country: "After nearly a hundred years of Christianity and foreign intercourse, the only apparent results of this contact with another religion and civilization were the adoption of gunpowder and firearms as weapons, the use of tobacco and the habit of smoking, the making of sponge-cake, the naturalization into the language of a few foreign words, and the introduction of new and strange forms of disease."-s.h.i.+getaka s.h.i.+ga's _History of Nations_, Tokyo, 1888. The words introduced into the language from the Portuguese, except several derived from Christianity, are as follows: _tabako_, tobacco; _pan_ (_pao_), bread; _kasutera_ (from Castilla), sponge-cake; _tanto_, much; _kappa_ (_capa_), a waterproof; _kappu_ (_copa_), a cup or wine gla.s.s; _birodo_ (_vellendo_), velvet; _biidoro_ (_vidro_), gla.s.s.-Rein's _j.a.pan_, p. 312.

224 See Mr. Satow's contributions to the discussion of Mr. Gubbins'

paper, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vi., part 1, p. 61; also Satow and Hawes' _Handbook_, p. 22; also Griffis' _Mikado's Empire_, p. 262; and Professor Dixon's paper on the Christian Valley, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. xvi., p. 207.

225 See Chamberlain's _Things j.a.panese_, 1892, p. 300.

226 See _Legacy of Ieyasu_, cap. xv.

227 The _Confucian_ cla.s.sics consist of the Four Books, viz.: _The Great Learning_, _The Doctrine of the Mean_, _The Confucian a.n.a.lects_, and _The Sayings of Mencius_; and the Five Canons, viz.: _The Book of Changes_, _The Book of Poetry_, _The Book of History_, _The Canon of Rites_, and _Spring and Autumn_ (_Annals of the State of Lu_, by Confucius). Chamberlain's _Things j.a.panese_, 1892, p. 92.

228 An accurate and amusing account of the printing of a modern newspaper in j.a.pan is given in Mr. Henry Norman's _Real j.a.pan_, p, 43 _et seq._

229 For a history of the city of Yedo, and reference to the disasters to which it has been subject from fires, earthquakes, and pestilences, see Satow and Hawes' _Handbook_, p. 6. See also "The Castle of Yedo," by T. R. H. McClatchie, _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol.

vi., part 1, and "The Feudal Mansions of Yedo," _Asiatic Society Transactions_, vol. vii., part 3.

Japan Part 25

You're reading novel Japan Part 25 online at LightNovelFree.com. You can use the follow function to bookmark your favorite novel ( Only for registered users ). If you find any errors ( broken links, can't load photos, etc.. ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible. And when you start a conversation or debate about a certain topic with other people, please do not offend them just because you don't like their opinions.


Japan Part 25 summary

You're reading Japan Part 25. This novel has been translated by Updating. Author: David Murray already has 655 views.

It's great if you read and follow any novel on our website. We promise you that we'll bring you the latest, hottest novel everyday and FREE.

LightNovelFree.com is a most smartest website for reading novel online, it can automatic resize images to fit your pc screen, even on your mobile. Experience now by using your smartphone and access to LightNovelFree.com