The old world and its ways
by William Jennings Bryan · English · Gutenberg #45376 · 1,097,489 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The old world and its ways
describing a tour around the world and journeys through Europe
Author: William Jennings Bryan
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Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
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[Illustration: Yours truly
W. J. Bryan (handwritten signature)]
THE OLD WORLD AND ITS WAYS
by
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Describing a Tour around the World and Journeys through Europe
[Illustration: logo]
St. Louis
The Thompson Publishing Company
1907
Copyright 1907
by William Jennings Bryan
Author's Preface
This volume is published in response to numerous requests from many
sections, and my purpose is to put in permanent and convenient form
the observations made during travels in the old world.
The illustrations will throw light on the subjects treated and it is
believed will add much to the interest. The photographs from which
they were made were collected at the places visited or taken by
members of our party. Chapters one to forty-six were written from
time to time during the trip around the world.
I was accompanied on this tour by my wife and our two younger
children, William J., Jr., and Grace, aged sixteen and fourteen
years respectively. The trip was taken for educational purposes and
proved far more instructive than we anticipated.
We left our home September 21, 1905, sailed from San Francisco
September 27, and arrived in New York August 29, 1906--the day
before the date fixed for the home-coming reception in that
city--and reached Lincoln September 5, sixteen days less than a year
after our departure.
While most of our travel was in the North Temperate Zone, we were
below the Equator a few days in Java and above the Arctic Circle in
Norway.
In this narrative I fear I have sacrificed literary style to
conciseness, for I have endeavored to condense and crowd into the
space as much information as possible. The statement of facts may be
relied on, being based either upon observations gathered at first
hand from persons worthy to be trusted, or taken from authoritative
writings.
Mrs. Bryan assisted me in the collection of materials and the
preparation of the matter, and I am also indebted to the American
Ambassadors, Ministers and Consuls, as well as to the officials of
the countries which were visited, for valuable information.
I have included a series of articles written during a former visit
to Europe in 1902. As I have avoided in the World Tour Narratives
the subjects treated in these previous European articles, the two
series are appropriately published together.
All of these are published with the more pleasure because I believe
they will give the reader increased admiration for American
institutions and a larger confidence in the triumph of American
Ideals.
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1907
CONTENTS
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 5
CHAPTER I--Crossing the Pacific--Hawaii 15
CHAPTER II--Japan and Her People 25
CHAPTER III--Japanese Customs and Hospitality 37
CHAPTER IV--Japan--Her History and Progress 49
CHAPTER V--Japan--Her Industries, Arts and Commerce 61
CHAPTER VI--Japan--Her Educational System and Her Religions 69
CHAPTER VII--Japan--Her Government, Politics and Problems 80
CHAPTER VIII--Korea--"The Hermit Nation" 90
CHAPTER IX--China--As She Was 101
CHAPTER X--China--As She Was--Part Second 112
CHAPTER XI--Chinese Education, Religion and Philosophy 119
CHAPTER XII--China's Awakening 127
CHAPTER XIII--Chinese Exclusion 137
CHAPTER XIV--The Philippines--The Northern Islands 151
CHAPTER XV--The Philippines--The Moro Country 177
CHAPTER XVI--The Philippine Problem 186
CHAPTER XVII--The Philippine Problem--Continued 197
CHAPTER XVIII--Java--The Beautiful 205
CHAPTER XIX--Netherlands India 215
CHAPTER XX--In The Tropics 223
CHAPTER XXI--Burma and Buddhism 234
CHAPTER XXII--Eastern India 247
CHAPTER XXIII--Hindu India 260
CHAPTER XXIV--Mohammedan India 273
CHAPTER XXV--Western India 285
CHAPTER XXVI--British Rule in India 295
CHAPTER XXVII--Ancient Egypt 312
CHAPTER XXVIII--Modern Egypt 321
CHAPTER XXIX--Among the Lebanons 331
CHAPTER XXX--The Christian's Mecca 341
CHAPTER XXXI--Galilee 349
CHAPTER XXXII--Greece, the World's Teacher 358
CHAPTER XXXIII--The Byzantine Capital 366
CHAPTER XXXIV--In the Land of the Turk 376
CHAPTER XXXV--Hungary and Her Neighbors 385
CHAPTER XXXVI--Austria-Hungary 396
CHAPTER XXXVII--The Duma 403
CHAPTER XXXVIII--Around the Baltic 417
CHAPTER XXXIX--Democratic Norway 425
CHAPTER XL--England's New Liberal Government 435
CHAPTER XLI--Homes and Shrines of Great Britain 445
CHAPTER XLII--Glimpses of Spain 456
CHAPTER XLIII--A Word to Tourists 464
CHAPTER XLIV--American Foreign Missions 470
CHAPTER XLV--World Problems 478
CHAPTER XLVI--A Study of Governments 485
CHAPTER XLVII--The Tariff Debate in England 492
CHAPTER XLVIII--Ireland and Her Leaders 498
CHAPTER XLIX--Growth of Municipal Ownership 504
CHAPTER L--France and Her People 510
CHAPTER LI--The Republic of Switzerland 521
CHAPTER LII--Three Little Kingdoms--Denmark 525
CHAPTER LIII--Belgium 527
CHAPTER LIV--The Netherlands 529
CHAPTER LV--Germany and Socialism 533
CHAPTER LVI--Russia and Her Czar 542
CHAPTER LVII--Rome--The Catholic Capital 549
CHAPTER LVIII--Tolstoy, The Apostle of Love 559
CHAPTER LIX--Notes on Europe 567
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
William Jennings Bryan Frontispiece
Leaving San Francisco on the Manchuria 16
Surf-Riding in Hawaii 19
Our Party 21
Hawaiian Foliage 24
A Picturesque View 26
At Miyanoshita 29
A Japanese Family 31
Dwarf Maple--50 years old 36
Japanese Geisha Girls 38
Yukio Ozaki--Mayor of Tokyo 40
In Count Okuma's Conservatory 43
Marquis Ito 44
Count Okuma 45
The Guest of Gov. Chikami at Kagoshima 50
Japanese Lady in American Dress 53
A Japanese Maiden 54
Yukichi Fukuzawa, Jr. 57
Sumitka Haseba--Japanese Statesman 59
Japanese Water-Carrier 64
A Visit to Count Okuma's School near Tokyo 70
Japanese Stone Lantern 74
Korean Lion--Yes 75
Korean Lion--No 75
In Front of Nikko Temple--Japan 76
Admiral Togo 82
President of Diet--Japan 84
Baron Kentaro Kaneko 85
Mr. Okura, a Successful Japanese Business Man 87
A Shinto Gate at Nara 89
Two Korean Families 91
In Korea--Group of Natives 92
A Korean Scene 95
American Hospital at Seoul--Korea 99
Doing the Family Washing 100
A Group of Chinese--Pekin 103
The Wall at Pekin 105
A Street in Pekin 107
Chinese Emperor 108
The Father of the Chinese Emperor 109
Empress Dowager--China 110
One of the Principal Streets of Pekin 111
House Boats at Canton 114
Yuan Shi Kai--Viceroy Tientsin and Pekin 117
Altar of Heaven--Pekin 123
Illustration of Foot-Binding 125
Traveling: in North China 126
Viceroy Chang Chih Tung 129
Wu Ting Fang 130
Chinese Cart at Pekin 133
Chou Fu, Viceroy of Nanking 134
A Canton Bridge 136
Manchu and Chinese Women--China 139
The Chinese Wheelbarrow 143
Fashionable Conveyance at Hong Kong 147
Colossal Statue of Ming, Ruler of China 150
A Filipino Village 152
Filipino Houses 153
General Emilio Aguinaldo 154
Filipino Boys with Blow Guns 155
Group of Filipinos 156
In the Philippines 157
The Accomplished Wife of a Filipino Official 159
Filipino Night School--American Teachers 161
A Filipino Belle 165
Emilio Aguinaldo, Mother, Sister, Brother and Son 167
A Filipino Teacher 169
Hauling Hemp 170
Moro Huts 176
Threshing Rice 176
Moros 182
Moro School--Zamboanga 185
Henry C. Ide, Gov. Gen. Philippine Islands 187
Datu Piang and Grandson 188
Dr. G. Apacible 191
Plowing in Sulu Land 193
Sailing in Manila Bay 195
Carabao Cart and Driver 198
Harvesting Sugar Cane 199
The Rice Harvest 200
A Driveway in Botanical Garden--Buitenzorg 206
Extinct Volcano, Salak 207
A Java Road 210
Temple at Boro Boedoer 213
A Native 216
A Group of Javanese 219
In the Tropics 224
The Lake at Kandy, Ceylon 226
Singalese Chief's Daughter--Showing Jewelry 228
Singalese Carpenter 229
Tamil Girl--Ceylon 231
An Elephant at Work in Rangoon 235
The Park at Rangoon 236
Five Hundred Pagoda at Mandalay 237
Burmese Woman with Cigarette 238
Buddhist Temple 239
The Shwe Dagon Pagoda 240
Burmese Family 242
Gathering Precious Stones in Burma 245
Bronze Image of Buddha, Built 1252 246
Calcutta Burning Ghat 248
The Maharaja of Mourbharag--An Indian Prince 250
Indian Princess 251
The Great Banyan Tree--Calcutta 252
A Calcutta Street--India 253
Keshub Chunder Sen 255
The Bull Cart in India 256
Thibetans, as Seen at Darjeeling 257
View of the Himalayas, as seen from Darjeeling 258
The Camel in India 261
Cultivating Psychic Power on Spikes at Benares, India 262
Bathing Ghat on the Ganges 263
Pundit Sakharam Ganesh 264
Hindu Types 266
Hindu Fair at Allahabad--India 267
Hindu Fakir 268
Mrs. Besant's College 269
A Gala Day in India 270
Cremation of Dead Bodies--Burning Ghat 271
Hindu Group 272
Angel of the Resurrection 274
The Honorable My Justice Badruddin Tyabji 275
Ruins of the Residency--Lucknow, India 276
Pearl Mosque at Delhi 277
Gokale--Prominent Indian Reformer 278
A Pool at Lucknow--India 279
Mohammedans at Prayer 280
Klanjiban Ganguli, Supt. Instruction 281
Taj Mahal, Agra 283
Street in Jaipore--India 287
An American Maid in Parsee Costume 290
Maharaja--Jaipore 291
Mohammedan Lady, Bombay 292
Elephant Parade 293
Assembling for the Bombay Meeting 294
His Excellency the Earl of Minto 296
Viceroy's Palace at Calcutta 298
Sir James Diggs La Touche 300
Sir Andrew Frazer 302
Lord Curzon 303
Gov. Lamington--Bombay, India 307
Indian Students 309
Famous Asoka Pillar 311
Karnak Temple 313
Mummy and Wooden Statue 314
The Pyramid and the Sphinx 319
A Sphinx 320
Climbing the Pyramids 322
The Ostrich Farm near Cairo 323
Egyptian Ladies 324
An Egyptian Merchant 325
Khedive of Egypt 328
Reunion on the Desert 329
Temple at Baalbek 332
The Giant Stone at Baalbek 334
Cedars of Lebanon 336
Beyrouth--Syria 337
The Big Tail Sheep 338
Damascus Dogs 339
Mount of Olives 344
Wailing Place of the Jews 346
A Jewish Rabbi 347
A Bedouin 351
At Breakfast 352
An Arab Maiden 353
The Bedouin Shepherd and His Flock 354
Salim Moussa, with Party of Tourists 355
Mary's Well at Nazareth 356
The Parthenon 359
The Acropolis at Athens 360
Mars Hill 362
Demosthenes' Platform 363
Frieze of the Parthenon. 365
St. Sofia at Constantinople 367
The Bosphorus at Constantinople 369
Smoking the Hubble-Bubble Pipe 371
Robert's College near Constantinople 373
At the World's Breakfast Table 375
Sons of the Sultan. 378
Turkish Officials 381
The Danube and Parliament Building--Budapest 387
A Street in Budapest 388
Budapest 391
Prime Minister Wekerle--Hungary 393
Count Apponyi 394
Minister Kossuth 395
Carlsbad 399
Count Ignatieff 404
The Palace Where the Russian Duma Meets 405
Prof. Serge Murmetzeff 407
Editor Paul I. Miliukoff 408
Some Members of Russian Duma 410
Members of the Russian Duma 411
Maxim Winawer 412
Group of Russian Duma with Mr. Bryan in Center 413
Ivan Petrunkevich 415
A View of Stockholm 418
King Oscar of Sweden 420
The Viking Ship at Christiania 426
In Hjorendfiord 427
Troldfjord 428
Ole Bull 430
King Haakon and Queen Maud 433
King Edward VII 436
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 438
House of Parliament, London 439
John Morley, M. P. 441
John Burns 443
Melrose Abbey 446
Birthplace of Robert Burns 449
Shakespeare's Birth-House Restoration 450
Hawarden Castle--Home of Gladstone 453
W. E. Gladstone 454
Windsor Castle 455
The Old Bridge at Cordova 458
The Alhambra--Spain 461
Resignation 463
Vesuvius as Seen from Naples 466
Mission School 477
Four Statesmen of England 493
Irish Patriots 499
Charles S. Parnell 502
Meeting of the Waters--Killarney 503
The Broomelaw Bridge at Glasgow 505
Napoleon Bonaparte 511
Napoleon Bonaparte Crowning Josephine. 514
Avenue Champs-Elysees--Paris 516
Tomb of Napoleon 518
King Christian and Wife 526
Palace of Justice--Belgium 527
The Hague 529
The Market Place at Amsterdam 530
A Netherlands Statesman 531
A Dutch Windmill 532
The Reichstag 533
Leipsic University 534
The Rhine 536
Kaiser Wilhelm 538
Breton Peasants 540
The Czar of Russia 543
Russian Beggar 547
Kremlin of Moscow 548
Coliseum--Rome 550
Pope Pius X 551
Naples 553
Grand Canal--Venice 555
St. Peter's at Rome 557
Madonna 558
Count Tolstoy 560
Goddess of Liberty--New York Harbor 575
[Illustration: ROUTE TRAVELED.]
CHAPTER I.
CROSSING THE PACIFIC--HAWAII.
There is rest in an ocean voyage. The receding shores shut out the
hum of the busy world; the expanse of water soothes the eye by its
very vastness; the breaking of the waves is music to the ear and
there is medicine for the nerves in the salt sea breezes that invite
to sleep. At first one is disturbed--sometimes quite so--by the
motion of the vessel, but this passes away so completely that before
many days the dipping of the ship is really enjoyable and one finds
a pleasure in ascending the hills and descending the valleys into
which the deck sometimes seems to be converted.
If one has regarded the Pacific as an unknown or an untraversed
sea, the impression will be removed by a glance at a map recently
published by the United States government--a map with which every
ocean traveler should equip himself. On this map the Pacific is
covered with blue lines indicating the shortest routes of travel
between different points with the number of miles. The first thing
that strikes one is that the curved line indicating the northern
route between San Francisco and Yokohama is only 4,536 miles long,
while the apparently straight line between the two points is 4,791
miles long--the difference being explained by the curvature of the
earth, although it is hard to believe that in following the direct
line a ship would have to climb over such a mountain range of water,
so to speak, as to make it shorter to go ten degrees north. The time
between the United States and the Japanese coast has recently been
reduced to less than eleven days, but the northern route is not so
pleasant at this season of the year, and we sailed on the Manchuria,
September 27, going some twenty degrees farther south via Honolulu.
This route covers 5,545 miles and is made in about sixteen days when
the weather is good.
The Manchuria is one of the leviathans of the Pacific and is owned
by Mr. Harriman, president of the Union Pacific and Southern
Pacific Railways. The ship's crew suggests the Orient, more than
three-fourths being Chinese, all wearing the cue and the national
garb. There is also a suggestion of the Orient in the joss house and
opium den of the Chinese in the steerage.
In crossing the one hundred and eightieth meridian we lost a day,
and as we are going all the way around, we cannot recover it as
those can who recross the Pacific. We rose on Saturday morning,
October 7, and at nine o'clock were notified that Sunday had begun
and the remainder of the day was observed as the Sabbath (October 8).
[Illustration: LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO ON THE MANCHURIA.]
According to the chart or map referred to there are three centers
of ocean traffic in the Pacific. Honolulu, the most important of
all, the Midway Islands, 1,160 miles northwest of Honolulu, and
the Samoan Islands, some twenty-two hundred miles to the south.
The Society Islands, about the same distance to the southeast of
Honolulu, and Guam, some fifteen hundred miles from the mainland of
Asia, are centers of less importance.
Our ship reached Honolulu early on the morning of the sixth day out
and we had breakfast on the island. The Hawaiian Islands (inhabited)
number eight and extend from the southeast to the northwest,
covering about six degrees of longitude and nearly four of latitude.
Of these eight islands, Hawaii, the southernmost one, is the
largest, having an area of 4,200 square miles and a population of
nearly fifty thousand. Hilo, its chief city, situated on the east
shore, is the second Hawaiian city of importance and contains some
seven thousand inhabitants. The island of Oahu, upon which Honolulu
is situated, is third in size but contains the largest population,
almost sixty thousand, of which forty thousand dwell in or near the
capital. The islands are so small and surrounded by such an area
of water as to remind one of a toy land, and yet there are great
mountains there, one piercing the clouds at a height of 14,000 feet.
Immense cane fields stretch as far as the eye can reach, and busy
people of different colors and races make a large annual addition
to our country's wealth. On one of the islands is an active volcano
which furnishes a thrilling experience to those who are hardy enough
to ascend its sides and cross the lava lake, now grown cold, which
surrounds the present crater. Each island has one or more extinct
volcanoes, one of these, called "The Punch Bowl," being within the
city limits of Honolulu. On one of the islands is a leper colony,
containing at times as many as a thousand of the afflicted. During
campaigns the spellbinders address the voters from boats anchored at
a safe distance from the shore.
As the Manchuria lay at anchor in the harbor all day the passengers
went ashore and, dividing into groups, inspected the various places
of interest. By the aid of a reception committee, composed of
democrats, republicans and brother Elks, we were able to crowd a
great deal of instruction and enjoyment into the ten hours which
we spent in Honolulu. We were greeted at the wharf with the usual
salutation, Aloha, a native word which means "a loving welcome," and
were decorated with garlands of flowers for the hat and neck. While
these garlands or leis (pronounced lays) are of all colors, orange
is the favorite hue, being the color of the feather cloak worn by
the Hawaiian kings and queens in olden times. The natives are a very
kindly and hospitable people, and we had an opportunity to meet some
excellent specimens of the race at the public reception and the
country residence of Mr. Damon, one of the leading bankers of the
island.
When the islands were discovered in 1778 by Captain Cook, the
natives lived in thatched huts and were scantily clothed, after
the manner of the tropical races. They were not savages or
cannibals, but maintained a degree of civil order and had made
considerable progress in the primitive arts. In their religious
rites they offered human sacrifices, but they welcomed the white
man and quickly embraced Christianity. American influence in the
islands reaches back some seventy-five years, beginning with New
England missionaries, many of whose descendants have made permanent
homes here. Some of these, mingling their blood with the blood of
the natives, form connecting links between the old and the new
civilization. Foreign ways and customs soon began to manifest
themselves and long before annexation the native rulers built
buildings after the style of our own architecture. The Capitol
building, erected twenty years ago for the king's palace, is an
imposing structure, and the Judiciary building is almost equal to
it. The parks and public grounds are beautiful and well kept, and
the business blocks commodious and substantial. In short, Honolulu
presents the appearance of a well built, cleanly and prosperous
American city, with its residences nestling among palm trees and
tropical plants. Good hotels are abundant. The Alexander Young hotel
is built of stone imported from the States and would do credit
to a city of half a million. The Royal Hawaiian hotel, even more
picturesque, though not so large, and the Moana hotel, at the beach,
vie with the Young in popularity.
The program for our day's stay began with a seven mile automobile
ride to the Pali, the pass over which the natives cross to the
farther side of the island. The road is of macadam and winding along
a picturesque valley rises to a height of about 1,200 feet. At this
point the eye falls upon a picture of bewitching beauty. Just below
is a precipitous cliff over which a conquering king, Kamehameha
the First, about one hundred and ten years ago, drove an opposing
army when he established himself as ruler of the islands. To the
east from the foot of the cliff, a thousand feet down, stretches a
beautiful valley with an endless variety of verdure; and beyond,
a coast line broken by a rocky promontory, around whose base the
waters reflect from their varying depths myriad hues of blue and
green. There are ocean views of greater expanse, mountain views more
sublime and agricultural landscapes more interesting to a dweller
upon prairies, but it is doubtful whether there is anywhere upon
earth a combination of mountain, valley and ocean--a commingling of
the colors of sky and sea and rock and foliage--more entrancing.
Twice on the way to Pali we passed through mountain showers and were
almost ready to turn back, but the members of the committee, knowing
of the rare treat ahead, assured us that Hawaiian showers were of
short duration and "extra dry." When we at last beheld the view, we
felt that a drenching might gladly have been endured, so great was
the reward.
The committee next took us by special train on the Oahu railroad
to one of the great sugar plantations of the island, a plantation
outside of the trust, owned and operated by a San Francisco company.
This company has built an immense refinery upon the plantation and
the manager showed us the process of sugar making from the crushing
of the cane to the refined product, sacked ready for shipment.
[Illustration: SURF-RIDING IN HAWAII.]
The stalks, after passing through the mill, are dried and carried
to the furnace, thus saving some sixty-five per cent of the cost of
fuel--an important economy when it is remembered that all the fuel
for manufacturing is brought from abroad. Until recently, several
hundred thousand dollars' worth of coal was annually brought from
Australia, but California oil is now being substituted for coal.
The refuse which remains when the sugar making process is completed
is returned to the land as fertilizer. The economies effected
in fuel and in fertilizer, together with the freight saved on
impurities carried in the raw sugar, amount to a considerable sum
and to this extent increase the profit of the business. While at
the sugar plantation we were shown an immense pumping plant used in
the irrigation of the land. The water is drawn from artesian wells
and forced to a height of almost six hundred feet, in some places,
and from the summits of the hills is carried to all parts of the
plantation. Some idea of the size of the plants can be gathered from
the fact that the pumps used on this plantation have a combined
capacity of sixty million gallons per day.
Speaking of irrigation, I am reminded that the rainfall varies
greatly in different parts of the island. At Honolulu, for instance,
it is something like thirty inches per year, while at one point
within five miles of the city the annual rainfall sometimes reaches
one hundred and forty inches. The sugar plantation visited, while
one of the largest, is only one of a number of plantations, the
total sugar product of the islands reaching about four hundred
thousand tons annually.
Next to the sugar crops comes the rice crop, many of the rice
fields lying close to the city. Pineapples, bananas, coffee and
cocoanuts are also raised. Attention is being given now to the
development of crops which can be grown by small planters, those in
authority recognizing the advantage to the country of small holdings.
The labor problem is the most serious one which the people of
Hawaii have to meet. At present the manual labor is largely done
by Japanese, Chinese and Koreans--these together considerably
outnumbering the whites and natives. Several thousand Portuguese
have been brought to the islands and have proven an excellent
addition to the population. On the day that we were there the
immigration commission authorized the securing of a few Italian
families with a view of testing their fitness for the climate.
The desire is to develop a homogeneous population suited to the
conditions and resources of the islands.
We returned from the sugar plantation in automobiles, stopping at
the country home of Mr. Damon, which was once a royal habitation.
The present owner has collected many relics showing the life, habits
and arts of the native Hawaiians.
Still nearer the town we visited two splendid schools, one for
native boys, the other for native girls, built from the funds left
by native chiefs. The boys and girls were drawn up in front of one
of the buildings and under the direction of their instructor sang
the national anthem of the natives, now preserved as the territorial
hymn. They were a finely proportioned, well dressed and intelligent
group and are said to be studious and excellently behaved. Nothing
on the islands interested us more than these native children,
illustrating as they do, not only the possibilities of their race,
but the immense progress made in a little more than a hundred years
of contact with the whites. The museum, the gift of Mr. Bishop, now
of California, who married the widow of one of the native chiefs, is
said to contain the best collection of the handiwork of the natives
of the Pacific Islands to be found anywhere.
The public reception at the Royal Hawaiian hotel gave us an
opportunity to meet not only the prominent American and native
citizens and their wives, but a large number of the artisans
and laborers of the various races, and we were pleased to note
throughout the day the harmonious feeling which exists between the
whites and the brown population.
Political convictions produce the same results here as in the United
States, sometimes dividing families. For instance, Prince Cupid, the
present territorial representative in congress, is a republican,
while his brother, Prince David, is an enthusiastic democrat.
The luncheon prepared by the committee included a number of native
dishes cooked according to the recipes which were followed for
hundreds of years before the white man set foot upon the island.
The health of the guests was drunk in cocoanut water, a nut full
of which stood at each plate. Poi, the staple food of the natives,
was present in abundance. This is made from a root or tuber known
as taro, which grows in swamps and has a leaf resembling our plant,
commonly known as elephant's ear. This tuber is ground to a pulp
resembling paste and is served in polished wooden bowls, in the
making of which the natives exhibit great skill. Next in interest
came the fish and chicken, wrapped in the leaves of a plant called
ti (pronounced like tea) and cooked underground by means of hot
stones. The flavor of food thus cooked is excellent. The crowning
glory of the feast was a roasted pig, also cooked underground--and
a toothsome dish it was. Besides these, there were bread fruit,
alligator pears and delicacies made from the meat of the cocoanut.
The salt, a native product, was salmon colored. The invited
guests were about equally divided between the American and native
population. But for the elegant surroundings of the Young hotel,
the beautifully appointed table and the modern dress, it was such a
dinner as might have been served by the natives to the whites on the
first Thanksgiving after the New England missionaries landed.
[Illustration: OUR PARTY:
W. J. BRYAN MRS. MARY BAIRD BRYAN
GRACE DEXTER BRYAN W. J. BRYAN, JR.]
After a call upon Governor Carter, a descendant of the third
generation from missionary stock, we visited the aquarium. When we
noticed on the printed program that we were scheduled for a visit to
this place, it did not impress us as possessing special interest,
but we had not been in the building long before we were all roaring
with laughter at the remarkable specimens of the finny tribe here
collected.
Language can not do this subject justice. No words can accurately
portray what one here sees. The fish are odd in shape and have all
the hues of the rainbow. The tints are laid on as if with a brush
and yet no painter could imitate these--shall we call them "pictures
in water color?" Some were long and slim; some short and thick. One
had a forehead like a wedge, another had a very blunt nose. Some
looked like thin slabs of pearl with iridescent tints; others had
quills like a porcupine. One otherwise respectable looking little
fellow had a long nose upon the end of which was a fiery glow which
made him look like an old toper; another of a deep peacock blue had
a nose for all the world like a stick of indigo which it wiggled as
it swam.
There were convict fish with stripes like those worn in
penitentiaries and of these there were all sizes; some moving about
slowly and solemnly like hardened criminals and others sporting
about as if enjoying their first taste of wrongdoing. One variety
wore what looked like an orange colored ribbon tied just above
the tail; the color was so like the popular flower of Hawaii that
we were not surprised to find that the fish was called the lei.
In one tank the fish had a habit of resting upon the rocks; they
would brace themselves with their fins and watch the passersby. At
one time two were perched side by side and recalled the familiar
picture of Raphael's Cherubs. Besides the fishes there were crabs
of several varieties, all brilliant in color; one called the hermit
crab had a covering like velvet, with as delicate a pattern as ever
came from the loom. And, then, there was the octopus with the under
side of its arms lined with valve-like mouths. It was hiding under
the rocks, and when the attendant poked it out with a stick, it
darkened the water with an inky fluid, recalling the use made of the
subsidized American newspapers by the trust when attacked.
No visitor to Honolulu should fail to see the aquarium. Every effort
to transport these fish has thus far failed. To enjoy the dudes,
clowns and criminals of fishdom one must see them in their native
waters.
The tour of the island closed with a trip to the beach and a ride
in the surf boats. The native boat is a long, narrow, deep canoe
steadied by a log fastened at both ends to the boat and floating
about ten feet from the side. These canoes will hold six or seven
persons and are propelled by brawny-armed natives. Our party clad
themselves in bathing suits and, filling three canoes, were rowed
out some distance from the shore. The natives, expert at this sport,
watch for a large wave and signal each other when they see one
approaching, and then with their big round paddles they start their
canoes toward the land. As the wave raises the stern of the canoe,
they bend to their work, the purpose being to keep the canoe on the
forward slope of the wave. It is an exciting experience to ride
thus, with the spray breaking over one while the canoe flies along
before the wave. Sometimes the boatmen are too slow and the wave
sweeps under the canoe and is gone, but as a rule they know just how
fast to work, and there is great rivalry between the surf riders
when two or more crews are racing. It is strange that a form of
sport so delightful has not been transported to the American seaside
resorts. There is surf bathing the year round at Honolulu and few
beaches can be found which can compare with Waikiki.
The Oahu railroad, which carried us out to the sugar plantation,
and which has seventy miles of track on the island, passes within
sight of the Pearl harbor, which is the only large inlet in the
islands capable of being developed into a harbor. The United
States government is already dredging this harbor and preparing
it for both naval and commercial uses. The Hawaiian Islands occupy
a strategic position as well as a position of great commercial
importance, and as they are on a direct line between the Isthmus of
Panama and the Orient, their value as a mid-ocean stopping place
will immeasurably increase. The islands being now United States
territory, the advantage of the possession of Pearl harbor is
accompanied by a responsibility for its proper improvement. No one
can visit the harbor without appreciating its importance to our
country and to the world.
When we departed from the wharf at nightfall to board the Manchuria
we were again laden with flowers, and as we left the island,
refreshed by the perfume of flowers and cheered by songs and
farewells, we bore away grateful memories of the day and of the
hospitality of the people. Like all who see this Pacific paradise,
we resolved to return sometime and spend a part of a winter amid its
beauties.
[Illustration: HAWAIIAN FOLIAGE.]
CHAPTER II.
JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE.
The eyes of the world are on Japan. No other nation has ever made
such progress in the same length of time, and at no time in her
history has Japan enjoyed greater prestige than she enjoys just
now; and, it may be added, at no time has she had to face greater
problems than those which now confront her.
We were fortunate in the time of our arrival. Baron Komura, the
returning peace commissioner, returned two days later; the naval
review celebrating the new Anglo-Japanese alliance took place in
Yokohama harbor a week afterward, and this was followed next day by
the reception of Admiral Togo at Tokyo. These were important events
and they gave a visitor an extraordinary opportunity to see the
people en masse. In this article I shall deal in a general way with
Japan and her people, leaving for future articles her history, her
government, her politics, her industries, her art, her education and
her religions.
The term Japan is a collective title applied to four large islands,
that is, Honshiu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and about six hundred
smaller ones. Formosa and the islands immediately adjoining it are
not generally included, although since the Chinese war they belong
to Japan.
Japan extends in the shape of a crescent, curving toward the
northeast, from fifty north latitude and one hundred and fifty-six
east longitude to twenty-one degrees north latitude and one hundred
and nineteen east longitude. The area is a little less than one
hundred and sixty thousand square miles, more than half of which
is on the island of Honshiu. The coast line is broken by numerous
bays furnishing commodious harbors, the most important of which are
at Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Hakodate. The
islands are so mountainous that only about one-twelfth the area is
capable of cultivation. Although Formosa has a mountain, Mt. Niitaka
(sometimes called Mt. Morrison) which is two thousand feet higher,
Fujiyama is the highest mountain in Japan proper. It reaches a
height of 12,365 feet.
[Illustration: A PICTURESQUE VIEW.]
Fuji (Yama is the Japanese word for mountain) is called the Sacred
Mountain and is an object of veneration among the Japanese. And
well it may be, for it is doubtful if there is on earth a more
symmetrical mountain approaching it in height. Rising in the shape
of a perfect cone, with its summit crowned with snow throughout
nearly the entire year and visible from sea level, it is one of the
most sublime of all the works of nature. Mt. Ranier, as they say at
Seattle, or Tacoma, as it is called in the city of that name, and
Popocatapetl, near Mexico's capital, are the nearest approach to
Fuji, so far as the writer's observation goes. Pictures of Fuji are
to be found on everything; they are painted on silk, embroidered on
screens, worked on velvet, carved in wood and wrought in bronze and
stone. We saw it from Lake Hakone, a beautiful sheet of water some
three thousand feet above the ocean. The foot hills which surround
the lake seem to open at one point in order to give a more extended
view of the sloping sides of this sleeping giant.
And speaking of Hakone, it is one of the beauty spots of Japan.
On an island in this lake is the summer home of the crown prince.
Hakone is reached by a six-mile ride from Miyanoshita, a picturesque
little village some sixty miles west of Yokohama. There are here
hot springs and all the delights of a mountain retreat. One of the
best modern hotels in Japan, the Fujiya, is located here, and one of
its earliest guests was General Grant when he made his famous tour
around the world. The road from the hotel to Hakone leads by foaming
mountain streams, through closely cultivated valleys and over a
range from which the coast line can be seen.
Nikko, about a hundred miles north of Tokyo, and Nara about thirty
miles from Kyoto, are also noted for their natural scenery, but as
these places are even more renowned because of the temples located
there they will be described later. The inland sea which separates
the larger islands of Japan, and is itself studded with smaller
islands, adds interest to the travel from port to port. Many of
these islands are inhabited, and the tiny fields which perch upon
their sides give evidence of an ever present thrift. Some of the
islands are barren peaks jutting a few hundred feet above the waves,
while some are so small as to look like hay stacks in a submerged
meadow.
All over Japan one is impressed with the patient industry of the
people. If the Hollanders have reclaimed the ocean's bed, the people
of Japan have encroached upon the mountains. They have broadened the
valleys and terraced the hill sides. Often the diminutive fields
are held in place by stone walls, while the different levels are
furnished with an abundance of water from the short but numerous
rivers.
The climate is very much diversified, ranging from almost tropical
heat in Formosa to arctic cold in the northern islands; thus
Japan can produce almost every kind of food. Her population in
1903 was estimated at nearly forty-seven millions, an increase of
about thirteen and a half millions since 1873. While Tokyo has a
population of about one and a half millions, Osaka a population of
nearly a million, Kyoto three hundred and fifty thousand, Yokohama
three hundred thousand, and Kobe and Nagoya about the same, and
there are several other large cities of less size, still a large
majority of the population is rural and the farming communities
have a decided preponderance in the federal congress, or diet. The
population, however, is increasing more rapidly in the cities than
in the country.
The stature of the Japanese is below that of the citizens of the
United States and northern Europe. The average height of the men
in the army is about five feet two inches, and the average weight
between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and thirty pounds. It
looks like burlesque opera to see, as one does occasionally, two or
three little Japanese soldiers guarding a group of big burly Russian
prisoners.
The opinion is quite general that the habit which the Japanese form
from infancy of sitting on the floor with their feet under them,
tends to shorten the lower limbs. In all the schools the children
are now required to sit upon benches and whether from this cause
or some other, the average height of the males, as shown by yearly
medical examination, is gradually increasing. Although undersize,
the people are sturdy and muscular and have the appearance of robust
health. In color they display all shades of brown, from a very light
to a very dark. While the oblique eye is common, it is by no means
universal.
The conveyance which is most popular is the jinrikisha, a narrow
seated, two wheeled top buggy with shafts, joined with a cross piece
at the end. These are drawn by "rikisha men" of whom there are
several hundred thousand in the empire. The 'rikisha was invented
by a Methodist missionary some thirty years ago and at once sprang
into popularity. When the passenger is much above average weight, or
when the journey is over a hilly road, a pusher is employed and in
extraordinary cases two pushers. It is astonishing what speed these
men can make. One of the governors informed me that 'rikisha men
sometimes cover seventy-five miles of level road in a day. They will
take up a slow trot and travel for several miles without a break.
We had occasion to go to a village fifteen miles from Kagoshima and
crossed a low mountain range of perhaps two thousand feet. The trip
each way occupied about four hours; each 'rikisha had two pushers
and the men had three hours rest at noon. They felt so fresh at
the end of the trip that they came an hour later to take us to a
dinner engagement. In the mountainous regions the chair and kago
take the place of the 'rikisha. The chair rests on two bamboo poles
and is carried by four men; the kago is suspended from one pole,
like a swinging hammock, and is carried by two. Of the two, the
chair is much the more comfortable for the tourist. The basha is a
small one-horse omnibus which will hold four or six small people;
it is used as a sort of stage between villages. A large part of the
hauling of merchandise is done by men, horses being rarely seen.
In fact, in some of the cities there are more oxen than horses, and
many of them wear straw sandals to protect their hoofs from the hard
pavement. The lighter burdens are carried in buckets or baskets,
suspended from the ends of a pole and balanced upon the shoulder.
[Illustration: THE JINRIKISHA AT MIYANOSHITA THE CHAIR]
In the country the demand for land is so great that most of the
roads are too narrow for any other vehicle than a hand cart. The
highways connecting the cities and principal towns, however, are of
good width, are substantially constructed and well drained, and have
massive stone bridges spanning the streams.
The clothing of the men presents an interesting variety. In official
circles the European and American dress prevails. The silk hat and
Prince Albert coat are in evidence at all day functions, and the
dress suit at evening parties. The western style of dress is also
worn by many business men, professional men and soldiers, and by
students after they reach the middle school, which corresponds to
our high school. The change is taking place more rapidly among the
young than among the adults and is more marked in the city than in
the country. In one of the primary schools in Kyoto, I noticed that
more than half of the children gave evidence of the transition in
dress. The change is also more noticeable in the seaport cities than
in the interior. At Kyoto, an inland city, the audience wore the
native dress and all were seated on mats on the floor, while the
next night at Osaka, a seaport, all sat on chairs and nearly all
wore the American dress. At the Osaka meeting some forty Japanese
young ladies from the Congregational college sang "My Country 'Tis
of Thee" in English.
The shopkeepers and clerks generally wear the native clothing, which
consists of a divided skirt and a short kimono held in place by a
sash. The laboring men wear loose knee breeches and a shirt in warm
weather; in cold weather they wear tight fitting breeches that reach
to the ankles and a loose coat. In the country the summer clothing
is even more scanty. I saw a number of men working in the field
with nothing on but a cloth about the loins, and it was early in
November, when I found a light overcoat comfortable.
A pipe in a wooden case and a tobacco pouch are often carried in the
belt or sash, for smoking is almost universal among both men and
women.
Considerable latitude is allowed in footwear. The leather shoe has
kept pace with the coat and vest, but where the native dress is
worn, the sandal is almost always used. Among the well-to-do the
foot is encased in a short sock made of white cotton cloth, which
is kept scrupulously clean. The sock has a separate division for
the great toe, the sandal being held upon the foot by a cord which
runs between the first and second toes and, dividing, fastens on
each side of the sandal. These sandals are of wood and rest upon two
blocks an inch or more high, the front one sloping toward the toe.
The sandal hangs loosely upon the foot and drags upon the pavement
with each step. The noise made by a crowd at a railroad station
rises above the roar of the train. In muddy weather a higher sandal
is used which raises the feet three or four inches from the ground,
and the wearers stalk about as if on stilts. The day laborers wear
a cheaper sandal made of woven rope or straw. The footwear above
described comes down from time immemorial, but there is coming
into use among the 'rikisha men a modern kind of footwear which
is a compromise between the new and the old. It is a dark cloth,
low-topped gaiter with a rubber sole and no heel. These have the
separate pocket for the great toe. The sandals are left at the door.
At public meetings in Japanese halls the same custom is followed,
the sandals being checked at the door as hats and wraps are in our
country. On approaching a meeting place the speaker can form some
estimate of the size of the audience by the size of the piles of
sandals on the outside. After taking cold twice, I procured a pair
of felt slippers and carried them with me, and the other members of
the family did likewise.
[Illustration: A JAPANESE FAMILY.]
The women still retain the primitive dress. About 1884 an attempt
was made by the ladies of the court to adopt the European dress
and quite a number of women in official circles purchased gowns
in London, Paris and the United States, in spite of the protests
of their sisters abroad. (Mrs. Cleveland joined in a written
remonstrance which was sent from the United States.) But the spell
was broken in a very few months and the women outside of the court
circles returned to the simpler and more becoming native garb. It is
not necessary to enter into details regarding the female toilet, as
the magazines have made the world familiar with the wide sleeved,
loose fitting kimono with its convenient pockets. The children wear
bright colors, but the adults adopt more quiet shades.
The shape of the garment never changes, but the color does. This
season grey has been the correct shade. Feminine pride shows
itself in the obi, a broad sash or belt tied in a very stiff and
incomprehensible bow at the back. The material used for the obi is
often bright in color and of rich and expensive brocades. A wooden
disc is often concealed within the bow of the obi to keep it in
shape and also to brace the back. Two neck cloths are usually worn,
folded inside the kimono to protect the bare throat. These harmonize
with the obi in color and give a dainty finish to the costume. As
the kimono is quite narrow in the skirt, the women take very short
steps. This short step, coupled with the dragging of the sandals,
makes the women's gait quite unlike the free stride of the American
woman. In the middle and higher schools the girls wear a pleated
skirt over the kimono. These are uniform for each school and wine
color is the shade now prevailing. The men and women of the same
class wear practically the same kind of shoes.
Next to the obi, the hair receives the greatest attention and it
is certainly arranged with elaborate care. The process is so
complicated that a hair dresser is employed once or twice a week and
beetle's oil is used in many instances to make the hair smooth and
glossy. At night the Japanese women place a very hard, round cushion
under the neck in order to keep the hair from becoming disarranged.
The stores now have on sale air pillows, which are more comfortable
than the wooden ones formerly used. The vexing question of millinery
is settled by dispensing with hats entirely. Among the poorer
classes the hat is seldom used by the men.
More interesting in appearance than either the men or women are the
children--and I may add that there is no evidence of race suicide
in Japan. They are to be seen everywhere, and a good natured lot
they are. The babies are carried on the back of the mother or an
older child, and it is not unusual to see the baby fast asleep while
the bearer goes about her work. Of the tens of thousands of babies
we have seen, scarcely a half dozen have been crying. The younger
children sometimes have the lower part of the head shaved, leaving
a cap of long hair on the crown of the head. Occasionally a spot is
shaved in the center of this cap. After seeing the children on the
streets, one can better appreciate the Japanese dolls, which look so
strange to American children.
Cleanliness is the passion of the Japanese. The daily bath is a
matter of routine, and among the middle classes there are probably
more who go above this average than below. It is said that in the
city of Tokyo there are over eleven hundred public baths, and it
is estimated that five hundred thousand baths are taken daily at
these places. The usual charge is one and a quarter cents (in our
money) for adults and one cent for children. One enthusiastic
admirer of Japan declares that a Japanese boy, coming unexpectedly
into the possession of a few cents, will be more apt to spend it on
a bath than on something to eat or drink. The private houses have
baths wherever the owners can afford them. The bath tub is made
like a barrel--sometimes of stone, but more often of wood--and is
sunk below the level of the floor. The favorite temperature is one
hundred and ten degrees, and in the winter time the bath tub often
takes the place of a stove. In fact, at the hot springs people
have been known to remain in the bath for days at a time. I do not
vouch for the statement, but Mr. Basil H. Chamberlain in his book
entitled "Things Japanese," says that when he was at one of these
hot springs "the caretaker of the establishment, a hale old man of
eighty, used to stay in the bath during the entire winter." Until
recently the men and women bathed promiscuously in the public
baths; occasionally, but not always, a string separated the bathers.
Now different apartments must be provided.
The Japanese are a very polite people. They have often been
likened to the French in this respect--the French done in bronze,
so to speak. They bow very low, and in exchanging salutations and
farewells sometimes bow several times. When the parties are seated
on the floor, they rise to the knees and bow the head to the floor.
Servants, when they bring food to those who are seated on the floor,
drop upon their knees and, bowing, present the tray.
In speaking of the people I desire to emphasize one conclusion that
has been drawn from my observations here, viz., that I have never
seen a more quiet, orderly or self-restrained people. I have visited
all of the larger cities and several of the smaller ones, in all
parts of the islands; have mingled in the crowds that assembled
at Tokyo and at Yokohama at the time of the reception to Togo and
during the naval review; have ridden through the streets in day time
and at night; and have walked when the entire street was a mass of
humanity. I have not seen one drunken native or witnessed a fight
or altercation of any kind. This is the more remarkable when it is
remembered that these have been gala days when the entire population
turned out to display its patriotism and to enjoy a vacation.
The Japanese house deserves a somewhat extended description. It is
built of wood, is one story in height, unpainted and has a thatched
or a tile roof. The thatched roof is cheaper, but far less durable.
Some of the temples and palaces have a roof constructed like a
thatched roof in which the bark of the arbor vitæ is used in place
of grass or straw. These roofs are often a foot thick and are quite
imposing. In cities most buildings are roofed with tile of a pattern
which has been used for hundreds of years. Shingles are sometimes
used on newer structures, but they are not nearly so large as our
shingles, and instead of being fastened with nails, are held in
place by wire. On the business streets the houses are generally two
stories, the merchant living above the store. The public buildings
are now being constructed of brick and stone and modeled after
the buildings of America and Europe. But returning to the native
architecture--the house is really little more than a frame, for the
dividing walls are sliding screens, and, except in cold weather, the
outside walls are taken out during the day. The rooms open into each
other, the hallway extending around the outside instead of going
through the center. Frail sliding partitions covered with paper
separate the rooms from the hall, glass being almost unknown. The
floor is covered with a heavy matting two inches thick, and as these
mats are of uniform size, six feet by three, the rooms are made to
fit the mats, twelve feet square being the common size. As the walls
of the room are not stationary, there is no place for the hanging
of pictures, although the sliding walls are often richly decorated.
Such pictures as the house contains are painted on silk or paper and
are rolled up when not on exhibition. At one end of the room used
for company, there is generally a raised platform upon which a pot
of flowers or other ornament is placed, and above this there are one
or two shelves, the upper one being inclosed in sliding doors. There
are no bedsteads, the beds being made upon the floor and rolled up
during the day. There are no tables or chairs. There is usually a
diminutive desk about a foot high upon which writing material is
placed. The writing is done with a brush and the writing case or box
containing the brush, ink, etc., has furnished the lacquer industry
with one of the most popular articles for ornamentation. The people
sit upon cushions upon the floor and their meals are served upon
trays.
Japanese food is so different from American food that it takes the
visitor some time to acquire a fondness for it, more time than the
tourist usually has at his disposal. With the masses rice is the
staple article of diet, and it is the most palatable native dish
that the foreigner finds here. The white rice raised in Japan is
superior in quality to some of the rice raised in China, and the
farmers are often compelled to sell good rice and buy the poorer
quality. Millet, which is even cheaper, is used as a substitute for
rice.
As might be expected in a seagirt land, fish, lobster, crab, shrimp,
etc., take the place of meat, the fish being often served raw.
As a matter of fact, it is sometimes brought to the table alive
and carved in the presence of the guests. Sweet potatoes, pickled
radishes, mushrooms, sea weed, barley and fruit give variety to the
diet. The radishes are white and enormous in size. I saw some which
were two feet long and two and a half inches in diameter. Another
variety is conical in form and six or eight inches in diameter. I
heard of a kind of turnip which grows so large that two of them make
a load for the small Japanese horses. The chicken is found quite
generally throughout the country, but is small like the fighting
breeds or the Leghorns. Ducks, also, are plentiful. Milk is seldom
used except in case of sickness, and butter is almost unknown among
the masses.
But the subject of food led me away from the house. No description
would be complete which did not mention the little gate through
which the tiny door yard is entered; the low doorway upon which the
foreigner constantly bumps his head, and the little garden at the
rear of the house with its fish pond, its miniature mountains, its
climbing vines and fragrant flowers. The dwarf trees are cultivated
here, and they are a delight to the eye; gnarled and knotted pines
two feet high and thirty or forty years old are not uncommon. Little
maple trees are seen here fifty years old and looking all of their
age, but only twelve inches in height. We saw a collection of these
dwarf trees, several hundred in number, and one could almost imagine
himself transported to the home of the brownies. Some of these
trees bear fruit ludicrously large for the size of the tree. The
houses are heated by charcoal fires in open urns or braziers, but an
American would not be satisfied with the amount of heat supplied.
These braziers are moved about the room as convenience requires and
supply heat for the inevitable tea.
[Illustration: DWARF MAPLE TREE, FIFTY YEARS OLD]
But I have reached the limit of this article and must defer until
the next description of the Japanese customs as we found them in the
homes which we were privileged to visit.
CHAPTER III.
JAPANESE CUSTOMS AND HOSPITALITY.
Every nation has its customs, its way of doing things, and a
nation's customs and ways are likely to be peculiar in proportion
as the nation is isolated. In Japan, therefore, one would expect to
see many strange things, and the expectation is more than realized.
In some things their customs are exactly the opposite of ours. In
writing they place their characters in vertical lines and move from
right to left, while our letters are arranged on horizontal lines
and read from left to right. Their books begin where ours end and
end where ours begin. The Japanese carpenters pull the saw and plane
toward them, while ours push them from them. The Japanese mounts
his steed from the right, while the American mounts from the left;
Japanese turn to the left, Americans to the right. Japanese write it
"Smith John Mr.," while we say "Mr. John Smith." At dinners in Japan
wine is served hot and soup cold, and the yard is generally at the
back of the house instead of the front.
The Japanese wear white for mourning and often bury their dead in a
sitting posture. The death is sometimes announced as occurring at
the house when it actually occurred elsewhere, and the date of the
death is fixed to suit the convenience of the family. This is partly
due to the fact that the Japanese like to have the death appear
as occurring at home. Sometimes funeral services are held over a
part of the body. An American lady whose Japanese maid died while
attending her mistress in the United States, reports an incident
worth relating. The lady cabled her husband asking instructions in
regard to the disposition of the body. He conferred with the family
of the deceased and cabled back directing the wife to bring a lock
of the hair and the false teeth of the departed. The instructions
were followed and upon the delivery of these precious relics, they
were interred with the usual ceremonies.
The handshake is uncommon even among Japanese politicians, except in
their intercourse with foreigners. When Baron Komura returned from
the peace conference in which he played so important a part, I was
anxious to witness his landing, partly out of respect to the man and
partly out of curiosity to see whether the threatened manifestations
of disapproval would be made by the populace, it having been
rumored that thousands of death lanterns were being prepared for
a hostile parade. (It is needless to say that the threats did not
materialize and that no expressions of disapproval were heard after
his arrival.) I found it impossible to learn either the hour or the
landing place, and, despairing of being present, started to visit
a furniture factory to inspect some wood carving. Consul-General
Jones of Dalney (near Port Arthur), then visiting in Yokohama, was
my escort and, as good fortune would have it, we passed near the
Detached Palace. Dr. Jones, hearing that the landing might be made
there, obtained permission for us to await the peace commissioner's
coming. We found Marquis Ito there and a half dozen other officials.
As Baron Komura did not arrive for half an hour, it gave me the best
opportunity that I could have had to become acquainted with the
Marquis, who is the most influential man in Japan at present. He is
President of the Privy Council of Elder Statesmen and is credited
with being the most potent factor in the shaping of Japan's demands
at Portsmouth.
[Illustration: JAPANESE GEISHA GIRLS.]
When Baron Komura stepped from the launch upon the soil of his
native land, he was met by Marquis Ito, and each greeted the other
with a low bow. The baron then saluted the other officials in the
same manner and, turning, bowed to a group of Japanese ladies
representing the Woman's Patriotic Association. Dr. Jones and I
stood some feet in the rear of the officials and were greeted by the
baron after he had saluted his own countrymen. He extended his hand
to us. The incident is mentioned as illustrating the difference in
the manner of greeting. For who would be more apt to clasp hands, if
that were customary, than these two distinguished statesmen whose
personalities are indissolubly linked together in the conclusion of
a world renowned treaty?
A brief account of the reception of Admiral Togo may be interesting
to those who read this article. While at Tokyo I visited the city
hall, at the invitation of the mayor and city council. While there
Mayor Ozaki informed me that he, in company with the mayors of the
other cities, would tender Admiral Togo a reception on the following
Tuesday, and invited me to be present. Of course I accepted, because
it afforded a rare opportunity to observe Japanese customs as well
as to see a large concourse of people. As I witnessed the naval
review in Yokohama the day before and the illumination at night, I
did not reach Tokyo until the morning of the reception, and this led
me into considerable embarrassment. On the train I met a Japanese
gentleman who could speak English. He was kind enough to find me
a 'rikisha man and a pusher and to instruct them to take me at
once to Uyeno Park. He then left me and the 'rikisha men followed
his instructions to the letter. They had not proceeded far when I
discovered that Admiral Togo had arrived on the same train and that
a long procession had formed to conduct him to the park. Before I
knew it, I was whisked past an escort of distinguished citizens
who, clad in Prince Alberts and silk hats, followed the carriages,
and then I found my 'rikisha drawn into an open space between two
carriages. Grabbing the 'rikisha man in front of me, I told him by
word and gesture to get out of the line of the procession. He could
not understand English, and evidently thinking that I wanted to get
nearer the front, he ran past a few carriages and then dropped into
another opening. Again I got him out of the line, employing more
emphasis than before, only to be carried still nearer the front.
After repeated changes of position, all the time employing such sign
language as I could command and attempting to convey by different
tones of voice suggestions that I could not translate into language,
I at last reached the head of the procession. And the 'rikisha men,
as if satisfied with the success of their efforts, paused to await
the starting of the line. I tried to inform them that I was not a
part of the procession; that I wanted to get on another street; that
they should take me to the park by some other route and do so at
once. They at last comprehended sufficiently to leave the carriages
and take up a rapid gait, but get off of the street they would not.
For three miles they drew me between two rows of expectant people,
whose eyes peered down the street to catch a glimpse of the great
admiral, who, as the commander of the Japanese navy, has won such
signal victories over the Russians. I saw a million people; they
represented every class, age and condition. I saw more people than
I ever saw before in a single day. Old men and old women, feeble,
but strengthened by their enthusiasm; middle aged men and women
whose sons had shared in the dangers and in the triumphs of the
navy; students from the boys' schools and students from the girls'
schools with flags and banners, little children dressed in all the
colors of the rainbow--all were there. And I could imagine that each
one of them old enough to think, was wondering why a foreigner was
intruding upon a street which the police had cleared for a triumphal
procession. If some one had angrily caught my 'rikisha men and
thrust them through the crowd to a side street I should not have
complained--I would even have felt relieved, but no one molested
them or me and I reached the park some minutes ahead of the admiral.
How glad I was to alight, and how willingly I rewarded the smiles
of the 'rikisha men with a bonus--for had they not done their duty
as they understood it? And had they not also given me, in spite of
my protests, such a view of the people of Tokyo as I could have
obtained in no other way?
[Illustration: YUKIO OZAKI--MAYOR OF TOKYO]
At the park I luckily fell in with some of the councilmen whom
I had met before and they took me in hand. I saw the procession
arrive, heard the banzais (the Japanese cheers) as they rolled along
the street, keeping pace with Togo's carriage, and I witnessed
the earnest, yet always orderly, rejoicing of the crowd that had
congregated at the end of the route. When the procession passed by
us into the park the members of the city council fell in behind
the carriages, and I with them. When we reached the stand, a seat
was tendered me on the front row from which the extraordinary
ceremonies attending the reception could be witnessed. Mayor Ozaki,
the presiding officer, escorted Admiral Togo to a raised platform,
and there the two took seats on little camp stools some ten feet
apart, facing each other, with their sides to the audience and to
those on the stand. After a moment's delay, a priest, clad in his
official robes, approached with cake and a teacup on a tray and,
kneeling, placed them before the admiral. Tea was then brought in a
long handled pot and poured into the cup. After the distinguished
guest had partaken of these refreshments, the mayor arose and read
an address of welcome. He has the reputation of being one of the
best orators in the empire, and his part was doubly interesting to
me. As he confined himself to his manuscript, I could not judge of
his delivery, but his voice was pleasing and his manner natural. The
address recited the exploits of Admiral Togo and gave expression to
the gratitude of the people. At its conclusion the hero-admiral
arose and modestly acknowledged the compliment paid to him and to
his officers. Admiral Togo is short, even for the Japanese, and has
a scanty beard. Neither in stature nor in countenance does he give
evidence of the stern courage and indomitable will which have raised
him to the pinnacle of fame.
When he sat down the mayor proposed three times three banzais, and
they were given with a will by the enormous crowd that stood in the
open place before the stand. While writing this article, I am in
receipt of information that Mayor Ozaki has secured for me one of
the little camp stools above referred to and has had made for me a
duplicate of the other. They will not only be interesting souvenirs
of an historic occasion, and prized as such, but they will be
interesting also because they contrast so sharply with the large and
richly upholstered chairs used in America on similar occasions.
From this public meeting the admiral and his officers were conducted
to a neighboring hall where an elaborate luncheon was served. With
the councilmen I went to this hall and was presented to the admiral
and his associates, one of whom had been a student at Annapolis.
By the courtesy of Hon. Lloyd Griscom, the American minister, I had
an audience with the emperor, these audiences being arranged through
the minister representing the country from which the caller comes.
Our minister, to whom I am indebted for much assistance and many
kindnesses during my stay at the capital, accompanied me to the
palace and instructed me, as they say in the fraternities, "in the
secret work of the order." Except where the caller wears a uniform,
he is expected to appear in evening dress, although the hour fixed
is in the day time. At the outer door stand men in livery, one of
whom conducts the callers through long halls, beautifully decorated
on ceilings and walls, to a spacious reception room where a halt is
made until the summons comes from the emperor's room. The emperor
stands in the middle of the receiving room with an interpreter
at his side. The caller on reaching the threshold bows; he then
advances half way to the emperor, pauses and bows again; he then
proceeds and bows a third time as he takes the extended hand of the
sovereign.
The conversation is brief and formal, consisting of answers to the
questions asked by his majesty. The emperor is fifty-three years
old, about five feet six inches in height, well built and wears a
beard, although, as is the case with most Japanese, the growth is
not heavy. On retiring the caller repeats the three bows.
[Illustration: IN COUNT OKUMA'S CONSERVATORY]
We were shown through the palace, and having seen the old palace
at Kyoto, which was the capital until the date of the restoration
(1868), I was struck with the difference. The former was severely
plain; the latter represents the best that Japanese art can produce.
[Illustration: MARQUIS ITO.]
No discussion of Japanese customs would be complete without mention
of the tea ceremonial. One meets tea on his arrival; it is his
constant companion during his stay and it is mingled with the
farewells that speed him on his departure. Whenever he enters a
house he is offered tea and cake and they are never refused. This
custom prevails in the larger stores and is scrupulously observed at
public buildings and colleges. The tea is served in dainty cups and
taken without sugar or cream. The tea drinking habit is universal
here, the kettle of hot water sitting on the coals in the brazier
most of the time. At each railroad station the boys sing out, "Cha!
Cha!" (the Japanese word for tea) and for less than two cents in our
money they will furnish the traveler with an earthen pot of hot tea,
with pot and cup thrown in.
[Illustration: COUNT OKUMA.]
The use of tea at social gatherings dates back at least six hundred
years, when a tea ceremonial was instituted by a Buddhist priest
to soften the manners of the warriors. It partook of a religious
character at first, but soon became a social form, and different
schools of tea drinkers vied with each other in suggesting rules
and methods of procedure. About three hundred years ago Hideyoshi,
one of the greatest of the military rulers of Japan, gave what is
described as the largest tea party on record; the invitations being
in the form of an imperial edict. All lovers of tea were summoned to
assemble at a given date in a pine grove near Kyoto, and they seem
to have done so. The tea party lasted ten days and the emperor drank
at every booth.
According to Chamberlain, tea drinking had reached the luxurious
stage before the middle of the fourteenth century. The lords took
part in the daily gatherings, reclining on tiger skins, the walls of
the guest chamber being richly ornamented. One of the popular games
of that day was the offering of a number of varieties of tea, the
guests being required to guess where each variety was produced, the
best guess winning a handsome prize. The tea ceremony answered at
least one useful purpose--it furnished an innocent way of killing
time, and the lords of that day seem to have had an abundance
of time on their hands. The daughters of the upper classes were
trained to perform the ceremony and displayed much skill therein.
Even to this day it is regarded as one of the accomplishments, and
young ladies perfect themselves in it, much as our daughters learn
music and singing. At Kagoshima, Governor Chikami, one of the most
scholarly men whom I have met here, had his daughter perform for my
instruction a part of the ceremony, time not permitting more. With
charming grace she prepared, poured and served this Japanese nectar,
each motion being according to the rules of the most approved sect,
for there are sects among tea drinkers.
The theatre is an ancient institution here, although until recently
the actors were considered beneath even the mercantile class. Their
social standing has been somewhat improved since the advent of
western ideas. The theatre building is very plain as compared with
ours or even with the better class of homes here. They are always
on the ground floor and have a circular, revolving stage within the
larger stage which makes it possible to change the scenes instantly.
The plays are divided into two kinds--historical ones reproducing
old Japan, and modern plays. The performance often lasts through
the entire day and evening, some of the audience bringing their tea
kettles and food. Lunches, fruit, cigarettes and tea are also on
sale in the theatre. The people sit on the floor as they do in their
homes and at public meetings. One of the side aisles is raised to
the level of the stage and the actors use it for entrance and exit.
In this connection a word should be said in regard to the Geisha
girls who have furnished such ample material for the artist and the
decorator. They are selected for their beauty and trained in what is
called a dance, although it differs so much from the American dance
as scarcely to be describable by that term. It is rather a series
of graceful poses in which gay costumes, dainty fans, flags, scarfs
and sometimes parasols, play a part. The faces of the dancers are
expressionless and there is no exposure of the limbs. The Geisha
girls are often called in to entertain guests at a private dinner,
the performance being before, not after, the meal.
Our first introduction to this national amusement was at the Maple
Club dinner given at Tokyo by a society composed of Japanese men
who had studied in the United States. The name of the society is
a Japanese phrase which means the "Friends of America." The Maple
Club is the most famous restaurant in Japan, and the Geisha girls
employed there stand at the head of their profession. During the
dancing there is music on stringed instruments, which resembles the
banjo in tone, and sometimes singing. At the Maple Club the Geisha
girls displayed American and Japanese flags. We saw the dancing
again at an elaborate dinner given by Mr. Fukuzawa, editor of the
Jiji Shimpo. Here also the flags of both nations were used.
In what words can I adequately describe the hospitality of the
Japanese? I have read, and even heard, that among the more ignorant
classes there is a decided anti-foreign feeling, and it is not
unnatural that those who refuse to reconcile themselves to Japan's
new attitude should blame the foreigner for the change, but we did
not encounter this sentiment anywhere. Never in our own country
have we been the recipients of more constant kindness or more
considerate attention. From Marquis Ito down through all the ranks
of official life we found everyone friendly to America, and to us
as representatives of America. At the dinner given by Minister
Griscom there were present, besides Marquis Ito, the leader of the
liberal party, Count Okuma, the leader of the progressive party
(the opposition party), and a number of other prominent Japanese
politicians.
At the dinner given by Consul General Miller at Yokohama, Governor
Sufu and Mayor Ichihara were present. The state and city officials
wherever we have been have done everything possible to make our
stay pleasant. The college and school authorities have opened their
institutions to us and many without official position have in
unmistakable ways shown themselves friendly. We will carry away
with us a number of handsome presents bestowed by municipalities,
colleges, societies and individuals.
We were entertained by Count Okuma soon after our arrival and
met there, among others, Mr. Kato of the state department, and
President Hatoyama of the Waseda University, and their wives. The
count's house is half European and half Japanese, and his garden is
celebrated for its beauty. At Viscount Kana's we saw a delightful
bit of home life. He is one of the few daimios, or feudal lords,
who has become conspicuous in the politics of Japan, and we soon
discovered the secret of his success. He has devoted himself to
the interests of agriculture and spent his time in an earnest and
intelligent effort to improve the condition of the rural population.
He is known as "The Farmer's Friend." His house is at the top of
a beautifully terraced hill, which was once a part of his feudal
estate. He and his wife and six children met us at the bottom of the
hill on our arrival and escorted us to the bottom on our departure.
The children assisted in serving the dinner and afterward sang for
us the American national air as well as their own national hymn.
The hospitality was so genuine and so heartily entered into by all
the family that we could hardly realize that we were in a foreign
land and entertained by hosts to whom we had to speak through an
interpreter.
In the country, fifteen miles from Kagoshima, I was a guest at the
home of Mr. Yamashita, the father of the young man, who, when a
student in America, made his home with us for more than five years.
Mr. Yamashita was of the samurai class and since the abolition of
feudalism has been engaged in farming. He had invited his relatives
and also the postmaster and the principal of the district school to
the noon meal. He could not have been more thoughtful of my comfort
or more kindly in his manner. The little country school which stood
near by turned out to bid us welcome. The children were massed at
a bridge over which large flags of the two nations floated from
bamboo poles. Each child also held a flag, the Japanese and American
flags alternating. As young Yamashita and I rode between the lines
they waved their flags and shouted "Banzai." And so it was at
other schools. Older people may be diplomatic and feign good will,
but children speak from their hearts. There is no mistaking their
meaning, and in my memory the echo of the voices of the children,
mingling with the assurances of the men and women, convinces me that
Japan entertains nothing but good will toward our nation. Steam has
narrowed the Pacific and made us neighbors; let Justice keep us
friends.
CHAPTER IV.
JAPAN--HER HISTORY AND PROGRESS.
As for the islands themselves, they are largely of volcanic origin,
and a number of smoking peaks still give evidence of the mighty
convulsions which piled up these masses of masonry. Asosan mountain,
on the island of Kyushu, has the largest crater in the world.
Japan is the home of the earthquake. The Japanese Year Book of 1905
is authority for the statement that Japan was visited by 17,750
earthquakes during the thirteen years ending 1887--an average of
more than thirteen hundred a year, or three and a half each day. It
is needless to say that a large majority of these were so trivial
as to be unnoticed, except by those in charge of the delicate
instrument which registers them.
If the average is as great at this time, there have been more than
seventy-five since we landed, but we have not been aware of them.
The severe shocks have come at periods averaging two and a half
years, and the really disastrous ones have been something like fifty
years apart. The country about Tokyo is most subject to earthquakes,
the last severe one being in 1894. According to an ancient legend,
Japan rests upon the back of a large fish and the earthquakes are
caused by the moving of the fish. There is a Seismological society
in Japan which has published a sixteen-volume work giving all
that is scientifically known of the cause and recurrence of these
disturbances.
Of the origin of the Japanese themselves nothing certain is known.
The best authorities say that they came from the continent in an
early Mongol invasion, while others believe that they came from the
islands which stretch to the south. One writer announces the theory
that they are the lost Israelites. It is quite certain that when
the first Japanese landed on the islands they found an earlier race
in possession. Some seventeen thousand of these, called Ainus, now
occupy the northern extremity of the empire--an indication that the
migration was from the southwest. The Ainus have remained distinct;
where they have intermarried with the Japanese, the half breeds have
died out in the second or third generation. They are a hairy race
and in physical characteristics quite different from the Japanese.
Their religion is a sort of nature worship, and it is their custom
to say a simple grace before eating.
[Illustration: THE GUEST OF GOV. CHIKAMI AT KAGOSHIMA]
The remoteness of the settlement of Japan is shown by the fact that
the reigning family, which claims descent from the gods, has held
undisputed sway for twenty-five hundred years, although the record
of the first thousand years is so dependent upon verbal tradition
that the official history cannot be verified. As concubinage has
been practiced from time immemorial, the heir, the oldest son, has
not always been born of the empress.
Soon after the beginning of the Christian era the influence of China
and Korea began to be felt in Japan, the written characters of the
language being quite like the Chinese. Koreans and Japanese do not
agree as to the influence which the former have had upon the latter.
A very intelligent Korean informs me that his is the mother country
and that Japan was settled from Korea, but the Japanese do not take
kindly to this theory.
The feudal system, of which I shall speak more at length in another
article, was early established in Japan, and society was divided
into well defined classes. First came the members of the royal
family and those admitted to the circle by favor; next, the Shogun
(of whom more will be heard under the subject of government) and his
relatives.
Next in rank were the daimios, or lords, of varying degrees of
importance. Each daimio had a large number of retainers, who were
called samurai, and below these were a still larger number of
peasants who tilled the soil and did the manual labor. Some of the
early pictures show the gorgeous dress of the daimios and portray
the elaborate ceremony employed on state occasions.
The samurai were the warriors and had no other occupation than
to defend their lords in the struggles between the clans. They
corresponded to the knights in Europe during the days of chivalry,
except that there were no romantic adventures over women--woman
holding until recently a very subordinate place as compared with
"her lord and master."
The samurai were given an annual allowance for their subsistence,
and felt that toil was far beneath their dignity. They wore
lacquered armor and costly helmets and carried two swords--a long
one for the enemy and a short one for themselves.
It was with this short sword that the famous hara-kiri was
committed. This ancient form of suicide by disembowelment was
considered an highly honorable death and has been practiced until
within a generation. General Saigo, one of the great men of Japan
and one of its popular heroes, was the last man of prominence to
terminate his life in this way. He was one of the leaders in the
movement to restore to the emperor the authority which the shoguns
had usurped and was for a while close to the throne. In 1874,
however, he organized an army for the invasion of Korea, and coming
into conflict with the forces of the empire, which were called
out to prevent the invasion, he was defeated. In his humiliation
he committed hara-kiri. A few years ago the title of Marquis was
conferred upon him by a posthumous decree and is now enjoyed by
his eldest son. One of his sons is the present mayor of Kyoto and
another a colonel in the Imperial Guard. A bronze monument of heroic
size, the gift of admiring friends, has recently been placed in the
principal park in Tokyo.
Only a few years ago a young Japanese committed suicide in this way
in order to emphasize his protest against the encroachments of the
Russians, but a strong sentiment is developing against hara-kiri,
and it will soon take its place among other obsolete customs.
The samurai represented the intellectual as well as the military
strength of the nation. The daimios have furnished few of the men of
prominence in modern Japan, nearly all of the leaders in government,
education, literature and the professions having come from the
samurai class. Now, however, that all social distinctions have been
removed and the schools opened to the children of all, the old lines
between the classes cannot so easily be traced.
The merchant class has always been looked down upon in Japan. In
the social scale the members of this class were not only lower
than the samurai, but lower than the tillers of the soil. It was
probably because of the contempt in which they were held that so
low a standard of integrity existed among them--at least this
is the explanation usually given. Even now Japanese, as well as
foreigners, complain that the merchants impose upon their customers,
but here also a change is taking place and a new order of things
being inaugurated. There are in every city merchants of honor and
responsibility who are redeeming trade from the stigma which it so
long bore. Still, unless the stranger knows with whom he is dealing,
it is well to have a Japanese advisor, for we found by experience
that the price named to foreigners was sometimes considerably above
the regular price.
For centuries Japan lived an isolated life and developed herself
according to her own ideas. Of her native religion, Shintoism,
of the introduction of Buddhism and of the first Christian
missionaries, I shall speak in a later article. She repelled an
attack of the Mongols which might have been disastrous to her but
for the fact that a timely storm destroyed the invading fleet, much
as the Spanish Armada was destroyed. She has from time to time
attempted the invasion of Korea, the last attempt being made about
three hundred years ago. A little later the Shogun, Iemitsu, alarmed
by the spread of the Christian religion, introduced by Catholic
missionaries from Spain and Portugal, shut the country up, and for
two and a half centuries no foreigner was admitted and no citizen of
Japan was permitted to go abroad.
[Illustration: JAPANESE LADY IN AMERICAN DRESS.]
To more surely keep his people at home the Shogun prohibited the
building of any but small sailing vessels. It is almost incredible
that so large a group of people could have enjoyed the civilization
which existed here and still concealed themselves so completely from
the outside world and remained so ignorant of the mighty movements
in Europe and America. In 1853 Commodore Perry arrived with an
American fleet and a treaty was finally entered into which opened
the country to foreign intercourse. Japan was ripe for the change.
While there was at first an anti-foreign sentiment which affected
domestic politics and at one time resulted in an attack upon a
foreign fleet, the assimilation of western civilization was rapid
and constant. Young men began to go abroad, foreign teachers were
sent for and the Japanese people began to manifest a wonderful
aptitude for the adaptation of foreign ideas to local conditions.
The army and navy were reconstructed upon the European models and a
public school system largely like our own was established.
[Illustration: A JAPANESE MAIDEN.]
In most countries reforms have come up from the masses through more
or less prolonged seasons of agitation, but in Japan the higher
classes have been the leaders and have extended increasing social
and governmental advantages to the whole people without a struggle.
In every department of thought there has been progress, and in
every line of work there have been leaders whose ambitions and
ideals have been high and noble.
To illustrate the change that has taken place, Count Okuma cites
the case of the famous military genius, the present Marshal
Yamagata. When a very young man Yamagata was a spearman in the
army organized by the daimios of Choshu to attack the foreign
ships at the Shimonoseki Straits. He was so ignorant of modern
warfare that he was confident of the ability of the Japanese to
defeat the foreigners with spears. He thought that the Europeans
and Americans would be at the mercy of the natives as soon as they
landed. His surprise may be imagined when leaden missiles mowed
down his comrades long before the spears could be brought into use.
But this young man who attempted in 1864 to measure spear against
rifle, betook himself to the study of the military methods of the
foreigners, and in the recent war with Russia he has been chief of
the general staff of the Japanese army--an army which in equipment,
in preparation, and in provision for sick and wounded, as well as in
its exploits upon the battlefield, has astonished the world. Count
Okuma said that the progress made in the army and in the navy was
paralleled by the progress made in other directions.
While there are here abundant preparations for war, there is a
prevalent desire for peace. Notwithstanding Japan has a most
efficient army and navy, and notwithstanding the natural exultation
over their success at arms, the Japanese as I have met them are
strongly inclined toward peace. Several times in introducing me the
presiding officer has referred in terms of generous appreciation to
the action of our president in bringing about the recent treaty of
peace. The wars against China and Russia have been regarded by the
people as defensive wars and it will be remembered that the civil
war of 1874 was simply a suppression by the government of an attempt
to invade Korea. General Saigo raised his army for the purpose of
conquering Korea, but the government met the insurrectionists with
an army large enough to completely overwhelm the forces of the
famous general.
The Anglo-Japanese alliance is everywhere defended as a guarantee of
peace. I met yesterday a Japanese of some local prominence who has
issued a plea for universal peace. He proposes the establishment of
an international peace society and in earnest language sets forth
the horrors of war and the material, as well as the moral, arguments
in favor of peace.
Upon no element of Japanese society has the rising sun of a higher
civilization shed its rays more benignantly than upon woman. The
position of the mother was an honored one when she became the head
of the family, but while the children cared for both parents with
a generous filial devotion, the wife and daughter were under the
almost absolute power of the husband and father. Marriages were
arranged by the parents and the young people were allowed to see
each other after the match was agreed upon. Theoretically, each
had a right to protest if dissatisfied, but practically the girl's
protest amounted to nothing.
The wife was not only the servant of the husband, but might also
be the servant of the mother-in-law--the mother-in-law joke being
here on the daughter-in-law instead of the son-in-law. The fact that
the husband was permitted to keep as many concubines as he desired
still further lowered the status of woman. The daughters were often
sold into prostitution to relieve the indebtedness of the father,
and while this custom is on the decline, there are still thousands
of Japanese girls whose virtue is made a matter of merchandise in
accordance with this ancient custom. There is recorded among the
decisions of Ooka, sometimes called the Japanese Solomon, who lived
three centuries ago, a case in which the release of a young woman
from a house of ill-fame was the central feature. The report of the
judge's decree shows a discriminating mind as well as devotion to
justice. Incidentally, the record reveals the fact that there were
Shylocks in those days who loaned on short time at high rates and
exacted the pound of flesh. In this case, the usurer compelled the
sale of the daughter in extinguishment of a debt of fifteen yen,
which by rapidly accumulating interest, had reached the, to them,
enormous sum of thirty-five yen (or $17.50). The righteous judge
confiscated the house of the extortioner and with the proceeds
redeemed the woman. By the aid of the missionaries, under the
leadership of Rev. Murphy, of Nagoya, legislation has been secured
making it unlawful for a girl to be retained in one of these houses
against her will, and many have already been rescued. As the
taking of a concubine is a matter of record it is possible for the
newspapers to acquaint themselves with the domestic relations of
prominent men, and some of the papers have assisted in creating a
public opinion against concubines. This custom is certain to give
way before the advance of western ideas.
One of the foremost leaders in the elevation of woman was Yukichi
Fukuzawa, one of the greatest, as well as one of the most
influential, of the men who have appeared in Japan. He was a
journalist, an educator, an orator and a philosopher. He refused
to accept any titles or decorations and was called "The Great
Commoner." He founded a college, the Keio-Gijuku, to which many of
the public men trace their ideals and their interest in national and
social problems. He delivered the first public speech made in Japan
for, strange as it may seem, the habit of public speaking does not
reach farther back than twenty-three years. Until constitutional
government was formed there was no place for the forum. Shortly
before his death, Mr. Fukuzawa reduced his philosophy to the form
of a code of morals which has made a profound impression upon
the thought of his country. He presented "independence and self
respect," as he defined them, as the "cardinal tenet of personal
morals and living." He insisted upon the care of the body, the
training of the mind and the cultivation of the moral nature. He was
one of the first to raise his voice against hara-kiri and in his
code of morals he says: "To complete the natural span of life is to
discharge a duty incumbent on man. Therefore, any person who, be
the cause what it may or the circumstances what they may, deprives
himself by violence of his own life, must be said to be guilty of an
act inexcusable and cowardly, as well as mean, and entirely opposed
to the principle of independence and self respect."
[Illustration: MR. YUKICHI FUKAZAWA, JR.]
Concerning woman his code of morals says: "The custom of regarding
women as the inferiors of men is a vicious relic of barbarism. Men
and women of any enlightened country must treat and love each other
on a basis of equality, so that each may develop his or her own
independence and self respect."
When this great man died in 1901 his widow was in receipt of letters
from many women expressing their appreciation of his labors in
behalf of the women of Japan. Some of these are reproduced in a
life of Mr. Fukuzawa, recently issued, and show the deep gratitude
which the women feel toward him. It is also interesting to know
that Mr. Fukuzawa believed in the dignity of labor and taught that
each person should be "an independent worker beside being his own
breadwinner." While he taught patriotism, he also taught that the
people of all nations "are brethren" and that "no discrimination
should be made in dealing with them."
The emperor sent him, just before his death, fifty thousand yen as a
recognition of his eminent services, but he immediately turned the
sum over to the Keio-Gijuku.
The Jiji Shimpo, the newspaper established by Mr. Fukuzawa, is still
conducted by one of his sons, with whom we had the pleasure of
dining. Another son is an instructor in the Keio-Gijuku.
Newspaper development has kept pace with the development in other
directions. Tokyo, the capital, has sixteen daily papers with
sufficient circulation to make them known as large papers. Besides
these, there are magazines, periodicals and papers published in
English. The Kokumin Shimbun is known as the government organ
while most of the others are regarded as independent. The Tokyo
Times is an excellent paper published in English. There is a
weekly publication called the Economist, with a circulation of
five thousand, which deals with commercial, financial and economic
questions. Yokohama has papers published in both languages and the
same is true of the other large seaport towns.
All the cities are supplied with daily papers published in Japanese.
At Kagoshima, a city of about fifty thousand, situated at the
southern extremity of Kyushu Island, I found a prosperous daily
paper called the Kagoshima Shimbun. (Shimbun means daily newspaper.)
It has a circulation of nine thousand six hundred, six thousand
being in the city.
At Osaka I noticed a building elaborately decorated. In front were
large flags on bamboo poles and smaller flags strung on cords,
while Japanese lanterns were present in profusion. As none of the
buildings around were decorated, I inquired and found that the
decorated building was the office of the Osaka Asahi News and that
the paper was celebrating the withdrawal of the governmental order
which for two weeks had suspended its publication. The issue for
that day contained a large sized picture of the Goddess of Liberty.
When rioting occurred at Tokyo just after the treaty of peace with
Russia, an order was issued authorizing the arbitrary suspension of
any newspaper containing utterances deemed incendiary. Under this
order the Asahi News received notice to suspend publication until
permission was granted to resume. The withdrawal of the notice was
duly celebrated and the paper announced that its readers, rather
than the paper, had reason to complain of the suspension. This paper
has the largest circulation of any in Japan, about two hundred
thousand, and the order suspending it has been the subject of much
editorial criticism.
[Illustration: SUMITKA HASEBA--JAPANESE STATESMAN.]
Besides the newspapers which are conducted as business propositions,
there are papers supported by associations formed for the
propagation of various reforms. For instance, a paper called Romaji
is published monthly at Tokyo--Japanese words being spelled with
Roman letters, in the place of the present Japanese characters. A
society was formed some twenty years ago for the purpose of urging
this reform and a paper advocating it was published for three years,
but finally suspended from lack of support. This fall the Romaji was
established and hopes for a better fate. While this reform would be
very acceptable to foreigners who are trying to learn the language,
the movement does not seem to have gathered much momentum.
In one of the leading papers, the Hocho Shimbun, Mr. Gensai Murai, a
novelist of distinction, published a continued story running daily
through six years. It is not yet completed, having been suspended
during the war. In this story the writer presents a large amount of
information on national, political, economic and social questions,
at the same time putting in enough fiction to sustain the interest.
Progress along some other lines will be treated under special heads.
I find that there is some tendency here to resent the statement that
Japan has borrowed largely from other nations. Some native writers
insist that New Japan is but the natural development of Old Japan.
There is a measure of truth in this, because there is no growth
except from a living germ; and yet it can not be denied that Japan
has appropriated to her own great advantage many foreign ideas, and
it is not to her discredit that she has done so. Both individuals
and nations borrow; imitation, not originality, is the rule. It will
humble the pride of anyone to attempt to separate that which he has
learned from others from that which he can claim as his own by right
of discovery.
Steam is the same to-day that it was ages ago, and yet millions
watched it escaping from the kettle with no thought of its latent
power. One man showed mankind the use to which it could be put
and all the rest profited by the idea. Shall we refuse to ride
upon the railroad or cross the waters in an ocean greyhound for
fear of employing the conception of another? Electricity is not a
new agency. The lightnings have illumined the sky from the dawn
of creation, and the people saw in them only cause for fear. A
few decades ago one man thought out a method by which it could be
imprisoned in a wire, and now widely separated lands are united by
telegraph lines, while cables traverse the ocean's bed. Shall we
refuse to read the news that the current carries or reject a message
from home because we must employ an idea which sprang from another's
brain? He is stupid who rejects truth, no matter from what source
it comes; that nation is blind which does not welcome light from
anywhere and everywhere. It is to the glory, not to the shame, of
the land of the Rising Sun that her people have been quick to obey
the injunction, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
CHAPTER V.
INDUSTRIES, ARTS AND COMMERCE.
The basis of Japanese industry is agricultural, although each
year shows a decreasing proportion engaged in the tilling of the
soil. Rice is the principal product, but owing to the large amount
consumed at home it is not the chief export. As this crop needs an
abundance of water, the rice fields occupy the low lands and the
mountain gorges. Sometimes the narrow valleys that pierce the ranges
are so terraced as to look like steps, and at this time of the year
when the crop is being harvested, they resemble golden stairs. The
men and women work together in the field, and in many places we saw
them standing almost knee deep in mud, cutting the grain with old
fashioned hand-sickles. The rice is tied in bundles somewhat smaller
than our wheat sheaves, and hung over poles or laid along the edge
of a terrace to cure. If the threshing is delayed the grain is
stacked, not as we stack wheat and oats in the United States, but
in little columns with the heads of the sheaves tied to a pole in
the center. Sometimes the stacks are built around a living tree. The
grain is separated from the straw by means of a long toothed comb,
and at this season innumerable groups of persons are busily engaged
at this work. The yellow heaps of rice in the hull, looking from a
distance like wheat, can be seen from the train and from the country
roads. Straw mats are used to keep the grain off the ground and, I
may add, the mat is in evidence everywhere in Japan and is used for
all sorts of purposes.
The cultivation of the tea plant is an industry of no small
magnitude, although not so universal as the cultivation of rice. The
tea fields occupy the higher levels and add an interesting variety
to the landscapes. At one point on the railroad between Yokohama and
Nagoya the hillsides are covered with tea plantations, if such tiny
farms can be called plantations. The tea plant is something like
our gooseberry and currant bushes in size, but the foliage is much
thicker. The leaves vary widely in value, from the cheaper grades,
which are exported, to the Uji which costs what is equivalent to
five or more dollars per pound.
Some cotton is grown here, but the cotton plant as we saw it is
small compared with our plant, and the tillable area is too limited
to admit of the growing of cotton on a large scale.
Tobacco is cultivated to some extent, but the sale of manufactured
tobacco is a government prerogative.
Raw silk is by far the most valuable export, thirty-five million
dollars' worth having been sent abroad last year. Three-fifths
of the entire export goes to the United States, the remainder to
Europe, with France as the largest European purchaser. As fifteen
million dollars' worth of silk fabrics went abroad also, as against
five million dollars' worth of tea and four million dollars' worth
of rice, it will be seen that the cultivation of the silk worm and
the mulberry tree is extensively carried on. The silk worms are kept
indoors and the leaves brought in to them. When put outdoors the
silk worms are devoured by birds.
Fruits grow here in great variety. We have found everywhere apples
of excellent quality, raised in the northern parts of the islands,
while the southern islands produce oranges, bananas and pineapples.
The apple tree was imported from America about thirty-five years
ago; now apples are exported to China and Siberia. The most popular
orange is the tangerine, or kid glove orange as it is sometimes
called; many of these are exported.
There is a kind of fruit called the ban-tan grown on the island
of Kyushu. It looks something like the grape fruit, but grows
considerably larger and has a thicker skin; the meat is pink in
color, sweeter and less juicy than the grape fruit. Pears grow here;
one variety looks like a russet apple in shape and color. Peach
trees are sometimes trained as we train grape vines on an arbor, so
that the orchard seems to have a flat roof of foliage.
They have here, too, persimmons as large as apples and as solid.
We found these on the table in all parts of the island and there
are several varieties. The grape is cultivated in Japan, but we did
not see grape vines in such profusion as they are seen in southern
Europe, along the lakes in western New York or in California. And,
in this connection, I may add that wine is not used here to the
extent that it is in some other countries, the national drink, sake,
being made from fermented rice. Ordinarily this beverage contains
from eleven to fourteen per cent of alcohol, but there is a stronger
kind called shochu, which contains as much as fifty per cent of
alcohol. It is evident, however, that liquor by any other name can
be as intoxicating as our whisky, and we found at Tokyo a national
temperance society with branches throughout the empire. Mr. Ando,
the president of this society, is a Japanese gentleman of great
earnestness and intelligence, who was converted to Christianity a
few years ago when he was representing his country in Honolulu.
While, as I have stated in another article, I have seen no evidences
of drunkenness, Mr. Ando informs me that his society has ample work
to do. I carry back with me a badge which the society gave me on
learning of my total abstinence habits. I have only mentioned the
leading products of the field, but I can not leave the cultivators
of the soil without a word concerning the gardens. They are so cute,
occupying as they do the little nooks and corners that can not be
utilized for the large crops. There does not seem to be a square
inch of ground wasted. The vegetables are planted in rows which
are either straight or curved, never crooked, and we have scarcely
seen a weed. Fertilizer is extensively used, being kept in stone or
cement vats protected from the weather by a straw colored shed. Near
the cities the soil is enriched by the refuse from closets which is
collected and carried away during the night. The introduction of
sewage systems has been somewhat impeded in some cities by the fact
that sewage would be an expense while closets are now a source of
profit. It must be confessed, however, that the present system tends
to make fresh vegetables unpopular with the tourist.
Most travelers land at Yokohama and depart at Kobe, or land at Kobe
and depart at Yokohama, these being the two principal ports. As
these are about 300 miles apart, one has a chance to see much of
the farming land from the railroad. The side trips from Tokyo to
Nikko, from Yokohama to Miyanoshita and from Kyoto to Nara, give
additional opportunities for seeing the farmer at work, but the ride
from Kobe west to Shimonoseki surpasses any of these in interest
and in beauty of scenery. As this route leads along the sea coast
as well as through densely populated valleys, there is greater
variety. Now one skirts the inland sea, with its numerous islands,
its transparent waters, its little harbors and its fleets of fishing
boats; now he winds his way along a stream with falls and rapids and
spanned by frail foot bridges or by stone wagon bridges. On the one
side he sees a bamboo grove and on the other a tiny graveyard or
a little hill dedicated to a Shinto shrine--stone steps ascending
along a shaded path from the sacred gate, which invariably marks
the entrance to holy ground. In passing over this railroad route
one gathers a large amount of information concerning the industries
of the sea coast, as well as those of the inland, and besides one
can visit the Shimonoseki Strait which is of historic interest to
Americans. The Sanyo railroad, which connects Kobe and Shimonoseki,
is well equipped and well managed and has built an excellent hotel,
The Sanyo, at Shimonoseki for the accommodation of its patrons.
From this point a steamer runs to Fusan, the nearest Korean port,
where direct connection is made for Seoul, the Korean capital. From
Moji, just across the strait from Shimonoseki, one can take a train
to Nagasaki, the western seaport of Japan. At Shimonoseki one is
shown the house in which Marquis Ito and Li Hung Chang drafted the
Japanese-Chinese treaty in 1894.
[Illustration: JAPANESE WATER CARRIER.]
Mining is an industry of considerable importance here. Gold, silver
and copper are found in paying quantities. More than six million
dollars' worth of copper was exported last year. One of the gold
fields on the island of Kyushu, near Kagoshima, gives promise of
considerable richness. Coal is found in such abundance that the
exports of this commodity have amounted to nearly ten million
dollars in a single year. A hard quality of smokeless coal has
recently been discovered in western Japan.
The islands also produce a number of varieties of valuable woods.
The camphor tree grows to an enormous size, a gigantic statue of the
Goddess of Mercy in one of the temples at Kamakura being carved from
a single camphor log. The value of the camphor exported from Japan
last year exceeded a million and a half dollars. Among the hard
woods suitable for carving, cherry seems to be the most popular.
Of all the trees, however, the bamboo is the most useful. Just at
this time when the returning soldiers are being welcomed, it is
present everywhere in the form of flag poles, and there is nothing
that equals it for this purpose; long, slender, light and strong,
it is just the thing for flags and banners, and when a little plume
of leaves is left at the top, it is still more beautiful. The
bamboo is used for water pipes and for fences, for furniture and
picture tubes, for dippers, baskets, fishing poles, flower vases,
candlesticks, wicker work, etc., etc.
In wood carving the Japanese have long been skilled. Specimens of
work done hundreds of years ago and testifying to their taste, no
less than to their deftness of hand, may be seen in their ancient
palaces and temples.
Stone cutting is also an ancient industry here. There is an
abundance of stone and granite, while the lanterns, Korean lions and
sacred gates have furnished subjects for many a chisel. Osaka seems
to be the center of the stone cutting industry.
The iron industry is represented by an increasing number of
establishments. In many instances workmen have been brought from
abroad and employed until Japanese artisans were sufficiently
trained to take their place. Much of the iron work is still done in
little shops and by hand, although machinery is being imported in
large quantities.
I visited a tannery at Kagoshima and found that the proprietor had
spent seven years in America learning the business, and that on his
return he had taught native help each branch of the business. He is
now turning out an excellent product.
One of the most promising industries in Japan is cotton spinning.
There are a number of factories already in operation and new ones
are building. I visited one of the plants of the Osaka Nippon Boseki
Kaisha at Osaka. This company has about seventy thousand spindles
and the mills employ nothing but native labor. Foreign artisans
were used in the beginning, but are no longer needed. A great many
women are employed and some children; for the latter a school is
maintained for two hours a day in the building. Cotton yarn is now
selling for about forty cents a pound and is becoming one of the
leading articles of export; China is the largest purchaser. Some
idea of the growth of this branch of industry can be gathered from
the fact that the exports of cotton yarn amounted to less than four
thousand dollars in 1891 and 1892; in 1896 it had grown to over two
millions, in 1898 to over ten millions, and during the last two
years it has averaged about fifteen millions.
At Osaka I also visited a brush industry and found that from bones,
imported from the slaughter houses of America, and from bristles,
purchased in Russia and in China, they made tooth, nail and hair
brushes for export to both Europe and America. Here, too, they
have dispensed with the foreign labor which they employed in the
beginning.
Earthenware is manufactured in abundance and of every variety. The
exports of porcelain and earthenware reached almost two million
dollars last year. In Kyoto we visited a pottery and found two rooms
in which the finished product was displayed; the first contained
beautiful specimens of Japanese skill, graceful in shape and dainty
in decoration; the second was filled with big pieces in loud colors
and of inferior workmanship. These last articles, we were informed,
were made especially for the American trade.
Some beautiful porcelain work is done in Kyoto, the decoration
representing a high degree of artistic skill.
One of the most famous kinds of china produced by Japan is known as
Satsuma ware, the glazing of which is of a peculiar tint and has a
crackled appearance. The secret of the manufacture of this ware was
brought from Korea by the captives taken in war some three hundred
years ago, and the industry still flourishes in Japan, although it
has perished in Korea. Kagoshima is the center for Satsuma ware,
and a colony of Koreans living near there, as well as Japanese
manufacturers, produce excellent specimens.
Lacquer work has been done in Japan from time immemorial, samples of
which, centuries old, can be seen in temples, palaces and museums.
When gold and silver are used in connection with the lacquer the
product is often very valuable.
The bronzes produced in the little shops scattered over Japan give
play to the artistic taste which one finds here. Osaka and Kyoto are
noted for their bronzes. Sometimes various metals are inlaid in the
forms of flowers, birds, animals and landscapes, producing a most
pleasing effect. Then there are damascene factories and places for
embroidery and for pictures made in cut velvet, etc., etc.
No one can pass through Japan without being impressed with the
taste, which seems to be national, and with the delicate skill which
has been handed down from generation to generation. And nothing, in
my judgment, more clearly exhibits this union of taste and skill
than the Cloisonne work. Upon a metallic base, as a vase, placque
or box, an artist draws a design; this design is then outlined with
fine wires of gold and silver, then enamels of various colors are
filled in. When the enamels are hardened and the whole polished, the
product is a thing of marvelous beauty.
I have not space to speak of the minor industries, such as paper
making, matches (in which Japan monopolizes the trade of the East),
fans, umbrellas, lanterns, napkins, etc. The Japanese lantern which
we use for ornamentation is here a practical thing, in daily, or
rather nightly, use. These lanterns hang in front of the houses and
are carried on the streets. They are also used for illumination on
festive occasions; at the time of the naval review and the reception
to Admiral Togo, Yokohama and Tokyo were illuminated by these
lanterns as I never saw an American city lighted.
When Japan was opened to the commerce of the world, there were few
business houses or trading establishments of any size. Now there
are several department stores and large wholesale houses, besides
manufacturing and trading companies of importance. One business man
in Tokyo, Mr. K. Okura, has a private collection of curios valued
at one million dollars, which he offered to sell in Europe or
America, the proceeds to be given to the government for carrying on
the war against Russia. Osaka has a successful business man who has
earned the name of the "Japanese Carnegie" by giving a fine library
building to that city.
Consul General Miller, at Yokohama, and Consul Sharp, at Kobe,
furnished me with interesting statistics regarding the commerce of
Japan. Exports have increased from about eighty millions in 1891
to about three hundred and twenty millions in 1904; during the
same period imports increased from a little more than sixty-three
millions to a little more than three hundred and seventy-one
millions. While our country sells less to Japan than Great Britain
and British India, she buys more than any other nation from
Japan. Our chief exports to Japan last year were electric motors,
locomotive engines, steam boilers and engines, iron pipes, nails,
lead, oil, paraffine wax, cotton drills, cotton duck, raw cotton,
tobacco, coal, cars, turning lathes, condensed milk, flour and
wheat. Of these items, flour, raw cotton and oil were by far the
most valuable, each amounting to more than four and a half million
dollars.
In the ocean carrying trade, Japan is making rapid strides. In ten
years her registered steamers have increased from four hundred and
sixty-one to twelve hundred and twenty-four and her sailing vessels
from one hundred and ninety-six to three thousand five hundred and
twenty-three. There are now two hundred private ship yards in Japan,
and in 1903 they built two hundred and seventy-nine vessels. The
Japan Mail Steamship Company has a paid-up capital of eleven million
dollars, runs steamers between Japan, America, Europe and Asia and
pays a ten per cent dividend on its capital. The Osaka Mercantile
Steamship Company (Osaka Shosen Kaisha) has a paid-up capital of
nearly three and a half million dollars, owns about one hundred
vessels and pays a dividend of ten per cent. These are the largest
companies, but there are many smaller ones, some paying dividends of
sixteen and twenty per cent.
I will close this article with the suggestion that the mercantile
marine seems likely to show large growth in the future, offering, as
it does, a legitimate field for national expansion.
Japan's fishing industries furnish a training for seamen and her
people seem at home upon the water. She needs more territory for
her expanding population and has about reached the limit in the
cultivation of her tillable land. Every additional ship manned by
her citizens is like a new island, rising from the waves, upon which
her increasing population can be supported. If she seeks to acquire
land in any direction, she finds her efforts contested by the
inhabitants already there; no wonder she hails with delight these
floating farms constructed by the genius of her own people--new
land, as it were, won and held without the sacrifice of war.
CHAPTER VI.
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND RELIGIONS.
Back of Japan's astonishing progress along material lines lies her
amazing educational development. Fifty years ago but few of her
people could read or write; now considerably less than ten per
cent would be classed as illiterate. It is difficult to conceive
of such a transformation taking place almost within a generation.
The prompt adoption of western methods and the rapid assimilation
of western ideas give indubitable proof of the pre-existence of a
vital national germ. A pebble dropped into soil, however rich, and
cultivated, no matter how carefully, gives back no response to the
rays of the springtime sun. Only the seed which has life within can
be awakened and developed by light and warmth and care. Japan had
within her the vital spark, and when the winter of her isolation
was passed, her latent energies burst forth into strong and sturdy
growth.
Her sons, ambitious to know the world, scattered themselves
throughout Europe and America, and having laden themselves with new
ideas, returned to apply them at home. In this way Japan constantly
gained from every quarter and her educational system is modeled
after the best that the ages have produced. She has her primary
schools for boys and girls, attendance being compulsory, and below
these in many places there are kindergarten schools. The middle
schools, in which the boys and girls are separated, take up the
course of instruction where the primary schools leave off.
Then follow the universities, of which there are seven under the
control of the government. Besides these there are in the cities
institutions known as higher commercial schools, which combine
general instruction with such special studies as are taught in our
commercial colleges. There are also a number of normal schools for
the training of teachers. In addition to the schools and colleges
established and conducted by the government, there are a number
founded by individuals and societies. The largest of these is Waseda
College, founded and still maintained by Count Okuma, the leader of
the progressive party. It is adjoining the home of the count and is
built upon land which he donated. Dr. Hatoyama, at one time speaker
of the national house of representatives, who holds a degree from
Yale College, is the official head of this institution; in all of
its departments it has some five thousand students.
[Illustration: A VISIT TO COUNT OKUMA'S SCHOOL NEAR TOKYO]
I have referred in a former article to the Keio Gijuku, the college
founded by Mr. Fukuzawa. The attendance here is not so large as
at Waseda, but the institution has had an illustrious career
and exerts a wide influence upon the country. I visited both of
these colleges and never addressed more attentive or responsive
audiences. As English is taught in all the middle schools, colleges
and universities, the students are able to follow a speech in that
language without an interpreter.
The state university at Tokyo includes six departments--law,
medicine and engineering courses being provided, as well as courses
in literature, science and agriculture. The total number of students
enrolled at this university is about thirty-five hundred. The
national university at Kyoto has three faculties--law, medicine and
science--the last named including engineering; the attendance at
this university is between six and seven hundred. In the states of
Choshu and Satsuma there are higher schools supported by funds given
by former feudal lords of those states.
The education of girls is not neglected, although as a rule the
girls do not go as far in their studies as the boys. There are a
number of normal schools and seventy-nine high schools for girls,
besides the Peeresses' school and several private institutions.
The Woman's University of Tokyo, situated near Waseda College and
under the patronage of Count Okuma, has had a phenomenal career.
Established only five years ago, it has now an enrollment of some
seven hundred, and is putting up several new buildings.
There are also a number of missionary schools and colleges. The
Presbyterians support three boarding schools for boys and eleven
for girls, besides ten day schools; the total attendance at these
schools is nearly twenty-three hundred.
The Congregationalists have a number of schools, the largest,
Doshisha College at Kyoto, being the most influential Christian
institution in Japan. I had the pleasure of visiting both this
college and Kyoto University.
The Methodists have eighteen boarding schools and nineteen day
schools with a total attendance of nearly five thousand. Their
college at Kobe is a very promising institution.
The Baptists have a theological seminary, an academy, five boarding
schools for girls and eight day schools, with a total attendance of
nearly a thousand. The Episcopal Church has also taken an important
part in educational work, while the Catholics (who were first on the
ground) have over sixty seminaries, schools and orphanages, with an
attendance of some six thousand.
The Japanese government supports more than twenty-five thousand
primary schools, attended by over five million boys and girls; it
supports more than two hundred and fifty middle schools, with an
attendance of nearly one hundred thousand. While less than two per
cent of the primary students enter the middle schools, more than ten
per cent of the middle school students enter the higher colleges.
Although these figures give some idea of the interest taken in
education, they do not furnish an adequate conception of the
enthusiasm with which a large number of these students pursue their
studies. Nearly fifty young men called upon me or wrote to me asking
to be taken to America that they might continue their studies.
Many of the leading men in Japan to-day are graduates of American
or European colleges. The physicians have shown a preference for
German schools, while to engineers and politicians our universities
have been more attractive. A part of the friendliness felt toward
foreigners can be traced to the favors shown Japanese boys who left
home in search of knowledge. Marquis Ito, one of the first of these,
owes much to an elder of the Presbyterian Church in England in whose
home he lived as a student, and the marquis has ever since been
making returns in kindness to foreigners and Christians.
Marquis Ito's case is not exceptional; all over Japan are men who
hold in grateful remembrance Americans and Europeans to whom they
are indebted for assistance. I met a man, now the publisher of an
influential paper, who twenty years ago, at the age of sixteen, went
to sea and in a shipwreck was cast upon one of the islands in the
South Pacific. He became a retainer for the king of the islands and
as such wore the scanty native dress, consisting of a loin cloth.
He went with his king to Honolulu to pay a visit to the Hawaiian
queen, and finding a Japanese settlement there, remained for two or
three years. He then went to the United States and, making a friend
of a professor in one of the universities, attended school there for
several years. He now visits the United States every year or so on
business, and one seeing him wearing a silk hat and a Prince Albert
coat would hardly guess the experiences through which he has risen
to his present position. If Japan, beginning fifty years ago with
no educational system and scarcely any educated men or women, could
accomplish what she has accomplished in half a century, what will
she accomplish in the twentieth century, with the start which she
now has and with the educational advantages which her people now
enjoy?
Japan has several religions, although Shintoism has been, since
1868, the state religion. As a matter of fact, however, Shintoism
can hardly be called a religion for it has no creed, no priesthood
and no code of morals. It is really ancestor worship and comes
down from time immemorial. It implies a belief in immortality, for
the ancestral spirits are invoked and vows are paid to them at the
numberless shrines that dot the country. These shrines are not
usually in temples, although sometimes Shintoism and Buddhism have
been mixed together and one temple employed for both shrines; as a
rule, however, the Shinto shrine is in some secluded spot on the
top of a hill or on a mountain side where a bit of natural scenery
awakens a spirit of reverence. A gate of simple but beautiful design
is placed at the point where the pathway to the shrine departs
from the main road. We had read of these Shinto gates and had seen
pictures of them, but we first saw one at Honolulu, itself the
gateway to the Orient. No description can convey to the reader the
impression which this gate makes upon the traveler; its outlines are
so graceful and yet so strong that it seems an appropriate portal to
a holy place.
The moral code of Confucius has also influenced the thought of Japan.
About fourteen hundred years ago the Buddhist religion was
introduced into Japan by Chinese priests, and it spread rapidly
throughout the islands. Its temples were imposing, its ceremonies
impressive and the garb of its priests costly and elaborate. It
did not root out Shintoism, it simply overwhelmed and absorbed it.
The Buddhist temples, though not as popular as they once were, are
still visited by millions of believers and are objects of interest
to the tourist. Most of them are old, one at Nara having been built
about the year 700. It is in such an excellent state of preservation
that one can hardly believe that it has stood the storms of twelve
centuries.
In the center of the temple is an image of Buddha, and on either
side the figure of a huge warrior. There is also in this temple a
God of War to which the Japanese were wont to pay their vows before
going to battle. The devout Buddhist, approaching the image of the
founder of his religion, bows and mutters a prayer, half audibly,
and, throwing his mite in a box or on the floor before the shrine,
departs. There is usually a bell, or sometimes only a chain, hanging
above the place where prayers are said, and the suppliant swings
a rope against the bell or shakes the chain before his prayer and
claps his hands two or three times at its close. We inquired about
the bell and received two answers: One, that it was to attract
the attention of the god, and the other that it was to awaken the
conscience of the one about to present his petition.
Near the temple at Nara stands an ugly image which never fails to
attract the attention of the visitor. It is literally covered with
paper wads which have been thrown against it by worshipers at the
temple in the belief that their prayers would be answered if the
wads adhered to the image. There is also at Nara a huge bell, almost
as old as the temple. This bell is about thirteen feet high, nine
feet in diameter and eight inches thick. It hangs in a pagoda quite
near the ground, and when struck upon the side by a swinging log
gives forth a sound of wonderful depth and richness. It was rung for
us, and as its mellow tones reverberated along the hills we were
awed by the thought that a thousand years before our Declaration of
Independence was written, eight hundred years before the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth Rock, yes, even seven hundred years before
America was discovered, this old bell was calling people to worship.
[Illustration: JAPANESE STONE LANTERN.]
There is at Nara an immense bronze image of Buddha, even larger
than the famous one at Kamokura, though not so finely proportioned.
The smaller one is forty-nine feet in height and nearly one hundred
feet in circumference (both represent Buddha, seated tailor-fashion,
on a lotus flower) and the larger one is almost twice as large as
the smaller one. The lantern of stone or bronze seems to be as
necessary an adjunct to a Buddhist temple as the Shinto gate is to
that form of religion. At Nara there are twenty-nine hundred stone
lanterns of various sizes along the walks that lead from one temple
to another, and they are found in abundance in other cities. The
Korean lions are also identified with Buddhistic worship, these
animals wrought in bronze or carved in stone guarding all temple
doors. They are not as ferocious in appearance as the Numidian
lion, and they illustrate an idea. One has his mouth open and the
other has his mouth tightly shut, and they together represent the
affirmative and the negative, or, in other words, the eternal
conflict between the positive and the negative--one says yes, the
other no.
[Illustration: KOREAN LION--YES.]
[Illustration: KOREAN LION--NO.]
Nara has an additional attraction in the form of a beautiful park
containing some seven hundred deer, which are here regarded as
sacred animals. They are so gentle that they will come, old and
young, and eat from the hand.
[Illustration: IN FRONT OF NIKKO TEMPLE--JAPAN]
Next to Nara, in our opinion, and in the opinion of many even before
Nara, comes Nikko in beauty and interest. The spot was wisely chosen
for a temple, a foaming stream, rugged mountains and stately trees
adding to the attractiveness of the place. There is a shaded avenue
twenty-five miles long leading from the lowlands to the temple,
and it is said that when other feudal lords were bringing stone
lanterns, one poor daimio, unable to make so large a gift, offered
to plant little trees along the way; these, now three hundred years
old, furnish a grateful shade for the pilgrims who visit this Mecca,
and the poor tree planter is now known as "The Wise Daimio who went
into partnership with Nature."
The temple at Nikko is only about three centuries old and its
decorations are the richest and most costly to be found in Japan.
As the Buddhists and Shintoists worship together here, the temple
is kept in repair by the government and one can see the best in
architecture and ornamentation that the temples exhibit. So famous
are this temple and its environment that the Japanese have a phrase
which when translated means, "You cannot say beautiful (kekko) until
you have seen Nikko."
The most modern of the large temples is that at Kyoto. It was
erected about thirty years ago on the site of one which had burned.
It is not so large as the original, but is a reproduction in other
respects and is one of the thirty-three temples to which pilgrimages
are made. Some estimate can be formed of the ardor of those who
worship here when it is known that the immense timbers used in
the construction of the building were dragged through the streets
and lifted into place by cables made of human hair contributed by
Japanese women for that purpose. One of these cables, nearly three
inches in diameter and several hundred feet long, is still kept in
a room adjacent to the temple, the others having been destroyed by
fire. Japanese women pride themselves upon their hair and arrange it
with great care. What a poem of piety--what a strong sacrifice in
these myriad strands of mingled black and grey!
All of the Buddhist temples stand within a walled enclosure, entered
through a gorgeous gate which contrasts sharply with the simplicity
of the Shinto gate. The Buddhist gate has a roof resembling a temple
roof and is often ornamented with animals, birds and fantastic
figures carved in wood. As an illustration of the superstition to
be found among the ignorant, the following incident is given: An
American, Mr. Frederick W. Horne, who lives at Yokohama and who
has built up a large importing business in American machinery, has
a handsome new home modeled after a Buddhist temple. At one gable
he put a devil's head. The servants of the man living next door
threatened to leave because the devil looked over into that yard.
But they were quieted when the neighbor put two brass cannon on
his roof and pointed them at the devil's head. The story seems too
absurd to believe, but we were shown the cannons when we called at
Mr. Horne's.
But Buddhism is losing its hold upon the Japanese; its temples
are not crowded as they once were; its ceremonies do not interest
and its teachings do not satisfy the new generation. Christianity
will appeal more and more to the educated element of the Japanese
population. Already favor is taking the place of toleration, as
toleration thirty years ago supplanted persecution.
The Catholics, who have been the pioneers of the Cross in so many
lands, brought Christianity to Japan through their missionaries
about the middle of the sixteenth century. The success of the
Jesuits was so pronounced that in thirty years they estimated
their converts at one hundred and fifty thousand. In fact, the
adherents to Christianity became so numerous and so influential
that the Shogun, Hideyoshi, began to fear for his temporal power,
and, having absolute authority, he expelled the foreigners, closed
the ports and established the policy of non-intercourse with other
nations--a policy which was followed until 1853. When the country
was again opened to Christian missionaries it was found that some
ten thousand men and women were still worshiping according to the
forms of the Catholic Church, although for two and a half centuries
there had been no communication between them and the church outside.
Even after the opening of the country to foreign commerce there
was some persecution of Christians and several thousand were
imprisoned. But in 1873 the prisoners were set at liberty and the
exiles allowed to return; since that time there has been absolute
religious freedom and many men prominent in official life have
been devoted Christians. The most noted of these native Christians
was Mr. Kataoka, who was four times chosen speaker of the popular
branch of the Japanese congress, or diet. He was an elder in the
Presbyterian Church, and when it was suggested that it would advance
his political chances to resign his eldership, he replied that if
compelled to choose between them he would rather be an elder than
speaker.
The Catholic population of Japan numbered fifty-eight thousand
in 1903; at the last report the Protestant communicants numbered
nearly fifty-one thousand. There are among the natives four hundred
and forty-two ordained ministers, five hundred and fifty-nine
unordained ministers and helpers, and one hundred and eighty-six
theological students. I met a number of Japanese Christians and
was profoundly impressed by their earnestness and devotion. There
is a large Y. M. C. A. at Tokyo and a smaller one at Kyoto; at
Kagoshima I found a Women's Christian Association. While I have met
American missionaries everywhere, I have tried to gather information
from Japanese sources as well and have been gratified to find
such cordial co-operation between foreign and native Christians.
A physician in the navy introduced himself and volunteered the
information that one American woman had undertaken the establishment
of Christian clubs at the various naval stations, and within five
years had gathered together more than five hundred members. He said
that she met with opposition from the authorities at first, but now
has their hearty support. The war with Russia, while retarding the
work of the Greek Church among the Japanese, has been utilized by
other denominations to reach a large number of sailors with Bibles
and pamphlets.
Japan needs the Christian religion; a nation must have some religion
and she has outgrown Buddhism. The ideals presented by these two
systems are in many respects diametrically opposed to each other.
One looks forward, the other backward; one regards life as a
blessing to be enjoyed and an opportunity to be improved, the other
sees in it only evil from which escape should be sought; one crowns
this life with immortality, the other adds to a gloomy existence the
darker night of annihilation; one offers faith as the inspiration to
noble deeds, the other presents a plan for the perfecting of self
with no sense of responsibility to God to prompt it or promise of
reward to encourage it; one enlarges the sympathies and links each
individual with all other human beings, the other turns the thought
inward in search of perpetual calm.
Christianity dominates Europe and the western hemisphere, while
Buddhism still holds the Orient under its drowsy spell. On the
islands of Japan a struggle is now going on between these two great
religious systems, and the triumph of the Gospel of Love and of
consecrated activity in the Land of the Rising Sun will open the way
to a still larger triumph in Asia.
CHAPTER VII.
EDUCATION AND RELIGION
The government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy in which the
emperor not only claims to rule by divine right but by right of
divine birth. He is described as Heaven born, and according to the
accepted history there has been no break in the family line for
twenty-five hundred years. Among no people on earth has there ever
been more universal respect shown, or implicit obedience yielded,
to the reigning family. There never has been a revolt of any
consequence against the emperor, although there have been numerous
conflicts between the shoguns. For about twelve hundred years, from
670 to 1868, the shoguns were, however, the actual rulers, and while
they never questioned the sovereignty of the emperor, they did not
allow him to retain much more than the empty title.
The shoguns were military rulers and a number of them were men
of great force and executive ability. First, the Fujiwara family
controlled the country through the shogunate for nearly four hundred
years; then for a century the Taira and Minamoto families alternated
in the exercise of power; then came the Hojo family and others of
less importance until finally the Tokugawa family became supreme
in the shogunate and continued in power for something like three
hundred years. The emperor lived at Nara until about 1600, when
the capital was moved to Kyoto, where it remained until less than
forty years ago. Tokyo, on the other hand, was the seat of the
shogun power, and there is a very noticeable difference between the
two cities. The shoguns fortified their castles and required the
feudal lords to keep headquarters in Tokyo. One cannot go through
the palace in which the emperor lived permanently without noticing
how plain it is as compared with the castle (both at Kyoto) in
which the shogun resided for a few days during his annual call
upon the emperor. While it may seem strange that the real rulers
never attempted to become emperors in name, it only shows their
intelligence, for by not insisting upon the recognition of the
royal family they were probably more successful in maintaining the
real authority than they would have been had they questioned the
divine right of the immemorial rulers.
During the early part of the last century there began to be a
reaction against the shogun, and when he agreed to the treaties
opening the country to foreign intercourse, his action was taken
advantage of by the friends of the emperor. When the feudal lords
of Choshu attacked the foreign ships at Shimonoseki Strait, the
shogun was compelled to pay an indemnity of three million dollars
and he attempted to chastise the Choshu leaders. His forces were
defeated and he died soon afterward. The emperor seized upon this
event and with the aid of the influential lords of Choshu and
Satsuma abolished the shogunate in 1868. The new shogun accepted
the situation without a struggle and those of his followers who
attempted a resistance were soon routed.
Everything in modern Japan dates from 1868, which is called the
restoration. While in the restoration the emperor was acknowledged
as the sole and absolute ruler in whom all authority was vested,
still it was really the beginning of constitutional government,
for the emperor voluntarily promised his people a constitution, a
promise which was not finally fulfilled until 1889.
The fervor of patriotism that restored to the emperor his original
authority wrought wonders in Japan. The feudal lords came forward
and voluntarily turned their vast estates over to the emperor and
relinquished the authority which they had exercised over their
tenants; then they joined with the samurai (their former retainers)
in supporting the emperor in abolishing all social distinctions.
From that day to this the country has grown more and more
democratic, the reforms working from the upper classes down.
In 1889 the constitution promised by the emperor was promulgated. It
was prepared largely by Marquis Ito who visited Germany and modeled
the document after the Prussian constitution. The legislative
power is vested in a diet consisting of two houses, one resembling
the English house of lords, and the other resembling our house of
representatives. The upper house is composed of the princes of the
royal blood, marquises (these sit by virtue of their rank), counts,
viscounts and barons, selected from among their respective classes,
men of erudition or distinguished service appointed by the emperor,
and one representative from each prefecture or state, selected by
the highest taxpayers. The members of the diet, except those who
sit by virtue of their rank, receive two thousand yen (one thousand
dollars) per year. The members of the house of representatives are
divided among the states in proportion to the number of franchise
holders; last year they numbered three hundred and twenty-three and
were voted for by seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand franchise
holders. The franchise holders numbered less than ten per cent of
the men of voting age, there being a property qualification which
excludes from suffrage more than nine-tenths of the adult males.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL TOGO.]
The emperor appoints the governors of the various states, and these
need not be selected from the states over which they preside. The
emperor has the right to convoke and prorogue the diet and to
dissolve the house of representatives; he also has the right to
issue urgency ordinances when the diet is not in session, the same
to be submitted for approval to the next session.
The constitution contains a bill of rights. Among other rights the
Japanese subjects shall enjoy freedom of religious belief "within
limits not prejudicial to peace and order and not antagonistic to
their duties as subjects," and "within the limits of law" they
shall enjoy "the liberty of speech, writing, publication, public
meeting and association." After the Tokyo riots which followed the
announcement of the treaty with Russia an urgency ordinance was
issued restraining the press and certain newspapers were suspended
under this ordinance, but it is probable that this urgency ordinance
will be vigorously discussed at the coming session of the diet.
The emperor is assisted in the discharge of his executive duties by
a prime minister and nine department ministers; besides these he has
the advice of a privy council, composed of elder statesmen, of which
Marquis Ito is now the president.
Each state has what corresponds to our legislature, and each city
has a council; both of these bodies are elective and to the city
council is entrusted the selection of the mayor.
They have a judiciary, federal and local, appointed for life, but
no jury system. Among the laws is one forbidding aliens to own
property, although this is avoided to some extent by long time
leases. There is also a law by which a debt descends with the
property to the oldest son, even though the debt may exceed the
property.
Through the courtesy of Hon. N. W. McIvor, former consul general at
Yokohama, now engaged in the practice of international law, I had an
opportunity to meet a number of governors and congressmen and found
them, as a rule, an intelligent and accomplished body of men, many
of them having finished their education abroad. Their most famous
minister of finance, Count Matsukata, bore some resemblance to J.
Pierpont Morgan.
They have politics in Japan. The promise of a constitution seems
to have been given by the emperor before there was any general
agitation for it, but as about twenty-one years elapsed between the
making of the promise and the realization of the hopes excited by
it, there was a period of discussion. As early as 1874 several of
the ministers joined in a petition asking for the promulgation of
the promised constitution. Their memorial being disregarded they
resigned their offices and became the founders of a democratic
party. They called themselves liberals and their efforts resulted
in an imperial rescript issued in 1881, fixing 1889 as the date
for the beginning of constitutional government. Marquis Ito is now
the leader of the liberal party, which had one hundred and thirty
members in the house of representatives in 1904.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT OF DIET--JAPAN.]
In 1882 Count Okuma organized the progressive party, which had
last year a membership of ninety in the house of representatives.
This is known as the party of the opposition, Marquis Ito's party
being the power behind the throne. There is not as much difference
between the platforms of these parties as between the platforms of
the two leading parties of our country, but of the two Count Okuma's
party is the more radical. The count himself is a born leader and
exerts a large influence upon the politics of his country. When
premier some years ago he lost a leg by the explosion of a bomb,
thrown with murderous intent by a political opponent, but it did not
diminish his zeal in the prosecution of reforms. The fact that there
were in the last diet one hundred and thirty who styled themselves
independents shows that there is a considerable body to which the
opposition party can appeal when the minister makes an unpopular
move.
[Illustration: BARON KENTARO KANEKO.]
Besides the party organizations there are a number of societies
formed for the study of political questions. There are economic
associations in a number of the cities, composed of the leading
business and professional men. I met the members of these societies
at Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya and was impressed with the attention that
they are giving to economic problems. They have in Tokyo another
organization called the Political Economy Association which deals
more directly with matters of government. The society formed by the
men who were educated in America, known as the Friends of America
(Baron Kaneko is one of the leading members), takes a deep interest
in all matters relating to government and political economy.
The leading political question in Japan to-day, in so far as it
affects domestic affairs, is whether the cabinet shall be selected
by the emperor, regardless of the prevailing sentiment in the house,
or be made to conform to the will of the people as expressed through
their representatives. At present the emperor's councilors are
chosen at his own discretion and the states of Satsuma and Choshu
have had a controlling influence in the selection of the emperor's
advisors. The democratic sentiment of the country is at this time
crystallizing in favor of the demand that the emperor take for his
premier the leader of the popular party, as the king of England
does. However much this reform may be delayed by circumstances, it
is bound to come if Japan is to recognize the rights of the people
to govern themselves.
In the cities, sanitation furnishes a most difficult problem. At
present there is little sewage, although there is a pressing need
for it.
In the industrial development of Japan the people must meet the
problem of child labor and also consider the shortening of the
length of the working day. Women now work twelve hours in the
factory and one cannot see them and the children at toil without
asking whether Japan can afford to impair the strength of the next
generation for any advantage which may be derived from such long
hours and such youthful labor. This subject is likely to be brought
before the next session of the diet.
In some reforms Japan has moved more rapidly than the United States.
Wherever she has waterworks in her cities, they are owned and
operated by the municipalities. She also has a telegraph system and
a telephone system operated by the national government. Telegrams
are sent at the same rate to all parts of the empire and the service
is satisfactory.
The telephone service is not so good. While it is all right as
far as it goes, the system is not extended as rapidly as the
demand requires. In Tokyo, for instance, those who want to install
telephones have to wait until someone discontinues his 'phone or is
willing to sell it, and a bonus is often demanded. If the local
telephones were owned by the city and only the interurban lines
managed by the imperial government, the service would respond more
quickly to the needs of the community.
The Japanese government also owns and operates a part of the
railroad system, and in doing so employs nothing but native help. I
traveled on both the government and private lines and could not see
that they differed materially so far as efficiency was concerned.
[Illustration: MR. OKURA, A SUCCESSFUL JAPANESE BUSINESS MAN.]
The first-class fare is about four cents per mile (in our money) the
second-class about two cents and the third-class (nearly all the
travel is third-class) about one cent. A reduction of twenty per
cent is made on return tickets, a reduction of from twenty to thirty
per cent on commutation tickets, and a reduction of from forty-five
to eighty per cent on season tickets for students. This reduction
to students might be imitated to advantage in our country. The
government road is all, or nearly all, double track and has the
latest safeguards for the protection of passengers at depots. The
Japanese are much given to meeting friends when they arrive and
escorting them to the train when they leave, and this custom has led
to the sale of platform tickets for one cent (in our money).
Japan has two educational problems: First, the increase in the
percentage of those going from the primary to the middle schools;
and, second, the cultivation of an ideal which will connect a
respect for manual labor with intellectual advancement. To-day a
large majority of her people work with their hands and at labor
which forbids the wearing of good clothes. It is probable that the
education of the masses will show itself to some extent in improved
methods and in the more extensive use of animals and machinery,
but there must remain a large amount of work which requires daily
contact with the soil. The rice crop grows in the mud and cannot
be harvested by machinery; the fields, too, are so small that they
cannot well be cultivated with the aid of animals. The farmers'
boys and girls are now going to school and gradually adopting the
European dress. Will they be content to return to the paddy fields
when they have finished their education? Some of the young men pull
'rikishas in the daytime in order to earn money to attend school at
night. Will their learning make them unwilling to do hard work? Or
will they substitute the cab for the 'rikisha?
Japan faces the educational problem that confronts the civilized
world, viz., how to put behind a trained mind an ideal which will
make the educated citizen anxious to do service rather than to be
waited upon. Tolstoy's solution of the problem is "bread labor,"
that is, physical toil sufficient to produce what one eats. This he
believes will teach respect for labor and by dignifying it unite
all parts of society in sympathetic co-operation. Has any better
solution been proposed?
With a broader educational foundation Japan will find it necessary
to extend the suffrage. At present the right to vote is determined
by a strict property qualification, but there is already an urgent
demand for the reduction of the tax qualification, and it will
not be long before a large addition will be made to the voting
population.
The most serious national problem with which Japan has to deal
is that imposed upon her by the attempt to extend the sphere of
her political influence to Formosa on the southwest and Korea
on the northwest. The people of Formosa do not welcome Japanese
sovereignty and an army of some six or seven thousand is kept on
that island to support Japanese authority.
But Korea presents a still more delicate and perplexing situation.
For more than a thousand years a feud has existed between Japan
and Korea and two attempts have been made by the former to invade
the latter, the last about three hundred years ago. At that time
a number of captives were carried back to Kagoshima where they,
as before mentioned, introduced the art of making what has since
been known as Satsuma ware. The fact that the descendants of these
captives lived in a colony by themselves for three centuries without
intermarrying with the Japanese is sufficient evidence of the
feeling entertained toward them by their captors.
To aggravate the matter Japan has been engaged in two wars, first
with China and then with Russia, over Korea, and it was also the
cause of one civil war in Japan. Having driven China from Korea ten
years ago and now having driven Russia out, she is undertaking to
exercise a protectorate over the country. When it is remembered that
Korea is separated from both Manchuria and Siberia by an imaginary
line and that the Koreans themselves regard the Japanese as
intruders, some estimate can be formed of Japan's task. In a future
article on Korea I shall speak on this subject more at length,
but the matter is referred to here because the experiment is as
dangerous to Japan as it is to Korea.
Will Japan be able to accomplish what other nations have failed to
do, viz., exercise a colonial power without abusing it and without
impoverishing herself?
[Illustration: A SHINTO GATE AT NARA.]
CHAPTER VIII.
KOREA--"THE HERMIT NATION."
Poor little Korea! One hardly knows whether to be amused or grieved,
so strangely have comedy and tragedy been blended in her history.
Mr. Griffiths in his very comprehensive book bearing that title,
calls Korea the "Hermit Nation," and the appellation was a fitting
one until within a generation. Since that time she might be
described as a bone of contention, for she has been the cause of
several bloody quarrels.
The position of Korea on the map of Asia very much resembles
Florida's position on the map of North America, and Japan's relative
position is something like that which Cuba bears to Florida.
Separated on the south from Japan by about a hundred miles of water
and joining both China and Russia on the north, it is not strange
that all three of these nations have looked upon her with covetous
eyes and begrudged each other any advantage obtained. The surface of
Korea is quite mountainous, the ranges and valleys extending for the
most part from the northeast to the southwest. Until recently the
country was inaccessible and few of the white race have penetrated
the interior. A few years ago a railroad was built from Seoul
thirty-five miles west to Chemulpo, the nearest seaport. Since then
the Japanese have built a road from Seoul north to Pen Yang, and
southeast to Fusan. The last line, which has been finished less than
a year, is two hundred and seventy-five miles long and connects the
Korean capital with the nearest seaport to Japan. This railroad
is of such great military importance to Japan that she aided the
building to the extent of guaranteeing six per cent interest on
the investment for fifteen years, with the provision that the
cost of the road should not exceed twenty-five million yen. The
Korean government gave the right of way for the road and the free
admission of material imported for its construction and equipment.
The engines and cars are of American style and make, and the road
is standard gauge. It is now so easy to pass through Korea in going
from Japan to Pekin that the tourist should not miss its strange
and interesting sights, but the trip should be made before November.
We took the train at Fusan and made the ride nearly all the way
in daylight, thus having an opportunity to see both the country
and the people. The road crosses three rivers and the water sheds
which separate them, making the construction of the road extremely
difficult. The mountains are bare, and we were informed that they
had been denuded by the natives and the wood used for fuel. The
Koreans sometimes blame the Japanese for the appearance of the
country and attributed it to the invasion three hundred years ago;
an intelligent son of Japan replied that as his country recovered
from earthquake shocks within a few years, the Koreans should have
been able to remove the traces of an invasion in less than three
centuries.
The valleys are fertile but in tillage and in evidences of industry
they do not approach the valleys of Japan. One misses the orchards,
the trees, the vines and the flowers which are ever present in "The
Land of the Rising Sun."
[Illustration: TWO KOREAN FAMILIES]
Rice is the principal crop in the south, while barley and wheat
are more cultivated in the north. Beans and peas are also raised
in large quantities and last year constituted the chief article
of export. Rice, while often the largest export, fell below beans
and peas that year and was closely followed by hides and ginseng.
There are some gold mines, the export of this ore amounting to
nearly fifty thousand dollars last year, but the country has been so
isolated that its mineral wealth has not been exhaustively explored.
The population of Korea is variously estimated at from eight to
fifteen millions. The men are larger than the Japanese and somewhat
lighter in color but not so alert. Like the Japanese they have
rather a scanty beard, but it seems to be more fashionable for the
older men to allow their chin whiskers to grow. In dress the Korean
man is unique. He wears a long white coat of thin cotton reaching to
the knees, with trousers generally of white, very full in the seat
and tied around the ankles. The vest is of red, blue or green if he
is not in mourning, but mourning seems to be a permanent occupation
in Korea. It was explained to us that white is the color used for
mourning and that the mourning period lasts three years. When one of
the royal family dies, all of the people wear mourning for the full
period, and as they have sometimes had three royal funerals within a
decade, white came into general use as a matter of economy.
[Illustration: IN KOREA--GROUP OF NATIVES.]
The hat ordinarily worn is made of horse hair and has a high crown,
and being only about a third as large as our hats, it sits upon the
top of the head without covering it. It has a narrow brim of the
same material and is tied on with strings under the chin. These
hats are generally black, although different colors may be seen upon
the street; sometimes an enormous straw hat is used for mourning.
The unmarried men wear the hair in one long braid like a Chinese
pigtail, but when one marries he combs his hair to the top of his
head and ties it in a stiff top knot which is visible through the
gauze hat. The foot is encased in a sock, padded with cotton, and a
canoe shaped shoe of grass, cloth, leather or wood.
The women, except those of the coolie class, are seldom seen on the
street in the daytime, and the men are not allowed on the street at
night, or were not until western ways began to invade the island.
Even when going out the women wear over their heads a green cape
with scarlet sleeves and draw it across the face in such a way that
little more than the eyes can be seen. The streets of Seoul and of
the towns through which we passed were full of men, many of them
walking about in a leisurely way or standing in groups smoking long
pipes. Mingled with them were coolies carrying immense packs on
their backs or leading ponies, oxen or cows laden with hay, wood or
fagots. We saw more idle men in two days in Korea than we saw in
Japan in a month. While the coolies seem to be quite industrious
and carry astonishing weights, there seems to be a deep-rooted
contempt for labor--even among the middle classes, and a contractor
told us that in the employing of the coolies it was necessary to
pay them every day because a week's compensation would have to be
spent before they would return to work. An incident will serve to
illustrate the feeling in regard to labor of any kind. In making a
purchase we wanted two things tied together with a string. We called
the guide's attention to it; he handed the things to his attendant
and the attendant handed them to the shopkeeper, who did the tying.
We were also informed that the Koreans lack the power of organized
co-operation. Each one works by himself and carries his burden on
forked sticks strapped to his back. In walking he uses what seems
like a staff, but its real purpose is that of a prop for his load
when he stops to rest.
The shopkeepers of Korea have the oriental taste for bargaining to a
marked degree and always ask a great deal more than they expect to
receive, finding, apparently, intellectual recreation in haggling
over the price. In making a few small purchases we were very
much amused at the spirited discussions which took place between
our guide and the merchants. Followed by a crowd of interested
spectators, numbering from twenty to fifty, we moved from shop to
shop. The vendor would announce a price as if his was a one-price
store. The guide would receive the announcement with absolute
contempt and the wordy war would begin. The bystanders took sides
and joined in the fray; the clerks and members of the storekeeper's
family flocked to his aid, while the crowd elbowed each other to get
nearer the scene of action. Usually the guide would start toward
another store before an agreement could be reached, sometimes less
than half of the original price was settled upon, and in the calm
which followed the storm, everyone seemed satisfied. We heard of
instances where one-eighth of the price asked was finally accepted,
but either the merchants with whom we dealt were more reasonable or
our guide yielded too soon.
The Korean houses are entirely different from those of Japan; they
are not so high nor so large but are more warmly built. They are
usually constructed of stone set in mud and have poorly thatched
roofs of straw; occasionally tile is used. Often the earth supplies
a floor except for the little sleeping rooms, which have floors of
stone covered with oiled paper. These rooms are heated by flues
under the floors which conduct the flame and smoke to a chimney
which opens on the side of the house. Leaves, fagots, coarse grass
and all sorts of trash are used for fuel and these stone floors,
heated twice a day, keep the small rooms quite comfortable.
The people sit on the floor as in Japan, except that they sit
cross-legged instead of sitting on the feet, and sleep on mats
spread on the floor at night and stowed away during the day.
While in Seoul we were, through the courtesy of Rev. S. F. Moore,
one of the missionaries, invited to the wedding of two Korean
Christians and after the ceremony had a chance to inspect the house
of the groom's father. It was quite neat and clean, but the houses
generally as seen from the narrow streets are dirty and uninviting.
One wonders where the men keep the long white coats of which they
seem so proud, until he is informed that the wives wash and iron
them at night while the lord of the household sleeps.
Speaking of the marriage, I must as a truthful chronicler record
that the young man whom we saw married (they marry young in Korea
and the marriages are arranged by the parents) had a pleasant
face and that the bride was modest and comely. He wore a dark
red, loose-fitting coat, a wide belt and a black gauze hat of
indescribable shape. The girl wore a green silk waist which, just
below the armpits, joined a very full skirt of red. Her head was
ornamented with two very large rolls of hair which, according to
custom, were borrowed for the occasion. We were informed that the
wedding clothes are often rented and that even the goose, which in
the native ceremony the wife presents to the husband as a symbol
of constancy, is obtained in the same way. As in this case the
Christian ceremony was used, the couple did not pledge themselves
according to the native practice by saying "Black is the hair that
now crowns our heads, yet when it has become as white as the fibers
of the onion root, we shall still be found faithful to each other,"
but as among the non-Christian Koreans the man is allowed to take
a concubine into his home whenever he is able to support one, the
pledge would seem to be a mere formality on his part.
[Illustration: A KOREAN SCENE.]
Seoul, the capital and largest city, is surrounded by a substantial
wall and entered by gates which until recently were shut at night
even though the city long ago outgrew the walls. These gates remind
one of the gates described in the Bible, and they are not lacking in
the beggar who finds the gate a convenient place to make his plea
to the passerby. Aside from two or three broad thoroughfares, the
streets are narrow, crooked and filthy. The open sewers on each side
are filled with refuse matter and reek with foul odors.
There is no general educational system in Korea, and the percentage
of illiteracy is naturally large. The missionary schools are
doing an excellent work and a few of the young men have been sent
to China, Japan and America. During recent years there has been
quite an awakening among the young men, and they are showing an
increased desire to learn about western civilization. So great is
this interest that a newly organized branch of the Young Men's
Christian Association at Seoul has a membership of over five
hundred, four-fifths of whom are not professing Christians but are
drawn to the institution because it gives them a chance to study
western problems and methods. Mr. Wanamaker, the merchant prince of
Philadelphia, has just offered to supply the money necessary for
a permanent Y. M. C. A. building in Seoul, and having addressed a
meeting in the present crowded quarters, I can testify that a new
hall is badly needed.
The Chinese characters are used in writing, but the Koreans have
a spoken language which is quite different. There is no extensive
literature that can be called Korean, although Dr. Allen, for
many years American minister at Seoul, has published, in a volume
entitled "Korea: Facts and Fancies," a number of delightful
folklore stories, which show an appreciation of the love story and
a very clear recognition of the personal virtues as illustrated in
daily life. Dr. Allen's book also contains an interesting chronology
of the principal events, but it is significant of the change wrought
by foreign influence that it only requires twelve pages to record
the things worth mentioning from the beginning of the Christian era
down to 1876, while eighty pages are devoted to the things that have
transpired since.
In examining the pages devoted to the last century one is struck
with the disinclination of the Korean government to accept the
offers of intercourse made by the various nations of Europe
since 1875, and with the number of missionaries who suffered
for religion's sake prior to that date. Persecution, however,
seems to have increased rather than diminished the zeal of the
various denominations, and to-day Korea is regarded as one of the
most promising of the missionary fields. While Confucianism has
influenced Korea, Buddhism never gained such a foothold in this
country as in China and Japan. There are no gorgeous temples here,
and for five hundred years (and until recently) Buddhist priests
were not allowed within the walls of Seoul. There are missionary
stations throughout the country, and at Peng Yang there is a native
congregation of fifteen hundred. At Seoul a modern hospital, built
with money given by Mr. Severance, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been
opened by Dr. Avison, where, besides care for the sick, medical
training is furnished to natives who desire to fit themselves for
this profession. I was assured by Dr. Avison and by missionaries
that young Koreans, both men and women, learn quickly and are
faithful assistants. The medical missionary, being in an excellent
position to show his Christian spirit by helpful service, is doing
much to aid in the propagation of our religion in the Orient. In
this connection I might add that Dr. Allen went to Korea as a
medical missionary and became the emperor's physician. This intimate
relation gave our country a good standing when the doctor afterward
became the American minister. These friendly relations are still
maintained through present Minister Morgan.
The government of Korea is an absolute monarchy and has a reigning
family which has held the throne for about five hundred years.
All authority emanates from the emperor and is exercised through
ministers, governors and subordinate officials, appointed by him.
If one can trust the stories afloat, the government is as corrupt
an organization as can be found on earth. Just who is responsible
is not clearly known, but that offices are sold and all sorts of
extortion practiced there can scarcely be doubt. There is no spirit
of patriotism such as is to be found in Japan, and why should there
be when the government gives so little in return for the burdens
which it imposes?
Changes in the cabinet are of frequent occurrence, there having been
something like sixty within a year.
For a long time Chinese influence was paramount in Korea and the
Chinese government had a resident minister in Seoul who was the
confidential advisor of the royal family. But Chinese influence
ended with Japan's victory in 1894; soon afterward Queen Min, the
wife of the present emperor, was put to death and, the murder being
charged to the Japanese, the emperor took refuge at the Russian
legation. Now that Japan has driven Russia out, she is virtually
in control of the country, although the nominal sovereignty of the
emperor has not been interfered with. Just what form the Japanese
protectorate will take has not yet been decided, or at least
has not yet been announced. Marquis Ito is in Seoul now as the
representative of his government conferring with the emperor and his
ministry.
In the end the protectorate will be whatever Japan desires to have
it, for neither Korea nor Russia nor China is in a position to
question her decision. Besides building railroads through Korea,
the Japanese have established banks and issued a currency for
Korea in place of the copper cash generally used. The government,
recognizing the inconvenience of a currency which had to be kept in
huge boxes and paid out at the rate of a thousand or more to the
dollar, had farmed out the right to coin nickels and these were soon
counterfeited. The counterfeit nickels have been classified as,
first, better than the originals; second, good imitations; third,
poor imitations; and fourth, those that can only be passed on a dark
night.
[Illustration: AMERICAN HOSPITAL AT SEOUL--KOREA]
Japanese soldiers are to be seen everywhere and Japanese settlements
are to be found in all the larger cities. The Koreans, as a rule,
regard the new Japanese invasion with silent distrust and are in
doubt whether the purpose of Japan is simply to protect herself from
future danger at the hands of China and Russia, or whether she is
expecting to colonize Korea with her own people. If Japan purifies
the government and makes it honest; if she establishes schools and
raises the intellectual standard of the people; if she revives the
industries now fallen into decay and introduces new ones; if, in
other words, she exercises her power for the upbuilding of Korea and
for the advancement of the Korean people, she may in time overcome
the prejudice which centuries of hostility have created. But what
nation has ever exercised power in this way? And how can Japan do it
without developing an educated class which will finally challenge
her authority? If she keeps the Koreans in ignorance and poverty,
they will be sullen subjects; if she leads them to higher levels
they will the more quickly demand their independence and be the
better prepared to secure it. Which course will she pursue?[1]
[1] Since the writing of this article Korea has been forced to
accept Japanese sovereignty in international matters, the local
government being in most matters undisturbed.
[Illustration: DOING THE FAMILY WASHING]
CHAPTER IX.
CHINA--AS SHE WAS
The contrast between the China of antiquity--hoary with age--and
the new China--just awakening into life--is so great as to suggest
the treatment of the two periods in different articles. And if the
contrast between China of yesterday and the China of to-day is
great, what shall we say of the contrast between the Flowery Kingdom
and our own country? The same stars shine overhead and the same laws
of nature operate on the earth, but in mode of living, appearance,
customs and habits of thought, the Chinese people could scarcely be
more different from ours.
First, a word as to the land which they occupy; its very vastness
impresses one, unless he has recently consulted his geography. While
the eighteen provinces which constitute China proper have something
less than two million square miles, yet the Chinese empire with its
tributary states has an area of about five million three hundred
thousand square miles, and extends over thirty degrees north and
south and seventy degrees east and west. We hardly realize when we
speak of China that her emperor holds sway over a territory nearly
twice as large as the United States; that his decrees are law to a
population estimated at from two hundred and fifty to four hundred
millions; that her climate is like that of Russia in the north,
while in the southern provinces her people live under a tropical
sun; and that she has so many mountains and such mighty deserts that
more than half of her population is crowded together upon a plain
which contains but a little more than two hundred thousand square
miles. Williams, in his work entitled "The Middle Kingdom," calls
this district "the most densely settled of any part of the world of
the same size," and estimates that upon this plain--less than three
times the size of Nebraska--one hundred and seventy-seven millions
of human beings dwell.
The harbors of China are hardly what one might expect on so extended
a line of sea coast. While the harbor at Hong Kong is an admirable
one--one of the best in the world--the one at Shanghai has no hills
to protect it, the one at Chefoo is open to the storms and the one
at Taku does not deserve to be called a harbor at all. In leaving
Shanghai we went an hour and a half by launch in order to reach a
steamer of only six thousand tons; at Chefoo a still smaller ship
was delayed a day because the lighters could not unload it in the
wind, and at Taku, the seaport of Tientsin and Pekin, we spent a day
on the bar waiting for ten feet of water.
The capital of the empire has until recently been so difficult of
access that comparatively few tourists have visited it. The large
ocean steamers stop at Shanghai and Hong Kong only, making it
necessary for one desiring to visit Pekin to take a smaller boat and
risk indefinite delays on account of wind and tide.
Since the completion of the railroad from Hankow to Pekin it is
possible to accomplish the journey from Shanghai to Pekin in less
time, and, in addition, enjoy the advantage of a trip inland. When
the projected road is completed from Hankow to Canton, the tourist
can land at Shanghai, take a river boat six hundred miles up the
Yangste Kiang to Hankow, then go by rail to Pekin, about eight
hundred miles north, then back through Hankow to Canton nearly as
far south, from which point there are daily boats to Hong Kong.
This trip, covering nearly a thousand miles of river travel and
about fifteen hundred miles of railroad travel (not including the
return trip from Pekin to Hankow) can be made in the time formerly
spent in travel along the coast and furnishes an infinitely better
opportunity for the study of the country and the people. As a matter
of precaution I ought to add that Pekin is so far north that before
the opening of the railroad it was extremely difficult to visit it
after the first of December, and even now it is desirable that the
trip should be made before the middle of November.
China is well watered; the largest river, the Yantse Kiang, which
empties into the ocean at Shanghai, is three thousand miles long,
drains more than half a million square miles. Seven hundred miles
above its mouth carries a volume of water estimated at five hundred
thousand cubic feet per second. It is one of the great rivers of the
earth and is navigable for large vessels for more than a thousand
miles.
The Yellow river, or, in Chinese, the Hwang Ho, drains a basin
almost as large and is nearly as long, but does not carry so large
a volume of water. This is the river whose overflows have been so
disastrous as to earn for it the name of "The Great Sorrow." This
river carries down so much deposit that within recent times it
has choked its original outlet and formed a new channel, entering
the ocean some three hundred miles farther north. At that time
thousands of villages were swept away and the loss of life was
estimated at several millions. The current of the Yellow river is
so shifting, the sandbars so numerous and the volume of water so
changeable that the river is practically useless for navigation.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF CHINESE--PEKIN]
Besides these, there are a number of rivers of less importance and
tributaries of these two large rivers, which only seem small by
comparison.
As if inspired by the numerous and extensive natural waterways, the
Chinese people centuries ago connected the great water systems by
an immense canal, which with the streams utilized by it, gave water
communication between Pekin and Canton. This canal, sometimes known
as the Transit river, is nearly twice as long as the Erie canal and
is not only the greatest work of its kind in Asia, but at the time
of its construction was the greatest in the world.
Before speaking of the people, a word should be said in regard
to the great wall. It extends from the ocean westward along the
northern boundary of China proper for a distance of about fifteen
hundred miles, climbing in its tortuous course hills and mountains,
one more than five thousand feet high. It is about twenty-five feet
thick at the base and fifteen at the top and varies from fifteen to
thirty feet in height. It is made of earth with a shell of stone or
large brick to hold the earth in place. The watch towers, built at
intervals along the line, add to its imposing appearance and make
it an object of historic interest, although a large part of the
wall has fallen into decay and in some places only a ridge of dirt
remains. This wall was constructed about two hundred years before
the Christian era as a protection against the hostile tribes of the
north, and for many centuries it answered its purpose, although
to-day it only suggests a tremendous waste of labor.
But the great wall, imposing as it is because of its length, is
inferior in height, thickness and construction to some of the city
walls. The wall of the city of Pekin, for instance, is about sixty
feet high and forty feet wide at its base, and is kept in excellent
repair. The wall encloses what is known as the Tartar city and
is nearly four miles square. Huge watch towers rise above each
gate, and to give still greater security, the gates open into an
enclosed square. While the walls of the city of Pekin are the most
substantial in the empire, the walls of Nanking, the former capital,
enclose nearly four times as much ground. There was a double object
in making the walls of the city so extensive. First, to provide for
future growth; and, second, to enable the people to withstand a
longer siege. How well the second purpose was served is shown by
the fact that during the Taiping rebellion the city of Nanking was
besieged for thirteen years. Just outside the walls of the city may
still be seen the earthworks thrown up by the imperial army, which
sometimes numbered thirty-five thousand.
[Illustration: THE WALL AT PEKIN]
But it must not be understood that the capital cities were the only
ones protected by walls. On the contrary, all the cities are walled;
one sees fifteen or twenty of these walled cities on the railroad
from Pekin to Hankow and a number of others on the ride down the
river to Shanghai.
The agricultural population, instead of occupying individual farms,
as in America, is gathered into little villages, each home being
enclosed in its own wall. During the summer the people swarm out
from the cities and villages and cultivate their little tracts of
land with the most primitive tools, carrying the farm products back
to their homes on wheelbarrows or in baskets balanced on poles.
In the north of China the camel is used for long distance travel,
and in the south we saw the water buffalo drawing the plow, but in
China less than anywhere else we have been, has man supplemented his
strength by the strength of domestic animals.
In the cities the streets are so narrow that travel by ordinary
vehicles is impossible. In Pekin there are a few wide streets
leading from the gates through the city, and on these a peculiar
heavy-wheeled, springless cart is used, but most of the streets are
more like alleys in which two 'rikishas can hardly pass. We did not
see a full sized horse in the capital city. Some ponies have been
brought down from Manchuria (Manchuria is regarded as the personal
property of the imperial family and there is a royal monopoly in
ponies) but the most popular saddle animal is the patient donkey. It
looks ludicrous to see a fat Chinaman perched upon the rump of one
of these tiny beasts, but there seems to be entire harmony between
the two and the donkey trudges along with little thought of change.
In Canton the streets are not wide enough for the 'rikisha, and
both the pony and the donkey are conspicuous by their absence. The
sedan chair, borne by coolies, was the only conveyance we saw in a
day's tour of the city, and it required some engineering to make any
headway with it when two parties met.
Although the business buildings are seldom more than two stories
high (the residences are usually only one story), the streets are
so narrow and so filled with signs and advertising banners that the
sun can scarcely find its way to the pavement. The stores are
narrow little stalls with the entire front open to the street. Often
there is a little shrine outside the door where incense is burned,
and innumerable gods of wood, brass and stone are to be seen.
[Illustration: A STREET IN PEKIN]
While in their style of dress and in their institutions the Chinese
are much the same throughout the empire, they differ considerably in
size and color according to the latitude, and in features according
to race history. In the north the people are lighter and larger than
in the south, while the men and women of Manchuria have coarser and
stronger faces than the Chinese. The people in the north seem to be
more vigorous and warlike and less artistic than the people of the
south.
[Illustration: CHINESE EMPEROR.]
The shaved forehead and the queue were prescribed by the Manchurian
rulers two hundred and fifty years ago as a sign of subjection,
but they are now a source of pride, and no greater humiliation can
be inflicted upon one than to cut off his queue. In the northern
provinces the men, women and children wear padded clothes, generally
of dark blue cotton. The breeches of the men are tied at the ankles
and the long, narrow coat reaches almost to the feet. In China
the women also wear trousers, but they are more like the American
article and the coat worn by the women is considerably shorter than
tha
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