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Search - Japan - An Attempt At Interpretation

Japan An Attempt At Interpretation
Author: Lafcadio Hearn

JAPAN AN ATTEMPT AT INTERPRETATION BY LAFCADIO HEARN Honorary Member of the Japan Society London formerly Lecturer in the Imperial University of Tokyo iSgd-rgo , and Fourteen Years a. Resident of Japan tim of riid and n ITeto f0rfe THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON MACMILLAN CO,, LID. 1907 v4 rights reserved COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.... more » Set up and electrotyped. Pubhshed September, 1904. Reprinted November, twice, 1904 , December twice, 1904 January, April, August, October, 1905 February, 1906, Apul, July, 1907 J. 9. Crushing Co, - Berwick Smith Go, Contents CHAPTBR PAGE I. DIFFICULTIES .... i II. STRANGENESS AND CHARM , 7 III. THE ANCIENT CULT 25 IV. THE RELIGION OF THE HOME 39 V. THE JAPANESE FAMILY 63 VI. THE COMMUNAL CULT 91 VII. DEVELOPMENTS OF SHINTO 119 VIII. WORSHIP AND PURIFICATION 147 IX. THE RULE OF THE DEAD 173 X. THE INTRODUCTION OF BUDDHISM . . . 201 XL THE HIGHER BUDDHISM ....... 227 XII. THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 251 XIII, THE RISE OF THE MILITARY POWER . , . 283 XIV. THE RELIGION OF LOYALTY 309 XV. THE JESUIT PERIL 331 XVI. FEUDAL INTEGRATION ....... 373 XVII. THE SHINTO REVIVAL 399 XVIII. SURVIVALS 415 XIX MODERN RESTRAINTS 431 XX. OFFICIAL EDUCATION 457 XXL INDUSTRIAL DANGER 483 XXII. REFLECTIONS ,. 499 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES . 527 INDEX ... 529 Difficulties Difficulties A THOUSAND books have been written about Japan but among these, setting aside artistic publications and works of a purely special character, the really precious vol umes will be found to number scarcely a score. This fact is due to the immense difficulty of per ceiving and comprehending what underlies the surface of Japanese life. No work fully inter preting that life, no work picturing Japan within and without, historically and socially, psychologi cally and ethically, can be written for at least another fifty years. So vast and intricate the subject that the united labour of a generation of scholars could not exhaust it, and so difficult that the number of scholars willing to devote their time to it must always be small. Even among the Japanese themselves, no scientific knowledge of their own history is yet possible because the means of obtaining that knowledge have not yet been prepared, though mountains of material have been collected. The want of any good his tory upon a modern plan is but one of many discouraging wants. Data for the study of sociol 4 DIFFICULTIES ogy are still inaccessible to the Western investi gator. The early state of the family and the clan the history of the differentiation of classes the history of the differentiation of political from religious law the history of restraints, and of their influence upon custom the history of regu lative and cooperative conditions in the develop ment of industry the history of ethics and aesthetics, all these and many other matters remain obscure. This essay of mine can serve in one direction only as a contribution to the Western knowledge of Japan. But this direction is not one of the least important. Hitherto the subject of Japanese re ligion has been written of chiefly by the sworn enemies of that religion by others it has been almost entirely ignored. Yet while it continues to be ignored and misrepresented, no real knowledge of Japan is possible. Any true comprehension of social conditions requires more than a superficial acquaintance with religious conditions. Even the industrial history of a people cannot be understood without some knowledge of those religious tradi tions and customs which regulate industrial life during the earlier stages of its development. . . . Or take the subject of art. Art in Japan is so intimately associated with religion that any attempt to study it without extensive knowledge of the DIFFICULTIES 5 beliefs which it reflects, were mere waste of time...

ISBN-13: 9781406722383
ISBN-10: 1406722383
Publication Date: 3/15/2007
Pages: 556
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Taylor Press
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
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