but he is to strive to do what may be opposed to his desires,
_i.e_., to exercise self-control, in order that everyone may be
ready for whatever he may be called upon by his superiors to do."
"The aged, whether widowers or widows, and orphans, and persons
without relations, every one should assist with kindness and
liberality; for justice to these four is the root of good
government."
"Respect the gods [or God], keep the heart pure, and be diligent in
business during the whole life."
"When I was young I determined to fight and punish all my own and
my ancestors' enemies, and I did punish them; but afterwards, by
deep consideration, I found that the way of heaven was to help the
people, and not to punish them. Let my successors follow out this
policy, or they are not of my line. In this lies the strength of
the nation."
"To insure the Empire peace, the foundation must be laid in the
ways of holiness and religion, and if men think they can be
educated, and will not remember this, it is as if a man were to go
to a forest to catch fish, or thought he could draw water out of
fire. They must follow the ways of holiness."
"Japan is the country of the gods [or God--'Shinkoku']. Therefore,
we have among us Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, and other
sects. If we leave our gods [or God] it is like refusing the wages
of our master and taking them from another."
"In regard to dancing women, prostitutes, brothels, night work,
and all other improper employments, all these are like caterpillars
or locusts in the country. Good men and writers in all times have
written against them."
"It is said that the Mikado, looking down on his people, loves them
as a mother does her children. The same may be said of me and my
government. This benevolence of mind is called Jin. This Jin may be
said to consist of five parts; these are humanity, integrity,
courtesy, wisdom, and truth. My mode of government is according to
the way of heaven. This I have done to show that I am impartial,
and am not assisting my own relatives and friends only."[BF]
These quotations are perhaps sufficient, though one more from a recent
writer has a peculiar interest of its own, from the fact that the
purpose of the book from which the quotation is taken was the
destruction of the tendencies toward approval of Western thought. It
was published in 1857. The writer, Junzo Ohashi, felt himself to be a
witness for truth and righteousness, and, in the spirit of the
doctrine he professed, sealed his faith with a martyr's suffering and
death, dying (in August, 1868) from the effect of repeated examination
by torture for a supposed crime, innocence of which he maintained to
the end. It is interesting to note that two of his granddaughters,
"with the physics and astronomy of the West, have accepted its
religion."
"The West knows not the 'Ri'[BG] of the virtues of the heart which
are in all men unchangeably the same. Nor does it know that the
body is the organ of the virtues, however careful its analysis of
the body may be. The adherents of the Western Philosophy indeed
study carefully the outward appearances, but they have no right to
steal the honored name of natural philosophy. As when 'Ki' is
destroyed, 'Ri' too disappears, so, with their analysis of 'Ki,'
they destroy 'Ri,' and thus this learning brings benevolence and
righteousness and loyalty and truth to naught. Among the
Westerners who from of old have studied details minutely, I have
not heard of one who was zealous for the Great Way, for
benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and truth, and who opposed the
absurdities of the Lord of Heaven [God].'[BH] 'Let then the child
make its parent, Heaven; the retainer, his lord; the wife, her
husband; and let each give up life for righteousness. Thus will
each serve Heaven. But if we exalt Heaven above parent or lord, we
shall come to think that we can serve it though they be disobeyed,
and like wolf or tiger shall rejoice to kill them. To such fearful
end does the Western learning lead."[BI]
The foregoing quotations reveal the exalted nature of the ideals held
by at least some of the leaders of ethical thought in Japan. Taken as
a whole, the moral ideals characterizing the Japanese during their
entire historical period have been conspicuously communal. The feudal
structure of society has determined the peculiar character of the
moral ideal. Loyalty took first rank in the moral scale; the
subordination of the inferior to the superior has come next, including
unquestioning obedience of children to parents, and of wife to
husband. The virtues of a military people have been praised and often
gloriously exemplified. The possession of these various ideals and
their attainment in such high degree have given the nation its
cohesiveness. They make the people a unit. The feudal training under
local daimyos was fitting the people for the larger life among the
nations of the world on which they are now entering. Especially is
their sense of loyalty, as exhibited toward the Emperor, serving them
well in this period of transition from Oriental to Occidental social
ideals.
Let us now examine some defective moral standards and observe their
origin in the social order. Take, for instance, the ideal of
truthfulness. Every Occidental remarks on the untruthfulness of the
Japanese. Lies are told without the slightest apparent compunction;
and when confronted with the charge of lying, the culprit often seems
to feel little sense of guilt. This trait of character was noted
repeatedly by the early negotiators with Japan. Townsend Harris and
Sir Rutherford Alcock made frequent mention of it. When we inquire as
to the moral ideal and actual instruction concerning truthfulness, we
are amazed to find how inadequate it was. The inadequacy of the
teaching, however, was not the primal cause of the characteristic.
There is a far deeper explanation, yet very simple, namely, the nature
of the social order. The old social order was feudal, and not
industrial or commercial. History shows that industrial and commercial
nations develop the virtue of truthfulness far in advance of military
nations. For these virtues are essential to them; without them they
could not long continue to prosper.
So in regard to all the aspects of business morality, it must be
admitted that, from the Occidental standpoint, Old Japan was very
deficient. But it must also be stated that new ideals are rapidly
forming. Buying and selling with a view to making profit, though not
unknown in Old Japan, was carried on by a despised section of the
community. Compared with the present, the commercial community of
feudal times was mean and small. Let us note somewhat in detail the
attitude of the samurai toward the trader in olden times, and the
ideals they reveal.
The pursuit of business was considered necessarily degrading, for he
who handled money was supposed to be covetous. The taking of profit
was thought to be ignoble, if not deceitful. They who condescended to
such an occupation were accordingly despised and condemned to the
lowest place in the social scale. These ideas doubtless helped to make
business degrading; traders were doubtless sordid and covetous and
deceitful. In the presence of the samurai they were required to take
the most abject postures. In addressing him, they must never stand,
but must touch the ground with their foreheads; while talking with him
they must remain with their hands on the ground. Even the children of
samurai always assumed the lordly attitude toward tradesmen. The sons
of tradesmen might not venture into a quarrel with the sons of
samurai, for the armed children of the samurai were at liberty to cut
down and kill the children of the despicable merchant, should they
insult or even oppose them.
All this, however, has passed away. Commerce is now honored; trade and
manufacture are recognized not only as laudable, but as the only hope
of Japan for the future. The new social order is industrial and
commercial. The entire body of the former samurai, now no longer
maintaining their distinctive name, are engaged in some form of
business. Japan is to-day a nation of traders and farmers.
Accompanying the changes in the social order, new standards as to
honesty and business integrity are being formulated and enforced.[BJ]
XXIII
MORAL IDEALS
(_Continued_)
An Occidental is invariably filled with astonishment on learning that
a human being, as such, had no value in Old Japan. The explanation
lies chiefly in the fact that the social order did not rest on the
inherent worth of the individual. As in all primitive lands and times,
the individual was as nothing compared to the family and the tribe. As
time went on, this principle took the form of the supreme worth of the
higher classes in society. Hence arose the liberty allowed the samurai
of cutting down, in cold blood, a beggar, a merchant, or a farmer on
the slightest provocation, or simply for the purpose of testing his
sword.
Japanese social and religious philosophy had not yet discovered that
the individual is of infinite worth in himself, apart from all
considerations of his rank in society. As we have seen, the absence of
this idea from Japanese civilization resulted in various momentous
consequences, of which the frequency of murder and suicide is but one.
Another, and this constitutes one of the most striking differences
between the moral ideals of the East and the West, is the low estimate
put upon the inherent nature and value of woman, by which was
determined her social position and the moral relations of the sexes.
Japan seems to have suffered somewhat in this respect from her
acceptance of Hindu philosophy. For there seems to be considerable
unanimity among historians that in primitive times in Japan there
prevailed a much larger liberty, and consequently a much higher
regard, for woman than in later ages after Buddhism became powerful.
With regard, however, to that earlier period of over a thousand years
ago, it is of little use to speculate. I cannot escape the feeling,
however, that the condition of woman then has been unconsciously
idealized, in order to make a better showing in comparison with the
customs of Western lands. Be that as it may, the notions and ideals
presented by Buddhism in regard to woman are clear, and clearly
degrading. She is the source of temptation and sin; she is essentially
inferior to man in every respect. Before she may hope to enter Nirvana
she must be born again as man. How widely these extreme views of woman
have found acceptance in Japan, I am not in a position to state. It is
my impression, however, that they never received as full acceptance
here as in India. Nevertheless, as has already been shown,[BK] the
ideals of what a woman should do and be make it clear that her social
position for centuries has been relatively low; as wife she is a
domestic rather than a helpmeet. The "three obediences," to parents,
to husband, to son, set forth the ideal, although, without doubt, the
strict application of the third, obedience to one's son after he
becomes the head of the household, is relatively rare.
What especially strikes the notice of the Occidental is the slight
amount of social intercourse that prevails to-day between men and
women. Whenever women enter into the social pleasures of men, they do
so as professional singers and dancers, they being mere girls and
unmarried young women; this social intercourse is all but invariably
accompanied with wine-drinking, even if it does not proceed to further
licentiousness. The statement that woman is man's plaything has been
often heard in Japan. Confucian no less than Buddhistic ethics must
bear the responsibility for putting and keeping woman on so low a
level. Concubinage, possibly introduced from China, was certainly
sanctioned by the Chinese classics.
The Lei-ki allows an Emperor to have in addition to the Empress three
consorts, nine maids of high rank, and twenty-seven maids of lower
rank, all of whom rank as wives, and, beside these, eighty-one other
females called concubines. Concubinage and polygamy, being thus
sanctioned by the classics, became an established custom in Japan.
The explanation for this ideal and practice is not far to seek. It
rests in the communal character of the social order. The family was
the social unit of Japan. No individual member was of worth except the
legal head and representative, the father. A striking proof of the
correctness of this explanation is the fact that even the son is
obeyed by the father in case he has become "in kio,"[BL] that is, has
abdicated; the son then becomes the authoritative head. The ideals
regarding woman then were not unique; they were part of the social
order, and were determined by the principle of "communalism"
unregulated by the principle of "individualism." Ideals respecting man
and woman were equally affected. So long as man is not valued as a
human being, but solely according to his accidental position in
society, woman must be regarded in the same way. She is valued first
as a begetter of offspring, second as a domestic. And when such
conceptions prevail as to her nature and function in society,
defective ideals as to morality in the narrower sense of this term,
leading to and justifying concubinage, easy divorce, and general loose
morality are necessary consequences.
But this moral or immoral ideal is by no means peculiar to Japan. The
peculiarity of Japan and the entire Orient is that the social order
that fostered it lasted so long, before forces arose to modify it.
But, as will be shown later,[BM] the great problem of human evolution,
after securing the advantages of "communalism," and the solidification
of the nation, is that of introducing the principle of individualism
into the social order. In the Orient the principle of communalism
gained such headway as effectually to prevent the introduction of this
new principle. There is, in my opinion, no probability that Japan,
while maintaining her isolation, would ever have succeeded in making
any radical change in her social order; her communalism was too
absolute. She needed the introduction of a new stimulus from without.
It was providential that this stimulus came from the Anglo-Saxon race,
with its pronounced principle of "individualism" wrought out so
completely in social order, in literature, and in government. Had
Russia or Turkey been the leading influences in starting Japan on her
new career, it is more than doubtful whether she would have secured
the principles needful for her healthful moral development.
Justice to the actual ideals and life of Old Japan forbids me to
leave, without further remark, what was said above regarding the
ideals of morality in the narrower significance of this word.
Injunctions that women should be absolutely chaste were frequent and
stringent. Nothing more could be asked in the line of explicit
teaching on this theme. And, furthermore, I am persuaded, after
considerable inquiry, that in Old Japan in the interior towns and
villages, away from the center of luxury and out of the beaten courses
of travel, there was purity of moral life that has hardly been
excelled anywhere. I have repeatedly been assured that if a youth of
either sex were known to have transgressed the law of chastity, he or
she would at once be ostracised; and that such transgressions were,
consequently, exceedingly rare. It is certainly a fact that in the
vast majority of the interior towns there have never, until recent
times, been licensed houses of prostitution. Of late there has been a
marked increase of dancing and singing girls, of whom it is commonly
said that they are but "secret prostitutes." These may to-day be found
in almost every town and village, wherever indeed there is a hotel.
Public as well as secret prostitution has enormously increased during
the last thirty or forty years.[BN]
Thanks to Mr. Murphy's consecrated energy, the appalling legalized
and hopeless slavery under which these two classes of girls exist is
at last coming to light. He has shown, by several test cases, that
although the national laws are good to look at they are powerless
because set aside by local police regulations over which the courts
are powerless! In September, 1900, however, in large part due no doubt
to the facts made public by him, and backed up by the public press,
and such leaders of Japan's progressive elements as Shimada Sabur, the
police regulations were modified, and with amazing results. Whereas,
previous to that date, the average monthly suicides throughout the
land among the public prostitutes were between forty and fifty, during
the two months of September and October there were none! In that same
period, out of about five thousand prostitutes in the city of Tokyo,
492 had fled from their brothels and declared their intentions of
abandoning the "shameful business," as the Japanese laws call it, and
in consequence a prominent brothel had been compelled to stop the
business! We are only in the first flush of this new reform as these
lines are written, so cannot tell what end the whole movement will
reach. But the conscience of the nation is beginning to waken on this
matter and we are confident it will never tolerate the old slavery of
the past, enforced as it was by local laws, local courts, so that
girls were always kept in debt, and when they fled were seized and
forced back to the brothels in order to pay their debts!
But in contrast to the undoubted ideal of Old Japan in regard to the
chastity of women, must be set the equally undoubted fact that the
sages have very little to say on the subject of chastity for men.
Indeed there is no word in the Japanese language corresponding to our
term "chastity" which may be applied equally to men and women. In his
volume entitled "Kokoro," Mr. Hearn charges the missionaries with the
assertion that there is no word for chastity in Japanese. "This," he
says, "is true in the same sense only that we might say that there is
no word for chastity in the English language, because such words as
honor, virtue, purity, chastity have been adopted into English from
other languages."[BO] I doubt if any missionary has made such a
statement. His further assertion, that "the word most commonly used
applies to both sexes," would have more force, if Mr. Hearn had stated
what the word is. His English definition of the term has not enabled
me to find the Japanese equivalent, although I have discussed this
question with several Japanese. It is their uniform confession that
the Japanese language is defective in its terminology on this topic,
the word with which one may exhort a woman to be chaste being
inapplicable to a man. The assertion of the missionaries has nothing
whatever to do with the question as to whether the terms used are pure
Japanese or imported Chino-Japanese; nor has it any reference to the
fact that the actual language is deficient in abstract terms. It is
simply that the term applicable to a woman is not applicable to a man.
And this in turn proves sharp contrasts between the ideals regarding
the moral duties of men and of women.
An interesting point in the Japanese moral ideal is the fact that the
principle of filial obedience was carried to such extremes that even
prostitution of virtue at the command of the parents, or for the
support of the parents, was not only permitted but, under special
conditions, was highly praised. Modern prostitution is rendered
possible chiefly through the action of this perverted principle.
Although the sale of daughters for immoral purposes is theoretically
illegal, yet, in fact, it is of frequent occurrence.
Although concubinage was not directly taught by Confucius, yet it was
never forbidden by him, and the leaders and rulers of the land have
lent the custom the authority and justification of their example. As
we have already seen, the now ruling Emperor has several concubines,
and all of his children are the offspring of these concubines. In Old
Japan, therefore, there were two separate ideals of morality for the
two sexes.
The question may be raised how a social order which required such
fidelity on the part of the woman could permit such looseness on the
part of the man, whether married or not. How could the same social
order produce two moral ideals? The answer is to be found in several
facts. First, there is the inherent desire of each husband to be the
sole possessor of his wife's affections. As the stronger of the two,
he would bring destruction on an unfaithful wife and also on any who
dared invade his home. Although the woman doubtless has the same
desire to be the sole possessor of her husband's affection, she has
not the same power, either to injure a rival or to punish her
faithless husband. Furthermore, licentiousness in women has a much
more visibly disastrous effect on her procreative functions than equal
licentiousness in man. This, too, would serve to beget and maintain
different ethical standards for the two sexes. Finally, and perhaps no
less effective than the two preceding, is the fact that the general
social consciousness held different conceptions in regard to the
social positions of man and woman. The one was the owner of the
family, the lord and master; to him belonged the freedom to do as he
chose. The other was a variety of property, not free in any sense to
please herself, but to do only as her lord and master required.
An illustration of the first reason given above came to my knowledge
not long since. Rev. John T. Gulick saw in Kanagawa, in 1862, a man
going through the streets carrying the bloody heads of a man and a
woman which he declared to be those of his wife and her seducer, whom
he had caught and killed in the act of adultery. This act of the
husband's was in perfect accord with the practices and ideals of the
time, and not seldom figures in the romances of Old Japan.