When day broke on the morning of the 8th July we got our first sight
of the “_terra incognita_”—the hermetic land—the land which had been
invaded but never conquered—hence called the “virgin empire.” The
high, bold shores of Japan were before us—the “kingdom of the origin
of the sun.”
Japan has been continually spoken of as the unknown land. It is
difficult to see with what correctness this designation should have
been given it, unless those countries only are known upon which the
physical eye of some numbers may have rested. Taking the extant
information at command, it can very properly be said, with Macfarlane,
that we “know more of the Japanese than we knew of the Turks a hundred
years ago;” and he might have added, than other nations knew of
America, though discovered half a century earlier than Japan.
The works on the country are numerous; among them those of the Jesuits,
and the German and Swedish medical officers of the Dutch prison factory
at Dezima. The printed data of the former, and the archives of the
Jesuit headquarters at Rome and at other places, could furnish the
earliest and most thorough information. “_Les Lettres Edifiantes et
Curieuses_,” or the pages of Charlevoix, which tell of the labors
of the Jesuit pioneer missionary in Japan, Francis Xavier,—make it
anything but an unknown land.
Then there are the books, whose size might well deter the stoutest,
but whose pages would well repay the industrious search of the
inquirer—the product of the close observation and assiduous
notation of Kœmpfer,[1] Thunberg, Siebold; and the Dezima
Opperhoofds—Titsinghe, Doeff, Meylan, and Warehouse Master Fischer,
in lesser size; the quaint accounts of old William Adams, pilot, and
Captain Saris, Englishmen; the work of the Russian Golownin, as far
as he could gather information, while undergoing his hard but perhaps
justly retributive imprisonment in Matsmai; the works of Sir Stamford
Raffles; Reports of the East India Company; the pages of the Asiatic
Journal, &c.
[1] The work of Kœmpfer, to which reference, as to Japanese history,
is frequently made, singular to say, was never written by him. It was
written by one Camphay, governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, and
at one time the superintendent of the trade in Japan. The manuscript
was only given to Kœmpfer to bring home, and to place it in the
archives of the Dutch East India Company at Amsterdam; but instead of
complying with the trust, he took the pages with him to Germany, and
kept them until he died. After his death, more than a century ago, a
friend of his named Scheuchzer, residing in London, went immediately
to Germany, procured the manuscript, and it was first published in
Great Britain in English, and subsequently translated into other
languages.
With such sources of information as these, it would be a piece of
affectation to suppose the majority of the reading community without
some knowledge of the early and past history of Japan; but for such
as may possibly have not given it any attention, it may be well to
give a hurried glance at the early history of the country, as derived
from compilations of the before-cited authorities, and also down to
the condition of the empire at the time of our visit—which is to be
found in a fine synoptical article which appeared some time since in a
foreign Quarterly Review—without further acknowledgment.
Well, then, to begin with the mythological. As the Japanese have it,
their origin was superhuman, and their primitive history is in this
wise: From primeval chaos arose a self-created supreme God, throned
in the highest heaven, to whom, with some brevity, is given the name,
_Ameno-mi-naka-nusimo-kami_. What then existed of a universe was
governed by seven celestial gods who next arose. The last of these,
not admiring the celibacy of his predecessors, with whom the goddesses
had dwelt as sisters, took unto himself a wife. The marital state, it
appears, had the effect of awakening his latent energy, and one day he
said to his spouse: “There should be somewhere a habitable earth; let
us seek it under the waters that are boiling beneath us.”
Like Ithuriel, he possessed a spear, and thrusting it into the waters
he then withdrew it. The drops which fell from the spear—which,
perhaps, was weeping the puncture which he had given the aqueous
element—like the tears of Niobe, became solidified, and thus came into
existence the present insulated empire.
Others, however, not having the fear of Japanese gods before their
eyes, have a perverseness in the belief, that the receding waters of
the deluge left bare Japan, or that it may have been since upheaved by
volcanic action from the mighty deep.
The Adam of Japan was _Ten Sio Dai Dsin_. From him sprang the nation;
though _Syn Mou_ is represented as the founder of the empire. The
physical conformation of the Japanese indicates their Mongolian origin.
The geography of the Japanese kingdom is included in a string of
islands on the northeast coast of Asia, not far distant from the main
land, commencing with the Kurile islands, a portion of which the empire
exercises sovereignty over, and extending to the straits of Van Diemen
on the south. The islands and uninhabited rocks are said to comprise
three thousand eight hundred and fifty; but Japan of the present day is
understood to include Yezo, Niphon, Kew Sew, and Sikok; among which the
principal is Niphon, Nipon, Zipon, Zipango, or Cipango, by which names
it has been called indifferently. It was for “Cipango” that Columbus
sailed from Palos, and from the masthead of the “Pinto” the western
world was first descried in 1492. Exactly fifty years afterward,
_Pinto_, a Portuguese first descried “Cipango,”—“the kingdom of the
origin of the sun.”
The authentic history of Japan commences in 660, B. C., with the first
mortal ruler, surnamed the “Divine Conqueror.” In Niphon he built him
a _dairi_, or temple-palace dedicated to the sun goddess. From him all
the _mikados_, or sovereigns, claim to descend.
These self-styled divine rulers, from ceasing to command their armies,
and intrusting military commands to kinsmen and others, came to
abdicating so early, that the heirs of their power were still mere
infants. These infants fell into the custody of others, who loved
them about as well as the Duke of Gloster did those of his brothers
he had conveyed to the Tower; and so the partisans of the legitimate
descent, and of usurpers, immersed the kingdom in a civil war. In favor
of the authority of an infant _mikado_, then threatened, came forth,
a champion named Yoritomo, who saved the throne, by his efforts, for
the imperiled juvenile sovereign, and for this service the regent
allowed the real power to remain in the hands of Yoritomo, under the
title of _sio-i-dai-ziogoon_, or “generalissimo fighting against the
barbarians.” Very soon these ziogoons, from generalissimos fighting
against barbarians, became generalissimos fighting against mikados.
They became tenants of power by will, not by courtesy; they saved
the spiritual head from overthrow, but they retained his temporal
kingdom for themselves; their offices of trust became offices of
power, and hereditarily so; and from Buddhist nunneries widows were
even called to govern for infant ziogoons. The spiritual emperor soon
became impotent in the hands of the military emperor, and the _dual_
government gradually dwindled until the accession of the plebeian—the
self-made, the Napoleon of Japan—Taico Sama, to the ziogoonship, who
died in 1598, at the age of sixty-three, after having subdued _Corea_,
curtailed the power of the princes, abolished the feudal system, and
made the _mikado_, a mikado “about nothing!”
It would, no doubt, be now entirely true to say, that the sceptre
wrenched from the mikado by the ziogoon, has in turn been wrested from
the ziogoon by a council of state, and the supreme authority of Japan
is now exercised by the president of the council, though the emperor is
the John Doe in whose name he speaks.
Kublai-khan, when he ascended the Mongol throne, determined upon an
invasion of the Japanese empire from his dependency of Kaou-le. The
better to pave the way for this proceeding, he sent an embassador with
the following letter to Japan:—
“The exalted emperor of the Mongols to the wang [king] of Niphon:—
“I am the prince of a formerly small state, to which the adjacent lands
have united themselves, and my endeavor is to make inviolable truth
and friendship reign among us. What is more, my ancestors have, in
virtue of their splendid warrant from Heaven, taken possessions of Hia
dominions. The number of the distant countries, of the remote cities,
that fear our power and love our virtue, passes computation. When I
ascended the throne, the harmless people of Kaou-le were suffering
under the calamities of war. I immediately ordered a cessation of
hostilities, recalling the troops from beyond the frontiers to the
encampment of their colors. The prince of Kaou-le and his subjects
appeared at my court to give me thanks, and I treated them kindly, as
a father treats his children. So I intend that your servants shall be
treated. Kaou-le is my eastern frontier; Niphon lies near, and has from
the beginning held intercourse with the central empire. But during my
reign, not a single envoy has appeared to open a friendly intercourse
with me. I apprehend that the state of things is not, as yet, well
known in your country, whereupon I send envoys, with a letter, to make
you acquainted with my views, and I hope we may understand each other.
Already philosophers desire to see the whole world form one family. But
how may this one-family principle be carried into effect, if friendly
intercourse subsist not between the parties? I am resolved to call this
principle into existence, even should I be obliged to do so by force
of arms. It is now the business of the _wang_ of Niphon to decide what
course is most agreeable to him.”
A contemptuous silence was the only answer that the Japanese returned
to this demand. The _ziogoon_ went immediately to work to put their
coasts in a state of defence, while the _mikado_ had stated prayers
offered up.
The invaders, a hundred thousand strong, came as “the winds come when
forests are rended,” and by the winds, as they came, their “navies
were stranded.” The necks of those who escaped from shipwreck were
severed by the Japanese blades, and three alone were spared to bear
back to their country and the summer-state lord of Xanadu, the tale of
disaster, and the fate of his armada. This was in October of the year
1280.
Of the advent of the Jesuits in Japan, three hundred years afterward,
and the simultaneous commencement of commercial intercourse by the
Portuguese; the butchery of the Christians at Simbara, (which, to
their eternal infamy be it said, was assisted by the Dutch,) and
the expulsion of the Portuguese; of the subsequent and continued
intercourse of the Dutch; and the repulse of other Europeans and
Americans, at later times, in their attempt to open a trade, down to
1837, there is no room to speak in these pages. In the introduction
to the “Voyages of the Morrison and Himmaleh,” by C. W. King, the
first of which ships was fired upon and driven from Japan in 1837, the
history of foreign intercourse is given in a succinct form; or more
elaborately in book i. of Macfarlane.
The population of Japan has been both over and under estimated;
absurdly by the Russian captain Golownin, who estimated that of Yedo
alone, from what he heard, at eight millions. It can be but intelligent
speculation after all; and is no doubt most accurately stated when
it is put down as somewhat exceeding that of Great Britain. The best
information I could gain, as to the population of the city of Yedo, on
the occasion of the Mississippi’s third and last visit to Japan, was
that it numbered between fifteen and sixteen hundred thousand.
I can not better close this hurried chapter than by giving short
extracts from two prominent English writers, published before our
sailing from the United States, and containing their speculations and
reflections, which it is well to contrast subsequently, with the result
of the American expedition.
The first says:—
“In every case we earnestly hope that the American expedition may
be conducted with firmness, but also with prudence and gentleness.
Should our very enterprising and energetic brethren begin with a too
free use of bowie-knives and Colt’s revolvers, the history of their
mission will all be written in characters of blood; slaughters and
atrocities will be committed, and an interesting people will be plunged
back into complete barbarity. Though unable to contend in the field
even with a small disciplined force well provided with artillery, and
good artillerymen, the Japanese, if we are correctly informed as to
their character, will brave death and die in heaps. We would not make
any positive assertion, but we apprehend the Americans will find that
little or nothing can be done by negotiation. Should force be resorted
to, the best means of proceeding would probably be to take possession
of one of the smaller islands, or of some peninsular or promontory that
might be easily fortified on the land side. A line of intrenchments
sufficiently strong to keep off any native force, might soon be made,
and easily strengthened afterward. On this strong basis negotiation
might probably be carried on with a better chance of success.”
The latter says:—
“Strange and singular as everything we have heard about Japan
undoubtedly is, nothing is so strange or so singular as the
determination of the inhabitants to resist all intercourse with their
fellow-creatures, except it be the fact that they have been able to
act upon the resolution with effect during two centuries. It is this
consideration which sheds a tinge of romance about the operations
of the American squadron. The attack upon Japan is more than an
expedition, it is an adventure. In the midst of the all-absorbing
prose of the every-day world we suddenly feel as if we were at once
transported to the domain of Ariosto and knight-errantry. The founders
of the system did ill to enlist against their cause the principle of
curiosity, the most constant and powerful impulse of frail humanity.
Let the plainest woman in the three kingdoms cover her face with a
thick brown veil, and appear to shun observation and she will soon be
followed by an inquisitive crowd. The flavor of forbidden fruit has
smacked racily on mortal lips from the days of Eve downward. Be the
impulse right or wrong it exists, and as it will most surely be acted
on, it must not be ignored. The affair, however, is one of far too
vital importance to be treated in a light or jesting spirit, for we
have every reason to suppose, and to fear, that the resistance of the
Japanese to the invaders will be of the most determined character.
Great bloodshed and great misery will probably precede the opening up
of Japan. However necessary, and however justifiable such a step may
be, we are not of those who can contemplate the slaughter of a gallant
people, however mistaken their cause, without a pang of regret.”