How Civilization Came To Japan:
There is not much of absorbing interest in early Japanese history. For a
period of some twelve hundred years nearly all that we know of the
mikados is that they "lived long and died happy." No fewer than twelve
of these patriarchs lived to be over one hundred years old, and one held
the throne for one hundred and one years. But they were far surpassed in
longevity by a statesman named Takenouchi, who served five mikados as
fifty years. There was not much "rotation in office" in those venerable
times.
We must come down for six hundred years from the days of Jimmu to find
an emperor who made any history worth the telling. In truth, a mist of
fable lies over all the works of these ancient worthies, and in telling
their stories we can never be sure how much of them is true. Very likely
there is sound history at the bottom, but it is ornamented with a good
deal that it is not safe to believe.
The first personage after Jimmu upon whom we need dwell was a wise and
worthy mikado named Sujin, who spent his days in civilizing his people,
probably no easy task. The gap of six centuries between Jimmu's time
and his had, no doubt, its interesting events, but none of particular
importance are upon record.
As a boy Sujin displayed courage and energy, together with the deepest
piety. As a man he mourned over the sinfulness of his people, and
earnestly begged them to give up their wicked ways and turn from sin to
the worship of the gods. He was not at first very successful. The people
were steeped in iniquity, and continued so until a pestilence was sent
to change the current of their sinful thoughts.
The pious monarch called upon the gods to stay the plague, doing penance
by rising early, fasting, and bathing,--possibly an unusual ceremony in
those days. The gods at length heard the voice of the king, and the
pestilence ceased. It had done its work. The people were convinced of
the error of their ways and turned from wantonness to worship, and
everywhere religious feeling revived.
As yet Japan possessed no temples or shrines, all worship being
conducted in the open air. The three holy emblems of the nation, the
mirror, the sword, and the ball, had thus far been kept within the
palace. Wherever they were the divine power dwelt, and the mikado,
living within their influence, was looked upon as equal to a god.
But the deities taught Sujin--or at least he thought they did--that this
was not the proper place for them. A rebellion broke out, due,
doubtless, to the evil spirit of men, but arising, in his opinion, from
the displeasure of the gods, who were not pleased with his keeping these
sacred objects under his own roof, where they might be defiled by the
unholiness of man. He determined, therefore, to provide for them a home
of their own, and to do so built the first temple in his realm. The
sacred symbols were placed under the care of his daughter, who was
appointed priestess of the shrine. From that day to this a virgin
princess of imperial blood has been chosen as custodian of these emblems
of deific power and presence.
The first temple was built at Kasanui, a village in Yamato. But the
goddess Amaterasu warned the priestess that this locality was not
sufficiently holy, so she set off with the mirror in search of a place
more to the taste of the gods, carrying it from province to province,
until old age overtook her, yet finding no spot that reflected the clear
light of holiness from the surface of the sacred mirror. Another
priestess took up the task, many places were chosen and abandoned, and
finally, in 4 A.D., the shrine of Uji, in Ise, was selected. This
apparently has proved satisfactory to the deities of Japan, for the
emblems of their divinity still rest in this sacred shrine. Sujin had
copies made of the mirror and the sword, which were kept in the "place
of reverence," a separate building within the palace. From this arose
the imperial chapel, which still exists within the palace bounds.
We speak of the "palace" of the mikado, but we must warn our readers not
to associate ideas of splendor or magnificence with this word. The
Emperor of Japan dwells not in grandeur, but in simplicity. From the
earliest times the house of the emperor has resembled a temple rather
than a palace. The mikado is himself half a god in Japanese eyes, and is
expected to be content with the simple and austere surroundings of the
images of the gods. There are no stateliness, no undue ornament, no
gaudy display such as minor mortals may delight in. Dignified simplicity
surrounds the imperial person, and when he dies he is interred in the
simplest of tombs, wonderfully unlike the gorgeous burial-places in
which the bodies of the monarchs of continental Asia lie in state.
When Sujin came to the throne the people of Japan were still in a state
of barbarism, and there was scarce a custom in the state that did not
call for reform. A new and better system of arranging the periods of
time was established, the year being divided into twenty-four months or
periods, which bear such significant names as "Beginning of Spring,"
"Rain-water," "Awakening of the Insects," "Clear Weather," "Seed-rain,"
etc. A census was ordered to be taken at regular intervals, and by way
of taxation all persons, men and women alike, were obliged to work for
the government for a certain number of days each year.
To promote commerce, the building of boats was encouraged, and regular
communication was opened with Corea, from which country many useful
ideas and methods were introduced into Japan. Even a prince of one of
the provinces of Corea came to the island empire to live. Agriculture
was greatly developed by Sujin, canals being dug and irrigation
extensively provided for. Rice, the leading article of food, needs to
be grown in well-watered fields, and the stealing of water from a
neighbor's field is looked upon as a crime of deepest dye. In old times
the water-thief was dealt with much as the horse-thief was recently
dealt with in some parts of our own country.
Sujin's work was continued by his successor, who, in 6 A.D., ordered
canals and sluices to be dug in more than eight hundred places. At
present Japan has great irrigating reservoirs and canals, through which
the water is led for miles to the farmers' fields. In one mountain
region is a deep lake of pure water, five thousand feet above the sea.
Many centuries ago a tunnel was made to draw off this water, and
millions of acres of soil are still enriched by its fertilizing flood.
Such are some of the results of Sujin's wise reforms.
Another of the labors of Sujin the civilizer was to devise a military
system for the defence of his realm. In the north, the savage Ainos
still fought for the land which had once been all their own, and between
them and the subjects of the mikado border warfare rarely ceased. Sujin
divided the empire into four military departments, with a shogun, or
general, over each. At a later date military magazines were established,
where weapons and rations could be had at any time in case of invasion
by the wild tribes on the border or of rebellion within the realm. In
time a powerful military class arose, and war became a profession in
Japan. Throughout the history of the island kingdom the war spirit has
been kept alive, and Japan is to-day the one nation of Eastern Asia
with a love of and a genius for warlike deeds. So important grew the
shoguns in time that nearly all the power of the empire fell into their
hands, and when the country was opened to foreign nations, one of these,
calling himself the Tai Kun (Tycoon), posed as the emperor himself, the
mikado being lost to sight behind the authority of this military chief.
At length old age began to weigh heavily upon Sujin, and the question of
who should succeed him on the throne greatly troubled his imperial mind.
He had two sons, but his love for them was so equally divided that he
could not choose between their claims. In those days the heirship to the
throne seems to have depended upon the father's will. Not being able to
decide for himself, he appealed to fate or divination, asking his sons
one evening to tell him the next morning what they had dreamed during
the night. On their dreams he would base his decision.
The young princes washed their bodies and changed their
clothes,--seemingly a religious rite. Visions came to them during the
still watches of the night, and the next morning they eagerly told their
father what dreams the gods had sent.
"I dreamed that I climbed a mountain," said the elder, "and on reaching
its summit I faced the east, and eight times I cut with the sword and
thrust with the spear."
"I climbed the same mountain," said the younger, "and stretched snares
of cords on every side, seeking to catch the sparrows that destroy the
grain."
The emperor listened intently, and thus sagely interpreted the visions
of his sons.
"You, my son," he said to the elder, "looked in one direction. You will
go to the east and become its governor. You looked in every direction,"
he said to the younger. "You will govern on all sides. The gods have
selected you as my heir."
His words came true. The younger became ruler over all the land; the
elder became a warrior in the east and governor over its people.
And Sujin the civilizer, having lived long and ruled wisely, was
gathered to his fathers, and slept death's dreamless sleep.
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