English
Printing, which in Japan dates from the eighth century, now for the first time became common} Hideyoshi’s armies, returning from their devastating raid upon Corea, brought with them a number of books printed with movable types, which served as models for the Japanese printers. Iyeyasu was a liberal patron of the printing-press. Since this time the production of printed books has gone on at an increasing rate, and they now form an accumulation which is truly formi- dable in amount. The popularisation of literature during the Yedo period worked for evil as well as for good. Many whole- some moral and religious treatises were brought within the reach of the nation generally, and knowledge was greatly extended. But, on the other hand, the average level of taste and refinement was distinctly lowered, and notwithstanding the well-meant but spasmodic attempts of the Government to repress it, a flood of pornographic fiction not easily to be paralleled elsewhere was poured out over the country. For the Buddhist religion the Yedo period was a time of decadence, Its continued popularity is attested by the vast number of temples which were erected every- where, and by the hosts of monks who were maintained in idleness. But its influence was on the wane. While Confucianism became the creed of the strong, governing military caste, Buddhism attached itself to the broken 1 See papers on the ‘‘ Early History of Printing in Japan,” by Sir Ernest Satow, in the Japan Asiatic Soctety’s Transactions, vol. x. 1, and x. 2, [grin A cd me: YEDO PERIOD 221 fortunes of the Mikados and their court. The nation generally was gradually awaking to a fuller and more vigorous life, and homilies on the instability of human things, the vanity of wealth and power, the detestableness of violence and cruelty, the duty of abstinence from the grosser pleasures, and the beauty of a life of seclusion and pious meditation, were no longer so much to their taste. The moral principles-which animated politics and > literature were now drawn. from the more robust and manly, if more worldly, teachings of the Chinese sages. But of this more remains to be said hereafter. Towards the end of this period there was a partial reaction in favour of the old Shinto religion. It proved to be only an eddy in the main current of the national thought, and is chiefly important politically as one of the disintegrating influences which led to the breaking up of the Tokugawa régime. Compared with the writings of the Heian or classical period, the Yedo literature is infinitely more voluminous, and has a far wider range of subjects. It comprises history, biography, poetry, the drama, essays, sermons, a ‘multitude of political and religious treatises, fiction of various kinds and travels, with a huge mass of dzb/za abiblia, such as dictionaries, grammars, and other philo- logical works, bibliographies, medical works, treatises on botany, law, the art of war, commentaries on the Chinese classics (in themselves a host), expositions of Buddhist doctrine, cyclopzdias, antiquarian and metaphysical works, guide-books, and so on. But while the new literature is much richer and of a more vigorous growth than the old, there is a sad falling off in point of form. With few exceptions it is disfigured by the grossest and most glaring faults, Extravagance, 222 JAPANESE LITERATURE false sentiment, defiance of probability whether physical or moral, pedantry, pornography, puns and other mere- tricious ornaments of style, intolerable platitudes, im- possible adventures, and weary wastes of useless detail meet us everywhere. There is no want of ability. Plenty of genuine wit and humour is to be discovered by those who know where to look for it. True pathos is to be met with in works otherwise highly objectionable ; ex- cellent moral advice is only too abundant; there are graphic descriptions of real life, prodigious fertility of invention, a style frequently not devoid of elegance, and generally a far wider range of thought in political and social matters than the hedonist literature of ancient Japan could boast. It is the writer “totus teres atque rotundus” whose absence is so conspicuous. Sane thought, sustained good writing, disciplined imagination and some sense of order, proportion and consistent method are sadly to seek in the profusion of written and printed matter which this period has left to us. The Japanese language underwent considerable change et this time. To supply the needs of the new civilisa- tion a vast increase of the vocabulary became neces- sary, and Chinese words were adopted so freely that they now far outnumber those of native origin. As in English, however, the latter retain their position for all the essentials of language. At the same time the simplification of the somewhat cumbrous grammatical system of the old language made still further progress. In this period the colloquial speech, which had been gradually diverging from the written language so far as at last to necessitate separate grammars for its elucida- tion, began to show itself in literature. Whether its partisans will succeed in erecting it into a literary dialect TAIKOKI 223 remains to be seen. Up to the present their success has not been very conspicuous. It will require far more cultivation than has yet been bestowed upon it to make it equally concise and perspicuous, and to give it the same range of varied expression, as the ordinary literary language. THE “ TAIKOKI.” One of the earliest works of the Yedo period is the Tatkoki, a biography of the Taiko, or Regent Hideyoshi, in twenty-two books (eleven volumes). Although written only twenty-seven years after Hideyoshi’s death, there had already been time for his history to acquire a certain legendary quality. The first chapter exemplifies the pro- pensity of ignorant mankind for surrounding the birth of great men with miraculous occurrences. The J7azkoki cannot be given a high place as literature, but it is valuable for the contemporary documents which it con- tains, and has supplied material for a number of later works bearing the same or similar titles. It was written in 1625 by an unknown author. CHAPTER II THE KANGAKUSHA (Cuingsz Scuorars) Towarps the end of the Muromachi period, learning in Japan had reached its lowest ebb. Hideyoshi, at the height of his power and fame, was an ignorant man, as letters written by him remain to testify, and he had great _ difficulty in finding scholars competent to conduct the negotiations with China and Corea which arose out of his invasion of the latter country. He was, however, a friend of learning. His successor Iyeyasu (1603-1632) fully recognised the necessity of wider knowledge for building up the new social and political fabric which he created. His patronage of printing has been already mentioned. He also established schools, and devoted much attention to the collection and preservation of printed books and manuscripts. A special department was provided by him, where he employed a staff of monks in copying out the family records of the Daimios. Among the scholars who enjoyed Iyeyasu’s patronage the most eminent was FUJIWARA SEIKWA, a native of Harima, where he was born in 1560. Himself a poet, he was a descendant of Fujiwara Sadaiye, a well-known Tanka-writer of the thirteenth century. Asa boy he gave great promise of talent. He received the Buddhist ton- sure, but soon recognised the emptiness of Buddhism, 224 SEIKWA 225 and applied himself with great diligence to the study of the ancient Chinese literature. Finding, however, that the difficulties caused by the want of competent teachers and suitable text-books were too great for him to sur- _-mount, he made up his mind to go to China and continue his studies there. He had got as far as the province of Satsuma, and was waiting for a ship, when one of those apparently trivial incidents occurred which exercise a profound influence on the fate of a nation. He over- heard a boy in the house next to the inn where he was staying read aloud from a Chinese book which was unfamiliar to him. Upon inquiry, it proved to be a commentary by Chu-Hi on the “Great Learning” of Confucius. A brief examination showed him its im- portance. Equally delighted and astonished, Seikwa exclaimed, “ This is what I have so long been in want of.” Eventually he discovered a complete set of the philosophical works of Ching Hao (1032-1085), Cheng I. (1033-1107), and Chu-Hi (1130-1200), the famous Chinese schoolmen and expositors of the doctrines of Confucius and Mencius under the Sung dynasty. He was so strongly impressed by t'.eir perusal, that he re- solved to abandon his intention of proceeding to China, and to devote himself entirely to their study at home. Seikwa subsequently made the acquaintance of Iyeyasu at the camp of Nagoya, where Hideyoshi was then pre- paring his famous invasion of Corea. Iyeyasu recognised his merit, and sent for him repeatedly to expound the classics ; but Seikwa, taking offence at being confounded with the rabble of ordinary monks, pretended illness, and having introduced as his substitute his pupil Hayashi Rasan, retired toa quiet village near Kioto. Here pupils flocked to him in great numbers, many of them the sons 226 JAPANESE LITERATURE of court nobles or Daimios; and he also received flatter- ing offers of appointments, all of which he declined, In 1614 he was offered a post as teacher in connection with a project of Iyeyasu’s for establishing a school at Kioto. This proposal he accepted, but some civil disorders which broke out soon after rendered this scheme abortive. Seikwa died in 1619 in his fifty-ninth year.