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The conversation ended in a hot discussion, in which both parties lost their tempers. Hirata saw no prospect of convincing his opponent, and returned home. Good and evil, according to Hirata, flow from the 338 - JAPANESE LITERATURE action of two classes of deities, each of whom has his or her own particular function. But deities are, after all, | like men. None are wholly bad or wholly good. A benevolent deity, if angered, may send a curse, and an evil deity, on the other hand, may occasionally dispense blessings. Moreover, an action of the gods which is indifferent in itself may be good or bad, according to the object affecte. The hot sun, which delights the cicada, scorches the worm. The efficacy of prayer and the nature of sacrifices are next discussed. , To the question, “Is a pious Shinto believer to wor- ship Buddha?” Hirata replies in the affirmative. He quotes a verse of Motodri’s to the effect that “Shaka and Confucius are also Kami [gods], and their way is a branch of the way of the Kami.” That this is really the case is proved, he says, by the Buddhist miracles which have been worked in Japan as in other countries. More- over, everything which takes place in this world being ordered by the Kami, Buddhism too must be in accord- ance with their will. Hirata, in short, wants to turn the tables on the Buddhists, and, in revenge for their giving the Shinto deities a subordinate place in their theological system, proposes to make Buddha a sort of inferior Kami. Hirata believed in the immortality of the soul, and takes pains to prove that Confucius did so also. “If the dead are non-existent,” he argues, “what meaning cin there be in the worship of ancestors, and how shall we account for the undoubted fact that dead men send curses upon those who have injured them while alive ?” The Kosht Seibun, which with its dependent works the Koshi-cho and Koshi-den constitute Hirata’s chief claim to HIRATA 339 a reputation for learning, was begun in 1812. It is an attempt to harmonise the myths of the Kajzki, Nthongt, and other ancient books in a continuous and consistent narrative, written in the archaic dialect of the Katkz. As these old stories differ very considerably among them- selves, Hirata was naturally obliged to do them violence in order to make them agree, and scholars will prefer to go to his originals rather than accept his version of them. A higher value attaches to the Koshi-ché (eleven volumes, 1819), in which he gives an account of the authorities for the text of the Sezbun ; but his greatest contribution to our knowledge of Japanese antiquity is the Koshz-den, a com- mentary on the Sezbun, in twenty-eight volumes, begun in 1812, but never completed. It covers only 143 sections of the 165 of which the Sezéum consists. The Koshz-den stands next after Motoéri’s Kojzki-den as a monument of Japanese old-world learning. It is indispensable to the student of Shinto. The Yamadasuki (ten volumes) was composed origin- ally in 1811, in a colloquial style, and rewritten in the literary dialect in 1824. It is a sort of breviary contain- ing a set of prayers addressed to the’ very numerous deities of Shinto, intended, however, not for temple but for individual use. The prayers are accompanied by a considerable and very heterogeneous mass of com- mentary. The Kodd Tai-i, or “Summary of the Ancient Way” (two volumes, 1811), states the principles of the Shinto religion in easy language and in a brief and intelligible form. It is very clearly printed, and forms an excel- lent introduction to the study of Shinto in its native language. Hirata also published summaries of Chinese learning, 340 JAPANESE LITERATURE of Buddhism, of the art of medicine (chiefly from the | ‘point of view of its divine origin), of the art of poetry, and of the vulgar Shinto, with other Week far too | numerous even to mention. A professed disciple of Motoéri, Hara was more exclusively a theologian than his master. All his works were intended either directly or indirectly to promote a belief in Shinto, which in his hands assumed a far more definite and tangible character than it had ever done before. Consciously or unconsciously, he added to it several new features, such as the doctrine of the immor- tality of the soul, and a moral code purloined from the stores of the detested Kangakusha. Thus he says: “Devotion to the memory of ancestors is the mainspring of all virtue. No one who discharges his duty to them will ever be disrespectful to the gods or to his living parents. Such a man will also be faithful to his prince, | loyai to his friends, and kind and gentle with his wife and children. For the essence of this devotion is in truth filial piety. These truths are confirmed [!] by the books of the Chinese, who say that the ‘loyal subject issues from thé gate of the pious son,’ and again, ‘ filial piety is the basis of all good actions.’”’ Hirata’s writings have no high value from a purely literary point of view. The native History of Literature dismisses him in a few contemptuous sentences. His literary style is more useful than elegant. It is formed on the Wabun of Motoéri; but he is much less of a purist than his master, and does not reject useful words simply — because they come from China. His style has gained thereby in vigour and conciseness, but it falls far behind that of Motoori in distinction and charm. A certain number of his less important works are in the OHASHI JUNZO 341 colloquial dialect. They consist of lectures taken down by his students just as they were delivered. Two little ~ works on Buddhism, named Goddven and Shutsuja Shogo, belong to this class. In them Hirata has undertaken the easy task of ridiculing popular Buddhism in Japan. They are racy and entertaining diatribes, but, it must be added, are disgraced by scurrilous abuse quite unworthy of the would-be founder of a new form of religion. KANGAKUSHA There is not much to be said of the Kangakusha who wrote in the Japanese language during the nineteenth century. Among them, OHASHI JUNZO (1816-1862) has left a certain reputation as one of the most determined opponents of the policy which led to the opening of Japan to foreign trade in 1859. His chief work, the //ekz- ja-sho-ron, which is a violent and ignorant attack upon the moral and philosophical ideas of Europe, was written to promote this object. It was published in 1857. The character of its contents may be gathered from the head- ings, “Europe knows not philosophy,” “ Europe knows not heaven,’ “Europe knows not benevolence and righteousness,” ‘Europe knows not versatile talent.” He also wrote a history of the Tartar invasion of Japan, entitled Genké Kirtaku (1853). Junzo did not confine himself to attacking European learning in his writings. He took part in the anti-foreign agitation which culminated in the murder of Ando Tsushima no Kami in February 1862. He was arrested, thrown into prison, and examined under torture, but suc- ceeded in satisfying his judges that he was not directly implicated in this crime. Exhausted by his sufferings, he died five days after his release from prison. 23 342 JAPANESE LITERATURE : SHINGAKU (HEART-LEARNING) SERMONS As Buddhism absorbed Shinto, and as Hirata, on behalf _ of the latter religion, proposed to admit Buddha and his — saints to a humble place in the native assemblage of deities, so the Shingaku movement was an attempt to utilise both religions in the interests of Chinese philo- sophy and ethics. The preachers of this school professed to combine the teachings of all three faiths, and they spoke with something more than tolerance of Buddhism. and Shinto; but they were at heart rationalists, to whom much in the popular presentation of both these religions must have appeared utterly unworthy of credence. They tried, however, to smooth over matters by introducing the proviso that everything in them which is irreconcilable with reason is to be regarded as hoben. This hdben is a word of great virtue. It is quite inoffensive, and embraces everything which, though not strictly in accordance with fact, tends to edification. It is alike applicable to the parables of the Gospels, the lives of the saints, and even to the Neapolitan miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius. To the tolerant minds of the Shingaku preachers the use of any weapon which was likely to be useful in that struggle between the powers of light and. darkness which goes on in Japan, as elsewhere, was not only permissible, but laudable, and even imperative. That it might have been taken from the armoury of the enemy was with them a very minor consideration. Practically, the maxims of Confucius and Mencius are the sources of the Shingaku doctrines. The preachers usually take their texts from the writings of one of these two sages. They address themselves to the ignorant, and SHINGAKU | 343 more especially to women and children, and their lan- guage is the ordinary colloquial speech of Kidto and Osaka. Works of this kind are much despised in Japan by the learned, who look upon the language of ordinary life as quite unfitted for literature. These discourses, however, are not,without merit ; the style is homely, but vigorous and direct, and they are admirably suited to arouse the minds of the ignorant to some sense of the cardinal truths which underlie all systems of morality. The best are the collections entitled Kiud Déwa, Shin- gaku Dowa, and Teshima Dowa. Of these the Azad Déwa is undoubtedly the most amusing. Indeed, it may _ safely be said that few more entertaining sermons are to be found anywhere. But the reader must not be squeamish.