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Even the clouds over Onoye* paused to listen To its notes, now calling clearly, and now with strangled utterance What wonder then that some one descends from the bower above, And comes forth absorbed in reverie / For awhile the flute ceased its tmportunities ; But hark / louder than before The music of the bamboo bursts forth, making the sky resound, Andin accord with tt, how sweet / Are heard the notes of a golden lute. Sometime the wide-spreading clouds descending from Onoye Bore away with them the musicians of the fragrant rocks below, Up to that region where the bark of the moon, With altered helm, steered straight to meet them.” —SHIWOI UK6d. 1 The mention of this place shows that the scene is the same as that of Takasago, See above, p. 207. 398 JAPANESE LITERATURE Thirty years is far too short a time for the seed sown at the Revolution of 1867 to grow up and ripen literary fruit. We have seen that the intellectual movement to which Iyeyasu’s establishment of the Yedo Shégunate led, did not reach its climax until a century later. No doubt things move more rapidly in the present day, but it seems reasonable to believe that what we now witness is only the beginning of a new and important development. The process of absorbing new ideas which has mainly occupied the Japanese nation during the last thirty years, is incomplete in one very important particular. Although much in European thought which is inseparable from Christianity has been freely adopted by Japan, the Christian religion itself has made comparatively little progress. The writings of the Kamakura and two sub- sequent periods are penetrated with Buddhism, and those of the Yedo age with moral and religious ideas derived from China. Christianity has still to put its stamp on the literature of the Tokio period. There are some considerations which tend to show that important results in this direction may be expected during the century which is nearly approaching us. The previous religious history of the nation has prepared Japan for the acceptance of a higher form of faith. Buddhism did not a little towards fostering ideals of holiness, humanity, and detachment from worldly things. Confucianism provided high, though it may be some- what distorted, standards of morality, and a compara- tively rational system of philosophy. Shinto taught a reverence for the Divine powers which created and govern the universe and man. But none of the three sufficed by itself to meet the heart, soul, and mind want CHRISTIANITY _ 399 of the Japanese nation. Can it be imagined that when a religion is presented to them which alone is adapted to satisfy far more completely all the cravings of their higher nature, the Japanese, with their eminently recep- tive minds, will fail in time to recognise its immense superiority ?! They have already accepted European philosophy and science. It is simply inconceivable that the Christian religion should not follow. Probably, as was the case with Buddhism, it will not be received without some modification. Their previous history sug- gests that this may take the direction of a more rational- istic form of Christian belief than that which prevails in Europe. “AA Frou pev tadTa Ocdy év yobvact Keira. The historian of the Japanese literature of the future will have more to say on this subject. 1 There are even now 113,000 native Christians in Japan. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE IN regard to bibliography, the writer of the present volume of this series finds himself in a very different position from his predecessors. He has no embarras de richesses to contend with. The only survey of the whole field of Japanese literature which has hitherto appeared in any European language is an article by Sir E. Satow, in vol. ix. pp. 551-565 of Appleton’s American Cyclopedia (New York, 1874), excellent as far as it goes, but owing to the brevity inseparable from sucha form of publication, more fitted to excite than to satisfy the reader’s curiosity. It will be found useful by any one who wishes to extend his knowledge of the subject, as it mentions a large number of Japanese books which have been entirely passed over in the preceding pages. Mr. B. H. Chamberlain’s Classical Poetry of the Japanese (1880) contains translations into English verse of a number of poems from the Manyoshiu and Kokinshiu, with selections from the Wo and Kioégen, and an appendix of very short biographical notices of the more ancient Japanese poets. There is a similar work in French by M. Léon de Rosny. Some interesting glimpses of the popular literature and folk-lore of the Yedo period are given in Mr. A. B. Mitford’s Tales of Old Japan (1871). Mr. William Anderson’s Catalogue of Japanese and Chinese Pictures in the British Museum (1886) deals with the literature of Japan viewed as a source of supply of subjects for the artist. The Zransactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan contain a number of translations and notices of Japanese books, by Sir E. Satow, Mr. B. H. Chamberlain, and others; and Dr. K. Florenz’s contributions to the Journal of the German Asiatic Soctety of Japan should also be mentioned, 4°00 BIBLIOGRAPHY 401 In addition to the above, there exists in various European languages a considerable mass of translations from the Japanese, published either separately or in magazines and journals of learned societies, of which it may be said— “ Sunt bona, sunt guedam mediocria, sunt mala plura.” The more important have been indicated in the body of this work, and itis believed that little inconvenience will be caused by the omission of all reference to the remainder. Those who wish to prosecute their researches further in this direction will find the means of doing so in Mr. Fr. von Wenckstern’s comprehensive and useful, though not particularly accurate, Bibliography of the Japanese Empire (1895). A Catalogue of Japanese Books and Manuscripts in the British Museum, by Mr. R. K. Douglas, is also useful for reference. The contributions of the Japanese themselves to the materials for a history of their literature are naturally much more important than anything which has been written by Europeans. The labours of Mabuchi and his greater pupil MotoGri have been already noticed, and good work has been done by a multitude of native editors and commentators towards clearing up the obscurity which even to Japanese surrounds many of their older authors. Nothing, however, which deserves the name of a History of Literature appeared until 1895, when Messrs. Mikami Sanji and Takatsu Kuwasaburo, of the Imperial University of Tokio, brought out their VWzppon Bungakusht, which is by far the most valuable work on this subject. The critical judgments of the authors may not always commend themselves to Europeans, but they have succeeded in setting forth the leading facts of the history of their literature in a clear, methodical manner. I gladly acknowledge my very considerable obligations to their work. A history of fiction, entitled SAdsetsu Shikd, by Sekine Masanao (1890), should also be mentioned. The most useful bibliography in the Japanese language is the Gunsho Ichiran, by Ozaki Masayoshi, six volumes (1801), and the best biographical dictionary is a bulky work by a number of authors, entitled Daz Nippon Jimmet Jisho (1886). A list of other works of this class may be found in the article in Afpleton’s Cyclopedia already referred to. Monographs on Hakuseki, Sorai, Chikamatsu, and other eminent authors, have been lately published, and a good deal is being done at 402 BIBLIOGRAPHY the present time in the way of re-editing and annotating the monu- ments of the older literature. : The Hakubunkan publishing house of Tokio have reprinted most of the fiction and drama of the Yedo period under the description Tetkoku Bunko or “Imperial Library.” As an illustration of the cheap- ness of books in Japan, it may be mentioned that each volume of this series contains about one thousand octavo pages of reasonably good print, on tolerable paper, in neat binding, and is sold for the equivalent of about one shilling of our money. A LIST OF DICTIONARIES, GRAMMARS, AND OTHER WORKS OF REFERENCE USEFUL TO STUDENTS OF JAPANESE A Japanese-English and English-Japanese Dictionary, by J. C. Hepburn (fourth edition, 1888), A Dictionary of Chinese-Japanese Words, by J. H. Gubbins (1889). A Chinese-English Dictionary, by H. A. Giles (1892). A Native Chinese-Japanese Dictionary, such as the Gtoku-hen. One of the following native dictionaries of the Japanese language : Nippon Datjirins Genkai,; Nippon Daizisho. Of these, the first- named is the fullest and most elaborate. But even in the best dictionaries, whether by Japanese or foreigners, vast numbers of words are not to be found. A Grammar of the Japanese Written Language, by W. G, Aston (second edition, 1877). A Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language, by W. G. Aston (fourth edition, 1888). Or, A Handbook of Colloguial Japanese, by B. H. Chamberlain (third edition, 1898). A Romanised Japanese Reader, by B. H. Chamberlain (1886). A Manual of Japanese Writing, by the same author, is in pre- paration. Japanese Chronological Tables, by E. M. S, (Sir Ernest Satow), (1874), or a similar work by W. Bramsen (1880), will be found necessary. 493 INDEX ABUTSU, 157 Adzuma-kagamt, 160 AKAHITO, 35 Anthologies, 34, 58, 159 ARAI HAKUSEKI, 244; ARAKIDA MORITAKE, 290 Archaic period, 3 BAKIN, 352 Ballad Poetry, 20, 24 BASHO, 290 Ben no Naizi Nikki, 158 Bibliography, 400 Buddhism, 4, 6, 132, 145, 220, 344, 398 CHIKAFUSA, 164 CHIKAMATSU, 273 Children’s tales, 272 Chinese Philosophy. See Kangaku- sha and Wagakusha CHOMEI, 145 Christianity, 253, 393 Chuht, 225.