Latham, Harris Learner

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THE VIEWS OF SHINTO REVIVAL SCHOLARSREGARDING ETHICS.BY HARRIS LEARNER LATHAM, A. M., S. T. M.SOME years ago Sir Earnest Satow after a painstaking investi-gation, prepared and later revised an essay on the "Revival ofPure Shin-tau." He deals with the life and teachings of a numberof men, who, having studied the ancient documents of Japan, setabout expounding the original religion of the Japanese people, thatii, the religion which has left the oldest records. These scholarsare principally Kada Adzuma-maro (1669-1736), Kamo Mabuchi(1697-1769), Motowori Norinaga (1730-1801), Hirata Atsutane(1776-1843). These men, while differing naturally in many points,yet have one great aim in common. Their influence during theirlifetime was immense ; their learned writings have continued tomould the thought of the succeeding generations. They turned thelight from ancient days on the doings of their generation and did alarge part in preparing the way for the Great Restoration of 1868.Whether these and other scholars of similar ideas properly in-terpret the ancient documents or not, can be determined only bypresent day investigators of equal or superior attainments in Japan-ese lore. Whatever be the truth in the case, it remains quite evidentthat the Revival School challenges investigation both on account ofits learning and also because of the present trend of Japanesethought attributable to its labors. Of course, Japanese minds arereceiving more inspiration from Western sources than either Chi-nese or Japanese literature and religion or philosophy afford. But,underneath all the foreign ideas, there is the bed-rock of the Japanesemind ; apart from foreign influence, it is a real entity, self-directingand self-conscious. This mind is fed every day from Japanese store-houses, and the supplies are thoroughly permeated by a strong fla-vor of Shintoism and Bushido.To analyse the situation further is unnecessary in a note intro-THE VIEWS OF SHINTO REVIVAL SCHOLARS ON ETHICS. Idductory to a number of extracts from Sir Earnest Satow's pages.The present aim is to let these venerable scholars tell ns, as far aspossible in their own words, what they have to say regarding ethicsand ethical systems. According to Western notions, they dealstrangely with the subject ; Shintoism in one respect at least is theantipode of Confucianism, which is little else than a system ofethics.These extracts are reproduced as nearly as possi]~)le with thepunctuation of the learned author. In a few instances my summaryof one or more sentences will be found enclosed in brackets, thus:[ ]. At the close of the quotations, I have ventured to append asummary in the form of a few very obvious conclusions.A CHARACTERIZATION OF CHINESE ETHICS.[In foreign countries, particularly China, bad men dominate,and such men becoming rulers are exami)lcs to the remainder.] "InChina the name Sei-chin ("Holy Men") has been given to these men.But it is an error to look upon these so-called Holy Men as in them-selves supernatural and good beings, as superior to the rest of theworld as are the gods. The principles which they established arecalled ijiichi (ethics), and may be reduced to two simple rules, name-ly, to take other people's territory and to keep fast hold of it."[The Chinese people imitating the Holy Men have gone tophilosophizing and this has brought on internal dissentions.] "Whenthings go right of themselves, it is best to leave them alone. Inancient times, although there was no prosy system of doctrine inJapan, there were no popular disturbances, and the empire waspeacefully ruled. It is because the Japanese were truly moral intheir practice that they required no theory of morals, and the fussmade by the Chinese about theoretical morals is owing to their lax-ity in practice. It is not wonderful that the students of Chineseliterature should despise their own country for being without a sys-tem of morals, but that Japanese who were acquainted with theirown ancient literature should have pretended that Japan also hadsuch a system, simply out of a feeling of envy, is ridiculous.""Wherein lies the value of a rule of conduct? In its conduc-ing to the good order of the state." [China has been the scene ofendless collision and parricide concerning the dynasties; Japan hasbeen free from all this, remaining true to one dynasty.] "A philos-ophy which produced such efifects must be founded on a falsesystem."[After the adoption of the Chinese customs and ideas] "thisI02 THE OPEN COURT.foreig'n pomp and splendor covered the rapid depravation of mens'hearts and created a wide gulf between the Mikado and his people.So long as the sovereign maintains a simple style of living-, thepeople are contented with their own hard lot. ... If the Mika-do had continued to live in a house roofed with shingles and whosewalls were of mud, to wear hempen clothes, to carry his sword ina scabbard wound round with the tendrils of some creeping' ])lant.and to go to the chase carr\'ing his bow and arrows, as was the an-cient custom, the present state of things would never have comeabout. But since the introduction of Chinese manners, the sov-ereign, while occupying a highly digniiied place, has been degradedto the intellectual level of a woman."[Some one observed to Mabuchi that it was owing to the Chi-nese systems of morals that the practice of marriage between broth-ers and sisters was discontinued. He explains in reply that] "ac-cording to ancient custom the children of the same mother werealone regarded as united by the fraternal tie ; that it was not considered in any way objectionable for children of the same father by dif-ferent mothers to intermarry.""In ancient times when men's dispositions were straightfor-ward, a complicated system of morals was unnecessary. It wouldnaturally happen that liad acts might occasionally be committed, butthe straightforwardness of men's dispositions w(iuld prevent the evilfrom being concealed and growing in extent, v^o that in those daysit was unnecessary to have a doctrine of right and wrong. But theChinese, being bad at heart, in spite of the teaching which they got,were onl}- good on the outside, and their bad acts became of suchmagnitude that society was thrown into disorder. The Japanesebeing straightforward could do without teaching. It is said on theother side that as the Japanese had no names for benevolence, right-eousness, propriety, sagacitw and truth. the\- must have been with-out those principles. To this Mabuchi rc-]ilies that they exist ineverv countr\ , in the same wa} as the iouv seasons which make theirannual rounds. In the spring the weather does not become mildall at once. Nor the summer hot. Xatm-e proceeds by gradualsteps. According to the Chinese view it is not spring or summerunless it becomes mild or hot all of a sudden. Their i)rinci])les soundver\- plausible, but are impractical.""Human l)eing"s, haxing been produced by the s]>irit of the twoCrt-ative Deities, are naturalK' endowed with the knowleclgc of whatthe\' ought to do and what they ought to refrain from. It is lui-necessary for them to trouble their heads with svstems of moralitv.THli VIEWS OF SHIN'I'O REVIVAL SCHOLARS ON I'VllIICS. IO3If a system of morals were necessary, men would be inferior to ani-mals, all of whom are endc^wed with the knowled,s:e of what theyought to do, onl}' in an inferior degree to men. If what the Chinesecall Benevolence {jcn), Rightei^iusness (/), Propriet\ (//'), Retir-ingness {ja)ig). Filial Piet\- {Jisiao), Brotherly Love (f'i).Fidelitv icliuiig). and Truth iSliiji). really constitute the dut\' ofman, they would be so recognized anrl practised without any teach-ing, but as the}' were invented by the so-called Holy Men as instru-ments for ruling a viciousl\- inclined population, it became neces-sary to insist on more than the actual duty of man. Consequently,although plenty of men ]jrofess these doctrines, the number ofthose who ])ractise them is very small, \dolations of this teachingwere attri])r:ted Uj human lusts. As human lusts are a part ofman's nature, they nuist be a i)art of the harmony of the universe,and cannot be wrong according to Chinese thec^ry. It was the viciousnature of the Chinese that necessitated such strict rules, as, for in-stance, that person descended from a common ancestor, no mat-ter how distantly related, should not intermarr\-. These rules, notbeing founded on the harmony of the universe, were not in ac-cordance with human feelings, and were, therefore, seldom obeyed."NO ETHICS IN SIIINTOISM."To have acquired the knowledi;e that there is no iiiichl ( [/(/('| .ethics) to l)e learnt and practised is realh' to have learnt to prac-tise the 'wa_\' of the gods."—Motowori."All moral ideas which man recpiires are implanted in his bosoml)\" the gods, and are of the same nature as the instincts which im-l)el him to eat when he is hungry and to drink when he is thirsty.I'.ut the morals inculcated l)y the Chinese philosophers are inven-tions, and contain something more in addition to natural morality."To the end of time, each Mikado is the goddess' son. Hismind is in perfect harmony of thought and feeling with hers. Hedoes not seek out new inventions, but rules in accordance with theprecedents which date from the age of the gods, and if he is everin doulit. he has resort to divination, which reveals to him the min<lof the great goddess. In this way the age of the gods and thepresent age are not two ages, but one, for not only the Mikado, buthis Ministers and people also, act u.p to the tradition of the divineage. Hence, in ancient times the idea of michi or wa\' (ethics) wasnever broached. The word was only a])plied to ordinary thorongh-fares. and its application to systems of ])hilosophy, government, mor-als, religion and so forth, is a foreign notion."104 THE OPEN COURT.THE MIKADO IS SUPREME."The Sun-Goddess never said, 'Disobey the Mikado, if he bebad,' and therefore, whether he be good or bad, no one attemptsto deprive him of his authority. He is the immovable ruler whomust endure to the end of time, as long as the sun and moon con-tinue to shine. In ancient language the Mikado was called a god,and that is' his real character. Duty, therefore, consists in obeyinghim implicitly, without questioning his acts."[An opponent named Ichikaha said that "to obey and revere asovereign, no matter whether he be good or bad, is the part ofwomen." Motowori replied:] "Thus, even, if the prince be bad,to venerate, respect and obey him in all things, though it may seemlike a woman's duty, is the right way of action, which does not al-low of the obligations of a subject towards his prince ever beingviolated."EXAMPLE IS SUPERIOR TO PRECEPT."Most people are wont to suppose that the only way to attainto a knowledge of right conduct is to read books full of precepts,but they labor under a mistake. Precept is far inferior to example,for it only arises in the absence of example, while it is imnecessarywhen example exists The story of Oishi Kuranosukeand the forty-seven faithful retainers who underwent a thousandhardships and perils in order to slay Kira Kodzuke-no-Suke, theenemy of their lord, Asano Takumi-no-kami, will do far more tokeep alive the flame of loyalty than any simple precepts about theduty of avenging a master. The ethical v/ritings of the T'ang dy-nasty are full of the most admirable teachings of this kind, but whenwe find that the authors were themselves guilty of murdering theirsovereigns and of treason, their words lose all their effect."—HiRATA.OFEENSES."Evil acts and words are of two kinds, those of which we areourselves conscious, and those of which we are not conscious. Everv'one is certain to commit accidental ofl^enses, however careful hemav be. and hence the practice of our ancient tongue was to say'deign to correct those failings of which T have been guilty.' Butit is better to assume that we have committed such unconscious of-fenses. If we pray that such as we have committed may be correct-ed the gods are willing to pardon them. By 'evil gods' are meantl)ad deities and demons who work harm to society and individuals.THE VIEWS OF SHINTO REVIVAL SCHOLARS ON ETHICS. I05They orig-inated from the impurities contracted by Izanagfi duringhis visit to the nether world, and cast off by him during the processof purification. They subsequently increased in number, especiallyafter the introduction of Buddhism. The two deities of wind can,of course, blow away anything it pleases them to get rid of, andamong other things the calamities which evil gods endeavor to in-flict. As man is dependent on them for the breath which enableshim to live, it is right to pray to them to give long life."—Hirata.PUNISHMENT AND REWARDS."The most fearful crimes which a man commits go unpunish-ed by society, so long as they are undiscovered, but they draw downon him the hatred of the invisible gods. The attainment of happi-ness by performing good acts is regulated by the same law. Evenif the gods do not punish secret sins by the usual penalties of thelaw. such as strangulation, decapitation, and transfixion on thecross, they inflict diseases, misfortunes, short life, and extermina-tion of the race. Sometimes they even cause a clue to be given bywhich secret crime-is made known to the authorities who have powerto punish. The gods bestow happiness and blessings on those whopractise good, as effectually as if they were to manifest themselvesto our sight and give treasures, and even if the good do not obtainmaterial rewards, they enjoy exemption from disease, good luck,and long life ; and prosperity is granted to their descendents."—HiRATA.FEAR OF THE GODS SHOULD INSPIRE GOOD CONDUCT."Never mind the praise or blame of fellow-men, but act sothat you need not be ashamed before the gods of the Unseen. Ifyou desire to practise true virtue, learn to stand in awe of the un-seen and that will prevent you from doing wrong. Make a vowto the god who rules over the Unseen, and cultivate the conscience(ma-go-koro) implanted in you, and then you will never wanderfrom the way. You cannot hope to live more than a hundred yearsunder the most favorable circumstances, but as you will go to theUnseen Realm of O-kuni-nushi after death, and be subject to hisrule, learn betimes to bow down before him."—Hirata."All that comes to pass in the present world, whether good orbad in its nature, is the act of the gods, and men have genrally lit-tle influence over the course of events. To insist on practisingthe ancient 'way of the gods,' in opposition to the customs of thepresent age, would be rebellion against that 'way,' and equivalentI06 THE OPEN COURT.to trying- to excel it. If men in their dail}' life practise the lawsmade from time to time by the authorities, and act in accordancewith general custom, they are practising SJu')ito:"—Motowori.The principal ideas expressed in the above extracts seem to be :1. The Japanese people are naturally virtuous.2. The Japanese have become bad through foreign influence,which, among other evil effects, corrupted the monarch and led himto become the object of envy.3. Straightforwardness in disposition leads to the confessionof sin and the limitations of its growth.4. The Chinese are bad at heart.[Had these scholars known other foreign peoples doubtless theytoo would have been included in this general condemnation.]5. The Emperor rules according to the divine will.6. The Emperor must be obeyed whether he be good or bad.7. Men know bv nature what is right and what is wrong.8. It is best not to disturb natural g(^o(l conduct by attemptingto inflict ethical rules on the people.9. Human lusts must be right because they arc natural.10. Sins are of two kinds: conscious and unconscious.11. The gofls obse'rve men's sins and b\' some means or otherinflict punishment un the evil-doer.12. The gods reward the good with moral and temporal bless-ings.13. |.L*.oth the evil and the good in this world are attributable t(ithe gods; men cannot change the course of events to anv a])pre-ciable degree.14. The words of a teacher of ethics are valued by referringto his manner of life.15. To influence conduct one nmst resort to examples; meremouthing of ]:>rece]>ts is (^f little worth.16. One's conduct should be so ordered as to avoid shame be-fore the gods.17. Learn to do right before death ends your existence.18. The ancient method of practice needs not be insisted on;readjustment to the i)resent age is necessar_\ ; men must be guid('(lb^• the laws of todav.

The Views of Shinto Revival Scholars Regarding Ethics.

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The Views of Shinto Revival Scholars Regarding Ethics.

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