The Making of Modern Japan

The Making of Modern Japan - An Account of the Progress of Japan from Pre-feudal Days to Constitutional Government & the Position of a Great Power, With Chapters on Religion, the Complex Family System, Education, &c.

The Authors thanks are due to His Excellency Baron G. Hayashi, H.I.J.M.s Ambassador in London, for most kindly referring to a competent authority in Japan, for confirmation, a doubtful point in feudal land tenure; to Prince Iwakura, Marquis kubo, and Marquis Kido for photographs of three of the eminent statesmen whose portraits appear; to the Right Honorable Sir Ernest Satow for the trouble he took in reading the MS. of the book; to Sir E. F. Crowe, C.M.G., Commercial Counsellor of the British Embassy in Tki, for very useful help given in various ways; and to Miss Maud Oxenden for valuable assistance in proof-correcting. There is much speculation, but no certainty, regarding the origin of the Japanese people. It is, however, generally held that the Japanese race is made up of two main elementsone Mongolian, which came to Japan from Northern Asia by way of Korea, and the other Malayan; a third strain being possibly supplied to some small extent by the Ainu aborigines, whom the invaders found in occupation of the country. The prevailing type of feature is Mongolian, though scientific research claims to have discovered traces of the physical characteristics of other Asiatic races. If the earliest Japanese records provide little trustworthy material for the historian, they show how the legendary heroes of oral tradition became in the hands of successive chroniclers the deified ancestors of the reigning dynasty, and indicate the process of transition by which the feelings of respect and admiration they inspired developed into a popular belief in the quasi-divinity of Japanese Sovereigns. It is in this no-mans-land, where no clear boundaries divide fable from history, that we are from the first confronted with the primitive native religion, and realize its weakness as a civilizing influence. From these same records, nevertheless, as well as from scanty Chinese sources, we glean certain general facts bearing on the early development of Japan. Chinese culture is seen trickling in at a very early date; we hear of the adoption at some time in the fifth century of Chinese ideographs, the Japanese following in this respect the example of their Korean neighbours, who, like themselves, had originally no written language of their own; and we learn of the introduction of Buddhism a century later. The advent of Buddhism 18was a notable factor in Japans progress. Its missionaries assisted the spread of the Chinese written language, and thus paved the way for the introduction in A.D. 645 of what is known as the Great Reform. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 66178
Author: Gubbins, John Harington
Release Date: Aug 30, 2021
Format: eBook
Language: English