A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream DialoguesSuematsu, Kencho
Philosophy
A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream Dialogues
Suematsu, Kencho
Japan -- Civilization
'Not exactly. On broad lines the bulk of the people was with the
Government and followed its lead. But we reaped all these fruits at much
expense of blood and money. You could not but expect to see among the
people at large some who did not exactly approve the methods pursued by
the Government. To them the policy of the Government sometimes appeared
too radical and hazardous, and thus one group or another showed from
time to time their dissent. In those days when people were determined to
assume a dissenting attitude, it generally took the shape of physical
force, in other word, "revolt." Chosiu itself had had two such revolts,
but they had been easily crushed. Chosiu had had a civil strife before
the restoration, and in consequence the elements of political
differences within the clan had been almost thoroughly unified. Most of
its able men devoted their services to the Imperial Government. The old
territory of the clan was one of the prefectures which thoroughly
submitted to the Imperial administration with perfect confidence, from
the very moment when the feudal system was abolished, so much so, that
the first governor despatched there by the Imperial Government was
originally a retainer of the Shogunate and had fought against the
Imperialists. The revolters had therefore not much sympathy from the
people, nor had they any means, guns, or ammunition, to turn to their
advantage against the Imperialists, and yet it shows that even the
Chosiu men themselves were unable to get on altogether harmoniously. The
saddest and the gravest case, however, was that of the Satsuma war,
which took place in 1877. It was only after that war that the
progressive administration of the new Government was placed on a firm
and solid basis, and the surviving influence of the old feudal time
disappeared altogether.'
--'Since your explanation has reached as far as that stage,' said one,
'I am anxious to know something about the real cause and circumstances
which occasioned that war.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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