A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream DialoguesSuematsu, Kencho
Philosophy
A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream Dialogues
Suematsu, Kencho
Japan -- Civilization
Nevertheless, I may add a few words. In Japan all virtues are mainly
viewed as a point of duty of those upon whom the conduct of those
virtues is incumbent. Thus to be loyal to the emperor is the duty of a
subject; to be patriotic is the duty of a citizen to his country;
truthfulness is the duty of a friend; and reverence is the duty of a
child to its parents; and so on.
In teaching morality to children, the sense of duty is constantly kept
in view. Then again, in Oriental ethics the term 'name' has an important
bearing. It may often be translated as 'fame'; but it has in reality a
wider and more pious signification. We have a proverb: 'Tigers leave
skins behind when dead, and men leave (or should leave) names.' Here the
term 'name' may certainly be translated as 'fame'; but we often say that
'we must not disgrace the name,' meaning that we must not disgrace
ourselves or our family by committing any unworthy action. In Japan, to
acquire fame and not disgrace one's family name are concurrent thoughts.
Fame does not mean a satisfaction of vanity. The trend of thought is
something like this 'Do not commit any bad act, for it will disgrace
your name, which is the greatest shame to one's self and to one's
family. If your name shines out, so much the better, as it is a sure
sign that you have behaved well or have done something good, something
worthy of yourself, your family, or your ancestors; but to seek
notoriety out of mere vanity is despicable, for it is not good conduct
and does not deserve a good name,' This notion of 'name' permeates very
widely in our idea of morality, which fact will explain many cases
wherein a Japanese prefers death to life. Perhaps the word 'honour' may
convey the nearer meaning of the word 'name'; in fact, the Western word
'honour' is generally translated in Japanese by a combination of the
words name and fame, as 'Meiyo.' This notion of 'name' is impressed in
one way or other upon the minds of our youths from childhood, that is to
say, from their days of elementary education; and it exercises a great
influence in after life.
[1] _The Independent Review_, August 1905.
[2] See _The Risen Sun_.
III
ANGLO-FRENCH DIPLOMACY IN JAPAN FORTY YEARS AGO[1]
It is now some forty years ago since there took place in Japan some very
interesting episodes of English and French diplomacy, which are little
known to the Western public.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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