Vickipedia

CHRISTMAS, the day on which the nativity of the Saviour is observed. The institution of this festival is attributed by the spurious Decretals to Telesphorus, who flourished in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138�161 a.d.), but the first certain traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (180�192 A.D.). In the reign of Diocletian (284�305 A.D.), while that Buler was keeping court at Nicomedia, he learned that a multitude of Christians were assembled in the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and having ordered the church-doors to be closed, he set fire to the building, and all the worshipers perished in the names. It does not appear, however, that there was any uniformity in the period of observing the nativity among the early churches; some held the festival in the mouth of May or April, others in January. It is, nevertheless, almost certain that the 25th of December cannot be the nativity of the Saviour, for it is then the height of the rainy season in Judea, and shepherds could hardly be watching their flocks by night in the plains.

C. not only became the parent of many later festivals, such as those of the Virgin, but especially from the 5th to the 8th c., gathered round it, as it were, several other festivals, partly old and partly new, so that what may be termed a Christmas Cycle sprang up, which surpassed all other groups of Christian holidays in the manifold richness of its festal usages, and furthered, more than any other, the completion of the orderly and systematic distribution of church festivals over the whole year. Not casually or arbitrarily was the festival of the Nativity celebrated on the 25th of December.

Among the causes that co-operated in fixing this period as the proper one, perhaps the most powerful was, that almost all the heathen nations regarded the winter-solstice as a most important point of the year, as the beginning of the renewed life and activity of the powers of nature, and of the gods, who were originally merely the symbolical personifications of these. In more northerly countries, this fact must have made itself peculiarly palpable �hence the Celts and Germans, from the oldest times, celebrated the season with the greatest festivities. At the winter-solstice, the Germans held their great Yule-feast (see yule), in commemoration of the return of the fiery sun-wheel; and believed that, during the twelve nights reaching from the 25th December to the 6th of January, they could trace the personal movements and interferences on earth- of other great deities, Odin, Berchta, &c. Many of the beliefs and usages of the old Germans, and also of the Romans, relating to this matter, passed over from heathenism to Christianity, and have partly survived to the present day. But the church also sought to combat and banish�and it was to a large extent successful�the deep-rooted heathen feeling, by adding� for the purification of the heathen customs and feasts which it retained�its grandly devised liturgy, besides dramatic representations of the birth of Christ and the first events of his life. Hence sprang the so-called ‘ Manger-songs,’ and a multitude of C. carols, as well as C. dramas, which, at certain times and places, degenerated into farces or Fools’ Feasts (q. v.). Hence also originated, at a later period, the Christ-trees, or C.-trees, adorned with lights and gifts, the custom of reciprocal presents, and of special C. meats and dishes, such as C. cakes, dumplings, &c. Of late it has become usual for friends to forward to one another, by post, gaily illuminated Christmas cards, bearing Christmas greetings.

In the Roman Catholic Church, three masses are performed C.�one at midnight, one at daybreak, and one in the morning. The day is also celebrated by the Anglo-Catholic Church� psalms are sung, a special preface is made in the Communion Service, and the Athanasian Creed is said or sung. The Lutheran Church, on the continent, likewise observes C.; but the Presbyterian churches in Scotland, and the whole of the English dissenters, reject it, in its religious aspect, as a ‘ human invention,’ is ’savoring of papistical will-worship,’ although, in England dissenters as well as churchmen keep it as a social holiday, on which there is a complete cessation from all business. But within the last hundred years, the festivities once appropriate to C. have Hindi fallen off. These at one time lasted with more or less brilliancy till Candlemas, and with great spirit till Twelfth-day ; but now a meeting in the evening, composed, when possible, of the various branches and members of a family, is all that distinguishes the day above others.

JAPA’N (native name, Nihon or Nippon, i.e., Land of the Rising Sun, or Dai (i.e., Great) Nihon or Nippon), a very ancient island-empire of Eastern Asia, long remarkable for the proud isolating policy of its rulers, and now claiming special consideration, on account both of its recent renewed relations with the civilized world, and of the wonderful changes that, during the last few years have been in progress in the country. The name Japan is a corruption of Marco Polo’s Zipangu.

Japan Proper comprehends four large islands, viz., Honshiu (the Japanese mainland), Shikokŭ, Kiushiu, and Yezo, and extends from 31� to 45� 30′ N. lat. The empire of J.�the area of which has been estimated at near 150,000 sq. miles�includes, in addition to the above, nearly 4000 small islands, among Which are the Liu Kin (’ Loo Choo’) and Kurile groups, and is situated between 24��50� 40′ N. lat., and 124��156� 38′ E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the Sea of Okhotsk, on the E. by the North. Pacific Ocean, on the S. by the eastern Sea of China, and on the W. by the Sea of Japan. In 1880, the population of J. was. 34,358,404.

Physical Features.�The islands of J. appear to be of volcanic origin, and that part of the Pacific on which they rest is still intensely affected by volcanic action. Earthquakes occur very frequently in J., although certain parts of the country are exempt. . is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. Its plains and valleys with their foliage surpassing in richness that of any other extra-tropical region, its Arcadian hill-slopes and forest-clad heights, its alpine peaks towering in weird grandeur above torrent-dinned ravines, its lines of foam-fringed headlands, with a thousand other charms, give it a claim to be considered one of the fairest portions of the earth. The sublime cone of the sacred Fuji san (’Matchless Mountain’), an extinct or rather dormant volcano, rises from the sea to a height of 12,365 feet. On-tak�-san and Yari-ga-tak� (each 10,000 feet), Tat�-yama (9500), Yatsu-ga-dak� (9000), Haku-san (8590), Asama-yama (active volcano, 8260), with many other scarcely lower peaks, rise in Honshiu. The three other large islands also abound in mountains, though of less elevation. Yezo has no fewer than eight active volcanoes. Throughout the empire there are many solfataras, and sulphurous springs well up from hundreds of volcanic valleys. The plains, most of the valleys, and many of the lower hills, are highly cultivated; nevertheless, the area of forest is said to be four times as great as that of the cultivated land. Lakes are not very numerous; but there are countless rivers, most of which, however, are too impetuous to admit of navigation. The harbors are spacious and deep, but not numerous, considering the great length of the coast-line.

Climate.�The different parts of J. differ widely in climatic conditions. Leaving out the northern and southern extremes, at T�kiy� (Yedo) we find the annual average temperature to be 57.7� Fahr., while in winter the mercury occasionally falls to 16.2�, and in summer it may rise to 96�; at Nagasaki, the lowest winter temperature is 23.2�; at Hakodate, the annual extremes are 2� and 84�. The constantly hot weather begins only about the end of Jane, and terminates usually in the middle of September. Spring and autumn are exceedingly agreeable seasons. The ocean current known as the Kuroshiwo (’Black Stream’) considerably modifies the climate of the S.E. coast; thus, while snow seldom Its more than 5 inches deep at Tokiyo, in the upper valleys of Kaga, near the west coast, less than 1� further north, 18 and 20 it are common. The rainfall varies much in different years, it is considerably greater than on the neighboring continent. o month passes without rain; but it is most plentiful in summer, especially at the beginning and the close of the hot seasons, when laudations frequently occur. N. and W. winds prevail in win-ir, and S. and E. in summer. The violent revolving storms called typhoons are liable to occur in June, July, or September. Thunderstorms are neither common nor violent, and autumn fogs are equally rare.

Vegetable Productions-�In Hodgson’s Japan will be found a systematic catalogue of Japanese flora by Sir William Hooker. We can mention only a few of the most noteworthy trees and plants. Chestnut, oak (both deciduous and evergreen), pine, beech, elm, cherry, dwarf-oak, elder, sycamore, maple, cypress, and many other trees of familiar name abound. The grandest forests of pine, and oaks of prodigious size, grow in Yezo; but the Rhus vernicifera or lacquer-tree, the Laurus camphora or camphor-tree, the Broussonetia papyrifera or paper-mulberry�the ark and young twigs of which are manufactured by the Japanese into paper�and the Rhus succedanea or vegetable wax-tree of J., are among the remarkable and characteristic trees of the country. Bamboos, palms, including sago-palms, and 150 species of evergreen trees likewise flourish. Thus, the vegetation of the tropics is strangely intermingled with that of the temperate or frigid zone; the tree-fern, bamboo, banana, and palm grow side by side with the pine, the oak, and the beech, and conifer� in great variety. The camellia, the Paulownia, and the chrysanthemum are conspicuous amongst its indigenous plants. Nymph�as and Parnassia fill the lakes and morasses. The tobacco-plant, the a-shrub, the potato, rice, wheat, barley, and maize are all cultivated. The flora of J. bears a remarkable resemblance to that of he North American continent.

Agriculture is the chief occupation of the Japanese. They are try careful farmers, and their farms are models of order and neatness. They bestow great care upon manures, and thoroughly understand cropping and the rotation of crops. The soil is not naturally fertile, being mostly volcanic or derived from igneous rocks, but is made very productive by careful manuring. It grows tea, cotton, rice (the staple production), wheat, maize, buck-wheat, millet, potatoes, turnips, beans, peas, &c. The rice harvest commences in October. Wheat is sown in drills in November and December, and reaped in May and June. Flails and winnowing machines, similar to those used in England, are common.

Animals.�Wild animals scarcely exist in Japan. A few wolves, fixes, and wild boars still roam in the north of Honshiu. Wild deer are protected by law. The principal domesticated animals are horses, of which there is an indigenous race; oxen and cows, used only as beasts of burden; and dogs, held in superstitious veneration by the people. Birds are very numerous, and include two kinds of pheasants, wild-fowl, herons, cranes, and many species common both to Europe and Asia. There are few reptiles; and of insects, white ants, winged grasshoppers, and several beautiful varieties of moth are conspicuous.

Mineralogy.�The mineral resources of J. are being increasingly developed. In 1880 there were six principal mines worked by foreign methods and machinery. Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, sulphur, coal, basalt, felspar, greenstones, granites red and gray, rock-crystal, agate, carnelian, amber, scoriae and pumice-stone, talc, alum, &c., are found in greater or less quantities. Coal-beds extend from Nagasaki to Yezo. The supply of sulphur is almost inexhaustible, and of wonderful purity. But little revenue has yet been derived from the government mines, on account of the necessarily great outlay in the first instance for costly machinery, and the heavy expenses in sinking shafts and constructing furnaces, with other improvements.

Inhabitants.�Ethnologists have referred the Japanese to different types of mankind : Latham classifies them as Turanians; Pickering, as Malays; Prichard, as belonging to the same type as the Chinese; and in the narrative of the United States’ Expedition, they are ranked as a branch of the Tartar family. In Yezo there are about 12,000 Ainos, a hairy race wholly distinct from the Japanese, and in all probability a remnant of the aborigines of Japan. Probably the present Japanese are a mixed race, the issue of the intermarriage of victorious settlers from the Asiatic continent with Malays in the south and Ainos in the north. Physically the Japanese is distinguished by an oval head and face, rounded frontal bones, a high forehead, narrow and often slightly oblique eyes�the irides of a brown-black color, the eyebrows heavy and arched. The complexion varies from a deep copper color to the fairness of western nations, but is more frequently of a light-olive tint. The expression of the face is mild

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and animated. The Japanese ‘ are a people of great qualities and exaggerated defects. They are honest, ingenious, courteous, clean, frugal, animated by a strong love of knowledge, endowed with a wonderful capacity of imitation, with deep self-respect, and with a sentiment of personal honor far beyond what any other race has ever reached. On the other hand, they are fickle, prone to self-conceit, and, especially in the lower classes, deeply tainted with licentiousness. The town costume of the Japanese gentleman consists of a loose silk robe extending from the neck to the ankles, but gathered in at the waist, round which is fastened a girdle of brocaded silk. Over this is worn a loose, wide-sleeved jacket or spencer, decorated with the wearer’s armorial device. A cylindrical cap made of bamboo and silk, white stockings, and neat straw sandals, complete the attire. European costume has been assumed by the government as the official dress; and, although the native costume still prevails among the people generally, such European articles as boots, hats, flannel shirts, &c., are coming more and more into favor as comfortable additions to it. A head entirely shaven is the distinctive mark of priests: in others, the hair used to be shaved off about three inches in front, combed up from the back and sides, and glued into a tuft at the top of the head; but the more natural European mode is now fashionable. The hair of the women is more abundant, but otherwise their dress very much resembles that of the men. In the country, a short cotton gown is often the only clothing, and in summer the lower classes go almost in a state of nudity. The women paint and powder their skin, but consider it barbarous to wear such jewels as earrings.

Manners and Customs.�Many of the customs once characteristic of J. have, since the abolition of feudalism in 1868, become obsolete. Among these is seppuku or hara-kiri (i.e., ‘belly-cut’), for long a legalized mode of suicide. Social barriers, lately almost insurmountable, have been broken down, and some of the most influential posts are now held by men who have risen from the ranks. The social position of women is more favorable than in most pagan countries. Ladies of the upper classes deem it proper to keep themselves in considerable seclusion; but this feeling is becoming somewhat modified. Girls attend the elementary schools as well as boys, and ladies’ colleges have been established under the immediate patronage of the Empress Haruku. Polygamy is not allowed, but concubinage is common. Marriages are arranged by the friends of both parties; among the upper classes, the custom of affiancing children prevails. Formerly, when a maiden married, her teeth were blackened and her eyebrows shaven off; this custom is discountenanced by the Empress, and is gradually being discarded. Prostitution is very prevalent. It is no uncommon thing for a dutiful daughter to sell herself for a term of years to the proprietor of a house of ill-fame, in order to retrieve her father’s fallen fortunes. When she returns, no stigma attaches to her; rather is she honored for her filial devotion. Licensed houses of ill-fame are now confined to certain districts. Street-walking is virtually unknown. Hot baths are a great institution in Japan. Formerly persons of both sexes bathed together; and this primitive custom (in which the simple-minded Japanese sees no impropriety) still prevails in rural districts, although forbidden in the cities. Until lately, the only vehicles in J. were two kinds of palanquin, viz., the kago and the norimon; but in all the more level districts, these have now been superseded by the jin-riki-sha (’ man-power-carriage’), a sort of two-wheeled perambulator drawn by one or two men. Horse-carriages are novel to J., and as yet are rarely seen except in and around the treaty ports. In most of the more mountainous regions, the roads are impracticable even for jin-riki-sha, and the only means of conveyance are kago and pack-horses. The Japanese are essentially a pleasure-loving people. The theater forms one of their chief attractions. They take great delight in visiting public gardens, and admiring the blossoms of spring or the glorious tints of autumn. Professional musicians and dancers, principally young women remarkable for their personal attractions, are in constant request for parties. The floors of Japanese houses are laid with thick, soft, closely-fitting mats, on which the inmates squat, eat, and sleep; these are kept scrupulously clean, the shoes or clogs always being removed on entering. The time of greatest festivity is the New Year, now held contemporaneously with our own. Wrestling, jugglery, and archery are favorite sports; and in the game of go, somewhat like our chess, they attain great skill. For the dead great regard is paid, the ancestral tablet being always placed in the family shrine with the household god. Fish and rice are the staple food of the people, and tea and sake (rice-beer) their beverages.

Language.�In J. there arc two systems of writing: (1) The ideographic system of Chinese hieroglyphic symbols, which dates from the 3d c. AD.; and (2) the phonetic syllabarium, a modification of this, consisting of 47 characters, and a few supplementary monosyllabic sounds. Prior to either of these, some antique form of writing, now consigned to oblivion, is supposed to have existed.

The phonetic alphabet, invented about the year 810 A.D. is known as the Hiragana form of character. In process of time, this system was rendered more complex by the addition of variations, and this led, apparently, to the introduction of another and simpler alphabet, entirely without variants, and known as the Katakana character. Both these phonetic systems are written in perpendicular columns. It is not a little remarkable that the Chinese ideographic symbols retain their ascendancy over the phonetic alphabets, and are adopted almost exclusively for diplomatic documents and the higher class of books.

There is no similarity whatever between the spoken languages of China and J.; the latter�one of the softest tongues out of Italy� is not monosyllabic, but what has been called agglutinate.

The literature of J. is abundant and various, and includes works on history and science, encyclop�dias, poetry, prose fiction, and translations of European works. Besides original writings, the Japanese have adopted the whole circle of Chinese Confucian literature; the Chinese classics indeed form the basis of their literature, system of ethics, and type of thought. The present assimilation of Western ideas is leading to a proportionate neglect of Chinese philosophy; but as yet there is no tendency to discard the cumbrous system of orthography imported from China.

Religions of Japan-�There are two religions in J.�Shinto or Kami no Michi (’ The way of the gods’), the indigenous faith; and Buddhism introduced from China in 552 A.D.�1. Shintoism : The characteristics of Shintoism in its pure form are ‘ the absence of an ethical and doctrinal code, of idol-worship, of priestcraft, and of any teachings concerning a future state; and the deification of heroes, emperors, and great men, together with the worship of certain forces and objects in nature.’ The principal divinity is the sun-goddess Amaterasŭ, from whom the Mikado is held to be descended.

After the Restoration, the government attempted to free Shintoism from the Buddhist innovations which had contaminated it, and to revive it in its pure form as the national religion. Shinto temples are singularly destitute of ecclesiastical paraphernalia. A metal mirror generally stands on the altar, but even this is a Buddhist innovation. The spirit of the enshrined deity is supposed to be in a case, which is exposed to view only on the day of the deity’s annual festival. The worship consists merely in washing the face in a font, striking a bell, throwing a few cash into the money-box, and praying silently for a few seconds; nevertheless long pilgrimages to famous shrines and to the summits of sacred mountains are often taken to accomplish this. Shintoism is rather an engine of government than a religion; it keeps its hold on the

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masses chiefly through its being interwoven with reverence for ancestors.�2. Buddhism: Of Buddhists there are no fewer than thirty-five sects. The monks have assumed the functions of priests, and Japanese Buddhist worship presents striking resemblances to that of the Romish Church. The history of the Buddhist monasteries, too, often reads remarkably like that of the corresponding institutions in medieval Europe. Notwithstanding the increased patronage recently bestowed upon Shintoism by the government, Buddhism is still the dominant religion among the people. The most popular, as well as the wealthiest and most enlightened, of the Buddhist denominations, is the Monto or Shinshiu sect, which recognizes one God in Amida Buddha (only, however, an abstract principle personified), discountenances asceticism and clerical celibacy, and cultivates preaching, the favorite topic being the duty of self-reliance. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that a clear line can be drawn between adherents of Buddhism and Shintoism respectively; in the popular mind the two faiths are so blended that the temples of both are frequented without much discrimination. The better educated classes are mostly agnostics, striving more or less to regulate their lives by the maxims of Confucius.

Many Japanese temples are magnificent specimens of architecture in wood; they are remarkable for their vast tent-like roofs and their exquisite wood-carving.

Government and Finance.�The Mikado is an absolute sovereign. He administers his affairs through a supreme council, consisting of the premier, vice-premier, and the heads of the great departments of state. This is the actual government. Below this, a legislative council of eminent men, under the presidency of an imperial prince, has the power of elaborating the laws determined upon by the supreme council, but cannot initiate any legislate measure without its consent. There is also an assembly of provincial governors, but it meets but seldom, and is purely consultative. The chief departments of state are: Foreign Affaire, Finance, War, Marine, Education, Public Works, Justice, Colonization of Yezo, Imperial Household, and the Interior. For administrative purposes, J. is divided into 3 Fu (Tokiyo, Kiyoto, and Osaka), 35 Ken or prefectures, each with a governor responsible: to the minister of the interior. A bureaucratic has thus taken the place of the old feudal government. Provincial assemblies, composed of officers elected by the people, have been instituted; the functions of these are at present very limited.

Great progress is being made in finance, education, and public works, as well as the reconstruction of both army and navy. 1 army has been equipped and disciplined on European models by a commission of French officers; it numbers 35,560 men in time of peace, and 50.230 when on a war footing, besides a reserve of 20,000. In 1880 the navy had 27 vessels of all classes. The western calendar (excepting only the names of the months, which are represented by numbers) has, by a recent decree, been adopted; and a national code of laws, based on the Code Napoleon, has been drawn up. Praiseworthy attention has been paid to hygiene; under the central and district boards of health, every town or village has its popularly elected sanitation committee. In 1880 the public debt was �70,000,000, and there was a reserve fund of �10,265,000. The estimated total receipts for the year 1880-81 amounted to �11,986,700, and the expenditure was expected to balance the revenue.

Education, Art.�A university and several special scientific colleges have been established, each with a staff of foreign professors; normal and secondary schools exist in all the more important towns; and there is no village of appreciable size without primary school. More than 500 state students have been sent Europe and America. The education report for 1877, published in 1879, gives the number of elementary schools at 25,459, (attended by 1,594,792 boys and 568,220 girls Learned scientific societies have been formed. Newspapers are widespread. In the mechanical arts, the Japanese have attained to great excellence, especially in metallurgy, and in the manufacture of porcelain, lacquer ware, and silk fabrics; indeed, in some of these departments, works of art are produced, so exquisite in design and

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execution, as to more than rival the best products of Europe. The Japanese have long understood lithocrome-printing. Their drawings of animals and figures generally are wonderfully graphic, i, and true to nature; but in landscapes they fail, from erroneous perspective; and of the art of painting in oils they were, until lately, entirely ignorant.

Commerce.�J. had in 1880 about 80 miles of railway, and great progress has of late been made in the construction of roads. The magnificent fleet of the Mitsu Bishi (’ Three Diamonds’) Steam-ship Company connects the different ports with one another and with China. There is an admirable system of lighthouses and other aids to navigation. In 1878-79, 55,270,402 articles were exchanged by post; 249,429 money-orders were issued in the postal department, representing �740,876; and there were 595 post-office savings-banks. Every considerable town has at least one bank. The basis of the money-system is the yen, equal to the American trade-dollar. The imperial mint at Osaka is larger and better equipped than the Royal Mint in London. Steam-wrought Machinery is being increasingly used, and all kinds of foreign scientific processes are being put in operation.

The commercial intercourse of J. is now carried on mostly with Great Britain and the United States of America. In 1881, the total imports from all countries amounted to �6,572,078, and the total exports to �6,271,215.

The following table shows the extent of the trade by exhibiting the value of the total exports from Japan to Great Britain, and of the total imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Japan, during the five years 1874�1878 :

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The principal item of export from J. to Great Britain is raw silk, valued in 1880 at �204,202; next in value come wax, rice, tobacco, and tea. The staple British import is cotton goods, lined in 1880 at �2,007,850; also woollen fabrics and iron.

History.�To understand something of the government and institutions of J., past and present, it will be necessary to glance at its history and political landmarks. Here we find an emperor, whose Dynasty began to reign 2532 years ago, or 660 b.c. Its founder, Jimmu Tenno, was contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar; and in 168, after a duration of twenty-five centuries, it threw off the oppression and decrepitude of 676 years, and in the person of Mutsuhito, the present Mikado or emperor (the 122d of his race), entered upon a new and promising career. The principal landmarks of Japanese political history are briefly as follows: A time of anarchy and faction on the one side, and a succession of feeble sovereigns on the other, enabled Yoritomo, the Shogun or generalissimo (from Ta-tsiang-kiun, the Chinese term for ‘ the great chief or commander of the army ‘)�or Tycoon (Chinese Tai Kun, i.e., ‘ Great Lord’), as he is called in recent treaties, to usurp the supreme authority. This occurred in 1192 A.D.; but the creation of a Shogun by the Mikado dates from 85 B.C. This high officer was subsequently known to Europeans as the temporal emperor, and to the Mikado they assigned purely spiritual functions; but the Japanese themselves recognized one sovereign only, viz., the Mikado, who held his court at Kiyoto, or Miyako, while his rival in Yedo acted as real sovereign, at the safe distance of 300 miles; and the Shogunate became henceforth a permanent institution. It might now be said that the Shogun governed, but did not reign; while the Mikado reigned, but did not govern; though three times a year he received the homage of his all-powerful subject. He even continued nominally the sole temporal emperor, though pensioned by the Shogun, and deprived of all real authority. In 1603 the Shogun Tokugawa Iyeyasu (the ‘ illustrious ‘) organized a government which secured to the empire a peace of 200 years. He founded likewise a permanent succession, and his descendants reigned at Yedo till 1868. His system was perfected by Iyemitsu, the third Shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. It was his policy ‘ to preserve unchanged the condition of the native intelligence,’ ‘to prevent the introduction of new ideas,’ and to effect this he not only banished foreigners, interdicted all intercourse with them, and extirpated Christianity, but introduced that ‘ most rigid and cunningly devised system of espionage ‘ that was in full activity at the time of the Earl of Elgin’s mission, as amusingly described by Mr. Oliphant.

‘This espionage,’ says a recent Japanese writer, ‘held every one in the community in dread and suspicion; not only the most powerful daimio felt its insidious influence, but the meanest retainer was subject to its sway; and the ignoble quality of deception, developing rapidly to a large extent, became at this time a national characteristic. The daimios, who at first enjoyed an honorable position as guests at the court of Yedo, were reduced to vassalage, and their families retained as hostages for the rendition of a biennial ceremonial of homage to the Shogun. Restrictions surrounded personages of this rank until, without special permission, they were not allowed to meet each other alone.’ In 1549 St. Francis Xavier introduced the Roman Catholic religion into J., and the Portuguese (who first landed in J. in the year 1543) carried on a lucrative trade; but by-and-by the ruling powers took alarm, ordered away all foreigners, and interdicted Christianity (1624), believing that foreigners impoverished the country, while their religion struck at the root of the political and religious systems of Japan. The converts to that form of Christianity introduced by Xavier, were found to have pledged their allegiance to a foreign power- while their conduct is said to have been offensive towards the Shinto and Buddhist temples; so that in time they came to be regarded as a dangerous and anti-national class whose extirpation was essential to the well-being of the nation, and to the success of the political system then being organized or perfected by Iyemitsu. The Portuguese continued to frequent J. till 1638, when they and their religion were finally expelled; Christianity was suppressed with every cruelty, and at the cost of some 50,000 lives; its professors were murdered, and the ports closed to foreign traffic. From this date the Japanese government maintained the most rigid policy of isolation. No foreign vessels might touch at Japanese ports under any pretence. Japanese sailors wrecked on any foreign shore were with difficulty permitted to return home; while the Dutch, locked up in their factory at Deshima, might hold no communication with the mainland; and the people lived like frogs in a well, till 1853, when they were rudely awakened from their dream of peace and security by Commodore Perry steaming into the harbor of Yokohama, with a squadron of United States’ war-vessels. He extorted a treaty from the frightened Shogun (31st March 1854), and J., after a withdrawal of 216 years, entered once more the family of nations. Other countries slowly followed the example of the United States: Russia and the Netherlands in 1855; our own treaty followed in 1858; that with France in 1859; with Portugal in 1860; with Prussia and the Zollverein in 1861; with Switzerland in 1864; with Italy in 1866; and with Denmark in 1867. By these the seven ports of Nagasaki, Kanagawa (for this Yokohama has been substituted). Hiyogo (or Kobe), Yedo (now called Tokiyo), Osaka, Hakodate, and Niigata were opened to foreign commerce.

It will thus be seen that ‘ the history of the empire of the Rising Sun is divisible into four distinct periods : the first, which ends with the landing of the Portuguese in 1543. is purely local; the second, which extends from 1543 to 1638, includes the story of St. Francis Xavier, the trade with Portugal, the persecutions, and the final expulsion of Europeans; the third, from 1638 to 1854. is distinguished by the Dutch monopoly, and the resolute exclusion of all foreigners; in the fourth, since 1854, J. has once more be-come accessible to everybody.’

In the J. of 1854, we went back to Europe of the 12th c.�to the feudalism of England under the Plantagenets. An aristocratic caste of a few hundred nobles�the Daimiyo or territorial princes of J. (278 in number)�ruled large provinces with despotic and almost independent authority; their incomes reaching in one or two instances to �800,000. By signing the Perry treaty at all, the Shogun gave deep offence to the Daimiyos, and by signing it without the sanction of the Mikado, he committed an act of treason which led to all the confusion, violence, and disaster of the next few years, and ultimately in 1868 to the complete overthrow of his own power and the restoration of the Mikado to his rightful position as actual ruler of the empire. For long, not a few of the most powerful Diamiyos had been dissatisfied with the Sho-gun’s position, and these gladly availed themselves of the pretext now furnished for opposing him. All possible means were taken to bring him into complications with the ambassadors at his court; and to this motive, rather than to any hatred of foreigners, are to be ascribed the numerous assassinations which darkened the period immediately prior to 1868. Every weakening of his power was a step gained towards his overthrow and the longed-for unification of the empire in the hands of the Mikado. At length the Shogun resigned; but it was only after a sharp civil war in the winter of 1867-68 that his power was completely crushed. At the outset of the struggle, the imperial party were decidedly retrogressive in their political ideas, but before its close various circumstances convinced them that without intercourse with foreign nations the greatness which they desired for their country could not be achieved; and when they got into power, they astonished the world by the thoroughness with which they broke loose from the old traditions and entered on a course of enlightened reformation. Recognizing Yedo as really the center of the nation’s life, they resolved to make it the capital; but the name Yedo being distasteful through its associations with the Shogunate, they renamed the city Tokiyo, or Tokei�i.e., Eastern Capital. Here the Mikado established his court, abandoning forever that life of seclusion which had surrounded his ancestors with a halo of semi-divinity, but deprived them of all real power. The venerable city of Kiyoto was at the same time renamed Saikiyo or Saikei�i.e., Western Capital. The Daimiyos resigned their fiefs to the Mikado. This has been represented as a grand act of self-sacrifice on their part; but the truth is that the vast majority of them had come to be mere fain�ants, leaving the government of their territories to the more energetic of their retainers; and it was by a number of the latter that this, in common with the other changes connected with the Restoration, was effected.

Since 1868, Japan has given several remarkable manifestations of self-consciousness. The attitude she assumed towards Corea; her annexation in 1879 of the Liu Kiu Islands, notwithstanding China’s remonstrances and threats; her continual protest against the unpalatable extra-territoriality clauses in the treaties, which declare European and American residents amenable to their own, and not to the Japanese, courts of law�prove that she is far from having lost that bold independence of spirit which has always characterized her.

See K�mpfer, History of Japan (1727); works by Alcock (1863), L. Oliphant (1859), Mossman (1873), Adams (1874), Arinori Moro (New York, 1873), Griffis (New York, 1876); The French works of Humbert and Bousquet; Mitford’s Tales of Old Japan; Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan; Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft; Black, Young Japan (Shanghai, 1880) ; Mounsey, The Satsuma Rebellion (1879); Sir E. J. Reed, Japan (1880); Miss Bird (Mrs. Bishop), Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880): Rein, Japnn nach Iteisen und Studein dargestellt (1881); W. G-. Dixon, Land of the Morning (1882); Chamberlain, The Classical Poetry of Japan (1880); Dickens, The Loyal League (a Japanese play, 1880); Cfenji Monogatari (the most famous Japanese romance, Eng. transl., 1882). For the language, see the grammars of the written and spoken languages by Hoffmanu and by Aston, and the dictionaries by Hepburn, and by Satow and Ishibashi.

JANSEN, Cornelius, a celebrated divine, born of humble parentage in 1585, at Akkoi, near Leerdam, in Holland, from whom the sect of jansenists derives its name. He was nephew of the well-known biblical commentator, and Bishop of Ghent, of the same name. The studies of J. were divided between Utrecht, Louvain, and Paris. Having obtained a professorship at Bayonne, he devoted himself with all his energy to scriptural and patristic studies, especially of the works of St. Augustine. From Bayonne, he returned to Louvain, where, in 1617, he obtained the degree of Doctor, was appointed Lecturer on Scripture, and took a prominent part in the affairs of the university, especially in a contest with the Jesuits, on occasion of which he was sent upon a mission to the court of Madrid. In 1630, he was appointed to the professorship of Scripture; and having distinguished himself by a pamphlet on the war with France, Mars Gallicus, he was promoted, in 1686, to the see of Ypres. In this city he died of the plague, May 6, 1638, just as he had completed his great work, the Augustinus, which proved the occasion of a theological controversy, the most important, in its doctrinal, social, and even political results, which has arisen since the Reformation. Its main object, in which it coincided with the scheme of doctrine already condemned in Bajus (q. v.), was to prove, by an elaborate analysis of St. Augustine’s works, that the teaching of this Father against the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians (q. v.), on Grace, Free-will, and Predestination, was directly opposed to the teaching of the modern, and especially of the Jesuit schools (see molina), which latter teaching he held to be identical with that of the semi-Pelagians. In the preface, he submitted the work to the judgment of the Holy See; and on its publication, in 1640, being received with loud clamor, especially by the Jesuits, and at once referred to Home for judgment, the Augustinus�together with the antagonist publications of the Jesuits�was prohibited by a decree of the inquisition in 1641; in the following year, it was condemned as heretical by Urban VIII. in the bull In Eminenti. This bull encountered much opposition in Belgium; and in France, the Augustinus found many partisans, who were animated by a double feeling, as well of doctrinal predilection as of antipathy to the alleged laxity of moral teaching in the schools of the Jesuits, with whom the opposition to the Augustinus was identified. See jesuits. The most eminent of the patrons of the Augustinus were the celebrated association of scholars and divines who formed the community of PORT ROYAL (q. v.), Arnauld, Nicole, Pascal, &c. Nevertheless, the syndic of the Sorbonne extracted from the Augustinus seven propositions (subsequently reduced to five) which were condemned as heretical by Innocent X. in 1653. Hence arose the celebrated distinction of ‘right’ and of ‘fact.’ The friends of the Augustinus, while they admitted that in point of right the live propositions were justly condemned as heretical, yet denied that in point of fact these propositions were to be found in the Augustinus, at least in the sense imputed to them by the bull.

A further condemnation was therefore issued by Alexander VII. in 1656, which was rigidly enforced in France, and generally accepted; and in 1668, peace was partially restored by Clement IX., at least all overt opposition was repressed by the iron rule of Louis XIV. The more rigid Jansenists, however, and at their head Antoine Arnauld, emigrated from France, and formed a kind of community in the Low Countries. On the death of Arnauld in 1694, the controversy remained in abeyance for so me years; but it was revived with new acrimony by the well-known dispute on the so-called ‘ case of conscience,’ and still more angrily in the person of the celebrated Quesnel (q. v.), whose Moral Reflections on the New Testament, although published with high ecclesiastical authority, at various intervals from 1671 till his death, 1710, was denounced to the pope, Clement XI, as a text-book of undisguised Jansenism. This pope issued in 1713, in the constitution ‘ Unigenitus,’ a condemnation in mass of 101 propositions extracted from the Moral Reflections, which, however, met with great resistance in France. The death of Louis XIV. caused a relaxation of the repressive measures. The regent, Duke of Orleans, was urged to refer the whole controversy to a national council, and the leaders of the Jansenist party appealed to a general council. The party thus formed, which numbered four bishops and many inferior ecclesiastics, were called, from this circumstance, the Appellants. The firmness of the pope, and a change in the policy of the regent, brought them into disfavor. An edict was published, June 4, 1720, receiving the bull; and even the parliament of Paris submitted to register it, although with a reservation in favor of the liberties of the Gallican Church. The Appellants for the most part submitted, the recusants being visited with severe penalties; and on the accession of the new king, Louis XV., the unconditional acceptance of the bull was at length formally accomplished, the parliament being compelled to register it in a lit de justice. From this time forward, the Appellants were rigorously repressed, and a large number emigrated to the Netherlands, where they formed a community, with Utrecht as a center. The party still remaining in France persisted in their inveterate opposition to the bull, and many of them fell into great excesses of fanaticism. See CONVULSIONARIES. In one locality alone, Utrecht, and its dependent churches, can the sect be said to have had a regular and permanent organization, which dates partly from the forced emigration of the French Jansenists under Louis XIV., partly from the controversy about Quesnel. The vicar-apostolic, Peter Codde, having been suspended by Clement XI. in 1702, the chapter of Utrecht refused to acknowledge the new vicar named in his place, and angrily joined themselves to the Appellant party in France, many of whom found a refuge in Utrecht. At length, in 1723, they elected an archbishop, Cornelius Steenhoven, for whom the form of episcopal consecration was obtained from the French bishop Vorlet (titular of Babylon), who had been suspended for Jansenist opinions. A later Jansenist Archbishop of Utrecht, Meindarts, established Haarlem and Deventer as his suffragan sees; and in 1763, a synod was held, which sent its acts to Rome, in recognition of the primacy of that see, which the church of Utrecht professes to acknowledge. Since that time, the formal succession has been maintained, each bishop, on being appointed, notifying his election to the pope, and craving confirmation. The popes, however, have uniformly rejected all advances, except on the condition of the acceptance of the bull Unigenitus, and the recent act of the Holy See, in defining as of Catholic faith the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been the occasion of a new protest. The Jansenists of the Utrecht Church still number about 6000 souls, and are divided over 25 parishes in the dioceses of Utrecht and Haarlem. Their clergy are about 30 in number, with a seminary at Amersfoort. The Jansenist Archbishop of Utrecht has recently consecrated a bishop for the Old Catholic (see dolhngeR) community in Germany.