Chapter 30

Yet for no generous thinker can the ethical questions involved be thus easily settled. We are not justified in holding that the inevitable is morally ordained,--much less that, because the higher races happen to be on the winning side in the world-struggle, might can ever constitute right. Human progress has been achieved by denying the law of the stronger,--by battling against those impulses to crush the weak, to prey upon the helpless, which rule in the world of the brute, and are no less in accord with the natural order than are the courses of the stars. All virtues and restraints making civilization possible have been developed in the teeth of natural law. Those races which lead are the races who first learned that the highest power is acquired by the exercise of forbearance, and that liberty is best maintained by the protection of the weak, and by the strong repression of injustice. Unless we be ready to deny the whole of the moral experience thus gained,--unless we are willing to assert that the religion in which it has been expressed is only the creed of a particular civilization, and not a religion of humanity,--it were difficult to imagine any ethical justification for the aggressions made upon alien peoples in the name of Christianity and enlightenment. Certainly the results in China of such aggression [478] have not been Christianity nor enlightenment, but revolts, massacres, detestable cruelties,--the destruction of cities, the devastation of provinces, the loss of tens of thousands of lives, the extortion of hundreds of millions of money. If all this be right, then might is might indeed; and our professed religion of humanity and justice is proved to be as exclusive as any primitive cult, and intended to regulate conduct only as between members of the same society.

But to the evolutionist, at least, the matter appears in a very different light. The plain teaching of sociology is that the higher races cannot with impunity cast aside their moral experience in dealing with feebler races, and that Western civilization will have to pay, sooner or later, the full penalty of its deeds of oppression. Nations that, while refusing to endure religious intolerance at home, steadily maintain religious intolerance abroad, must eventually lose those rights of intellectual freedom which cost so many centuries of atrocious struggle to win. Perhaps the period of the penalty is not very far away. With the return of all Europe to militant conditions, there has set in a vast ecclesiastical revival of which the menace to human liberty is unmistakable; the spirit of the Middle Ages threatens to prevail again; and anti-semitism has actually become a factor in the politics of three Continental powers....

[479]--It has been well said that no man can estimate the force of a religious conviction until he has tried to oppose it. Probably no man can imagine the wicked side of convention upon the subject of missions until the masked batteries of its malevolence have been trained against him. Yet the question of mission-policy cannot be answered either by secret slander or by public abuse of the person raising it. To-day it has become a question that concerns the peace of the world, the future of commerce, and the interests of civilization. The integrity of China depends upon it; and the present war is not foreign to it. Perhaps this book, in spite of many shortcomings, will not fail to convince some thoughtful persons that the constitution of Far-Eastern society presents insuperable obstacles to the propaganda of Western religion, as hitherto conducted; that these obstacles now demand, more than at any previous epoch, the most careful and humane consideration; and that the further needless maintenance of an uncompromising attitude towards them can result in nothing but evil. Whatever the religion of ancestors may have been thousands of years ago, to-day throughout the Far East it is the religion of family affection and duty; and by inhumanly ignoring this fact, Western zealots can scarcely fail to provoke a few more "Boxer" uprisings. The real power to force upon the world a peril from China (now that the chance seems lost for Russia) should [480] not be suffered to rest with those who demand religious tolerance for the purpose of preaching intolerance. Never will the East turn Christian while dogmatism requires the convert to deny his ancient obligation to the family, the community, and the government,--and further insists that he prove his zeal for an alien creed by destroying the tablets of his ancestors, and outraging the memory of those who gave him life.

[481]

APPENDIX

HERBERT SPENCER'S ADVICE TO JAPAN

Some five years ago I was told by an American professor, then residing in Tokyo, that after Herbert Spencer's death there would be published a letter of advice, which the philosopher had addressed to a Japanese statesman, concerning the policy by which the Empire might be able to preserve its independence. I was not able to obtain any further information; but I felt tolerably sure, remembering the statement regarding Japanese social disintegration in "First Principles" (section 178), that the advice would prove to have been of the most conservative kind. As a matter of fact it was even more conservative than I had imagined.

Herbert Spencer died on the morning of December 8th, 1903 (while this book was in course of preparation); and the letter, addressed to Baron Kaneko Kentaro, under circumstances with which the public have already been made familiar, was published in the London Times of January 18th, 1904.

FAIRFIELD, PEWSEY, WILTS, Aug. 26, 1892.

MY DEAR SIR,--Your proposal to send translations of my two letters* to Count Ito, the newly-appointed Prime Minister, is quite satisfactory. I very willingly give my assent.

[*These letters have not as yet been made public.]

Respecting the further questions you ask, let me, in the first place, answer generally that the Japanese policy should, I think, be that of keeping Americans and Europeans as much as possible at arm's length. In presence of the more powerful races your position is one of chronic danger, and you should take every precaution to give as little foothold as possible to foreigners.

[482] It seems to me that the only forms of intercourse which you may with advantage permit are those which are indispensable for the exchange of commodities--importation and exportation of physical and mental products. No further privileges should be allowed to people of other races, and especially to people of the more powerful races, than is absolutely needful for the achievement of these ends. Apparently you are proposing by revision of the treaty with the Powers of Europe and America "to open the whole Empire to foreigners and foreign capital." I regret this as a fatal policy. If you wish to see what is likely to happen, study the history of India. Once let one of the more powerful races gain a point d'appui and there will inevitably in course of time grow up an aggressive policy which will lead to collisions with the Japanese; these collisions will be represented as attacks by the Japanese which must be avenged, as the case may be; a portion of territory will be seized and required to be made over as a foreign settlement; and from this there will grow eventually subjugation of the entire Japanese Empire. I believe that you will have great difficulty in avoiding this fate in any case, but you will make the process easy if you allow of any privileges to foreigners beyond those which I have indicated.

In pursuance of the advice thus generally indicated, I should say, in answer to your first question, that there should be, not only a prohibition of foreign persons to hold property in land, but also a refusal to give them leases, and a permission only to reside as annual tenants.

To the second question I should say decidedly prohibit to foreigners the working of the mines owned or worked by Government. Here there would be obviously liable to arise grounds of difference between the Europeans or Americans who worked them and the Government, and these grounds of quarrel would be followed by invocations to the English or American Governments or other Powers to send forces to insist on whatever the European workers claimed, for always the habit here and elsewhere among the civilized peoples is to believe what their agents or sellers abroad represent to them.

In the third place, in pursuance of the policy I have indicated, you ought also to keep the coasting trade in your own hands and forbid foreigners to engage in it. This coasting trade is clearly not included in the requirement I have indicated as the sole one to be recognized--a requirement to facilitate exportation and importation [483] of commodities. The distribution of commodities brought to Japan from other places may be properly left to the Japanese themselves, and should be denied to foreigners, for the reason that again the various transactions involved would become so many doors open to quarrels and resulting aggressions.

To your remaining question respecting the intermarriage of foreigners and Japanese, which you say is "now very much agitated among our scholars and politicians" and which you say is "one of the most difficult problems," my reply is that, as rationally answered, there is no difficulty at all. It should be positively forbidden. It is not at root a question of social philosophy. It is at root a question of biology. There is abundant proof, alike furnished by the intermarriages of human races and by the interbreeding of animals, that when the varieties mingled diverge beyond a certain slight degree the result is inevitably a bad one in the long run. I have myself been in the habit of looking at the evidence bearing on this matter for many years past, and my conviction is based on numerous facts derived from numerous sources. This conviction I have within the last half-hour verified, for I happen to be staying in the country with a gentleman who is well known and has had much experience respecting the interbreeding of cattle; and he has just, on inquiry, fully confirmed my belief that when, say of the different varieties of sheep, there is an interbreeding of those which are widely unlike, the result, especially in the second generation, is a bad one--there arise an incalculable mixture of traits, and what may be called a chaotic constitution. And the same thing happens among human beings--the Eurasians in India, the half-breeds in America, show this. The physiological basis of this experience appears to be that any one variety of creature in course of many generations acquires a certain constitutional adaptation to its particular form of life, and every other variety similarly acquires its own special adaptation. The consequence is that, if you mix the constitution of two widely divergent varieties which have severally become adapted to widely divergent modes of life, you get a constitution which is adapted to the mode of life of neither--a constitution which will not work properly, because it is not fitted for any set of conditions whatever. By all means, therefore, peremptorily interdict marriages of Japanese with foreigners.

I have for the reasons indicated entirely approved of the regulations which have been established in America for restraining the Chinese immigration, and had I the power I would restrict them [484] to the smallest possible amount, my reasons for this decision being that one of two things must happen. If the Chinese are allowed to settle extensively in America, they must either, if they remain unmixed, form a subject race standing in the position, if not of slaves, yet of a class approaching to slaves; or if they mix they must form a bad hybrid. In either case, supposing the immigration to be large, immense social mischief must arise, and eventually social disorganization. The same thing will happen if there should be any considerable mixture of European or American races with the Japanese.

You see, therefore, that my advice is strongly conservative in all directions, and I end by saying as I began--keep other races at arm's length as much as possible.

I give this advice in confidence. I wish that it should not transpire publicly, at any rate during my life, for I do not desire to rouse the animosity of my fellow-countrymen.

I am sincerely yours, HERBERT SPENCER.

P.S.--Of course, when I say I wish this advice to be in confidence, I do not interdict the communication of it to Count Ito, but rather wish that he should have the opportunity of taking it into consideration.

How fairly Herbert Spencer understood the prejudices of his countrymen has been shown by the comments of the Times upon this letter,--comments chiefly characterized by that unreasoning quality of abuse with which the English conventional mind commonly resents the pain of a new idea opposed to immediate interests. Yet some knowledge of the real facts in the case should serve to convince even the Times that if Japan is able in this moment to fight for the cause of civilization in general, and for English interests in particular, it is precisely because the Japanese statesmen of a wiser generation maintained a sound conservative policy upon the very lines indicated in that letter--so unjustly called a proof of "colossal egotism."

Whether the advice itself directly served at any time to influence government policy, I do not know. But that it fully accorded with the national instinct of self-preservation, is shown by the history [485] of that fierce opposition which the advocates of the abolition of extra-territoriality had to encounter, and by the nature of the precautionary legislation enacted in regard to those very matters dwelt upon in Herbert Spencer's letter, Though extra-territoriality has been (unavoidably, perhaps) abolished, foreign capital has not been left free to exploit the resources of the country; and foreigners are not allowed to own land. Though marriages between Japanese and foreigners have never been forbidden,* they have never been encouraged, and can take place only under special legal restrictions. If foreigners could have acquired, through marriage, the right to hold Japanese real estate, a considerable amount of such estate would soon have passed into alien hands. But the law has wisely provided that the Japanese woman marrying a foreigner thereby becomes a foreigner, and that the children by such a marriage remain foreigners. On the other hand, any foreigner adopted by marriage into a Japanese family becomes a Japanese; and the children in such event remain Japanese. But they also remain under certain disabilities: they are precluded from holding high offices of state; and they cannot even become officers of the army or navy except by special permission. (This permission appears to have been accorded in one or two cases.) Finally, it is to be observed that Japan has kept her coasting-trade in her own hands.

[*The number of families in Tokyo representing such unions is said to be over one hundred.]

On the whole, then, it may be said that Japanese policy followed, to a considerable extent, the course suggested in Herbert Spencer's letter of advice; and it is much to be regretted, in my humble opinion, that the advice could not have been followed more closely. Could the philosopher have lived to hear of the recent Japanese victories,--the defeat of a powerful Russian fleet without the loss of a single Japanese vessel, and the rout of thirty thousand Russian troops on the Yalu,--I do not think that he would have changed his counsel by a hair's-breadth. Perhaps he would have commended, [486] so far as his humanitarian conscience permitted, the thoroughness of the Japanese study of the new science of war: he might have praised the high courage displayed, and the triumph of the ancient discipline;--his sympathies would have been on the side of the country compelled to choose between the necessities of inviting a protectorate or fighting Russia. But had he been questioned again as to the policy of the future, in case of victory, he would probably have reminded the questioner that military efficiency is a very different thing from industrial power, and have vigorously repeated his warning. Understanding the structure and the history of Japanese society, he could clearly perceive the dangers of foreign contact, and the directions from which attempts to take advantage of the industrial weakness of the country were likely to be made.... In another generation Japan will be able, without peril, to abandon much of her conservatism; but, for the time being, her conservatism is her salvation.

[487]

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

In the preparation of this essay, I have been much indebted to the "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan", and especially to the following contributions:--

(ON THE SUBJECT OF SHINTO)

"The Revival of Pure Shinto," by Sir Ernest Satow,--Appendix to Vol. III.

"The Shinto Temples of Ise," by Satow,--Vol. II.

"Ancient Japanese Rituals," by Satow,--Vols. VII and IX.

"Japanese Funeral Rites," by A. H. Lay,--Vol. XIX.

(ON THE SUBJECT OF LAW AND CUSTOM)

"Notes on Land Tenure and Local Institutions in Old Japan," by Dr. D. B. Simmons. Edited by Professor J. H. Wigmore,--Vol. XIX.

"Materials for the Study of Private Law in Old Japan," by Professor J. H. Wigmore,--Vol. XX, Supplements 1, 2, 3, 5.

(ON THE CHRISTIAN EPISODE OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES)

"The Church at Yamaguchi from 1550 to 1586," by Satow,--Vol. VII.

"Review of the Introduction of Christianity into China and Japan," by J. H. Gubbins,--Vol. VI.

"Historical Notes on Nagasaki," by W. A. Wooley,--Vol. IX.

"The Arima Rebellion," by Dr. Geertz,--Vol. IX.

[488] (ON JAPANESE HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY)

"Early Japanese History," by W. G. Aston,--Vol. XVI.

"The Feudal System of Japan under the Tokugawa Shoguns," by J. H. Gubbins,--Vol. XV.

--The extracts quoted from "The Legacy of Iyeyasu" have been taken from the translation made by J. F. Lowder.

--I regret not having been able, in preparing this essay, to avail myself of the very remarkable "History of Japan during the Century of Early Foreign Intercourse (1542-1651),"--by James Murdoch and Isoh Yamagata,--which was published at Kobe last winter. This important work contains much documentary material never before printed, and throws new light upon the religious history of the period. The authors are inclined to believe that, allowing for numerous apostasies, the total number of Christians in Japan at no time much exceeded 300,000; and the reasons given for this opinion, if not conclusive, are at least very strong. Perhaps the most interesting chapters are those dealing with the Machiavellian policy of Hideyoshi in his attitude to the foreign religion and its preachers, but there are few dull pages in the book. Help to a correct understanding of the history of the time is furnished by an excellent set of maps, showing the distribution of the great fiefs and the political partition of the country before and after the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Not the least merit of the work is its absolute freedom from religious bias of any sort.

INDEX

Ability, slight opportunity for, to rise, 410-411.

Adams, Will, 254, 313; interviewed by Iyeyasu, 314-316, favoured by the Emperor, 316-317; quoted concerning Hideyori's intrigues and fate. 322-323.

Adoption, custom of, in patriarchal family, 59, 64-65; marriage signified merely, 64; modern practices regarding, 386.

Adultery, enactments of Iyeyasu regarding, 345-346.

Affection, limitations placed on, 69 ff.

Age of the Gods, period called the, 259.

Agnosticism, Buddhism is not. 213, 220.

Agriculture, gods of, 126, 153-154; no degradation attached to pursuit of, 245.

Akindo, the commercial class, 246-247. See Commerce.

Alcestis, the Japanese woman might be compared to, 366.

Ancestors, imperial, worship of the, 108-123, 279-280.

Ancestor-worship, introduction to religion of, 21-32; the real religion of Japan, 21; summary of the three forms of, 21-22; the family-cult of, 21-22, 25-26; characteristics of earliest, 24 ff.; stability of, in Japan for two thousand years, 32; summary of beliefs surviving from, 31; three stages of, 33-34; evolution of permanent form from funeral-rites, 34-51: characteristics of religion of, to-day, 51-53; bearing of, on family-organization of, 55 ff. ; marriage under the religion of, 107 ff. ; four classes of, to-day, 123-124; accommodation of Buddhism to, 183-184; toleration of ancient European, by Roman Catholicism, 191; Buddhist theory of rebirths reconciled to, 195 n.; Confucian system founded on, 177-178, 292; needless attacks on, account for smallness of result, of modern missions, 339, 473-475; protection of, by modern laws, 385-388; obstacles presented to Christianity by, 473-475.

"Ancient Japanese Rituals", 43 n. See Satow.

Animals, absence of cruelty to, 12-13; kindness to, taught by Buddhism, 196-197.

Animism, development of, 131-132.

Antigone, comparison of the Japanese woman to, 366.

Apes, images of Koshin's symbolic, 200.

Apprentices, obligation of, to avenge masters, 293; past and present position of, 406.

Architecture, displayed in Buddhist temples, 199-200.

Arima, lord of Shimabara, 324, 325.

Army, birth of modern, 376: pay of officers in, 412.

Art, knowledge of Japanese religion necessary to understanding of, 2-3; introduction by Buddhism, 197-198, 204, 459; forms of, in Buddhist temples, 198-199; expulsion of Jesuits, a fortunate thing for, 341-342; causes which tended to production of a multitude of objects of, 356; effect of modern industrial conditions on, 451.

Artizans, gods of, 124-125; clans of, 235; position of, under quasi-feudal system, 245-246; organizations of, see Guilds.

Arts, developed in Japan under Buddhist teaching, 188; progress of the, under Iyeyasu, 279.

Asada, Lieutenant, suicide of widow of, 289.

Asceticism, Shinto, 149-150.

Ashikaga shogunate, 271-273. Sec undo Iyeyasu.

Aston, W.G., translation of the Nihongi by, cited, 38, 39, 112 n., 151 n., 164 n., 232 n., 234 n.; "Early Japanese History" by, cited, 259 n.

Bambetsu, "Foreign Branch", the mass of people, 235-236.

Banishment, punishment by, 96-99.

Banner-supporters (hatamoto), 243.

Bateren, Roman Catholic priests, 311 n.

Bato-Kwannon, images of, 200.

Behaviour, sumptuary regulations as to, 173-174; proclamation of Shotoku Taishi regarding, 359-360.

Births, regulations as to presents on occasions of, 165; registration of, by Buddhist priests, 203-204.

Black, an Englishman, as a Japanese story-teller, 10-11.

Bon-odori, dances of the festival of the dead, 202.

Boundaries, gods of, 130.

Bow, etiquette of the, 174.

Boys, conduct of, regulated by the community, 89-90; proverb regarding mischievousness of, 421.

Buddhism, Japanese name for (Butsudo), 21; mortuary tablets of, 42-43, 201; the dead according to, and Shinto, 47-48; entry of, into Japan, 183-184; disestablishment of (1871), 107-109; charm of, to Western thinkers, 209-210; summary of teachings of, under Emperor Temmu, 239; obstacles to establishment of religious hierarchy by, 251; military development of, 269-270; violent end to militant, 275-276; jesuitism mistaken for a new kind of, 332-334; no essential of Shinto weakened by, 379-380.

Buke, the military class, 241.

Butsudan, household-shrine, 42.

Butsudo, "The Way of the Buddha", 21.

Capital, danger to Japan from foreign, 465-466, 473.

Carpenters, religious rites preformed by, 125; organizations of, 403-404.

Castes, division of society into, 236.

Cauldron and saucepan, god of the, 129.