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Read Ebook: The Ethics of Diet A Catena of Authorities Deprecatory of the Practice of Flesh Eating by Williams Howard
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Ebook has 77 lines and 3851 words, and 2 pages
SHUZENJI VILLAGE, IDZU 36
FARMERS PLANTING RICE SPROUTS, JAPAN 52
LETTER-WRITING IN JAPAN 63
KARAMO TEMPLE, NIKKO 78
RETURNING FROM MARKET, JAPAN 98
MAIN STREET, YOKOHAMA 108
CHUSENJI ROAD AND DAIYA RIVER 132
A CHINESE IRRIGATION WHEEL 165
AN ITINERANT COBBLER, CANTON, CHINA 180
A CHINESE PAGODA 197
WATER CART, PEKIN, CHINA 210
SHANGHAI, FROM THE WATER-SIDE 222
MARKET SCENE IN SHANGHAI 255
CHINESE GAMBLERS 281
CHAIR AND CAGO CARRIERS 306
STREET SCENE, PEKIN, CHINA 318
A BRONZE-WORKER'S SHOP 330
THE PEKIN GATE 347
The year 1 in Japan is the same date as 660 B.C. of the Christian era, so that Japan is now in its twenty-sixth century. Then everything began. Before that date all is mystery and mythology. After that date there is something resembling history, though in the early times it is an odd mixture of history and fable. As for the gods of ancient Japan, they were many in number, and strange stories are told of their doings. Of the early men of the island kingdom we know very little. When the ancestors of the present Japanese arrived there they found the islands occupied by a race of savages, a people thickly covered with hair, and different in looks from all the other inhabitants of Asia. These in time were conquered, and only a few of them now remain,--known as Ainos, and dwelling in the island of Yezo.
In the Japanese year 1 appeared a conqueror, Jimmu Tenno by name, the first of the mikados or emperors. He was descended from the goddess of the Sun, and made his home at the foot of Kirishima, a famous mountain in the island of Kiushiu, the most southerly of the four large islands of Japan. As to the smaller islands of that anchored empire, it may be well to say that they form a vast multitude of all shapes and sizes, being in all nearly four thousand in number. The Sea of Japan is truly a sea of islands.
Jimmu Tenno, the name of the conqueror, means "spirit of war," and so far victory had perched upon his banners as he marched. But now defeat came. The people of the great island fought fiercely for their homes and liberties, a brother of Jimmu was wounded, and he and his band of followers were driven back with loss.
The gods surely had something to do with this,--for in those days the gods were thought to have little to do besides busying themselves with the affairs of men,--and the cause of the defeat was sought by means of sacred ceremonies and invocations. It proved to be an odd one. The legend states they had offended the Sun goddess by presuming to travel to the east, instead of following the path of the sun from east to west. This insult to the gods could be atoned for only by a voyage to the west. Taking to their ships again, they sailed westward around Kii, and landed at Arasaka.
Jimmu had expiated his fault, and was again in favor with the gods. The chief whom he now faced surrendered without a blow, and presented the conquering hero with a sword. A picture of this scene, famous in the early history of Japan, is printed on one of the Japanese greenback notes issued in 1872.
The victor next sought the mountain-defended land of Yamato, which was to be reached only by difficult mountain-passes, unknown to the chief and his followers. But the gods had taken him in charge and came to his aid, sending a giant crow, whose wings were eight feet long, to guide him to the fertile soil of Yamato. A crow with smaller spread of wing might have done the work as well, but would have been less satisfactory to the legend-makers.
Fierce was the conflict now impending, and stern the struggle of the natives for life and liberty. Here were no peaceful chiefs, like the one met at Arasaka, and only by dint of trenchant blows was the land to be won. On went the fight, victory now inclining to one side, now to the other, until in the midst of the uncertain struggle the gods sent down a deep and dark cloud, in whose thick shadow no man could see his foe, and the strife was stayed. Suddenly, through the dense darkness, a bird in the shape of a hawk came swooping down from the skies, enveloped in a flood of golden light, and, dispersing the cloud, rested upon the hero's bow. The light shed by his refulgent wings struck like the glare of lightning upon the eyes of the enemy, so dazzling them with its radiance that they broke into panic flight.
A victory gained in such a fashion as this does not seem quite satisfactory to modern ideas. It is not fair to the other side. Yet it was in this way that the Greeks won victory on the plains of Troy, and that many other legendary victories were obtained. One cannot help wishing that the event of battle had been left to the decision of brave hearts and strong hands, instead of depending upon the interposition of the gods. But such was the ancient way,--if we choose to take legend for truth,--and we must needs receive what is given us, in default of better.
At any rate, Jimmu was now lord of the land, and built himself a capital city at Kashiwabara, near th
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