Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/583

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JAPAN (Language and Literature)
563

of Shinto worship, such as robes and utensils, and the functions of the ministers, by Watarae no Nobuyoshi. The Honcho Jinjako, by Hayashi Doshin (6 vols.), contains the names of all the chief Shinto temples and of the gods worshipped therein; it is considered a good authority on these matters. The Mosoki, in one volume, describes burial according to Shinto rites. In the Jiuniku Ron, Kenko Hoshi has shown that there is no reason why the flesh of wild boars and deer should not be offered up to the gods, and that down to the reign of Seiwa Tenno (858–'76) such meats ordinarily formed part of the mikado's own diet. It was owing to the influence of Buddhism that they came in the middle ages to be looked upon as forbidden food. The Nakatomi no Harai is a liturgy ascribed to Tokiwa no O-muraji (middle of the 6th century); but Nobuyoshi and Suiga (the latter of whom has given his name to a separate form of Shinto) assign it to Amenotaneko no Mikoto, a person belonging to the mythological age. However this may be, it seems to have received its present form in the reign of Mommu Tenno (696–707). To Tokiwa no O-muraji is also ascribed the Rokkon-shajo no Harai, a work which is repudiated by the pure Shintoists as bearing the distinct traces of Buddhist influence. XIV. Buddhist Literature. Buddhism first gained a sure footing in Japan in the reign of the empress Suiko (593–628), and the whole canon has been imported at various times and reprinted. The native works on Buddhism in the Japanese vernacular are not very important. The Shasekizhiu (10 vols., 1279) is a book on morals by the priest Mujiu, in which he endeavors to make his subject more palatable to the vulgar taste by introducing funny stories. This is a general characteristic of Buddhist teaching in Japan. The Hosshinshiu, by Kamo no Chomei, is a collection of stories of converts. The Sambu Kanasho (7 vols.), by Koa Shonin of the Jodo sect (1265–1345), consists of three works entitled Kimei Honguansho, Saiyosho, and Fushi Sokosho. Most of the Japanese Buddhist literature, of which there is a considerable quantity, is in the Chinese language, and therefore not easily accessible. The Shingaku Michi no Hanashi, Kiuo Dowa, and Teshima Dowa are collections of sermons by priests who belong to a modern eclectic sect, which professes to derive its doctrines from Confucianism, Shinto, and Buddhism. Three of Kiuo's sermons have been translated by A. B. Mitford ("Tales of Old Japan," London, 1871). XV. Modern Fiction. This is divided into three classes: kesaku bon, which may be called standard novels; ninjo bon, or novels of an erotic cast; and kusa zoshi, which are popular romances printed in the hiragana, and form the chief reading of women. The most famous author of the first kind of fiction is Bakin. His works are 20 in number, ranging from 5 to 40 volumes each. Bakin was a man of great learning, and his style is almost classical. Among the ninjo bon the most celebrated are the Hiza Kurige (90 vols.), containing the history of the travels of Yajirobei and Kidahachi, and the Misawo Tsuge no Ogushi (9 vols.), by Jippensha Ikku; and the Musume Setsuyo, which describes the love of Kosan and Kingoro, with its tragical ending, by Kiokusanjin. Riuti Tanehiko wrote the Inaka Genji (76 vols.) and Irohabunko (45 vols.), belonging to the class of kusa zoshi. A short romance by the same author, entitled Ukiyo Rokumai Biobu, has been twice mistranslated, into German by A. Pfitzmaier (1840), and into English by S. C. Malan (1871). To the class of kesaku bon may be added such works as the Yofu Kogiden (10 vols.), the Yehon Chiushingura (20 vols.), the Yehon Sangoku Yofuden (15 vols.), the Yehon Kokanden (10 vols.), and the Honcho Kiushiku Dandzuye (5 vols.); all of which, though purporting to be founded on historical facts, are in reality pure romances. XVI. Miscellaneous Literature. There are many works which cannot be classed under any of the foregoing categories, and the Japanese therefore mass them together in their library catalogues under this heading. The following are the principal bibliographical works on the native literature: Honcho Shojaku Mokuroku (1 vol., 1294); Nihon Shojakko (1 vol.), by Hayashi Doshin, containing notices of 120 works by different authors from the earliest times; Wakan Shojakko (5 vols., 1702), by Kojima Soi, a list of Japanese and Chinese books printed in Japan between 1595 and 1702, giving the authors' names, and notices of the contents; Bengi Sho Mokuroku (3 vols.), on books with the same title, books with two titles, and those which only exist in manuscript, and containing various other information for the book hunter; Gorui Shojaku Mokuroku Taizen (12 vols., 1801), containing lists of books printed in Japan, beginning with those engraved by Muso Kokushi (1215–1351), and ending with the period Meiwa (1764–'7); Kokucho Shomoku (3 vols., 1787), containing the titles of books arranged under different headings, partly chronologically and partly according to the iroha; Wakan Gunsho Sakusha Mokuroku (4 vols.), containing the names of Chinese and Japanese authors and their works, beginning for the latter with the period Yoro (717–'23), and ending with Kuansei (1789–1808); and Kindai Meika Chojutsu Mokuroku (1811), containing the works of the most famous authors of the 17th and 18th centuries arranged according to the iroha. The Wakan Sansaidzuye is a cyclopædia in 105 books, each of which treats of a separate class of subjects, with an index arranged according to the iroha. The Teijo Zakki, in 16 books, is a work of the same nature, arranged in categories, but extending over a narrower field. Being written in the Japanese language, it is more useful to students than the Sansaidzuye. The author was Ise Sadatake, and it was published after his