25
the gods, and if he is ever in doubt, he has resort to divination, which reveals to him the mind of the great goddess. In this way the age of the gods and the present age are not two ages, but one, for not only the Mikado but his Ministers and people also act up to the tradition of the divine age. Hence, in ancient times the idea of michi or way (ethics) was never broached. The word was only applied to ordinary thoroughfares, and its application to systems of philosophy, government, morals, religion and so forth, is a foreign notion.
As foreign countries (China and India, particularly the former) are not the special domain of the sun-goddess, they have no permanent rulers, and evil spirits, having found a field of action, have corrupted mankind. In those countries any bad man who could manage to seize on the power became a sovereign. Those who had the upper hand were constantly scheming to maintain their positions, while their inferiors were as constantly on the watch for opportunities to oust them. The most powerful and cunning of these rulers succeeded in taming their subjects, and having secured their position, became an example for others to imitate. In China the name of Seijin (translated “Holy Men” by Meadows) has been given to these men. But it is an error to look upon these so-called Holy Men as in themselves supernatural and good beings, as superior to the rest of the world as are the gods. The principles which they established are called michi (ethics), and may be reduced to two simple rules, namely to take other people’s territory, and to keep fast hold of it.
The Chinese ‘Holy Men’ also invented the “Book of Changes” (yeki, or I-king), by which they pretended to discover the workings of the universe, a vain attempt, since it is impossible for man with his limited intelligence to find out the principles which govern the acts of the gods. In imitation of them the Chinese nation has since given itself up to philosophizing, to which are to be attributed its constant internal dissensions. When things go right of themselves it is best to leave them alone. In ancient times, although there was no prosy system of doc-
