Japan
by Charles MacFarlane
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Excerpt:
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Frontispiece. ^.
Firando, or Fiaango ......... 9
The Fudsi Jamma 117
The Crater of the Fudsi Jamma 137
Divinities 139
PartofJeddo 171
Buddhist Temple 173
Family Worship . . . . . . . . .196
A Vassal Prince 199
The Port of Simoneseke 225
The Kirisima Jamma ........ 227
Japanese Garden 235
Old Camphor Tree 245
A Japanese Fishing Family 247
Japanese Fishermen ........ 257
Ornamental Vases 259
Ornamental Candlesticks 2G2
Flower-baskets and Vases 271
Japanese Merchant ........ 273
Jugglers or Tumblers 275
Lady Painting 277
The Tea-Party 287
Country House 290
An Equestrian Party 293
Japanese Wrestlers 301
Engraving Blocks for Printing 303
Musical Instruments 326
Japanese Instruments of War 329
PREFACE.
It appears to me erroneous to say—though it very commonly is said—that we know next to nothing of Japan and the Japanese. We possess, in books, old and new—but mostly old and voluminous—the means of knowing quite as much of them as we know of any other Eastern nation.
I have now before me (chiefly through acts of kindness , presently to be acknowledged) what might almost be called a Japanese library, or a library about Japan, and its interesting inhabitants. These books are in Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch, German, and English. These books vary in date from 1560 to 1838. The contributions furnished by the Dutch, or by the German medical officers in their service, are, perhaps, the best as well as the most voluminous. It is therefore very unfair to state (and this too is frequently done) that the Dutch, in order to preserve their commercial monopoly, invariably endeavored to
keep the rest of the world in ignorance as to the extraordinary empire of Japan.
Taking all these works as a fund of information, we
may safely be said to know more of the Japanese than
\ we knew of the Turks a hundred years ago. This
arises out of the sociable disposition and habits of the
, Japanese, the great freedom enjoyed by the gentler sex
in their country, and various other causes which will
be made apparent in the course of this work.
My attention was first drawn to these subjects twenty years since, by a dear and excellent old friend—the late James Drummond, Esq., Commissary-General, Commissioner for settling English claims at Paris, after ;OU£ crowning victory at Waterloo, &c. In early life Mr. Drummond was engaged in trade, and, passing for a Dutchman, he resided several years in Japan. Our acquaintance commenced at Brighton, where, in a wellstored, choice library, he had collected every work that had, up to that period, been published about the country. Besides lending me all these books, he gave me, in many a pleasant fireside conversation, a great deal of information derived from his own observation and experience. Of all this I took notes and memoranda, with the intention of producing some such work as the present; but I was called away from the subject by other literary occupations, and have never seriously returned to it until the American movement rendered it one of the foremost and most interesting topics of the day.
My dear old friend, with strong literary tastes, was well mated. Mrs. Drummond was a grand-niece of Smollett, and as fond of books and of quiet, unpretending literary society as was her husband. He died, at Tunbridge Wells, full of years and honored by the respect of all who knew him, in the year 1844: his lady died within a week after him, and was buried in the same grave with him. The expression of my praise or gratitude cannot reach their ears, but I feel a melancholy pleasure in thus recording them.
In compiling this volume, I have carefully consulted all the best authorities. These I have named in my foot notes and Appendix, so that those who wish to follow up the study may find therein a tolerably complete Index.
