Illustrations of Japan

The merits of the author of the very curious volume here submitted to the Public have been so fully developed in the preliminary observations of the French publisher and editor, as to relieve me from the necessity of any farther remark on that subject. Under the system of seclusion, so long pursued by the government of Japan, such an accession to our stock of information relative to the history, manners, customs, arts, and literature, of its inhabitants, as is furnished in these illustrations, cannot fail to be extremely welcome to every inquisitive mind.

We see by the example of the author, how much may be effected in the way of communicating to the Japanese a taste for the arts and sciences of Europe, by a man whose faculties are not wholly under the dominion of the plodding spirit of commerce. A beginning having been made to open their eyes to the benefits likely to accrue to themselves from a relaxation of their narrow policy, and the permission of a more extensive intercourse with Europeans, it seems to me to be a point worthy of serious consideration, whether British enterprise might not avail itself of this favourable disposition, for attempting with some chance of success to establish a connexion with this populous insular empire. I am well aware, that it would have no trifling difficulties to encounter, not only in the prejudices of the Japanese, but, probably, also in those of the Dutch, who have hitherto enjoyed this privilege to the exclusion of all other foreign ​nations; though perhaps, after the events of late years, we are authorized to expect a more liberal line of conduct of the present enlightened government of Holland. Be this as it may, I have too high an opinion of British spirit, industry, and perseverance, not to be convinced that they would find means to surmount even still more powerful impediments.

Having particularly devoted my attention to the publication of works illustrative of the manners and customs of different nations, and neglecting no opportunities of forming an acquaintance with enlightened travellers from whom I am likely to obtain authentic information on those subjects, I could not help considering it as one of the most fortunate occurrences of my life, when M. Titsingh did me the honour to apply to me respecting the printing and publishing of his numerous manuscripts. He thought fit to transmit to me, in the first instance, his translation of the Nipon-o-day-tche-lan, or Abridged Annals of the Daïris, or Ecclesiastical Sovereigns of Japan, and History of the Djogouns, or Secular Princes, called Emperors by the Europeans, and the real sovereigns of that country, with comments by himself. Notwithstanding the dryness of chronological abridgments in general, I read that of the Daïris with great interest, and then returned it to M. Titsingh, who had some additions to make, and expressed my readiness to treat with him for the work. A disease which would not have proved fatal, had M. Titsingh followed the advice of his friends, and called in professional aid, put a period to an honourable life partly devoted to the duties of the highest posts under his government, partly to literature, science, and a regular correspondence with the most enlightened persons in Europe. In hopes of acquiring some of his valuable manuscripts, and of the original designs which he had collected during a residence of fourteen years in ​Japan, I repaired to the sale of his effects, which took place at Paris a few months after his decease, which happened in March 1812. To my great surprise and disappointment, nothing was put up for sale but some ordinary furniture, and a few articles of Chinese locksmiths’ work. Six years passed without any prospect that I should ever meet with the manuscripts to which I attached so much importance. Some hints that I received from M. Langlès, furnished me, in the beginning of 1818, with a clue to the interesting collection which, six years before, had so powerfully excited my curiosity. In short, I became the purchaser of the whole of the drawings, paintings, and manuscripts, Japanese, Dutch, French, and English, and also of some of the curiosities which had belonged to M. Titsingh, and a descriptive catalogue of which is included in this volume. A detailed account of them had been previously given in 1814, in the twenty-fourth volume of the Annales des Voyages, preceded by the following remarks:

“The collection formed by M. Titsingh furnishes materials for a new history, political, civil, geographical, and natural, of Japan. It is well worth the attention of all governments solicitous for the increase of useful knowledge: it ought in particular to attract the notice of those whose commercial and political interests might render the establishment of a more regular intercourse with Japan desirable. We have no doubt that England, Holland, or Russia, would gladly secure this collection for itself; but fortunately it is in the hands of a Frenchman jealous of the glory of his country, and anxious to see these valuable materials applied to the erection of a literary monument in his own language.”

To enable the reader to judge of the importance of these works I subjoin an extract from a letter addressed by M. Titsingh himself, on the subject of his manuscripts, to William Marsden, Esq., and dated the 10th of October, 1809:

“Sir,

“Accept my sincere thanks for your kind remembrance.

“Mr. Goldsmith has communicated to me the contents of the letter which you have addressed to him. It gives me great pleasure to learn from it, that the papers which I sent you have all reached your hands, and that you will take charge of them till the so much wished-for peace shall decide their fate.

​“I now transmit to you the first three volumes of the Nipon-o-day-tche-lan, or Annals of the Daïris of Japan. I should have forwarded the whole of the seven volumes of which the work consists: but the necessity of making the French and English versions agree, as I intend to publish both at the same time, has prevented my sending all the seven volumes: the remainder shall therefore follow in a few months, when I have completed the French translation.

“The beginning of the ‘Annals of the Daïris,’ like that of the history of all ancient and even of some modern nations, is extremely dry; but the matter becomes by degrees more interesting, as you will perceive from my next parcel. Notwithstanding the thick clouds which cover the origin of the Japanese, an uninterrupted account of the remarkable events that have occurred under the different Daïris, since the year 660 before the Christian æra, throws great light on the customs still prevailing in Japan, and incontestably proves that the Japanese were a civilized and polished people before the existence of the modern European nations, or while they were still under the disgraceful yoke of the grossest barbarism.

“Though I am at present in excellent health, yet the uncertainty of life, and an ardent desire to finish the translation of all that I have collected respecting Japan, cause me to stick very closely to the task that I have undertaken.

I am sometimes tempted to apply to myself what Cicero says in his discourse on old age, in which he introduces Cato conversing with Lælius and Scipio, and making the same observation, when speaking of the great Fabius, as I may with reference to the Japanese: Quorum sermone tarn cupidè fruebar, quasi divina rem id, quod evenire posset, me extincto, fore uncle disceroit neminem.

“I do not possess the art of divination, and consequently cannot predict what is to happen at some future time; but, it is a fact―I care not if I be thought too presumptuous for proclaiming it myself—that, at the present moment, there is not in Europe a person besides myself who can furnish a faithful history and a circumstantial description of the manners and customs of a nation which is scarcely known here, and which, nevertheless, deserves to be known on so many accounts.”

The numerous materials collected by M. Titsingh prove that this industrious and intelligent ambassador was not too presumptuous. No preceding traveller, ​excepting Kämpfer, to whose accuracy he bears testimony, possessed such means of obtaining authentic information relative to the Japanese empire. The late M. Charpentier Cossigny, who was at Chinsurah, at the time M. Titsingh was governor of that place, speaks of him in the following terms in his Voyage au Bengale, published at Paris in 1799:―

“M. Titsingh continues to make additions to his collections relative to Japan, through the kindness of a Japanese prince, father-in-law to the reigning emperor, a man eager after knowledge of every kind, with whom he keeps up a regular correspondence, and from whom he receives all the information requisite for his purposes. The English at Calcutta have offered him two lacks of rupees (£20,000) for his manuscripts, which he has refused: he tells me, that he destines these works for a present to his brother, who is in Holland.”

What greatly contributed to increase the stock of information collected by M. Titsingh relative to Japan, during a residence of fourteen years in that country, was the facility with which several intelligent Japanese spoke and wrote in Dutch. The father-in-law of the reigning emperor and several other nobles excelled in this accomplishment. M. Titsingh, who was himself thoroughly acquainted with their language, had thus the means of ascertaining by a double test the meaning of all that was communicated to him either orally or in writing. Those who had opportunities of knowing him, and among others, M. de Guignes, who accompanied him on his embassy to the emperor Kien-long, bear witness to the accuracy of his observations, and the candour with which he himself submitted them to the criticism of the learned of different academies. It is, therefore, with the utmost confidence in the authenticity of the original works, and in the fidelity of the various translations made from them by M. Titsingh, that I here present the public with a portion of his interesting productions.

Among the works which M. Titsingh left behind him in manuscript, and the publication of which cannot but be expected with impatience by all the lovers of science and literature, some are translations or extracts of Chinese or Japanese books, the others memoirs on different subjects, composed by the author during his residence in Japan. His valuable collections, embracing particulars respecting the arts, productions, and commerce of Japan—numerous drawings, many of them carefully coloured, which furnish a clearer idea than any description, of the costumes, furniture, and machines, of that celebrated country―remarks on the government, laws, manners, and character of the inhabitants, furnish materials, the loss of which would be irretrievable. M. Titsingh was an equally judicious and attentive observer; and his situation, during a residence of fourteen years at Nangasaki, the consideration in which he was held there, and the honourable connexions which he formed with the most distinguished personages, enabled him to obtain authentic information, to clear up his doubts, and in short to gain the most accurate and the most complete notions that a foreigner can possibly acquire on every subject of interest to Europeans.

This happy combination of circumstances was requisite for the production of the work here presented to the public. It is well known that the Japanese, ​like the Chinese, are accustomed to abstain from the publication of any historical work relative to a dynasty, so long as that dynasty fills the throne. This practice is not only designed to preserve historians from the temptation of swerving from truth, out of fear, flattery, hatred, or gratitude; but likewise to prevent premature revelations, and such discussions as are conceived to be injurious to the sovereign authority, and dangerous to the tranquillity of the state. Whatever may be thoughit of these precautions, they tend to conceal the most recent facts from our knowledge; so that we are greater strangers to the events of our own times, than to those of antiquity. Thus we are assured that there is not any work printed in Japan which furnishes particulars of the occurrences in that empire since the year 1600, the period at which the Nipon-o-daï-tche-lan, or Annals of the Daïris, terminate.

This reason must doubtless be sufficient to excite strong interest and curiosity in behalf of the Memoirs of the Djogouns. M. Titsingh, who translated or extracted them from Japanese manuscripts himself, explains in what manner he became acquainted with those works. But for the high confidence which his character had won him, and which he contrived to turn to the advantage of science, he could not have had access to memoirs which their possessors carefully conceal, or at least show to none but their most intimate friends. When we consider the suspicious spirit of the Japanese government, its aversion to foreigners, and the rigid inquisition and barbarous jurisprudence by which private individuals are oppressed, we have abundant reason to congratulate ourselves, that a European has accomplished what a native never durst have attempted. Thanks to the pains he has taken; we shall outstrip the Japanese themselves, and by an extraordinary singularity, we shall be earlier and bettor informed than they concerning the events of their own history.

Several pieces which M. Titsingh inserted in his Memoirs, and which could not be left where he had placed them, as well as the circumstantial description of the festivals and ceremonies that take place in the course of the year at Yedo, seemed to me well adapted to form an interesting Appendix. To this part I have transferred all that the author thought fit to add in notes of too great length to be thrown at the foot of the pages, concerning the division of the astronomical and civil year among the Japanese. These particulars, which appear extremely accurate, may serve to extend and rectify what we find on ​the same subject in the works of Kämpfer and Thunberg. In general, the Japanese words are more correctly given, and better translated by M. Titsingh, owing, no doubt, to his having made greater progress in the study of the language. This reason induced me to introduce also into the Appendix some tables already known, such as those of the cycle, the elements, &c. The reader will, therefore, have in this volume, without being obliged to refer to any other work, all that is requisite for making himself acquainted with the division of time among the Japanese.

The plates which embellish this volume, and which are carefully copied and reduced from drawings or engravings executed in Japan, have all a reference, more or less direct, to the subjects of which it treats. That which represents the tremendous eruption of the mountain of Asama, in the province of Sinano, is well calculated, conjointly with the animated description which M. Titsingh has given of that phenomenon, to furnish an idea of the dreadful convulsions to which nature is frequently subject in the Japanese islands. The plan of the palace of the Djogouns at Yedo, will not be less useful in following the account of the ceremonies observed at the court of those princes. It were indeed to be wished, that this plan had been accompanied with explanatory particulars of the names and destination of the different parts composing that edifice; but I had not before me the original plan, in which I should probably have found the necessary illustrations. The inscriptions, which the Japanese, in imitation of the Chinese, are accustomed to place on the doors, and which are faithfully introduced in their plans, would have been a sufficient substitute for any other explanation, had I possessed the original. I had this assistance in two other plans inserted in this volume, the one representing the Chinese factory at Nangasaki, the other the Dutch factory and the island of Desima, situated near the same city. As the originals of these two plans were placed in my hands, I have been enabled, by such inscriptions as those to which I have just alluded, and some Japanese notes annexed to them, to draw up a short explanation, which is subjoined to the first Part. The figures of this explanation correspond with those in the engravings.

To the text of M. Titsingh I have added nothing but a few very short notes. The author himself had, in general, taken care to furnish the most necessary explanations. I have supplied his omissions of this kind, whenever it was in ​my power, and I thought it likely to be useful; for we have still so little authentic information concerning Japan, that we are frequently at a loss, particularly in regard to the events of modern history, and that for the reasons which have been stated above.

If we now pause to consider the accession to our knowledge which we shall derive from M. Titsingh we shall find that he has overlooked scarcely any useful or interesting object, and that he has contributed by his labours as much as Kämpfer, and much more than Thunberg, to make Europe acquainted with that singular empire, which a policy, that before the conquest of Hindoostan, might be charged with timidity, persists in closing against the inquiries of Europeans. To say nothing of the historical facts contained in the following pages, the anecdotes calculated to elucidate the genius and manners of the Japanese nation, the account of festivals and ceremonies, which are also features in the national character, and the particulars relative to the literature, sciences, and traditions of Japan, which this volume, nevertheless, contains in great number; we shall merely observe, that this and the other works completed by the author form the richest as well as the most useful collection that was ever made respecting any country of Asia. As yet we know nothing more of the ancient history of Japan than is given us by Kämpfer in a dry and brief chronicle, which ought rather to be denominated a chronological table. M. Titsingh, independently of an extensive manuscript work in Japanese, which he presented to the King’s library, devoted several years to the translation of the Annals of the Daïris, the original of which forms seven volumes, and contains the events of the history of Japan related with the only details befitting a nation so remote from us, and so completely separated from the rest of the world. This translation, which will, it is to be hoped, speedily appear, will fill an important chasm in our historical knowledge, and of course have a place assigned to it beside the work of Father Mailla, and the History of the Huns by Deguignes.

Geography and topography would be equal gainers by the publication of the materials accumulated by M. Titsingh. The great map of Japan, published in 1779, several copies of which he brought with him, is certainly the most splendid monument erected beyond the limits of Europe to geographical science. It exhibits a prodigious number of names and situations, and according to all appearance, it is not less accurate than circumstantial. When it shall ​be translated and engraved, we shall be as well and even better acquainted with Japan than with certain parts of Europe. Particular maps of the Corea, of the Lieou-Khieou islands, respecting which Captain Hall’s voyage has furnished us with the first accurate notions, of the island of Yezo, which has occasioned so many geographical discussions, and the interior of which has been visited by the Japanese alone, and many other maps, with the original descriptions, or the memoirs belonging to them, add to our stock of information a greater number of precise facts than the accounts of certain European travellers whom we could name. Lastly, the views and plans, some of which are extremely particular, will make us thoroughly acquainted with the aspect of the country, the form of the mountains, the style of building employed for bridges, public edifices, private houses, &c. The plans attached to this volume, though drawn according to a system which differs from ours, certainly afford a better idea of Japanese architecture, and exhibit more accurate representations of the palace of Yedo, and the two factories at Nangasaki, than all the descriptions of Kämpfer and Thunberg.

With respect to the productions of Japan, M. Titsingh has done all that could be expected of a traveller who was not a naturalist, to communicate to us a knowledge of them. He collected the best books in which the most interesting objects are described and represented. The collection of plants cultivated in the garden of the first physician to the emperor, drawn and coloured with extreme care, is not less interesting to the arts than to natural history: it demonstrates that nations capable of attaining such a degree of perfection, can execute better things than those daubs with which we are incessantly reproaching them, and which are the only productions of their arts in request among us. Other botanical collections, of less brilliant execution, may perhaps be still more useful to science. A Treatise on Trees, Plants, and Flowers, in particular, in seven volumes, contains the best wood-cuts that I have ever seen^[1]. M. Titsingh had also collected good figures of the varieties of the ​whale species and other fishes, and which we hope to see published with the notes that he attached to them.

Finally, the arts of the Japanese, their manners, customs, dress, &c., had engaged the particular attention of M. Titsingh, and he had composed numerous memoirs on these subjects, all of them accompanied with figures extracted from Japanese books. A specimen of his performances in this way is given in that part of this volume which treats of the ceremonies customary at marriages and funerals.