Page:An Essay On Hinduism.pdf/95

happiness and for escape from evil, and with offerings like the fruits of the field, the spoils of the chase, the leaves of trees, the works of one's hands, pieces of cloth, intoxicating liquors, and in greater stress of danger by the horse, the sword and the wife.

Japan emerged out of this primitive character of worship and theology by the touch of the Chinese civilization. Sometimes in the dim past, probably after the Christian era, one tribe coming from the south-western part of what is now Japan spread itself all over the country and made itself master after strenuous fighting extending perhaps over generations. Some time after this conquest and political unification of the tribes, Chinese literature and civilization were introduced. For centuries preceding the eighth a twofold process was going on acquaintance with the continental culture and consolidation of the Empire.

The Chinese civilization had not only an elaborate theory of government, but a cosmogony and a philosophy. This higher civilization came into contact with the primitive civilization of Japan, and this contact led to some very important results.

The Japanese did not accept the Chinese civilization in wholesale, but accepted it in such a manner as to suit their needs. The Chinese thought was accepted in the main and was used to systematize the local traditions. The different legends of various growths were retold with some principle at the basis. The old legends and traditions were not annihilated, as is usual in the migration of "religions," but preserved. The Chinese philosophy added to Japanese traditions a theory and conscious explanation and system.

The Chinese philosophy which was introduced into Japan and which systematized the ancient myths and traditions,