Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/313

manners and etiquette are valuable only as manifestations of a genuine culture of the soul, which pleases itself in imparting pleasure to others and in avoiding giving pain. Politeness must conform to the precept to ‘rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep,’ or, rather, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and not let others weep when you weep. Stoicism and politeness, apparently so far apart, are in reality brother and sister: he bears all that she may shine; without her he is stolid; without him she is trivial.

I can well imagine that, in the early days of Bushido, strict canons of proper behaviour had to be enforced to hold together so inflammable and ferocious a set of mortals as the two-sworded fighters. Everywhere with the bearing of weapons goes hand in hand propriety of conduct. Sir Stamford Raffles, in his ‘History of Java,’ attributes the courteous manners of the people to the custom of carrying the kris, or native knife. Whether gentility of manners is a race characteristic of the Malayans, as cleanliness seems to be, is a question not easy to answer; but certain it is that Bushido refined whatever courtesy we may have possessed as a Malayan element of our race. Courtliness and ceremonies are inherent in any form of Chivalry. ‘Though ceremony grown stale is tedious and meaningless,’ says Cornish, ‘it has its origin in natural dignity.’

That loftiness of demeanour, which was called parage and was part of the true Knight character, was distinguished from pride as clearly as admiration was from envy, and was inseparable from ceremony. There is always danger that ceremony and politeness may belie their real nature and turn respectively into stiff mannerism or glib obsequiousness. The moment sincerity is set aside, the most gentle behaviour has no justification for being lauded. Mere empty forms and phrases were abhorred by the stern ethics of Samurai-ism. Esoteric Bushido, if I may use such a term, would not tolerate any word of or act lacking in sincerity and veracity.

It is an exceedingly superficial remark, so often heard among Europeans, that the Japanese are too polite to be sincere, or, as one missionary writes, ‘They’ (a usual term for the inaptly-used noun ‘native.’ If I am not greatly mistaken, this word, of course etymologically perfectly correct, is generally applied to the people born in a country which forms a colony of another, and not to the inhabitants of an equal independent power; hence Englishmen may call Hindoos ‘natives’ in India, but it sounds strange to our ears to hear any European apply the term to the Japanese!) ‘are such inveterate liars.’ A girl from a missionary school gets married; her teacher asks her, ‘Is your husband good to you?’ The bride says ‘No,’ for she would not think of praising her other half more than herself, or