13. JAPANESE LITERATURE. Gen eral History,—Although the antiquity of Japan ese civilization cannot be compared with that of China or Greece, it dates from a remote age. The history of Japanese literature extends over a period of 13 or 14 centuries, and it is there fore possible to give here only a brief acconot of its progress.
The 7th and 8th centuries A.D., which em brace the Nara period and some time preceding, may be called the Grecian age of Japan, for those who have studied the relics of sculpture, pictorial art, and the architecture of each pe riod are impressed by the strong resemblance. In the sphere of letters, however, the remains are comparatively few. This can be explained as follows. Although Japanese civilization was of a high order in consequence of the in fluences of Chinese civilization and of Buddhism acting upon a nation eager for advancement, no vernacular letters had as yet been invented, and therefore books were written in, Chinese or a very complicated method which made use of Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. Hence the number of books written was comparatively small, and many of those which were written seem to have been alto gether or partly lost. Of those still remaining we have the and (Nihongi) in history and the 'Manyoshu' in.poetry. We also have examples of the ancient Shinto prayers and some Hoodoki —a series of books written in each province by the imperial command de scribing the geography, history and traditions of the provinces. In field of pure literature the may be considered to be a na tional treasure, while both the 'Kojiki' and (Nihongii are most valuable histories of primi tive Japan.
The 400 years begituring with the 9th cen tur• are generally called the Heian era, and in some respects this may be called the Roman period. It was during this age that Japanese civilization, benefiting by the influences of the Nara period, made progress in every di rection especially in literature. The intellectual activity of the period may be said to have di vided itself into two currents: one for the study of Chinese letters and the other for the growth of the native literature. But the study Of Chinese literature became so prevalent that men ambitious to distinguish themselves de voted all their energy to it and the writing of Chinese essays and poems was common, espe cially among the court nobles. At the same time the progress made by the native literature was highly commendable. It is significant, however, that the study of the native literature was pursued chiefly by females, and most of the standard works were the production of women. Though there were no native letters during the Nara period, toward its close we have the Kana, or Japanese phonetic alphabet. But it was not until the Heian era that the system of letters was definitely settled, thus making it possible for the first time to write books by phonetically transcribing the native language. The books written according to the new system during these four centuries were numerous, and what may be called the Japan ese classics were mostly the production of this period.
The literature of the period may be roughly divided into three classes. The first and most
numerous are the books known as Monogatari; the second kind are the diaries, and the last, but not the least important, the miscellaneous works. Monogatari literally means a narrative, but some of this literature are pure works of fiction, and some, such as the Yeika Monoga tari, are historical works, though written in a somewhat novel style. There are also several books which are called Monogatari, but more properly belong to the third class. Works of fiction occupy the greater part of the Mono gatari class. Here again, many books written during this period have been lost altogether; some are remembered by name only and others remain in a mutilated and confused form. The principal of those still remaining is the 'Take tori Monogatari) (Bamboo Cutter)— a short novel, considered to be the most ancient of its kind. A divine maiden is the centre character of the narrative, which tells of many incidents of courtship 'by several admirers, ending in the ascent of the maiden to heaven. Consult (Victor Dicken's English translation). Next comes (Ise Monogatari.' Although this book is called Monogatan its style belongs more to the third kind — miscellaneous. Its chief interest lies in the poems it contains, and therefore it cannot have so much charm for foreigners as for Japanese. After these two works come the 'Yamato Monogatari,' (Utsubo Monogatari,' 'Ochikubo Monogatari,> etc., containing such stories as of a Japanese student who, on his return from China, was shipwrecked and in the course of time reached Persia, where he learned the secret of flute playing from a di vine personage, or as of a young lady who was badly treated by her stepmother. The stories are always concerned with love affairs. Of all the Monogatari, however, the most famous is the 'Genii.' This is a voluminous work writ ten by Murasakishi kibu, a woman. It narrates stories of love affairs between a young prince, Hikaru Genji, and numerous ladies. From a moral point of view, there are several points which deserve criticism in this work. In fact, as far as its form is concerned, it has some resemblance to the (Don Juan' of Byron. With regard to the phraseology, however, it has no such naked and disagreeable references as ap pear in Byron's work (consult the English translation by Viscount Suyematsu). Another work which is regarded as equally valuable with the 'Genii Monogatari> is the (Makuranososhi> (Pillow Sketches). This is a book belonging to the third class and is written by Seishonagon, another lady writer. It is a collection of short sketches on various subjects, each showing the brilliancy of her pen. (For specimens of these sketches consult Aston's Litera ture.') Of later productions we may mention the (Sagoromo Monogatari,> (Hamamatsu Chi unagon) and Monogatari.) One note worthy feature is that Japanese works of fiction of this era far excelled in several respects those of China of the same epoch. Of the 'Nikki' (diary), may be mentioned besides the 'Nikki> written by the author of the 'Genii,' the 'Toss Nikki' and -which were written before the and the 'Izumishikibu (Sarashina Nikki,' etc.