Chapter LXI: Section V: of the article CHINA opens with a treatment by Sir Henry

Yule, the famous Orientalist, of the European knowledge of China before 1615, particularly “Cathay” and the early explorers of Mongolia, CARPINI (see Vol. 5, p. 397) and RUBRUQUIS (see Vol. 23, pp. 810–812), and of Cathay itself MARCO POLO (see Vol. 22, pp. 7–10). The internal history of China begins (Vol. 6, p. 191) with a discussion of Chinese origins: “anthropological arguments seem to contradict the idea of any connection with Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, or Indians. The earliest hieroglyphics of the Chinese, ascribed by them to the Shang dynasty (second millenium B.C.) betray the Mongol character of the nation that invented them by the decided obliquity of the human eye whenever it appears in an ideograph.... Our standpoint as regards the origin of the Chinese race is, therefore, that of the agnostic.... Their civilization was already old at a time when Britain and Germany were peopled by half-naked barbarians, and the philosophical and ethical principles on which it is based remain, to all appearances, as firmly rooted as ever.” Chinese legendary history goes back to Fu-hi as the “first historical emperor; and they place his lifetime in the years 2852–2738 B.C.” [Sidenote: The First Definite Date] There is much that is purely legendary and mythical in these early records, but with the year 776 B.C. we find a veritable record: in an ode referring to a wicked emperor there is mention of “certain signs showing that Heaven itself is indignant at Yu-wang’s crimes. One of these signs was an eclipse of the sun ... the date and month being clearly stated. This date corresponds exactly with August 29, 776 B.C.; and astronomers have calculated that on that precise date an eclipse of the sun was visible in North China.” It is an interesting coincidence that this earliest sure date in Chinese history is the date of the first Greek Olympiad, from which time was reckoned in the Greek calendar—though there are no certain dates in Greek history until much later. The first outstanding event in the history of China was nearly 20 centuries later—the Mongol invasion; see the articles MONGOLS (Vol. 18, pp. 712–719) and JENGHIZ KHAN (Vol. 15, p. 316), both by Sir Robert K. Douglas, author of _The Life of Jenghiz Khan_. On the period immediately following see KUBLAI KHAN, for the foundation of the Mongol dynasty, and the section _Medieval Cathay_ (Vol. 6, p. 189) of the article CHINA for early exploration and missionary effort. Mongol rule was broken in the 14th century by the founder of the Ming dynasty. [Sidenote: Foreign Relations] The Portuguese arrival at Canton in 1517 marked the beginning of modern intercourse with Europe; and see the article MATTEO RICCI by Sir Henry Yule, for the first important work of a Christian missionary in China early in the 17th century. Immediately thereafter came the Manchu invasion, on which see the article MANCHURIA, by Sir R. K. Douglas. Trade with Europe on a large scale began in the second half of the 18th century; see the article CANTON. British diplomatic missions for the improvement of the condition of traders in Canton were unsuccessful, but in 1840 the opium war made China feel the weight of Great Britain’s power when Hong Kong was ceded to the English and other ports were opened to trade: see LORD NAPIER, SIR HUGH GOUGH, and HONG-KONG. On the T’ai-p’ing rebellion, the “Arrow” affair, and the second interference of Great Britain with China, see SIR H. S. PARKES, CHARLES GEORGE GORDON (“Chinese Gordon”), EARL OF ELGIN (Vol. 9, p. 268), TSENG KUO-FAN, LI HUNG CHANG. On the Russian boundary disputes of 1858 and 1860 see AMUR and VLADIVOSTOK.

The history of China since 1875 is told pretty completely in the article CHINA, in two sections, the first on 1875–1901 being by Sir Valentine Chirol, author of _The Far Eastern Question_. But in connection with the general treatment the student should read the articles on KOREA, ANNAM and TONGKING for the earlier efforts to detach from the Chinese empire these quasi-vassals; CHINO-JAPANESE WAR for the military details of the struggle by which Japan got command of the Korean coast-line; MEKONG for the dispute of 1895 with Great Britain; KIAOCHOW BAY, PORT ARTHUR and WEI-HAI-WEI for the seizures of 1897 and 1898 by Germany, Russia and Great Britain respectively; JOHN HAY for America’s part in the Open Door policy; PEKING and TIENTSIN for details added to the general account in the article CHINA, of the “Boxer” rising; MANCHURIA for Russian encroachments before, and JAPAN for Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War.

JAPAN

[Sidenote: Japanese in America]

The article JAPAN (Vol. 15, p. 156) is equivalent to 370 pages of this Guide,—and is almost entirely the work of Captain Frank Brinkley, editor of the _Japan Mail_, author of _Japan_, _A History of Japan_, _An Unabridged Japanese-English Dictionary_, etc. The article is divided into 10 parts—_Geography_, _People_, _Language and Literature_, _Art_, _Economic Conditions_, _Government and Administration_, _Religion_, _Foreign Intercourse_, _Domestic History_, and _The Claim of Japan; A Japanese View_, by Baron Dairoku Kikuchi, in which the president of the Imperial University of Kyoto and of the Imperial Academy of Japan discusses “the ambition of the Japanese people ... to be recognized as an equal by the Great Powers,” their resenting “any discrimination against them as an Asiatic people,” the “misrepresentation, arising from want of proper knowledge of Japanese character and feelings,” that the Japanese immediately after the war with Russia were “ready and eager to fight with the United States”—whereas the Japanese have always regarded the Americans with a special good will, due no doubt to the steady liberal attitude of the American government and people towards Japan and Japanese, and they look upon the idea of war between Japan and the United States as ridiculous.

[Sidenote: Marks of the Race]

Any justifiable discrimination against the Japanese as Asiatics must of course be based upon such characteristics of custom and thought as render Japanese immigration undesirable, and not upon the colour of the Japanese skin or any other peculiarity of appearance. But it is none the less interesting to turn from Baron Dairoku Kikuchi’s argument to Capt. Brinkley’s careful study (p. 164) of the physical characteristics of the Japanese. “The best authorities are agreed that the Japanese do not differ, physically, from their Korean and Chinese neighbors as much as the inhabitants of Northern Europe differ from those of Southern Europe.” Some of the bodily traits which distinguish the Japanese from races of European origin are to be observed “in the eyes, the eyelashes, the cheekbones and the beard.” The eyeball does not differ from that of an occidental, but the eye is less deeply set. The conspicuous peculiarity is that the upper eyelids are much heavier at the inner corners than at the outer, making the eyes apparently oblique; and a fold of the upper lids hangs over the roots of the upper lashes. The lashes, too, are short and scanty, and converge, instead of diverging as they do in occidentals, so that the tips are nearer together than the roots. There is but little hair on the face (except among the Ainus), and it is nearly always straight. The cheekbones are prominent among the lower, rather than the upper classes. The article proceeds to discuss the moral characteristics of the Japanese; attributing to them a degree of frugality and endurance such as to make it virtually impossible for any occidental race, living in reasonable comfort, to compete with Japanese labour.

As in the study of India and China, it will be well for the student of Japanese history to make himself familiar with the Britannica’s full material on native religion: see Vol. 15, p. 222, noting especially that in the section on Shinto it is said: “The grandson of the sun goddess was the first sovereign of Japan, and his descendants have ruled the land in unbroken succession ever since.”

[Sidenote: Foreign intercourse]

In Japanese history two main topics of study present themselves—foreign intercourse and domestic or internal history—the former naturally the more attractive to the foreign student, and of additional interest both because of its picturesque and romantic early detail and by reason of its explaining the sudden emergence of Japan as a power in world politics. Portuguese shipwrecked in Japan in 1542 or 1543 opened the country to Portuguese trade and in 1549 landed the great Jesuit missionary, FRANCISCO DE XAVIER: see the article by K. G. Jayne, author of _Vasco da Gama and his Successors_. The contest between Spain and Portugal for Eastern trade and between Jesuits and Franciscans for Japanese converts to Christianity and the other factors that resulted in the suppression of Christianity in 1614 and the consequent persecutions of converts and missionaries are told in the article JAPAN—and so also is the story of the foothold that Dutch and English traders got before the Japanese practically excluded them also, as Christians rather than as foreigners or traders. From the middle of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century Japan was practically untouched by Western civilization. The part of the United States navy in opening the country to trade in 1853 is described in the article JAPAN (pp. 237–238) and in the article MATTHEW CALBRAITH PERRY. The article JAPAN also devotes much space (p. 238) to the work done by another American, Townsend Harris, who was less known than Perry, but who carried through the immensely important first commercial treaty.

[Sidenote: Recent Wars]

The remainder of the story of Japan’s foreign relations is given in the main article JAPAN, but the student should read besides the articles CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, MANCHURIA, and RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR. The last of these would be equivalent to 40 pages of this Guide; it is accompanied by the following plans: _General Dispositions after Nanshan_, _Liao-Yang_, _Port Arthur_, and _Mukden_: and it is a remarkable critical summary of the military operations of the war. Read also the biographies of KATSURA, KODAMA, KUROKI, NOGI, NOZU, OKUMA, OYAMA, TOGO, YAMAGATA.

[Sidenote: Domestic History]

As for domestic history, it is important to note that early Japanese history is more purely mythical and legendary, and is chronologically untrustworthy for a longer period than is Chinese history. The conventionally accepted date of the establishment of the Empire is 660 B. C.; and from this year all dates are reckoned; but Japanese annals are self-contradictory and are proved faulty by Chinese and Korean records. Even the famed Japanese invasion of Korea in 200 is possibly apocryphal, and there are few trustworthy recorded facts before 400 A.D. or dates before 500 A.D. In the middle of the 6th century Chinese influence, through Korea, became strong, and in 552 Buddhism was introduced from Korea. A century later legislative government and administrative reform began.

On the Japanese feudal system beginning in the 12th century see: the article BUSHIDO; in the article JAPAN the account of the earlier army; and the articles SHOGUN and MIKADO. The more important separate articles for the later period are: TOKUGAWA and ARISUGAWA for the rival families of the 17th–19th centuries; MUTSU HITO; SANJO; OKUBO TOSHIMITSU; SAIGO; MUTSU; IWAKURA MATSUKATA, the financier; KATO; KOMURA; ITO; ENOMOTO; ITAGAKI, “the first to organize and lead a political party in Japan”; INOUYE; OKUMA; YAMAGATA; HAYASHI.