effeminacy and often into debauchery, while warrior nobles held the reins of power. Authentic Japanese history begins in the fifth century, about the time of the fall of the Western Empire in Europe. At that time we External influences. find the barbarous, warlike people absorbing the lessons of Chinese and Corean civilization with the same avidity and intelligence as has been shown by the last generation in learning its lesson from the West. From China came in the gorgeous oriental catholicism of Buddha, and the practical ethics of Confucius, to unite with the primitive Shinto, or ancestor worship of the Japanese, forming after a long and bitter struggle, an amalgamated religious system which prevails today.

Early feudalism.

A SHINTO PRIEST.

Commodore Perry's mission and

Politically, the earliest form of organization in which Japanese society appears was a very simple feudalism, in which the supreme power of

the mikado was carefully preserved. Gradually a strong military class developed, and the great nobles descended from the imperial family, heads of powerful clans, sought for power; while the mikado, hedged about by his divinity from contact with the world, lost his grasp of affairs and became a mere puppet in the hands of stronger men. The feudal system became more and more complicated, following a development closely analogous to that of European feudalism. The twelfth century, the period of the Japanese Wars of the Roses between the powerful Taira and Minamoto clans, marked the full development of feudalism and control by a military class. The victorious Minamoto chieftain, Yoritomo, became shogun, and in his hands the office speedily acquired the same ascendency as that of mayors of the palace in the ancient Frankish kingdom. The mikado, with his court in Kioto, remained the nominal head of the empire, but the shogun, with a more splendid court at Kamakura, was the real ruler. This condition lasted for over seven centuries that were filled with internal strife, but were almost entirely free from foreign wars. The great Kublai Khan made one vain attempt to add Japan to his conquests, and that was all.

The tyranny of the shoguns had already produced a tendency to a loyal reaction, when in 1852 Matthew Calbraith Perry entered the bay of Yedo Japan's first treaty. with a commission from the United States government giving him extraordinary diplomatic and military powers. After extended negotiations, conducted by Commodore Perry with great tact and dignity, the first treaty of Japan with a western nation was negotiated in May, 1854. This treaty provided that there should be peace and friendship between Japan and the United States; that the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate should be open to American ships, which were to be supplied with necessary provisions; that relief should be given to shipwrecked people; that Americans were to be free as in other countries, though amenable to just laws, and in the open ports they could go about without restrictions; that United States ships should be restricted to the open ports except in stress of weather; and that the United States consuls should reside at Shimoda.

The treaty provided also for the details incident to these general provisions. Other western nations followed the lead of the United States, and similar treaties were made with Great Britain in 1854 and 1858; with Russia and the Netherlands in 1855; with France in 1858; with Portugal in 1860; with the German Customs Union in

1861; and then with other countries.

It will be noticed that there are provisions in the treaty as above outlined due to Japanese medievalism. The rapid progress of Japan in the half century is shown by the completion in 1899 of a series of treaties with Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, Peru, and Switzerland, on a basis of equality and a common international law. These treaties throw the entire country open to foreign trade, and establish relations similar to those which have for some time existed among the western nations. This step into the international circle was due to the respect of the western

MUTSUHITO, THE

MIKADO OF JAPAN.

In his negotiations, Commodore Perry met the difficulty of jealousy Foreign influence between the rival courts of the mikado and the shogun. His dealings in Japan. were with the shogun as the real ruler, but the assent of the mikado was still necessary in treaty arrangements, and the imperial court at Kioto maintained an anti-foreign attitude, perhaps because the party of the shogun had decided to permit foreign intercourse. The first foreigners to enter the country had been some stray Portuguese in the sixteenth

COMMODORE

(From The Illustrated

century. Then came Francis Xavier,
the great Jesuit missicnary, and
after him came others. Christianity
made considerable progress, and
several Japanese young men visited
Europe during this period. Under
the Tokugawa shoguns who suc-
ceeded the great Iyeyasu (1603-
1616) Japanese feudalism reached its
most complete development and
became very oppressive. This period MATTHEW C. PERRY.
lasted until 1868, when the revolu- London News of May 7,
tion began that changed the whole
character of the country. It was
during this long period that the
policy was followed of closing Japan
to foreigners. The Dutch, who got
along with the Japanese better than
other Europeans, were allowed to
maintain a factory on an island near
Nagasaki. Through intercourse with
them the Japanese learned some-
thing of the outer world, and were

prepared for the reception of new ideas from the West. This influence
brought about by degrees a kind of Japanese renaissance, which made

Japanese renaissance.

Outbreak of the revolution.

A JINRIKISHA.

the further step into the field of modern life comparatively easy. This revival of learning, leading to a study of the national history, acted against the shogunate, creating a renewal of reverence for the mikado and a determination in the minds of a strong party to restore the old imperial power and to put an end to the usurpation of the shoguns. This feeling was intensified by the tyrannies of the later Tokugawa shoguns and was seeking organized expression years before Perry, under the flag of the United States, had knocked at the closed door.

The reckless challenge to conservative Japan conveyed in the opening of the country by the shogun, without due authority from the mikado, brought about the revolution that had been pending. The samurai, the great warrior class, corresponding to the lesser gentry in England or the knights in feudal Germany, revolted against the daimios, or nobles, and the risings, at first

a lawless, unguided
outbreak, gradually
crystallized into a
national movement,
centering about the
mikado. One of its
earliest demonstra-
tions was anti-for-
eign, an American,
a French, and a
Dutch vessel being
successively fired
upon in 1863 by
imperial batteries in
the straits of Shimo-
noseki. Prompt
punishment was ad-
ministered by a

indemnity. Then in 1864 a squadron of British, French, Dutch, and United States vessels destroyed the forts at Shimonoseki, and exacted an indemnity of three millions of dollars from the Yedo government. The complicated anarchic situation now cleared somewhat through these repeated lessons, and the Japanese factions united in a demand for the retirement of the shogun and a return of the real power to the mikado. Power of the This was accomplished in 1868 after a vigorous campaign between the mikado reestabimperialists and the partisans of the shogun. From this conflict Mutsu- lished. hito, the present mikado, emerged the supreme power, pledging himself to abolish uncivilized customs, and to govern by the popular will through a national assembly. This pledge has been loyally and intelligently carried out. Yedo, renamed Tokio, the city of the Tokugawa shoguns, now became the imperial capital. The leading daimios of the south and west voluntarily gave up their feudal fiefs to the emperor to facilitate the reorganization of the empire, and the abolition of feudalism was decreed in 1871. Meanwhile a special embassy was abroad studying foreign state systems. With unusual caution, local popular assemblies were instituted before the establishment of a national parliament, in order that the people might have some experience in selfgovernment before the affairs of the nation were trusted in their hands. Finally, in a proclamation of October 12, 1881, the emperor declared

that he had long intended to establish a constitutional form of govern

MONUMENT TO

IYEYASU, THE

FIRST SHOGUN.

ment; that the senate in 1875, and the local assemblies in 1878 had been Imperial proclaauthorized with this in view; and that in the twenty-third year of his reign mation of 1881. (1890) a parliament would be established in order to carry into full effect this determination. All faithful subjects bearing imperial commissions were therefore charged to make all necessary preparations in the meantime. Many a western state that has rushed hurriedly and unprepared into radical reforms might well take a lesson from this deliberate procedure.

In accordance with this promise, and under the constitution promul- Constitutional gated in 1889, Japan became a constitutional monarchy, with a parlia- parliamentary ment composed of a house of peers and a house of representatives. This monarchy. parliament has control of the finances. There is a cabinet of ministers, responsible nominally to the emperor, but Japan is gradually evolving the responsible party government which is the inevitable outcome of such a constitution.

Under this new régime the empire is evincing remarkable energy, and Progress of Japan. its progress, politically and industrially, is one of the marvels of the last decade. Between 1872 and 1885 the state had built 181 miles of railway. There were in 1899 in operation and under construction 5,810 miles. There are over 12,000 miles of telegraph and over 1,500 miles of cable lines. These figures are a good index of the material progress of the country. The cordial relations of Japan with the world are sufficient proof of its progress in other ways.

CHAPTER XXV.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CHAPTER XXVII.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Search Questions.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

1. What circumstances brought about the recognition of the United States as a world power? 2. How far is the nation clinging to its old ideals? 3. Do the new relations of the United States with Europe necessitate a departure from these ideals? 4. What places near to the United States are regarded as important for her from a strategic point of view? 5. Is the occupation or control of such points in the interest of peace or of war? 6. How do the different products of the United States compare with those of other countries? 7. What new enterprises seem to be called for by the economic situation? 8. What kind of leadership does the country require at this critical period? 9. What are the dangers of our form of democracy under these conditions?

1. What picturesque story of expansion may we read from the maps of the past thirty centuries? 2. How do the great powers strive to adjust the difficult question of boundaries between both large and small states? 3. Why is it possible that Austria-Hungary, Italy, and France will not be reckoned among the great powers? 4. What are the four great powers of the present time? 5. How has the leadership of the Teuton in Africa been shown? 6. Describe the respective positions of Russia, Great Britain, and the United States. 7. In what directions does Germany's strength especially lie? 8. How have material agencies helped in transforming the map of the world? 9. Why has the world thus far been mastered by the western rather than by the eastern nations?

1. What are the four great Asiatic empires? 2. What interests have France, Germany, and the United States in Asia? 3. Describe the value of Siberia as a part of the Russian empire. 4. How does Russia's advance in southern Asia affect Great Britain? 5. Compare the methods of Russia with those of Great Britain. 6. In what respects have both proved effective? 7. What important railway projects have both countries on hand? 8. How is it possible that Russian advance may affect India? 9. How did Russia secure control of Manchuria? 10. What danger from Russia and France is Great Britain likely to meet in southern Asia? 11. Why is Russian domination in Asia undesirable?

1. When does authentic Japanese history begin? 2. What was the general character of its mythological period? 3. What did Japan receive from China? 4. How did feudalism develop in Japan? 5. Describe Commodore Perry's treaty with Japan. 6. How was Japanese progress shown by the treaties of 1899? 7. What foreign influences were felt in Japan in the sixteenth century? 8. What caused the revolution against the shoguns? 9. Why did it assume an anti-foreign character? 10. How was this feeling overcome? 11. What was the outcome of the revolution? 12. What is the character of the present mikado? 13. How was feudalism abolished? 14. What was the imperial proclamation of 1881? 15. How has Japan progressed since that time?

1. What are the three great gold-producing countries, and how much did each produce in 1899? 2. What is the area of Siberia? Population? 3. How long is the Trans-Siberian railway? 4. When did Hong Kong become a British possession, and how is it governed? 5. When and by whom were the Merovingian and Carlovingian dynasties founded? 6. Who was Confucius? 7. What is the area of Japan? Population? 8. What relation was Commodore M. C. Perry to the hero of Lake Erie?

Bibliography.

XVII. NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA.

In connection with Chapters XXIII., XXIV., and XXV. the standard American and United
States histories may be consulted; also:

Foster, John W. "A Century of American Diplomacy." (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.,
1900.) A valuable survey.

Conant, Charles A. "The United States in the Orient." (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1900.) Mahan, Captain A. T. "The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future." (Little, Brown & Co., 1897.)

There is a voluminous recent magazine literature on this subject. Those who wish to become really acquainted with United States diplomacy should study Wharton's "Digest of the International Law of the United States."

In connection with Chapter XXV., see Bibliography XVII. No special references are needed for Chapter XXVI., as it is a general summary of large world movements.

XVIII. PROBLEMS OF ASIA.

46

Two of the most competent students and writers in this field are Archibald R. Colquhoun
and Henry Norman. See, by the former, "China in Transformation,"
"" Overland
to China, and "Russia against India," all of them recent and showing extended
observation and temperate judgment; and by the latter, in addition to his articles on
"Russia of Today," now running in Scribner's Magazine, Peoples and Politics of
the Far East." Reinsch's "World Politics" is important in this connection. Cap-
tain Mahan's recently published book entitled "The Problem of Asia," is worth
reading, although not contributing much to the subject. Lord Curzon's "Problems
of the Far East is a valuable contribution to the subject.