Old World Steps to American History

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. JAPAN We have no means of learning anything about the very early history of Japan. The Japanese learned the art of writing from China about 2,000 years ago. Before that time there was no means of keeping records, and we have to depend upon what we can learn from the records of other nations. The...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. JAPAN We have no means of learning anything about the very early history of Japan. The Japanese learned the art of writing from China about 2,000 years ago. Before that time there was no means of keeping records, and we have to depend upon what we can learn from the records of other nations. The Japanese stories of the early times tell us that the first Japanese came from somewhere in the western part of Asia. They tell us that their first king, whose name was Jimmu, began his rule about 660 B. C. At that time the people believed that their ruler was descended from a god and that he became a god again after he died. The old religion of Japan was a worship of dead kings and heroes. The war god of old Japan is O'-jin, who was once a noted warrior. The Japanese take great pride in soldierly qualities. They are brave and hardy. They are very courteous and dignified in their intercourse with strangers. Every man is ready to fight and to give his life for his country in case of need. In the early times Japan was greatly troubled by the wars of rival kings and chiefs. It was like the condition of Germany in the Middle Ages, when the nobles were often stronger than the king. The warlike chiefs, or shoguns, at last got control of the government, and the mikados retired toprivate life. It was not until 1868 that they were restored to their old power and position. When the Tartars overran China and made themselves masters of that country, they tried also to take Japan. The Tartar emperor sent a great fleet in 1281 to make the conquest of the islands. But a typhoon, or fierce tropical storm, swept over the sea and completely wrecked the Tartar fleet. Gradually the Japanese established a feudal system. The shogun was the chief lord, and his vassals were called dai'-mi-os...