JAPANESE WRITING 277 



JAPANESE WEITING 



BY E. W. SCRIPTURE, Ph.D., M.D. 

 NEW YORK CITY 



SOME time ago a Japanese student handed me the following state- 

 ment: 



In Japan we aim at two distinct objects in giving instruction in writing. 

 One is to teach the children the mode of writing ordinary characters, and to 

 make them acquainted with the management of the brush. But we have an- 

 other important object in teaching writing; in Japan it is regarded as one of 

 the fine arts. Japan is a land of hero-Avorship. Nothing delights us more than 

 the memory of great heroes and sages of the past. Every relic connected with 

 them is cherished as a visible token of their great minds. We believe ourselves 

 to be especially inspired and ennobled by their autographs. So the educated 

 classes decorate what is set apart as the sacred part of the room — called 

 " Tokonoma " — with such an autograph. We study the writings of eminent 

 persons as a physiognomist would study the various expressions of human faces 

 to know their inner characteristics. When we are trying to copy after an emi- 

 nent writer we feel very much as we would when standing in front of a marble 

 statue of a great man. Therefore we pay special attention to the posture of 

 every limb of our body, and especially to the management of the brush, for we 

 think we are in the presence of that hero himself. In that moment we con- 

 centrate our mind to direct all the energies of our body in a certain definite 

 direction, in consequence of which our lower passions and appetites are extin- 

 guished as the dark clouds of night are dispersed by the radiance of the rising 

 sun, and our spirits are freed from all the cares and anxieties of the present 

 world and are wafted to the ideal region of highest felicity, where we commune 

 with the holy spirits of the great heroes and sages. It was thought by the 

 sages of old that by means of such a method of writing they could regulate the 

 outward postures of their disciples and in consequence could discipline their 

 inner spirits, So they counted the art of writing as one of the " Six Arts " by 

 which they sought to edify man's character. 



In Japan writing plays an important part in the social life of the 

 people. On the second of January, on which day the work of the 

 year begins, educated persons — especially the younger people — try 

 their new brushes on specially prepared paper by writing sentiments 

 in praise of nature and by expressing their wishes and hopes for the 

 coming year. The Japanese give writing-parties just as we do lawn- 

 parties and euchre-parties. At these gatherings the guests exhibit 

 their best pieces of writing and receive prizes. Again, a piece of silk 

 with an elegantly written sentiment serves as a highly acceptable wed- 

 ding present. Even the walls of the rooms are decorated by writings 

 in place of paintings. 



