THE ETHICS OF JAPAN. 295 



mind by each individual is separately attributed, and to each of these 

 duties a special term is given to designate its actions from the point 

 of view of a virtuous nature. Besides these five relationships there 

 are two other relationships Avhich have to be added, namely, the rela- 

 tionshij^ betAveen the elder and the j^ounger, not necessarily meaning 

 brothers, and also the relationship between master and pupil. The 

 term " the sovereign and subjects,'' in oriental notions, signifies in 

 their bearing a very deep meaning in their mutual relationship. I 

 once heard from a very trustworthy authority that a Western diplo- 

 matist, well versed in oriental affairs, had said that the oriental idea 

 concerning sovereign and subjects was not and could not be thor- 

 oughly understood by Occidentals, and I tliink that remark is not far 

 from the truth. 



The idea of the best virtue that a sovereign can have is '' jen," mean- 

 ing to be as humane as possible to his subjects, detesting oppression, 

 giving the best administration to his country — in a word, to be the best 

 ruler that ever ruled a land. The idea of the best subject is loyalty. 

 The idea of that of father and son is filial piety on the part of the 

 child and strictness on the part of the father, which is modified in the 

 case of the mother toward tenderness, for which there is a special 

 term. The idea which governs the relationship between man and 

 wife is harmony. The older Avord for this was " distinction," mean- 

 ing " not to he unseemly," but the word " harmony " is also used some- 

 times, and we Japanese prefer it. The idea of that of brothers and 

 sisters is brotherly friendship, for which also a special word exists. 

 The idea of that of friends is trustworthiness. In this way all the 

 five cardinal bonds are dictated by desirable manifestations of sym- 

 pathetic attentions to one another. But of course more prominence 

 is giA'en to the virtue of a subject, a child, or younger brother, in the 

 case of a sovereign and subjects, of parents and children, and of 

 brothers, respectively. Then, again, the elder and the younger in 

 general are expected to respect each other as the case demands, and 

 the relationship between them is to be regulated by a term Avhich is 

 equivalent to the English word ''order;'" that is to say, the younger 

 should not seek to supersede the elder, but to pay respect to him, 

 while the elder is expected not to take advantage of the younger, but 

 to treat him with kindness. The relationship between master and 

 pupil is also regarded as very important. The pupils are expected 

 to respect their masters almost as nuich as their ])arents, while the 

 master is expected to treat his pupils with parental kindness; no 

 businesslike thought is to enter their minds. In the olden times in 

 the East the system of teaching and learning was very different from 

 that which exists in these modern days. The teacher taught his 

 pupils out of the love of imparting his knowledge and virtuous 

 example, as well as the doctrinal principles he entertained, while the 



