256 



Their 

 Deities. 



Monastic 

 Life. 



J A P A N. 



the jealous Japanefe took umbrage at the vaft concourfe of thofe 

 foreigners, and at length confined them to a certain precindt, near 

 the fame ifland with the Dutch. They are allowed to have three 

 fales in the year, one in fpring, when they are permitted to dif- 

 pofe of the cargoes of twenty jonks, a fecond of thirty jonks, and 

 a third in autumn of twenty. All above the number are obliged 

 to return without being fuffered to un'ade. 



The religion oixhe Japanefe is idolatry ; their deities ;ire amaz- 

 ingly numerous ; tradition fays that they had been men eminent 

 for their jnety or mortification, deified after death for their fe- 

 veral virtues. They alfo hold that their earliefi; emperors were 

 gods and demi-gods, and that during the firfl: period, they were 

 governed by feven great celeftial fpirits, each of which reigned 

 a certain, but immenfe number of years. Their temples are very 

 numerous, difperfed not only over the cities, but even the moun- 

 tains and deferts. Their idols affume a thoufand extravagant 

 forms, and coloflal fizes ; in one of their temples is an idol of 

 copper gilt, the very chair it fits on is feventy feet high, and the 

 head fo large as to be capable of containing fifteen men ; many of 

 them work miracles, and bring abundance of gain to the temple 

 or monaftery which pofleflcs fach a treafure. 



A TEMPLE near Miaco takes its name from its number of 

 idols, which amount to 33,333; Y)o&.o\: Kaejftpfer give?, us a view* 

 of this vaft repofitory, and in the following plate reprefents 

 its celebrated idol ^eirjooa, fitting on the flower Taraie. 



The monaftic life is much in vogue in Japan. The mona- 

 fteries are filled with regulars and feculars, like thofe of the 



* Hiftory of Japan^ vol. ii. tab. 36. 



church 



