386 COMPARATIVE LAW 



in national worship is a goddess, "Amaterasu 0-mi-Kami," or the 

 " Great Goddess of the Celestial Light." There was no law to prevent 

 female members of the Imperial family from ascending the throne, 

 and there have been many Empresses who ruled the Empire. The 

 Empress Jingo invaded and conquered Corea at the head of a large 

 army. 



With the conquest and subjugation of Corea by this "Empress 

 of God-like Exploit" begins the second period in the history of the 

 legal position of woman in Japan ; for from this time Chinese civiliz- 

 ation began to enter Japan, first through Corea, and afterward from 

 China directly. It was chiefly the doctrines of Chinese moral philo- 

 sophy that changed the primitive state of comparative freedom and 

 independence of woman, and placed her in an abnormally inferior 

 position. The Chinese doctrine of the perpetual obedience of woman 

 to the other sex is expressed in the precept of " the three obediences " 

 (2E$) "obedience, while yet unmarried, to a father; obedience, 

 when married, to a husband; obedience, when widowed, to a son." 



It is curious to note, by the way, that an exact counterpart of this 

 doctrine of three obediences is to be found in Hindu law. In one 

 place Manu says, " Day and night women must be kept in depend- 

 ence by the males of their family" (Manu ix, 2, Buehler's transl.); 

 and in another place, "In childhood, a female must be subject to her 

 father; in youth, to her husband; when her Lord is dead, to her 

 sons '' (v, 148). 



Buddhism and feudalism contributed to the keeping of woman 

 in a state of dependence. Buddhism regards woman as an unclean 

 creature, a temptation or snare to virtue, and an obstacle to peace 

 and holiness. Feudalism, which disdained anything effeminate, also 

 regarded woman in the light of a temptation to courage and faithful 

 performance of duty, and, although she was treated with kindness 

 and consideration far above that received in other Asiatic countries, 

 she did not command that romantic homage which the gallant knights 

 of Medieval Europe paid to the other sex. Professor Chamberlain, 

 one of the best authorities on Japan, writes: "Japanese feudalism 

 despite its general similarity to the feudalism of the West knew 

 nothing of gallantry. A Japanese knight performed his valiant deeds 

 for no such fanciful reward as a lady's smile. He performed them 

 out of loyalty to his lord, or filial piety towards the memory of his 

 papa." 



Thus these three factors, Chinese philosophy, Buddhism, and 

 feudalism, combined to place the Japanese woman in a state of 

 dependence during the second period. She could not become the head 

 of a house; she could not hold property nor contract in her own name ; 

 she could not become a guardian of her own child; she could not 

 adopt a child in her own name; in short, she had no independent 



