Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Vol. 13: Japan

In the later European era of Japan, her art and literature experienced a revival. Both, however, were of a distinctly limited nature. To this period belongs Japan's most honored poet, Basho. Yet none of Basho’s works consist of more than three lines of poetry, totaling seventeen syllables. The Japanese had become writers of epigrams exclusively. Some of the most famous of these, by Basho and others, are presented here.

Regarding religion, the Japanese of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—the era of “seclusion”—followed both the traditional Shinto rituals and the more recent Buddhist doctrines that had emerged. The most treasured of the Buddhist scriptures in Japan is the beautiful “Gospel of the White Lotus,” part of which this volume presents. It then concludes with a brief look at Japanese folklore—tales of unknown age that may be classified with those of the Kojiki for their primitive simplicity, and with the “Gospel of the White Lotus” for their earnest faith in righteousness. Not all the terrible warfare of Japan has destroyed the childlike beauty in the character of the masses of her people.