Bush

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work upon and to develop, his vocation partakes of a sacred character. It is the parent who has borne me: it is
the teacher who makes me man. With this idea, therefore, the esteem in which one's preceptor was held was
very high. A man to evoke such confidence and respect from the young, must necessarily be endowed with
superior personality without lacking erudition. He was a father to the fatherless, and an adviser to the erring.
Thy father and thy mother so runs our maxim are like heaven and earth; thy teacher and thy lord are
like the sun and moon.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF A SAMURAI, 25
Bushido, the Soul of Japan
The present system of paying for every sort of service was not in vogue among the adherents of Bushido. It
believed in a service which can be rendered only without money and without price. Spiritual service, be it of
priest or teacher, was not to be repaid in gold or silver, not because it was valueless but because it was
invaluable. Here the non-arithmetical honor-instinct of Bushido taught a truer lesson than modern Political
Economy; for wages and salaries can be paid only for services whose results are definite, tangible, and
measurable, whereas the best service done in education, namely, in soul development (and this includes the
services of a pastor), is not definite, tangible or measurable. Being immeasurable, money, the ostensible
measure of value, is of inadequate use. Usage sanctioned that pupils brought to their teachers money or goods
at different seasons of the year; but these were not payments but offerings, which indeed were welcome to the
recipients as they were usually men of stern calibre, boasting of honorable penury, too dignified to work with
their hands and too proud to beg. They were grave personifications of high spirits undaunted by adversity.
They were an embodiment of what was considered as an end of all learning, and were thus a living example of
that discipline of disciplines,
SELF-CONTROL,
which was universally required of samurai.
The discipline of fortitude on the one hand, inculcating endurance without a groan, and the teaching of
politeness on the other, requiring us not to mar the pleasure or serenity of another by manifestations of our
own sorrow or pain, combined to engender a stoical turn of mind, and eventually to confirm it into a national
trait of apparent stoicism. I say apparent stoicism, because I do not believe that true stoicism can ever become
the characteristic of a whole nation, and also because some of our national manners and customs may seem to
a foreign observer hard-hearted. Yet we are really as susceptible to tender emotion as any race under the sky.
I am inclined to think that in one sense we have to feel more than others yes, doubly more since the very
attempt to, restrain natural promptings entails suffering. Imagine boys and girls too brought up not to
resort to the shedding of a tear or the uttering of a groan for the relief of their feelings, and there is a
physiological problem whether such effort steels their nerves or makes them more sensitive.
It was considered unmanly for a samurai to betray his emotions on his face. He shows no sign of joy or
anger, was a phrase used in describing a strong character. The most natural affections were kept under
control. A father could embrace his son only at the expense of his dignity; a husband would not kiss his
wife, no, not in the presence of other people, whatever he might do in private! There may be some truth in
the remark of a witty youth when he said, American husbands kiss their wives in public and beat them in
private; Japanese husbands beat theirs in public and kiss them in private.
Calmness of behavior, composure of mind, should not be disturbed by passion of any kind. I remember when,
during the late war with China, a regiment left a certain town, a large concourse of people flocked to the
station to bid farewell to the general and his army. On this occasion an American resident resorted to the
place, expecting to witness loud demonstrations, as the nation itself was highly excited and there were fathers,
mothers, and sweethearts of the soldiers in the crowd. The American was strangely disappointed; for as the
whistle blew and the train began to move, the hats of thousands of people were silently taken off and their
heads bowed in reverential farewell; no waving of handkerchiefs, no word uttered, but deep silence in which
only an attentive ear could catch a few broken sobs. In domestic life, too, I know of a father who spent whole
nights listening to the breathing of a sick child, standing behind the door that he might not be caught in such
an act of parental weakness! I know of a mother who, in her last moments, refrained from sending for her son,
that he might not be disturbed in his studies. Our history and everyday life are replete with examples of heroic
matrons who can well bear comparison with some of the most touching pages of Plutarch. Among our
peasantry an Ian Maclaren would be sure to find many a Marget Howe.
SELF-CONTROL, 26
Bushido, the Soul of Japan
It is the same discipline of self-restraint which is accountable for the absence of more frequent revivals in the
Christian churches of Japan. When a man or woman feels his or her soul stirred, the first instinct is to quietly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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