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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1907)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, APRIL 21, 1907. 1 ' OKOHAMA, Japan. March 16. In our days of childhood we learn with much difficulty that boys may do things that girls may not; by and by we learn that 'tho' men and women have many ideals In common, some virtues weigh more In the scale for men, while others weigh more in the scale for women; and Anally having become accustomed to all this, we achieve grown-up-ness and cross the Pacific only to learn that whole races of human beings live and prosper accord In g to a scale of virtues that is their own. It seems that something wider than, the Pacific separates American from Japan ese ideals; and one can not help wonder ing how like us the Japanese will be when our Western Ideals have held sway longer. This ta an interesting time to be in Japan, for the old ideals and the new flourish side by side. One often sees a gentleman, the. victim of two codes of etiquette, bowing the three, slow, deep, ceremonial bows to an acquaintance and at the same time taking off his hat In foreign fashion. The other day in Tokyo an incident happened that might have oc curred in feudal times, but came as a shock In this ath century. A betto stab. bed a fellow servant, and afterwards going to his master, prostrated himself, begging pardon and expressing regret, not for the murderous act, but because he. a servant, had considered his own affairs before the master's, and had - upset the master's household! Love and loyalty have led the Japanese to extremes that we could never attain. Irately we have been to two places, sacred to the people, because they contain the Braves of those who, true to their Ideals of loyalty, died for others. The ideals of loyalty are not ours, but whatever our own beliefs, we must still admire those who have died for their beliefs. Story of Supreme Loyalty. Do you know the story of the Forty eeven Ronlns? If you know it as Mitford tells It In his Incomparable "Tales of Old Japan." you will find my account feeble and halting. It is the supreme story of Japanese loyalty and revenge, a story that lives In Japanese art. in the color prints especially; that lives in drama every year It is played in the Tokyo the. Rtera and that lives still in the hearts of the people who throng each day to burn incense before the forty-seven tombs at the temple of Sengakeyi. A Ronin ("wave man") was a well-born man who having for some reason lost his land, was tossed about by circumstances, wandering up and down the country, living as he might, until he could either return to the old or find some new allegiance. Only yesterday I met a modern Ronin boy of 17 whose father belongs to an old Samurai family and who has an assured position. The lad Is going to Seattle to live as a servant In some American family until he can learn English. Two yearB ago In Amer ica we had ourselves such a Ronin ser vant; and on our coming to Japan his father, a Tokro lawyer, called on us and brought us presents. But the brave Forty-seven For Love of an Ancestor. Asano, a daimio, lived early in the ISth century in his castle in Harlma province. On him fell fhe honor of entertaining In Tokyo an Imperial envoy, so important a personage that Asano was obliged to take lessons In etiquette from a superior named Kira. Asano bore his teacher pres ents, but the lessons consisted of almost nothing except insults, for Klra, who was of a grasping nature, thought the gifts of the daimio mean and insignificant. Finally Klra. overbearing beyond endur ance, asked Asano to tie the strink of his nook, calling him a country lout, where, upon Asano. justly incensed, rushed to ward Klra, thrusting at him with a dirk. The daimio was seized and Imprisoned, a council sat on tho case and In accordance with their decree. Asnno committed hara kiri, his family was disgraced, his castles confiscated, and his retainers disbanded. He was a man much loved by those who served him and especially by his coun cillor. Oishi Kuranosuke. Oishi resolved to avenge the death of his master and so he chose 4S faithful retainers, among them Chikara. his son a lad of 18, and an old man of 77. and these 47 men, banding themselves to gether, resolved to kill the enemy of their dead lord. Klra. fearing them, kept himself well guarded so the Ronlns disbanded becoming tinkers, carpenters and tradesmen. Oishi meantime, knowing that he would be watched, went to Kyoto and gave himself tip to a lire of debauchery, even desert ing his children and divorcing his wife. Then, when Klra was thrown off his guard and no longer feared the Ronlns. Oishi Joined his comrades In Tokyo and together they made their plans. Avenged a Wrong. On cold December night when snow was on the ground they feasted together talking over the last details of their at tack and resolving to kill us helpless per- 4 Unceasing Devotion to the Memory of Brave Men Who Hade Sacrifice. 1 Daily Worship at the Tombsof Those Who Gave Up Their Lives for Others. J II IE fk U -V&SrQk 111 II II IS H iEi aTTiSTNS tSygSfW )KsS possessions with them, fathers in semi CP 8 'SSTgf lli III If tj llj 'S3 1. HW'"l"-"tJ foreign clothes, telling; the story to i-, . Try Jir-'rffHi - - ' - ' " ' 1 wmmau-it -gW.--v -. tuVJ'Cf7 I - their schoolboy sons, mothers and WvSU i . I - Ste'ir!rrPr 08hters: young wive, with babies , . 7- , j ' f I?., l ''LSTT1 rMiVMml " their-backs: high school and ZZJ--U . IfcA '' ' T Y-JWl 1 xW-W&-mM college students, soldiers in uniform, -" ' . dflBfW. " jC -k. ' I Si ' --S'JSi rt i'ori I IV i F&SLlflfit i KE h well-to-do merchants and poor, bent. ' i ' r at- A I a, i Jifijt' ttStL 1 jM'm&'HiirmmLV', Id eronee. One tiny maid came alone. - v .- T 3- ' WM&fi,-' &&2&t?S I $Mli n when -he had left sticks of tn- . I ; WirTr' -.!r",f i?TS,. ' Hi I rWiVt" ce at each rave. clgpped hr hand - d . I'V n-Kate, Couple. . 1 - ' a rsaa:::::: jU:Vwwv sons, for said Oishi: "To slay old men and women and children is a pitiful thing." At midnight they attacked the house. Oishi. with a party of men break ing In the front gate while Chikara led a party through the rear gate. Then be gan a stirring fight with the men at arms. The brave 7. without losing one of their number killed all of Kira's re tainers before they found him crouching In an outhouse. This was Oishi' speech to him: "My lord, we are the retainers of Asano Takumi no Ksftiii. Last year your lord ship and our master quarreled In the pal ace, and our master was sentenced to haraklrl, and his family was ruined. We have come tonight to avenge him, as is the duty of faithful and loyal men. I pray-your lordship to acknowledge the justice of our purpose. And now. my lord, we beseech you to perform haraklrl. 1, myself, shall have the honor to act as your second, and when, with all humility, I shall have received your lordship's head, it is my Intention to lay -tt as an offering upon the grave of Asano Takumi no Kami." But the cowardly nobleman refused to kill himself so the Ronlns cut off his head, and then in all their blood-stained armor they set out as morning broke, carrying the head in a basket to the tem ple of Sengakuji. Sacrificed 4 7 Lives. On the way the Prince of Sendai sent out to them inviting them to breakfast in his palace so greatly was he impressed by their valor and loyalty. After this halt they went on until they reached the temple where the abbot came to meet them. They washed the head in a well near by and laid it on the tomb with a paper addressed to their loTd, saying : "Although we fear that after the decree Issued by the government this plot of ours will be displeasing to our honored master, still we, who have eaten of your food, could not without blushing repeat the verse. Thou shalt not live under the same heaven nor tread the same earth with the enemy of thy father or lord, nor could we have dared to leave hell and present ourselves before you in paradise, unless we had carried out the vengeance which you began." Then Oishi and Chikara. his son, and the others burnt Incense while the priests of the temple prayed. The decree of the supreme court was that they should all commit haraklri for the deed they had done though according to the custom and feeling of their times was no more lawful than Is the lynching of fiendish negroes in the South today. So the 47 disemboweled themselves and their bodies were burled beside the tomb of their lord. , The temple Is :n tne outskirts of Tok'o. near Shinagowa Station. "We went along a little side street lined with shops, where postcards and books and sake cups are sold, all telling the tale of the bravery of the forty seven. Passing through the temple gate we came to a plain two-etory building where, for a few sen, we saw the sacred relics: awords. spears, old Iron helmets, worn clothing of rich brocade, plans of Kirras' house, old documents, chain armor, and armor made painstakingly by hand of metal and leather. Some distance beyond, at the aide of the main walk, is the little round well where the head was washed. A short distance more and we came to a -building filled with carved wooden fig ures of the Ronlns, young and old. from the man of 77, to the smooth-faced boy, Chikara. A figure in white represents Kira dressed In a nightrobe as he was when the Ronlna killed him. A quaint, good-natured old country man was in charge of the figures. He lifted the cur tain that we might sec from the outside instead of going to the trouble of taking oft our foreign shoes and entering the room. We asked him the names of the different figures but he only shook his head and said, in his rustic Japanese. "You would not understand if I told you." As we went toward the graves a young Japanese stepped - up. lifted his hat politely, and asked us to write some thing in English on a postcard: why we did not know unless he felt surprise that foreigners should visit the spot. From another old man we bought sticks of Incense, and passing the enclosure '-.-ir ii 1 i KKt'iV. showing the grave of the Lord Arano came to the graves of his faithful rela tives, marked alike, with small tomb stones placed near together in a square. In front of each stone stands a bamboo holder filled with fresh green leaves, and in front of each incense is burning al ways till the place is grey with smoke and the air heavy with perfume. The gravis of Oishi and Chikara are covered with little wooden shelters where the Japanese have pasted their cards. Here beside the grave of their Lord the Forty-seven He. and with them another, a Satsuma man, who had spat upon Oishi and called him faithless and a coward as he lay in drunken sleep In the gutter one day in Kyoto. Assured after Oisnl's death of his faithfulness, the Satsuma man committed haraklrl in atonement, before Oishi'g tomb, anJ tho pitying piiests burled the body beside the graves of the 47 heroes. Reverence Without Limit. It you go sometime to that little spot in the temple yard of Lengskuji per haps you too will do as we did: place burning incense before the tombs of the Forty-seven Ronlns, brave men and true It Is a wonderful story of loy alty, isn't It? And while we 20th cen tury Americans shrink from the ven geance so relentlessly pursued we must share the Japanese feeling of reverence for the men who were true to their belief and faithful unto death. As we tood there, several hundred people came, men -and women from the coun try, carrying many of their worldly Leaving Sengakuji, we went by winding lanes, bamboo shaded, to a suburb called Meguro, where Komura saki and Gompachl, the ill-fated lovers. He buried in one grave. Meguro is a thriving suburb, with so many new houses building that it seemed we should find no place secluded enough to hold a grave. Once we thought we had found the spot, for we saw In a garden a great stone Buddha, with a semicircle of saints standing reverent ly about him. In reply to our knocking an old man and an old woman came out, quaint old-styleapanese, who di rected us with such 6inness and cour tesy that we half wished to remain and make' their acquaintance, instead of continuing our search. After many turnings we came at last to a tea house on the corner, where a pretty vesau fetched the key to the gate and made herself our guide. The wall and gateway, alas for romance! are of gal vanized iron sheeting. Within, shel tered by bamboo and willow. Is the grave where the lovers lie, the grave of the Shlyoku, the Japanese call it, for the Shlyoku is a mythical bird, the symbol of conjugal faithfulness. This is the atory: Shrine for Lovers. i Gompachl. who was a handsome youth, much skilled in the use of arms, quarreled with comrade and killed him. So he left his home and, traveling far. stopped ne night at a wayside house for rest. He was awak ened from sleep by a beautiful girl, who told him that he was in a den of robbers, who' intended to kill him for his sword and silver. She herself the? had stolen from her father's home, and she begged him to eaeape from toe place, taking her with htm. Gompachl, thus forewarned, lay in wait for the robbers and. as they attacked him, killed so the storr .goes all ten of them. He -restored KomurasKI to her father," who feasted him and gave him jleces of sliver. The two young people exchanged vows of fidelity, and Gom pachl fared on toward the capital. He was attacked by highwaymen and was about to be overcome when a civilian came to his rescue. This rescuer be came his 'riend. entertaining him for several month. Then Gompachl be came idle and dissolute. Finally, in one of his haunts he met Komurasaki weeping. She told him that misfortune had befallen her family, until in filial obedience, to save her father and moth er from starving, she had sold her body to the keeper of the house in which he found her. Gompachl In his Idleness had not the money to buy her freedom, but he went each .day to see her. Then all 'his money was gone, his host turned against him and Gompachi became a common "Highwayman and murderer. For his crimes he was caught at last - and beheaded. Koraurasakl. when he came no more, learned his fate and went to find his grave at Meguro. There, when she had wept and prayed long, she stabbed herself to death with a dirk. The priests who found her there buried her in the grave with Gompachl. Poor Komurasaki, life was hard for her. Lovers today flock to the place to burn Incense and tie wisps of paper prayers to the trees that overhang the grave. ANNIE LAURA MILLER. Ms Argned by the Workln' Llpplneott's. Sea Paddy Fiynn f me lasht noight, ses he: "RegobB. me bye. it's .grlttiri purty bad Whin TA-lmln- folki. t' satlxfy a ad. Air tnkln' jobs frim ye an' ine, me lad; Sez Ol to ye, ses Oi, it shouldn't be." At that Oi ups an answers wlnout fear: "Indade. wld yez, me frind, Oi don't agree; Fer anil)- mon would not contented be Wldout a gel t run th' famalee; A maid." ser. Oi, "Is horn t' injineer." I - - ; - - Plans for High Bridge at Madison Street Purpose Is to Lessen Annoying Delays to Traffic On Account of the Opening and Closing of the Draw. PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF PROPOSED HIGH BRIDGE AT MADISON STREET, LOOKING FROM THE EAST SIDE HE accompanying drawing is a perspective of the proposed new Madison-street bridge, according: to plana prepared by the Board of Trade and approved by the East Side Federated Clubs. Relief of the pres- ent congested traffic over this struc ture is the main purpose sought to be accomplished in recommending that the new bridge shall be constructed at an elevation nine feet greater than that of the old one. This will give the main part of the bridge an elevation of about 50 feet above low-water stage, which. will enable full j tO per cent of the river steamers to pass beneath the structure without opening the draw, putting an end to a large per centage of the present annoying: de lays to traffic. By extending 100 feet further west the approach to the bridge from the West Side, and continuing the bridge level easterly on the East Side to Union avenue, it is urged that two advantages will be gained. Snob a plan will grfv a grade not greater than 2 H per cent to either approach; and on the East Side will 'make pro vision for underground crossings at East Water, East First, East Second and East. Third streets. By following the plana recommended by the Board of Trade, it Is argued that the conges tion of traffic on the East Side will be greatly relieved without noticeably increasing the grade of the bridge.. The movement of freight ia increas ing constantly and the officers of the Board of Trade believe the benefits that will result from constructing a new bridge in accordance with its plans are such as will be required within a few years. The Board will seek to convince the Executive Board and the members of the City Council of the advisability of providing for future requirements by building such a bridge as has been designed.