n were heartily in sympathy with the
Confucian ethics, from which no effort was made to alienate them. They
were close allies, and for a thousand years wrought as one force in the
national life. They were not estranged until the introduction, in the
seventeenth century, of the metaphysical and scholastic forms given to
the ancient system by the Chinese schoolmen of the Sung dynasty (A.D.
960-1333).

Japanese Confucianism and Feudalism Contemporary.

The intellectual history of the Japanese prior to their recent contact
with Christendom, may be divided into three eras:

1. The period of early insular or purely native thought, from before the
Christian era until the eighth century; by which time, Shint[=o], or the
indigenous system of worship--its ritual, poetry and legend having been
committed to writing and its life absorbed in Buddhism--had been, as a
system, relegated from the nation and the people to a small circle of
scholars and archaeologists.

2. The period from 800 A.D. to the beginning of the seventeenth century;
during which time Buddhism furnished to the nation its religion,
philosophy and culture.

3. From about 1630 A.D. until the present time; during which period the
developed Confucian philosophy, as set forth by Chu Hi in the twelfth
century, has been the creed of a majority of the educated men of Japan.

The political history of the Japanese may also be divided into three
eras:

1. The first extends from the dawn of history until the seventh century.
During this period the system of government was that of rude feudalism.
The conquering tribe of Yamato, having gradually obtained a rather
imperfect supremacy over the other tribes in the middle and southern
portions of the country now called the Empire of Japan, ruled them in
the name of the Mikado.

2. The second period begins in the seventh century, when the Japanese,
copying the Chinese model, adopted a system of centralization. The
country was divided into provinces and was ruled through boards or
ministries at the capital, with governors sent out from Ki[=o]to for
stated periods, directly from the emperor. During this time literature
was chiefly the work of the Buddhist priests and of the women of the
imperial court.

While armies in the field brought into subjection the outlying tribes
and certain noble families rose to prominence at the court, there was
being formed that remarkable class of men called the Samurai, or
servants of the