even, is "its own by
right of invention"? And when we stop to examine the details of the
ancient Japanese civilization which is supposed to have been so,
slavishly copied from China and India, we shall find that, though the
beginnings were indeed imitated, there were also later developments of
purely Japanese creation. In some instances the changes were vital.

In examining the practical arts, while we acknowledge that the
beginnings of nearly all came from Korea or China, we must also
acknowledge that in many important respects. Japan has developed along
her own lines. The art of sword-making, for instance, was undoubtedly
imported; but who does not know of the superior quality and beauty of
Japanese swords, the Damascus blades of the East? So distinct is this
Japanese production that it cannot be mistaken for that of any other
nation. It has received the impress of the Japanese social order. Its
very shape is due to the habit of carrying the sheath in the "obi" or
belt.

If we study the home of the laborer, or the instruments in common use,
we shall find proof that much more than imitation has been involved.

Were the Japanese mere imitators, how could we explain their
architecture, so different from that of China and Korea? How explain
the multiplied original ways in which bamboo and straw are used?

For a still closer view of the matter, let us consider the imported
ethical and religious codes of the country. In China the emphasis of
Confucianism is laid on the duty of filial piety. In Japan the primary
emphasis is on loyalty. This single change transformed the entire
system and made the so-called Confucianism of Japan distinct from that
of China. In Buddhism, imported from India, we find greater changes
than Occidental nations have imposed on their religion imported from
Palestine. Indeed, so distinct has Japanese Buddhism become that it is
sometimes difficult to trace its connections in China and India. And
the Buddhistic sects that have sprung up in Japan are more radically
diverse and antagonistic to each other and to primitive Buddhism than
the denominations of Christianity are to each other and to primitive
Christianity.

In illustration is the most popular of all the Buddhist sects to-day,
Shinshu. This has sometimes been called by foreigners "Reformed"
Buddhism; and so similar are many of its doctrines to those of
Christianity that some have supposed them to have been derived from
it, but without the