But the gift of the people to Kyoto is still grander. It is
represented by the glorious Higashi Hongwanji,--or eastern Hongwan temple (Shinshu). Western readers may form some idea of
its character from the simple statement that it cost eight
millions of dollars and required seventeen years to build. In
mere dimension it is largely exceeded by other Japanese buildings of
cheaper construction; but anybody familiar with the Buddhist
temple architecture of Japan can readily perceive the difficulty of
building a temple one hundred and, twenty-seven feet high, one
hundred and ninety-two feet deep, and more than two hundred feet
long. Because of its peculiar form, and especially because of the
vast sweeping lines of its roof, the Hongwanji looks even far
larger than it is,--looks mountainous. But in any country it
would be deemed a wonderful structure. There are beams forty-two
feet long and four feet thick; and there are pillars nine feet in
circumference. One may guess the character of the interior
decoration from the statement that the mere painting of the
lotos-flowers on the screens behind the main altar cost ten
thousand dollars. Nearly all this wonderful work was done with the
money contributed in coppers by hard-working peasants. And yet there are people who think that Buddhism is dying!
More than one hundred thousand peasants came to see the grand
inauguration. They seated themselves by myriads on matting laid
down by the acre in the great court. I saw them waiting thus at three in the afternoon. The court was a living sea. Yet all that
host was to wait till seven o'clock for the beginning of the ceremony, without refreshment, in the hot sun. I saw at one corner of the court a band of about twenty young girls,--all in white, and wearing peculiar white caps,--and I asked who they were. A bystander replied: "As all these people must wait here many hours, it is to be feared that some may become ill. Therefore professional nurses have been stationed here to take care of any who may be sick. There are likewise stretchers in waiting, and carriers. And there are many physicians."
I admired the patience and the faith. But those peasants might well love the magnificent temple,--their own creation in very truth, both directly and indirectly. For no small part of the actual labor of building was done for love only; and the mighty beams for the roof had been hauled to Kyoto from far-away mountain-slopes, with cables made of the hair of Buddhist wives and daughters. One such cable, preserved in the temple, is more than three hundred and sixty feet long, and nearly three inches in diameter.
To me the lesson of those two magnificent monuments of national
religious sentiment suggested the certain future increase in ethical power and value of that sentiment, concomitantly with the increase of national prosperity. Temporary poverty is the real explanation of the apparent temporary decline of Buddhism. But an era of great wealth is beginning. Some outward forms of Buddhism must perish; some superstitions of Shinto must die. The vital truths and recognitions will expand, strengthen, take only deeper root in the heart of the race, and potently prepare it for the trials of that larger and harsher life upon which it has to enter.
represented by the glorious Higashi Hongwanji,--or eastern Hongwan temple (Shinshu). Western readers may form some idea of
its character from the simple statement that it cost eight
millions of dollars and required seventeen years to build. In
mere dimension it is largely exceeded by other Japanese buildings of
cheaper construction; but anybody familiar with the Buddhist
temple architecture of Japan can readily perceive the difficulty of
building a temple one hundred and, twenty-seven feet high, one
hundred and ninety-two feet deep, and more than two hundred feet
long. Because of its peculiar form, and especially because of the
vast sweeping lines of its roof, the Hongwanji looks even far
larger than it is,--looks mountainous. But in any country it
would be deemed a wonderful structure. There are beams forty-two
feet long and four feet thick; and there are pillars nine feet in
circumference. One may guess the character of the interior
decoration from the statement that the mere painting of the
lotos-flowers on the screens behind the main altar cost ten
thousand dollars. Nearly all this wonderful work was done with the
money contributed in coppers by hard-working peasants. And yet there are people who think that Buddhism is dying!
More than one hundred thousand peasants came to see the grand
inauguration. They seated themselves by myriads on matting laid
down by the acre in the great court. I saw them waiting thus at three in the afternoon. The court was a living sea. Yet all that
host was to wait till seven o'clock for the beginning of the ceremony, without refreshment, in the hot sun. I saw at one corner of the court a band of about twenty young girls,--all in white, and wearing peculiar white caps,--and I asked who they were. A bystander replied: "As all these people must wait here many hours, it is to be feared that some may become ill. Therefore professional nurses have been stationed here to take care of any who may be sick. There are likewise stretchers in waiting, and carriers. And there are many physicians."
I admired the patience and the faith. But those peasants might well love the magnificent temple,--their own creation in very truth, both directly and indirectly. For no small part of the actual labor of building was done for love only; and the mighty beams for the roof had been hauled to Kyoto from far-away mountain-slopes, with cables made of the hair of Buddhist wives and daughters. One such cable, preserved in the temple, is more than three hundred and sixty feet long, and nearly three inches in diameter.
To me the lesson of those two magnificent monuments of national
religious sentiment suggested the certain future increase in ethical power and value of that sentiment, concomitantly with the increase of national prosperity. Temporary poverty is the real explanation of the apparent temporary decline of Buddhism. But an era of great wealth is beginning. Some outward forms of Buddhism must perish; some superstitions of Shinto must die. The vital truths and recognitions will expand, strengthen, take only deeper root in the heart of the race, and potently prepare it for the trials of that larger and harsher life upon which it has to enter.