other ecclesiastics of that creed. They are regarded as relations of the Daïri; their heads are not shaven; when they travel they do not wear the ecclesiastical costume, but common dresses, with two sabres; their norimons, or palankeens, are like those of other people, but their horses have the trappings of princes' horses. They are very conversant with the military science; they eat fish and flesh, and usually marry into the first families, even the relatives of the Daïri. This order, being extremely wealthy and powerful, is dispersed throughout the empire; the seoguns invariably treat them with much respect and distinction. On the accession of a Seogun, the priests of the other orders receive from him a patent sealed with a vermillion seal; the priests of Itsko, on the contrary, present him with a writing, the seal of which is sprinkled with their blood, wherein they engage to aid him in every danger, which gives them much consideration at the court of Yedo. The observance Nitsi-ren-siô, or “lotus of the sun," was instituted by the priest of that name, who died in 1282. As it is in a great measure based upon the doctrine of the book Fots-ke-ghio, or "flower of the law," it is commonly called Fots-ke-siô. The observance Zi-siô, or the time," is dated from 1275 to 1277. That of Dae-nen-Boots-sio, or the "great praying Buddha," was introduced in 1127, by Owara Rae-kô-in and Riôo-nin-siô-nin.

Some notice should here be taken, likewise, of the order of Yamaboos, that is, "those who retreat to the mountains," or, written with other characters, "those who sleep in the mountains." The priests of this order deduce their origin from the observances of Tendae and Singon. Their first founder was Yen-no-kiô-sia, or Yen-no-siô-kok, who died A.D. 701, at the age of 70, in his retreat in the mountains. The Yamaboos are now regarded as enchanters. Externally, they greatly resemble the priests of Tendae and Singon; but they differ from the majority of the Buddhist priesthood, in their eating flesh and marrying.

Japan is every where crowded with Buddhist temples, called zi. One of the chief is the Fô-kô-zi, in the south-east quarter of Keo or Meyako. Its enclosure contains several religious edifices, the most considerable of which is the Dae-Boots-den, or saloon of the great Buddha, which holds the colossal statue of Buddha, surnamed Roosiana, a term corrupted from the Sanscrit roshana, or "the resplendent." The image was first set up in the year 1576, by the military emperor Taeko, or Fide-yosi. The saloon in which it is placed was destroyed in 1596 by a terrible earthquake. Fide-yori, son of Taeko, rebuilt it in 1602. But the colossus, which was of brass gilt, having been materially injured by another earthquake, in 1662, the statue was melted down, and the metal used in coining copper money, and a substitute of wood, covered with gilt paper, was completed in 1667. This is still in existence; it represents Buddha seated in the Indian mode, upon a lotus-flower; the body of the god is 77 feet 5 inches high, Rhenish measure, and the entire statue, with the lotus, 89 feet 8 inches. The head of the colossus protrudes through the roof of the saloon. At a little distance from hence is a chapel called Mimitsuka, or "tomb of ears," in which are buried the ears and noses of the Coreans who fell in their battles with Taeko. He had them salted, and conveyed to Japan in barrels. The grand portico of the external wall of the temple is called Ni-wô-mon, or "gate of the two kings;" on entering this vast portico, which is 83) feet high, on each side appears a colossal figure, 22 feet in height, representing the two celestial kings, Awoon and Inyo, who are the usual porters at the Buddhic temples. Another edifice, placed before the apartment of the great Buddha, contains the largest bell known in the world.. It is

17 feet 2 inches high, and weighs 1,700,000 Japanese pounds, equal to 2,040,000 lbs. Dutch. Its weight is consequently five times greater than that of the Iwan Weliki at Moscow.

On the south-east side of the enclosure of the temple is the grand apartment named that of the thirty-three arcades. It was built in the reign of the seventy-fourth Daïri (between 1108 and 1123), who placed there the image of the divinity Kwan-won, with eleven faces, which was not consecrated till the year 1131, by his successor, after he had abdicated. The seventy-seventh Daïri, Gozira-kawa-no-in, having likewise abdicated, and embraced the ecclesiastical profession, placed there, in 1164, a vast number of images of the same deity. The length of this apartment is upwards of 491 feet. On each side of the great altar are ten ranges of stools, one nearly a foot higher than the other. On each range are fifty statues, each about five feet high, of superior execution, according to the taste of the country, and covered with gilt paper. From the number of small idols upon the head, shoulders, arms, and hands of the greater ones, amounting to forty or fifty on some of them, it would appear that the number of 33,333 idols, which the Japanese assert are to be found in this temple, is not exaggerated. The military daily exercise, near the saloon of Kwan-won, with the bow. It is recorded in the register of the temple, that in 1686, Sawa Daïfats, of Ke-tsiu, discharged in that place, 13,053 arrows in one day, whereof 8,133 hit the mark.

The third creed prevailing in Japan is the Siu-do, or philosophical doctrine of Confucius. The first official intercourse which took place between Japan and China was an embassy despatched, A.D. 57, by the Daïri Seï-nin-teno to the emperor Kwang-woo-te, of the Heu-han dynasty; but we are not told whether the Chinese literature and philosophy were imported by that medium into Japan. It would appear that this did not happen till 284, in the reign of the Daïri Ozin-teno, when this prince sent an embassy to the kingdom of Fiak-sae (Pe-tse), in Corea, in quest of educated men, who were capable of diffusing Chinese civilization and literature throughout his empire. This embassy returned with the celebrated Wonin, descended from the imperial family of the Hans, who brought with him the book Ron-go (Lun-yu) of Confucius, which he presented to the Daïri, and taught one of his sons to read and write. It would thence appear, that the Chinese colonists, who had in early times settled in Japan, had not made the use of writing generally known there, which they perhaps kept to themselves as an advantageous secret. Whatever be the fact, the merit of Wonin appeared so eminent to the Japanese, that they paid him divine honours: his principal temple is in the province of Idzumi.

From the time of Ozin-teno till the present day, the ideographical signs of the Chinese have continued in use in Japan, as well as the Chinese language: they are chiefly employed in works of learning, but this does not preclude their general knowledge throughout the empire. Since, however, the construction of the Japanese language differs sensibly from that of the Chinese, and since the Chinese characters have often a variety of significations, it soon became apparent that an expedient was wanting to obviate this inconvenience. Accordingly, in the early part of the eighth century, the syllabic systems were invented denominated Kata-kana and Fira-kana, which are completely adapted to the idiom of the country. The use of this species of writing is now almost universal in Japan; it is rare to find a person unable to read it.

From the moment that the Japanese acquired a written language, their literature advanced, from age to age, with rapid pace. Unfortunately, in Europe it is scarcely known; but from the few Japanese books we possess, it is evident

that this people have works of all kinds, chiefly historical compositions, as well as a very extensive polite literature. The use of paper in Japan is dated at the beginning of the seventh century, and printing, in the Chinese manner, was introduced there in 1206, consequently 250 years before the art was invented in Europe.

ORIENTAL REVIEW.*

No. I.

گلستان شیخ مصلح الدين سعدي شيرازي

66

THE ROSE-GARDEN OF SHEIKH MUSLEH'EDDIN SAADI OF SHIRAZ. THE biographical accounts of D'Herbelot and Harrington have already so fully made known the leading points in Saadi's life, that a recapitulation of every particular is no longer necessary. It will, therefore, suffice for our purpose to state, that he flourished in the reign of Atabek Saad BenĬ Zangi, and died, according to one statement, at the age of 102, according to another, at that of 120 years, A. 691 of the Hejra. The vast knowledge which he acquired, his fondness for and intimate acquaintance with the Arabic, and perhaps also his varied style of composition, were the results of his studies at Baghdad, or the fruits of the thirty years he spent in travelling, during which he fourteen times performed the pilgrimage to Mecca. As to his character as a warrior, we merely know that he was present in the wars between Rūm and Hind.

As a poet and a moralist, he is decidedly the first of the class to which he belongs: his style is terse, pure and vivid, although occasionally too much amplified, like that of the later Persian writers: but his images are more natural than those of the generality of Asiatic poets; and even where they incline to the extravagant, they still show traces of a brilliant imagination. Many of his metaphors and ideas are, indeed, common to Hafiz, Jami, Khosrao, Asafi, and others; but with these he combines the loftier flights of the Arab muse, and dives more penetratingly into the motives of human conduct. In his prose we may frequently notice the same sorts of rhythm and alliteration as those which prevail in the Consessus of Hariri.

Of all his writings, the Gulistan, or "Rose-Garden," is the best known in Europe: if we may argue from this hemistich in his preface,

اي که پنجاه رفت و در خوابي

he was fifty years of age when he commenced it. It is introduced by a preface of great beauty and of considerable length, and the subjects of which it treats are

,On the qualities of kings در سیرت پادشاهان .1

,On the morals of dervishes در اخلاق درویشان ... ,On the excellence of contentment در فضیلت قناعت ...

To be continued occasionally.

,On the advantages of silence در فواید خاموشي 4 ,On love and youth در عشق و جواني .5

On imbecility and old age,

و پيري 6. ضعف در

7.

,On the influence of education در تاثیر تربیت .On the conduct of society در آداب صحبت 8.

The manner in which these several subjects are managed is perfectly oriental: with the exception of the last or chapter, no particular rules are proposed, but the author illustrates his ideas by a series of interesting tales and verses, frequently consigning the inference to the reader; and it is by no means improbable, that although the greater part of these little narratives may have been the fictions of his ingenuity, others, notwithstanding, may have been gleanings from the various countries which he visited in his travels. Some bear a resemblance to those in the Hitopadesa, Panchatantra, Kalila wa Dumna, Pilpai, Lokman, &c.; others, on the contrary, seem to have been founded on some historical facts; nor may we fairly be accused of credulity, if we confess our belief that those sayings and inscriptions, to which the names of individuals are attached, such as those of Feridun and Hatim Tai, had, at least, the sanction of tradition in Saadi's time. The Gulistan, indeed, appears to contain evidences which direct us to this conclusion.

This notion is corroborated by the many proverbs, manifestly of remoter origin, which are interspersed through the whole: for instance, we cannot but suppose that such as these, "if every stone were a Badukshan-ruby, the ruby and the pebble would be of an equal value;"-" if butt your head against the ram, you will get a broken forehead;" and the like, were apophthegms, in common vogue. If, then, in instances such as these, Saadi referred to popular sayings, we may easily imagine that in others he also alluded to current legends and opinions.

As a specimen of the easy style in which he delivered his moral lessons, we subjoin the following tale :

A slave of Amrulais having run away, some went in pursuit of him, who brought him back. The vizier, being exasperated with him, made a sign that he should be put to death, in order that other slaves might be deterred from acting in the same manner. Upon this the slave prostrated himself before Amru, and said,

"Whate'er my fate, if the decree be thine,

I humbly bow, nor uselessly repine;

For when his lord sends forth the dire decree,

Ah! what avails the slave's unfriended plea!

"Yet, having been sustained at your table, I would not that, at the resurrection, you should be charged with my blood; nevertheless, if you determine to put your slave to death, precede the act by an exposition of the law, that you be not reprehended at the resurrection." The king said, "what sort of explanation shall I give?" The slave replied, "grant me permission to kill the vizier; then, in retaliation for him, order me to be put to death, that you

may do so according to equity." The king smiled, and said to the vizier, "what counsel do you propose ?" He answered, “O sire, as an offering to your father's sepulchre, liberate this scoundrel, lest he precipitate me into misfortune. The fault is my own, for not having reverenced the words of the wise, who have said,

When you engage with those that sling,

Your thoughtless head may feel the blow;
So, when the hostile shaft you wing,

Beware what aim you give the foe !"

It is this richness and frequent originality of idea which has so long made the Gulistan a standard work, wherever Persian literature is cultivated and appreciated; and we much doubt, considering the manners and prepossessions of the East, whether a surer way of enforcing moral precepts than this ornamental and anecdotical mode could have been devised. The great variety of his tales, metaphors, and apophthegms, arranged under their different sections or chapters, each pointedly alluding to some duty, or severely castigating some vice or folly, and presenting instructions and admonitions in their most alluring garbs, collectively imparts a system of ethics more calculated to enforce practical observance than all the dry lucubrations of moralizing schoolmen. Consistently with his plan, Saadi upholds the faith of Islàm, and reverentially makes mention of the decrees and traditions of its ulemà, but at the same time fearlessly lampoons the avarice and covert practices of the dervishes; and when we consider the influence and power which they have always exercised in Muhammadan countries, we are necessarily impelled to believe, that truth and good morals were the proposed object of his work. Yet he is by no means free from censure; for, notwithstanding the witty repartees with which he abounds, and the sayings of former ages which he has rescued from oblivion, the Gulistan is in some parts as objectionable as the odes of Hafiz or Anacreon. From his book on Temperance or Contentment we select the subjoined tale : A king of Persia sent a skilful physician to the service of Mustafa (Mohammed), on whom be peace! He had been several years in Arabia, yet none came to make an experiment of his skill, or applied to him for medicines. One day, he appeared before the prophet, complaining, that although he had been sent to administer medicines to his companions, no one, up to that period, had noticed him; praying, therefore, that he might fulfil the service to which he had been appointed. The prophet, in reply, pronounced this to be the rule of the country, that until the appetite became urgent, they ate nothing, and that whilst the appetite yet remained, they quitted their food. The physician remarked, that this was the reason of their good health, and taking his leave, departed.

Physicians wisely make a speech,
Or to the food their fingers reach,
When silence would increase the ill,
Or abstinence their patients kill;

In such a case to speak is wise,

And then to eat good health supplies."

This mode of admixing prose with poetry seems to have been adopted by the early writers of most ancient people, and among nations by whom Asiat. Jour.N.S.VOL. 6.No.23.

2 E