Japan and the Japanese

432 JAPAN. A. D. 17791791.
for miles around. A month after, the whole island of Kiusiu was
shaken by an earthquake, felt principally, however, in the neighborhood
of Simabara. It reduced that part of the province of
Figo opposite Simabara to a deplorable condition, and even altered
the whole outline of the coast, sinking many vessels which lay in
the harbors. This is the event of the latest date mentioned by
Titsingh. A plan of the eruption, furnished by one of his Japanese
correspondents, also one of the eruption in Sinano, in 17^3,
is given in the " Illustrations of Japan."
The matter upon which Titsingh throws the most light is the
marriage and funeral ceremonies of the Japanese, as to which he
gives a translation, or, rather, an abridgment, of two Chinese works,
received as authority in Japan, as to the etiquette to be observed
on these occasions, at the same time noting the variations intro-
duced by the Japanese.
The system of Japanese manners, being based on that of the
Chinese, abounds in punctilios, and the higher the rank of the parties
concerned, the more these punctilios arc multiplied. This
applies to marriages, as to other things. The treatise which Tit-
eingh follows relates only to the marriages
of what we should
call the middle class (including merchants, artisans tY.c.), who,
though often possessed of considerable wealth, hold in Japan much
the same subordinate position held prior to the French revolution
by the corresponding class in France.
With persons of high rank, marriages are made entirely from
family convenience ; even with those of the middle class they are
also much based on prudential considerations. Formerly, the
bridegroom never saw the bride till she entered his house, which
she does, preceded by a woman bearing a lantern, which originally
served the bridegroom to catch his first glimpse of the bride, and,
if he did not like her looks, the match might be broken off, and the
bride sent home. " Such cases," says Titsingh, " formerly occurred ;
but at present, beauty is held in much less estimation than for-
tune and high birth advantages to which people would once
have been ashamed to attach so much value, and the custom has
been by degrees entirely laid aside, on account of the mortification
which it must give to the bride. At present, when a young man
has any intention of marrying a female, whom he deems likely,