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THE FLIGHT OF THE DRAGON 143
the spirit informs all, then all must have
individual significance. To see things as
means is to see what is most useful and least
as ends
important about them. To see things
is to be shockingly it is unpractical to see
;
God in everything it is to exalt the ; spirit
above the flesh it is not the ; way to " get
on " but it is the ; only way to produce
significant art, and, indeed, it is only
terms that life itself
signifies.
on such
[~^So far we have admitted the superiority
of the East : the last word has yet to be said.
Few observant people will deny that there are
signs of an awakening in Europe. The times
are great with the birth of some new thing.
A spiritual renaissance may be at hand.
Meanwhile, we are not suffered to ignore the
huge strides in material progress that are the
chief glory of modern Japan ; nor have we
failed to remark that the latest art to reach us
from that country proved, when displayed
with some ostentation at Shepherd's Bush,
equal in vulgarity of sentiment, flashiness of
execution, and apelike imitation to the worst
that can be seen at Burlington House. Philis-
tinism, it seems, finds ready converts on the
other side of the globe. Let the spokesmen of
the young and bustling empire be heard.
Shiba Kokan, the pupil of Harunobu, says in
bis " Confessions " :