date from the first half of the nineteenth century, oifer a certain interest. But the best things in this line are two small collections of moral aphorisms entitled Jitsu-go Ky—, or "Teaching of the Words of Truth," and Dōji Kyo, or "Teaching for Children."
XV. Modern Fiction. Japan's greatest modern novelist, in the opinion of the Japanese themselves, is Bakin (1767-1848), the most widely popular of whose two hundred and ninety works is the Hak-ken Den, or "Tale of Eight Dogs," itself consisting of no less than a hundred and six volumes. Though Japanese volumes are smaller than ours, the Hak-ken Den is a gigantic production. Other universally popular novels of the earlier part of the nineteenth century are the Ukiyo-buro, by Samba, and the Hiza Kurige, by an author who writes under the name of Jippensha Ikku. In our opinion this latter is, with some of the lyric dramas (Nō no Utai), the cleverest outcome of the Japanese pen. In it are related with a Rabelaisian coarseness, but also with a Rabelaisian verve and humour, the adventures of two men called Yajirobei and Kidahachi as they travel along the Tōkaidō from Yedo to Kyōto. The impecunious heroes walk most of the way, whence the title of Hiza Kurige, which may be roughly rendered "Shanks Mare." The author of this work occupies in literature a place akin to that which Hokusai occupies in art. Warmly appreciated by the common people, who have no preconceived theories to live up to, both Hokusai and Jippensha Ikku are admitted but grudgingly by the local dispensers of fame to a place in the national Walhalla. They must look abroad for the appreciation of critics taking a wider view of the proper functions of literature and art. Gravity, severe classicism, conformity to established rules and methods,—such qualities still constitute the canon of orthodox Japanese literary judgment. Many Japanese novels are of the historical kind. The most interesting of these is the I-ro-ha Bunko, by one Tamenaga Shunsui, which, with its sequel, the Yuki no Akebono, gives the lives of each of the celebrated Forty-seven Rōnins. The Ōoka Meiyo Seidan is another book of this class, much to be recom-
