THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Francis Xavier. He was sent to the Jesuit college
in Goa, and there, with his servant and another
Japanese, was soon afterward bap-
1. Intro- tized. In response to Yajiro's en-
duction treaties that missionaries be sent to
Under jlis pe0pie Xavier, with Fathers Cosmo
St. Francis Xavier.
and Torres and Brother Juan Fernandez, accompanied the three Japanese back to their own land, reaching Kagoshima Aug. 15, 1549. There they met a favorable reception, the daimio (feudal lord) of that region authorizing them to teach their religion and permitting his subjects to become Christians. With Yajiro's help Xavier prepared a summary of Christian doctrine in Japanese, which he wrote out in Roman letters, and since he never learned much of the language of the country, his direct evangelistic work while in Japan consisted chiefly in reading this book upon the streets to those who were drawn by curiosity to see and hear the foreigner. About 100 persons had been baptized in Kagoshima when the Buddhist priests stirred up the daimio to order that no more of his people should become Christians under penalty of death. After having been in Kagoshima a little more than a year, the missionaries went to Hirado, where Xavier says that "in a few days about 100 persons became Christians." He and Fernandez then pushed on to Kyoto, the capital, where it was their hope to convert the rulers of the land. That city was so convulsed by civil strife that it was impossible to obtain a hearing. They therefore returned to Yamaguchi, where they had spent a few days on their way to Kyoto, and where ere long a number of converts were secured.
In all, Xavier spent only twenty-seven months in Japan before returning to India. Though he led the way and inspired others, the real 2. Condi- ^-qj-Jj was done by Torres and Feruons avor-nancjez ^^ Spen£ ^ie remainder of tianity * their lives in Japan, and by those who afterward joined the mission. Many circumstances favored their success. The Japanese were to a remarkable degree ready to listen to new doctrines. Shintoism had little religious influence; Buddhism was powerful, but its leaders were taking an active part in political and military affairs, and for this reason many of the daimios were ready to favor a movement that seemed likely to weaken the power of the arrogant priesthood. Some of the feudal lords were also desirous of attracting foreign commerce. The country had long been vexed by internal strife; and Nobunaga, the military leader who, by gaining control of the central provinces, began the work that finally resulted in the unification of the country, was a bitter enemy of the Buddhists and openly favored the missionaries. Among the early converts were several feudal lords and other men of high rank. Some of these confiscated the Buddhist temples, destroyed the images, and compelled their subjects to be baptized. Christianity soon gained a strong foothold in Kiushiu and in the region of Kyoto. Churches, monasteries, and schools were built, and many books of instruction or devotion were published. In 1.583 the Christian lords of Kiushiu sent four young men on an embassy to the pope. In 1581
the Christians numbered about 150,000, and probably the highest number ever attained was 300,000 in 1596.
Hideyoshi, who, soon after Nobunaga's death
(1582), gained control of political affairs, seemed
at first inclined to favor the Christians,
3. Begin- some 0{ whom were among his leading
nmg-s o 0ffieers. in 1587, however, he suddenly
Persecution.
sent into exile Takayama Ukon (the Justo Ucondono of the Jesuit historians), the most prominent of the Christians, and ordered all the missionaries to leave the country within twenty days. The chief reasons given by Roman Catholic historians for this action are the scandalous lives of the Portuguese merchants, that Hideyoshi was angered at Christian maidens who would not yield to his lust and that the refusal of a Portuguese captain to bring into harbor a large ship that he wished to examine aroused suspicions. Japanese accounts say that from the first he had considered Christianity dangerous to the state and had only been waiting a favorable opportunity for attacking it, and also that the arrogant demeanor of the missionaries enraged him. Murdoch suggests that Hideyoshi probably had no desire to extirpate Christianity, but only to reduce it to the position of a serviceable tool. However this may be, he postponed the time of the missionaries' departure for six months, and even then did not insist upon the enforcement of the decrees, though he pretended to be angry at the failure to carry them into effect. The missionaries worked in a less public manner than formerly, but there continued to be many baptisms.
Papal bulls by Gregory XIII., Jan. 28, 1585, confirmed by Clement III., 1600, had decreed that none but Jesuits should go as missionaries 4. Dissen- to japan; ancj Philip II., ruler of Spain sions an(j portUgaj; jjad gjven the merchants Roman °^ *^e lat^er country a monopoly of Catholics, trade with Japan. The Spanish colonists in the Philippines and the different religious orders that had established themselves there were very restive under these restrictions, and finally broke them. Franciscan monks, coming as envoys from the governor of the Philippines, were allowed by Hideyoshi to reside in Kyoto on condition that they would not attempt to teach their religion. Soon, however, they were engaged in the open propagation of Christianity. Bitter feeling arose between the two orders, and also between the Portuguese and Spanish merchants who allied themselves respectively with the Jesuits and the Franciscans. In 1595 the pilot of a Spanish ship wrecked on the coast of Japan was pointing out on a map the wide possessions of his king. When asked how so many lands in different parts of the earth had been brought under one sway, he replied: " The king first sends out teachers of religion. After they have gained the hearts of a sufficient number of persons, soldiers are sent to unite with these converts in subduing the desired territory." This speech was reported to Hideyoshi, who had always suspected that the missionaries had political ends in view. Thinking it time to give them another warning, he ordered arrests to be made, and six