Face And Honour To The Oriental Cultures example essay topic

James Clavell's Exploration Of Ancient Oriental CustomsByJeremy SetterfieldNov. 26th, 2004 Setterfield 1 James Clavell certainly had his work cut out for him when he chose to write his "Asian Saga" series of novels. Exposing the customs and culture of the ancient Orient is a daunting task for even the most qualified professional. However, to do so with an intriguing and entertaining medium is verging on impossibility. Until the last two centuries, both China and Japan remained time capsules that held within them unique societies based on radically different values and perspectives. This national seclusion in China and Japan was a direct result of the countries' trade policies and their view of foreigners.

Both countries believed that their country was truly the "land of the Gods" and that all foreigners were inferior. This belief lead to laws that acted as force fields to repel Western society. Clavell's in-depth biography explains how Clavell spent part of his life as a prisoner of war in Japan (James Clavell. net, par. 2), and thus was able to couple his experiences with his natural gift of story telling. Throughout James Clavell's novels Taipan and Shogun, Clavell cleverly intertwines the plot with beliefs and customs of ancient Hong Kong and Japan, respectively. Clavell does not merely present the oriental culture, but he incorporates all of his characters in the process of portraying the different aspects of their way of life.

In doing this, Clavell is able to educate the reader without losing their interest. Throughout the two novels, Clavell stresses the importance of "face" and honour to the Oriental cultures. Early on in the novel Shogun, Clavell opens the reader's eyes to the absolute importance of honour. Honour, in Japan, came in many forms. A person of low status was always expected to honour a superior by treating them with the utmost respect. One of the most important ways to pay respect to a superior was by bowing to Setterfield 2 them.

Clavell demonstrates that this ritual of bestowing honour was extremely important when one man is purposefully disrespectful by "rise [ing] deliberately, without bowing" (Clavell, 1975, 34). The astonishing result of this disrespect is that "the [superior's] killing sword made a hissing silver arc and the man's head toppled off" (Clavell, 1975, 34). Although this seems extremely ridiculous and uncalled for, the reader realizes that if a samurai broke their code of honour, or bushido, then they had shamed themselves forever. When this occurred, their life no longer had meaning and was disposable at the will of their superiors. The dire importance of honour creeps up again in the novel when a young samurai, Usagi, dishonour's himself in front of his lord, Toranaga. Usagi is present when Toranaga is conversing with his enemy, Ishido.

Usagi overhears the disguised insults that Ishido is insinuating and jumps forward in preparation to kill him. In doing this he dishonour's himself in two ways: by showing that he was eavesdropping on his lord's conversation, and by implying that Lord Ishido was being impolite. Toranaga's quick response is to tell the young samurai that he " [has] no honor and no self-discipline... [and that he] will be crucified like a common criminal today" (Clavell, 1975,218). Even though Toranaga knew that Ishido was insulting him, he was obliged, by their customs, to severely punish the young samurai for dishonour ing himself. The punishment here was extremely grave as crucifixion was seen as the most dishonourable way to end one's life. The concept of honour in the Japanese culture re-occurs at various points in the novel and is the cause for many conflicts that further the plot of the novel.

Each of these conflicts, and the repercussions that occur when characters dishonour themselves, show how being honourable was essential to living in the Japanese society. Setterfield 3 Similarly, in ancient Hong Kong, Clavell is able to show that although honour went by a different name, "face", it was every bit as important. In Taipan there is a brief period of time where Dirk Straun's consort is very ill from the malaria virus. Being very concerned for her health, Dirk offers twenty thousand taels of silver, an outrageous sum of money, in return for a cure for malaria. Once the consort has recovered she remarks that Dirk has "give [n] [her] great face...

Hugest face. Twenty thousand taels for medicine cure... [She must be] worth like an empress lady to [him]" (Clavell, 1966,607). The consort has been honoured greatly by the value that Dirk was willing to expend to see that she gets better again. Her sincere appreciation of the face she gaines indicates the importance of face to the ancient Chinese. The consort gains face on another occasion when Dirk suggests that they should get married.

To be married, by Chinese customs, means that the consort will become the "supreme lady" of the house and will be responsible for the well being of her husband and the house. When Dirk proposes marriage to her she immediately starts bowing (kowtowing) and remarks that she is "kowtow [ing] because [Dirk has] give [n] [her] the hugest fantastical great face on earth" (Clavell, 1966,691). Although the consort's English is poor, the reader can see how much she cherishes the face that she has gained because of this proposal. Her bowing indicates how very grateful she was and underlines the value of face in the Chinese culture. Clavell goes on to show how face is lost and gained throughout Taipan. These exchanges of face demonstrate again that the Chinese society was largely governed by the face and honour that individuals held.

Setterfield 4 Although for the most part they are the same, face in China and honour in Japan did have their differences. In Japan, Clavell shows that once a person had lost their honour, they could never get it back and would be forced to live in shame or commit suicide. In China, face was exchanged on a daily basis and a loss of honour was not punished with the same severity as it would " ve been in Japan. The experiences of characters in both novels open the reader's eyes to the aspect of honour in these ancient societies.

Another concept of the oriental culture that Clavell is able to expose is how they treated their enemies. Instead of the open hostility that one sees between enemies in our society, enemies treated each other with respect and subtlety. In ancient Hong Kong getting angry in public or losing control of your actions was seen as a severe loss of face. This often led to talking in elaborate riddles with an enemy to avoid being impolite and causing a loss of face. Although clarifying this odd treatment of the enemy is very difficult, Clavell provides many examples throughout Taipan.

One prominent example is when Dirk Straun, the main character, believes Jin-qua is responsible for directing the pirates who blackmailed him. Instead of setting out to seek revenge on Jin-qua, Dirk invites him over for a meal of dim sums so that he may find out if Jin-qua knows what the pirates requested and whether he was responsible for their requests. When Jin-qua arrives at Dirk's, he notices that "by serving dim sum at night, when tradition dictated that it be eaten only in the afternoon, Straun was not only further indicating his displeasure, but was testing him to see how much he knew about Straun's encounter with Setterfield 5 Wu Kwok [the pirate]" (Clavell, 1966,323). Another instance where the subtlety of enemies appears is when Dirk's consort, May-May, is arranging to have somebody killed. It would " ve caused a grave loss of face on her behalf to order the murder of an enemy, so she must talk in elaborate riddles in order to arrange the death of her enemy. This subtle and elaborate method of dealing with enemies can be seen when May-May says "the gods protect a poor woman against such evil things" (Clavell, 1966,513).

From this riddle, Gordon Chen, the person she is talking to, is able to infer that "she wants someone killed... and [he] wonder [s] who [m]" (Clavell, 1966,513). Although nonsensical on the surface, this riddle contains an underlying message that would " ve been considered taboo to say outright. This seems ridiculous to the reader, but examples like this are littered throughout Taipan so that the reader can come to fully comprehend how enemies would act with subtlety in order to avoid a loss of face. The reader is able to clearly infer that open hostility was frowned upon by the Chinese culture.

By the same token, the ancient Japanese regarded open hostility as extremely inappropriate and impolite. The Japanese samurai were bound by their code of honour that dictated they should treat everyone, even their enemies, with respect and politeness. This was expected from enemies even if it was well known that both parties hated each other. Clavell is able to show that although a vassal commonly served faithfully under their lord, they were often enemies who wished to dispose of each other at the opportune time. This phenomenon can be seen throughout Shogun with the interaction of Yabu (a vassal) and his lord (Toranaga). Although Yabu obeys Toranaga and serves him faithfully, he is always plotting to overthrow Toranaga and seize power Setterfield 6 for himself.

Both men are fully aware of the hostility between them, but they are still extremely polite to each other. When Toranaga invites Yabu up to his room and is treating him with extreme politeness and respect, Yabu is "certain that Toranaga [has] decided to remove his head, one way or another, for, by universal custom, [an] enemy is never more polite than when [they are] planning or has planned your destruction". (Clavell, 1975,292) Yabu's thoughts give the reader direct insight into the custom of politeness towards one's enemy. This phenomenon occurs again during a conversation between Igurashi, a young samurai, and his lord Omi-san. Omi-san has just received an increase in his yearly salary for helping lord Toranaga. When the two are talking, Igurashi seems very pleased for Omi-san and he remarks, "you " ve been very clever and helpful to our Master... but he was thinking, Enjoy your newfound wealth, you poor fool...

Your increased fief (salary) will do you no good at all" (Clavell, 1975,147). Igurashi's actions show us how, in the Japanese culture, people who resented each other were required to still be polite and mask their true thoughts. Both novels are able to clearly illustrate that open hostility was a faux pas of the ancient societies and that politeness and respect were demanded even from enemies. Clavell's novels are able to highlight the cultural belief in "joss" and in "karma".

Both are terms for the force of nature that they believed to be responsible for governing everyday events. Although the ancient Chinese and Japanese believed that this force had an influence on everything, they did not disregard free will. They believed that both free will and this force of nature shaped the future, but that joss / karma was responsible for Setterfield 7 most uncontrollable events. Clavell is able to show how karma and joss were held responsible for random events and how they acted as a consolation for disasters.

In Shogun, Buntaro, a vassal of Toranaga, is forced to accept Toranaga's decision to obey the samurai council. Buntaro knows that Toranaga has many enemies on the council and that obeying the council's orders will likely involve the suicide of all of Toranaga's vassals and their families. "Karma, Buntaro thought bitterly. Buddha give me strength! [He was now] committed to take Mariko's life and [his] son's life before [he could] take [his] own" (Clavell, 1975,778). This incident shows how the ancient Japanese believed that their very existence could be taken away by uncontrollable circumstances.

It displays how they believed they were incapable of interfering with karma. They were able to take consolation in the fact that they were not personally accountable if an unfortunate circumstance arose. The concept of karma also makes an appearance during a chapter in Shogun when an earthquake occurs. Ochiba, a minor character in the novel, is in her house when she hears the violent earthquake shaking houses and scattering rubble throughout the village. Instead of trying to secure her safety, she merely "wonder [s] if it [is] her karma to be buried in the rubble today" (Clavell, 1975, 1084). This again displays how random events that occurred in the world, such as an earthquake, where thought to be karma.

Since karma is uncontrollable, Ochiba is able to relax and take comfort in the fact that if it is her karma to die in the earthquake, then she will die. Karma becomes a common word used in the novel and the reader is able to appreciate its value, as the characters do. Throughout Shogun, the cultural belief in karma is reiterated by examples which include holding karma responsible for the death of many characters. Setterfield 8 It follows that the ancient Chinese belief in "joss" mirrors that of the Japanese karma.

Joss was believed to be the will of the gods and interfering with joss was seen as a very bad idea. The culture taught that one should accept one's own joss rather than trying to manipulate the future to change one's joss. Clavell outlines how ridiculous this can be in some situations. In Taipan, a boat hits Straun's ship and two of his men are thrown overboard. His Chinese crew makes absolutely no attempt to save them and this infuriates Straun. Straun starts to yell at his crew for not helping them but he then remembers that, according to the Chinese, "it was just joss -their joss- to drown, and also it was the will of the gods" (Clavell, 1966,191).

It is evident from this event that the Chinese culture dictated that joss was not something that should be tampered with, but something to be blindly accepted. Joss can also be seen when it is held accountable for the circumstances that a character finds themselves in. Near the beginning of the novel Taipan, Gordon Chen, the son of the main character, reflects on the lucky circumstances that he finds himself in. "He bless e [s] his joss that he had been born in this era in history... with this father" (Clavell, 1966, 47).

This admiration of one's position in life shows how the Chinese viewed their life as a result of the will of the gods. Gordon is very thankful that the gods choose a favourable life for him. Joss and karma are similar traits of the Chinese and Japanese cultures, but they do vary slightly. In his novel Fundamentals of Buddhism, Della San tina explains that karma was believed to only govern random events that were beyond the control of free will. Conversely, joss was believed to be responsible for all events. Joss was seen as something that should not be Setterfield 9 tampered with for fear of upsetting the gods' plans.

On the other hand karma was not seen as something that could be modified. Karma was merely the name given to the outcome of random events and not the outcome of a divine being. Clavell's incorporation of karma and joss into his plots is just one more facet of the oriental culture that he is able to successfully expose. The views and beliefs surrounding death in ancient Japan and Hong Kong were drastically different than the ones shared by the modern Western cultures. Our culture teaches us to fear death and alienate ourselves from it, while the ancient Chinese and Japanese cultures saw death as a viable solution or alternative to shaming themselves.

Death was never viewed as a punishment and was occasionally a reward. Buddhist Yogi Chen explains that the root of this belief can be largely attributed to the Buddhist teachings that life is suffering and that death is a temporary redemption before being reborn (Chen, par. 4-11). Clavell demonstrates how death is not feared in Taipan when a consort has lost face by displeasing her husband, Dirk Straun. She sees that she has shamed herself and embraces the thought of suicide. It is only through quick action that Dirk "reached her just as she was starting to turn [the knife] into herself, and grabbed the haft of the knife" (Clavell, 1966,430).

This situation exhibits how little fear the Chinese had of death and how they viewed it as a solution to disgracing themselves. It is also clear that death was not greeted with fear and disdain, when Robb Straun, the brother of Dirk Straun, dies in Hong Kong. His death is seen as tragic, but it is also seen as an opportunity to honour him and please the gods. Although it seems odd, Dirk's Chinese consort suggest that they hire "fifty professional mourners. With drums and rattles and Setterfield 10 banners. [So that] Uncle Robb will have as funeral remembered for years" (Clavell, 1966,473).

The professional mourners give Robb a lot of face and honour in the eyes of the Chinese. By spending money in order to hire mourners, Robb's life can be viewed as something very valuable that is worthy of an expensive tribute. Through these incidents and others, Clavell is able to unmistakably show the reader that, in China, death was not feared and was occasionally seen as an excellent alternative to living a shamed life. The samurai in Japan went so far as to incorporate a ritualistic suicide, seppuku, into their culture. In A Traveller's History of Japan, Tames explains that seppuku was modeled after the suicide of an important samurai warlord many centuries ago. The suicide that he performed, which included slitting open his own abdomen and then having a friend decapitate him, was seen as the most honourable way possible to take one's own life.

The ancient Japanese viewed suicide as a reward after being shamed or defeated. Samurai could only perform seppuku if they had permission of their lord. Clavell is able to show how suicide was a part of their everyday lives. In Shogun, several samurai are sent down into a pit to kill the foreigners that they have imprisoned there. One of the foreigners knocks a samurai unconscious and he is left in the pit to be shamed with his defeat. When he awakes, he is still in the pit and his lord Omi-san drops a dagger into the pit for him.

This dagger signifies that the samurai is allowed to commit suicide. The samurai "stared at the knife in disbelief. Tears began coursing his cheeks. [He said, ] 'I don't deserve this honor, Omi-san' " (Clavell, 1975,149).

The indifference with which the Japanese greeted death can be seen throughout Shogun. On one occasion, Buntaro is Setterfield 11 fighting an enemy and it appears that his samurai are going to lose the battle. Instead of trying to save himself he walks away from the battlefield and prepares to commit suicide. Blackthorne, a European character, is outraged by Buntaro's actions and demands why he is not trying to save himself. Mariko, Buntaro's wife, explains that "the worst dishonor [is] to be captured by an enemy... A samurai dies with dignity.

For what is life to a samurai? Nothing at all. All life is suffering" (Clavell, 1975,394). Through Buntaro, Clavell is able to show how death was not feared and if a samurai's honour was in question, they would view death as an excellent alternative to their life. This example also demonstrates how they believed all life to be suffering.

Committing suicide truly was an honour to a disgraced samurai and Clavell includes many more examples where samurai are allowed to commit suicide, forbidden to commit suicide, and beg to be allowed to. Throughout both novels, Clavell unveils the nonchalance with which the Japanese and Chinese greeted death. The reader also gains insight into the ancient views of life after death and the funeral process. James Clavell's novels Taipan and Shogun are brimming with cultural lessons of ancient Hong Kong and Japan.

Through character and plot development, Clavell is able to include important aspects of the ancient oriental cultures such as the importance of honour and face, the treatment of their enemies, the concept of joss and karma, and their views of death. It is clear that Clavell possess a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the ancient Oriental cultures, which he is able to share with the reader.