"Chrysanthemum" was originally the emblem of the Japanese royal family, and "knife" was the symbol of Wu culture. However, when Benedict named this book, it seems that he did not proceed from this meaning, but used "chrysanthemum" and "knife" to symbolize the contradictory character of the Japanese, that is, the duality of Japanese culture. Based on this, he analyzed the hierarchical system and related customs of Japanese society, and pointed out that the discontinuity between child rearing and adult rearing in Japan is an important factor to form duality. ...

Goal-get to know Japan.

⊙ Japanese are aggressive, gentle and modest; Both militaristic and aesthetic; Arrogant and polite; Both stubborn and flexible; Docile and unwilling to be pushed around; Loyal and rebellious; Brave and timid; Conservative and willing to accept a new way of life. Chrysanthemum and knife just symbolize this contradiction.

Of all the wars that the United States went all out to carry out, the war against Japan was the most headache for them. When confronting other countries, we don't need to spend too much time to consider the differences in the way of thinking and habits between the two peoples. For example, in the US-Russia War of 1905, the American opponent was an elite nation that did not belong to the traditional western camp in culture. Westerners feel that even in wartime, they should follow some war practices that are basically in line with human nature, and these concepts can not be found in Japanese culture. Therefore, the war between the United States and Japan in the Pacific Ocean is not only the landing of island beaches, but also logistics supplies. In this case, understanding "enemy" has become the core issue. To deal with Japan, we must first understand the intentions of the Japanese.

The difficulty of this process can be imagined. It has been 75 years since Japan opened its doors to the outside world. Nowadays, when people mention the Japanese, they still remember a series of extremely confusing words such as "but …". The frequency of use of such words is unmatched by other nationalities in the world. Any serious and responsible humanistic sociologist, as long as he is not Japanese, will not say that this nation is polite when talking about other nationalities, and add: "But they are arrogant"; Nor will they say that this nation is stubborn, saying, "However, they are also quite able to adapt to drastic changes"; In the same way, he would not say that the nation is docile, and they will not easily obey the orders of their superiors; It will not say that the nation is loyal, but will declare: "But they are rebellious and full of resentment"; Don't say they are brave and fearless, but also describe how timid they are; It will not be said that they care about other people's feelings, but that they actually care more about their subconscious thoughts; It will not only tell them to obey the rules in the army, but also describe how they got out of control and even rebelled; Nor will it be said how the nation respects western culture and exaggerates their stubbornness and conservatism. Any serious and responsible observer, as long as he is not Japanese, will not exaggerate in a book how the nation advocates beauty, attaches great importance to actors and artists, and indulges in chrysanthemum cultivation; However, in another book, the pen changed, describing how this country advocates the honor of swords and samurai.

However, all these contradictions have become interwoven warp and weft in Japanese works. Moreover, these contradictions actually exist in real life. Knife and chrysanthemum are such a set of contradictions. To a large extent, the Japanese are both aggressive and modest; It is both militaristic and aesthetic; It is arrogant and polite; It is both stubborn and flexible; Both docile and unwilling to be pushed around; Loyal and rebellious; Brave and timid; Conservative and willing to accept a new way of life. They are very concerned about what others think of them. When others know nothing about their misdeeds, they will be knocked down by their own guilt. Their soldiers behave themselves, but they are rebellious at heart.

Now that understanding the Japanese has become an urgent task for the United States, we can no longer ignore the above-mentioned irritating contradictions. A series of thorny problems are waiting for us to solve. For example, what will the Japanese do next? Will Japan surrender if it does not attack Japan? Should we bomb the Japanese Imperial Palace directly? What useful information can we find from Japanese prisoners of war? In order to save American lives and kill the stubborn resistance of the Japanese people, what kind of public opinion strategy should we adopt towards the Japanese army and the Japanese native people? Even those so-called "Japanese experts" will have different views on these issues. If the war is over, should we exercise permanent military control over the Japanese in order to maintain world peace? Are our troops ready to fight to the death with those crazy diehards deep in the forest of Japan? Will Japan have a French or Russian revolution before the end of the war? If it happens, who will lead the revolution? If it doesn't happen, does that mean that the Japanese nation is waiting for extinction? The predictions of these problems must be quite different.

1June, 944, I was ordered to study Japan, and organizationally asked me to do my best to find out the true face of the Japanese nation as soon as possible with all the research methods that a cultural anthropologist can use. At the beginning of that summer, the United States began a large-scale counterattack against Japan. In the United States, many people think that the war against Japan may last for another three years, maybe ten years or even longer. In Japan, people think that this war may become a century-old war. They say that although the US military has won a partial victory, New Guinea and Solomon Islands are still thousands of miles away from Japan! However, the Japanese official gazette and the media don't even admit the failure of the Japanese navy at all, and Japanese nationals still firmly believe that they will be the real winners.

However, since June, the war situation has changed dramatically. The Allies opened a second front in Europe. For two and a half years, the Allied Supreme Command has given priority to the European battlefield. Since the war against Germany is about to win, this strategy is no longer necessary. In the Pacific Ocean, American troops have landed in Saipan, which will be an important battle to predict the defeat of the Japanese army. After that, for a period of time, the US military fought more and more with the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat. From the previous battles with the Japanese in New Guinea, Guadalcanal, Myanmar, Artu, Tarawa and Biak, we have clearly known that we are facing an extremely difficult enemy.

Therefore, in June of 1944, it was put on the agenda to understand the Japanese national character as soon as possible. We should not only care about Japan's military and diplomacy, but also care about her major policies for a period of time and her public opinion influence on the lives of ordinary people in the rear area. We must observe every detail carefully. Japan is going all out to fight this war. We should not only understand the purpose and motivation of the Tokyo authorities, but also understand Japan's long history and economic and military strength. It is also necessary to understand the expectations of the Japanese government for its own people, to understand the Japanese thinking and emotional habits, and the mode of doing things formed by these habits. We must understand the constraints behind these actions and ideas; We must put aside some preconceived ideas and imagine what Americans would do in this situation. We should try our best to be detached from the incident, and don't think that Japan will do what Americans will do under certain circumstances.

My task is arduous. At present, the United States and Japan are at war. It is often easy to curse and denounce the enemy in the war, but it is not so easy to really understand the enemy. This is the purpose of my research. The core question is how Japan will act, not how we will act in their position. Therefore, in my study, I told myself that all the actions of the Japanese army in the war must be regarded as "positive", that is, valuable information to be analyzed and utilized, rather than "negative", that is, unfavorable conditions. I should study the Japanese war itself as a cultural issue, not as a military issue. Like peacetime, Japanese behavior in wartime has its own Japanese characteristics. So, what are the special lifestyles and thinking habits of the Japanese in their attitude towards war? Look what the Japanese generals are doing! They are encouraging morale, dispelling doubts and stimulating potential-all these show what they regard as core resources in the war? I must study all the details of the war carefully. Only in this way can I get to know the Japanese gradually.

However, the fact that the United States and Japan are at war inevitably affects my research, which means that I must give up the idea of field investigation, which is often the most important research method for cultural anthropologists. I can't go to Japan, nor can I live in a Japanese family and observe the ups and downs of their daily life; I can't witness the complicated process of their decision; I can't observe how they educate the next generation. At that time, the only book of reference value was anthropologist John Embree.

Embree) "Xuhui Village", but many questions about Japan we met in 1944 were not involved in that book.

Although it is very difficult, as a cultural anthropologist, I believe there are still some research methods and techniques that can be used. At least I can use the safest method-that is, direct contact with the people being studied. Some Japanese in America grew up in Japan. Through communicating with them, I can know how they look at the war, and their views have inspired me a lot. I think this discovery is essential for every anthropologist who wants to know about other cultures. At that time, other sociologists mostly engaged in Japanese studies by analyzing books and documents, historical events, statistical data and Japanese newspapers. But I am convinced that what we really want to know is more hidden in the rules and values of Japanese culture. Therefore, starting with people living in that culture, the gains may be even greater.

However, this doesn't mean that I don't look up information, nor does it mean that I don't ask foreigners who have lived in Japan. By reading a lot of documents about Japan and listening to the opinions of western Japanese experts, my research work began to bear fruit. These advantages are not possessed by anthropologists who study the birthplace of the Amazon River or the plateau of New Guinea, because these ethnic groups basically have no words and cannot record themselves with words and ink. Moreover, westerners rarely describe these regional customs, and even if they do, most of them are fleeting. Few people know the history of these ethnic groups, which means that field scholars must explore the most important aspects of their economic lifestyle, social class and religious life without the help of any pioneer scholars. However, in the process of studying Japan, there are many scholars' heritages to be inherited, and there are many detailed descriptions of real life in the literature: Western scholars have recorded their life experiences in detail and vividly, and the Japanese themselves have written many books about their unusual mental journey. Different from other oriental peoples, the Japanese have a strong impulse to describe and analyze themselves. They write about their daily lives and their grand plans for global aggression, which is really surprising. Of course, they didn't tell the whole story, because no country would do that. Japanese people often ignore some key things when describing themselves. Maybe these things are too familiar to them. Just like the air you breathe, you are used to it and turn a blind eye. The same is true of Americans writing about America. Nevertheless, the Japanese prefer to analyze themselves.

Just like Darwin's method when he founded the theory of the origin of species, I pay special attention to analyzing what I don't understand when reading these documents. For example, how can I understand many concepts listed in the parliamentary speech? Why do the Japanese growl at unimportant things and let appalling atrocities go unchecked? What is hidden behind this attitude? Looking at it, I kept asking myself, "What is the crux of this picture?" "What do I have to know to fully understand Japanese culture?"

Besides, I also watched many films made in Japan, including propaganda films, historical films and films depicting modern life in Tokyo and rural areas. After watching these films, I also talked with the Japanese who have seen these films. Unlike me, they all look at the hero and heroine and villains in the film with Japanese unique eyes. When I am confused about some plots, they are not. And their understanding of the plot and motivation is different from mine. They understand from the structure of the whole film. Just like reading a novel. My understanding is quite different from that of the Japanese who grew up in Japan. Among these Japanese, some people are willing to praise Japanese customs, while others hate everything in Japan. It's hard to say which is better for me. However, the values they reveal to regulate Japanese daily life are the same, whether they accept these values happily or reject them painfully.

If we just collect information directly from the research object (ordinary people) and seek explanations, what anthropologists do is nothing more than repeat what any western observer who has lived in Japan has done. If an anthropologist's work is just like this, it is impossible for him to make a breakthrough in the existing research results. It is precisely because cultural anthropologists have received special training and some of their characteristics that they can make their mark in this gifted field of humanities after careful research.

Anthropologists know a lot about other cultures in Asia and Oceania. Some social customs and living habits in Japanese culture are very similar to those of primitive tribes in Pacific islands, such as Malaysia, New Guinea and West Porini. It is very interesting to infer ancient immigrants and mutual contact according to these similarities, but I don't think the real significance of cultural research lies in understanding the historical relations between these cultures. I think it is more important to understand the similarities and differences between Japanese lifestyles. I know a little about the cultures of Siam, Myanmar and China in the Asian continent. It is these ethnic groups that have created the profound culture of Asia, so I often compare Japanese culture with the cultures of these ethnic groups in the process of research. In the study of primitive people, anthropologists have repeatedly stressed how valuable this cultural comparison is. A tribe may have 90% of the same formal customs as its neighbors, but it may also have a small part that is different from any other ethnic group around it. It is this slight difference that reflects their unique lifestyle and values, and it is this slight difference that finally determines the future development direction of the nation, although they account for a very small proportion in the whole. For an anthropologist, the most important thing is to study the differences between ethnic groups in general.

At the same time, anthropologists must adapt to the differences between their own culture and other cultures to the maximum extent. In order to solve this problem, anthropologists must improve their research skills. When people from different cultural backgrounds encounter a certain situation, their understanding of the moral of this situation is different. I have experienced this huge difference first hand. In some Arctic villages or tropical desert areas, we will find some tribal customs based on blood relationship or money exchange, which is almost unimaginable for even the most imaginative anthropologist. Faced with this situation, anthropologists must conduct detailed research and investigation, not only to investigate the details of kinship and exchange, but also to find out the influence of this custom on the construction of racial behavior theory and how this custom has been passed down from generation to generation.

In the process of studying Japan, we should also pay attention to the differences, influences and consequences between different cultures. People realize the deep-rooted differences between American and Japanese cultures, and even now we are misled: we think that no matter what we do, Japan will definitely do the opposite. It would be very dangerous for a researcher to believe this statement and simply exaggerate this difference and think that people from different cultures can't understand each other. Anthropologists have fully proved by their own experience that even the strangest differences will not hinder researchers from understanding different cultures. Compared with other social scientists, anthropologists should treat differences as a kind of "positive value", that is, useful data, rather than as a kind of "negative value". The more bizarre the differences between systems and nations are, the more anthropologists should pay attention to them. In the process of research, anthropologists should not only pay attention to a few specially selected examples, but also cover a wide range of fields, and cannot take for granted any details of the lifestyle of the tribes they study. A person who has no training in comparative culturology often ignores many details of daily life and even people's inherent views on trivial matters when studying the culture of western nations, mainly because he takes too many things for granted. He doesn't understand that it is these habits and generally accepted sayings that deeply penetrate the national character of this nation and affect its future. Their role goes far beyond the treaties signed by diplomats.

Anthropologists must study such daily trifles that people are accustomed to, because what one tribe is accustomed to may have completely different meanings in the eyes of another tribe. If an anthropologist wants to know the worst side of a tribe, or the most timid side of a tribe, or how other tribes react and feel in some hypothetical situations, he will find that it will be largely related to how people understand the details they are used to every day. Anthropologists must be aware of the importance of these details and know how to find and dig them.

This method is also applicable when learning Japanese culture. Only when people attach great importance to the trivialities of ordinary people in a nation can they fully understand the great significance of the theoretical premise put forward by anthropologists: whether it is the most primitive tribe or the most advanced civilized nation, ordinary people's personal ways of doing things are learned from daily life. No matter how weird their behavior and extreme their thoughts are, their personal feelings and ways of thinking are always related to their personal experiences. The more I am puzzled by some Japanese behaviors, the more I feel that there must be some common details and trifles in Japanese daily life that cause this strange behavior. The deeper my research goes into the daily life of the Japanese people, the easier it will be for my research to achieve results. Everyone learns and makes progress in daily life.

As a cultural anthropologist, my research is also based on this theoretical premise. That is, there is an inevitable connection between many seemingly isolated behaviors. I attach great importance to hundreds of individual behaviors that form a whole model. A human society has gradually formed its own model in its own development process. In human society, there are always some recognized values, and people will agree with the handling methods and solutions of certain situations, which are the theoretical basis for people to recognize the objective world. No matter how difficult it is, people try to integrate these recognized ways of doing things into real life. Since people accept the value system on which they live, it is impossible to think and act according to a completely different value system in their personal micro-life, otherwise they will fall into chaos and inconvenience. They will strive to keep themselves in harmony with the overall environment, and they will accept recognized motives and rational thinking to make their actions converge with the overall environment. A certain degree of harmony is essential. Otherwise, the whole system will cease to exist.

Therefore, economic activities, family behaviors, religious ceremonies and political goals are intertwined like gears. When the changes in one department are more drastic than those in other departments, other departments will feel great pressure, which comes from the need of internal harmony. In the pre-script era when power was supreme, people's willingness to pursue power was not only manifested in economic exchanges with other tribes, but also in religious ceremonies. Later, with the progress of human society, figures began to appear, and the church still maintained great power in the religious field, but in the economic and political fields, the church gradually lost its authority. The religious ceremony remains the same, but the connotation has changed. Religious ceremonies, economic activities and political activities are no longer confined to their own pools, but overflow the dam of imagination, communicate and converge with each other, so that they are mixed and difficult to separate. The truth between things is this: the more a researcher expands his investigation into more fields such as economy, religion, sexual life and even baby care, the more he can explore the truth in his own field, the more he can effectively put forward a theoretical premise in any life field and collect data to demonstrate it, and the more he can learn to understand any political, economic and moral requirements of any nation as the expression of his personal thinking habits and lifestyle. Therefore, my book is not about Japanese religion, economic life, politics or family, but about Japanese lifestyle. It tries to reveal some motives and ideas of Japanese self-expression by describing their activities. This is a book that explores why Japan has become a Japanese nation.

In the 20th century, we have many shortcomings, one of which is that there are still many mixed and radical concepts in our minds, not only about the formation of the Japanese nation, but also why the United States became an American nation, why France became a French nation, and why Russia became a Russian nation. Countries misunderstand each other because of lack of understanding. Sometimes, a dispute is just a tiny difference, but we are worried that it is an irreconcilable difference. However, when a nation's whole experience, value system and ideas are completely contrary to our ideas, and a series of lines and principles are formulated on this basis, we are talking about the same goal. We have no chance to understand their habits and values. If we understand it, we may find that a certain course of action is not necessarily bad, because in fact it is not what we think.

We can't completely count on and believe what every nation says about its own thoughts and actions. Writers of every nation are trying to describe their own nation, but it is difficult. The lens and perspective used by any ethnic group to observe life are different from those of other ethnic groups. When people observe things, it is also difficult to realize that they are observing through the lens. Any nation takes these for granted, and the focal length and viewpoint accepted by any nation seems to be arranged by God for that nation. We never expect people who wear glasses to discover the power of lenses, nor can we expect all ethnic groups to analyze their views on the world. When we want to know the degree of eyes, we train an ophthalmologist who will check the degree of glasses through specific techniques. There is no doubt that in the future, we will also admit that the task of social scientists is to provide services similar to ophthalmologists for all ethnic groups in the contemporary world.

This job requires doctors to have a strong will and a hard heart, as well as a tolerant attitude. Some kind people sometimes accuse the so-called hard-hearted people. These "One World" advocates firmly believe and instill this belief in people all over the world: "East" and "West", black and white, Christian and Muslim. These differences are superficial. In fact, everyone has similar ideas. This view is sometimes called "all men are brothers within the four seas". However, I don't understand why it can't be said that the Japanese have the Japanese lifestyle and the Americans have the American lifestyle. It seems that these soft-hearted gentlemen sometimes seem to think that all nationalities in the world are printed on a negative, otherwise, international goodwill cannot be established. But forcing others to accept this condition of respecting other nationalities is just like forcing their wives and children to be exactly like themselves, which is ridiculous. But hard-hearted people think that there must be differences. They respect differences. Their goal is to build a safe world that can accommodate all kinds of differences. The United States can be a real America without threatening world peace; So do France and Japan. For any researcher, it is undoubtedly absurd to try to restrain the growth of this attitude towards life through external pressure, because such researchers don't even believe that cultural differences are the sword of Damocles hanging over human heads. Similarly, a soft-hearted gentleman need not worry that taking this position will make the world stiff. Encouraging cultural differences does not mean letting them stagnate. Britain has not lost its color and nature because it is Queen Anne and Victoria after the Elizabethan era. On the contrary, it is precisely because of differences and differences that ethnic plots can be passed down from generation to generation.

A systematic study of racial differences requires strong will and tolerance. Only people with firm beliefs will have extraordinary tolerance. Only in this way can the comparative study of religions flourish. These people may be Christians, Arab scholars or unbelievers, but they are by no means fanatics. So is the comparative study of culture. If people are still defending their way of life with trepidation and only believe that their way of life is the only solution in the world, cultural comparative research cannot develop. Such people will never understand that understanding other lifestyles will enhance their love for their own culture. They put themselves out of the happy and rich experience. They are so conservative that they have no choice but to ask other countries to adopt and accept their special way. As Americans, they force all other countries to accept the creed we like. However, it is difficult for other ethnic groups to accept the lifestyle we ask for, just as we can't learn to calculate in decimal, or we can't learn to rest on one leg like some indigenous people in East Africa.

So, this is a book about Japanese habits: what do people think Japanese habits should be, or what do people think Japanese habits are. It will talk about when the Japanese want praise and when they don't want it; When you will feel ashamed, when you will feel embarrassed, what principles and requirements you have for yourself, and so on. For the problems discussed in this book, the most ideal argument is probably those ordinary street chatters of all kinds. This does not mean that these people will be in those special situations mentioned in the book, but they will all admit what they will be like in that situation. The purpose of this study is to outline the attitude of the Japanese people, which guides them to think and act in the depths of their souls. Maybe this book can't completely achieve this goal in the end, but this is the goal pursued by this book.

Researchers will soon find that the study of some phenomena, even if more materials are added, can not guarantee its certainty. For example, when should a person salute to whom? There is no need to make a statistical study of every Japanese. Any Japanese can explain this common-sense problem to you, just give a few examples. There is no need to reach a consistent conclusion through thousands of Japanese.

And if the researcher wants to find out the theoretical premise that affects the Japanese lifestyle, his work is far more arduous than statistical confirmation. What people urgently need to know is how these recognized customs and judgments form the lens of Japanese observing reality; They must explain how the Japanese people's ideas affect their focus and views on observing life, and at the same time, he must try to make Americans who observe life with completely different focus understand this. In this analysis, the most authoritative reference and standard is not necessarily "Tanaka", which is synonymous with ordinary Japanese: because "Tanaka" can't make his point clear, and in his view, the explanation written to make Americans understand is undoubtedly too complicated.

At present, when Americans study society, they pay little attention to various theoretical premises on which civilized national culture is based. Most researchers think these ideas are self-evident. Sociologists and psychologists mostly only pay attention to the "distribution" of opinions and behaviors, and the research methods are mostly statistical methods. They want to find out the independence or interdependence of some factors through statistical analysis of a large number of survey data, survey answers, speaker's answers and psychological tests. When investigating public opinion, a nationwide sampling survey can be conducted. This scientific method has now developed into a perfect system in the United States. In this way, we can know how many supporters or opponents a candidate for public office or a specific policy has, and we can classify them according to rural or urban areas, low-paid or high-paid classes, * * and political parties or democratic parties. In a country where universal suffrage is implemented and laws are drafted and promulgated by national representatives, the results of this survey are of practical significance.