[depiction of the custom of stepping on a crucifix] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [depiction of the custom of stepping on a crucifix]
Subject: Political customs and rites; rituals; fictional works; Fictitious characters; imaginary places; imaginary creatures; satire
Period: 1800-1850;
Geographic: Japan; Asia
Description: The custom of stepping on a crucifix was common in Japan in the early modern period. Christianity was outlawed in Japan, and anyone who was suspected of Christianity was required to step on a crucifix to demonstrate that they were not Christians. In major trading cities the Dutch, who were the only Europeans to trade with Japan, were often required to perform this custom. Gulliver requested to that he be allowed to bypass this custom, which made some Japanese question if he were really Dutch (he pretended to be Dutch as they were the only Europeans permitted in Japan), as most Dutchmen, according to Swift – who had a negative view of the Dutch – would perform this ritual regularly and without opposition. Gulliver asked the King of Luggnagg to request Gulliver’s exemption from this custom in his letter. Gulliver was in Nagasaki, a Dutch colony in Japan at this point in the story. The same image appears in the 1839 Krabbe edition.
Image Creator: Grandville (Illustrator)
Type: StillImage; Vignettes
Identifier: mta:21776
Language: ger
Source Name: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekannte Länder
Parent Collection: Gulliver's Reisen in unbekannte Länder Vol. II. Vignettes by Grandville (1843)
Image: mta_21776_OBJ.png

Media: mta_21776_OBJ.png