But by the time of Sanetomo prolonged peace had produced its usual effects: the austerity of military customs underwent relaxation even at Kamakura, and refinement and luxury began to come into vogue. So, too, in Kyōto, when the city passed under military rule after the Shōkiu troubles and when the power of the civil nobles declined correspondingly, the customs of the soldier class prevailed over those of the courtiers. Speaking generally, however, it may be said that Kamakura was the nursery of military customs and Kyōto the center of courtly effeminacy. The warriors' ethics at Kamakura prescribed frugality and simplicity, inculcated love of soldierly pursuits and encouraged feelings of gratitude and loyalty in the relations between lord and vassal. To such a pitch were these latter sentiments carried that a vassal would choose rather to be estranged from his parents or find himself opposed to his own brothers and sisters, than to show want of fealty to his lord. Everything must be sacrificed in the cause of one's lord, death and life alike being shared with him. The rules of etiquette were strictly obeyed, and the provisions of the code of honor carefully observed. Even when a samurai went into battle, he did not set himself to slaughter indiscriminately, but having first recounted the achievements of his ancestors, crossed swords with his foe in a leisurely and dignified manner. Were he guilty of any fault, it was expected of him to die by his own hand before the disgrace of lawful punishment could overtake him. The obligations of honor were absolutely binding on him in all conjunctures.
After the Hōgen and Heiji insurrections, even Kyōto itself, the seat of refinement and splendor, became like a deserted battlefield, and when Minamoto-no-Yoritomo made Kamakura the headquarters of his military government, the science of war absorbed men's attention so completely that little or no heed was paid to literary pursuits. The Kyōto University and the provincial schools decayed, and the knowledge of Chinese classics became the monopoly of Buddhist priests, some of whom, particularly of the Zen sect, had spent years of diligent study in China. Anyone desirous of obtaining education had no recourse but to place himself under the tuition of these priests. It was in this way that the term tera-koya (temple annex) came to be generally employed all through the feudal ages to designate a private school. But despite the people's neglect of Chinese studies, Chinese words and expressions were largely in vogue among the higher classes, and Buddhist terms also passed appreciably into the language of the time owing to the prosperous and influential position occupied by that religion.
The written language being thus enriched by a multitude of phrases and expressions which had received the indorsement of scholars, the vocabulary and literature of the era exhibit marked evidences of change. Not only the manner of expression, but also the taste of the people, had undergone a decisive change since the close of the Hei-an epoch, and this difference naturally manifested itself in the kind of literature affected. Men no longer took pleasure in books treating of the lives and adventures of beautiful women or the mental feats of renowned scholars. Such studies seemed incongruous amid the clash of arms and under the shadow of the sword and spear. Striking vicissitudes in martial careers, the intrepid deaths or life-long separations of warriors, the rise and fall of principalities—these were the themes of which the Kamakura samurai loved to read. Of the prose compositions expressive of this sentiment, the most noted were the "Hōgen" and the "Heiji Monogatari," stories, respectively of the insurrections of those eras; and the "Heike Monogatari," the pathetic epic of the fate of the great Taira clan, and the "Gempei Seisuiki," the stirring tale of the rise and fall of the families of Taira and Minamoto. Other famous productions of the period were the "Hōjō-ki," and the "Shiki Monogatari." In these works one finds a skillful blending of graceful Japanese phrases, strong Chinese expressions, and lofty Buddhist terms. At times the style has all the ring of martial onset; at times, it is plaintive and moving; now it abounds in graces of diction, and then its transitions from passion to deliberation, from swift terseness to smooth tranquillity, are full of force and sentiment. Between the emotional effect of such writings and the gently flowing phraseology and uneventful paragraphs of works like the "Genji Monogatari" of the preceding period, there is a wide interval. Running through the pages of the "Hōjō-ki" the reader also detects a current of discontent and disgust for the transient world and its vanity that reflects the growing tendency of educated minds at that epoch. So deeply had the Buddhistic pessimism entered the heart of the people.
On the other hand, poetry in the Japanese style flourished uniformly in Kyōto, unaffected by the vicissitudes of the times or the decline of the imperial power. Collections of verses were made from time to time and published by imperial direction, among which the "Shin-Kokinshū" contains stanzas constructed with so great skill that it remained a model for the poets of all subsequent generations. In Kamakura, also, the Shōgun Sanetomo was an accomplished writer of Japanese poetry. The grace and polish of his songs in the old-time style, as well as the verve and spirit of their sentiments, reflecting truly the mood of his era, find no parallel in the poetry subsequent to the Nara epoch. Indeed, owing to the great popularity of Japanese poetry in those days, people began for the first time to study it under teachers. Thus there came into vogue men who made a business of giving instruction in the art of poetry, the profession being transmitted from generation to generation in the same family. The result was that canons of style and tricks of composition peculiar to special schools of teachers became more or less binding upon students of those schools, inevitable injury being done to originality and vigor. To these circumstances may be attributed a gradual decline of real poetic ability.
Hardly less instructive is the change that overtook the nation's greatest religion, Buddhism. It will be remembered that during the Hei-an epoch, two Buddhist sects, the Tendai, founded by Saichō, and the Shingon, by Kūkai, were incomparably the most influential, all others being more or less in a state of decline. But toward the close of the epoch, some priests, as already related, began to take more interest in military affairs than in religious functions. Yoritomo, when he came into power, interdicted the use of arms by priests, and encouraged them to devote their attention entirely to literature. The prestige of the Tendai and the Shingon suffered from these events, and as their doctrines, being far too recondite and lofty to be comprehended by the uninitiated, had never satisfied the bulk of the people, there began to appear, during the Kamakura epoch, priests who taught a form of the faith radically different from the others but eminently suited to the spiritual tone of the new age. This was the Zen sect, introduced in its various branches from China. It at once attracted men of simple and robust habits by its remarkably vigorous and effective method of enlightenment and the great practical value of the latter for the men of the world in those days of continual fluctuations of fortune. Hōjō Tokiyori and Tokimune, as well as many a great warrior, besides some emperors, became ardent patrons of the sect, which consequently attained prominent popularity among the military men at Kamakura, and developed widespread influence. Its temples, Kenchō-ji and Engaku-ji, at Kamakura, stood on an equal footing with the Kennin-ji and Tōfuku-ji of Kyōto.
While the Zen tenet so powerfully appealed to the military class, there was another set of new sects, entirely original to Japan, which by their brief formulæ and impressive ceremonies attracted large numbers of the common people. Of these sects, three, namely, the Jōdo, founded by Genkū (or Hōnen); Ikkō or Shin, founded by Shinran (or Hanyen), and Ji, founded by Ippen, all used the same litany, while the fourth sect, Hokke, or Nichiren, founded by Nichiren, used another. The founders all met opposition from the exponents of the older sects, but spread their teachings in the face of serious difficulties, until they won the hearts of simple-minded folks whose minds had been in a state of constant uncertainty under the violent changes of the time, and who were now delighted to find, at last, doctrines which taught that an unmixed faith in the saving power of a Buddha or a canon symbolized in a single word of formula would bring them to a blissful calm in this present world. Not less attractive were the beautiful harmony of the litanies and the impressiveness of the paraphernalia of the temple of every new sect. It appeared as if the spiritual needs of the age were at last answered, and the new tenets spread themselves among the people like a fire in a parched meadow.
In the domain of arts, the most remarkable industrial achievement of the era was the progress made in tempering sword-blades. Gotoba, after he had abdicated the scepter and become ex-emperor, freely indulged his keen love for sword-blades. He engaged sword-smiths, whom he kept perpetually tempering steel, and did not hesitate even to forge blades with his own hands. Naturally this and the extensive demand for swords at the time gave a great impulse to the industry. Much progress was also made in the art of forging armor, helmets, bridle-bits, and the like. Other arts were not, however, greatly encouraged by the military administrators of Kamakura, who set their faces against luxury and inculcated frugal fashions. Yet not a little progress was made in ceramics, lacquer, and the carving of Buddhist images and other temple furniture.
It is interesting to note that under the simple rule of the Kamakura government the commerce and trade of this period made a tolerable progress, in spite of frequent interruptions of the peace. At Kamakura, where merchants from various parts of the empire assembled and made it the commercial center of the country, there existed seven kinds of markets in which articles were sold at small stores specially designed and constructed. The custom of peddling merchandise also existed. For business transacted at a distance, bills of exchange had already come into vogue. While Sanetomo administered the shōgunate, an official limit was fixed for the number of merchants conducting business in Kamakura. This was the origin of hereditary privileges of trade. The prices for the various staples of commerce were determined, according to the custom of previous times. Thus in 1193 an imperial notification ordered that rice should be sold at one thousand cash (one kwammon), or the tenth of a ryō, that is to say nominally ten sen according to present denominations, but of course representing a much larger sum at that time. Again, in 1253, firewood, charcoal, and other necessaries having risen in price, Hōjō Tokiyori proclaimed the rate at which each must be sold. Gold was at that time constantly mined in Mutsu, but did not serve for coinage purposes, the common media of exchange being Chinese copper and the iron cash of the Sung dynasty and similar Japanese coins of earlier days. Grass-cloth was also sometimes used as a medium of exchange, and prices were quoted in terms of it. Trade with China, under the Sung dynasty, and with Korea—or Koma, as it was then called—was carried on largely at Hakata in Chikuzen and Bonotsu in Satsuma, both in Kiushū. Import duties upon foreign goods were levied at the various ports of entry. The principal imports from China were raw silk, indigo, Chinese ink, porcelain vessels, mats, and so forth, while the staple exports from Japan were rice, other cereals, and timber. In 1254 Hōjō Tokiyori limited the number of ships engaged in the China trade to five, and ordered all except the licensed vessels to be destroyed. But the trade continued as brisk as ever. Subsequently, however, during the interval that separated the decline of the Sung dynasty from the establishment of the Yuan, intercourse between Japan and the neighboring empire underwent some diminution, and was suspended altogether for a time after the Mongol invasion of Japan.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Table showing lineage and chronology of sovereigns.