The History of Nations

JAPAN

GHENT
EDITION

THE HISTORY OF NATIONS
HENRY CABOT LODGE, Ph. D., LL. D. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

JAPAN

From the Japanese Government History
Edited With Supplementary Chapters
by
K. ASAKAWA
Instructor in Japanese Civilization
Yale University
Volume VII

Illustrated
P · F · COLLIER & SON PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

Copyright, 1907, by
John D. Morris & Company
Copyright, 1910, by
The H. W. Snow & Son Company
Copyright, 1913, by
P. F. Collier & Son
Designed, Printed, and Bound at
The Collier Press, New York

THE HISTORY OF NATIONS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
HENRY CABOT LODGE, Ph.D., LL.D.
Associate Editors and Authors

ARCHIBALD HENRY SAYCE, LL.D.,
Professor of Assyriology, Oxford University

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTON, M.D., Ph.D.,
Associate Professor of Oriental History and Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University

C.W.C. OMAN, LL.D.,
Professor of History, Oxford University

THEODOR MOMMSEN,
Late Professor of Ancient History, University of Berlin

ARTHUR C. HOWLAND, Ph.D.,
Department of History, University of Pennsylvania

CHARLES MERIVALE, LL.D.,
Late Dean of Ely, formerly Lecturer in History, Cambridge University

J. HIGGINSON CABOT, Ph.D.,
Department of History, Wellesley College

SIR WILLIAM W. HUNTER, F.R.S.,
Late Director-General of Statistics in India

GEORGE M. DUTCHER, Ph.D.,
Professor of History, Wesleyan University

SIR ROBERT K. DOUGLAS,
Professor of Chinese, King's College, London

JEREMIAH WHIPPLE JENKS, Ph.D., LL.D.,
Professor of Political Economy and Politics, Cornell University

KANICHI ASAKAWA, Ph.D.,
Instructor in the History of Japanese Civilization, Yale University

WILFRED HAROLD MUNRO, L.H.D.,
Professor of European History, Brown University

G. MERCER ADAM,
Historian and Editor

FRED MORROW FLING, Ph.D.,
Professor of European History, University of Nebraska

FRANÇOIS AUGUSTE MARIE MIGNET,
Late Member of the French Academy

JAMES WESTFALL THOMPSON, Ph.D.,
Department of History, University of Chicago

SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER, LL.D.,
Professor of Modern History, King's College, London

P.W. JOYCE, LL.D.,
Commissioner for the Publication of the Ancient Laws of Ireland

JUSTIN McCARTHY, LL.D.,
Author and Historian

AUGUSTUS HUNT SHEARER, Ph.D.,
Instructor in History, Trinity College, Hartford

W. HAROLD CLAFLIN, B.A.,
Department of History, Harvard University

CHARLES DANDLIKER, LL.D.,
President of Zurich University

ELBERT JAY BENTON, Ph.D.,
Department of History, Western Reserve University

SIR EDWARD S. CREASY,
Late Professor of History, University College, London

ARCHIBALD CARY COOLIDGE, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of History, Harvard University

WILLIAM RICHARD MORFILL, M.A.,
Professor of Russian and other Slavonic Languages, Oxford University

CHARLES EDMUND FRYER, Ph.D.,
Department of History, McGill University

E.C. OTTE,
Specialist on Scandinavian History

EDWARD S. CORWIN, Ph.D.,
Instructor in History, Princeton University

PAUL LOUIS LEGER,
Professor of Slav Languages, Collège de France

WILLIAM E. LINGELBACH, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of European History, University of Pennsylvania

BAYARD TAYLOR,
Former United States Minister to Germany

SIDNEY B. FAY, Ph.D.,
Professor of History, Dartmouth College

J. SCOTT KELTIE, LL.D.,
President Royal Geographical Society

ALBERT GALLOWAY KELLER, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of the Science of Society, Yale University

EDWARD JAMES PAYNE, M.A.,
Fellow of University College, Oxford

PHILIP PATTERSON WELLS, Ph.D.,
Lecturer in History and Librarian of the Law School, Yale University

FREDERICK ALBION OBER,
Historian, Author and Traveler

JAMES WILFORD GARNER, Ph.D.,
Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois

JOHN BACH McMASTER, Litt.D., LL.D.,
Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania

JAMES LAMONT PERKINS, Managing Editor

The editors and publishers desire to express their appreciation for valuable advice and suggestions received from the following: Hon. Andrew D. White, LL.D., Alfred Thayer Mahan, D.C.L., LL.D., Hon. Charles Emory Smith, LL.D., Professor Edward Gaylord Bourne, Ph.D., Charles F. Thwing, LL.D., Dr. Emil Reich, William Elliot Griffis, LL.D., Professor John Martin Vincent, Ph.D., LL.D., Melvil Dewey, LL.D., Alston Ellis, LL.D., Professor Charles H. McCarthy, Ph.D., Professor Herman V. Ames, Ph.D., Professor Walter L. Fleming, Ph.D., Professor David Y. Thomas, Ph.D., Mr. Otto Reich and Mr. Francis J. Reynolds.

NOTE

The editors of "The History of Nations" concluded their work with the chronicling of events to October, 1905, and all additions thereafter, bringing the histories to date, have been supplied by the publishers.

PREFACE

The present revised edition of the "History of the Empire of Japan" (compiled, in 1893, for the Imperial Japanese Commission of the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, by Messrs. K. Takatsu, S. Mikami, M. Isoda, and others, and published in Tōkyō by order of the Department of Education) is not intended to supersede the original edition, the high qualities of which are, on the contrary, recommended to all students of Japanese history. That work admirably represents what might be termed the orthodox view of the national history, and is free alike from the unscientific method of the more conservative historian, and from the superficial speculations of the more radical, but not more scientific, student. Were the present editor to write an original work on Japanese history, however, he would, it is unnecessary to say, change the entire manner of presentation in order to make it accord with his own conception of the subject-matter. In this revision, he has not changed the general order of the original work, but has merely corrected a few data which are obviously out of date, omitted those minor facts which may well be dispensed with, and made the general narrative somewhat smoother than it was.

The fourth part is, however, the editor's own work. The primary aim in this division of the volume has been to supply a popular and accurate account of certain phases of the national progress that has taken place since the "History of the Empire" was prepared a dozen years ago. The substance of chapter XVIII has appeared among the new chapters supplied by the editor to the new edition of Brinkley's (edit.) "Japan," (J. B. Millet Co., Boston, 1905), and has been inserted here with the permission of those publishers.

K. Asakawa

Yale University

INTRODUCTION

The Empire of Japan consists to-day of a group of islands marshaled in the northwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, off the eastern coast of the Asiatic continent. These islands—including Formosa and the Pescadores ceded by China in 1895, and the southern half of Sakhalin, acquired from Russia in 1905—lie between the parallels of 50° 56' and 21° 48' north latitude, and the longitude of their extreme eastern and western points are 156° 32' and 119° 20', respectively, east of Greenwich. The empire thus covers 29° 8' of latitude and 37° 12' of longitude. On the east it faces the Pacific; on the southwest it looks across the waters of the China Sea to the mainland of China; on the northwest the Sea of Japan and Gulf of Tartary separate it from Korea and Siberia. The fiftieth parallel divides the Japanese half of Sakhalin from the northern or Russian half, and the Kurile Strait intercepts the Chishima or Kurile group of islands on the north from the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka.

The whole group includes five and one-half large islands and nearly six hundred islets. The large island lying in the center constitutes the mainland; the island directly to the north is Hokkaidō (Yezo or Ezo), and that to the south, Kiushū; on the southwest of the mainland and east of Kiushū is Shikoku; and stretching in a northwesterly direction from Hokkaidō are the Chishima or Kuriles, while the chain of the Riukiū (Loochoo) Archipelago leads to Formosa. Floating, as it were, in the Sea of Japan are the islets of Sado, Oki, and Tsushima, the last lying only about fifty miles from the southern coast of Korea. Scattered in the Pacific Ocean, at a distance of nearly 500 miles from the southwest coast of the mainland, lies the Ogasawara group (Bonins). To these must now be added the recently ceded southern half of the Island of Sakhalin.

Owing to the insular nature of the country, the area of the empire, exclusive of the half of Sakhalin, which is perhaps as much as 12,000 square miles, little exceeds 161,000 square miles, or slightly larger than the area of the British Isles. More than half of this superficies is comprised in the main island. The coastline of the fourteen larger islands and archipelagoes, again excepting Sakhalin, stretches to a length of 13,500 miles. Little indented, the coast along the Sea of Japan offers few bays or promontories; but the Pacific and the China Sea coasts are broken into innumerable capes and inlets, and abound in good harbors.

The country is mountainous, and has little flat land. Two systems of mountain chains extend north to south and east to west, each having numerous branches. The highlands of the empire are the two provinces of Shinano and Kai, situated in the center of the main island. At the boundary of Kai and Suruga stands Fujisan, or Mount Fuji, capped with perpetual snows, its summit rising to 12,300 feet above the sea level. Its position as the loftiest peak in the country has been lost by the acquisition of Formosa, which contains Mount Morrison, now called Mount Niitaka, the altitude of which is not less than 14,200 feet. The mountains of the main island are for the most part volcanic, the active volcanoes numbering 170, and the ranges that comprise them stretch across the extent of the country. Mines and mineral springs consequently abound. Frequency of earthquakes also results from the abundance of volcanoes. Minor shocks average from thirty or forty to several hundreds annually, and of severe shocks history shows that there have been some two or three in each century, entailing sometimes a frightful destruction of life and property.

From the general configuration of the country it follows that great rivers with long courses are few, but numerous streams of lesser magnitude traverse all parts of the empire, affording excellent facilities for drainage and irrigation. Many of the larger of these are even navigable. The Ishikari River in Hokkaidō, with a length of 407 miles, is the longest in the empire, followed by the Shinano, in the main island, about 240 miles long. Nor is the land richer in extensive plains than in great streams. Valleys lying deep in the bosoms of the hills, plateaus along the margins of the great rivers, gentle slopes at the foot of mountain ranges, or stretches by the seashore, are the only comparatively level places to be seen. The Ishikari Moor, bordering the Ishikari River in Hokkaidō, is perhaps the most extensive. Its soil is rich, and it abounds in timber and verdure. Other well-known plains in the north lie along the course of the Tokachi River and by the seashore at Kushiro and Nemuro. Passing to the main island, we find, in the northeasterly section, the Ōshū plateau, traversed by the Kitakami and Abukuma Rivers, and extending over the provinces of Rikuchū, Rikuzen, Iwashiro, and Iwaki. There, too, the soil is rich, and fruitful lands cover a wide area. In the central section the valley of the Tone River forms the Hasshū plain of the Kwantō, spreading into the four provinces of Musashi, Kōzuke, Hitachi, and Shimōsa. Thickly populated and highly fertile, this plain is the most extensive in the main island. Next in order of magnitude comes the valley of the Kiso River, forming a part of the provinces of Mino and Owari, and making one great cultivated field. The Echigo plain, along the lower waters of the Shinano River, is the most extensive of all the littoral plains of Japan. For the rest, very wide plains exist in Kinai, along the banks of the Yodo and Yamato Rivers; while in Shikoku, the most extensive flat-lands are found along the course of the Yoshino River, and in Kiushū the lands by the banks of the Chikugo down to the Ariyake seabeach give to the provinces of Chikugo and Hizen a broad area of irrigated fields.

The main island of Japan, being situated in the temperate zone, enjoys, for the most part, a medium degree of temperature. But the climate of the empire is much varied, owing to the elongated shape of the country, which extends over nearly thirty degrees of latitude, to the great differences of altitude that characterize the surface of the land, and also to the action of a warm and a cold current that flow past its shores. Thus, in the northern part of Hokkaidō and in the Chishima Islands the snow never disappears, the sea freezes in winter, and sleet and fogs prevail. On the other hand, in the southern district, as well as in the Riukiū and Ogaswara groups, the heat is very great, and neither snow nor ice is seen in winter. In the central parts, again, the temperature varies according to the elevation of the land, and the configuration of the mountains and seas. As for Formosa, it is partly situated within the tropical zone, and the two extremes of the entire island are recorded to be 96° and 41° Fahrenheit.

The warm ocean current, known as the Kuro-shiwo or Black Stream, from the deep somber color it displays in cloudy weather, rises from the distant Equator, and possesses an average temperature of 81° Fahrenheit in summer. Immediately after leaving the Equator it travels along the eastern coast of China, and thence passing northward, approaches the coast of Kiushū, where it bifurcates. The branch stream enters the Sea of Japan, and flows to the north; the principal stream passes by the southern coast of Shikoku and the main island, until it reaches the north of Cape Inubō in Shimōsa, where it again bifurcates, a branch turning northward, and the current itself traveling in a northeastern direction until it leaves the main island. In consequence, perhaps, of the heat received from this warm current, all the provinces of Kiushū, Shikoku, Sanyō-dō and Tōkai-dō seldom see snow. There is also a cold stream called the Oya-jiwo, of which the average summer temperature is as low as 37°. Its source is in the Sea of Okhotsk, whence it passes through the Kurile Islands, and flowing by Hokkaidō and the east coast of the northern section of the main island, reaches the neighborhood of Cape Inubō, where it disappears. Situated in a high degree of latitude, Hokkaidō and the northern part of the main island, being further exposed to the influence of this cold stream, have a severe climate. The snow lies there in masses for many days and the winter is long.

The rainfall is heavy in summer and light in winter. It is greatest along the coasts washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, and least in the central portions of the country along the two coasts of the Inland Sea, as well as in the northern end of the main island. Hokkaidō has an average fall.

Rich soil, a genial climate, and a sufficient rainfall produce luxuriant vegetation. Cultivated fields and gardens succeed each other for wide areas. The extraordinary position of the islands stretching from north to south also adds greatly to the variety of vegetation. Thus in Kiushū and Shikoku are to be seen thick, verdant forests abounding in giant trees. Sugar-canes, tobacco, and cotton, find a soil congenial to their growth. The cocoa, the banyan tree, the banana and their congeners flourish in the Riukiū and Ogasawara Islands. In short, the general aspect is tropical. Passing thence to the central districts, great varieties of plant life are found. The pine (pinus densiflora and pinus massoniana), oak (quercus dentata), hi-no-ki (thuya obtusca), sugi (cryptomeria japonica), camphor and bamboo grow in the woods; while the mulberry, tea plant, lacquer tree, millet, the five cereals, vegetables, and various kinds of fruits are seen in the fields and gardens. Finally, even in the cold and little cultivated Hokkaidō, its fruitful soil and luxuriant vegetation invite agriculture.

The forms of animal life are also much varied. Among domestic animals are the ox, the horse, the pig, the dog, and the cat; while the more important wild animals are the hog, the deer, the hare, the fox, the badger, and the monkey. Ferocious beasts and noxious reptiles are limited to the bear of the northern districts and the habu (a kind of snake) of Riukiū. In the waters that lave the Hokkaidō coasts sea-otters and fur-seals abound; whales frequent the seas in the north and those adjacent to Shikoku and Kiushū; and along all the coasts fish and crustaceans are found in such abundance that they more than suffice for the ordinary food of the inhabitants. Of birds there is great abundance, some possessing beautiful plumage, others melodious notes, and others being suitable for food. To the last mentioned class belong barn-door fowls and ducks. Among insects, the silk-worm is largely reared throughout the main island, the climate and soil being peculiarly suited for the purpose.

Although the country has no mountains of exceptional altitude or rivers of extraordinary length, the conditions of climate and soil are such that not one of the mountains is without woods nor one of the rivers without limpid water. So well distributed, too, are the highlands and streams, that places of beauty are everywhere to be found in the interior, and owing to the configuration of the coasts as well as to the number of islets, gems of scenic loveliness abound by the seaside in all the provinces. Moreover, in addition to wealth of natural charms, numerous shrines and temples of note exist in the choice districts of the main island, so that architectural, glyptic, pictorial, and horticultural beauties supplement the attractions of the scenery. The main island is richest in places of note, and Kinai and its neighborhood are the most favored parts of the main island in this respect. From 794 A. D., when the Emperor Kwammu made Kyōto his capital, until the Emperor Mutsuhito moved to Tōkyō, a period of over eleven centuries, Kyōto remained the imperial seat of government. Hence it offers numbers of historical relics, and is further happy in the possession of scenic beauties attractive at all seasons of the year. Separated from Kyōto by a range of hills is the largest lake in the empire, Lake Biwa, noted for the Ōmi-hakkei which have ever been the theme of poets and the inspiration of painters. At a distance of nearly twenty-five miles from Kyōto is Nara, the imperial residence during a large part of the eighth century. Nara abounds in things historical, the most noteworthy being the shrine of Kasuga and the Temple of Hōriuji, places nobly planned and naturally lovely. Tōdaiji, a large temple erected by the Emperor Shōmu, is more than a thousand years old, and contains the celebrated Great Image of Buddha. The cherries of Mount Yoshino and the plums of Tsukigase, displays of bloom that have no peers elsewhere in the country, are in the same province as Nara. Farther west the face of the Inland Sea between Shikoku and Sanyō-dō is strewn with hundreds of little islands whose shining white sands and green pine-trees combine to make a beautiful picture. Among spots renowned for exquisite seascapes may be mentioned Waka-no-ura in Kii, the Sumiyoshi beach in Settsu, Suma-no-ura, the Maiko beach, and Akashi-no-ura in Harima, and Itsukushima in Aki. The last-named place is a small island close to the seashore, composed almost entirely of fantastically shaped cliffs and strange rocks. On it stands a gracefully modeled shrine said to have been built by Taira-no-Ki-yomori of the twelfth century, the hall and veranda of which seem to float on the surface of the water. The singular combination of water effect and architecture and the loveliness of the whole view suggests an enchanted abode of fairies.

In Kiushū, Yabakei is renowned for its landscape, and the Usajingū shrine for its architecture. Still more celebrated is Ama-no-Hashidate in San-indō. Here a sandy promontory completely covered with pine-trees stretches far into the sea, offering a scene of beauty and making with Matsushima and Itsukushima the three most celebrated views in Japan.

Among places of note in the neighborhood of Tōkyō is Kamakura on the southeast coast, which was the seat of the feudal government of Japan for more than a century and a half till 1333, and still offers many spots of historical interest. To the north of the capital the most celebrated places are Nikkō and Matsushima. At Nikkō is the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The beauties of its architectural decoration, the fineness of its carvings, and the loveliness of its scenery have inspired a popular saying that without seeing Nikkō a man is not qualified to speak of the beautiful (Nikkō wo minai uchi wa kekkō wo iuna). Matsushima, one of the three landscapes of Japan, is on the seashore of Rikuzen. Here scattered over the face of the bay are hundreds of tiny islets, every one of which is clothed in a luxury of pine-trees. Viewed from the top of the hills, the scene is like a creation of fancy rendered on the canvas of a skillful painter.

Japan proper is divided into nine principal regions according to its configuration: they are Kinai, Tōkai-dō, Tōsan-dō, Hokuriku-dō, Nankai-dō, Sanin-dō, Sanyō-dō, and Hokkai-dō. These, again, are subdivided into eighty-five provinces (koku or kumi). The province, however, has little importance in the administrative divisions of the country. The unit of the latter is either the urban (chō) or rural (son) district, which, together with the larger divisions, city (shi) and county (gun), constitutes a self-governing entity. Over and above these divisions are one board of Hokkaidō (dō-chō), three of Tōkyō, Kyōto, and Ōsaka, and forty-three prefectures or ken. At present, there are, outside of Formosa, 638 gun, 58 shi, 1054 chō and 13,468 son.

The city of Tōkyō was formerly, under the name Edo, the seat of the feudal government for nearly two and three-quarters centuries. To-day it is the capital of the empire. It occupies a central position and is the largest city in the country. Its fifteen wards have a total population of nearly a million and a half. Kyōto, the old capital, is divided into two wards and has a population of over 353,000. Ōsaka, the third of the cities, was the seat of the Taikō's administration. Possessing exceptional facilities for communication by sea and by river, it has been a trading center from olden times. It is divided into four wards, and has a population of 825,000. These three cities constitute the three fu. Next in order of importance come Nagoya, between Tōkyō and Kyōto, with a population of 245,000; Kanazawa, in the north of the main island, with a population of 85,000; Sendai, in the northeast, with a population of 84,000; Hiroshima, in the southwest, with a population of 123,000; Kumamoto, in Kiushū, with a population of 62,000. Among the open ports, Yokohama, with a population of 195,000, and Kōbe, with a population of 216,000, are the two most important, Nagasaki, Hakodate, and Niigata following at a considerable interval.

The total population of Japan proper is nearly forty-seven millions, and that of Formosa about three millions. The distribution per square mile, exclusive of Formosa, varied in 1898 from 495 in the western part of the main island to 23.7 in Hokkaidō, with the average at about 300. To-day it is approximately 324. The recent national activity of these people will be briefly described in the last division of this volume, and the career of their ancestors in the earlier parts.

Before we proceed, however, a few words may be said regarding the general nature of the historical account of Japan. In ancient times Japan possessed neither literary script nor a regular system of calendar and chronology. All events had to be transmitted from generation to generation by oral tradition. The use of writing was imported from China, probably one or two hundred years before Christ, but the general use of letters for the purpose of recording events dates from the fifth century A. D., while the compilation of the national annals began two centuries later still. But such historical records as were then compiled suffered almost total destruction a short time afterward by fire, and the oral records of remote antiquity must have already been greatly disfigured by omissions, errors, and confusion of facts. Regretting this, and perceiving that unless steps were then taken to correct the annals, subsequent generations would be without any trustworthy record of remote events, the Emperor Temmu ordered an eminent scholar, Hieda-no-Are, to prepare a brief chronicle of sovereigns and important events. Unfortunately the death of the emperor, which occurred in 689, interrupted this work. Some twenty years later the Empress Gemmyō instructed Ō-no-Yasumaro to continue the compilation of Hieda-no-Are's annals. The work thus completed in 712 is the "Kojiki" as we now possess it. It must be regarded as the most trustworthy record extant of the events of ancient times. Eight years after the appearance of the "Kojiki," or in 720, the "Nihongi" was compiled. We find, on comparing these works, that although, on the whole, they agree, certain discrepancies exist between them. In these two works, however, is found the chief material for the reconstruction of the history of ancient Japan. If curious supernatural incidents figure in their pages, it should be remembered that literature being then in its infancy and a long interval having elapsed since the time of many of the events recorded, the annalists were untrained in the selection of matters worthy of a place in authentic history, while, at the same time, in the oral traditions on which they relied, errors had doubtless been included, and, ordinary events drifting out of sight, extraordinary incidents and supernatural stories had alone survived.

As regards the ancient chronology of Japan it is recorded that almanacs first came into use in Japan in 604 A. D., although it appears that the Chinese calendar had been imported about the middle of the preceding century. The compilation of annals, as already stated, had preceded the latter event by a considerable interval. We may therefore conjecture that some method of reckoning months and years had been practiced from an early era, but no certain knowledge of this matter is available.

In Japan from ancient time chronology was not based on an era. Originally the method pursued was to reckon years after the accession of each emperor to the throne. In 645 A. D., however, was introduced the Chinese fashion of using year periods designated usually in two felicitous Chinese characters and changed as frequently as was desired. The change of the name of a year period thus occurred at the beginning of each new reign, and also on the recurrence of a cyclical year of ill-omened designation, as well as on occasions of exceptional good or bad fortune, so that there are extreme instances of five or six changes of designation within the reign of one single emperor. It results, of course, that a troublesome effort is required to commit to memory the sequence and dates of the various year periods. The Chinese, in the reign of the Ming sovereign Taitsu, decided that there should be no change in the designation of a year period throughout the reign of a sovereign. A similar ruling was made in 1868 on the accession of the present Emperor of Japan, from which time also the era of Jimmu began to be used as a chronological basis. This latter era is officially fixed at 660 B. C.[1]

As to the later sources of Japanese history, following the already mentioned "Kojiki" and "Nihongi," they are abundant, increasing as we move further from earlier ages. Much of this vast historical literature has been published and edited (though thus far little translated into European languages), but more has neither been extensively circulated nor even seen light. The Japanese Government, which has been searching for hidden material all over the land, is now publishing, through the Imperial University of Tokyo, historical documents, mostly unpublished hitherto, in two large series[2] of two and three hundred volumes, respectively, to be completed in about fifteen years.

The history of Japan does not lend itself to the customary division of the ancient, mediæval, and modern ages. On the basis of the important changes that have taken place in the administration and politics of Japan, her history will, in the following pages, be divided into three parts of unequal lengths. Part one covers the long space of time between the founding of the empire and the beginning of the feudal régime toward the end of the twelfth century. During this period, the power of the government rested, theoretically, in spite of great fluctuations which took place, in the hands of the sovereign. This was followed by nearly seven centuries of military autocracy, which constitutes the second part. The third part begins in 1868, since which year administrative power has reverted to the emperor, a constitutional régime with representative institutions has been established, and the general aspects of the life of the nation have undergone a profound change.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It should always be remembered that the historic account of Japan before the fifth century A. D., must be allowed a large latitude in regard to its events and their dates.

[2] Called the "Dai-Nihon Komon-sho" and the "Dai-Nihon Shi-ryō."

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PART I
FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE EMPIRE TO
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FEUDAL
RÉGIME. 660 B. C.-1186 A. D.

HISTORY OF JAPAN

Chapter I

THE MYTHICAL AGE

The period prior to the reign of the Emperor Jimmu is known as the Age of the Deities. From this era strange and incredible legends have been transmitted, some of which follow.

Tradition says that in remote times the deities Izanagi and Izanami were commanded by the God of Heaven to form a country out of the islets floating in space. They forthwith descended to the island Onokoro, and there, becoming husband and wife, created the Eight Great Islands of Japan. Thereafter were created deities to rule the sea, the mountains, the winds, fire, herbs, and trees. Subsequently the divine pair gave birth to the goddess Amaterasu-Ōmikami and the gods Tsukiyomi and Susanoö. These newly-born divine beings proving themselves greatly superior to other deities, found high favor with Izanagi. He commissioned Amaterasu to govern Takama-no-hara, or the Heavenly Region; Tsukiyomi to govern Yo-no-osukuni, or the Land of Night; and Susanoö to govern Unabara, or the Seas. But this last deity proving unfaithful to his father's commands, Izanagi, in anger, expelled him from his kingdom, whereupon he ascended to the Heavenly Region to convey to his sister the news of his misfortune. The fierce and enraged demeanor of the dethroned deity led his sister to imagine that he had come with aggressive intentions, and she hesitated to receive him. But Susanoö vehemently declared the integrity of his purpose and succeeded in partially reassuring the goddess. Nevertheless, his behavior was so disorderly that Amaterasu, becoming fearful, secluded herself in a cave, with the result that total darkness overshadowed her realm and troubles of various sorts ensued. The other deities thereupon met in conclave and took measures to pacify the goddess, so that she finally emerged from her retreat and light once more shone upon the Heavenly Region and Nakatsu-kuni (Midland). The deities then inflicted upon Susanoö the punishment of exile. Driven from heaven, he proceeded to Izumo, and there destroyed an eight-headed dragon, obtaining from its body a precious sword, which he later presented to his sister Amaterasu. Subsequently, he married the daughter of an earthly deity and settled at Suga in Izumo. At a later date, leaving one of his sons, Ōkuni-nushi, to govern the land, he himself proceeded to Korea. Ōkuni-nushi had many brothers, who were all engaged in a struggle for the sovereign power. The victory remained with Ōkuni-nushi, but his realm continuing to be more or less disturbed, Sukunahikona, a son of the Deity of Heaven, came over the sea to Izumo and aided in restoring peace. Thenceforth Ōkuni-nushi and his sons administered the realm in tranquillity.

Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Region, Amaterasu, concluding that Midzuho-no-kuni in Toyo-ashihara, which is perhaps Japan proper now, ought to be governed by her son, Amano-oshihohomimi, commanded him to descend and assume authority in the land. Inasmuch, however, as he represented his proposed realm to be in a very disordered state, Amaterasu, by order of the Deity of Heaven, held a council of deities, by whom a mandate to restore peace was given to Amano-hohi. He failed to accomplish his purpose, and another deity was afterward sent on the same errand. The latter was, however, likewise conquered by Ōkuni-nushi and did not return to heaven. Once more a council of deities was convened in the Heavenly Region, and Nanakime was dispatched to reconnoiter the land. He, however, was killed by Ama-no-wakahiko. Finally, Takemikazuchi, being intrusted with the duty, proceeded to Izumo and informed Ōkuni-nushi of the command given by the Deity of Heaven that the son of Amaterasu should assume sovereignty over the country then ruled by Ōkuni-nushi. The command was at last obeyed. Ōkuni-nushi ceded his kingdom to the son of the goddess, and, with his sons, left the region. Takemikazuchi having carried this intelligence to Amaterasu, she, conforming always with the commands of the Deity of Heaven, summoned her son, Amano-oshihomimi, and informed him that, peace having been restored in the land below, he must proceed to govern it. He, however, prayed that his son, Ninigi, might be sent in his stead, and the goddess consenting, gave to Ninigi a mandate to rule over Japan and to maintain its prosperity so long as heaven and earth should endure. She further gave him the Yasaka Jewel, the Yasaka Mirror, and the Kusanagi Sword, saying: "This mirror is my spirit; regard it as myself." Thenceforth the Jewel, Mirror, and Sword, venerated as the three precious relics of the goddess, were transmitted as insignia from emperor to emperor through all generations.

The terrestrial deity, Sarudahiko, receiving news of the approach of Ninigi and his divine retinue, came out to greet him. Under his guidance Ninigi passed to Takachiho Mountain in Hyūga, Kiushū, and took up his abode at Kasasa Promontory in Ada (now Kaseda port in Satsuma). Ninigi took to wife the daughter of a terrestrial deity, and by her had two sons, Hosuseri and Hikohohodemi. These deities fell out and fought, with the result that the younger subdued the elder by the aid of the deity of the sea, whose daughter he had married. The victor's son, Ugayafukiaezu, also married a daughter of the marine deity and had four sons, Itsuse, Inahi, Mikenu, and Iwarehiko, of whom the fourth and youngest afterward became the Emperor Jimmu. Inahi went to the dominion of his mother over the waves, and Mikenu to the far-distant Tokoyo, or the Region of Eternal Night.[1]

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Abridged genealogy of the "Deities."

Izanagi (male) Izanami (female)
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+------------------------------------------------------+
| | |
+-----------+ | +-------------
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Amaterasu Tsukiyomi Susanoö
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+-----------------------------+ |
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Amano-oshihomimi Amano-hohi Ōkuni-nushi
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Hikoho-no-ninigi
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+-------------------------+
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Hikohohodemi Hosuseri
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Ugayafukiaezu
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+--------------------------------+
| | | |
Itsuse Inahi Mikenu The Emperor JIMMU.

Chapter II

THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE
660 B. C.-192 A. D.

According to tradition, Itsuse and Iwarehiko took counsel together one day in their residence in Hyūga, as to the place most suitable for the seat of administration, and resolved to proceed eastward. At the straits between Kiushū and Shikoku they were received by a terrestrial deity, and under his guidance reached Usa in the present Buzen, where the inhabitants built a palace for them and treated them hospitably. Passing next to Chikuzen, they subsequently crossed the sea to Aki on the main island, and thence journeyed to Kibi, ten years being devoted to these travels. From Kibi they passed over by Naniwa to Tadetsu in the present Izumi province. The objective point of the expedition was Yamato, where then ruled a powerful chieftain named Nagasunehiko who, under the authority of Nigihayahi, a scion of a god of Heaven, whom he had received, had extended his sway over the surrounding region. This chieftain, learning of the approach of the deities and their following, marshaled his forces to oppose them. In the battle that ensued Itsuse was wounded by an arrow.

The invading army therefore turned their course over the sea to Kii, where Itsuse died of his wound. His brother, Iwarehiko, then advanced to the east coast of Kii, and, having there killed a local chieftain, pushed on to Yoshino under the guidance of Prince Michiomi (ancestor of the Ōtomo family) and Prince Ōkume (ancestor of the Kume family). The inhabitants, cave-dwellers, learning that a scion of the god of Heaven had arrived, went out to meet him and made submission. Prosecuting his campaign, Iwarehiko struck down several rebel chiefs, and once more planned an expedition against Nagasunehiko. The latter, however, sent him a message, saying: "Prince Nigihayahi, son of the Deity of Heaven, came hither in a strong boat, and married my sister, Kashiya, by whom he has a son, Prince Umashimate. I have made obeisance to Prince Nigihayahi as sovereign of the land. There cannot possibly be two legitimate representatives of the Heavenly Deity. You must have come to deprive us wrongfully of the realm under pretext of celestial origin." To this Iwarehiko replied: "There is more than one son of the Deity of Heaven. If your sovereign be in truth the offspring of the Celestial Deity, he must possess some proofs. Let me see them." Nagasunehiko thereupon produced arrows and an arrow-case which Prince Nigihayahi had brought with him. Iwarehiko, having examined them, declared them to be genuine, and showed his own arrows and arrow-case to Nagasunehiko. But the latter, though fully sensible that Iwarehiko was of celestial origin, maintained an obstinate mien and would not change his view. Prince Nigihayahi, now clearly perceiving his unreasonable disposition, put him to death, and passed over with all his men to serve in the invading army. Well pleased by this act, Iwarehiko treated the prince kindly and rewarded his loyal conduct. Orders were then issued to the captains to exterminate all the insurgents in the land, and the Yamato district having been brought into complete subjection, the conqueror established his capital at Kashiwabara in Yamato, and ordained the deities of the various officials of his court, the imperial power being thus extended and the administration placed on a fixed basis. This was the opening year of Japanese history. Later annalists fixed the year at 660 B. C., and styled the victorious prince the Emperor Jimmu, the first sovereign of the Empire of Japan.

After his death his younger son, Prince Takishimimi, sought to usurp the sovereignty. The eldest son, Prince Kamyaimimi, suspecting the plot, revealed it to his younger brother, Kannuna-gawamimi, who shot the usurper. Thereupon the elder prince waived the throne in favor of his valiant brother, who thus became the second emperor, Suisei. After him followed the Emperors Annei, Itoku, Kōshō, Kōan, Kōrei, Kōgen, and Kaikwa, whose reigns are said to have lasted 450 years and are singularly bare of recorded events.

In these primitive ages the life of the people was naturally simple. The population must have been small, and the communication between different parts of the small empire extremely difficult. Boats were propelled by oars, for sails were unknown. The invaders must have attained to a higher stage of culture than the vanquished natives. The dwellings of the aristocracy, for example, were rudely constructed wooden houses, the simple model of which still survives in the Shintō shrines of the present day, while the autochthons mostly dwelt in pits dug underground. On the whole, however, both classes had partially advanced to an agricultural mode of life, and depended for subsistence largely on fishing and hunting. Bows and arrows or snares were the chief implements used in hunting, and hooks, cormorants, and weirs served for purposes of fishing. Methods of preparing food had already been elaborated, and the art of brewing saké was known. Marked progress had also taken place in matters of dress. From skins of animals or textile fabrics woven from hemp and dyed red and green with juices of herbs, were made hats, robes, and pantaloons. Ornaments for the neck, arms, and legs consisted of beads of crystal, agate, glass, serpentine and polished gems, shaped into cylinders or crescents and strung together. The arts of mining and smelting ores, as well as of casting metal, were known, for, besides arrow-heads and other weapons of stone, spears and swords of copper or iron, together with plows and hatchets of hard metals, were in evidence.

It is interesting to know that at marriage the bridegroom, contrary to the modern custom, went to the house of the bride. A man also was permitted to have several wives, but a woman was never allowed to have more than one husband. Divination was always employed to solve doubtful questions. Music and dancing were already known, the koto and the flute being employed as musical instruments. Emotions of grief or joy, love or disappointment, were expressed in song, the most ancient song now extant being attributed to the deity Susanoö. The Emperor Jimmu also frequently commemorated brave deeds of war in song, thus encouraging and reviving the spirit of his warriors.

A profound awe and respect toward the national deities, as well as a superstitious fear of innumerable spirits, seems to have prevailed everywhere in all classes of society. If the people submitted readily to the sway of the Emperor Jimmu, it was largely because they regarded him as a scion of the gods. The emperor, on his side, firmly convinced that good and evil were controlled by divine will, never neglected to perform sacrificial rites. Out of the custom of extreme reverence toward the deities grew abhorrence for impurity in any form, so that separate huts came to be built for the bodies of the dead or for women at times of parturition, and if any man came in contact with an unclean object, he bathed in a river to purify himself.

Naturally, little distinction existed between religion and government, between shrine and palace. At the completion of his work of conquest, Jimmu erected a building at Kashiwabara, in which he deposited the three insignia, and in which he himself resided and personally governed the empire. Each one of his eight successors followed his example. The tenth emperor, Sujin, however, fearing that the insignia might be polluted, made duplicates of the Mirror and the Sword, and reverently deposited the originals in a shrine at Kasanui in Yamato, where one of the imperial princesses was intrusted with the duty of guarding them and performing due religious rites. Thus, shrine and palace were at last separated. Subsequently, these sacred objects were removed to Ise, and placed in the shrine now existing there. The Sword, however, was afterward carried to Atsuta in Owari, where it now lies in the Atsuta Shrine.

During the reigns of Sujin and his successor, Suinin, the agriculture and communication of the country are recorded to have been greatly encouraged, troubles near the court exterminated, and also the area of the empire largely extended. The extension of the imperial domain, however, brought it in sharp conflict with the still unsubdued tribes of the north and the south. From the reign of Keikō, Suinin's successor, we hear of the story of the conflict. The Kumaso of Tsukushi, Kiushū, rose in arms. How seriously this was regarded is seen from the fact that the emperor in person conducted a campaign for several years in Kiushū. No sooner was peace restored than the southern tribes again rebelled. This time the brave Prince Yamato-dake, who was sent to Tsukushi to subdue the insurgents, had to resort to strategy instead of war. Having disguised himself as a girl, he obtained entry into the house of the Kumaso chief, where he killed the chief and his warriors while they were lying drunk. He also overthrew many other rebellious princes and returned to Yamato in triumph.

In the meantime the emperor, after his return from Kiushū, had heard from a special commissioner whom he had sent that in the northeast of the empire there was a strange region named Hidakami, where the people of both sexes wore their hair tied up, tattooed their bodies, and performed deeds of valor. They were known as the Emishi, and their land, being extensive and fertile, the commissioner represented, ought to be added to the imperial domain. These Emishi rose in rebellion shortly after the return of Prince Yamato-dake from the conquest of the Kumaso. Thereupon the prince boldly offered to undertake the conquest of the new insurgents. After subduing local uprisings on his way, he proceeded by sea to the region of the northern rebellion. As his boats drew near the shore he displayed a large mirror at the prow of his vessel, and when the rebel chieftains and their followers sighted the ships, they were terrified by such evidences of pomp and power, and throwing away their bows and arrows, made submission. The prince accepted their homage, and enlisting their aid, conquered other rebels who still resisted the progress of the imperial forces. It seems probable that on that occasion Prince Yamato-dake advanced as far as the present province of Iwaki. On his return journey, which was again beset with local difficulties, he was seized with a severe illness, which soon proved fatal. The emperor bitterly lamented the death of his beloved son, and the story of the gallant prince is still dear to the heart of every child of Japan.

The local administration of the empire so materially extended during three successive reigns was now reorganized by the Emperor Shōmu, son of Keikō. The nature of Shōmu's reform is, however, little known. When the Emperor Jimmu established the office of local governor, there were only nine provinces, but the number was increased by more than ten during the reigns of Kaika, Sujin, and Keikō, and became sixty-three in the time of the Emperor Shōmu. The imperial sway then extended northward as far as Shinobu (the present Mutsu), Sado and Noto; eastward to Tsukuba (now Hidachi); westward to Amakusa, and southward to Kii. Throughout the whole of this district, governors were appointed to administer local affairs. Subsequently the process of division continued until, in the reign of the Emperor Suikō, the total number of provinces reached 144, at which figure it remained until 645 A. D., the date of the so-called Taikwa Reformation. These local divisions, though here spoken of as provinces, had in fact different appellations—as kuni, a province, or agata, a district—and were not of uniform area. The term kuni was employed to designate an area bounded by mountains or rivers, whereas the agata had no such geographical limits. In general the former was the more extensive, but in consequence of the natural features of the country the agata was sometimes the larger. The entire subject of the local government of ancient Japan is, however, one of the most obscure subjects in history.

The reigns of the first thirteen emperors, from Jimmu to Shōmu, may be considered the era of the founding of the Japanese Empire. The main work of the sovereigns of this period consisted in the organization, extension, and consolidation of their domain. Foreign relations had hardly begun, and external influence was as yet slightly felt. The following table gives the names of the thirteen emperors, with the officially fixed dates of their reigns:

1. Emperor Jimmu.
660-585 B. C.
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2. Emperor Suisei.
581-549 B. C.
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3. Emperor Annei.
548-510 B. C.
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4. Emperor Itoku.
510-475 B. C.
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5. Emperor Kōshō.
475-392 B. C.
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6. Emperor Kōan.
392-290 B. C.
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7. Emperor Kōrei.
290-214 B. C.
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8. Emperor Kōgen.
214-157 B. C.
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9. Emperor Kaikwa.
157-97 B. C.
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10. Emperor Sujin.
97-29 B. C.
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11. Emperor Suinin.
29 B. C.-71 A. D.
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12. Emperor Keikō.
71-131 A. D.
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13. Emperor Shōmu.
131-192 A. D.

Chapter III

RELATIONS WITH KOREA AND CHINA
192-645 A. D.

Japan's foreign relations naturally began with the neighboring peninsula of Korea, which then contained several petty kingdoms at variance with one another. Political relations of Japan with some of these small states must have begun very early, but the traditional accounts concerning them are meager and untrustworthy. It is probable that some of the Korean chiefs were at different times tributary to Japan. The relations with Korea, however, appear to have become serious only when it was suspected that the restless tribes of Kiushū had been encouraged by Shiragi, the most warlike kingdom in the peninsula, in their repeated acts of rebellion against the emperor of Japan. In this light may be read the following famous legend of the Japanese expedition to Korea, which is said to have taken place about 200 A. D., under the leadership of the valiant Empress Jingō and her minister, Takenouchi.

Tradition says that, as the Kumaso of Tsukushi, Kiushū, again rose in arms, the Emperor Chūai proceeded thither in person, and, through his minister, prayed for the guidance of the gods. Thereupon the latter inspired the empress, who had joined the imperial expedition, to declare that if Shiragi was first conquered, the Kumaso would submit without further resistance. The emperor, however, hesitated to take this divine counsel, and the deities punished his disobedience by death. Awed by this startling event, the empress gave directions that her consort's death should be kept secret, and having intrusted to his generals the duty of guarding the temporary palace at Tsukushi, she sent Takenouchi to convey the emperor's remains to Nagato by sea, while she herself remained to mourn the death of her husband in his prime. Sacrifices were again offered to heaven, and prayers again addressed to the deities, to which the reply was the same as before. After subduing several rebel tribes, the empress came to a river, where she sought by fishing to obtain an omen as to whether the conquest of Korea should be attempted. The indications being in the affirmative, she finally resolved to lead an expedition in person across the sea. Sacrificial rites were again performed to all the deities, and the empress, returning to Kashihi Bay, ordered the people to build ships, and sent sailors westward to reconnoiter the land which she contemplated invading. By and by, a lucky day having been chosen, the Japanese fleet set out from Wanizu in Tsushima, and, aided by a favorable wind, soon reached the coast of Shiragi. Hasankin, the king of Shiragi, was so much alarmed by the appearance of the invading force that, without offering any resistance, he came to sue for peace, and made a solemn pledge that he would henceforth serve the ruler of Japan as a groom and send her annual tributes. Shiragi, he declared, would abide by his oath, "till the river Yalu flowed backward and sands rose to sky and became stars." The kingdoms of Koma and Kudara followed the example of Shiragi, so that the three principal divisions of southern Korea became tributary to Japan.

It should be noted, however, that from this time on neither was Korea always obedient nor did the Kumaso cease to be rebellious. In the meantime, however, an important event in an entirely different direction resulted from Japan's intimate relations with Korea. It was the introduction through Korea of the Chinese art of writing. Many Koreans accompanied the commissioners who brought the annual tribute to Japan, and the literature and art of the west were gradually introduced. Annals attribute the beginning of Chinese learning in Japan to the reign of the Emperor Ojin, son of the Empress Jingō, when in 218 A. D. a celebrated Korean scholar, Achiki, visited Japan and was appointed by the emperor tutor to his son, Wakairatsuko. At the suggestion of Achiki, another learned man named Wani was sent for, who is said to have brought with him blacksmiths, weavers, and brewers, as well as ten copies of the "Lun-yu" (the Confucian Analects) and a copy of the "Chien-tze-wen" (the book of one thousand characters). Achiki and Wani were naturalized in Japan and received official positions, and their descendants continued to hold professorships at court. About 110 years after the introduction of Chinese literature, the Emperor Richū appointed historiographers in all the local districts to chronicle the chief events of the locality. This was, so far as we know, the first organized attempt to compile regular records. Subsequently, as the administrative machinery grew more complex, the necessity of writing became more imperative, and to a service of this kind none were more fitted than the descendants of the naturalized Korean scholars, who kept up their intellectual heritage and occupied important posts at the court. Fresh scholars also arrived from Korea in increasing numbers. Thus, in the reign of the Emperor Keitai, there came from Kudara two doctors in the Five Classics, and a little later doctors in medicine and astronomy and other savants settled in the country and opened classes to instruct the Japanese in their special branches of study. The introduction of Buddhism from Korea, which soon occurred, and the circumstances of which will presently be narrated, gave an added impetus to the learning. Some of the gifted men of the court, particularly the wise Prince Shōtoku, began to distinguish themselves as accomplished scholars in Chinese classics and Buddhist canons. As yet, however, the native language and the Chinese grammar, which are so radically different from each other, did not begin their long history of struggle to reconcile themselves to one another. The vernacular could hardly lend itself to expression in Chinese characters, and histories and inscriptions were written only in the pure Chinese style.

The coming of Buddhism was an incident which accelerated the progress of a profound change in the history and civilization of Japan, already started by her close relations with the continent of Asia. Buddhism was first introduced early in the sixth century by a Chinese scholar, Sumatah, who, however, made little progress in propagating the alien faith among the people of Yamato. Afterward, during the reign of the Emperor Kimmei, in the year 552 A. D., the king of Kudara, in Korea, sent the emperor of Japan an envoy bearing an image of Buddha and a copy of the Sutras, together with a message that the creed of Buddha excelled all religious beliefs, and that boundless happiness in this world, as well as in the next, was insured to its disciples, among whom were already all the nations from India to Korea. The emperor was greatly impressed and summoned his ministers to a deliberation over the proper attitude to be assumed by Japan regarding this new problem of the western civilization. Soga-no-Iname, minister president, counseled the acceptance of the foreign faith, saying that Japan should not alone stand aloof when all nations in the west had embraced Buddha's doctrine. Against this view Mononobe-no-Okoshi and Nakatomi Kamako, ministers of state, argued that from the most ancient times the Japanese had worshiped the celestial and terrestrial gods, and that if reverence were paid now to any alien deity, the wrath of the tutelary gods of the land might be provoked. The emperor approved the latter view, but gave the image of Buddha to Iname with permission to worship it by way of trial. Iname was greatly pleased with the behest, and lost no time in converting his residence into a temple, where he placed the image. Soon afterward a pestilence visited the country, sweeping away numbers of people. The opponents of Buddhism thereupon having represented to the sovereign that this was obviously a punishment inflicted by Heaven, the temple was burned down and the image thrown into the canal in Naniwa. The emperor, however, did not altogether abandon his predilection for the worship of Buddha, and Iname sent secretly to Korea for another image. Thus, in the reign of the Emperor Bidatsu, images of Buddha, copies of the Sutras, priests, and manufacturers of Buddhist paraphernalia came from the kingdoms of Kudara and Bidatsu. Subsequently (584 A. D.), Soga-no-Umako, who had succeeded his father, Iname, as minister president, built temples and pagodas dedicated to Buddha. Another pestilence came to revive the anti-Buddhist movement, under the influence of which an imperial edict was issued prohibiting the worship of Buddha; all the temples and pagodas were demolished or burned, and the images of Buddha were thrown into the canal. The people's sufferings were, however, not relieved. A plague of boils ensued, and inasmuch as the pain caused by the sores resembled that of burning or beating, old and young alike concluded that they were the victims of a punishment of burning inflicted by Buddha. From this it may be inferred that Buddhism had already established a hold upon the popular imagination. Shortly afterward Soga-no-Umako, having applied for permission, was allowed to worship Buddha with his own family.

When the Emperor Yōmei ascended the throne in 586, he suffered so much from bodily infirmity that he felt tempted to worship Buddha. By this time the influence of Buddhists had grown so strong that they, on the pretext that their opponents were disloyal to the wishes of the throne, took this occasion to destroy the two most powerful anti-Buddhists. Then, by the combined energy of Prince Shōtoku and the minister president, Soga-no-Umako, the propagation of Buddhism made great strides, until the Empress Suiko openly encouraged its acceptance among the people of all classes. In 607, in order to obtain copies of the Sutras, there was sent for the first time in history an imperial envoy directly to China, where the Sui dynasty had just unified the long disrupted empire. This was the commencement of intercourse with China. The preamble of the dispatch sent on that occasion from the empress of Japan to the sovereign of China was couched in the following words: "The Sovereign of the Empire of the Rising Sun to the Sovereign of the Empire of the Setting Sun sends greetings." Doubtless the name "Nippon" (Land of the Rising Sun) had its origin in this incident. By and by, as the number of priests and nuns increased, disorders occurred among them, and for purposes of superintendence the offices of Sōjō (archbishop) and Sōzu (bishop) were established. From the introduction of Buddhism in the reign of the Emperor Kimmei to the time of which we are now speaking, seventy-five years elapsed. During the first thirty-two years of that period, Buddhism failed to obtain a footing in Japan, but from 584 it gradually extended throughout the empire, until in 627 there were in Japan 46 temples, 816 priests, and 569 nuns.

Let us now observe some features of the life of the nation and the profound influence wrought upon it by the introduction of the continental civilization and of Buddhism. It is not too much to say that, at least around the seat of the central government, the arts and sciences of China and the creed of Buddha greatly changed the simplicity of Japanese life and imparted to it a character of refinement and pomp hitherto unknown. Chinese literature not only taught Japan the art of writing and composition, but also brought with it an advanced ethical sense of fidelity, piety, benevolence, and justice. The Emperor Ōjin's son, who was the first Japanese student of Chinese literature, had acquired such an accurate knowledge of the rules of composition and calligraphy that when a memorial was presented to the throne by Korean ambassadors, he detected the presence of disrespectful ideograms and rebuked the envoys. His attainments won for him the favor of his father, who nominated him heir in preference to his elder brother; nevertheless, on the death of the emperor, this prince resigned his claim in behalf of his brother. For such self-denial his scholarship had prepared him. So, too, the erudite Emperor Nintoku dwelt for the space of three years in a dilapidated palace, in order that his people might have relief from taxation during a famine, and know the sense of love and duty his learning had taught him. The prosperity of the nation, he said, was his own prosperity, their poverty his poverty.

The doctrine of Confucius inculcated reverence toward Heaven, respect for ancestors, loyalty to the sovereign, love of the people, and discharge of the duties of filial piety. On the other hand, Buddhism proved an ennobling influence upon the mind of the nation. Hitherto the people naïvely attributed every happy or unhappy event, every fortunate or unfortunate incident, to the will of the gods, whom they appeased by offerings and sacrifices that evil might be averted. The gods looked and acted like men. Highest among them stood the celestial and terrestrial gods; lowest were certain wild animals and venomous snakes, which also were propitiated by worship. Gods were near men, and some of the latter were conceived as scions of the former. This primitive notion of a deity was not materially affected by the introduction of the Confucian philosophy, the tenets of which offered no contradiction to the ancient idea. Buddhism, on the contrary, told of a past and of a future; announced the doctrine that virtue would be rewarded and vice punished in a future state; and taught that the Buddha was the supreme being and that whosoever had faith in him should receive unlimited blessings at his hands. No longer were the deities the only objects of fear and reverence, for now a being of supreme wisdom and power loomed upon the mental horizon of the people. Even the sovereign himself was seen worshiping Buddha, whose servant he was pleased to regard himself. Prejudices at court against the Hindu doctrine were dispelled by the growing light shed by the deeper knowledge of Buddhism, while the golden images of Buddha and the imposing structures enshrining them, as well as the gorgeous paraphernalia of the temples and the solemnity of the rites performed therein, allured the common folk into the faith. At the same time, the people's reverence for the ancient gods of the nation remained unshaken, so that Shintōism, Confucianism, and Buddhism existed side by side, supplying the defects of one another and answering different moral needs of the race.

Along with learning and religion, various arts of civilized life were profusely supplied from Korea to vivify the general progress of the nation. Among the most important was the production and manufacture of silk, which was largely studied by the people and encouraged by the Emperor Yūryaku. Many Chinese artisans of the fallen dynasties migrated through Korea to Japan, where they were naturalized and transmitted their knowledge of the western arts and sciences. In architecture, also, with the coming of Buddhism a need arose for lofty and large edifices, the erection of which must have greatly changed the appearance of the capital. The art of pottery made a great advance, as did the blacksmith's craft of forging swords and other articles of iron. Nor were medicine and the calendar neglected, while the new art of carving and decorating as well as drawing the image of Buddha, gave a powerful impetus to painting and sculpture. The collective influence of all these and other new changes upon the life of the people, nearer the center of the government at least, must have been very great. With the development of the art of weaving, apparel was improved by the addition of silk garments; as agriculture progressed, rice and other cereals furnished agreeable aliment; the influence of Buddhism gradually produced a distaste for animal food. The introduction of the science of architecture soon effected a marked change in the dimensions and decoration of dwelling-houses. Transmission of intelligence was facilitated by the imported art of writing, the moral, intellectual, and political thinking of the ruling classes began to take a more or less definite shape from the coming of the Chinese classics, while Buddhism spread over the nation a charm which was at once captivating and ennobling. A new era of history had begun.

We shall now turn our attention to the remarkable political evolution which followed and was in fact to a large extent occasioned by the introduction of Buddhism. In the earliest days of the empire, administrative posts were transmitted by heredity from generation to generation. It thus resulted that family names were derived from official titles, as, for example, the official title for persons performing religious rites was Nakatomi or Imbe, which titles became family names of holders of that office. Similarly Ōtomo and Mononobe were family names of officials having control of troops or direction of military affairs. Among commoners, also, there were many who performed certain kinds of work for the government, the art of which they bequeathed to their children by heredity. Each occupation of this description was organized into a guild, and each guild was under the control of a headman who belonged to some influential family. Not only were public offices and private guilds similarly organized by the principle of heredity, but also there was no rigid line drawn between the public property and the personal possession of a nobleman. The higher one's position among the aristocracy, the more exalted was his office and the more plenteous his treasury. Under these circumstances, it is not strange that the administration of the state gradually fell under the control of the heads of a few powerful clans. Originally, during the reign of the first emperor, the Nakatomi and Imbe families discharged religious functions, and the Ōtomo, Kume, and Mononobe families performed military duties. The influence of these families was then about equal. But subsequent events resulted in the decline of the Kume, while the Ōtomo were in the main intrusted with the control of Korean affairs. Domestic administration remained chiefly in the hands of the Mononobe and the new family of Soga, descendants of Takenouchi, the tactful minister of the Empress Jingō. The Mononobe stood at the head of all the noble families bearing the honorary title of Muraji, and the Soga, of those likewise designated as Omi. It was inevitable that the mutual jealousy of the two leading houses should bring them to a clash of interests, while the introduction of Buddhism had the effect of greatly accentuating their hostility. It will be remembered that the Mononobe family adhered steadily to conservative principles and opposed the spread of Buddhism, which the Soga, on the contrary, zealously upheld. So long, however, as both families bowed implicitly to the imperial commands, their dispute did not attain serious proportions. But when, in the reign of Yōmei, not only was the empress dowager a daughter of the Soga family, but also the emperor himself inclined to the worship of Buddha, the final struggle between the two families could no longer be deferred.

On the death of the emperor, Mononobe Moriya sought to secure the succession for a brother of the deceased sovereign, as against another prince, son of the empress dowager. His plot was discovered, and he was defeated and killed. The Mononobe being thus overthrown, the supremacy rested with Umako, the head of the Soga, and the throne was occupied by his own prince. But the prince could not long bear the arbitrary conduct of Umako, who then caused him to be assassinated. The empress dowager, a daughter of the Soga, despite the presence of direct successors in the male line, ascended the throne under the title of the Empress Suiko. This was the first instance of the scepter being held by a female. On the death of Umako, his son, Emishi, succeeded him, and wielded even larger influence than his father. Emishi crushed an opposition offered by his own uncle, and placed in succession to the empress a prince of his choice, and under the latter's rule as Emperor Shōmei, Emishi behaved as he pleased. After Shōmei's death, his consort ascended the throne under the name of Kōkyoku. Emishi's son, Iruka, who now discharged the administrative functions, exercised even greater power than his father. He also designed to obtain the throne for Prince Furuhito, a relative of his family. But an obstacle existed in the person of Prince Yamashiro, whose goodness and discretion had won popular respect. Steps were taken to have this prince assassinated, and otherwise Iruka showed himself so arbitrary and unscrupulous that there appeared to be danger of his compassing the destruction of the lineal successors to the throne and usurping the sovereignty himself. Thereupon Nakatomi Kamatari, a loyal subject, conferred with Prince Nakano-ōye, son of the Emperor Shōmei, as to the expediency of making away with Iruka. This plot culminated in the killing of Iruka in the throne room on a day when Korean ambassadors were received at the court. Iruka's father, Emishi, was also killed, and with them the glory of the Soga vanished.

Thus ended the interesting period of history in which active relations, first with Korea, and then with China, began to produce in Japan a direct, profound effect upon her society and politics. Agents of the advanced civilization were liberally introduced, and, in the midst of this process, a grave crisis which was about to overcome the central institutions of the state system was averted only by an anomalous act of a few patriots. It was these latter who inaugurated in the next period the grand work of reconstructing the entire system of government and administration after the pattern of Chinese institutions. The continental civilization in all its refinement was then even more eagerly studied around the capital than before, while the country at large, under the unforeseen effects of these artificial reforms, passed gradually into a still later period of her history. Before taking up the story of the reform period, we as usual subjoin a table of the sovereigns of the period which has been under review in this chapter.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGNS.

14. Emperor Chūai, 192-270 A. D. (including the 69 years of the
regency of Empress Jingō-kōgō).
|
15. Emperor Ojin, 270-313.
|
16. Emperor Nintoku, 313-400.
|
17. Emperor Richû,--18. Emperor Hanshō,--19. Emperor Inkyō,
400-405. 405-411. 411-453.
| |
| +----------------+
| |
Prince Ichinobe Oshiiwa. 20. Emperor Ankō,--21. Emperor Yūryaku,
| 453-456. 456-480.
| |
| 22. Emperor Seinei.
23. Emperor Kensō,--24. Emperor Ninken, 488-499. 480-485.
485-488. |
25. Emperor Buretsu, 499-507.
(Emperor Ojin.)
|
(Emperor Nintoku.)--Prince Wakamikenofutamata.
|
Prince Ōhito.
|
Prince Hikouishi.
|
26. Emperor Keitai, 507-534.
|
+---------------+
|
27. Emperor Ankan,--28. Emperor Senkwa,--29. Emperor Kimmei, 540-572.
534-536. 536-540. |
+----------------------------------------+
|
30. Emperor Bidatsu,--31. Emperor Yōmei,--32. Emperor Susun,--33. Empress
572-586. 586-588. 588-591. Suiko,
| 591-629.
|
Prince Oshisakahiko-nushibito.
|
+----------+
|
34. Emperor Shōmei, 629-642.--Prince Chinu.
|
35. Empress Kōkyoku, 642-645.

Chapter IV

THE TAIKWA REFORM. 645-708 A. D.

It was in the year 645 A. D. that a small league of supporters of the imperial institutions, under the leadership of two true statesmen, Prince Naka-no-ōye and Nakatomi-no-Kamatari, overthrew the disloyal family of Soga. For the first time in Japanese history, the Chinese system of year-periods was adopted, and the name Taikwa ("Great Change") was applied to the period which began with this year. No more appropriate name could be invented, for the reforms henceforth introduced, known in history as the Taikwa reformation, were of such a sweeping character as to transform within a few years all the fundamental institutions of the central and local administration. The model of the changes was found in the system of politics and society of China, which had lately come under the sway of the dynasty of T'ang, the centralized government and refined civilization of which had excited emulation in the minds of the Japanese reformers. The memorable year 645 A. D. thus marks the beginning of the exhaustive reformation which was completed only after fifty-six years, extending over the reigns of six sovereigns, for it was not till 701 that the celebrated Taihō code of laws brought the work of state reorganization to a close.

It would hardly be necessary for us to study the reforms in detail, which brought profound changes upon nearly all the features of national life. The central institution of the new state may be said to be the land system. Formerly, noble families abused the influence of their position and extended their territorial estates so greatly that the commoner was in a state of perpetual eviction. Between the rich and the poor had grown a widening gap. Now the reformers, after their Chinese model, boldly confiscated to the state all the landed estates of private individuals, which they then allotted equally among all the people above the age of six at the rate of two tan for a male and one and one-third tan for a female (a chō, or 10 tan, at the time being approximately equal to two acres), subject to a redistribution at every sixth year. Naturally neither the periodical redistribution nor the system of equal allotment itself could be long maintained, but the notion that the ownership of land was ultimately vested in the state was not abandoned until the present reign, when the people of all classes were at last allowed to own land.

The economic and financial unit of the nation being thus defined, it was also provided that a national census should be returned at a fixed period. New taxes were of three kinds, the principal one, called so, being levied upon land. The method of its assessment was to fix the annual produce of two tan of rice land at 100 sheaves, 8 of which—4 large and 4 small—were taken as tax, or, roughly, five per cent. of the gross produce. Of the other two kinds of taxes one was called yō and the other chō. The former may be regarded as a species of corvée. After a man attained the age of twenty-one he was required to perform ten days' public work annually, which service, however, he was at liberty to commute for one piece of cloth (nuno). The chō was levied on silk, fish, cloth, and generally speaking on objects produced or obtained in considerable quantities. The proceeds of the rice-tax were applied to defray the expenses of local administration, while the outlay of the central government was met by the proceeds of the two other taxes, yō and chō.

As regards local administration, the old names of local divisions, kuni (provinces) and kōri (districts), were retained, while towns, sato, were organized generally by grouping together fifty houses under a town-head. Along the principal roads relays of post horses were maintained for public service, and every person traveling in the interior was required by law to carry a hand-bell and a document similar to a passport. At important places guard-houses were established, with duly appointed lookouts and garrisons for preserving order. Government business was transacted in the provinces under the control of officials collectively called kokushi, and in the districts under that of gunshi. The former set of officers were appointed by the central government from among the nobler families, while the latter seem to have been largely supplied by the descendants of old local magnates. In those days the empire comprised 58 kuni, over 500 kōri, and about 13,000 sato, but subsequent changes resulted in 66 kuni and more than 700 kōri, which numbers continued till the beginning of the present reign.

Finally, as to the central government, its ultimate control was vested in the hands of three principal officials, namely, the ministers of the left, of the right, and of the interior; but this organization subsequently underwent considerable modification. The eight departments of administration were Department of Records (Nakatsukasa), Department of Ceremonies (Shikibu), Department of Administration (Jibu), Department of Home Affairs (Mimbu), Department of Military Affairs (Hyōbu), Department of Justice (Kyōbu), Department of Finance (Ōkura), and Department of the Imperial Household (Kunai). Each was comprised of three bureaus, between which the functions of the department were distributed. Over and above the eight departments stood the two highest offices, grand council (Daijō-kwan) and religious rites (Jingi-kwan).

The administrative organization having been thus determined, steps were taken to make suitable selection of personnel for the various official posts, and in connection with this a body of rules was compiled, fixing the ranks of officials of all kinds. The system of selection by merit was in this manner substituted for that of hereditary succession. But the change did not find complete expression in practice, for noble families, though nominally deprived of exclusive official privileges, still benefited by the conservatism of custom. Various ranks of officials were minutely graded, and rigidly marked by means of the colors of garments and head-gear or by patents, but these insignia underwent subsequent changes in minor details.

Such, in brief, were the principal features of the Taikwa reforms. The government, however, did not confine itself to the realm of enactment, for instructions of an admonitory character were issued with a view to improving the manners and customs of the agricultural classes. Diligence in the pursuit of their occupations, economy, integrity, exclusion of mercenary motives from contracts of marriage, simplicity of funeral rites, persistence in habits of industry even during periods of mourning—such were the virtues recommended to farmers by official proclamation. At the same time, in order to establish contact between the ruling classes and the ruled, boxes were set up at various places wherein the people were invited to deposit any statement of grievances from which they suffered, and it was provided that a man who desired to bring a complaint speedily to the notice of the authorities should ring a bell hung in a public building.

On the decease of the Emperor Kōtoku, after a reign of ten years, the previous empress, Kōkyoku, reassumed the scepter under the name of Saimei. This was the first instance of a sovereign occupying the throne twice. Prince Naka-no-ōye, who throughout both reigns had remained heir-apparent, succeeded the Empress Saimei under the name of Tenchi. This sovereign, who before ascending the throne had greatly distinguished himself, is not noted for any conspicuous deeds while in possession of the scepter. Throughout his reign the country enjoyed profound internal tranquillity. Its foreign affairs, however, assumed a complexion worthy of special notice.

Since the conquest of southern Korea, which tradition attributes to the Empress Jingō, its kingdoms not only rendered tributes of valuable articles, but also conferred no small benefit on their suzerain by contributing to the latter's material and moral civilization. Nevertheless, the interval that separated the two countries made communication difficult, and although Japan established a branch government in Korea at a place called Mimana, the Koreans, relying upon the distance of the latter from headquarters, frequently acted in a rebellious manner. During an interval of 460 years after the legendary invasion of the Empress Jingō, no less than thirty instances are recorded when the Koreans either failed to send tribute, insulted Japanese envoys, or broke into open revolt. On every occasion Japan sent embassies to demand explanation and redress, or reasserted her supremacy by force of arms. Shiragi, which in those days stood at the head of the districts into which Korea was divided, rose in 562 against Mimana and succeeded in expelling the Japanese officials and obtaining possession of the place. This disaster weighed greatly on the mind of the Emperor Kimmei, whose last behest uttered on his deathbed was that Mimana should be recovered. A great army was accordingly sent against Shiragi, but success did not attend the Japanese arms. Not only was it found impossible to reduce Shiragi, but even the maintenance of the local government at Mimana proved a task beyond the military strength of the time. Thenceforth the recovery of Mimana became an object upon which Japan's attention was ever concentrated. When in 618 China fell under the powerful sway of the T'ang dynasty, the people of Shiragi, relying on Chinese assistance, conceived the project of bringing under their rule the neighboring district of Kudara. Reduced to extremities, Kudara in 660 sent envoys to seek succor from Japan. After considerable discussion, the Japanese Government resolved to undertake an expedition against Shiragi on a large scale. Great preparations were set on foot. The sovereign himself proceeded to Tsukushi and oversaw the dispatch thence of a fleet of a hundred war vessels under the command of Azumi-no-Hirafu, whose instructions were to attack Shiragi and rescue Kudara. But the latter was found to be in a helpless condition. Invaded simultaneously by the forces of China and Shiragi, it was also torn by internal dissensions, and could not coöperate in any effective manner with the Japanese navy, which consequently withdrew, leaving Kudara to its inevitable fate. The final fall of Kudara occurred in 670, and a few years later the third Korean district of Koma was also defeated by China. Shiragi subsequently sent occasional tribute to Japan, but was never afterward included in the Japanese dominions. The Emperor Tenchi, reviewing the history of his country's relations with Korea, seems to have arrived at the definite conclusion that the wisest policy was on the side of abandoning all idea of recovering Kudara, and devoting Japan's energies solely to organizing measures of defense against foreign attack. He accordingly adopted every possible means of promoting military efficiency. It should be remembered that Japan had not only lavished money and blood for Korea, but also had outlived the days when the civilizing influence of the continent had to come by way of the peninsula and had already been in communication with the source of enlightenment, China. It was during the reign of the same Emperor Tenchi that China sent an envoy to the court of Japan, and the latter country dispatched an embassy in return, so that the two empires were brought into more friendly relations than before.

If, however, the extent of the Japanese dominions suffered reduction in the west, it in the meantime received an increment in the north by the subjection of some recalcitrant tribes. It will be recalled that the uprising of these people, called Emishi, or Ebisu, had been suppressed by Prince Yamato-dake, but further north in the island of Ezo, the present Hokkaidō;, the imperial sway received only partial acknowledgment. There the Emishi not only were restless, but also generally had the sympathy and support of their kinsmen across the waters, just as in earlier times, the Kumaso, the autochthons of Kiushū, habitually espoused the cause of Korea in any conflict between the latter and Japan. The government always found itself compelled to undertake a dual campaign in times of trouble with the island on the north or with the peninsula on the west. Because of these difficulties forts were built, about 650, at Nutari and Iwafune in Echigo, and garrisoned by the people of that province and of Shinano, for the purpose of holding the aborigines of Ezo in control. The unsettled condition of these outlying districts may be further inferred from an enactment contemporaneous with the great Taikwa reforms. For whereas a general interdict was then issued against unauthorized possession of arms and armor by private persons, dwellers in the remote parts of the east were exempted from this prohibition on the ground of their liability to attack.

During the years 658-660, in the Empress Saimei's reign, Abe-no-Hirafu, a distinguished governor of the Koshi provinces (Echigo and Uzen), conducted successful campaigns against the autochthons of Ezo, breaking their power and destroying their vessels of war, and finally invaded Manchuria at the head of a force composed of subjugated Emishi, and cut off the source from which insurgents had usually derived succor. The result of this campaign was that the Emishi were, for the most part, brought into subjection, and functionaries called Gunryō; were posted at Shiribeshi in the northern island. Frequent insurrections, however, followed, and finally it was found necessary to build the castles of Taga and Akita, where strong forces of soldiers were maintained to preserve order.

A few expeditions on a large scale were also organized against them under the command of generalissimos (shōgun) upon whom the duty of guarding the northern and eastern marches devolved, but it was not until 796, during the reign of the Emperor Kwammu, that these autochthons were effectually brought into subjection. The campaign against them at that time was directed by a renowned captain, Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro, who, at the head of a great army, penetrated to the limits of the rebellious districts, slaughtering all who refused to surrender. This general's exploits were second only to those of his predecessor Abe-no-Hirafu. Not only was the sway of the imperial court thus extended to the east and north, but in the south also various islands—Tokuara, Tane, Yaku, Amami, Toku, and others—lying off the coasts of Satsuma and Ōsumi, were added to the Japanese dominions.

The curious "Hairy Ainos" of northern Japan hold the bear in extreme sanctity. They catch the bear when young and bring him up on human milk, a nurse being deputed to him. Then he is transferred to a cage and, when he is old enough to be slain, on the day of sacrifice the whole village turns out armed with bows and arrows, the cage is opened and each one strives to send home the fatal shaft. The chief prays the bear to pardon the violence done him, requests benefits from the now deified carcass, and presents offerings. They then behead and skin the bear, and begin an orgie which lasts several days.

Let us now see what important incidents took place during this time around the person of the sovereign. In the third year of the Emperor Tenchi's reign, 670, the celebrated statesman of the Taikwa reformation, Nakatomi-no-Kamatari died. He had been raised to the position of lord keeper of the privy seal, and had received the family name of Fujiwara, in recognition of his meritorious services. Kamatari was a man of thorough loyalty and integrity. His zeal in the emperor's service was unflagging, and he showed great ability in framing useful laws and regulations, so that, after his decease, people spoke of him as a model of fidelity. Two years later the emperor himself, formally the leader of the reforms since 645, died, leaving behind him a reputation for good government which was held in so grateful a remembrance that when more than a century later the Emperor Kwammu promulgated a law dispensing with the observance of religious ceremonies on the anniversaries of the deaths of sovereigns deceased at remote periods, public sentiment caused the Emperor Tenchi to be excepted from the general rule. Yet he had scarcely been laid to rest when a serious disturbance took place with reference to his successor. In accordance with the rule of primogeniture followed in Japan, the scepter was bequeathed to the eldest prince of the blood with almost unvarying regularity during the thirteen generations from Jimmu to Seimu; and throughout the thirty-two generations from Jimmu to Sujun no woman held the scepter, for although Jingō held regency for sixty-nine years, she was never invested with the dignity of the title of sovereign.

The accession of the Empress Suiko was due to exceptional circumstances, and did not mark a recognized departure from the old rule. Subsequently, however, not a few instances occurred of the scepter falling into the hands of an uncle or niece of a deceased emperor, and on these occasions more or less disquiet accompanied the event. But no disturbance connected with such a cause attained anything like the dimensions of the trouble that followed Tenchi's death.[1] On the occasion of the emperor's visit to Tsukushi to make arrangements for the invasion of Korea, he entrusted the administration of affairs during his absence to his younger brother, Prince Ōama, and caused the heir apparent, Prince Ōtomo, to accompany him to Tsukushi. Ōtomo, though young in years, had already given evidence of great capacity and was exceptionally learned. The sovereign entertained a strong affection for him, and after returning from Tsukushi raised him to the position of prime minister. On the other hand, the relations between the emperor and his brother, Prince Ōama, were for some unknown reason inharmonious. When the emperor, perceiving the dangerous character of his malady, would fain have entrusted the administration of affairs after his death to Ōama, the latter pretending ill health declined the responsibility. The prince imperial was consequently proclaimed successor to the throne, and Ōama took the priestly order and retired to Mount Yoshino, partly for the purpose of praying for the soul of the deceased emperor, but partly also to dispel the suspicion with which the public regarded his acts. None the less, it was the common talk of the time that Ōama's retirement to Yoshino was as "the letting loose of a tiger on a moor." Twice did the ministers of state take the oath of allegiance to Prince Ōtomo, but rivalry and evil feeling continued to grow between the partisans of the new sovereign and those of Prince Ōama. In the end a state of open hostilities resulted. Prince Ōama, rapidly withdrawing to the eastern provinces, obtained possession of all the strategical positions, and was followed by large numbers of adherents. The emperor dispatched an army against the insurgents, and engagements took place in Mino, Ōmi, and Yamato, but on every occasion the imperial forces were routed, and the eastern army gradually pushed on to Ōtsu in Shiga. A final and desperate stand was made by the emperor's troops in the Seta district, but the battle ended in their total defeat, and the sovereign himself, escaping from the field, perished by his own hand at the age of twenty-five, after a reign of only eight months. This emperor is known in history as Kōbun. Prince Ōama succeeded to the throne under the name of Temmu. He had obtained the scepter under questionable circumstances, but as a ruler he showed high qualities, carrying on the administration with zeal and ability. He dispatched inspectors to all districts throughout the realm in order to acquire full knowledge of local affairs, and raised the military establishment to a state of high efficiency. On his death a princess, daughter of Tenchi and sister of Kōbun, succeeded to the throne as the Empress Jitō. In the third year of her reign the heir apparent, Prince Kusakabe, died. The empress convoked a council of all the high dignitaries of state to determine a successor to the prince, but they could not come to any agreement until Prince Kadono advanced the principle that when neither son nor grandson was available to succeed to the throne, the scepter should pass to the brothers and sisters of the sovereign in due order, since by no other means could disputes be avoided. The outcome was that Karu, son of the late Prince Kusakabe, was proclaimed heir apparent. He subsequently ascended the throne as the Emperor Mommu, well known in history for his ability and the codification under his direction of the laws of the Taihō period.[2]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The following is a brief genealogical table of the sovereigns of this period of disputed successions:

30. Emperor Bitatsu.--(Prince Oshisakahikohito).
|
+---------------------------------+
|--34. Emperor Jōmyō.--38. Emperor Tenchi.--(41. Empress Jitō, consort of
| | the 40th emperor, Temmu).
| | |
| | +----------------------------------+
| | |
| | +--(43. Empress Gemmyō, mother of the 42d
| | | emperor Mommu).
| | +--39. Emperor Kōbun.
| | +--(Prince Shiki).--49. Emperor Kōnin.
| |
| 40. Emperor Temmu.--(Prince Kusakabe).
| |
| (Prince Toneri).--47. Emperor Junnin.
+--(Prince Chinu.)--35. Empress Kōkyoku.--37. Empress Saimei.
|
36. Emperor Kōtoku.

[2] Chronological table of sovereigns.

36. Emperor Kōtoku, 645-655.
37. Empress Saimei, 655-668.
38. Emperor Tenchi, 668-672.
39. Emperor Kōbun, 672-673.
40. Emperor Temmu, 673-690.
41. Empress Jitō, 690-697.
42. Emperor Mommu, 697-708.

Chapter V

THE NARA EPOCH. 710-794 A. D.

In 708 A. D. the Empress Gemmyō ascended the throne and two years later the seat of government, which had hitherto moved from place to place, was fixed at Nara in the province of Yamato. The imperial palace, as well as the left and right halves of the city, were built with much state, the place being thenceforth known in Chinese style as Heijō ("castle of tranquillity"). The interval of seventy-five years from that date, comprising the reigns of seven successive sovereigns, is called in history the "Nara epoch," an epoch worthy of special reference for its great prosperity and refinement. Under the sway of the emperors Tenchi and Temmu the power of the throne had already increased considerably, and it was further enhanced by the ability of Mommu and his immediate successors, no little assistance being derived from the royal princes who occupied the highest posts in the administration with conspicuous talent. Side by side with the growth of the power of the crown, the influence of the Fujiwara family, descendants of Kamatair, also steadily advanced, until, as will be seen later, they came to overshadow the real authority of the sovereign. This, however, had not yet become noticeable during the earlier years of the Nara epoch, when the emperor was in theory and in practice at the apex of the grand centralized system of government inaugurated by the Taikwa reformation.

Among the events of this period, none is more worthy of note than the marked spread of Buddhism. This result may be attributed, first, to the loyal faith of the imperial court, and, secondly, to the exertions of priests of high talent who labored in the cause of their creed with remarkable zeal and tact. Ever since the days of the Emperor Kimmei, when Buddhism was brought to Japan, its progress had been sure and strong, despite all opposition, until there came a time when the Emperor Temmu went so far as to order that every private house should have an altar for the worship of the Buddha. Subsequent sovereigns caused the canons to be copied and images to be made for all the provinces of the realm; and the Emperor Shōmu supplemented those measures by an edict requiring that provincial temples (kokubunji) should everywhere be built for priests and nuns. The ruling classes contributed liberally to the support of these places of worship, it being generally believed that by such means individual prosperity and national tranquillity could be secured. A huge image of Buddha, fifty-three feet high, was cast of copper and gold, which survives to this day in the temple where it was originally placed, the Tōtai-ji, at Nara.

It is on record that Shōmu himself adopted the tonsure and took a Buddhist appellation. The mother of that sovereign, Miyako, and his consort, Kōmyō,—both daughters of Fujiwara Fubito—were most zealous devotees of Buddhism, and with their coöperation the sovereign established in the capital an asylum for the support of the destitute and a charity hospital, where the poor received medical treatment and drugs gratis. Measures were also taken to rescue foundlings, and in general to relieve poverty and distress. Tradition tells us that the empress cared for the sick to the number of nine hundred and ninety-nine. The thousandth patient was a miserable old man who asked her to suck pus from the ulcerated sores of his skin. As she cheerfully acceded to his wish, he was transfigured into a Buddha, and ascended into the air, blessing the imperial devotee whose faith he had come to test. Among the great subjects we also find instances such as those of Kamartari and Fuhito, of whom the former, though a minister of the court, built a temple and made his eldest son take orders, and the latter erected the temple of Kōfuku-ji and endowed it as the place of worship of the Fujiwara family. Among the priests of high rank, one whose name has been transmitted to posterity was Gyōgi.

He became famous in the reign of the Empress Genshō,[1] and having won the confidence and respect of the next sovereign, Shōmu, he attained the rank of Daisōjō (archbishop) and was subsequently worshiped as a saint under the title of "Bosatsu." It was by this prelate that the doctrine of successive incarnations of the Buddha was first enunciated, a doctrine whose skillful application greatly served the cause of Buddhism. For though the creed obtained such influence and success in the times now under consideration, its universal acceptance by the people encountered a strong obstacle in their traditional belief that the Shintō deities, not Buddha, had founded the state, bequeathed its scepter to their posterity, and prescribed a creed with which the very existence of the nation was bound up. This difficulty, however, the Buddhist priests adroitly met by the aid of the doctrine that Gyōgi taught. The goddess Amaterasu had been only an incarnation of Birushanabutsu, and all the deities of the land were but the Buddha himself in various human forms. By this skillful reasoning they dispelled the inherited prejudices of the people and gave a great impulse to the spread of their creed. Gyōgi, Dōshō, Ryōben, and others acquired notable influence with the masses, and, aided by their pupils, preached in such manner as to popularize Buddhism throughout the land. About this era, also, many priests came to Japan from China. It would appear, nevertheless, that side by side with the spread of Buddhist conviction the doctrine of fate and fortune was taught and the necessity of vows and penances inculcated, to the delusion and demoralization of ignorant folks. In every direction priestly sway made itself felt, even the imperial court being largely under the influence of Gembō, Dōkyō, and their following.

A notable factor in the development of material prosperity at that epoch was the extraordinary ability of the priests. Many of them made voyages to China to study the arts and sciences of that empire, and on their return traveled up and down the land, opening regions hitherto left barren, building temples, repairing and extending roads, bridging rivers, establishing ferries, digging ponds, canals, and wells, and encouraging navigation, thus contributing as much to the material civilization of the country as to the moral improvement of the people. It may be truly said that the spread of Buddhism was synchronous with the rise of art and science. Carpenters, from the practice acquired in building temples, learned how to construct large edifices; sculptors and metallurgists became skillful by casting and graving idols of gold and bronze; painting, decorative weaving, the ornamentation of utensils, and the illumination of missals, owe their expert pursuit to the patronage of Buddhism; the first real impetus given to the potter's art is associated with the name of a priest; in short, almost every branch of industrial and artistic development owes something to the influence of the creed. In a storehouse forming part of the Tōtai-ji, and in the temple of Hōriū, both at Nara, there are preserved a number of household utensils, objects of apparel, musical instruments, and so forth, handed down from the Nara epoch, every one of which bears witness to a refined and artistic civilization, not surpassed by succeeding generations. Among glyptic artists there have been handed down from these days the names of men famous for their skill in sculpturing images, two of whom were called "Kasuga" after the place where they lived, and were held in the highest honor. It is true that architecture, sculpture, dyeing, and weaving, introduced originally from China and Korea, had long been practiced with considerable success, but during the Nara epoch these arts were in the hands of men celebrated then and subsequently for their proficiency. The same may be said also of the arts of the lacquerer and the sword-smith, which at that time were carried far beyond ancient standards of achievement. It is further worthy of note that the methods of manufacturing glass and soap were known in the eighth century. Nara and its temples, remaining outside the range of battles and the reach of conflagrations, have escaped the destructions that periodically overtook other imperial capitals, so that those who visit the place to-day can see objects of fine and useful arts more than a thousand years old.

Simultaneously with the progress thus made in art and industry, learning received a great impetus. The Emperor Tenchi was the first to appoint officials charged with educational functions. A university was established in Kyōto, as well as public schools in the various localities throughout the provinces. The subjects chiefly taught in the university were history, the Chinese Classics, law, and mathematics. These were called the shidō, or four paths of learning. In the succeeding reign, education continued to receive powerful encouragement, but the principal object in view being the training of government officials, instruction for the masses still remained in an unsatisfactory state. Learning in that age virtually signified a knowledge of the Chinese Classics. Hence, in the Nara epoch, scholars versed in that kind of erudition were very numerous, conspicuous among them being Awada-no-Mahito, Ō-no-Yasumaro, Kibi-no-Makibi and others. Intercourse with China being then tolerably close, there were frequent instances of priests and students proceeding thither by order of the government, the former to investigate religious subjects, and the latter to study Chinese literature. Even in China some of these men obtained a high reputation for learning. The names of Kibi-no-Makibi and Abe-no-Nakamaro are best remembered. The former, on his return to Japan, was appointed a minister of state, but the latter never saw his native country again. Encountering a violent gale on his homeward voyage, he was driven back to China, where he received an important official position and remained until his death, constantly hoping to return to Japan but always unable to realize his hope.

Japan in those days possessed many scholars who could write Chinese fluently. The composition of Chinese poetry was commenced in the reign of Kōbun, the first book of verses ever published in Japan—the "Kwaifūso"—making its appearance at that time. It is on record that, at an earlier epoch—during the reign of the Empress Suiko—Prince Shōtoku, Soga-no-Umako, and others, jointly compiled some historical works, which were, however, almost totally destroyed at the time of the overthrow of the Soga family. Subsequently, the Emperor Temmu instructed Prince Kawashima and others to write a history, and further directed Hieda-no-Are to dictate for transcription the annals of the successive reigns. Again, in 712 A. D., Ō-no-Yasumaro, by command of the Empress Gemmyō, compiled a history of the empire from the earliest days to the reign of Suiko. This work was called the "Kojiki." A year later the various provinces received imperial instructions to prepare geographical accounts, each of itself, and these were collated into the "Fūdoki" a few of which still remain. During the next reign, the Empress Genshō continued this literary effort by causing Prince Toneri and others to compile the "Nihongi," comprising a historical narrative from the beginning of the empire to the reign of Jitō. In these works, the "Kojiki" and the "Nihongi," the most ancient traditions of the country are to be found. Shortly afterward five other chronicles, known with the "Nihongi" as the "Six National Histories," were successively undertaken, the compilation of which continued down to the reign of the Emperor Daigo.

To the Japanese poetry of the Nara epoch, however, must be assigned the first place among the literary efforts of the time. While Kōgen was on the throne, Tachibana Moroye collected all the poems then extant, and these, being afterward supplemented by Ōtomo-no-Yakamochi, constitute the "Manyōshu," a work containing stanzas full of verve and imagination, simple yet by no means deficient in taste. The longer compositions are especially admirable, and have ever since served as models for writers of Japanese verse. Later generations considered the work as a means of studying the ancient language of the country prior to the Nara epoch, and from it they also derived a knowledge of the customs and sentiments of early times. Consequently the "Manyōshu," together with the "Kojiki" and the "Nihongi," came to be regarded as most precious sources of historical information.

The lavish patronage bestowed upon Buddhism and the artificial wealth and refinement of the capital were not without an enervating effect upon the court. From the latter part of the eighth century favoritism and partisanship began to cause serious troubles around the person of the sovereign, whose conduct was in a measure responsible for them. The story of the rise and fall of various favorites and their cliques is too tedious to be retold, but the case of the priest Dōkyō deserves a brief notice. Holding the post of palace prelate and enjoying undue favor from the empress dowager, Dōkyō's power assumed such proportions that the prime minister, Emi Oshikazu, took up arms against him. The latter's forces were, however, completely routed, his adherents exterminated, and he himself killed. With his fall, the emperor, who had ascended the throne by the influence of Oshikazu, was exiled by the dowager, who resumed the scepter in 764. This was the first instance of an emperor being exiled. Many princes of the blood were also either banished with him or killed, with the result that the princely adherents of the imperial house were materially reduced in number. Thereafter Dōkyō received the posts of prime minister and second prelate of the realm (Zenshi), ultimately attaining the position of first prelate (Hō-ō). His food, raiment, and bodyguards were similar to those of the emperor, and so great was his influence that the entire administration rested in his hands. His partisans went so far as to say openly that were the prime minister made emperor, the realm would enjoy peace. Profound, however, as was the nation's belief in Buddhism at that epoch, there were just men who could not tamely endure such evil doings. Conspicuous among them was the brave Wake-no-Kiyomaro, who brought back from the shrine of the Shintō deity, Usa-Hachiman, an oracle, saying: "The distinction of sovereign and subject is fundamental. Never may a subject become emperor. The emperor must always be of the imperial line. Let the unrighteous subject who would cut off the imperial succession be at once removed." Dōkyō was much incensed by this procedure and caused Kiyomaro to be banished. But the oracle produced its effect on the empress, who at last repented of the things that had been done, and all idea of raising Dōkyō to the throne was abandoned. The next year she died and was succeeded by a grandson of Tenchi, the Emperor Kōnin. At this point the descendants of the Emperor Temmu ceased to hold the succession, and those of the Emperor Tenchi assumed it. Dōkyō was banished, and Kiyomaro was recalled to court. Posterity regards his memory with almost religious respect.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Chronological table of the sovereigns of the Nara Epoch.

43. Empress Gemmyō, 708-715.
44. Empress Genshō, 715-724.
45. Emperor Shōmu, 724-749.
46. Empress Kōken, 749-759.
47. Emperor Junnin, 759-765.
48. Emperor Shōtoku, 765-770.
49. Emperor Kōnin, 770-782.

Chapter VI

THE HEI-AN EPOCH. 794-1186 A. D.

The Nara epoch had come to an end when in 794 the Emperor Kwammu transferred the capital to Kyōto. The new seat of government being then known as Hei-an Kyō, or Citadel of Tranquillity, the interval that separated its choice as capital from the establishment of feudal administration at Kamakura in 1186—an interval of nearly four centuries—is known in history as the Hei-an epoch. A few words may be said about the significance of the change of the seat of government from Nara to Kyōto. From ancient times it had been the custom for the emperor and the heir apparent to live apart, from which fact it resulted that when a sovereign died and his son succeeded to the throne, the latter usually transferred the capital to the site of his own palace. It sometimes happened also that the residence of the imperial court was altered as often as two or three times during the same reign. Rarely, however, did the court move out of the contiguous provinces known as the Go-kinai, the great majority of the seats of government being in the province of Yamato. So long as the government was comparatively simple, the transfer of its seat from place to place involved no serious effort. As, however, the business of administration became more complicated, and intercourse with China grew more intimate, the character of the palace assumed magnificence proportionate to the imperial ceremonies and national receptions that had to be held there. Hence the capital established at Nara by the Empress Gemmyō was on a scale of unprecedented magnitude and splendor. There seven sovereigns reigned in succession without any thought of moving elsewhere. But when the Emperor Kwammu assumed the reins of government, he found that Nara was not a convenient place for administrative purposes. He at first moved to Nagaoka in Yamashiro, but a brief residence there convinced him that his choice had not been well guided.

At last, in 794, a new capital was built, after the model of Nara, with some modifications introduced from the metropolis of the T'ang dynasty in China, at Uda in the same province. This was called Kyōto, which means capital. It measured from north to south 17,530 feet and from east to west 15,080 feet, the whole being surrounded by moats and palisades, and the imperial palace being situated in the center of the northern portion. From the southern palace gate (Shujaku-mon) to the southernmost city gate (Rajo-mon) a long street, 280 feet wide (called Shujaku-ōji, or the main Shujaku thoroughfare), extended in one straight line, separating the city into two parts, of which the eastern was designated Sakyō, or the left capital, and the western, Ukyō, or the right capital. The whole city, from east to west, was divided into nine districts (jo), and between the first and second districts lay the imperial palace.

An elaborate system of subdivision was adopted. The unit, or ko (house), was a space measuring 100 feet by 50. Eight of these units made a row (gyō); four rows, a street (chō); four streets, a ho; four ho, a bō, and four bō, a jo. The entire capital contained 1216 cho and 38,912 houses. The streets lay parallel and at right angles like the lines on a checkerboard. The imperial citadel measured 3840 feet from east to west, and 4600 feet from north to south. On each side were three gates, and in the middle stood the emperor's palace, surrounded by the buildings of the various administrative departments. This citadel was environed by double walls, and contained altogether seventeen large and five small edifices, every one of them picturesque and handsome.

Great and fine as was this metropolis, it suffered such ravages during the disturbances of succeeding centuries that the Kyōto of to-day, the "Sakyō," or Western Capital, is but a shadow of the left section of ancient times. Not even the imperial palace escaped these ravages. Again and again impaired or destroyed by conflagrations, it gradually assumed smaller and smaller dimensions until only a trace remained of the splendid edifice that had once stood in the center of the citadel. But the regularity of the streets could not be obliterated. That at least survives to tell the story of the plan on which the city was constructed. Indeed, Kyōto continued to be the seat of sovereigns for a long period, covering 1074 years, and until the capital was removed in 1869 to Tōkyō.

In the Hei-an epoch[1] were accentuated the virtues and vices of the Nara epoch. Buddhism now advanced to an even greater extent than it did then, the luxury and pomp of the court were never excelled before or since, and the control of the administrative machinery by the Fujiwara family became completed. The growth of the Buddhist church was in no small measure due to two remarkable priests, Saichō and Kūkai, both of whom studied in China the profoundest doctrines of Buddhism and gained for themselves a great reputation. Saichō founded the sect called Tendai, and built the celebrated temple Enryaku-ji, at Hiyei-zan, to guarantee the imperial palace against maleficent influences from the northeast. Kūkai founded the Shingon sect, and built the not less famous temple of Kongobu-ji, at Kōya-san. Other new sects were also founded by other priests. The earlier teaching of the identity of Buddha and the Shintō deities was further extended by Saichō and Kūkai, who taught that the Buddha was the one and only divine being, and that all the gods were manifestations of him. On that basis they established a new doctrine the tenets of which mingled Shintōism and Buddhism inextricably. It was owing to the spread of this doctrine that it became a not uncommon occurrence to find Buddhist relics in a Shintō shrine, or a Shintō image in a Buddhist temple, and the names of Shintō deities were confused with Buddhist titles. Buddhist priests wandered everywhere throughout the land preaching their doctrine and founding temples on choice sites, on high mountains or in deep dells.

To this propagandism music lent its aid, for the melody of the Buddhist chants touched the heart of the people. Devotees constantly grew in number. Many of the highest personages in the land spent great sums upon the building of temples; the consort of the Emperor Saga, for example, constructed Danrin-ji, and the Prime Minister Michinaga erected Hōjō-ji. Even in case of sickness, litanies and religious rites took the place of medicine before the science of the latter had been developed, and against all calamities of nature prayer was regarded as a talisman. It is easy to conceive that, under such circumstances, Buddhism came to exercise greater sway than even the ordinances of the sovereign himself. It should not be imagined, however, that Shintō was completely forgotten. Overshadowed by Buddhism as it was, it did not yet lose its sway. Thus we find the Emperor Saga dedicating a fane at the Kamo shrine, and the Emperor Seiwa establishing a place for the worship of Iwashimizu Hachiman at Otoko-yama. Imperial visits to these two shrines were not infrequent. Above all at the celebrated Shingu shrine in Ise, the Shintō rites were kept free from all admixture of extraneous creeds.

From the days of Kwammu downward, the sovereigns in succession encouraged learning. The university in Kyōto and the public schools in the provinces were in a flourishing condition, and many private schools sprang into existence. The patronage of great nobles was munificently exercised in the cause of education. Further, great numbers of students were engaged in compiling not only the history of the empire, but also many other works of a general character, so that learning occupied a high place in popular esteem. But unfortunately the scholarship of the age drifted into superficialities of style to the neglect of practical uses. Writers of verses applied themselves to imitating Chinese poets, and writers of prose thought only of constructing their phrases in such a manner that combinations of four ideograms should in regular alternation be followed by combinations of six—a form of composition known as the Shirokuheirei (four-and-six order). But despite this slavish adherence to valueless forms, a notable literary achievement has to be placed to the credit of the era; namely, the elaboration of the syllabaries, the hira-kana and the kata-kana. The first syllabary ever used in Japan had been the manyō-gana, in which the Chinese ideograms were used phonetically with little attention to their original meaning. But to write a Chinese ideogram for each syllable of a Japanese word involved much labor, since in many cases a single ideogram was composed of numerous strokes and dots. The difficulty was gradually lessened during the Nara epoch by the simplification of Chinese characters to such an extent that only a rudimentary skeleton of each ideogram was symbolically used to represent its sound. The syllables thus obtained were arranged in a table of fifty sounds, constituting the kata-kana. Thenceforth, instead of the pain of committing to memory thousands of ideograms, and employing them with no little toil, it became possible to record the most complex thoughts by the aid of fifty simple symbols. Nevertheless, since the nation had come to regard Chinese literature as the classics of learning, scholars were still compelled to use Chinese ideograms and to follow Chinese rules of composition, so that the cursive forms of the Chinese characters became the recognized script of educated men. These cursive characters possessed one advantage: they were capable of considerable abbreviation within certain limits. Naturally, the facility they offered in that respect was more and more utilized, until at length their forms were modified to comparative simplicity. When the great prelate Kūkai composed, for mnemonic purposes, the rhyming syllabary which comprised all the necessary sounds without repetition, the forms of the simplified characters may be considered to have finally crystallized into the syllabary known as the hira-kana.

The invention of these two systems of kana syllabaries gave a powerful impetus to the growth of prose writing. Many varieties of composition, fictions, diaries, travels, and fugitive sketches, were added to the literature of the time. But as men who aspired to the title of scholar continued to write in Chinese ideograms, the domain of Japanese prose was occupied, almost exclusively, by women. It is recorded of the Emperor Ichijō (987-1012 A. D.) that he boasted that, although his own abilities did not entitle him to wear the crown, his reign was not less rich in talented subjects than had been the reigns of even Daigo and Murakami, historically regarded as the best sovereigns of the whole imperial line. The boast was not unwarranted, for in that era flourished great writers of both sexes, the charm and grace of whose diction have been vainly imitated by later generations. Of these, Mura-saki-shikibu especially attracts attention, on account of her celebrated work, the "Genji-monogatari," a romance in fifty-four volumes. Sei-Shōnagon's name is remembered for her "Makura-no-sōshi," as peerless a production in literary sketches as was the "Genji-monogatari" in fiction.

Even more energy was expended on the production of verses than on prose writing. In the last part of the ninth century after almost a century of the sway of Chinese poetry, the tide flowed once more in the direction of Japanese verses, and they soon engrossed the minds of the noble classes. Beginning with the "Kokinshū," poems compiled by imperial order by Ki-no-Tsurayuki, himself a celebrated poet, no less than seven poetical compilations were made by order of the sovereigns during the rest of the Hei-an epoch, to which were still later added others to the number of twenty-one. The art of versification made a wonderful progress, but the rustic vigor and grandeur of the poems of the "Manyō-shū" gave place to tricks of phraseology and flowers of speech in the later poetry. Nor were poems with many stanzas approved any longer, for it became the pride of the later poets to embody clever wit and hidden charm in the space of thirty-one syllables. Thus poetry was stunted, and literary terms and the speech of everyday life unnecessarily separated each from the other.

As was so clearly reflected in poetry, the rude and unpolished but frugal and industrious habits of the Nara age disappeared as the Hei-an epoch grew older. Instead of vigor and simple strength, luxury and effeminate gaud became the fashion. Society grew more and more enervated and self-indulgent. The metropolis was the center of magnificence and the focus of pleasure. Reference has already been made to the spaciousness and grandeur of the imperial palace. The princes and great nobles were scarcely less superbly housed, every aristocratic dwelling consisting of a number of artistically arranged buildings. There had also grown up among nobles and men of affluence the habit of choosing in the suburbs some spot noted for scenic charms, and there building for themselves retreats on which all the artistic and decorative resources of the time were lavished. As for the imperial palace, however, from the time when it was destroyed by a conflagration (960 A. D.), it suffered a steady diminution in size and splendor, whereas the mansions of the ministers of the crown grew constantly larger and more magnificent, their inmates wearing gorgeous garments of rich brocades and elaborately embroidered silks. Officials, courtiers, and their families emulated one another in the richness of their apparel. When they went abroad, they rode in carriages resplendent with gold and silver. By and by, the active discharge of official and administrative functions began to be despised by the higher classes, military training and the rude exercises of arms falling into especial disfavor. Thus it fell out that the nobles of the court, having abundant leisure, were enabled to devote their time to literary culture, the elaboration of etiquette, and the pursuit of luxurious pleasures. In the imperial court, at pleasant times in the fair seasons, on fine spring mornings or under the soft moonlight of autumn, gatherings were held at which the guests vied with one another in making music and composing poetry. There were also specially appointed festive occasions: as, for example, entertainments in April (third month of the old calendar) when wine-cups were floated down stream; or in February (first month of the old calendar) when young pines growing on the hills or in the fields were pulled up by the roots; or in the fall, to view the changing tints of the maples; the most aristocratic of all these festivities being one in which three picturesquely-decorated boats were launched upon some river or lake and filled exclusively with persons who excelled in some one of the "three accomplishments," namely, Chinese poetry, Japanese poetry, or music. In the reign of the Emperor Uda five fête days were established: New Year's Day, the third of the third month, the fifth of the fifth month, the seventh of the seventh month, and the ninth of the ninth month; to which were also added the festival of the "late moonlight" (13th of the ninth month), and the festival of "the last chysanthemums."

Of games played in-doors checkers (go) and a kind of dice (sugo-roku) were much in vogue; while the favorite outdoor sports were foot-ball, polo, and hawking, together with horse-racing and equestrian archery. At wine-feasts, various kinds of songs, some classical, some popular, were chanted with dancing, and Chinese and Japanese stanzas were composed and sung. From the end of the eleventh century personal adornment was carried so far that even men began to imitate women in the matter of painting their eye-brows and blackening their teeth, much as though they sought to disguise themselves in the likeness of the puppets set up at the festival of the third month. Not inaptly did the wits of the time dub these mummers "lunar courtiers," or "elegants from cloud-land." On such occasions of festival and sport, men and women of noble rank mixed freely, and laxity of morals ensued. The ceremony of marriage had been duly established, but wives still continued to live in their own houses, where they received the visits of their husbands. In short, the gratification of the senses was the first object of the time, and if men thought of anything more serious, it was only the building and endowment of a temple where prayers might be said and litanies sung for the prosperity of themselves and their children in this world and their happiness in a future state.

All these circumstances should be viewed only in conjunction with the progress of the political power of the Fujiwara family. The great deeds of Kamatari and the scarcely less distinguished services of his son Fuhito established the renown of the family, and in the marriage of the Emperor Shōmu with a daughter of Fuhito we have the first instance of a procedure which afterward became common, namely the elevation of a subject to the position of imperial consort. A daughter of another Fujiwara, Fuyutsugu, became the consort of the Emperor Nimmyō, and bore him a son who afterward ascended the throne as Montoku. Thus Fuyutsugu became the reigning sovereign's grandfather on the mother's side, and the Fujiwara family occupied a position of transcendent power. This emperor married the daughter of Yoshifusa, his mother's elder brother, and had by her a son, who when only eight months old, was declared heir apparent, and ascended the throne in his ninth year under the name of Seiwa, so that in two succeeding generations one of the sovereign's grandfathers was a Fujiwara. Nor had there been another instance of the scepter coming into the hands of such a young ruler. From Yoshifusa, also, began the custom of appointing a Fujiwara to the post of dajō daijin (chief minister of state), a post which not only was the highest and most respected under the sovereign, but also as a rule had been reserved for an imperial prince of unusual virtue and ability. Failing such a candidate, it had even been left vacant. Furthermore, owing to the extreme youth of the Emperor Seiwa, his grandfather Yoshifusa was appointed regent. The title of regent (sesshō) dates from that time. The imperial authority now passed virtually into the hands of the Fujiwara family. Seiwa abdicated after a reign of twenty-one years, and was succeeded by Yōzei, then in his tenth year only, Mototsune, adopted son of Yoshifusa, holding the offices of chief minister of state and regent. As the emperor grew older, he became addicted to pleasure and gave evidence of vicious tendencies.

Mototsune, having taken counsel of all the ministers, deposed the sovereign and placed Kōkō on the throne in his stead. This was the first instance of an emperor being dethroned by a subject, but evil as such an act was in itself, its motive in the case of Mototsune being untainted by selfish ambition, he has not incurred censure either from the men of his time or from historians. The Emperor Kōkō, being fifty-six years of age when he ascended the throne, Mototsune resigned the regency, but the sovereign was pleased to make a special rule that all affairs of state should be conveyed to himself through the ex-regent. The latter's office was consequently called kwampaku (signifying one who receives reports prior to their transmission to the sovereign), and it became thenceforth customary to confer this post on a statesman who had resigned the regency. In effect, the sesshō, or regent, was supposed to manage the administration during the minority of an emperor, while the kwampaku discharged the same functions after the sovereign had attained his majority. The difference became nominal when the descendants of Yoshifusa and Mototsune made these two posts permanent and hereditary in their line. It seemed, indeed, as though all the highest offices of state had become the exclusive perquisite of that omnipotent family, no others being eligible except princes of the blood. No less marked were the marital relations between the imperial house and the Fujiwara, for only a daughter of the latter could become the sovereign's consort, so that every sovereign had a Fujiwara for his mother.

The power of the puissant family met a temporary check under the Emperor Uda (893-898), who selected Sugawara-no-Michizane as minister. Michizane was a descendant of Nomi-no-Sukune, and did not belong to the Fujiwara family. Reputed for high literary, calligraphic, and artistic skill, he also possessed a profound knowledge of politics. It was his fortune to manage all administrative affairs jointly with the young and keen Tokihira, son of Fujiwara Mototsune. The Emperor Uda, who took the tonsure soon afterward, left instructions to his successor Daigo, then a boy of thirteen, to consult Michizane in all important affairs of the state. Tokihira filled the office of minister of the left (the highest administrative post after that of chief minister of state then vacant), and Michizane was minister of the right. With the exception of Michizane and Kibi-no-Makibi, no man of the middle class had ever held such an important office. The ex-emperor would have had Michizane raised still higher, and urged the reigning sovereign in that sense. But this design precipitated Tokihira's resolve to contrive the downfall of a man whose great reputation with the nation and marked favor at court dimmed the prestige of the Fujiwara family. Michizane was also an object of keen jealousy to Minamoto-no-Hikaru, a son of the Emperor Nimmyō, who held the office of dainagon (vice-minister), as well as to Fujiwara-no-Sadakuni, who like Hikaru, was incomparably superior to Michizane in lineage, but inferior to him in official position. These men conspired against Michizane, and conveyed to the sovereign a false charge that the minister of the right was plotting to depose him and place his younger brother, Michizane's son-in-law, Prince Tokiyo, on the throne. Daigo believed the accusation, and reduced Michizane to the head of the Kiushū local government, a position which it had become customary to fill with disgraced officials of the imperial court. The order amounted in effect to a sentence of exile. The ex-emperor did everything in his power to save Michizane, but in vain. Hikaru succeeded to the office of minister of the right. In all this affair the members of the Fujiwara family left nothing undone to sweep away every obstacle to their own supremacy. Treating as opponents all that did not take active part with them, they contrived to have them involved in the disgrace of Michizane. The exiled minister died after two years of banishment. His popularity had been so great that the nation was filled with grief for his unmerited sufferings, and when, after his decease, the partisans of Tokihira died one after another, and a series of calamities occurred in the capital, people did not hesitate to regard these evils as retribution inflicted by Heaven for the injustice that had been wrought. Subsequently Michizane received the posthumous honor of the first class of the first rank and the post of chief minister of state, and posterity built a shrine in Kitano to his memory, where he is worshiped to this day as the tutelary saint of learning, under the canonized name of Kitano-no-Tenjin.

After the exile of Michizane, the power of the Fujiwara family grew steadily. During a period of about a century and a half after that event, the administration was virtually in their hands. Fujiwara-no-Tadahira occupied the post of chief minister of state, while his sons, Saneyori and Morosuke, held the offices of minister of the left and minister of the right respectively, the three highest posts in the administration being thus filled simultaneously by a father and his two sons. Among the descendants of these three nobles, those of the last-named, Morosuke, attained the greatest prosperity. It has been already noted that the Fujiwara ministers always contrived to have the sovereign choose his consort from among their daughters. Nay more, when a son was born of such a union, they had him brought up in their own house, and when he ascended the throne, the Fujiwara minister who was his grandfather became either regent or kwampaku, was recognized as the head of the Fujiwara family, and received a large grant of state land. Under these circumstances the choice of an imperial consort or the nomination of an heir apparent being synonymous with the acquisition of complete control over administrative and financial affairs, the branches of the Fujiwara family often intrigued and fought among themselves to secure the great prize. Michinaga, youngest son of Kaneiye, was a man of remarkable strength of purpose and tact. He held the office of kwampaku during the reigns of three emperors, Ichijō, Sanjō, and Goichijō; his three daughters became the consorts of three successive sovereigns; he was grandfather of a reigning emperor and an heir apparent at the same time, and his power and affluence far surpassed those of the imperial house itself. To this great noble every official paid court, except Fujiwara-no-Sanesuke, who maintained his independence and was consequently relied on by the emperor. It is on record that Michinaga once composed a stanza the purport of which was that all the world seemed to have been created for his uses, and that every desire he felt was satisfied as completely as the full moon is perfectly rounded. In truth the power of the Fujiwara family culminated in his days. A contemporary writer described the conditions of the time in a work for which he found no title more appropriate than "the Story of Grandeur" ("Eigwa Monogatari"). With Michinaga the power of the Fujiwara may be said to have reached its zenith, for although his sons Yorimichi and Norimichi became kwampaku in succession and retained immense influence, the gradual decline of the family really began from that time.

Why the overwhelming power of the Fujiwara should have waned may only be understood as we observe the conditions of local administration. Within Kyōto reigned luxury and pomp, but without it, unrest and discontentment. The principal cause of this sharp contrast between the capital and country was the inevitable and utter failure of the system of equal land allotment upon which the great Taikwa reformation had been constructed. Uncultivated lands, however, were suffered to remain in the possession of local officials and farmers who reclaimed them. Originally the term of service for the governor of a province (kuni) was fixed at four years, but in the reign of the Empress Kōken it was extended to six. Reappointment was generally an object of keen desire to these officials. They employed every possible means to compass it, since to remain in administrative control of a province for a long period signified opportunities of appropriating extensive lands and ultimately acquiring large territorial possessions. In the case of the headman of a district (kōri), the office was originally held for life, but even that limit soon fell into neglect, and the post was handed down from father to son through many generations. To check the abuses arising out of such a state of affairs, itinerant inspectors were appointed in the reign of the Empress Gensho, who were chosen from among the ablest of the provincial governors. In a report addressed by one of them to the throne in 762, it is declared that "No such thing as justice is now executed by any provincial governor in the realm." From this time on, provincial governors not only continued to tread the old wonted paths, but their selfish arbitrariness became more unbridled in proportion as the prestige of the administration in the capital grew feebler and the official organization more lax.

Nor was the illegal practice of land-appropriation confined to rural districts, for even in the metropolis men began to obtain territorial possessions. As the living in Kyōto grew more and more luxurious, and it became difficult for the princes and higher officials to maintain their dignity by means of their regular salaries and allowances, which were paid in kind but seldom in land, they set themselves to reclaim extensive tracts of waste lands. Such lands were called shōyen, a term originally limited to lands granted to princes and ministers of state for the purpose of defraying expenditures incurred in connection with their positions, but now extended so as to apply also to land reclaimed and appropriated by these nobles. Even as early as the reigns of Kwammu and Saga the area of such estates was very great. The system of periodical redistribution had in the meantime fallen into desuetude. People were often forced to sell their lands or were evicted for their debts. It was in vain to prohibit by edict after edict the monopolization of land by the wealthy classes. Cunning people even evaded the public obligations devolving on landowners by nominally transferring their lands to powerful nobles or to temples, and themselves taking the position of stewards or superintendents. In that capacity they were called either "intendants" or "retainers," the ostensible holders of the land being known as "landlords." By degrees all the fertile districts and all the newly reclaimed lands were in that manner absorbed into the estates of the great nobles or of the temples, and since they were thus exempted from the control of the provincial governors as well as from the necessity of paying taxes, not only the power of the local authorities, but also the revenues of the central government gradually suffered diminution.

During the reign of the Emperor Kwammu the plan was inaugurated of reducing to the rank of subjects and giving family names to such of the imperial princes as were of inferior descent on the mother's side. Kwammu's son, Saga, who had so many children that the revenue of the imperial household did not suffice to maintain them, followed the precedent established by his father, giving the name Minamoto to several of his sons. Thenceforth the device passed into a custom, and imperial princes were frequently appointed to official positions in the central or local government under the family names of Minamoto or Taira. Those who obtained the posts of provincial governors acquired large influence in the districts administered by them, their descendants becoming military chiefs with great followings of relatives and retainers. The Minamoto clan comprised no less than fourteen families, among them the descendants of the Emperor Seiwa being the most numerous and important. It was from this clan that the great Yoritomo, the first feudal ruler of Japan, subsequently sprang. The Taira, on the other hand, consisted of four families, principally descendants of the Emperor Kwammu. To them belonged the notorious tyrant Kiyomori, of whose career we shall soon be told.

The significance of the rise of the two clans, Minamoto and Taira, lies in the fact that they succeeded in gradually controlling the military forces of the nation, on the one hand, and, on the other, holding a great share of the landed estates of the country. The process of land-appropriation was similar to the one already described. The manner in which the force of arms passed from the state into the hands of the private clans must now be explained. Under the elaborate system of the Taikō laws, garrisons of fixed strength were stationed in all the provinces, and in the metropolis were guards of five kinds. Men for service in the garrisons and guards were levied by conscription from among the people, those upon whom the lot fell being required to join the nearest garrison, while a part were sent to Kiushū to defend the western coast, and another part, to the guardposts in Kyōto. Equestrian archery, the use of the sword, and the manipulation of long spears, were the arts taught to the soldiers, and for the defense of the coasts catapults also were used. The entire military organization was imposing and complete, but its real value was questionable, from the beginning. The metropolitan troops grew more and more effeminate as years of peace succeeded each other. Nor were the provincial forces of more service. As time went by, bandits and marauders pillaged the provinces in the interior, while the coasts of Nankaidō and Chūgoku were infested by pirates. It was under these circumstances that, early in the ninth century, a new bureau called the kebūshi-chō with extensive police and administrative powers, was created in Kyōto, which soon began to dominate over other offices and whose branches were later established in every province for local purposes. A century later it was found necessary to appoint inspector-generals, ōryōshi, for the eastern provinces, which were particularly restless. In the hands of these new officials, then,—the central and local kebüshi and the eastern ōryōshi,—rested the real powers which neither rank nor title could resist. The new, vigorous clans of Minamoto and Taira eagerly sought after these offices, and succeeded more and more completely, as time went on, not only in controlling them, but also in acquiring a military influence far larger than they at first represented.

The illustrations or rather pictures made for the book "Heiji Monogatari," i. e., "Stories from the Year Heiji," are partially lost. The picture shown here is an illustration belonging to the chapter Sandjoden-Yakiuti (the destruction of the castle of Sandjoden by fire.) [At midnight of the ninth day of the twelfth month of the year Heiji (1159 A. D.) Fujiwara-no-Nobuyori surprised and attacked the castle Sandjoden (where the former Emperor Goshirakawa resided) with 500 cavalrymen under the General Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo. The Emperor in his fright attempted to escape, but Nobuyori, Yoshitomo, Mitsuyasu, Mitsumoto, and Suesane forced him to return in his carriage to the imperial palace.] Concerning the Monk Keion, who painted this picture, we possess very meager information, but it is hardly likely that he was born later than twenty years after the "Heiji rebellion." Copied from the 14th number of the monthly "Kokkura" (Flora of the Land), published by order of the Society Kokkura-sha in Tokyo by Yamamoto and translated by Dr. Kitasato. As Dr. Kitasato adds, the disturbances of the year Heiji developed from the following causes: The Emperor Goshirakawa, who had reigned since 1156, abdicated the throne in favor of his little son Nijo (1159-1166), but as regent retained the government in his own hands, living until the year 1192. At this time two families of the highest nobility, Shinsei and Nobuyori, were in political opposition. Nobuyori, jealous because Goshirakawa showed preferences to Shinsei, attacked the ex-emperor in his castle of Sandjoden, brought him as prisoner into the imperial palace, and murdered his opponent Shinsei. This rising is known as the "Heiji rebellion." The author of the "Heiji Monogatari" is supposed to be Hamura-Tokinaga, who lived in the thirteenth century A. D.

As local unrest grew, people who had armed themselves either for defense or for aggrandisement now came with their arms and land under the wings of the powerful clans, and became their "men." The leaders of the latter received them, fed them, and made with them a personal contract of mutual loyalty and protection. Either with the chivalrous relations between master and follower or with the compact and efficient organization of their society, the outside world had nothing else to compare. The feudal formation thus created was bound to transfigure the organization of the nation. The leaders who possessed large numbers of men and wide tracts of land were called daimyō ("great name"), and their followers, iyenoko ("servitors") or rōdō ("retainers"). The general name for the man of the sword was samurai, or "one who serves." As the military class increased in numbers, it became expedient to distinguish one house from another, and many appellations were consequently formed by suffixing to the name of a clan the name of the place where the person resided or of the hereditary office which he held. In this way originated many of the house names now used in Japan. At the same time, almost all the provinces were parceled out among the military class, especially the eastern provinces, which were the headquarters of the Minamoto. It is true that appointment of provincial governors continued to be made, but their functions were purely nominal, the so-called "governors" often idly remaining in the capital. The control of local administration now rested with the real holders of the land.

A few events illustrative of the conditions we have described may here be cited. In 939 a family of the Taira clan raised arms in the eastern provinces against the imperial authority. Taira-no-Takamochi, a great-grandson of the Emperor Kwammu, had been appointed vice-governor of the province of Kazusa. There his family gradually grew in numbers and influence, some of them becoming provincial governors. Among Takamochi's grandsons was a daring but fierce soldier, Masakado. Though of imperial descent, he obeyed the custom of the time, namely, that every samurai must obtain a livelihood by entering the service of the Fujiwara. Masakado became a vassal of Fujiwara-no-Tadahira, through whose influence he hoped to obtain the office of kebüshi. But his aspiration was not satisfied, and being incensed by failure, he returned to the province of Shimōsa, gathered a number of disaffected warriors to his standard, and made organized attacks upon the governors of the neighboring provinces. He established his headquarters at Ishii, in the district of Sashima, nominated certain of his followers to be officers of his court, after the model of the governmental system of Kyōto, and on the strength of being descended from a sovereign, proclaimed himself emperor. In the whole course of Japanese history this is the only instance of a rebellion directed against the throne. Simultaneously with this disturbance in the eastern provinces, Fujiwara-no-Sumitomo, who held the third post in the government of Iyo province in the island of Shikoku, also rebelled. These two rebellions shook the whole empire. Yet the imperial court remained for a long time ignorant of the dangers that were impending. When finally the news reached Kyōto, it caused much consternation. A general was quickly dispatched against the rebels in the east, but before his arrival Masakado's cousin, Taira-no-Sadamori, and Fujiwara-no-Hidesato, the ōryōshi of Shimotsuke, defeated and killed Masakado. In the west, Sumitomo was able for a brief period to retain the ascendency, but he too was ultimately defeated and taken prisoner by Ono-no-Yoshifuru and Minamoto-no-Tsunemoto, who had been sent against him. Tsunemoto was a grandson of the Emperor Seiwa and founder of the renowned clan of Minamoto. The precedent thus established, namely, that of one military clan applying itself to quell the rebellion of another, was followed in after years, with the inevitable result that the military clans became the chief factors in the state.

Ninety years later, Taira-no-Tadatsune, vice-governor of the province of Kazusa, forcibly took possession of the provinces of Kazusa and Shimōsa, but was defeated by Minamoto-no-Yorinobu, a grandson of Tsunemoto. Soon afterward local chiefs raised an insurrection in the remote northern province of Mutsu, and maintained their authority for nine years. This was followed soon after by a three-year revolt of the Kiyowara family, which threw the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa into a state of tumult. These troubles were quelled, respectively, by Yoriyoshi, the son, and Yoshiiye, the grandson, of Yorinobu. Thus the influence of the Minamoto clan became paramount among the military men of the eastern provinces.

All this while, courtiers and officials of Kyōto despised administrative duties, whether civil or military, so that in the event of a disturbance or of a feud among themselves, they were driven to rely upon the military classes, thus involuntarily but surely strengthening the influence of the men whom they professed to contemn. Although the Fujiwara remained in Kyōto and filled all the important posts in the general government, their sway was only apparent. The reins of state affairs were in reality held by the military classes dispersed throughout the provinces. There were also certain singular circumstances at court which not only hastened this revolution, but also brought the military forces from the provinces into a clash in the streets of Kyōto. These circumstances, which we shall briefly describe below, were in the main owing to two causes, namely, the undue wealth and power of the Buddhist priests, and the struggle for power among different political factions in the palace. The former was largely due to the devotion of the imperial house, particularly the Emperor Shirakawa (1073-1087), who greatly depleted the treasury by erecting thousands of temples and images, and ordering the performance of rites and the giving of alms with unprecedented profusion. The priests, who had already grown rich and powerful, began to be engaged in quarrels among themselves and with the outside world, for which purpose the greater monasteries maintained considerable military forces.

These sacerdotal soldiers were called sōhei. The principle of maintaining them was adopted at many temples, but nowhere did they exhibit such truculence as in the case of Enryaku-ji near Kyōto. When the lord high abbot of a temple was appointed, it was the custom that the priests of the temple, if they objected to the appointment, or if, subsequently, they had cause of complaint against his ministration, should appeal to the imperial court for his removal. On such occasions, it became customary for the complainants to wear armor and carry bow and spear when they submitted their grievance. They did not shrink even from attacking the residence of the prime minister. During the reign of Shirakawa, the military priests developed such lawless independence that on more than one occasion they entered Kyōto in turbulent force, dragging with them sacred cars, the sight of which restrained the hand of the martial defenders of the court. Not only against the government, but also among themselves, the temples openly used arms and caused bloodshed. It was said that there were found among these fighting priests men originally belonging to the military class, who, failing to obtain promotion in the regular routine of feudal administration, adopted the cowl as a means of working out their ambitious designs. This state of things aggrieved the Emperor Shirakawa, but he appears to have been unable to check it. On one occasion, lamenting the arbitrary conduct of the Buddhists, he said: "There are but three things in my dominions that do not obey me: the waters of the Kamo River, the dice of the 'sugoroku' game, and the priests of Buddha." Finally, the sovereign was driven to invite the Minamoto clan to defend him against the rebellious proceedings of the priests, and from that time dates an era of feuds between the followers of religion and those of the sword.

It was the same Emperor Shirakawa who instituted the peculiar system of the Camera administration (Insei), which powerfully tended to break down the last remains of the Taikwa reformation. After a reign of fourteen years he resigned in 1087, only to retain the administrative power in his hands, with his special court and special ministers. The reigning emperor and his government had few functions to discharge, as the entire control of the state affairs rested in the Camera of the ex-emperor. Shirakawa sat in the Camera till 1130, and was succeeded for twenty-eight years by the ex-Emperor Toba. All this while Buddhist soldiers behaved with the greatest lawlessness, constantly disturbing the peace of the capital, and the military class simultaneously became turbulent and vicious.

Among these scenes of tumult and violence, the court itself was torn by disputes and its corruption became a subject of public scandal. Toba had many female favorites, of whom Bifukumonin enjoyed the largest share of his affections. Being on bad terms with his eldest son, the reigning sovereign, Toba took advantage of the birth of a son by Bifukumonin to bring about the abdication of the emperor and cause his favorite's child to succeed to the throne at the age of two years. This was the Emperor Konoye. His uncle, Fujiwara-no-Tadamichi, was appointed regent. The ex-Emperor Sutoku, being still young, was much incensed at having been obliged to abdicate, and when Konoye died after a reign of fourteen years, Sutoku desired ardently that his son, Prince Shigehito, should succeed to the throne. The Regent Tadamichi had a brother named Yorinaga, and their father's partial treatment of him had produced a feud between the brothers.

Yorinaga, active, learned, and able, then held the post of second minister of state, and strongly supported the design of the ex-Emperor Sutoku. Bifukumonin and Tadamichi, on their side, acting in concert with Toba, opposed the accession of Prince Shigehito, and alleged in objection that the untimely death of the late Emperor Konoye had resulted from sorcery practiced by Sutoku. The candidate to whom they gave their support was Goshirakawa, brother of Konoye, who was counted a youth of inferior capacity. Sutoku's anger against these proceedings was intense. Being informed just then of the death of Toba, he proceeded to the latter's palace, but the guards refused to admit him, pretending that the deceased had desired his exclusion. This insult incensed Sutoku beyond endurance. Repairing to the residence of Yorinaga, he took council with him, and finally, retiring to the Shirakawa palace, declared open war against his opponents, being bravely succored by Minamoto-no-Tameyoshi, Taira-no-Tadamasa, and their followers. Bifukumonin and Tadamichi placed the young Emperor Goshirakawa in the Higashi Sanjō palace. They counted among their chief allies Yoshitomo, the eldest son of Tameyoshi, Minamoto-no-Yorimasa, and Kiyomori, the nephew of Tadamasa. One sanguinary engagement sufficed to break the power of Sutoku. He became a priest, and was ultimately exiled to the island of Sanuki. Yorinaga died of an accidentally inflicted arrow-wound, and Tameyoshi and Tadamasa, together with many other men of note, were slain. The name of the era being thereafter changed to Hōgen, this affair was spoken of by posterity as the Hōgen Insurrection. The battle that ended the long struggle lasted for only one day, but its character and circumstances can never be forgotten. It was veritably an internecine fight; Sutoku against his brother Goshirakawa; Tadamichi against his brother Yorinaga; Tameyoshi against his son Yoshitomo; Tadamasa against his nephew Kiyomori. Men spoke in after years of this unnatural contest as the battle that destroyed human relations and ignored all the principles of morality.

The Hōgen disturbance had not long been settled when fresh troubles arose. Among the councilors of state at that era, Fujiwara-no-Michinori, who had stood high in the estimation of the Emperor Goshirakawa, was a conspicuously able politician. Even after the accession of the Emperor Nijō, Michinori continued to enjoy the imperial confidence. But he had many enemies. In connection with some private affair he had given deep umbrage to Fujiwara-no-Nobuyori, an official holding the office of chūnagon kebüshi (councilor of state and chief police official), who had been a favorite of the Emperor Goshirakawa after the latter's abdication. Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo also was disaffected. Believing that his services in the Hōgen disturbance had been more meritorious than those of Taira-no-Kiyomori, he nevertheless saw the latter rewarded with much greater liberality; and having offered his own daughter in marriage to a son of Michinori, the proposal had been abruptly declined, Michinori choosing Kiyomori's daughter in preference. Nobuyori and Yoshitomo ultimately raised the standard of revolt, in the first year of the Heiji era (1159 A. D.), and having secured the coöperation of the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa by intimidation, forced their way into the palace and obtained possession of the person of the reigning sovereign. Nobuyori then procured for himself the posts of chief minister of state and generalissimo, promoted Yoshitomo, and caused Michinori to be put to death. The revolution was short-lived. Nobuyori had not administered the affairs of state for ten days before the emperor made his escape to the mansion of Taira-no-Kiyomori and the ex-emperor fled to the temple Ninnaji. Thereupon Kiyomori with his son Shigemori attacked the insurgents and utterly routed them. Nobuyori was captured and slain. Yoshitomo succeeded in effecting his escape to Owari, but was finally put to death by the Taira adherents. All the other leaders of the rebellion and those who had prominently participated in it, were exiled. This affair is known as the Heiji Insurrection. The power of the Minamoto clan had been greatly broken in the Hōgen disturbance, when Tameyoshi and his followers fell, and the loss of Yoshitomo and his adherents in the Heiji trouble brought the great clan almost to complete ruin. Among the few of its scions who survived was Yoritomo, son of Yoshimoto. He was exiled to the eastern provinces, thence to emerge at a later date and win one of the greatest names in Japanese history.

After the quelling of the Heiji disturbance, the Taira family attained preëminent prosperity and power. The fortunes of this great house had been materially advanced by Tadanori, a brave and able captain, who enjoyed the favor of the ex-Emperor Toba. His son Kiyomori, also a man of daring and decision, raised the family's prestige still higher by his services at the Hōgen crisis, and carried it to its zenith by the conspicuous ability of his action in the Heiji disturbance. On the other hand, the rival family of Minamoto having been reduced to insignificance by the death of its chief, Yoshitomo, and by the events that immediately ensued, the whole military power of the empire came into the hands of the Taira. Kiyomori was promoted to the position of gondainagon (vice-councilor of state), an event that attracted much attention. The Taira family, though of imperial lineage, had been looked down upon by the high court nobles on account of its military career, and it was considered a notable occurrence that Kiyomori should have been nominated to a post of such consequence. This was, in truth, the first instance of a military noble's participation in the administration of state affairs, and it may be regarded as the dawn of an era when they were to fall entirely under military control.

A sister of Kiyomori's wife bore a son to the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa. Kiyomori's favor at court was so great that he succeeded in getting this child named heir apparent, and he ultimately ascended the throne in 1169 as the Emperor Takakura. Throughout his reign the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa was the actual ruler. Meanwhile, Kiyomori had steadily risen in imperial favor, until in 1167 he became chief minister of state. Shortly afterward, however, he resigned that post, and taking the tonsure, became a priest under the name of Jōkai. None the less he remained at his previous place of residence, Rokuhara, in Kyōto attending to the management of state affairs as before. From that time dates the custom subsequently followed by the military class of making Rokuhara the seat of administration.

When the influence of Kiyomori reached its zenith, he conceived the design of securing permanent official supremacy for himself and his heirs by contriving that the consort of the sovereign should be taken from his family, as had been the habit in the case of the Fujiwara. In pursuance of that project, he induced the emperor to marry his daughter. Shigemori, his son, held the important offices of lord keeper of the privy seal and generalissimo of the left, while almost the whole of his kinsmen and followers occupied prominent positions in the central and local government. The number of provinces over which the sway of the clan extended was more than thirty, and it came to be a saying of the time that a person not belonging to the Taira family was no one. The members of the Fujiwara clan could not compete with those of the Taira. Even the regent, Motofusa, and the chief minister of state, Motomichi, saw themselves reduced to comparative insignificance. Naturally such conspicuous ascendency caused offense in many quarters, and the Court Councilor Fujiwara-no-Narichika, a favorite official of the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa, in combination with several others, elaborated a plot to overthrow the Taira sway. But the scheme was detected, and its authors and promoters were all put to death by order of Kiyomori. Having been informed that the ex-emperor had countenanced the plot, Kiyomori conceived for him a strong hatred, which was greatly accentuated when, on the death of the Taira chief's son Shigemori, the ex-emperor, after consultation with Motofusa, caused the estates of the deceased nobleman to be confiscated. Too haughty to brook such a slight Kiyomori set out from his mansion at Fukuhara, and entering Kyōto, caused the ex-emperor to be seized and confined in the Toba palace, and thirty-nine of his majesty's high officials to be dismissed at the same time.

Toward the reigning sovereign the demeanor of the Taira was so arrogant and his methods so arbitrary, that the emperor finally abdicated in favor of the crown prince, who reigned under the name of Antoku. This sovereign was the son of the retiring emperor and his mother was Kiyomori's daughter, so that the Taira then stood toward the imperial house in the same relation as that formerly occupied by the Fujiwara, with the tremendous difference, however, that the former also possessed the whole military power of the time, which gave them unprecedented influence and supremacy. Nevertheless, even among the members of a family so puissant, there were to be found some feeble nobles who had no skill in military exercises nor could boast any accomplishment except the art of composing stanzas, playing on musical instruments, or practicing some effeminate pastime.

Among the members of the Minamoto family at the time of which we write was one Yorimasa, who, incensed by the arbitrary proceedings of the Taira officials, persuaded Prince Mochihito, son of the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa and brother-in-law of the Emperor Takakura, to form an alliance with the priests of Onjō-ji and Kōfuku-ji, their object being to expel Kiyomori from court and to rescue the ex-emperor from his confinement in the Toba palace. In 1180, the prince dispatched Yukiiye, younger brother of the late Yoshitomo, to the remnants of the Minamoto in the eastern provinces, carrying an edict which summoned them to rise and overthrow the Taira family. Fortunately for the latter, the plot was discovered and at once suppressed. But the seed sown by this abortive rebellion proved beyond Kiyomori's control, for, in the same year, 1180, the exile, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, who was destined to become the founder of the feudal government of Japan, raised a force of troops in the small island of Izu in obedience to the mandate of Prince Mochihito. Many partisans flocked to his standard from Kwantō, the former seat of Minamoto influence. Almost simultaneously, another Minamoto chief, Yoshinaka, also took the field in the prince's cause, his headquarters being at Kiso, in Shinano, where he collected a large body of soldiers. Kiyomori lost no time in dispatching a powerful army against the rebels, but his forces suffered defeat and were driven back. Henceforth, many puissant warriors of the Hokuriku region threw in their lot with the Minamoto, and the force at the latter's disposal assumed formidable dimensions. Even the great temples in the vicinity of the capital opened communications with the insurgents, which so exasperated Kiyomori that he reduced the temples to ashes and confiscated all their lands. These extreme measures served to check temporarily the active exercise of priestly power, but did not affect the prestige of the Minamoto, whose strength continued to grow rapidly. Kiyomori finally saw himself compelled to relax the ex-emperor's confinement, and even to allow him to resume an active part in the administration of state affairs. But in the year 1182 the great Taira chief was stricken by a fatal malady, and expired after a brief illness. He was succeeded by his son Munemori, who did not spare to direct all the strength of the clan against the Minamoto. But fortune shone on the latter's arms in several encounters, until, in 1183, Minamoto-no-Yoshinaka inflicted a signal defeat on the Taira forces in a pitched battle, and dividing his own army into two bodies, pushed, via the Tosan and Hokuriku routes, as far as the temple Enryaku-ji in the immediate vicinity of Kyōto, where he was secretly visited at night by the ex-Emperor Goshirakawa. The Emperor Antoku now fled westward, carrying with him the three insignia, and escorted by Munemori and the Taira forces. The imperial train reached Dazaifu, in Kiushū, where the Taira wielded great influence. Munemori was joined by all the principal warriors of the locality, and being further reinforced by many others from the island of Shikoku, found himself once more at the head of a powerful army. In Kyōto, however, another emperor was enthroned, whose coronation was conducted, for the first time in Japanese history, without the transfer of the insignia. There were thus two sovereigns simultaneously ruling, one at Kyōto and the other in Kiushū.

The forces of the Taira and the Minamoto fought many battles in the Kiushū and Chūgoku districts, the gains and losses being tolerably even on both sides. But by degrees the military magnates along the Sanyō, Nankai, and Saikai lines joined the Taira army, and its strength became so irresistible that it marched back toward Kyōto, escorting Antoku. Thus the Taira saw themselves once more established at Fukuhara, to which Kiyomori had for a brief period removed the capital from Kyōto. They organized their lines of defense, making Fukuhara their base, and Ikuta and Ichinotani their eastern and western outposts, respectively.

Meanwhile Yoshinaka, the Minamoto leader, had become so insolent as to be imprecated and dreaded by friend and vassal alike. He also quarreled with Yoritomo, who had hitherto confined his military operations to the eastern provinces, but who now sent his two brothers, Noriyori and Yoshitsune, to attack Yoshinaka. The latter was defeated at Seta in Ise, and killed in the midst of a rice-field by a stray arrow. The victors then marched on in triumph to Ichinotani to attack the Taira. The first conflict was successful for the Minamoto. The Taira lost many a stout soldier. Munemori and the remnant of his troops retreated to Yashima, in Sanuki, continuing as before to carry with them the child emperor, Antoku. Yoshitsune's forces pursued the retreating army to Sanuki, where a fierce fight ended in the second defeat of the Taira. The latter receded still further to the bay of Dannoura in Nagato. There the decisive battle was fought, and for the third time the Taira were utterly routed. Nearly all their warriors were killed.

When the issue of the battle had ceased to be doubtful, the empress-dowager plunged into the sea with the infant emperor in her arms and bearing the sword and seal. Antoku was drowned but the Minamoto soldiers rescued his mother. The seal was afterward recovered from the sea, but the sword, which was itself a copy, was irrevocably lost. Thenceforth the sword called Hirugoza-no-tsurugi was employed for ceremonial and official purposes. The Taira chief Munemori and his son were captured and subsequently executed. Thus, after some twenty years of power and prosperity, the great Taira clan was broken and destroyed. Often in subsequent centuries men talked of the meteor-like rise of the Taira, of the extraordinary heights of autocracy and affluence to which the illustrious family attained, and of the terrible and tragic scenes that marked its rapid and final fall. "The vain house of the Taira did not endure" (ogoru Heike wa hisashikarazu), is a familiar Japanese adage suggestive at once of the moral import of the tragedy and of the swift and extreme vicissitudes of fortune which characterized those lawless ages.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Table showing lineage and chronology of sovereigns.

(49. Emperor Kōnin, 770-782.)
|
50. Emperor Kwammu, 782-806.
|
+--------------------+-------------------------+
| | |
51. Emperor Heizei, 52. Emperor Saga, 53. Emperor Junna,
806-810. 810-824. 824-834.
|
54. Emperor Nimmyō, 834-851.
|
+------------+----------------+
| |
55. Emperor Montoku, 851-856. 58. Emperor Kōkō, 885-893.
| |
56. Emperor Seiwa, 856-877. 59. Emperor Uda, 893-898.
| |
57. Emperor Yōzei, 877-885. 60. Emperor Daigo, 898-931.
|
+--------------------------------+--+
| |
6l. Emperor Suzaku, 931-947. 62. Emperor Murakami, 947-968.
|
+-----------------------------------+
| |
63. Emperor Reizei, 968-970. 64. Emperor Enyū, 970-985.
| |
+--+----------------+ |
| | |
65. Emperor Kwazan, 67. Emperor Sanjō, 66. Emperor Ichijo,
985-987. 1012-1017. 987-1012.
|
+------------------------------------+
| |
68. Emperor Goichijo, 1017-1037. 69. Emperor Gosuzaku, 1037-1046.
|
+------------------------------------+
| |
70. Emperor Goreizei, 1046-1069. 71. Emperor Gosanjo, 1069-1073.
|
+----------------+
|
72. Emperor Shirakawa, 1073-1087.
|
73. Emperor Horikawa, 1087-1109.
|
74. Emperor Toba, 1109-1124.
|
+------------------------+-----------------------+
| | |
75. Emperor Sutoku, 77. Emperor Goshirakawa, 76. Emperor Konoye,
1124-1142. 1156-1159. 1142-1156.
|
+----------------+----------------+
| |
78. Emperor Nijō, 1159-1166. 80. Emperor Takakura, 1169-1180.
| |
| +----------------+------+
| | |
79. Emperor Rokujō, 81. Emperor Antoku, [82. Emperor Gotoba,
1166-1169. 1180-1186. 1186-1199.]

PART II

THE FEUDAL AGES. 1186-1868

Chapter VII

THE KAMAKURA GOVERNMENT. 1186-1339

The Taira had fallen, and Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, one of the greatest statesmen Japan has produced, had established his headquarters at Kamakura, near the present Tōkyō. The influence of his clan had for generations been implanted in the eastern provinces, where the robust militarism stood in great contrast with the effeminate atmosphere of Kyōto.

The rule of Kamakura, so far as the feudal forces of the east were concerned, was now almost complete, but Yoritomo aspired to the supreme military power of the whole empire. Here in this connection must be related the tragic story of his half-brother Yoshitsune, perhaps the most gallant and most beloved hero in the memory of the children of Japan. He was a mere babe when after the Heiji insurrection, he was captured with his mother by the Taira soldiers. He would have been killed by order of Kiyomori, had it not been for the intercession of the latter's mother and for the beauty of the young mother of Yoshitsune. For the sake of the lives of her sons, the latter became the concubine of Kiyomori, whom she did not love. The pathetic story still excites feeling in the heart of Japanese womanhood. Yoshitsune was assigned to a priestly career, but he proved unruly and fond of the arts of the samurai. Tradition ascribes to the child many a superhuman act of valor and military skill. At length he ran away to the northern province of Mutsu, where he was kindly received by the great local chieftain Fujiwara-no-Hidehira. Yoshitsune grew to be a man of commanding genius, and his personal charm attracted to him many loyal samurai, the romantic careers of several of whom are still remembered. When Yoritomo rose in 1180 at the mandate of the late Prince Mochihito, Yoshitsune's opportunity came. After the former had routed the first large detachment of the Taira forces, a young man with a large head but of small stature was announced to him, and Yoritomo at once recognized his long forgotten brother Yoshitsune, whose coming, he said, was to him more reassuring than the addition of a million warriors.

Henceforth Yoritomo's brilliant victories were largely owing to the generalship of his brother. But no sooner had the latter destroyed the remnants of the Minamoto's enemy than his own safety was endangered by his very success, for Yoritomo grew jealous of his great renown and popularity. As Yoshitsune escorted the captive chief of the Taira clan, Munemori, to Kamakura, he not only received no recognition for his achievements, but also was refused admission to the presence of his brother. There were not lacking men around the latter to contrive the downfall of the great general. Shortly afterward Yoritomo sent to Kyōto a man of proved valor and strength, Tosabō Shōshun, with orders to destroy Yoshitsune, but Tosabō himself fell under Yoshitsune's sword in the attempt. Thereafter Yukiiye, Yoshitsune's uncle, induced the ex-emperor to authorize them to put down Yoritomo. But Yoritomo addressed himself to the ex-emperor with such persuasion that an imperial mandate was issued to all the provincial authorities ordering them to arrest Yoshitsune and Yukiiye. Yoritomo thereupon dispatched Hōjō Tokimasa to Kyōto to quell the partisans and restore order in the capital. Yukiiye was subsequently killed in the province of Izumi, but Yoshitsune escaped to his friend Fujiwara-no-Hidehira in Mutsu. The latter, however, died soon afterward, and was succeeded by his son Yasuhira, who received from Yoritomo orders to kill the fugitive. So great and far-reaching was the authority of the Minamoto chief at that time that Yasuhira had no choice but to comply with the mandate. He caused Yoshitsune to be put to death, and sent his head to Kamakura. Tradition has, however, been reluctant to admit so ignominious an end to the hero, who, it says, effected his escape to the island of Ezo (Hokkaido) and thence to the continent, where he became a great prince over nomadic tribes. Nor did Yasuhira's treachery bring fortune upon himself, for Yoritomo, already desirous to bring Mutsu under his direct rule, pretended to believe that Yasuhira had been unduly slow in destroying his rebellious brother, and, in 1189, led in person a large army, which succeeded in a brief time in killing Yasuhira and subduing the great provinces of Mutsu and Dewa.

In the next year, Yoritomo repaired to Kyōto and had his first audience of the emperor and the ex-emperor.[1] The latter treated him with great consideration, and after the lapse of a year conferred upon him the title of sei-i-tai-shōgun, or generalissimo, which has since been the customary title of the feudal overlord of Japan.

Let us here describe the feudal government organized by Yoritomo at Kamakura—the first attempt of like kind in the history of Japan—and observe how different it was from the elaborate system of the centralized government which was first organized in 645 and later transferred to Kyōto. One of the first steps taken by the Minamoto chief to consolidate his power was to establish the relation of lord and vassal between himself and the great local magnates of the eastern provinces who had espoused his cause, and to secure their allegiance by confirming them in the possession of their estates. For the better organization of his military forces he created an office called samurai-dokoro, a species of headquarter staff department, which was presided over by Wada Yoshimori in the capacity of bettō. Thus all the military men throughout the east were brought completely under his sway. Later he created a department of public archives (kumonjo), and made Ōye Hiromoto its minister, and Nakahara Chikayoshi its vice-minister, both of whom were originally civilians at Kyōto. It was owing to Yoritomo's sagacity that they had been induced to enter the service of the military government at Kamakura. By this department the administration of civil affairs was chiefly conducted, as was the administration of military affairs by the staff department (samurai-dokoro). A department of justice (monchū-jo) was also organized with Miyoshi Yasunobu, another civilian, at its head, its functions being the hearing of all civil suits, and the management of matters relating to civil law.

Thenceforward down to the days of the Ashikaga, the descendants of the three statesmen from Kyōto continued to direct the administration of affairs at Kamakura. By 1184, the organization of Yoritomo's central government (bakufu) was complete, but the local administration had still to be elaborated. Advantage was taken of the general disorder that still existed throughout the land, owing to the disturbance caused by the remnants of the Taira party and by the followers of Yukiiye and Yoshitsune. On the advice of Ōye Hiromoto, Yoritomo made such strong representations to the ex-emperor that the latter sanctioned the appointment of high constables (shugo) in the various provinces and superintendents (jitō) of the great estates, the whole being under the control of the shōgun himself. By the energy of these officials numbers of the insurgents were arrested in different localities, and order was everywhere restored. Furthermore, an edict was issued requiring that all cultivators of land throughout the empire should without distinction contribute to the military exchequer a tax at the rate of five shō (.256 bushels) of grain per tan (one-fourth of an acre). Thenceforth the power of the former provincial governors and headmen gradually declined, and the authority of the newly appointed high constables and superintendents increased proportionally. The shōgun, of course, took care that the occupants of the new offices should be chosen from among his own relatives and partisans, so that his sway was eventually consolidated everywhere, and the control of the empire virtually passed into his hands.

Yoritomo died in 1200 at the age of fifty-three, his eldest son, Yoriiye, succeeding to the title of generalissimo. But Yoriiye being only eighteen years of age, and having given no evidence of ability, his mother, Masako, commissioned her own father Hōjō Tokimasa, together with twelve councilors, to assume the direction of the government at Kamakura. From this time began the dark age of Kamakura, in which unbridled ambition ignored all restraints of propriety. When the young Yoriiye fell ill in 1203, his mother, acting in concert with Tokimasa, planned to relieve him of his office of generalissimo, and to appoint his son Ichihata to be lord and governor general of the twenty-eight eastern provinces forming Kwantō, and his young brother Chihata—afterward called Sanetomo—to be lord of the thirty-eight western provinces forming Kwansei. This plot so incensed Yoriiye that the latter, with his wife's father, Hiki Yoshikazu, planned means to exterminate the Hōjō family. Tokimasa frustrated the design by having Yoshikazu assassinated, and then attacking and slaying all his blood relations together with Ichihata. Yoriiye he afterward shut up in a temple, and ultimately caused him to be put to death. Sanetomo, Yoriiye's younger brother, succeeded him, but exercised no administrative authority, the Hōjō holding everything in their own grasp. The shōgun consequently devoted himself to literature rather than to military exercises. Moreover, foreseeing that fortune would not long continue to smile upon the Minamoto family, he thought to obtain a high position in the central government, and add luster to the family's renown while there was yet time. Hence he was promoted to the post of chief councilor of state (dainagon), in conjunction with that of commander in chief of the guards of the left, his official rank being raised to the first of the second class. Shortly afterward he became lord keeper of the privy seal and then minister of the right. But in 1219, on the occasion of worshiping at a shrine in Kamakura, he was stabbed to death by Kugyō, a son of Yoriiye. This event terminated the descendants of the Minamoto family in the direct line. A brief interval of thirty-five years, or three generations,[2] from the time when Yoritomo had risen to the head of the government, sufficed to complete the supremacy of the great clan, the first shōgun of which had so systematically pruned off the useful members of its own branch.

The Minamoto were followed by the Hōjō as feudal rulers. The Hōjō family was of Taira origin, its founder being Taira-no-Sadamori. The name Hōjō was derived from the fact that the family's headquarters were at Hōjō in Izu. During the period of Yoritomo's exile in Izu, he experienced generous and hospitable treatment at the hands of Hōjō Tokimasa, whose daughter he married. All during Yoritomo's campaigns and subsequent administration at Kamakura, Tokimasa, though of the Taira family, proved a loyal and indispensable counselor. Under Yoriije, being the grandfather on the mother's side, he naturally enjoyed the widest popularity and wielded the greatest power of all the military nobles of the time. As has been seen, the Hōjō did not even hesitate to assassinate the shōgun in order to further their personal interests. Tokimasa allowed himself to be controlled by the counsels of his wife. At her slanderous instance he brought about the overthrow of a great territorial noble, Hatakeyama, and by her advice he conceived the project of elevating to the shōgunate his younger daughter's husband, Hiraga Tomomasa. The third shōgun, Sanetomo, then a mere youth, was an inmate of Tokimasa's house at the time of this plot. His mother, Masako, learning what was on foot, caused him to be removed to the house of her brother Yoshitoki, with the assistance of the military vassals of the Minamoto, and succeeded not only in having Tokimasa and his intriguing wife sent back to Hōjō, but also in compassing the death of Tomomasa in Kyōto. These events transferred the territorial and military ascendancy among the Kamakura nobility to the Wada family, whom therefore Yoshitoki, the Hōjō chief in Kamakura, formed the design of destroying. In pursuance of that scheme, he prompted Kugyō to assassinate Sanetomo, the last of the Minamoto family. Then Fujiwara-no-Yoritsune, a relative of Yoritomo, was summoned from Kyōto to assume the nominal office of shōgun, Masako, the widow of Yoritomo, exercising the controlling power and Yoshitoki holding the office of regent (shikken, an office virtually corresponding with the sesshō of the central government); in which capacity he administered all the affairs of the bakufu in the name of the young shōgun. Yoshitoki was thus a shōgun with the name of a shikken.

It was about this time that the civil government of Kyōto rose under the leadership of the ex-Emperor Gotoba in an attempt to overthrow the feudal administration. Ever since the time of Yoritomo, Gotoba had cherished the hope of recovering the control of administrative affairs, and with that object had stationed military men of his own choosing in the west, in addition to those already stationed in the north, conferring on their leaders swords forged by his own hands, and otherwise sparing no pains to organize a strong military following. So long, however, as Yoritomo lived, Gotoba's designs could not be realized. But when Sanetomo, the third shōgun of Yoritomo's line, fell under the sword of Kugyō, the ex-emperor thought that he descried an opportunity to attain his purpose. But Hōjō Yoshitoki set up a Fujiwara as a nominal shōgun, and himself exercised the administrative authority in a markedly arrogant and arbitrary manner. Gotoba then selected a vassal of Kamakura, without consulting the Hōjō, as warden of the western marches, and allowed him to reside in Kyōto. Yoshitoki forthwith confiscated all the lands belonging to the warden. Thereupon an imperial mandate was issued, directing that the estates should be restored, to which Yoshitoki paid no attention. A further instance of contumacy occurred in connection with an estate which the ex-emperor had conferred on one of his favorite mistresses.

Stung by these insults, Gotoba finally resolved to overthrow the Kamakura government. In this design he was strongly supported by another ex-emperor, Juntoku, who had just abdicated in favor of his son, Chūkyō. The third of the three ex-emperors of the time, Tsuchimikado, opposed the project of the other two, urging that its execution was still premature. Gotoba could count upon the support of seventeen hundred warriors, so in 1221 an imperial mandate circulated through all the provinces of the empire ordering the destruction of the Hōjō family. It was specially addressed to the powerful lord, Miura Yoshimura. But, instead of obeying, he conveyed secret information of the fact to Yoshitoki, who in turn informed Masako, the widow of Yoritomo. She thereupon summoned all the military leaders of the surrounding provinces, and having reminded them of the possessions and ranks bestowed by the Minamoto chief on the samurai of Kwantō, said that an occasion had now arisen to repay her deceased husband's favors. The result was that none of these captains espoused the sovereign's cause in the struggle that ensued. Meanwhile, Yoshitoki took counsel of his generals as to a plan of campaign, and finally adopted the proposal of Ōye Hiromoto that the bulk of the forces at the disposal of the Hōjō should march against Kyōto, under the command of Hōjō Yasutoki and Hōjō Tokifusa, by the three trunk routes, the Tōkaidō, the Tōsandō, and the Hokurikudō. On receipt of this intelligence in Kyōto, the imperial troops were divided into two bodies under Hideyasu and Taneyoshi, and moved northward to meet the invaders in the Owari and Mino provinces.

But the defending forces suffered defeat, and were driven back, so that Yasutoki and Tokifusa were able to enter Kyōto at the head of a large army. They forced the reigning sovereign to abdicate in favor of Gohorikawa, and they banished the three ex-emperors, Gotoba to the province of Oki, Juntoku to Sado Island, and Tsuchimikado to Tosa. Gotoba's son was also sent into exile. A number of court nobles who had assisted and promoted the attack upon the Kamakura government were put to death. Three thousand estates belonging to these nobles and to the samurai who had espoused the imperial cause were confiscated and divided among the Hōjō followers. Yoshitoki then stationed Yasutoki and Tokifusa at Rokuhara to preserve peace in Kyōto. Even in the days of Yoritomo, affairs of state had been administered in consultation with the court nobles and the Fujiwara ministers, but the Hōjō recognized no such obligation. So the imperial uprising not only proved a failure, but also served to increase immensely the power of the feudal government.

The Hōjō were aware that, great as was their influence, it had been acquired by questionable means, and that their position could be maintained only by their good government. For this reason, the Hōjō administration before the days of its decline has come down to posterity as a model of feudal rule. Yasutoki, who succeeded Yoshitoki as regent, devoted himself zealously to political affairs, treated the agricultural classes with much consideration, and sought earnestly to win the love of the people. He treated his relatives with uniform kindness, and those under his sway with condescension, never abandoning himself to passionate impulses nor ever employing his power wantonly. He framed a law of fifty-one articles setting forth the principles of administration and supplying regulations to guide the discharge of official functions. Ruling wisely and living uprightly, he died lamented by people of all classes. He was succeeded by his grandson, Tsunetoki, and the latter by his younger brother, Tokiyori. This last, like his grandfather, practiced economy in his administration and showed much consideration for the farming classes.

No one of the Hōjō family,[3] however, did more service to the nation than the son of Tokiyori, Tokimune, who saved the country from the Mongol conquest. This deserves our special note.

In Mongolia, on the northeast of China, there appeared a conqueror of world-wide fame, Temujin, the great Genghis Khan. Against his armies the Tatar kings were unable to hold their ground, and ultimately the wave of Mongol conquest flowed into the dominions of the Sung sovereign in the south of China. Temujin's grandson, Kublai, possessed himself of a great part of Korea, and having concerted measures for overthrowing the Sung dynasty and bringing all China under Mongol rule, he conceived the project of subjugating Japan also. His first step toward consummating that design was to send envoys via Korea, who were instructed to remonstrate with the Japanese sovereign for his indifferent attitude toward the Mongol autocrat. But the Koreans dissuaded these envoys from prosecuting their voyage. Two years later, in 1268, Kublai dispatched another embassy to Dazaifu in Kiushū, with letters to the governor of Dazaifu as well as to the Emperor of Japan, the ostensible object of the communications being to establish amicable relations between the two countries. From Dazaifu intelligence of the coming of the embassy and the nature of its documents was forwarded to Kamakura, thence to be sent in turn to the court in Kyōto. Considerable anxiety was caused by the news, both in official and in civilian circles. The emperor laid before the shrine of Daijingū an autographic supplication for the heavenly protection of the empire, and caused prayers of a similar purport to be said at all the shrines and temples throughout the realm. Careful measures were also taken to guard the coasts, more particularly the points of strategical importance in Hizen and Chikuzen.

A draft reply to Kublai's dispatch was prepared at the court in Kyōto, and shown to Hōjō Tokimune, who, however, gave it as his opinion that inasmuch as the communication from China lacked the forms of prescribed courtesy, Japan's dignity precluded the sending of any answer. Orders were therefore conveyed to Dazaifu for the immediate expulsion of the Chinese envoys. In March of the following year Korean officials again arrived in the island of Tsushima escorting Mongolian envoys, who asked for a reply to the dispatch sent by their sovereign the preceding year. These envoys became involved in quarrels with the people of Tsushima, and finally took their departure, carrying away two of the latter as prisoners. Five months later, Kublai caused these two men to be restored to Japan, and made the act an occasion for addressing another dispatch to the Japanese emperor. Again Japan refrained from making reply. After an interval of two years, the khan sent in 1271 another ambassador, with a train of a hundred followers, who landed at Imatsu in Chikuzen. The ambassador's instructions were to present the dispatch of which he was bearer either to the imperial court or to the shōgun in Kamakura. He did not, however, intrust the original document to the Dazaifu officials, but gave them a copy only. This was at once forwarded to Kamakura, being from thence communicated to the court in Kyōto. On receiving it, the kwanryo took counsel of the other ministers of the crown and came to the decision that no reply should be given.

By this time the people of Japan had acquired full knowledge of the immense power wielded by Kublai Khan and of the vast conquests achieved by him in succession to his grandfather Genghis. Hence there was no little anxiety as to the outcome of these futile embassies. The emperor ordered prayers to be offered up as before at the shrines and temples throughout the empire. Kublai had now brought almost the whole of China into subjection and established his dynasty of Yuan. He continued to send embassy after embassy to Japan, and Japan on her side continued, with equal persistence, to make no reply to messages which she construed as national insults. Enraged by this indifference, the khan finally sent against Japan a fleet of a hundred and fifty war vessels under the command of Liu Fok-hêng, at the same time ordering Korea to reinforce this expedition. The invaders arrived at Tsushima toward the end of 1274, where they killed the governor. Thence they passed to the island of Iki and killed its acting high constable, and thereafter directed their forces against Imatsu in Chikuzen. The military nobles of Kiushū—Shōni, Ōtomo, Matsuura, Kikuchi and others—collected troops and made a stand at Hakozaki. The Yuan invaders, armed with guns, caused great havoc among the Japanese army, but the Chinese leader, Liu, received a wound that compelled him to retire, and a heavy gale arising destroyed numbers of the foreign war-vessels. The Korean general's ship was wrecked and he himself drowned. Finally, the remnant of the invading force escaped under cover of darkness. Once again after a few months the Yuan sovereign sent another envoy, but he was sent up to Kamakura and there put to death by Hōjō Tokimune.

Hōjō Sanemasa was now appointed to command at Dazaifu, and instructions were issued for the vigilant guarding of all the coast line in the south. Further, the imperial guards were temporarily withdrawn from Kyōto, and drafted into a large army recruited from the east of the empire and stationed at Dazaifu as well as at other important positions along the coast. Sanemasa was given the command of this army, and other members of the Hōjō family were dispatched to direct the military preparations in Harima and Nagato. Further, the territorial nobles of Kiushū received orders to construct fortifications along the coast, and this work, being vigorously carried on, was completed in 1279. That year the Chinese emperor again sent envoys, seeking to establish friendship and intercourse. They landed at Hakata, but were put to death by order of the shōgun's government. The Regent Tokimune, foreseeing the consequences of these complications, dispatched large bodies of troops from Kamakura to Kiushū, to repel the renewed attack inevitably pending from the west. By this time the feudal society of Japan seems to have been roused to its height of patriotism. It not only was determined to resist the invasion of the world-conqueror, but even plans were made to invade the continent and fight with the Khan on his own ground. The latter, on his part, had now completed his conquest of China, and, having attained the zenith of his power, resolved to gratify his long-cherished desire, supplemented as it was by indignation at the repeated slaughter of his ambassadors in Japan.

Accordingly in the middle of 1281, he assembled a force of 100,000 soldiers, whom, together with a contingent of 10,000 Koreans, he sent against Japan under the command of Hwan Bunko. The invading army touched at the island of Iki, and after a cruel massacre of its inhabitants, resumed their voyage toward Dazaifu. Thither the Japanese troops flocked from Kiushū, Chūgoku, and Shikoku to defend their country. Aided by the fortresses that had been erected along the coast, they fought stoutly. The Chinese, however, enjoyed the great advantage of possessing heavy ordnance, with which they bombarded the forts and slaughtered such multitudes of the Japanese soldiers that the latter were unable to meet them in open contest. Organized tactics as much characterized the invaders as personal valor and individual combat did the defending warriors. Nevertheless, the latter continued to resist so obstinately, that, although the contest waged for sixty days, the enemy could not effect a landing. Meanwhile, a rumor reached Kyōto that the Yuan invaders, having borne down all resistance in Kiushū, had pushed on to Nagato, and were on the point of advancing against Kyōto itself, thence to carry their arms into the Tōkai and Hokuriku districts.

The Emperor Gouda, deeply disquieted by these tidings, proceeded in person to the shrine of Iwashimizu Hachimangū, god of war, to pray for the safety of the country, and moreover dispatched an autographic supplication to the shrine of Daijingū in Ise, vowing that he would offer himself as a sacrifice to preserve the honor of his empire. But in Kiushū the contest continued fiercely when, on the last day of the seventh lunar month, a northwesterly storm swept down on the Chinese fleet and wrecked a number of the ships with immense loss of life. Those that survived the tempest, several thousands in number, took refuge in the island of Takashima off the coast of Hizen, and there, under the command of Chang Pak—Hwan having fled away in a vessel of exceptional strength—set themselves to cut timber and build new ships to carry them back to China. But Shōni Kagesuke, at the head of a body of the Kiushū troops, followed and attacked the fugitives, killing several hundreds and taking over a thousand prisoners, so that, in the end, only three out of the hundred thousand Yuan invaders succeeded in escaping alive to China. After this success the Kamakura government redoubled its efforts to place the defenses of the country on a strong footing. It was not till 1299 that the Chinese sovereign sent two Buddhist priests to Japan with a peaceful message. The country had been in a state of continuous defense, since the arrival of the first Mongol embassy thirty-one years previously. Never before had the Japanese nation encountered a more colossal struggle with a great conquering foe, nor had she since, till the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. It is noteworthy that in the former crisis it was the feudal forces which saved the land from foreign conquest.

If by this great service the Hōjō placed all Japan under obligation to them, it was also after this crisis that their power began to decline. Great sums of money had been devoted during the thirty years to maintaining constant religious services at the shrines and temples throughout the empire. The expense incurred on that account is said to have been greater even than the outlay in connection with military affairs, which in itself must have been immense. Moreover, after the invaders had been defeated and the danger averted, the rewards granted to Buddhist priests and Shintō officials far exceeded in monetary value the recompense given to the troops and their leaders. On the other hand, the wardens and territorial nobles, on whom the duty of defending the country had fallen, found the drain on their resources so heavy that they began to murmur. Thus the popularity of the shōgunate at Kamakura commenced to wane.

THE INVASION BY THE MONGOL TARTARS

Tokimune was succeeded by his son Sadatoki, and then followed Morotoki and Takatoki. During their regency the authority of the Hōjō rapidly declined. Takatoki, being a man of indolent disposition, entrusted the control of affairs wholly to one Nagasaki Takasuke, who was betrayed by avarice into such abuses of power that men's hearts were altogether estranged from the government. The fall of the Hōjō finally ensued in 1326, a century and a quarter after the first of those powerful rulers had risen from the position of a rear-vassal to the most puissant office in the land.

The circumstances of the downfall of the Kamakura government will be related in the next chapter. In the meantime, we shall observe the condition of society during the hundred and forty years of the rule of the Minamoto and the Hōjō. In regard to the customs of the upper classes, it is interesting to note that the elegance of the Kyōto nobles and the severe simplicity of the Kamakura soldiers, now the one, then the other, according to the varying circumstances, set the fashion of the day. When the warrior element was in the ascendant, its manners and customs were more or less taken as a model in Kyōto, while, on the other hand, Kyōto sometimes impressed its own fashions upon the military. An instance of the latter case is furnished by the story of the Taira family, whose fighting men gradually fell under the charm of the court life, and succumbed with comparative ease to the misfortunes that afterward overtook them. Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, however, fixed his headquarters at Kamakura and did not visit Kyōto except for very brief intervals. His habits of life were frugal and simple; he encouraged the samurai to adopt a severe military regimen, and he set his face resolutely against costly ostentation and enervating excesses.

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.

[80. Emperor Takakura, 1169-1180.]
|
+-------------------+--------------------+
| | |
[81. Emperor Antoku, Gotakakura. 82. Emperor Gotoba,
1180-1186.] | 1186-1199.
| |
+-------------------+ +-------------------+
| | |
86. Emperor Gohorikawa, 84. Emperor Juntoku, 83. Emperor
1222-1233. 1211-1222. Tsuchimikado,
| | 1199-1211.
| | |
87. Emperor Shijō, 85. Emperor Chūkyō, 88. Emperor Gosaga,
1233-1243. 1222. 1243-1247.
|
+--------------------------------------+---+
| |
90. Emperor Kameyama, 89. Emperor Gofukakusa,
1266-1276. 1247-1266.
| |
91. Emperor Gouda, 1276-1288. |
| |
+-----+-----------------+ |
| | |
96. Emperor Godaigo, 94. Emperor Gonijō, 92. Emperor Fushimi,
1319-1339. 1301-1308. 1288-1299.
|
+---------------------------------------+
| |
95. Emperor Hanazono, 1308-1319. 93. Emperor Gofushimi, 1299-1301.

[2] Minamoto Yoritomo, 1184-1199; Minamoto Yoriiye, 1199-1203; Minamoto Sanetomo, 1203-1219.

[3] The following is the list of the Hōjō regents (shikken). Hōjō Tokimasa, father-in-law of Yoritomo, who died in 1215, did not assume the title of regent.

Hōjō Yoshitoki, 1205-1224.
Hōjō Yasutoki, 1225-1242.
Hōjō Tsunetoki, 1243-1246.
Hōjō Tokiyori, 1246-1256.
Hōjō Tokimune, 1256-1284.
Hōjō Sadatoki, 1284-1300.
Hōjō Morotoki, 1300-1311.
Hōjō Takatoki, 1312-1326.

Chapter VIII

THE TEMPORARY RESTORATION OF IMPERIAL POWER. 1339-1393

The fall of the Hōjō resulted in a rehabilitation of the imperial power, which, however, as quickly relapsed under a new feudal rule. The story of this momentary success of the sovereign house must be prefaced by an account of its domestic affairs, which had caused its renewed uprising against the usurping regent at Kamakura. It will be remembered that, in 1221, the Hōjō exiled three ex-emperors and their partisans, who had raised their arms against the all-powerful feudal government. The influence of the Hōjō became so strong in Kyōto after this event that, when the Emperor Shijō died without heir, in 1242, the Regent Yasutoki succeeded, in spite of opposition, in raising his nominee on the throne as the Emperor Gosaga. This naturally further enhanced the power of the Hōjō. Gosaga abdicated in 1246, and was succeeded by his two sons, one after the other. Of these, the younger and abler, Emperor Kameyama, was the favorite of his retired father, and would have bequeathed the throne exclusively to his own descendants, had it not been for the intervention of the ex-emperor, who advocated the cause of the elder prince, the Emperor Gofukakusa. It was finally decided, during the regency of Hōjō Sadatoki, that the descendants of the two emperors—called, from the names of their respective residences, the Daikaku-ji and the Jimyō-in lines—should reign alternately, each for ten years. The Daikaku-ji line came first to the throne in the person of Gonijō (1301-1308), followed by Hanazono of the other line. The latter had to abdicate, in 1319, in favor of Godaigo of the first line. It was this last emperor who successfully, though for a brief period, restored the power of the imperial house, for, being like all other princes of his line, penurious and discontented, he was particularly offended at the conduct of the Kamakura regency, which not only kept him in straitened circumstances, but also alternated his house with the other and richer house favorable to the Hōjō. Godaigo perceived that, if he would insure his sovereignty, he must do away at the same time with the Hōjō rule and the system of alternate succession.

Such an attempt promised greater success in 1325 than in 1221, as the power of the Hōjō had now greatly declined, particularly under the regency of the dissolute Takatoki. Bribery was rife, partiality presided at the tribunals of justice, and dissatisfaction with the Hōjō rule prevailed among the samurai. A premature plot of Godaigo[1] to overthrow Kamakura was, however, discovered, and he barely saved his throne by falsely professing innocence and goodwill. The time soon came when a prince of the Jimyō-in line should replace Godaigo, who on the contrary sought to name his own son heir apparent. This project was peremptorily opposed by Takatoki, who also provoked the emperor in other matters, until the latter again sought to find means to undo the Hōjō. The immense military following of Kamakura, however, rendered hopeless all schemes of open defiance. Under the circumstances the emperor conceived the idea of having recourse to priestly aid. He placed his son, Prince Morinaga, in the post of lord abbot of Enryaku-ji, and himself proceeded to Hieizan and Nara, where he succeeded in winning the priests and elaborating with them a scheme for the overthrow of the Hōjō. But this plan also was divulged. In August, 1331, the regent sent three thousand men to Kyōto with orders to arrest the emperor. Godaigo had escaped during the night, and taken refuge on Mount Kasagi, where he mustered his partisans from the neighboring provinces and posted them for the protection of his temporary residence. The siege did not last long, for Takatoki raised a Jimyō-in prince to the throne, captured Godaigo, and exiled the latter and his two sons to distant islands.