The Mikado's Empire/Buku 1/Bab 12

XII.

THE BEGINNING OF MILITARY DOMINATION.

WITH rank, place, and power as the prizes, there were not want- ing rival contestants to dispute the monopoly of the Fujiwara. The prosperity and domineering pride of the scions of this ancient house, instead of overawing those of younger families that w,ere forming in the capital, served only as spurs to their pride and determination to share the highest gifts of the sovereign. It may be easily supposed that the Fujiwara did not attain the summit of their power without the sacrifice of many a rival aspirant. The looseness of the marriage tie, the intensity of ambition, the greatness of the prize — the throne itself — made the court ever the fruitful soil of intrigue, jealousies, proscription, and even the use of poison and the dagger. The fate of many a noble victim thus sacrificed on the altars of jealousy and revenge forms the subject of the most pathetic passages of the Jap- anese historians, and the tear-compelling scenes of the romance and the drama. The increase of families was the increase of feuds. Ar- rogance and pride were matched by craft and subtlety that finally led to quarrels which rent the nation, to civil war, and to the almost utter extinction of one of the great families.

The Sugawara were the most ancient rivals of the Fujiwara. The most illustrious victim of court intrigue bearing this name was Suga- wara Michizan6. This polished courtier, the Beauclerc of his age, had, by the force of, his talents and learning, risen to the position of inner great minister. As a scholar, he ranked among the highest of his age. At different periods of his life he wrote, or compiled, from the oldest records various histories, some of which are still extant. His industry and ability did not, however, exempt him from the jeal- ous annoyances of the Fujiwara courtiers, who imbittered his life by poisoning the minds of the emperor and courtiers against him. One of them, Tokihira, secured an edict banishing him to Kiushiu. Here, in the horrors of poverty and exile, he endeavored to get a petition to the mikado, but failed to do so, and starved to death, on the 25th

116 THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.

day of the Second month, 903. Michizane is now known by his posthumous name of Tenjin. Many temples have been erected in his honor, and students worship his spirit, as the patron god of letters and literature. Children at school pray to him that they may become good writers, and win success in study. Some of his descendants are still living.

When Michizane died, the Sugawara were no longer to be dreaded as a rival family. Another brood were springing up, who were des- tined to become the most formidable rivals of the Fujiwara. More than a century before, one of the concubines, or extra wives, of the Emperor Kuammu had borne a son, who, having talents as well as im- perial blood, rose to be head of the Board of Civil Office, and master of court ceremonies — an office similar to the lord high chamberlain of England.* To his grandson Takamochi was given the surname of Taira in 889 — one hundred and one years before the banishment of Michizane.

The civil offices being already monopolized by the Fujiwara, the members of the family of Taira early showed a fondness and special fitness for military life, which, with their experience, made them most eligible to the commands of military expeditions. The Fujiwara had become wholly wedded to palace life, and preferred the ease and lux- ury of the court to the discomforts of the camp and the dangers of the battle-field. Hence the shoguns, or generals, were invariably ap- pointed among sons of the Taira or the Minamoto, both of which families became the military vassals of the crown. While the men led the armies, fought the foe, and returned in triumph, the mothers at home fired the minds of their sons with the recital of the deeds of their fathers. Thus bred to arms, inured to war, and living chiefly in the camp, a hardy race of warriors grew up and formed the military caste. So long as the Taira or Minamoto leaders were content with war and its glory, there was no reason for the Fujiwara to fear dan- ger from them as rivals at court. But in times of peace and inaction, the minds of these men of war longed to share in the spoils of peace ; or, having no more enemies -to conquer, their energies were turned against their fellows. The peculiar basis of the imperial succession opened an equally wide field for the play of female ambition ; and

• Princes of the blood were eligible to the following offices : Minister of the

imperial household, lord high chamberlain, minister of war, president of the censorate, and the governorships of K6dzuk6, Kadzusa, and Hitachi. The act- ual duties of the office were, however, performed by inferior officials.

THE BEGINNING OF MILITARY DOMINATION. 11.7

while Taira and Minamoto generals lusted after the high offices held by Fujiwara courtiers, Taira and Minamoto ladies aspired to become empresses, or at least imperial concubines, where they might, for the glory of their family, beard the dragon of power in his own den. They had so far increased in influence at court, that in 1008, the wife of the boy-emperor, Ichijo, was chosen from the house of Mi- namoto.

The Minamoto family, or, as the Chinese characters express the name, Genji, was founded by Tsunemoto, the grandson of Seiwa (859-880) and son of the minister of war. His great-grandson Yori- yoshi became a shogun, and was sent to fight the Ainos ; and the half-breeds, or rebels of mixed Aino and Japanese blood, in the east and extreme north of Hondo. Yoriyoshi's son, Yoshiiye", followed his father in arms, and was likewise made a shogun. So terrible was Yoshiiy6 in battle that he was called Hachiman taro. The name Taro is given to the first-born son. Hachiman is the Buddhist form of Ojin, the deified son of Jingu Kogo, and the patron of warriors, or god of war. After long years of fighting, he completely tranquilized the provinces of the Kuanto. His great-grandson Yoshitomo* became

• The family name (uji) precedes the personal, or what we call the baptismal

or Christian name. Thus the full name of the boy Kotaro, son of Mr. Ota, would be Ota Kotaro. Family names nearly always have a topographical mean- ing, having been taken from names of streets, villages, districts, rivers, mount- ains, etc. The following are specimens, taken from the register of my students in the Imperial College in Tokio, many of whom are descendants of the illustri- ous personages mentioned in this book, or in Japanese history. The great bulk of the Samurai claim descent from less than a hundred original families: Plain- village, Crane-slope, Hill-village, Middle -mountain, Mountain -foot, Grove-en- trance, High-bridge, East-river, River-point, Garden-mountain, River-meadow, Pine-village, Great-tree, Pine-well, Shrine-promontory, Cherry-well, Cedar-bay, Lower-field, Stone-pine, Front-field, Bamboo-bridge, Large-island, Happy-field, Shrine-plain, Temple-island, Hand-island, North-village, etc., etc. It was not the custom to have godparents, or namesakes, in our sense of these words. Mid- dle names were not given or used, each person having but a family and a person- al name. Neither could there be a senior and junior of exactly the same name in the same family, as with us. The father usually bestowed on his son half of his name ; that is, he gave him one of the Chinese characters with which his own was written. Thus, Toriyoshi named his first-born son Yoshiiye", i. e., Yoshi (good) and iye (house or family). Yoshiiye' had six sons, named, respectively, Yoshimune', Yoshichika, Yoshikuni, Yoshitada, Yoshitoki, and Yoshitaka. The Taira nobles retained the mori in Tadamori, in their own personal names. Fe- male names were borrowed from those of beautiful and attractive objects or of auspicious omens, and were usually not changed at marriage or throughout life. Males made use during life of a number of appellations given them, or assumed on the occasions of birth, reaching adult age, official promotion, change of life ;

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THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.

the greatest rival of the Taira, and the father of Yoritomo, one of the ablest men in Japanese history. The star of Minamoto was in the ascendant.

Meanwhile the Taira shoguns, who had the military oversight of the South and West, achieved a succession of brilliant victories. As a reward for his services, the court bestowed the island of Tsushima on Tadamori, the head of the house. It being a time of peace, Ta- damori came to Kioto to live, and while at court had a liaison with one of the palace lady attendants, whom he afterward married. The fruit of this union was a son, who grew to be a man of stout physique. In boyhood he gave equal indications of his future greatness and his

View in the Inland Sea.

future arrogance. He wore unusually high clogs — the Japanese equiv- alent for " riding a high horse." His fellows gave the strutting roist- erer the nickname of koheda ("high clogs"). Being the son of a soldier, he had abundant opportunity to display his valor. At this

or on account of special events, entering a monastery, and after death. This cns- tom as a police measure, as well as for other reasons, was abolished in 1872. Oft- en a superior rewarded an inferior by bestowing upon him a new name, or by al- lowing him to incorporate one of the syllables expressed vividly to the eye by a Chinese character, of the superior's name. It was never the custom to name children after great men, as we do after our national heroes. Formerly the gen- itive particle no (of) was used; as Minamoto no Toritomo means Yoritomo of the Minamoto family. In 1872, the peasantry were allowed to have family as well as individual names.

THE BEGINNING OF MILITARY DOMINATION. 119

time the seas swarmed with pirates, who ravaged the coasts and were the scourge of Corea as well as Japan. Kiyomori, a boy full of fire and energy, thirsting for fame, asked to be sent against the pirates. At the age of eighteen he cruised in the Sea of lyo, or the Suwo Nada, which is part of the Inland Sea, a sheet of water extremely beautiful in itself, and worthy, in a high degree, to be called the Mediterranean of Japan. While on shipboard, he made himself a name by attacking and capturing a ship full of the most desperate villains, and by destroying their lurking-place. His early manhood was spent alternately in the capital and in service in the South. In 1153, at the age of thirty-six, he succeeded his father as minister of justice. The two families of Minamoto and Taira, who had together emerged from comparative obscurity to fame, place, and honor, had dwelt peacefully together in Kioto, or had been friendly rivals as sol- diers in a common cause on distant battle-fields, until the year 1156, from which time they became implacable enemies. In that year the first battle was fought between the adherents of two rival claimants of the throne. The Taira party was successful, and obtained posses- sion of the imperial palace, which gave them the supreme advantage and prestige which have ever since been possessed by the leader or party in whose hands the mikado is. The whole administration of the empire was now at Kiyomori's disposal. The emperor, who thus owed his elevation to the Taira, made them the executors of his poli- cy. This was the beginning of the domination of the military classes that lasted until 1868. The ambition of Kiyomori was now not only to advance himself to the highest position possible for a subject to occupy, but also to raise the influence and power of his family to the highest pitch. He further determined to exterminate the only rivals whom he feared — the Minamoto. Not content with exercising the military power, he filled the offices at court with his own relatives, carrying the policy of nepotism to a point equal to that of his rivals, the Fujiwara, In 1167, at the age of thirty-six, having, by his ener- gy and cunning, made himself the military chief of the empire, hav- ing crushed not only the enemies of the imperial court, but also his own, and having tremendous influence with the emperor and court, he received the appointment of Dai Jo Dai Jin.

Kiyomori was thus, virtually, the ruler of Japan. In all his meas- ures he was assisted, if not often instigated to originate them by the ex-emperor, Go - Shirakawa, who ascended the throne in 1156, and abdicated in 1159, but was the chief manager of affairs during the

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THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.

reigns of his son and two grandsons. This mikado was a very im- moral man, and the evident reason of his resigning was that he might abandon himself to debauchery, and wield even more actual power than when on the throne. In 1169, he abdicated, shaved off his hair, and took the title of Ho-d, or " cloistered emperor," and became a Buddhist monk, professing to retire from the world. In industrious seclusion, he granted the ranks and titles created by his predecessor in lavish profusion. He thus exercised, as a monk, even more influ- ence than when in actual office. The head of the Taira hesitated not to use all these rewards for his own and his family's private ends. In him several offices were held by one person. He argued that as

View wear lliogo, from near the Site of the Taira Palace.

others who had done no great services for court or emperor had held high offices, he who had done so much should get all he could. Finally, neither court nor emperor could control him, and he banished kuye, and even moved the capital and court at his pleasure. In 1168, the power of the Taira- family was paramount. Sixty men of the house held high offices at court, and the lands from which they enjoyed revenue extended over thirty provinces. They had splendid palaces in KiSto and at Fukuwara, where the modern treaty-port of Hiogo now stands overlooking the splendid scenery of the Inland Sea. Hesitating at nothing that would add to his glory or power, Kiyo- mori, in 1171, imitating his predecessors, made his daughter the con-

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121

cubine, and afterward the wife, of the Emperor Takakura, a boy eleven years old. Of his children one was now empress, and his two sons were generals of highest rank. His cup of power was full.

The fortunes of the Fujiwara and Minamoto were under hopeless eclipse, the former having no military power, the latter being scat- tered in exile. Yoshitomo, his rival, had been killed, while in his bath, by Osada, his own traitorous retainer, who was bribed by Kiyomori to do the deed. The head of Yoshitomo's eldest son had fallen under the sword at Kioto, and his younger sons — the last of the Minamoto, as he supposed — were in banishment, or immured in monasteries.

4. .

Tametomo defying the Taira men, after sinking their Ship. (From the vignette on the greenback national-bank notes, drawn by a native artist.)

The most famous archer, Minamoto Tametomo, took part in many of the struggles of the two rival families. His great strength, equal to that of many men (fifty, according to the legends), and the fact that his right arm was shorter than his left, enabled him to draw a bow which four ordinary warriors could not bend, and send a shaft five feet long,- with enormous bolt -head. The court, influenced by the Taira, banished him, in a cage, to Idzu (after cutting the muscles of his arm), under a guard. He escaped, and fled to the islands of Oshima and Hachijo, and the chain south of the Bay of Yedo. His arm having healed, he ruled over the people, ordering them not to send tribute to Idzu or Kioto. A fleet of boats was sent against him. Tametomo, on the strand of Oshima, sped a shaft at one of the

122 THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE.

approaching vessels that pierced the thin gunwale and sunk it. He then, after a shout of defiance, shut himself up, set the house on fire, and killed himself. Another account declares that he fled to the Liu Kiu Islands, ruled over them, and founded the family of Liu Kiu kings, being the father of Sunten, the first historical ruler of this group of islands. A picture of this doughty warrior has been chosen to adorn the greenback currency of the banks of modern Japan.

" Woe unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child !" The mika- dos* during the Taira period were nearly all children. Toba began to reign at six, abdicating at seventeen in behalf of his son Shiutoku, four years old ; who at twenty-four resigned in favor of Konoye, then four years old. The latter died at the age of sixteen, and was suc- ceeded by Go-Shirakawa, who abdicated after three years in favor of Nijo, sixteen years old, who died after six years, when Rokujo, one year old, succeeded. After three years, Takakura, eight years old, ruled thirteen years, resigning to Antoku, then three years of age. It is easily seen that the real power lay not with these boys and ba- bies, but with the august wire-pullers behind the throne.

The ffeike Monogatari, or the " Historic Romance of the Taira," is one of the most popular of the many classic works of fiction read by all classes of people in Japan. In this book the chief events in the lives, and even the manners and personal appearance, of the principal actors of the times of the Taira are seen, so that they become more than shadows of names, and seem to live before us, men of yesterday. The terms Heike and G-enji, though Chinese forms of the names Taira and Minamoto, were, from their brevity, popularly used in preference to the pure native, but longer, forms of Taira and Minamoto.

• For convenience of reference, the following chronological list of the sover-

eigns of Japan is here appended. It is based on the list given in the Nihon Riya- ku Shi (Abridgment of Japanese History), Tokio, 1874 — a book from which I have drawn freely in this work. The dates of their reigns, in terms of the Gregorian calendar, are obtained chiefly from a comparative almanac of Chinese, Japanese, and Western dates, compiled by a learned native scholar, who brings down this invaluable chronological harmony to the third day of the Twelfth month of Meiji (January 1st, 1874), when the solar- or Gregorian calendar was adopted in Japan. The year dates approximate to within a few weeks of exactness. The names in italics denote female sovereigns. In two instances (37 and 39, 48 and 50), one em- press reigned twice, and has two posthumous titles. I have put the name of Jingu K6g6 in the list, though the Dai Nihon Shi does not admit it, she having never been crowned or formally declared empress by investiture with the regalia of sovereignty. In several cases the duration of the reign was less than a year. The five "false emperors," printed in black spaces, are omitted from this list. Only the posthumous titles under which the mikados were apotheosized are here

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given, though their living names, and those of their parents, are printed in the Nihon Kiyaku Shi. Including Jingu, there were 123 sovereigns. The average length of the reigns of 122 was nearly twenty-one years. There has been but one dynasty in Japan. In comparison, the present emperor of China is the 273d, and the dynasty the 23d or 24th.