A History of the Japanese People Part 34

fighting, in which the j.a.panese lost heavily, Hakata remained uncaptured.

High winds and rough seas now held the invaders at bay, and in that interval the coast defences were repaired and garrisoned, and a fleet of thirty-eight boats having been a.s.sembled, the j.a.panese a.s.sumed the offensive, ultimately driving the Toi to put to sea. A final attempt was made to effect a landing at Matsuura in the neighbouring province of Hizen, but, after fierce fighting, the invaders had to withdraw altogether. The whole affair had lasted sixteen days, and the j.a.panese losses were 382 killed and 1280 taken prisoners. Two hundred and eighty of the latter--60 men and 220 women--were subsequently returned. They were brought over from Koma six months later by a Koma envoy, Chong Cha-ryang, to whom the Court presented three hundred pieces of gold.

Kyoto's att.i.tude towards this incident was most instructive. When the first tidings of the invasion reached the capital, the protection of heaven was at once invoked by services at Ise and ten other shrines.

But when, on receipt of news that the danger had been averted, the question of rewarding the victors came up for discussion, a majority of the leading statesmen contended that, as the affair had been settled before the arrival of an Imperial mandate at the Dazai-fu, no official cognizance could be taken of it. This view was ultimately overruled since the peril had been national, but the rewards subsequently given were insignificant, and the event clearly ill.u.s.trates the policy of the Central Government--a policy already noted in connexion with the revolt of Masakado--namely, that any emergency dealt with prior to the receipt of an Imperial rescript must be regarded as private, whatever its nature, and therefore beyond the purview of the law.

A more effective method of decentralization could not have been devised. It was inevitable that, under such a system, the provincial magnates should settle matters to their own liking without reference to Kyoto, and that, the better to enforce their will, they should equip themselves with armed retinues. In truth, it is not too much to say that, from the tenth century, j.a.pan outside the capital became an arena of excursions and alarms, the preservation of peace being wholly dependent on the ambitions of local magnates.

A history of all these happenings would be intolerably long and tedious. Therefore only those that have a national bearing will be here set down. Prominent among such is the struggle between the Taira and the Minamoto in the Kwanto. The origin of these two families has already been recounted. Some historians have sought to differentiate the metropolitan section of the Minamoto from the provincial section--that is to say, the men of luxury and literature who frequented the capital, from the men of sword and bow who ruled in the provinces. Such differentiation is of little practical value.

Similar lines of demarcation might be drawn in the case of the Taira and Fujiwara themselves. If there were great captains in each of these famous families, there were also great courtiers. To the former category belonged Taira Tadatsune. For generations his family had ruled in the province of s.h.i.+mosa and had commanded the allegiance of all the bus.h.i.+ of the region. Tadatsune held at one time the post of vice-governor of the neighbouring province of Kazusa, where he acquired large manors (shoen). In the year 1028, he seized the chief town of the latter province, and pus.h.i.+ng on into Awa, killed the governor and obtained complete control of the province.* The Court, on receiving news of these events, ordered Minamoto Yorin.o.bu, governor of Kai, and several other provincial governors to attack the Taira chief.

*Murdoch, in his History of j.a.pan, says that in three years Tadatsune's aggressions "reduced the Kwanto to a tangled wilderness.

Thus, in the province of s.h.i.+mosa, in 1027, there had been as much as 58,000 acres under cultivation; but in 1031 this had shrunk to forty-five acres."

Yorin.o.bu did not wait for his a.s.sociates. Setting out with his son, Yoriyos.h.i.+, in 1031, he moved at once against Tadatsune's castle, which stood on the seash.o.r.e of s.h.i.+mosa, protected by moats and palisades, and supposed to be unapproachable from the sea except by boats, of which Tadatsune had taken care that there should not be any supply available. But the Minamoto general learned that the sh.o.r.e sloped very slowly on the castle front, and marching his men boldly through the water, he delivered a crus.h.i.+ng attack.

For this exploit, which won loud plaudits, he was appointed commandant of the local government office, a post held by his grandfather, Tsunemoto, whom we have seen as vice-governor of Musas.h.i.+ in the days of Masakado; by his father, Mitsunaka, one of the pillars of the Minamoto family, and by his elder brother, Yorimitsu, who commanded the cavalry of the guards in Kyoto. The same post was subsequently bestowed on Yorin.o.bu's son, Yoriyos.h.i.+, and on the latter's son, Yos.h.i.+ye, known by posterity as "Hachiman Taro,"

j.a.pan's most renowned archer, to whom the pre-eminence of the Minamoto family was mainly due. Tadatsune had another son, Tsunemasa, who was appointed vice-governor of s.h.i.+mosa and who is generally spoken of as Chiba-no-suke. The chief importance of these events is that they laid the foundation of the Minamoto family's supremacy in the Kwanto, and thus permanently influenced the course of j.a.panese history.

THE CAMPAIGN OF ZEN-KUNEN

It is advisable at this stage to make closer acquaintance with the j.a.panese bus.h.i.+ (soldier), who has been cursorily alluded to more than once in these pages, and who, from the tenth century, acts a prominent role on the j.a.panese stage. History is silent as to the exact date when the term "bus.h.i.+" came into use, but from a very early era its j.a.panese equivalent, "monono-fu," was applied to the guards of the sovereign's palace, and when great provincial magnates began, about the tenth century, to support a number of armed retainers, these gradually came to be distinguished as bus.h.i.+. In modern times the ethics of the bus.h.i.+ have been a.n.a.lysed under the name "bus.h.i.+do"

(the way of the warrior), but of course no such term or any such complete code existed in ancient days. The conduct most appropriate to a bus.h.i.+ was never embodied in a written code. It derived its sanctions from the practice of recognized models, and only by observing those models can we reach a clear conception of the thing itself.

ENGRAVING: HALL OF BYODOIN TEMPLE (1052), AT UJI

To that end, brief study may be given to the princ.i.p.al campaigns of the eleventh century, namely, the century immediately preceding the establishment of military feudalism. It must be premised, however, that although the bus.h.i.+ figured mainly on the provincial stage, he acted an important part in the capital also. There, the Throne and its Fujiwara entourage were constrained to enlist the co-operation of the military n.o.bles for the purpose of controlling the lawless elements of the population. The Minamoto family were conspicuous in that respect. Minamoto Mitsunaka--called also Manchu--served at the Court of four consecutive sovereigns from Murakami downwards, was appointed governor of several provinces, and finally became commandant of the local Government office. Yorimitsu, his son, a still greater strategist, was a prominent figure at five Courts, from the days of Enyu, and his brothers, Yorichika and Yorin.o.bu, rendered material a.s.sistance in securing the supremacy of the great Fujiwara chief, Michinaga. Indeed, the Minamoto were commonly spoken of as the "claws" of the Fujiwara. It was this Yorin.o.bu who won such fame by escalading the castle of Taira Tadatsune and who established his family's footing in the Kwanto. His uncle, Yos.h.i.+mitsu, had a large estate at Tada in Settsu, and this branch of the family was known as Tada Genji.*

Then there were:

The Yamato Genji descended from Yorichika

" Suruga " " " Mitsumasa

" s.h.i.+nano " " " Mitsunaka

" Uda " of Omi, called also the Sasaki family

" Saga " of Settsu " " " Watanabe

" Hizen " of Hizen " " " Matsuura

The Taira family became famous from the time of Sadamori, who quelled the insurrection of Masakado. Of this clan, there were these branches:

The Daijo-uji of Hitachi, so called because for generations they held the office of daijo in Hitachi.

The Ise-Heis.h.i.+ of Ise, descended from Korehira, son of Sadamori.

" s.h.i.+ro-uji of Mutsu, Dewa, s.h.i.+nano, and Echigo, descended from s.h.i.+gemori and Koremochi

" Nis.h.i.+na-uji " " " " " " " "

" Iwaki-uji " " " " " " " "

" Miura-no-suke of Musas.h.i.+, Kazusa, and s.h.i.+mosa, descendants of Taira no Yos.h.i.+b.u.mi

" Chiba-no-suke " " " " "

" Chichibu-uji " " " " "

Soma family, who succeeded to the domains of Masakado.

*"Gen" is the alternative p.r.o.nunciation of "Minamoto" as "Hei" is of "Taira." The two great families who occupy such a large s.p.a.ce in the pages of j.a.panese history are spoken of together as "Gen-Pei," and independently as "Genji" and "Heis.h.i.+," or "Minamoto" and

The Fujiwara also had many provincial representatives, descended mainly from Hidesato, (called also Tawara Toda), who distinguished himself in the Masakado crisis. There were the Sano-uji of s.h.i.+motsuke, Mutsu, and Dewa; and there were the Kondo, the Muto, the Koyama, and the Yuki, all in different parts of the Kwanto. In fact, the empire outside the capital was practically divided between the Minamoto, the Taira, and the Fujiwara families, so that anything like a feud could scarcely fail to have wide ramifications.

The eleventh century may be said to have been the beginning of such tumults. Not long after the affair of Taira Tadatsune, there occurred the much larger campaign known as Zen-kunen no Sodo, or the "Prior Nine Years' Commotion." The scene of this struggle was the vast province of Mutsu in the extreme north of the main island. For several generations the Abe family had exercised sway there, and its representative in the middle of the eleventh century extended his rule over six districts and defied the authority of the provincial governors. The Court deputed Minamoto Yoriyos.h.i.+ to restore order. The Abe magnate was killed by a stray arrow at an early stage of the campaign, but his son, Sadato, made a splendid resistance.

In December, 1057, Yoriyos.h.i.+, at the head of eighteen hundred men, led a desperate a.s.sault on the castle of Kawasaki, garrisoned by Sadato with four thousand picked soldiers. The attack was delivered during a heavy snow-storm, and in its sequel the Minamoto general found his force reduced to six men. Among these six, however, was his eldest son, Yos.h.i.+ye, one of the most skilful bowmen j.a.pan ever produced. Yos.h.i.+ye's mother was a Taira. When she became enceinte her husband dreamed that the sacred sword of the war deity, Hachiman, had been given to him, and the boy came to be called Hachiman Taro. This name grew to be a terror to the enemy, and it was mainly through his prowess that his father and their scanty remnant of troops escaped over roads where the snow lay several feet deep.

On a subsequent occasion in the same campaign, Yos.h.i.+ye had Sadato at his mercy and, while fixing an arrow to shoot him, composed the first line of a couplet, "The surcoat's warp at last is torn." Sadato, without a moment's hesitation, capped the line, "The threads at last are frayed and worn,"* and Yos.h.i.+ye, charmed by such a display of ready wit, lowered his bow. Nine years were needed to finish the campaign, and, in its sequel, Yoriyos.h.i.+ was appointed governor of Iyo, and Yos.h.i.+ye, governor of Mutsu, while Kiyowara Takenori, without whose timely aid Sadato could scarcely have been subdued, received the high post of chinju-fu shogun (commandant of the local Government office). Yos.h.i.+ye's magnanimity towards Sadato at the fortress of Koromo-gawa has always been held worthy of a true bus.h.i.+.

*The point of this couplet is altogether lost in English. It turns upon the fact that the word tate used by Yos.h.i.+ye means either a fortress or the vertical threads in woven stuff, and that koromo was the name of the fortress where the encounter took place and had also the significance of "surcoat."

Sadato was ultimately killed, but his younger brother Muneto had the affection and full confidence of Yos.h.i.+ye. Muneto, however, remembered his brother's fate and cherished a desire to take vengeance on Yos.h.i.+ye, which mood also was recognized as becoming to a model bus.h.i.+. One night, the two men went out together, and Muneto decided that the opportunity for vengeance had come. Drawing his sword, he looked into the ox-carriage containing Yos.h.i.+ye and found him sound asleep. The idea of behaving treacherously in the face of such trust was unendurable, and thereafter Muneto served Yos.h.i.+ye with faith and friends.h.i.+p. The confidence that the Minamoto hero reposed in the brother of his old enemy and the way it was requited--these, too, are claimed as traits of the bus.h.i.+.

Yet another canon is furnished by Yos.h.i.+ye's career--the canon of humility. Oye no Masafusa was overheard remarking that Yos.h.i.+ye had some high qualities but was unfortunately ignorant of strategy. This being repeated to Yos.h.i.+ye, he showed no resentment but begged to become Masafusa's pupil. Yet he was already conqueror of the Abe and governor of Dewa.

THE GO-SANNEN CAMPAIGN

Thereafter the provinces of Mutsu and Dewa were again the scene of another fierce struggle which, since it began in the third year (1089) of the Kwanji era and ended in the fifth year (1091), was called the "After Three-years War." With regard to the nature of this commotion, no enumeration of names is necessary. It was a family quarrel between the scions of Kiyowara Takenori, a magnate of Mutsu who had rendered conclusive a.s.sistance to Yos.h.i.+ye in the Nine-years'

War; and as a great landowner of Dewa, Kimiko Hidetake, took part, the whole north of j.a.pan may be said to have been involved. It fell to Yos.h.i.+ye, as governor of Mutsu, to quell the disturbance, and very difficult the task proved, so difficult that the issue might have been different had not Fujiwara Kiyohira--who will be presently spoken of--espoused the Minamoto cause.

When news of the struggle reached Kyoto, Yos.h.i.+ye's younger brother, Yos.h.i.+mitsu, who held the much coveted post of kebiis.h.i.+, applied for permission to proceed at once to his brother's a.s.sistance. The Court refused his application, whereupon he resigned his office and, like a true bus.h.i.+, hastened to the war. Yos.h.i.+mitsu was a skilled performer upon a musical instrument called the sho. He had studied under a celebrated master, Toyohara Tokimoto, now no more, and, on setting out for the field of battle in the far north, he became apprehensive lest the secrets imparted to him by his teacher should die with him.

He therefore invited Tokimoto's son, Tokiaki, to bear him company during the first part of his journey, and to him he conveyed all the knowledge he possessed. The spectacle of this renowned soldier giving instruction in the art of music to the son of his deceased teacher on moonlit nights as he travelled towards the battlefield, has always appealed strongly to j.a.panese conception of a perfect samurai, and has been the motive of many a picture.

This Go-sannen struggle furnished also another topic for frequent pictorial representation. When about to attack the fortress of Kanazawa, to which the approaches were very difficult, Yos.h.i.+ye observed a flock of geese rising in confusion, and rightly inferred an ambuscade of the enemy. His comment was, "Had not Oye Masafusa taught me strategy, many brave men had been killed to-night." Yet one more typical bus.h.i.+ may be mentioned in connexion with this war.

Kamakura Gongoro, a youth of sixteen, always fought in the van of Yos.h.i.+ye's forces and did great execution. A general on the enemy's side succeeded in discharging a shaft which entered the boy's eye.

Gongoro, breaking the arrow, rode straight at the archer and cut him down. A shrine in Kamakura was erected to the memory of this intrepid lad.

When Yos.h.i.+ye reported to the Throne the issue of this sanguinary struggle, Kyoto replied that the war had been a private feud and that no reward or distinctions would be conferred. Yos.h.i.+ye therefore devoted the greater part of his own manors to recompensing those that had followed his standard. He thus won universal respect throughout the Kwanto. Men competed to place their sons and younger brothers as kenin (retainers) in his service and the name of Hachiman-ko was on all lips. But Yos.h.i.+ye died (1108) in a comparatively low rank. It is easy to comprehend that in the Kwanto it became a common saying, "Better serve the Minamoto than the sovereign."

THE FUJIWARA OF THE NORTH

Fujiwara Kiyohira, who is mentioned above as having espoused the cause of the Minamoto in the Go-sannen, was descended from Hidesato, the conqueror of Masakado. After the Go-sannen outbreak he succeeded to the six districts of Mutsu which had been held by the insurgent chiefs. This vast domain descended to his son Motohira, and to the latter's son, Hidehira, whose name we shall presently find in large letters on a page of j.a.panese history.

The Mutsu branch of the Fujiwara wielded paramount sway in the north for several generations. Near Hiraizumi, in the province of Rikuchu, may still be seen four buildings forming the monastery Chuson-ji. In one of these edifices repose the remains of Kiyohira, Motohira, and Hidehira. The ceiling, floor and four walls of this Konjiki-do (golden hall) were originally covered with powdered gold, and its interior pillars are inlaid with mother-of-pearl on which are traced the outlines of twelve Arhats. In the days of Kiyohira the monastery consisted of forty buildings and was inhabited by three hundred priests.

ENGRAVING: A CONJUROR