A History of the Japanese People Part 66

INDIRECT RESULTS

The war was not altogether without indirect results of some value to j.a.pan. Among these may be cited the fact that, a few decades later, when the Tsing dynasty destroyed the Ming in China, subjugated Korea, and a.s.sumed a position a.n.a.logous to that previously held by the Yuan, no attempt was made to defy j.a.pan. The memory of her soldiers'

achievements on the Korean battle-fields sufficed to protect her against foreign aggression. Another material result was that, in compliance with Hideyos.h.i.+'s orders, the returning j.a.panese generals brought back many Korean art-artisans who contributed largely to the development of the ceramic industry. On no less than seven different kinds of now well-known porcelain and pottery in j.a.pan did these experts exercise marked influence, and their efforts were specially timely in view of the great vogue then enjoyed by all utensils used in connexion with the tea ceremonial. It is not to be supposed, however, that these Korean artisans showed any superiority to the j.a.panese as artists. The improvements they introduced were almost entirely of a technical character. Another benefit derived by j.a.pan from her contact with Korea at this time was the introduction of movable type. Up to this time the art of printing had been in a very primitive condition in j.a.pan, and the first book printed with movable type made its appearance in the Bunroku era (1592-1595).

ENGRAVING: SIGNATURE OF TAKEDA s.h.i.+NGEN

ENGRAVING: NAGOYA CASTLE

CHAPTER x.x.xVI

THE MOMO-YAMA EPOCH

MOMO-YAMA

THE epochs of j.a.panese history from the eighth century until the fall of the As.h.i.+kaga shogunate are generally divided into the Nara, the Heian, the Kamakura, the Muromachi, and the Higas.h.i.+-yama. To these has now to be added the Momo-yama (Peach Hill), a term derived from the name of a palatial residence built by Hideyos.h.i.+ in the Fus.h.i.+mi suburb of Kyoto. The project was conceived in 1593, that is to say, during the course of the Korean campaign, and the business of collecting materials was managed on such a colossal scale that the foundations could be laid by September in the same year. Two months sufficed not only to construct a mansion of extraordinary magnificence and most elaborate interior decoration, but also to surround it with a s.p.a.cious park presenting all the choicest features of j.a.panese landscape gardens. The annals state that fifty thousand men were engaged on the work, and the a.s.sertion ceases to seem extravagant when we consider the nature of the task and the singularly brief period devoted to its completion. It was Hideyos.h.i.+'s foible to surpa.s.s all his predecessors and contemporaries alike in the magnitude of his designs and in the celerity of their achievement. Even his pastimes were conceived on the same stupendous scale. Thus, in 1594, at the very time when his armies in Korea were conducting an oversea campaign of unprecedented magnitude, he planned a flower-viewing fete which will live in the pages of history as more sumptuous and more magnificent than the hitherto unrivalled festivities of Yos.h.i.+masa. The places visited were the cherry-clad hills of Yos.h.i.+no and the venerable monastery of Koya, and some idea of the scale of the fete may be gathered from the fact that to a shrine on Koya-san, dedicated to the memory of his mother, Hideyos.h.i.+ presented a sum equivalent to 14,000 or $68,000.

Still more lavish was a party organized four years later to visit the cherry blossoms at Daigo in the suburbs of Kyoto. This involved the rebuilding of a large Buddhist temple (Sambo-in) to accommodate Hideyos.h.i.+ and his party as a temporary resting-place, and involved also the complete enclosing of the roads from Momo-yama to Daigo, as well as of a wide s.p.a.ce surrounding the slopes of the cherry-clad hills, with fences festooned in silk curtains. Numerous tea pavilions were erected, and Hideyos.h.i.+, having sent home all his male guests and attendants, remained himself among a mult.i.tude of gorgeously apparelled ladies, and pa.s.sed from pavilion to pavilion, listening to music, witnessing dancing, and viewing works of art.

HIDEYOs.h.i.+'S FAMILY

A conspicuous figure at the Daigo fete was Hideyori, the five-year-old son of Hideyos.h.i.+. Fate treated Hideyos.h.i.+ harshly in the matter of a successor. His younger brother, Hidenaga, perished on the threshold of a career that promised to be ill.u.s.trious; his infant son, Tsurumatsu, pa.s.sed away in September, 1591, and Hideyos.h.i.+, being then in his fifty-fourth year, saw little prospect of becoming again a father. He therefore adopted his nephew, Hidetsugu, ceding to him the office of regent (kwampaku), and thus himself taking the t.i.tle of Taiko, which by usage attached to an ex-regent.* Hidetsugu, then in his twenty-fourth year, had literary gifts and polite accomplishments much above the average. But traditions--of somewhat doubtful veracity, it must be admitted--attributed to him an inhuman love of taking life, and tell of the indulgence of that mood in shocking ways. On the other hand, if credence be due to these tales, it seems strange that they were not included in the accusations preferred finally against Hidetsugu by the Taiko, when the former's overthrow became advisable in the latter's eyes. For it did so become. Within less than two years of Hidetsugu's elevation to the post of regent, another son was born to Hideyos.h.i.+ by the same lady, Yodo, the demise of whose child, Tsurumatsu, had caused Hideyos.h.i.+ to despair of being succeeded by an heir of his own lineage. A niece of Oda n.o.bunaga, this lady was the eldest of three daughters whose mother shared the suicide of her husband, the great general, s.h.i.+bata Katsuiye.

Hideyos.h.i.+ placed her among his consorts, bestowing upon her the castle of Yodo, hence her name, Yodogimi. Her rare beauty captivated the veteran statesman and soldier, and won for her suggestions a measure of deference which they did not intrinsically deserve. Soon the court became divided into two cliques, distinguished as the "civil" and the "military." At the head of the latter stood Hideyos.h.i.+'s wife, Yae, a lady gifted with large discernment, who had shared all the vicissitudes of her husband's fortunes, and acted as his shrewd and loyal adviser on many occasions. With her were Kato Kiyomasa and other generals and n.o.bles of distinction. The civil party espoused the cause of the lady Yodo, and among its followers was Is.h.i.+da Katsus.h.i.+ge, to whom chiefly the ultimate catastrophe is attributed by history.

*It is by this t.i.tle, "Taiko," that Hideyos.h.i.+ is most frequently spoken of in History.

The birth of Hideyori on August 29, 1593, immediately actuated the dissensions among these two cliques. Is.h.i.+da Katsus.h.i.+ge, acting in Hideyori's interests, set himself to convince the Taiko that Hidetsugu harboured treacherous designs, and Hideyos.h.i.+, too readily allowing himself to credit tales which promised to remove the one obstacle to his son's succession, ordered Hidetsugu to commit suicide, and at the same time (August 8, 1595), sentenced his concubines to be executed in the dry bed of the river Sanjo. Their heads, together with that of Hidetsugu himself, were buried in the same grave, over which was set a tablet bearing the inscription, "Tomb of the Traitor, Hidetsugu." To this day, historians remain uncertain as to Hidetsugu's guilt. If the evidence sufficed to convict him, it does not appear to have been transmitted to posterity. The Taiko was not by nature a cruel man. Occasionally fits of pa.s.sion betrayed him to deeds of great violence. Thus, on one occasion he ordered the crucifixion of twenty youths whose sole offence consisted in scribbling on the gate-posts of the Juraku palace. But in cold blood he always showed himself forebearing, and letters written by his own hand to his mother, his wife, and others disclose an affectionate and sympathetic disposition. It would be unjust to a.s.sume that without full testimony such a man sentenced a whole family of his own relatives to be executed.

ENGRAVING: MAEDA TOs.h.i.+YE

HIDEYOs.h.i.+'S DEATH

A few months after the Daigo fete, Hideyos.h.i.+ was overtaken by mortal sickness. His last days were tormented by the thought that all his skill as an organizer and all his power as a ruler were incompetent to devise a system such as would secure the succession to his child.

In June, 1596, he had procured the invest.i.ture of Hideyori, then three years old, with the t.i.tle of regent, and when, just two years later, his own sickness began to develop alarming features, he resolved to place all his trust in Ieyasu. After much thought three boards were ordered to be formed: one consisted of five senior ministers (dairo), its personnel being Tokugawa Ieyasu, Mori Terumoto, Ukita Hideiye, Maeda Tos.h.i.+ye, and Uesugi Kagekatsu. By these five statesmen the great affairs of the empire were to be managed. The second board was formed with three n.o.bles of lesser note. They were designated the "middle ministers" (churo), whose duty was to arbitrate between the board of senior ministers and the third board, namely that of five "administrators" (bugyo). This third board had been originally organized by Hideyos.h.i.+ in 1585, but it had not, of course, been a.s.sociated with the other two boards which came into existence after Hideyos.h.i.+'s death, though its personnel and its functions remained throughout the same as they had been originally.

Again and again, with almost pitiable iteration, the Taiko conjured the thirteen n.o.bles forming these boards to protect Hideyori and to ensure to him the heirs.h.i.+p of his father's great fortunes. Each was required to subscribe a written oath of eight articles:

(1) That they would serve Hideyori with the same single-minded loyalty they had shown to his father.

(2) That the rules of Hideyos.h.i.+'s house were not to be altered; and that if, in the administration of public affairs, the five bugyo were unable to determine a course of action, they should consult Hideyori through Ieyasu and Tos.h.i.+e; or, if necessary before taking action, the Emperor was to be consulted.

(3) That there were to be no factions among them, personal considerations and partiality of every kind being excluded from their councils.

(4) That they must endeavour to work together in the discharge of their duties, suppressing all petty jealousies and differences.

(5) That, in settling matters, the opinion of the majority was usually to be followed, but, at the same time, if the opinion of the minority showed no sign of being dictated by personal interests, it should be duly considered. That without permission from Hideyori no administrator should dispose of any of his (the administrator's) territory to another person.

(6) That all accounts were to be kept in a manner above suspicion; that there were to be no irregularities and no pursuing of personal interests; that no questions concerning landed estates should be dealt with during the minority of Hideyori; that no pet.i.tions should be presented to him, and that Ieyasu himself would neither ask for changes to be made in the matter of land-owners.h.i.+p nor accept any gift of land from Hideyori during the latter's minority.

(7) That whatever Hideyori desired to have kept secret, whether connected with his private life or with the Government, must on no account be allowed to leak out.

(8) That if any of the administrators or their subordinates found that they had unwittingly acted contrary to orders, they should at once report the fact to their superiors, who would then deal leniently with them.

The above doc.u.ment was solemnly endorsed, the G.o.ds being called upon to punish any one violating its provisions. It was further ordered that Hidetada, son of Ieyasu, should give his daughter in marriage to Hideyori; that Ieyasu, residing in the Fus.h.i.+mi palace, should act as regent until Hideyori reached the age of fifteen, and that Maeda Tos.h.i.+ye, governing the castle of Osaka, should act as guardian of Hideyori. It is recorded by some historians that the taiko conferred on Ieyasu discretionary power in the matter of Hideyori's succession, authorizing the Tokugawa baron to be guided by his own estimate of Hideyori's character as to whether the latter might be safely trusted to discharge the high duties that would devolve on him when he reached his majority. But the truth of this allegation is open to doubt. It may well have been invented, subsequently, by apologists for the line adopted by Ieyasu. Hideyos.h.i.+ died on September 18, 1598.

His last thoughts were directed to the troops in Korea. He is said to have addressed to Asano Nagamasa and Is.h.i.+da Katsus.h.i.+ge orders to go in person to the peninsula, and to provide that "the spirits of one hundred thousand j.a.panese soldiers serving there should not become disembodied in a foreign land." For a time the death of the great statesman was kept secret, but within three months the newly created boards found themselves strong enough to cope with the situation, and the remains of Hideyos.h.i.+ were publicly interred at the shrine of Amida-ga-mine, near Kyoto.

HIDEYOs.h.i.+'S CHARACTER

In modern times many distinguished j.a.panese historians have undertaken to a.n.a.lyze Hideyos.h.i.+'s character and attainments. They are divided in their estimate of his literary capacity. Some point to his letters, which, while they display a not inconsiderable familiarity with Chinese ideographs, show also some flagrant neglect of the uses of that script. Others refer to his alleged fondness for composing j.a.panese poems and adduce a verselet said to have been written by him on his death-bed:

Ah! as the dew I fall, As the dew I vanish.

Even Osaka fortress Is a dream within a dream.

It is not certain, however, that Hideyos.h.i.+ composed this couplet, and probably the truth is that his labours as a soldier and a statesman prevented him from paying more than transitory attention to literature. But there can be no question that he possessed an almost marvellous power of reading character, and that in devising the best exit from serious dilemmas and the wisest means of utilizing great occasions, he has had few equals in the history of the world. He knew well, also, how to employ pomp and circ.u.mstance and when to dispense with all formalities. Above all, in his choice of agents he never allowed himself to be trammelled by questions of birth or lineage, but chose his officers solely for the sake of their ability and attainments, and neither tradition nor convention had any influence on the appointments he made. He was pa.s.sionate but not resentful, and he possessed the n.o.ble quality of not shrinking from confession of error. As for his military genius and his statecraft, it is only necessary to consider his achievements. They ent.i.tle him to stand in the very front of the world's greatest men. Turning to his legislation, we find much that ill.u.s.trates the ethics of the time. It was in 1585 that he organized the board of five administrators, and the gist of the regulations issued in the following year for their guidance was as follows:

(1) No subordinate shall leave his liege lord without the latter's permission, nor shall anyone give employment to a violator of this rule.

(2) Farmers must remain on the land a.s.signed to them and must never leave it untilled. On the other hand, landowners should visit their tenants and should investigate in company with the latter the actual amount of the harvest reaped. One-third of this should be left to the farmer and two-thirds should go to the owner of the land.

(3) If owing to natural calamity the harvest be less than two bushels per acre, the whole of the yield shall go to the farmer. But if the harvest exceed that figure, it shall be divided in the proportions indicated in (2).

(4) No farmer shall move away from his holding to avoid the land-tax or to escape forced labour. Anyone harbouring a violator of this rule shall expose to punishment not only himself but also the inhabitants of the entire village where he resides.

(5) The lord of a fief must issue such instructions as shall guarantee his agricultural va.s.sals against trouble or annoyance, and shall himself investigate local affairs instead of entrusting that duty to a subst.i.tute. Landowners who issue unreasonable orders to farmers shall be punished.

(6) In calculating cubic contents, the regulated unit of measure shall be used, and two per cent, shall be the maximum allowance for shortage.

(7) Embankments injured by floods and other mischief wrought by natural calamities must be repaired during the first month of the year when agriculturists are at leisure. In the case, however, of damage which exceeds the farmers' capacity to repair, the facts should be reported to the taiko who will grant necessary a.s.sistance.

There follow various sumptuary regulations. We have next a series of interesting instructions known as "wall-writings" of the castle of Osaka:

(1) Intermarriages between daimyo's families require the previous consent of the Taiko.

(2) Neither daimyo nor shomyo is permitted to enter into secret engagements or to exchange written oaths, or to give or take hostages.

(3) In a quarrel the one who forebears shall be recognized as having reason.

(4) No man, whatever his income, should keep a large number of concubines.

(5) The amount of sake imbibed should be limited to one's capacity.

(6) The use of sedan-chairs shall be confined to Ieyasu, Tos.h.i.+e, Kagekatsu, Terumoto, Takakage, the court n.o.bles, and high priests.

Even a daimyo, when young, should ride on horseback. Those over fifty years of age may use a sedan-chair when they have to travel a distance of over one ri (two and a half miles). Priests are exempted from this veto.

Very interesting, too, is the Taiko s.h.i.+kimoku, consisting of seventy-three articles, of which thirteen are translated as follows:

(1) Free yourself from the thraldom of pa.s.sion.