A History of the Japanese People Part 51

Kojima, Sakurayama, Arii, Yoshikawa Sanyo-do

Nawa and Misumi Sanin-do

Kikuchi, Matsura, Kusano Saikai-do

Doi, Tokuno, Yuasa, Yamamoto Nankai-do

Ii Totomi

Neo Mino

Shinto officials Atsuta

This table suggests that partisans of the Southern Court existed in almost every part of the empire. So, in truth, they did. But friends of the Northern Court existed also, and thus it resulted that at no time throughout the fifty-five years of the struggle were the provinces free from strife. It resulted also that frequent changes of allegiance took place, for a family had often to choose between total ruin, on the one hand, and comparative prosperity at the sacrifice of constancy, on the other. Some historians have adduced the incidents of this era as ill.u.s.trating the shallowness of j.a.panese loyalty. But it can scarcely be said that loyalty was ever seriously at stake. In point of legitimacy there was nothing to choose between the rival branches of the Imperial family. A samurai might-pa.s.s from the service of the one to that of the other without doing any violence to his reverence for the Throne.

What was certainly born of the troubled era, however, was a sentiment of contempt for central authority and a disposition to rely on one's own right arm. It could not have been otherwise. In several provinces official nominees of both Courts administered simultaneously, and men were requisitioned for aid, to-day, to the Northern cause, to-morrow, to the Southern. To be strong enough to resist one or the other was the only way to avoid ruinous exactions. From that to a.s.serting one's strength at the expense of a neighbour who followed a different flag was a short step, if not a duty, and thus purely selfish considerations dictated a fierce quarrel and inspired many an act of unscrupulous spoliation. A few cases are on record of families which resorted to the device of dividing themselves into two branches, each declaring for a different cause and each warring nominally with the other. Thus the sept as a whole preserved its possessions, in part at any rate, whichever Court triumphed. But such double-faced schemes were very rare. A much commoner outcome of the situation was the growth of powerful families which regulated their affairs by means of a council of leading members without reference to Kamakura, Kyoto, or Yoshino. At the same time, minor septs in the neighbourhood saw the advantage of subscribing to the decisions of these councils and deferring to their judgments.

"This was an important step in the development of the feudal system.

Another was the abolition of feudal fiefs, as well as of the succession of women to real estate, and a curtailment of the inheritance, not so much of younger sons, as of all sons except the one selected as lord of the clan."* The shugo (high constables) also became a salient element of feudalism. Originally liable to frequent transfers of locality, some of them subsequently came to hold their office hereditarily, and these, together with the great majority of their confreres who had been appointed by the Bakufu, espoused the Ashikaga cause; a choice which impelled many of the military families in their jurisdiction to declare for the Southern Court. The Ashikaga shugo ultimately became leading magnates, for they wielded twofold authority, namely, that derived from their power as owners of broad estates, and that derived from their commission as shogun's delegates ent.i.tled to levy taxes locally. The provincial governors, at the outset purely civil officials, occasionally developed military capacity and rivalled the hereditary shugo in armed influence, but such instances were rare.

*Murdoch's History of j.a.pan.

THE COURSE OF THE WAR

After the death of Kusunoki Masashige, of Nitta Yoshisada, and of Kitabatake Akiiye, the strategical direction of the war devolved mainly upon Kitabatake Chikafusa, so far as the Southern Court was concerned. The greater part of the nation may be said to have been in arms, but only a small section took actual part in the main campaign, the troops in the distant provinces being occupied with local struggles. Chikafusa's general plan was to menace Kyoto and Kamakura simultaneously. Just as the eight provinces of the Kwanto formed the base of the Ashikaga armies, so the eight provinces const.i.tuting the Kii peninsula--Yamato, Kawachi, Izumi, Ise, Iga, Shima, Kii (in part), and Omi (in part)--served as bases for the partisans of the South. To strike at Kyoto from this base required the previous subjugation of Settsu, and, on the other hand, a strong army in Settsu menaced Yoshino.

Chikafusa's plan, then, was to marshal in Kawachi force sufficient to threaten, if not to overrun, Settsu, and then to push on into the metropolitan province from Omi and Iga, the Ashikaga having been previously induced to uncover Kyoto by the necessity of guarding Kamakura. From the Kii peninsula the obvious route to the Kwanto is by sea. Therefore, the Southerners established a naval base at Shingu, on the east coast of the peninsula, and used it for the purpose not only of despatching a force northward, but also of maintaining communications with Shikoku and Kyushu, where they had many partisans. Chikafusa himself led the oversea expedition to the Kwanto, but the flotilla was wrecked by a storm, and he reached Yedo Bay with only a small following. Nevertheless, he established himself at Oda, in Hitachi, and being there joined by many of the Ashikaga's enemies, he managed, not indeed to seriously menace Kamakura, but at all events to give occupation to a large force of the Northerners.

Driven out at last (1343), after more than four years' operations, he returned to Yoshino, where he found Kusunoki Masatsura, son of Masashige, carrying on from Kawachi a vigorous campaign against the Ashikaga in Settsu.

After many minor engagements, in all of which he was successful, Masatsura inflicted such a severe defeat on his opponents at Sumiyoshi that the Bakufu became alarmed, and mustering an army of sixty thousand men, sent it under Ko Moronao and his brother, Moroyasu, to attack Masatsura. This was in December, 1347. Then Masatsura and his younger brother, Masatoki, together with Wada Katahide and other bushi, to the number of 140, made oath to conquer in fight or to die. They repaired to Yoshino, and having taken leave of the Emperor, Go-Murakami, they worshipped at the shrine of the late sovereign, Go-Daigo, inscribed their names upon the wall, and wrote under them:

We that our bows here Swear nevermore to slacken Till in the land of life we Cease to be counted, Our names now record.

It was in February, 1348, that the battle took place at Shijo-nawate in Kawachi. Moronao had sixty thousand men at his disposal; Masatsura only three thousand. The combat raged during six hours, the Kusunoki brothers leading thirty charges, until finally they were both covered with wounds, and only fifty men remained out of the sworn band. Then this remnant committed suicide. Moronao, following up his victory, marched into Yamato, and set fire to the palace there. Go-Murakami escaped to Kanao, and presently the Nitta family in the east and the Kitabatake in the west showed such activity that the Southern cause recovered its vitality, a turn of events largely promoted by dissensions in the Northern camp and by the consequent return of Moronao's forces to Kyoto. It is necessary, therefore, to direct our eyes for a moment to the course of affairs on the side of the Ashikaga.

THE ASHIKAGA POLITY

Ashikaga Takauji's original idea was to follow the system of Yoritomo in everything. Kamakura was to be his capital and he a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of shogun. This was in 1335. Three years later he received the shogunate in due form from the Northern sovereign, Komyo. But he now discovered that Kyoto must be his headquarters so long as the War of the Dynasties lasted, and he therefore established the Bakufu at Muromachi in that city, modelling it on the lines of Yoritomo's inst.i.tution, but dispensing with a regent (shikkeri) and subst.i.tuting for him a second s.h.i.tsuji. The first two s.h.i.tsuji at Muromachi were Ko Moronao, the great general, and Uesugi Tomosada, a connexion of Takauji. Kamakura was not neglected, however. It became a secondary basis, Takauji's eight-year-old son, Yoshiakira, being installed there as governor-general (kwanryo) of the Kwanto under the guardianship of Uesugi Noriaki as s.h.i.tsuji, and the old administrative machinery of the Hojo was revived in the main.

Takauji's brother, Tadayoshi, became chief of the general staff in Kyoto, and "several Kamakura literati--descendants of Oye, Nakahara, Miyoshi, and others--were brought up to fill positions on the various boards, the services of some of the ablest priests of the time being enlisted in the work of drafting laws and regulations."*

*Murdoch's History of j.a.pan.

To these priests and literati was entrusted the task of compiling a code based on the Joei Shikimoku of the Hojo regents, and there resulted the Kemmu Shikimoku, promulgated in 1337.* This was not a law, properly so called, but rather a body of precepts contained in seventeen articles. They have much interest as embodying the ethics of the time in political circles. "Economy must be universally practised. Drinking parties and wanton frolics must be suppressed.

Crimes of violence and outrage must be quelled. The practice of entering the private dwellings of the people and making inquisitions into their affairs must be given up." Then follow two articles dealing with the ownership of vacant plots and rebuilding of houses and fireproof G.o.downs in the devastated sections of the capital. The subsequent paragraphs provide that men of special ability for government work should be chosen for the office of shugo; that a stop must be put to the practice of influential n.o.bles and women of all sorts and Buddhist ecclesiastics making interested recommendations (to the sovereign); that persons holding public posts must be liable to reprimand for negligence and idleness; that bribery must be firmly put down; that presents made from all quarters to those attached to the palace, whether of the inside or outside service, must be sent back; that those who are to be in personal attendance on the rulers must be selected for that duty; that ceremonial etiquette should be the predominant principle; that men noted for probity and adherence to high principle should be rewarded by more than ordinary distinction; that the pet.i.tions and complaints of the poor and lowly should be heard and redress granted; that the pet.i.tions of temples and shrines should be dealt with on their merits, and that certain fixed days should be appointed for the rendering of decisions and the issue of government orders.**

*Kemmu was the Northern Court's name of the year-period 1334 to 1338: see p. 398.

**The Kemmu Shikimoku by Mr. Consul-General Hall, in the "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of j.a.pan;" epitomized by Murdoch.

THE JINNO SHOTOKI

Before proceeding with the history of this troubled era, it is advisable to speak of a great political brochure which was compiled by Kitabatake Chikafusa during the period (1340-1343) of his attempt to hara.s.s the Ashikaga from the direction of Hitachi. This was a work designed to establish the divine claim of the sovereign of the Southern Court. Hence the t.i.tle of the treatise, Correct Genealogy (Shotoki) of the Divine Emperor (Jinno). The reader knows that when, in the eighth century, j.a.pan went to Chinese sources for jurisprudential inspiration, she had to eliminate the Confucian and Mencian doctrine that the sceptre may not be wielded by anyone whose virtues do not qualify him for the task in the eyes of the nation.

This same doctrine permeated by construction the commentaries that accompanied the articles of the Kemmu Shikimoku as quoted above, and in that fact Chikafusa saw an opportunity of winning adherents for the Southern Court by proclaiming its heaven-conferred rights.

"Great Yamato," Kitabatake wrote, "is a divine country. It is only our land whose foundations were first laid by the divine ancestor. It alone has been transmitted by the Sun G.o.ddess to a long line of her descendants. There is nothing of this kind in foreign countries.

Therefore it is called the divine land. . . It is only our country which from the time when the heaven and earth were first unfolded, has preserved the succession to the throne intact in one single family. Even when, as sometimes naturally happened, it descended to a lateral branch, it was held according to just principles. This shows that the oath of the G.o.ds (to preserve the succession) is ever renewed in a way which distinguishes j.a.pan from all other countries.

. . . It is the duty of every man born on the Imperial soil to yield devoted loyalty to his sovereign, even to the sacrifice of his own life. Let no one suppose for a moment that there is any credit due to him for doing so. Nevertheless, in order to stimulate the zeal of those who came after, and in loving memory of the dead, it is the business of the ruler to grant rewards in such cases (to the children). Those who are in an inferior position should not enter into rivalry with them. Still more should those who have done no specially meritorious service abstain from inordinate ambitions. I have already touched on the principles of statesmanship. They are based on justice and mercy, in the dispensing of which firm action is requisite. Such is the clear instruction vouchsafed to us by the Sun G.o.ddess."*

*Aston's j.a.panese Literature.

It is not to be supposed that these doctrines produced any wide-spread influence on public opinion at the time of their promulgation. In the first place they were not generally accessible; for not until the year 1649 was Kitabatake's brochure printed. That it remained in ma.n.u.script during three centuries after its compilation is not attributable to technical difficulties. The art of blockprinting came to j.a.pan from China in very early times, and it is on record that, in 770, the Empress Shotoku caused a million Buddhist amulets to be printed. But the Jinno Shotoki did not fall on fruitful soil. Either its teaching was superfluous or men were too much engrossed with fighting to listen to academical disquisitions.

Chikafusa's work was destined to produce great and lasting effects in future ages, but, for the moment, it accomplished little.

DISCORD IN THE CAMP OF THE ASHIKAGA

A prominent feature of the Ashikaga family's annals was continuity of internecine strife. The Hojo's era had been conspicuously free from any such blemish; the Ashikaga's was markedly disfigured by it, so much so that by the debilitating effects of this discord the supremacy of the sept was long deferred. The first outward indications of the trouble were seen in 1348, when the able general, Ko Moronao, instead of following up his victory over the Southern Court after the death of Kusunoki Masatsura, turned suddenly northward from Yamato and hastened back to Kyoto. His own safety dictated that step. For during his absence from the capital on campaign, a plot to effect his overthrow had matured under the leadership of Ashikaga Tadayoshi and Uesugi Shigeyoshi.

The latter held the office of s.h.i.tsuji, and was therefore Moronao's comrade, while Tadayoshi, as already stated, had the t.i.tle of commander-in-chief of the general staff and virtually directed administrative affairs, subject, of course, to Takauji's approval.

Moronao undoubtedly possessed high strategical ability, and being a.s.sisted by his almost equally competent brother, Moroyasu, rendered sterling military service to the Ashikaga cause. But the two brothers were arrogant, dissipated, and pa.s.sionate. It is recorded of Moronao that he abducted the wife of Enya Takasada, and of Moroyasu that he desecrated the grave of Sugawara in order to enclose its site within his mansion, both outrages being condoned by the shogun, Takauji, In truth, even in the days of Taira overlordship, Kyoto was never so completely under the heel of the military as it was in early Ashikaga times.

Rokuhara did not by any means arrogate such universal authority as did Muromachi. The Court n.o.bles in the middle of the fourteenth century had no functions except those of a ceremonial nature and were frankly despised by the haughty bushi. It is on record that Doki Yorito, meeting the cortege of the retired Emperor Kogon, pretended to mistake the escorts' cry of "In" (camera sovereign) for "inu"

(dog), and actually discharged an arrow at the Imperial vehicle.

Yorito suffered capital punishment, but the incident ill.u.s.trates the demeanour of the military cla.s.s.

The two Ko brothers were conspicuously masterful and made many enemies. But the proximate cause of the plot alluded to above was jealousy on the part of Ashikaga Tadayoshi and Uesugi Shigeyoshi, who resented the trust reposed by Takauji in Moronao and Moroyasu. The conspirators underestimated Moronao's character. Reaching Kyoto by forced marches from Yamato, he laid siege to Tadayoshi's mansion, and presently Tadayoshi had to save himself by taking the tonsure, while Shigeyoshi was exiled to Echizen, whither Moronao sent an a.s.sa.s.sin to make away with him. The Ashikaga chief, whose trust in Moronao was not at all shaken by these events, summoned from Kamakura his eldest son, Yoshiakira, and entrusted to him the functions. .h.i.therto discharged by his uncle, Tadayoshi, replacing him in Kamakura by a younger son, Motouji.

Yoshiakira was not Takauji's eldest son; he was his eldest legitimate son. An illegitimate son, four years older, had been left in Kamakura as a priest, but was recognized as the possessor of such abilities that, although his father refused to meet him, his uncle, Tadayoshi, summoned him to Kyoto and procured for him the high office of tandai of the west. This Tadafuyu was discharging his military duties in Bingo when news reached him of Moronao's coup d'etat in Kyoto and of his own patron, Tadayoshi's discomfiture. At once Tadafuyu crossed the sea to Higo in Kyushu, where a large number of discontented samurai rallied to his banner, and Shoni, the Ashikaga tandai of Kyushu, soon found himself vigorously attacked. The struggle presently a.s.sumed such importance that Kyoto's attention was attracted. The normal course would have been for Moronao to take the field against Tadafuyu. But Moronao was looking always for an opportunity to compa.s.s the death of his enemy, Tadayoshi, and thinking that his chance had now come, he persuaded Takauji to take personal command of the expedition to Kyushu, the idea being to finally dispose of Tadayoshi during the absence of the Ashikaga shogun from Kyoto. Tadayoshi, however, obtained timely information of this design and escaping to Yamato, offered to surrender to the Southern Court. This was in January, 1350.

The advisers of the Emperor Go-Murakami differed radically in their counsels, but it was finally decided that every effort should be made to widen the rift in the Ashikaga lute, and the Court commissioned Tadayoshi to attack Takauji and recover Kyoto. Thus was presented the spectacle of a father (Takauji) fighting against his son (Tadafuyu), and a brother (Tadayoshi) fighting against a brother (Takauji).

Tadayoshi was joined by many men of note and puissance whom the arrogance of the two Ko, Moronao and Moroyasu, had offended. A desperate struggle ensued, and the Ko generals had to retreat to Harima, where they joined with Takauji, the latter having abandoned his expedition to Kyushu. Meanwhile, Yoshiakira, Takauji's eldest son, had escaped from Kyoto and entered his father's camp. After a time negotiations for peace were concluded (1351), one of the conditions being that Moronao and Moroyasu should lay down their offices and enter the priesthood. But the blood of the s.h.i.tsuji, Uesugi Shigeyoshi, was still fresh on Moronao's hands. Shigeyoshi's son, Akiyoshi, waylaid the two Ko on their route to Kyoto to take the tonsure, and Moronao and Moroyasu were both killed.

YEAR-PERIODS AND COURTS

Three years before the death of Moronao, that is to say, in 1348, the sovereign of the Northern Court, Komyo, abdicated in favour of Suko.

Ever since 1332 there had been a dual year-period, outcome of the divided Imperialism, and history was thus not a little complicated.

It will be convenient here to tabulate, side by side, the lines of the two dynasties:

SOUTHERN COURT NORTHERN COURT

96th Sovereign, Go-Daigo 1318-1339 Kogon 1332-1335

97th " Go-Murakami 1339-1368 Komyo 1335-1348

98th " Chokei 1368-1372 Suko 1348-1352

99th " Go-Kameyama 1372-1392 Go-Kogon 1352-1371

Go-Enyu 1371-1382