Japan Part 12

The beginning of the revolt is traced to the misgovernment of the daimyo of Arima. The original daimyo had been transferred by the shogun to another province, and when he removed from Arima he left nearly all his old retainers behind him. The newly inst.i.tuted daimyo, on the contrary, who came to occupy the vacated province brought with him a full complement of his own followers. To make room for these new retainers the old ones were displaced placed from their dwellings and holdings, and compelled to become farmers or to take up any other occupation which they could find.

Like the _samurai_ of other parts of j.a.pan who had been unaccustomed to any calling except that of arms, these displaced retainers proved very unsuccessful farmers, and were of course very much dissatisfied with the new course of things. The daimyo was a cruel and inconsiderate man, who made small account of the hardships and complaints of the _samurai_ farmers. The taxes were made heavier than they could pay, and when they failed to bring in the required amount of rice, he ordered them to be dressed in straw rain-coats which were tied around their neck and arms.

Their hands were fastened behind their backs, and in this helpless condition the rain-coats were set on fire. Many were fatally burned, and some to escape the burning threw themselves into the water and were drowned.

This senseless cruelty awakened an intense feeling of hatred against the daimyo. And when his son who succeeded him was disposed to continue the same tyrannical policy, the farmers rose in insurrection against their lord. The peasants of the island of Amakusa, which lies directly opposite to the province of Arima, also joined in this rising, owing to their discontent against the daimyo of Karatsu.

The Christians, who had so long groaned under the persecutions of their rulers, seized this opportunity to rise, and joined the farmers. They declared that the time had now come for them to avenge the innocent blood of Christians and priests who had perished throughout the empire. The rising of the Christians began at the village of Oyei in Amakusa, October, 1637. The excitement was intense, and in a few days it is said that eight thousand three hundred men and one thousand women were a.s.sembled at this village. They chose as their chief Shiro Tokisada, the son of the head man of the village of Hara, who proposed to march immediately upon Nagasaki and open negotiations with foreign nations, and if possible obtain from them the help of troops. He was an enthusiast and without experience in war. The leading spirit in the insurrection seems to have been a _ronin_(217) named Ashizuka, who recommended that the insurgents should cross over to Shimabara. But Shiro and his enthusiastic followers resolved to attack the castle of Tomioka situated on the north-west coast of Amakusa. They were, however, unable to make any impression upon it, and were obliged to withdraw. Ashizuka and a few followers succeeded in breaking into the castle of Shimabara and seizing the arms and ammunition and provisions which were stored there. The government rice stores were seized both on the mainland and on the island of Amakusa. All the insurgents, including men, women, and children, then gathered into a deserted castle at Hara, which was capable of holding 40,000 to 50,000 persons. It was supposed to be impregnable, and was put in order and provisioned for a long siege. The number gathered here is estimated by the j.a.panese writers at 40,200, but this number without doubt is an exaggeration.

The local rulers finding themselves unable to cope with the rebellion, and seeing its proportions swelling every day, appealed to Yedo for help. The shogun at this time was Iemitsu, the son of the preceding shogun, and grandson of Ieyasu. He possessed many of the good qualities of his grandfather, and is looked upon, with the exception of Ieyasu, as the greatest of the Tokugawa line. He had imbibed all the prejudices of his predecessors against foreigners and against the religion of the foreigners. He feared that this rebellion was begun at their instigation, and would be carried on with their encouragement and help. He prepared therefore for a sharp and desperate struggle, which he was determined should be carried out to the bitter end.

Itakura Naizen was sent down as commander-in-chief, and given full powers.

Under his direction the siege of the castle, in which the rebels were gathered, was commenced on the 31st of December, 1637. The daimyos of Kyushu, on the demand of the government, sent additional troops, so that the besieging army amounted to 160,000 men. Yet with all this force, urged on by an ambition to end this rebellion, no serious effect had yet been produced on the castle. The attacks which had been made had produced no breach in its walls. We have no information concerning the progress of affairs among the inmates. It must be remembered that a part of the rebels were _samurai_ farmers, who were inured to arms, and who knew perfectly that neither consideration nor mercy would be shown them or their families in case the castle were taken. The remainder of the besieged force were the Christian insurgents, who had been driven to this rebellion by their cruel persecution. Nothing could be worse than what they had already endured, and they had no expectation that if they were beaten in this contest any pity would be shown to them. Despair made the att.i.tude of both divisions of the rebels one of determined resistance, and their obstinacy led the besiegers to put forth every effort.

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Pleasure Yacht.

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Pleasure Yacht.

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Merchant Vessel.

One step which they took in this matter led to much discussion and to the widening of the breach between the Dutch and the Portuguese. On the 11th of January, 1638, the besiegers applied to the Dutch at Hirado for a supply of gunpowder, which request was complied with, and at the same time an apology was tendered that no larger quant.i.ty could be sent. Again, on the 15th of February a request for cannon to be used in the siege was received, and the guns were sent. Mr. Koeckebacker says: "We gave the largest and most uniform guns in our possession."(218) Finally, on the 19th of February, Mr. Koeckebacker was asked to send one of the Dutch ships(219) then at Hirado to the a.s.sistance of the besiegers. The _de Ryp_ was accordingly sent, and Mr. Koeckebacker himself accompanied her. The guns which had been first sent were mounted as a land battery, and the guns of the _de Ryp_ from her anchorage in the bay were trained on the castle. It was a new experience for the j.a.panese to see cannon used in the siege of a castle, but the effect was much less than had been expected. No practicable breach was made, and the final result seemed as far off as ever. "During the fifteen days from the 24th of February to the 12th of March, there were thrown into the camp of the enemy four hundred and twenty-six cannon b.a.l.l.s from the twenty guns of the ship _de Ryp_."(220)

In the meantime the j.a.panese officers began to feel that it was not a dignified proceeding to call upon a foreign nation to help them to put down a local rebellion. Even the insurgents had shot an arrow into the imperial camp to which a letter was attached, deriding them for calling for a.s.sistance when there were so many courageous soldiers in j.a.pan.

Whatever may have been the cause, the Dutch received notice on the 12th of March that their ship was no longer required, and accordingly they returned to Hirado. The castle was taken by a.s.sault on the 12th of April, 1638, after a siege which had lasted one hundred and two days, and about seven months from the breaking out of the rebellion. By special orders from Yedo the insurgents captured in the castle were to the last man, woman, and child put to death.(221) The father of Shiro, the young leader, was crucified, and Shiro himself was decapitated, and his head exposed for seven days on the great pier at Nagasaki. The daimyo, whose misgovernment had brought on this rebellion in Amakusa, was stripped of most of his territories, and he was so intensely hated in what remained to him that he committed _hara-kiri_. The daimyo of Arima, whose misconduct and neglect had driven the _samurai_ farmers into their fatal rising, was also permitted to take his own life.

The help, which the Dutch rendered in this siege, exposed them to much vituperation. Naturally, the Jesuit historians have taken a very unfavorable view of the Dutch share in this sad transaction. Dr. Geerts in his defence of the Dutch argues: "Koeckebacker did no more than any one else of any nationality would probably have done in the same difficult position.... His endeavor was to preserve from decline or destruction the interests intrusted to him, and this was done at the smallest possible price.... Moreover, the letters of Koeckebacker clearly show that the j.a.panese government did not ask the aid of the Dutch in the persecution of Christians, as has often been a.s.serted by foreign authors, who have not taken the trouble to inform themselves thoroughly on the subject, but they requested the guns and the aid of the Dutch vessel for the purpose of subduing rebellious subjects.... There could be no valid reason for Koeckebacker to refuse the pressing request for aid, and consequently he agreed to give a.s.sistance, as every wise man would have done in his place.... Koeckebacker did not take part in the general ma.s.sacre which followed on the 11th of April, when the fortress of the rebels was taken by the imperial troops, as he left with his ship for Hirado on the 12th of March, leaving the guns behind in Arima. Had it been in his power to prevent such a general ma.s.sacre after the fortress had been taken, and the rebels were prisoners, he would no doubt have done so."(222)

This frightful termination to the rebellion, followed as it was by severe and persistent measures against Christians everywhere, was apparently the death-blow to the church in the empire. No further efforts were made, either by the daimyos of provinces or by the heads of the church, to make open headway against the determined efforts of the government. Whatever was done was in secret, and every means was tried on the part of those who still clung to the Christian belief, and especially of those who were still daring enough to try to minister to them, to conceal their locality and their ident.i.ty.(223)

The history of Christianity in j.a.pan from this time downward was that of a scattered and dismembered remnant struggling for existence. A long line of edicts reaching to modern times was directed against "the corrupt sect,"

repeating again and again the directions for its suppression. The _kiris.h.i.tan bugyo_, or Christian inquisitor, had his office in Yedo, and under him was a numerous and active corps of a.s.sistants. Inouye Chikugo-no-Kami for a long time held this position. A place is still pointed out called _Karis.h.i.tan Zaka_, or Christian Valley, where once stood the house in which were confined a number of the foreign priests.

Here may be seen the grave of Father Chiara, who had under torture abjured his faith, and remained a prisoner for forty years, dying 1685.(224) Professor Dixon says that "there are two bamboo tubes inserted in sockets in front of the tomb, which I have never found empty, but always full of flowers in bloom. No one knows who offer these flowers, but they must be descendants of the Doshin Christians, or believers in Christianity, or worshippers of Koshin." Here also was confined Father Baptiste Sidotti, a Sicilian Jesuit who ventured to enter j.a.pan in 1707 with the purpose of resuming the work of the Jesuits which the persecution had interrupted.

And yet with all this vigilance and severity on the part of the government, what was the amazement of the Christian world to learn that the old faith still survived! In the villages around Nagasaki there were discovered in 1865,(225) not only words and symbols which had been preserved in the language, but even communities where had been kept alive for more than two centuries the worship bequeathed to them by their ancestors. We shall have occasion hereafter to refer to this interesting memento of the Christianity of the seventeenth century.

CHAPTER XII. FEUDALISM IN j.a.pAN.

Ieyasu was not only a general of eminent abilities, who had from his youth been accustomed to the responsibility and management of great campaigns, but he was a statesman who knew how to secure the advantage to be obtained from victories and conquests. After the decisive battle of Sekigahara, when the control of the empire became fixed in his hands, we hear little more of him as a general, excepting in the battle at Osaka, when the fortunes of Hideyori were finally and definitely settled. The common conception of Ieyasu is not that of a great commander like Hideyoshi, but rather of an organizer and law-maker, who out of confused and dismembered provinces and princ.i.p.alities of the empire constructed a firm and abiding state.(226) After his settlement of the dissensions at home, and his admirable adjustment of the outstanding difficulties with Korea and China, which we have already traced, we shall find Ieyasu princ.i.p.ally engaged in framing a government which should be suited to the peculiar wants and founded on the historical antecedents of the country.

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Ieyasu.

There was one characteristic of Ieyasu which has not received sufficient attention. Although not a great scholar in any sense, even in the age in which he lived, he was more familiar than most men of affairs of his day with the Chinese cla.s.sical writings, and was in the more leisurely periods of his life a noted patron of learned men. The Chinese cla.s.sics were said to have been brought to j.a.pan at an early period, even before the first introduction of Buddhism. But the period was too early and the condition of the country too rude to make the reading and study of the philosophical and political writings of Confucius and Mencius an essential part of the education of the people. The culture which Buddhism brought with it, accompanied with a knowledge of the writing and reading of the Chinese letters, was all that obtained any currency during the disturbed and warlike ages of j.a.panese history. But when peace was at last established by the supremacy of Ieyasu, and the active j.a.panese intellect had some other employment than fighting, then learning took a great start. And as the only idea which the j.a.panese possessed of learning was that which prevailed in China and was imbedded in the Chinese writings, they naturally turned to them for thought and systematic training.

Fortunately Ieyasu was a man who appreciated at its full value the effect of learning on the character of his people. He caused the Confucian cla.s.sics(227) to be printed at a press which he patronized in Fushimi, and this was said to be the first time these works had ever been printed in j.a.pan. He gathered scholars about him at Fushimi, at Yedo, and after his retirement at Shizuoka (Sumpu). He favored education and encouraged the daimyos to establish schools where the children of their retainers could be taught not only military accomplishments but the elements of a good education. The Chinese cla.s.sics were made the essentials of such an education, and the chief duty of a school was to teach the pupils to read and write and understand the works which their venerable and learned neighbor had furnished them.

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Mixing Ink For Writing.

Unfortunately this movement in behalf of learning was hampered by the impracticable nature of the Chinese written language. Instead of a few characters representing sounds, like European alphabets, it consists of thousands of symbols, each representing an idea. The pupil must therefore spend years in learning to make, and know and read the mere signs of language. And in the modern necessities of printing,(228) the compositor must handle not less than 4,000 or 5,000 Chinese characters, besides the j.a.panese _kana_ and other needful marks. The _kana_ here mentioned were the result of a promising effort which was made to simplify the Chinese written language by expressing it in symbols representing sounds.

Forty-seven _kana_ letters-by repet.i.tion extended to fifty-each representing a syllable, are used to express j.a.panese words.

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Styles Of Letters: (Chinese Proverb: Hiroku koriwo aisuruwo jintoyu. To love universally is true humility.) 1. Kaisho (book letters). 2. Ditto. 3.

Gyosho (script letters). 4. Ditto. 5. Hirasaua (j.a.panese script).

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j.a.panese Syllabary.

The castle of Yedo was reconstructed and enlarged after the battle of Sekigahara, while Ieyasu continued to reside at Fushimi. The Jesuit fathers, who accompanied the Father Provincial on his visit to Ieyasu, a.s.sert that 300,000 men were employed in this work. Very much of the ground where the present city of Tokyo now stands, was then, according to old maps, covered with water. In excavating the moat which surrounds the castle, and the ca.n.a.ls connecting this moat with the Sumida-gawa, immense quant.i.ties of earth were obtained, which were used to fill up lagoons and to reclaim from the shallow bay portions which have now become solid land.

This work of building the castle and fitting the city for the residence of a great population, was carried on by many of the successors of Ieyasu.

The third shogun, Iemitsu, the grandson of Ieyasu, made great improvements both to the castle and the city, so that the population and position of Yedo in no long time placed it as the chief city of the empire.(229)

The task to which Ieyasu devoted himself during the years of his residence at Yedo was that of consolidating and settling the feudal system of the empire. The daimyos had for centuries been so accustomed to conduct themselves independently, and to govern each his own province in his own way, that they might be expected to resent any efforts to restrict their action. Fortunately Ieyasu was a mild and temperate man, who, while he could act with firmness, was most considerate of the feelings and motives of others. After the decisive victory of Sekigahara he readily and cordially made terms with his enemies, and did not show himself rapacious in exacting from them undue penalties for their hostility. To the daimyo of Satsuma, as we have already seen, he restored the entire territory which Taiko Sama had given him. The daimyo of Choshu was allowed to keep two of the provinces out of the ten which he had acquired by conquest, yet these two made him still one of the richest and most powerful princes in the empire. With others he dealt in the same liberal spirit, so that out of the old proud daimyos whom he spared and permitted to continue in their holdings, he created for himself a body of fast friends.

But it must be remembered that the end Ieyasu had in view was to establish a system which should continue loyal to his successors, and to a line of successors who should be of his own family. Hence out of the confiscated territories, and out of those which were in part vacated as a fine on the former holders, and out of those which had become vacant by natural causes, he carved many fiefs with which he endowed members of his own family and those retainers who were closely affiliated with him. He had twelve children,(230) nine sons and three daughters. The daughters were married to three daimyos. The oldest of his sons, n.o.buyasu, had died at an early age. His second son, Hideyasu, had been adopted by Taiko Sama, and to him Ieyasu gave the province of Echizen as his fief. The third son, Hidetada, who shared with his father the command of the forces at the battle Sekigahara, had married a daughter of Taiko Sama, and succeeded his father as shogun. On his youngest three sons he bestowed the rich provinces of Owari, Kii, and Mito, and const.i.tuted the families to which they gave rise as the _Go-san-ke_, or the three honorable families. In case of a failure in the direct line, the heir to the shogunate was to be chosen from one of these families.

Without undertaking to give a detailed account of the feudal system as modified and established by Ieyasu, it will be sufficient to give the cla.s.ses of daimyos as they continued to exist under the Tokugawa shogunate.(231) It must be understood that feudalism existed in j.a.pan before the time of Ieyasu. It can be traced to the period when Yoritomo obtained from the emperor permission to send into each province a _shiugo_ who should be a military man, and should act as protector of the _kokushu_ or governor, who was always a civilian appointed by the emperor. These military protectors were provided with troops, for the pay of whom Yoritomo got permission from the emperor to levy a tax. Being active men, and having troops under their command, they gradually absorbed the entire authority, and probably in most cases displaced the _kokushu_, who only represented the powerless government at Kyoto. Under the disturbed times which followed the fall of the house of Yoritomo these _shiugo_ became the hereditary military governors of the provinces, and usurped not only the functions but the name of _kokushu_. They became a cla.s.s of feudal barons who, during the interval when no central authority controlled them, governed each one his own province on his own responsibility. Even after the establishment of a central authority, and continuously down to the abolition of feudalism, the government of the people was in the hands of the daimyo of each province. The a.s.sessment of taxes, the construction of roads and bridges, the maintenance of education, the punishment of crime, the collection of debts, the enforcement of contracts, and indeed the whole circle of what was denominated law were in the hands of the local government. In truth, in j.a.pan as in other feudal countries there was scarcely such a thing as law in existence. The customs that prevailed, the common-sense decisions of a magistrate, the final determinations of the daimyo, were authoritative in every community. And in all these each province was in a great degree a law unto itself.

The cla.s.ses of daimyos as arranged and established by Ieyasu were not altered by his successors, although the number included under each cla.s.s was liable to minor changes. Before Ieyasu's time there were three cla.s.ses of daimyos, viz.: eighteen _kokushu_, who may be termed lords of provinces, thirty-two _ryoshu_ or lords of smaller districts, and two hundred and twelve _joshu_ or lords of castles, that is two hundred and sixty-two in all. The distinction between the first two was one of rank, but the third differed from the others in the fact that the a.s.sessment in each case was less than 100,000 _koku_ of rice. The number of _kokushu_ daimiates was increased by the addition of Kii and Owari, to which Ieyasu appointed two of his sons as daimyos. A third son he appointed daimyo of Mito, which was already of the _kokushu_ rank. He vacated this place by compelling the previous holder to accept in place of it another daimiate of equivalent value.

Ieyasu divided all daimyos into two distinct cla.s.ses, the _fudai_ and the _tozama_. The term _fudai_ was used to designate those who were considered the va.s.sals of the Tokugawa family. The _tozama_ daimyos were those who were considered as equal to the va.s.sals of the Tokugawa family, but who were not in fact va.s.sals. Of the former there were originally one hundred and seventy-seven, and of the latter eighty-six.(232) Twenty-one of the _fudai_ daimyos were relatives of the shogun's family, of whom three, as has been stated, were the "honorable families." All the others, numbering eighteen, bore the name of Matsudaira, one of the family names of Ieyasu, derived from a small village in the province of Mikawa, where Ieyasu was born. This was allowed to them as a special honor.

We give here the cla.s.sification of the daimyos as enumerated by M.

Appert(233) in his list for the epoch about 1850:

1. Go-san-ke (three honorable families) 3 2. Fudai daimyos (va.s.sals of Tokugawa family) 137 3. Tozama daimyos (equal to va.s.sals) 99 4. Kamon (all the other branches of Tokugawa family) 18 5. Daimyos, not cla.s.sified 6 Total 263

The five leading _tozama_ daimyos were Kaga, Sendai, Aizu, Choshu, and Satsuma, and although they ranked after the _go-san-ke_, they had some superior advantages. They were cla.s.sed as _kyakubun_, or guests, and whenever they paid a visit to the capital of the shogun, they were met by envoys and conducted to their residences.