Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/610

Japanese people, are by some writers supposed to have been of Chinese origin; and Japanese annals certainly make mention of such a colony as founded during the reign of the seventh emperor, Kôrei (290–215 B.C.). It is, however, beyond all doubt that the Malay tribes are also represented in the Japanese people, and history further notes an invasion by “black savages,” which would seem to point to the natives of Papua or New Guinea. From the relative positions of Japan and Corea, too, it seems probable that some of the inhabitants of the latter place may also have crossed the narrow seas dividing them from Tsushima and the main island of Japan. Ethnologists are not unanimous in their opinions on these points, but it is generally conceded that there did exist an ancient indigenous race, who were subsequently subjugated and driven towards the north by certain tribes advancing from the south-west. Thus, in the early history of Japan we find that Kiôto and the provinces immediately around it were occupied by the conquerors, from whom descended the modern Japanese; while the aboriginal tribes were with difficulty restrained and pent up in the eastern and northern regions.

Relation of the mikado and military class.The mikado himself dwelt at Kiôto, with his court. The nobles composing the court were styled kugé, and were themselves descended from cadet branches of the imperial family. There was but one sovereign, and to him the whole empire owned allegiance; he lived in extremely simple style both as regards food and dress, and rode out to the chase surrounded by his retainers. But the inroads of the savages on the eastern borders necessitated constant and vigilant measures for their repression. In such expeditions, however, no special class of generals was created; everything was ordered in the name of the mikado himself, or in some cases an imperial prince acted as his representative, so that in no instance did the power even appear to pass from the hands of the sovereign. In the Middle Ages, however, the Chinese military system was adopted as a model, and generals were appointed; the able-bodied males in each province were formed into distinct military corps, and men were told off according to the muster-rolls to garrison the capital or to guard the frontiers. Expeditions were carefully organized, being placed under a general (shôgun), who was assisted by subordinate officers. All weapons of war and other appliances were kept in the military stores, and issued as occasion required; when warlike operations were suspended, the arms were returned to the stores for safe keeping. As time passed on the powerful family of Fujiwara began to exercise the administrative power hereditarily, in virtue of its relationship to the throne by the female side, and it then became the usage that high descent should be the only qualification for office. The rank and title of general were constantly conferred on the two rival clans of Hei and Gen, or Taira and Minamoto, as they are also termed. Upon this there first arose the expression “military class,” and during the period 770–780 the complete severance of the agricultural class and the soldiery took place. From this time onwards the military domination acquired yearly greater strength, while the power of the mikado decreased in proportion. The turbulent common people of the provinces of Ôshiu, Déwa, and the Kuantô were always in the possession of armour and horses, and openly styled themselves “warriors.” In the 10th and 11th centuries the clans of Taira and Minamoto increased in warlike power and influence, became deadly rivals, and virtually ruled the whole country, all the inhabitants owning fealty to one or other of the two factions. A terrible civil war ensued, extending from the middle to the end of the 12th century, when the Taira clan was annihilated by its rivals, who thereupon seized the supremacy. They in their turn succumbed and were succeeded by others, down to the last dynasty (that of the Tokugawa family), which existed from 1603 till 1868. All this time the mikados were in reality merely puppets swayed at will by the military faction in power at the time; the ancient state of affairs was overthrown, and the sovereign himself was kept almost a prisoner in his palace at Kiôto. In 1868, however, the revolution shattered the might of the then ruling clan of Tokugawa, the restoration of the mikado was effected, and the present position of the sovereign is at last almost perfectly similar to what it was in the very ancient times.

Taira and Minamoto clans.The most interesting portion of Japanese history is that of the rise and fall in the Middle Ages of the warlike families which in turn seized the power and overawed the crown. Of these the Taira clan stands pre-eminent, though much of its history is mixed up with that of its rival, the Minamoto clan. The two came first into notice in the 10th century, and quickly increased in influence and strength. It would appear indeed that the court strove to play off the one against the other, being moved by fear that the power of either might become too great. Thus, if one of the Taira rebelled, the Minamoto were authorized by the emperor to subdue him; while, if any members of the latter clan proved unruly, the Taira were only too glad to obtain an imperial commission to proceed against them. This gave rise to incessant intrigue and frequent bloodshed, ending at last, in the middle of the 12th century, in open warfare. Taira no Kiyomori was at that time the head of his clan; he was a man of unscrupulous character and unbounded ambition, and constantly strove to secure offices at court for himself, his family, and his adherents. In 1156–59 severe fighting took place at the capital between the rival clans, each side striving to obtain possession of the person of the sovereign in order to give some colour of right to its actions. Taira supremacy.In 1159 Kiyomori eventually Tai triumphed, and the sword of the executioner ruthlessly completed the measure of his success in the field. Nearly the whole of the Minamoto chiefs were cut off,—among them being Yoshitomo, the head of the clan. A boy named Yoritomo, the third son of Yoshitomo, was, however, spared through the intercession of Kiyomori’s step-mother; and Yoshitsuné, also Yoshitomo’s son by a concubine, was, with his mother and two brothers, permitted to live. Yoritomo and his half-brother Yoshitsuné were destined eventually to avenge the death of their kinsmen and completely to overthrow the Taira house, but this did not take place till thirty years later. In the meantime Kiyomori’s power waxed greater and greater; he was himself appointed daijô-daijin (“prime minister”), and he married his daughter to the emperor Takakura, whom, in 1180, he forced to abdicate in favour of the heir-apparent, who was Kiyomori’s own grandson. After raising his family to the highest pinnacle of pride and power, Kiyomori died in 1181, and retribution speedily overtook the surviving members of his clan. The once almost annihilated Minamoto clan, headed by Yoritomo, mustered their forces in the Kuantô and other eastern regions for a final attempt to recover their former influence. Marching westwards under the command of Yoshitsuné, they started on one grand series of triumphs, terminating (1185) in a crowning victory in a sea-fight off Dannoura, near Shimonoséki, in the province of Chôshiu. The overthrow of the Taira family was complete: the greater number perished in the battle, and many were either drowned or delivered over to the executioner. The emperor himself (Antoku, 82d of his line), then only in the seventh year of his age, was drowned, with other members of the imperial house. The Taira supremacy here came to an end, having existed during the reigns of nine emperors.

Minamoto supremacy.The period of the Minamoto supremacy lasted from this time until the year 1219. Yoritomo was the leading spirit, as his sons Yoriiyé and Sanétomo, who succeeded him in turn, did not in any way attain to special fame. Having secured himself against molestation from the Taira, Yoritomo directed his efforts systematically to the consolidation of his power in the east. Commencing from the Kuantô, he soon overawed the whole of the northern provinces, and also extended what was virtually his dominion to the westward in the direction of Kiôto. Kamakura, a town on the sea-shore in the province of Sagami, an old scat of the Minamoto family, was made his metropolis. The site of this town faces the sea, and is completely shut in on the rear by a semi-circular ridge of steep hills, through which narrow cuttings or passes lead to the country beyond. Under Yoritomo Kamakura prospered and increased in size and importance; a large palace was built, barracks were erected, and it became the capital of the east of Japan. Shôgunate.In the year 1192 the emperor Takahira (also known as Go-Toba no In) issued a decree creating Yoritomo Sei-i-tai-shôgun (literally, “barbarian-subjugating generalissimo”), and despatched an imperial envoy from Kiôto to Kamakura to invest him with the office. He and each shôgun who came after him were thus nominated commanders-in-chief, holding the office by order of and investment from the emperor, to preserve peace and tranquillity on the eastern marches of Japan. This has given rise, in numerous works on Japan published by different authors (Dr Kaempfer among them), to the common assertion that Japan possessed two emperors,—the one “spiritual,” residing at Kiôto, and the other “temporal,” residing at Kamakura and afterwards at Yedo. This idea, though entirely erroneous, is not unnatural; for, although each successive shôgun owned allegiance to the emperor and was invested by the latter, still his own position as supreme head of the military organization of the country and his influence over the powerful territorial nobles made him de facto almost the equal of a sovereign in his own right. This condition of affairs continued until the revolution of 1868, when the shôgun’s power was shattered, the military domination swept away, and the mikado reinstated in his early position of supreme authority. Yoritomo’s two sons Yoriiyé and Sanétomo were in turn invested with the office of shôgun; they both dwelt at Kamakura. In 1219 Sanôtomo was killed by Yoriiyé’s son, in revenge for the supposed murder of Yoriiyé himself, and, as he died without issue, the main line of the Minamoto family thus came to an end.

Hôjô family.Upon this commenced the supremacy of the Hôjô family, who had for years been adherents of the Minamotos. The heirs of the latter having failed, the office of shôgun was conferred upon different members of the illustrious house of Fujiwara, who all resided at Kamakura. The military administration, however, was invariably in the hands of the Hôjôs, who acted as regents of the shôgun; their supremacy lasted from 1225 to 1333, through what are commonly called the “seven generations of the Hôjô family.” Mongol invasions.The event of principal importance during this period was the repulse of the Mongol invasion, which occurred in the year 1281. Kublai