Momokawa, by way of promoting Prince Yamabe's interests, caused a
statue to be made in his likeness, and, enshrining it in the temple
Bonshaku-ji, ordered the priests to offer supplications in its
behalf. The chronicle further relates that after the deaths of the
Empress (Inokami) and her son (Osabe), Momokawa and Emperor Konin
were much troubled by the spirits of the deceased. That kind of
belief in the maleficent as well as in the beneficent powers of the
dead became very prevalent in later times. Momokawa died before the
accession of Kwammu, but to him was largely due the great influence
subsequently wielded by the Fujiwara at Court. It is on record that
Kwammu, speaking in after years to Momokawa's son, Otsugu, recalled
his father's memory with tears, and said that but for Momokawa he
would never have reigned over the empire.
The fact is that the Fujiwara were a natural outcome of the
situation. The Tang systems, which Kamatari, the great founder of the
family, had been chiefly instrumental in introducing, placed in the
hands of the sovereign powers much too extensive to be safely
entrusted to a monarch qualified only by heredity. Comprehending the
logic of their organization, the Chinese made their monarchs' tenure
of authority depend upon the verdict of the nation. But in Japan the
title to the crown being divinely bequeathed, there could be no
question of appeal to a popular tribunal. So long as men like Kotoku,
Tenchi, and Temmu occupied the throne, the Tang polity showed no
flagrant defects. But when the exercise of almost unlimited authority
fell into the hands of a religious fanatic like Shomu, or a
licentious lady like Koken, it became necessary either that the
principle of heredity should be set aside altogether, or that some
method of limited selection should be employed.
It was then that the Fujiwara became a species of electoral college,
not possessing, indeed, any recognized mandate from the nation, yet
acting in the nation's behalf to secure worthy occupants for the
throne. For a time this system worked satisfactorily, but ultimately
it inosculated itself with the views it was designed to nullify, and
the Fujiwara became flagrant abusers of the power handed down to
them. Momokawa's immediate followers were worthy to wear his mantle.
Tanetsugu, Korekimi, Tsugunawa--these are names that deserve to be
printed in letters of gold on the pages of Japan's annals. They
either prompted or presided over the reforms and retrenchments that
marked Kwammu's reign, and personal ambition was never allowed to
interfere with their duty to the State.
IMPERIAL PRINCES
Contemporaneously with the rise of the Fujiwara to the highest places
within reach of a subject, an important alteration took place in the
status of Imperial princes. There was no relation of cause and effect
between the two things, but in subsequent times events connected them
intimately. According to the Daika legislation, not only sons of
sovereigns but also their descendants to the fifth generation were
classed as members of the Imperial family and inherited the title of
"Prince" (0). Ranks (hon-i) were granted to them and they often
participated in the management of State affairs. But no salaries were
given to them; they had to support themselves with the proceeds of
sustenance fiefs. The Emperor Kwammu was the first to break away from
this time-honoured usage. He reduced two of his own sons, born of a
non-Imperial lady, from the Kwobetsu class to the Shimbetsu,
conferring on them the uji names of Nagaoka and Yoshimine, and he
followed the same course with several of the Imperial grandsons,
giving them the name of Taira.
Thenceforth, whenever a sovereign's offspring was numerous, it became
customary to group them with the subject class under a family name. A
prince thus reduced received the sixth official rank (roku-i), and
was appointed to a corresponding office in the capital or a province,
promotion following according to his ability and on successfully
passing the examination prescribed for Court officials. Nevertheless,
to be divested of the title of "Prince" did not mean less of princely
prestige. Such nobles were always primi inter pares. The principal
uji thus created were Nagaoka, Yoshimine, Ariwara, Taira, and
Minamoto.
THE TAIRA FAMILY
Prince Katsurabara was the fifth son of the Emperor Kwammu.
Intelligent, reserved, and a keen student, he is said to have
understood the warnings of history as clearly as its incentives. He
petitioned the Throne that the title of should be exchanged in his
children's case for that of Taira no Asomi (Marquis of Taira). This
request, though several times repeated, was not granted until the
time (889) of his grandson, Takamochi, who became the first Taira no
Asomi and governor of Kazusa province. He was the grandfather of
Masakado and great-grandfather of Tadamori, names celebrated in
Japanese history. For generations the Taira asomi were appointed
generals of the Imperial guards conjointly with the Minamoto, to be
presently spoken of. The name of Taira was conferred also on three
other sons of Kwammu, the Princes Mamta, Kaya, and Nakano, so that
there were four Tairahouses just as there were four Fujiwara.
THE MINAMOTO FAMILY
The Emperor Saga (810) had fifty children. From the sixth son
downwards they were grouped under the uji of Minamoto. All received
appointments to important offices. This precedent was even more
drastically followed in the days of the Emperor Seiwa (859-876). To
all his Majesty's sons, except the Crown Prince, the uji of Minamoto
was given. The best known among these early Minamoto was Tsunemoto,
commonly called Prince Rokuson. He was a grandson of the Emperor
Seiwa, celebrated for two very dissimilar attainments, which,
nevertheless, were often combined in Japan--the art of composing
couplets and the science of commanding troops. Appointed in the
Shohyo era (931-937) to be governor of Musashi, the metropolitan
province of modern Japan, his descendants constituted the principal
among fourteen Minamoto houses. They were called the Seiwa Genji, and
next in importance came the Saga Genji and the Murakami Genji.*
*That is to say, descended from the Emperor Murakami (947-967). Gen
is the Chinese sound of Minamoto and ji (jshi) represents uji. The
Minamoto are alluded to in history as either the Genji or the
Minamoto. Similarly, hei being the Chinese pronunciation of Taira,
the latter are indiscriminately spoken of Taira or Heike (ke =
house). Both names are often combined into Gen-pei.
UJI NO CHOJA AND GAKU-IN NO BETTO
The imperially descended uji spoken of above, each consisting of
several houses, were grouped according to their names, and each group
was under the supervision of a chief, called uji no choja or uji no
cho. Usually, as has been already stated, the corresponding position
in an ordinary uji was called uji no Kami and belonged to the
first-born of the principal house, irrespective of his official rank.
But in the case of the imperially descended uji, the chief was
selected and nominated by the sovereign with regard to his
administrative post. With the appointment was generally combined that
of Gaku-in no betto, or commissioner of the academies established for
the youths of the uji. The principal of these academies was the
Kwangaku-in of the Fujiwara. Founded by Fujiwara Fuyutsugu,
minister of the Left, in the year 821, and endowed with a substantial
part of his estate in order to afford educational advantages for the
poorer members of the great family, this institution rivalled even
the Imperial University, to be presently spoken of. It was under the
superintendence of a special commissioner (benkwari).
Next in importance was the Shogaku-in of the Minamoto, established by
Ariwara Yukihira in the year 881. Ariwara being a grandson of the
Emperor Saga, a member of the Saga Genji received the nomination of
chief commissioner; but in the year 1140, the minister of the Right,
Masasada, a member of the Murakami Genji, was appointed to the
office, and thenceforth it remained in the hands of that house. Two
other educational institutions were the Junna-in of the O-uji and the
Gakukwan-in of the Tachibana-iyt, the former dating from the year 834
and the latter from 820. It is not on record that there existed any
special school under Taira auspices.
AGRICULTURE
One of the principal duties of local governors from the time of the
Daika reforms was to encourage agriculture. A rescript issued by the
Empress Gensho in the year 715 declared that to enrich the people was
to make the country prosperous, and went on to condemn the practice
of devoting attention to rice culture only and neglecting upland
crops, so that, in the event of a failure of the former, the latter
did not constitute a substitute. It was therefore ordered that barley
and millet should be assiduously grown, and each farmer was required
to lay down two tan (2/3 acre) annually of these upland cereals.
Repeated proclamations during the eighth century bear witness to
official solicitude in this matter, and in 723 there is recorded a
distribution of two koku (nearly ten bushels) of seeds, ten feet of
cotton cloth, and a hoe (kuwa) to each agriculturist throughout the
empire. Such largesse suggests a colossal operation, but, in fact, it
meant little more than the remission of about a year's taxes.
Necessarily, as the population increased, corresponding extension of
the cultivated area became desirable, and already, in the year 722, a
work of reclamation on a grand scale was officially undertaken by
organizing a body of peasants and sending them to bring under culture
a million cho (two and a half million acres) of new land. This
interesting measure is recorded without any details whatever.
Private initiative was also liberally encouraged. An Imperial
rescript promised that any farmer harvesting three thousand koku
(fifteen thousand bushels) of cereals from land reclaimed by himself
should receive the sixth class order of merit (kun roku-to), while a
crop of over a thousand koku and less than three thousand would carry
lifelong exemption from forced labour. The Daika principle that the
land was wholly the property of the Crown had thus to yield partially
to the urgency of the situation, and during the third decade of the
eighth century it was enacted that, if a man reclaimed land by
utilizing aqueducts and reservoirs already in existence, the land
should belong to him for his lifetime, while if the reservoirs and
aqueducts were of his own construction, the right of property should
be valid for three generations.* From the operation of this law the
provincial governors were excepted; the usufruct of lands reclaimed
by them was limited to the term of their tenure of office, though, as
related already, legislation in their case varied greatly from time
to time.
*This system was called Sansei-isshin no ho. It is, perhaps,
advisable to note that the Daika system of dividing the land for
sustenance purposes applied only to land already under cultivation.
For a certain period the system of "three generations, or one life"
worked smoothly enough; but subsequently it was found that as the
limit of time approached, farmers neglected to till the land and
suffered it to lie waste. Therefore, in the year 743, the Government
enacted that all reclaimed land should be counted the perpetual
property of the reclaimer, with one proviso, namely, that three years
of neglect to cultivate should involve confiscation. The recognition
of private ownership was not unlimited. An area of five hundred cho
(1250 acres) was fixed as the superior limit, applicable only to the
case of a "First Class" prince, the quantities being thereafter on a
sliding scale down to ten cho (twenty-five acres). Any excess
resulting from previous accretions was to revert to the State.
Evidently the effective operation of such a system predicated
accurate surveys and strict supervision. Neither of these conditions
existed in Japan at that remote period. The prime purpose of the
legislators was achieved, since the people devoted themselves
assiduously to land reclamation; but by free recourse to their power
of commanding labour, the great families acquired estates largely in
excess of the legal limit. A feature of the Nara epoch was the
endowment of the Buddhist temples with land by men of all classes,
and the sho-en, or temple domain, thus came into existence.
STOCK FARMING
Information on the subject of stock farming is scanty and indirect,
but in the year 713 we find a rescript ordering the provincials of
Yamashiro to provide and maintain fifty milch-cows, and in 734,
permission was given that all the districts in the Tokai-do, the
Tosan-do, and the Sanin-do might trade freely in cattle and horses.
Seven years later (741), when Shomu occupied the throne, and when
Buddhism spread its protecting mantle over all forms of life, an
edict appeared condemning anyone who killed a horse or an ox to be
flogged with a hundred strokes and to be fined heavily. Only one
other reference to stock farming appears in the annals of the Nara
epoch: the abolition of the two pastures at Osumi and Himeshima in
the province of Settsu was decreed in 771, but no reason is recorded.
SERICULTURE
From the remotest times sericulture was assiduously practised in
Japan, the ladies of the Imperial Court, from the Empress downwards,
taking an active part in the pursuit. The wave of Buddhist zeal which
swept over Japan in the eighth century gave a marked impulse to this
branch of industry, for the rich robes of the priests constituted a
special market.
ORANGES
It is recorded in the Chronicles that Tajimamori, a Korean emigrant
of royal descent, was sent to the "Eternal Land" by the Emperor
Suinin, in the year A.D. 61, to obtain "the fragrant fruit that grows
out of season;" that, after a year's absence, he returned, and
finding the Emperor dead, committed suicide at his tomb. The
"fragrant fruit" is understood to have been the orange, then called
tachibana (Citrus nobilis). If the orange really reached Japan at
that remote date, it does not appear to have been cultivated there,
for the importation of orange trees from China is specially mentioned
as an incident of the early Nara epoch.
INDUSTRIES
One of the unequivocal benefits bestowed on Japan by Buddhism was a
strong industrial and artistic impulse. Architecture made notable
progress owing to the construction of numerous massive and
magnificent temples and pagodas. One of the latter, erected during
the reign of Temmu, had a height of thirteen storeys. The arts of
casting and of sculpture, both in metal and in wood, received great
development, as did also the lacquer industry. Vermilion lacquer was
invented in the time of Temmu, and soon five different colours could
be produced, while to the Nara artisans belongs the inception of
lacquer strewn with makie. Lacquer inlaid with mother-of-pearl was
another beautiful concept of the Nara epoch. A special tint of red
was obtained with powdered coral, and gold and silver were freely
used in leaf or in plates. As yet, history does not find any Japanese
painter worthy of record. Chinese and Korean masters remained supreme
in that branch of art.
TRADE
Commerce with China and Korea was specially active throughout the
eighth century, and domestic trade also nourished. In the capital
there were two markets where people assembled at noon and dispersed
at sunset. Men and women occupied different sections, and it would
seem that transactions were subject to strict surveillance. Thus, if
any articles of defective quality or adulterated were offered for
sale, they were liable to be confiscated officially, and if a buyer
found that short measure had been given, he was entitled to return
his purchase. Market-rates had to be conformed with, and purchasers
were required to pay promptly. It appears that trees were planted to
serve as shelter or ornament, for we read of "trees in the Market of
the East" and "orange trees in the market of Kaika."
HABITATIONS
The Buddhist temple, lofty, spacious, with towering tiled roof,
massive pillars and rich decoration of sculpture and painting, could
not fail to impart an impetus to Japanese domestic architecture,
especially as this impressive apparition was not evolved gradually
under the eyes of the nation but was presented to them suddenly in
its complete magnificence. Thus it is recorded that towards the close
of the seventh century, tiled roofs and greater solidity of structure
began to distinguish official buildings, as has been already noted.
But habitations in general remained insignificant and simple. A poem
composed by the Dowager Empress Gensho (724) with reference to the
dwelling of Prince Nagaya is instructive:
"Hata susuki" (Thatched with miscanthus)
"Obana sakafuki" (And eularia)
"Kuro-ki mochi" (Of ebon timbers built, a house)
"Tsukureru yado wa" (Will live a myriad years.)
"Yorozu yo made ni."
This picture of a nobleman's dwelling in the eighth century is not
imposing. In the very same year the Emperor Shomu, responding to an
appeal from the council of State, issued an edict that officials of
the fifth rank and upwards and wealthy commoners should build
residences with tiled roofs and walls plastered in red. This
injunction was only partly obeyed: tiles came into more general use,
but red walls offended the artistic instinct of the Japanese. Nearly
fifty years later, when (767-769) the shrine of Kasuga was erected at
Nara in memory of Kamatari, founder of the Fujiwara family, its
pillars were painted in vermilion, and the fashion inaugurated found
frequent imitation in later years.
Of furniture the houses had very little as compared with Western
customs. Neither chairs nor bedsteads existed; people sat and slept
on the floor, separated from it only by mats made of rice-straw, by
cushions or by woollen carpets, and in aristocratic houses there was
a kind of stool to support the arm of the sitter, a lectern, and a
dais for sitting on. Viands were served on tables a few inches high,
and people sat while eating. From the middle of the seventh century a
clepsydra of Chinese origin was used to mark the hours.
The first of these instruments is recorded to have been made in A.D.
660, and tradition does not tell what device had previously served
the purpose. When temple bells came into existence, the hours were
struck on them for public information, and there is collateral
evidence that some similar system of marking time had been resorted
to from early eras. But the whole story is vague. It seems, however,
that the method of counting the hours was influenced by the manner of
striking them. Whether bronze bell or wooden clapper was used, three
preliminary strokes were given by way of warning, and it therefore
became inexpedient to designate any of the hours "one," "two," or
"three." Accordingly the initial number was four, and the day being
divided into six hours, instead of twelve, the highest number became
nine, which corresponded to the Occidental twelve.*
*There were no subdivisions into minutes and seconds in old Japan.
The only fraction of an hour was one-half.
BELLS
Concerning the bells here mentioned, they are one of the unexplained
achievements of Japanese casters. In Europe the method of producing a
really fine-toned bell was evolved by "ages of empirical trials," but
in Japan bells of huge size and exquisite note were cast in apparent
defiance of all the rules elaborated with so much difficulty in the
West. One of the most remarkable hangs in the belfry of Todai-ji at
Nara. It was cast in the year 732 when Shomu occupied the throne; it
is 12 feet 9 inches high; 8 feet 10 inches in diameter; 10 inches
thick, and weighs 49 tons. There are great bells also in the temples
at Osaka and Kyoto, and it is to be noted that early Japanese bronze
work was largely tributary and subsidiary to temple worship. Temple
bells, vases, gongs, mirrors and lanterns are the principal items in
this class of metal-working, until a much later period with its
smaller ornaments.
Very few references to road making are found in the ancient annals,
but the reign of the Empress Gensho (715-723) is distinguished as the
time when the Nakasen-do, or Central Mountain road, was constructed.
It runs from Nara to Kyoto and thence to the modern Tokyo, traversing
six provinces en route. Neither history nor tradition tells whether
it was wholly made in the days of Gensho or whether, as seems more
probable, it was only commenced then and carried to completion in the
reign of Shomu (724-748), when a large force of troops had to be sent
northward against the rebellious Yemishi. Doubtless the custom of
changing the capital on the accession of each sovereign had the
effect of calling many roads into existence, but these were of
insignificant length compared with a great trunk highway like the
Nakasen-do.
Along these roads the lower classes travelled on foot; the higher on
horseback, and the highest in carts drawn by bullocks. For
equestrians who carried official permits, relays of horses could
always be obtained at posting stations. Among the ox-carts which
served for carriages, there was a curious type, distinguished by the
fact that between the shafts immediately in front of the dashboard
stood a figure whose outstretched arm perpetually pointed south. This
compass-cart, known as the "south-pointing chariot," was introduced
from China in the year 658. There was also a "cloud-chariot," but
this served for war purposes only, being a movable erection for
overlooking an enemy's defensive work, corresponding to the turris of
Roman warfare. Borrowed also from China was a battering engine which
moved on four wheels, and, like the cloud-chariot, dated from 661,
when a Tang army invaded Korea.
HABILIMENTS
A reader of the Chronicles is struck by the fact that from the close
of the seventh century much official attention seems to have been
bestowed on the subject of costume. Thus, during the last five years
of the Emperor Temmu's reign--namely, from 681--we find no less than
nine sumptuary regulations issued. The first was an edict, containing
ninety-two articles, of which the prologue alone survives, "The
costumes of all, from the princes of the Blood down to the common
people, and the wearing of gold and silver, pearls and jewels,
purple, brocade, embroidery, fine silks, together with woollen
carpets, head-dresses, and girdles, as well as all kinds of coloured
stuffs, are regulated according to a scale, the details of which are
given in the written edict." In the next year (682), another edict
forbids the wearing of caps of rank, aprons, broad girdles, and
leggings by princes or public functionaries, as well as the use of
shoulder-straps or mantillas by palace stewards or ladies-in-waiting.
The shoulder-strap was a mark of manual labour, and its use in the
presence of a superior has always been counted as rude in Japan.
A few days later, this meticulous monarch is found commanding men and
women to tie up their hair, eight months being granted to make the
change, and, at the same time, the practice of women riding astride
on horseback came into vogue, showing that female costume had much in
common with male. Caps of varnished gauze, after the Chinese type,
began to be worn by both sexes simultaneously with the tying-up of
the hair. Two years later, women of forty years or upwards were given
the option of tying up their hair or letting it hang loose, and of
riding astride or side-saddle as they pleased. At the same time, to
both sexes, except on State occasions, liberty of choice was accorded
in the matter of wearing sleeveless jackets fastened in front with
silk cords and tassels, though in the matter of trousers, men had to
gather theirs in at the bottom with a lace. By and by, the tying up
of the hair by women was forbidden in its turn; the wearing of
leggings was sanctioned, and the colours of Court costumes were
strictly determined according to the rank of the wearer red, deep
purple, light purple, dark green, light green, deep grape-colour and
light grape-colour being the order from above downwards.
All this attention to costume is suggestive of much refinement. From
the eighth century even greater care was devoted to the subject. We
find three kinds of habiliments prescribed--full dress (reifuku),
Court dress (chofuku) and uniform (seifuku)--with many minor
distinctions according to the rank of the wearer. Broadly speaking,
the principal garments were a paletot, trousers, and a narrow girdle
tied in front. The sleeves of the paletot were studiously regulated.
A nobleman wore them long enough to cover his hands, and their
width--which in after ages became remarkable--was limited in the Nara
epoch to one foot. The manner of folding the paletot over the breast
seems to have perplexed the legislators for a time. At first they
prescribed that the right should be folded over the left (hidarimae),
but subsequently (719) an Imperial decree ordered that the left
should be laid across the right (migimae), and since that day, nearly
twelve hundred years ago, there has not been any departure from the
latter rule. Court officials carried a baton (shaku), that, too,
being a habit borrowed from China.
FOOD
When the influence of Buddhism became supreme in Court circles, all
taking of life for purposes of food was interdicted. The first
prohibitory decree in that sense was issued by Temmu (673-686), and
the veto was renewed in more peremptory terms by Shomu (724-748),
while the Empress Shotoku (765-770) went so far as to forbid the
keeping of dogs, falcons, or cormorants for hunting or fishing at
Shinto ceremonials. But such vetoes were never effectually enforced.
The great staple of diet was rice, steamed or boiled, and next in
importance came millet, barley, fish of various kinds (fresh or
salted), seaweed, vegetables, fruit (pears, chestnuts, etc.), and the
flesh of fowl, deer, and wild boar. Salt, bean-sauce, and vinegar
were used for seasoning. There were many kinds of dishes; among the
commonest being soup (atsumono) and a preparation of raw fish in
vinegar (namasu). In the reign of Kotoku (645-654), a Korean named
Zena presented a milch cow to the Court, and from that time milk was
recognized as specially hygienic diet. Thus, when the Daiho laws were
published at the beginning of the eighth century, dairies were
attached to the medical department, and certain provinces received
orders to present butter (gyuraku) for the Court's use.
MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS
Very little is known of the marriage ceremony in old Japan. That
there was a nuptial hut is attested by very early annals, and from
the time of the Emperor Richu (400-405) wedding presents are
recorded. But for the rest, history is silent, and it is impossible
to fix the epoch when a set ceremonial began to be observed.
As to funerals, there is fuller but not complete information. That a
mortuary chamber was provided for the corpse pending the preparation
of the tomb is shown by the earliest annals, and from an account,
partly allegorical, contained in the records of the prehistoric age,
we learn that dirges were sung for eight days and eight nights, and
that in the burial procession were marshalled bearers of viands to be
offered at the grave, bearers of brooms to sweep the path, women who
prepared the viands, and a body of hired mourners. But the Kojiki,
describing the same ceremony, speaks of "making merry" with the
object of recalling the dead to life, as the Sun goddess had been
enticed from her cave. From the days of the Emperor Bidatsu
(572-585), we find the first mention of funeral orations, and
although the contents of tombs bear witness to the fact that articles
other than food were offered to the deceased, it is not until the
burial of the Emperor's consort, Katachi, (612) that explicit mention
is made of such a custom. On that occasion Tori, omi of the Abe-uji,
offered to the spirit of the dead "sacred utensils and sacred
garments, fifteen thousand kinds in all." Fifty years later, white is
mentioned as the mourning colour, but when next (683) we hear of
funerals, it is evident that their realm had been invaded by Chinese
customs, for it is recorded that "officials of the third rank were
allowed at their funerals one hearse, forty drums, twenty great
horns, forty little horns, two hundred flags, one metal gong, and one
hand-bell, with lamentation for one day." At Temmu's obsequies (687)
mention is made of an "ornamented chaplet," the first reference to
the use of flowers, which constitute such a prominent feature of
Buddhist obsequies.
But there is no evidence that Buddhist rites were employed at
funerals until the death of the retired Emperor Shomu (756).
Thereafter, the practice became common. It was also to a Buddhist
priest, Dosho, that Japan owed the inception of cremation. Dying in
the year 700, Dosho ordered his disciples to cremate his body at
Kurihara, and, two years later, the Dowager Empress Jito willed that
her corpse should be similarly disposed of. From the megalithic tombs
of old Japan to the little urn that holds the handful of ashes
representing a cremated body, the transition is immense. It has been
shown that one of the signal reforms of the Daika era was the setting
of limits to the size of sepulchres, a measure which afforded to the
lower classes much relief from forced labour. But an edict issued in
706 shows that the tendance of the resting place of the dead was
still regarded as a sacred duty, for the edict ordered that, alike at
the ancestral tombs of the uji and in the residential quarter of the
common people, trees should be planted.
Not yet, however, does the custom of erecting monuments with
inscriptions seem to have come into vogue. The Empress Gemmyo (d.
721) appears to have inaugurated that feature, for she willed not
only that evergreens should be planted at her grave but also that a
tablet should be set up there. Some historians hold that the donning
of special garments by way of mourning had its origin at that time,
and that it was borrowed from the Tang code of etiquette. But the
Chronicles state that in the year A.D. 312, when the Prince Imperial
committed suicide rather than occupy the throne, his brother,
Osasagi, "put on plain unbleached garments and began mourning for
him." White ultimately became the mourning colour, but in the eighth
century it was dark,* and mourning habiliments were called
fuji-koromo, because they were made from the bark of the wisteria
(fuji). Among the Daiho statutes was one providing that periods of
mourning should be of five grades, the longest being one year and the
shortest seven days.
*"On the death of the Emperor Inkyo (A.D. 453), the Korean Court sent
eighty musicians robed in black, who marched in procession to the
Yamato palace, playing and singing a dirge as they went."
PASTIMES
Foremost among the pastimes of the Japanese people in all epochs was
dancing. We hear of it in the prehistoric age when the "monkey
female" (Sarume) performed a pantominic dance before the rock cave of
the Sun goddess; we hear of it in protohistoric times when Inkyo's
consort was betrayed into an offer that wrecked her happiness, and we
hear of it in the historic epoch when the future Emperor Kenso danced
in the disguise of a horse-boy. But as the discussion of this subject
belongs more intelligently to the era following the Nara, we confine
ourselves here to noting that even the religious fanatic Shomu is
recorded as having repaired to the Shujaku gate of the palace to
witness a performance of song and dance (utagaki) in which 240
persons, men and women, took part; and that, in the same year (734),
230 members of six great uji performed similarly, all robed in blue
garments fastened in front with long red cords and tassels.
The tendency of the Japanese has always been to accompany their
feasting and merry-making with music, versifying, and dancing. At the
time now under consideration there was the "winding-water fete"
(kyoku-sui no en), when princes, high officials, courtiers, and noble
ladies seated themselves by the banks of a rivulet meandering gently
through some fair park, and launched tiny cups of mulled wine upon
the current, each composing a stanza as the little messenger reached
him, or drinking its contents by way of penalty for lack of poetic
inspiration. There were also the flower festivals--that for the plum
blossoms, that for the iris, and that for the lotus, all of which
were instituted in this same Nara epoch--when the composition of
couplets was quite as important as the viewing of the flowers. There
was, further, the grand New Year's banquet in the Hall of
Tranquillity at the Court, when all officials from the sixth grade
downwards sang a stanza of loyal gratitude, accompanying themselves
on the lute (koto). It was an era of refined effeminate amusements.
Wrestling had now become the pursuit of professionals. Aristocrats
engaged in no rougher pastime than equestrian archery, a species of
football, hawking, and hunting. Everybody gambled. It was in vain
that edicts were issued against dicing (chobo and sugoroku). The vice
defied official restraint.
LITERATURE AND POETRY
Having no books of her own, Japan naturally borrowed freely from the
rich mine of Chinese literature. By the tutors of the Imperial
family, at the colleges of the capital, and in the provincial schools
the classics constituted virtually the whole curriculum. The
advantages of education were, however, enjoyed by a comparatively
small element of the population. During the Nara epoch, it does not
appear that there were more than five thousand students attending the
schools and colleges at one time. The aim of instruction was to
prepare men for official posts rather than to impart general culture
or to encourage scientific research. Students were therefore selected
from the aristocrats or the official classes only. There were no
printed books; everything had to be laboriously copied by hand, and
thus the difficulties of learning were much enhanced. To be able to
adapt the Chinese ideographs skilfully to the purposes of written
Japanese was a feat achieved by comparatively few. What the task
involved has been roughly described in the opening chapter of this
volume, and with what measure of success it was achieved may be
estimated from the preface to the Records (Kojiki), written by Ono
Yasumaro, from the Chronicles (Nihon Shoki) and from the Daiho
Ritsu-ryo, which three works may be called the sole surviving prose
essays of the epoch.
Much richer, however, is the realm of poetry. It was during the Nara
epoch that the first Japanese anthology, the Manyo-shu (Collection of
a Myriad Leaves), was compiled. It remains to this day a revered
classic and "a whole mountain of commentary has been devoted to the
elucidation of its obscurities." [Chamberlain.] In the Myriad Leaves
are to be found poems dating nominally from the reigns of Yuryaku and
Nintoku, as well as from the days of Shotoku Taishi, but much more
numerous are those of Jomei's era (629-641) and especially those of
the Nara epoch. The compiler's name is not known certainly; he is
believed to have been either Tachibana no Moroe or Otomo no
Yakamochi. Old manuscripts and popular memory were the sources, and
the verselets total 4496, in twenty volumes. Some make love their
theme; some deal with sorrow; some are allegorical; some draw their
inspiration from nature's beauties, and some have miscellaneous
motives. Hitomaru, who flourished during the reign of the Empress
Jito (690-697), and several of whose verses are to be found in the
Myriad Leaves, has been counted by all generations the greatest of
Japanese poets. Not far below him in fame is Akahito, who wrote in
the days of Shomu (724-749). To the same century--the eighth--as the
Manyo-shu, belongs the Kiraifu-so, & volume containing 120 poems in
Chinese style, composed by sixty-four poets during the reigns of
Temmu, Jito, and Mommu, that is to say, between 673 and 707. Here
again the compiler's name is unknown, but the date of compilation is
clear, November, 751.
From the fact that, while bequeathing to posterity only two national
histories and a few provincial records (the Fudo-ki), the Nara epoch
has left two anthologies, it will be inferred readily that the
writing of poetry was a favourite pursuit in that age. Such, indeed,
was the case. The taste developed almost into a mania. Guests bidden
to a banquet were furnished with writing materials and invited to
spend hours composing versicles on themes set by their hosts. But
skill in writing verse was not merely a social gift; it came near to
being a test of fitness for office.
"In their poetry above everything the Japanese have remained
impervious to alien influences. It owes this conservation to its
prosody. Without rhyme, without variety of metre, without elasticity
of dimensions, it is also without known counterpart. To alter it in
any way would be to deprive it of all distinguishing characteristics.
At some remote date a Japanese maker of songs seems to have
discovered that a peculiar and very fascinating rhythm is produced by
lines containing 5 syllables and 7 syllables alternately. That is
Japanese poetry (uta or tanka). There are generally five lines: the
first and third consisting of 5 syllables, the second, fourth and
fifth of 7, making a total of 31 in all. The number of lines is not
compulsory: sometimes they may reach to thirty, forty or even more,
but the alternation of 5 and 7 syllables is compulsory. The most
attenuated form of all is the hokku (or haikai) which consists of
only three lines, namely, 17 syllables. Necessarily the ideas
embodied in such a narrow vehicle must be fragmentary. Thus it
results that Japanese poems are, for the most part, impressionist;
they suggest a great deal more than they actually express. Here is an
example:
Momiji-ha wo
Kaze ni makasete
Miru yori mo
Hakanaki mono wa
Inochi nari keri
This may be translated:
More fleeting than the glint of withered leaf wind-blown, the thing
called life."*
*See Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, article "Japan."
The sketchy nature of Japanese poetry, especially in this five-line
stanza, may be illustrated further by two poems quoted by Prof. B. H.
Chamberlain in his "Things Japanese" (pp. 375-376),
The first:
Hototogisu
Nakitsuru kata wo
Nagamureba--
Tada ari-ake no
Tsuki zo nokoreru
is literally translated by Professor Chamberlain as follows:
"When I gaze towards the place where the cuckoo has been singing,
nought remains but the moon in the early dawn."
And the conventional and pictorial character of the literary form is
illustrated again in the lines:
Shira-kumo ni
Hane uchi-kawashi
Tobu kari no
Kazu sae miyuru
Aki no yo no tsuki!
which the same eminent scholar translates: "The moon on an autumn
night making visible the very number of the wild-geese that fly past
with wings intercrossed in the white clouds." It is to be noted that
this last is, to Occidental notions, a mere poetic phrase and not a
unit.
Of course, the very exigencies of the case make the three-line stanza
(or hokku), containing only 17 syllables, even more sketchy--hardly
more indeed than a tour de force composed of a limited number of
brush strokes! The Western critic, with his totally different
literary conventions, has difficulty in bringing himself to regard
Japanese verse as a literary form or in thinking of it otherwise than
as an exercise in ingenuity, an Oriental puzzle; and this notion is
heightened by the prevalence of the couplet-composing contests, which
did much to heighten the artificiality of the genre.
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SEXES
There was probably no more shocking sexual vice or irregularity in
the Nara epoch than there had been before nor than there was
afterwards. The only evidence adduced to prove that there was
anything of the sort is the fact that laws were promulgated looking
to the restraint of illicit intercourse. These laws seem to have
accomplished little or nothing and the existence of the laws argues
rather a growing sense of the seriousness of the evil than any sudden
increase in the prevalence of the evil itself. There can be no
question, however, of the wide diffusion of concubinage in this
period. Not morals nor repute nor public opinion, but the wealth and
wishes of each man limited him in his amours of this sort. The
essential of a virtuous woman was that she be faithful to her husband
or lover; no such faithfulness was expected of him. And neither in
the case of man nor woman did the conventions of the period depend at
all on the nature of the relationship between the two. Wives no
longer lived in their fathers' homes after marriage, but the
newly-wedded husband built new rooms for his wife's especial use, so
that, by a fiction such as the Oriental delights in and Occidental
law is not entirely ignorant of, her home was still not his. Before
betrothal, girls were not allowed to call themselves by a family
name. At the betrothal her affianced first bound up in a fillet the
hair that she had formerly worn loose around her face. Even more
symbolical was the custom upon lovers' parting of tying to the
woman's undergarment a string from the man's; this knot was to be
unloosed only when they met again.
THE SHOSO-IN
At Nara, in Yamato province, near the temple of Todai-ji, a store
house built of wood and called the Shoso-in was constructed in the
Nara epoch, and it still stands housing a remarkable collection of
furniture and ornaments from the Imperial palace. There is some
question whether this collection is truly typical of the period, or
even of the palace of the period; but the presence of many utensils
from China, some from India (often with traces of Greek influence),
and a few from Persia certainly shows the degree of cosmopolitan
culture and elegance there was in the palace at Nara. At the present
day, strangers may visit the collection only by special permission
and only on two days each year; and the museum has always had a
mingled imperial and sacred character. When the power of the
shogunate was at its height, the Shoso-in was never opened except by
orders of the Emperor. Among the contents of this museum are:
polished mirrors with repousse backs, kept in cases lined with
brocaded silk; bronze vases; bronze censers; hicense-boxes made of
Paulownia wood or of Chinese ware; two-edged swords, which were tied
to the girdle, instead of being thrust through it; narrow leather
belts with silver or jade decoration; bamboo flutes; lacquer
writing-cases, etc.
ENGRAVING: OUTLINE SKETCH OF THE SHOSO-IN AT NARA
REFORM OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS
To the Emperor Konin belongs the credit of correcting some flagrant
abuses in provincial administration. There was an inconvenient
outcome of the religious mania which pervaded the upper classes
during the reigns of Shomu and Koken. To meet the expense of building
temples and casting images, men of substance in the provinces were
urged to make contributions of money, cereals, or land, and in return
for this liberality they were granted official posts. It resulted
that no less than thirty-one supernumerary provincial governors were
borne on the roll at one time, and since all these regarded office as
a means of recouping the cost of nomination, taxpayers and persons
liable to the corvée fared ill. In 774, Koken issued an edict that
provincial governors who had held office for five years or upwards
should be dismissed at once, those of shorter terms being allowed to
complete five years and then removed.
Another evil, inaugurated during the reign of Shomu, when faith in
the potency of supernatural influences obsessed men's minds, was
severely dealt with by Konin. Office-seekers resorted to the device
of contriving conflagrations of official property, rewarding the
incendiaries with the plunder, and circulating rumours that these
calamities were visitations of heaven to punish the malpractices of
the provincial governors in whose jurisdictions they occurred. It is
on record that, in several cases, these stories led to the dismissal
of governors and their replacement by their traducers. Konin decreed
that such crimes should be punished by the death of all concerned.
These reforms, supplemented by the removal of many superfluous
officials, earned for Konin such popularity that for the first time
in Japan's history, the sovereign's birthday became a festival*,
thereafter celebrated through all ages.
*Called Tenchosetsu.
THE MILITARY SYSTEM
It has been shown that compulsory military service was introduced in
689, during the reign of the Empress Jito, one-fourth of all the
able-bodied men in each province being required to serve a fixed time
with the colours. It has also been noted that under the Daiho
legislation the number was increased to one-third. This meant that no
distinction existed between soldier and peasant. The plan worked ill.
No sufficient provision of officers being made, the troops remained
without training, and it frequently happened that, instead of
military exercises, they were required to labour for the enrichment
of a provincial governor.
The system, being thus discredited, fell into abeyance in the year
739, but that it was not abolished is shown by the fact that, in 780,
we find the privy council memorializing the Throne in a sense
unfavourable to the drafting of peasants into the ranks. The memorial
alleged that the men lacked training; that they were physically
unfit; that they busied themselves devising pretexts for evasion;
that their chief function was to perform fatigue-duty for local
governors, and that to send such men into the field of battle would
be to throw away their lives fruitlessly. The council recommended
that indiscriminate conscription of peasants should be replaced by a
system of selection, the choice being limited to men with some
previous training; that the number taken should be in proportion to
the size of the province, and that those not physically robust should
be left to till the land. These recommendations were approved. They
constituted the first step towards complete abolishment of compulsory
service and towards the glorifying of the profession of arms above
that of agriculture. Experience quickly proved, however, that some
more efficient management was necessary in the maritime provinces,
and in 792, Kwammu being then on the throne, an edict abolished the
provincial troops in all regions except those which, by their
proximity to the continent of Asia, were exposed to danger, namely,
Dazai-fu in Kyushu, and in Mutsu, Dewa, and Sado in the north. Some
specially organized force was needed also for extraordinary service
and for guarding official storehouses, offices, and places where
post-bells (suzu) were kept. To that end the system previously
practised during the reign of Shomu (724-749) was reverted to; that
is to say, the most robust among the sons and younger brothers of
provincial governors and local officials were enrolled in corps of
strength varying with the duties to be performed. These were called
kondei or kenji. We learn from the edict that the abuse of employing
soldiers as labourers was still practised, but of course this did not
apply to the kondei.
The tendency of the time was against imposing military service on the
lower classes. During the period 810-820, the forces under the
Dazai-fu jurisdiction, that is to say, in the six provinces of
Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, and Bungo, were reduced from
17,100 to 9000. Dazai-fu and Mutsu being littoral regions, the
conscription system still existed there, but in Mutsu there were not
only heishi, that is to say, local militiamen of the ordinary type
and kenji or kondei, but also chimpei, or guards who were required to
serve at a distance from home. Small farmers, upon whom this duty
devolved, had no choice but to take their wives and children with
them, the family subsisting on the pittance given as rations eked out
by money realized from sales of chattels and garments. Thus, on the
expiration of their service they returned to their native place in a
wholly destitute condition, and sometimes perished of hunger on the
way. In consideration of the hardships of such a system, it was
abolished, and thus the distinction between the soldier and the
peasant received further accentuation.
There is no record as to the exact dimensions of Japan's standing
army in the ninth century, but if we observe that troops were raised
in the eight littoral provinces only--six in the south and two in the
north--and in the island of Sado, and that the total number in the
six southern provinces was only nine thousand, it would seem
reasonable to conclude that the aggregate did not exceed thirty
thousand. There were also the kondei (or kenji), but these, since
they served solely as guards or for special purposes, can scarcely be
counted a part of the standing army. The inference is that whatever
the Yamato race may have been when it set out upon its original
career of conquest, or when, in later eras, it sent great armies to
the Asiatic continent, the close of the fifth cycle after the coming
of Buddhism found the country reduced to a condition of comparative
military weakness. As to that, however, clearer judgment may be
formed in the context of the campaign--to be now spoken of--conducted
by the Yamato against the Yemishi tribes throughout a great part of
the eighth century and the early years of the ninth.
REVOLT OF THE YEMISHI
It has been shown that the close of the third decade of the eighth
century saw the capital established at Nara amid conditions of great
refinement, and saw the Court and the aristocracy absorbed in
religious observances, while the provincial governments were, in many
cases, corrupt and inefficient. In the year 724, Nara received news
of an event which illustrated the danger of such a state of affairs.
The Yemishi of the east had risen in arms and killed Koyamaro, warden
of Mutsu. At that time the term "Mutsu" represented a much wider area
than the modern region of the same name: it comprised the five
provinces now distinguished as Iwaki, Iwashiro, Rikuzen, Rikuchu, and
Mutsu--in other words, the whole of the northeastern and northern
littoral of the main island. Similarly, the provinces now called Ugo
and Uzen, which form the northwestern littoral, were comprised in the
single term "Dewa." Nature has separated these two regions, Mutsu and
Dewa, by a formidable chain of mountains, constituting the backbone
of northern Japan. Within Dewa, Mutsu, and the island of Yezo, the
aboriginal Yemishi had been held since Yamato-dake's signal campaign
in the second century A.D., and though not so effectually quelled as
to preclude all danger of insurrection, their potentialities caused
little uneasiness to the Central Government.
But there was no paltering with the situation which arose in 724.
Recourse was immediately had to the Fujiwara, whose position at the
Imperial Court was paramount, and Umakai, grandson of the renowned
Kamatari, set out at the head of thirty thousand men, levied from the
eight Bands provinces, by which term Sagami, Musashi, Awa, Kazusa,
Shimosa, Hitachi, Kotsuke, and Shimotsuke were designated. The
expanded system of conscription established under the Daiho code was
then in force, and thus a large body of troops could easily be
assembled. Umakai's army did not experience any serious resistance.
But neither did it achieve anything signal. Marching by two routes,
it converged on the castle of Taga, a fortress just constructed by
Ono Azumahito, the lord warden of the Eastern Marches. The plan
pursued by the Yamato commanders was to build castles and barriers
along the course of rivers giving access to the interior, as well as
along the coast line. Taga Castle was the first of such works, and,
by the year 767, the programme had been carried in Mutsu as far as
the upper reaches of the Kitakami River,* and in Dewa as far as
Akita.
*A monument still stands on the site of the old Taga Castle. It was
put up in A.D. 762, and it records that the castle stood fifty miles
from the island of Yezo.
History has nothing further to tell about the Yemishi until the year
774, when they again took up arms, captured one (Mono) of the
Japanese forts and drove out its garrison. Again the eight Bando
provinces were ordered to send levies, and at the head of the army
thus raised a Japanese general penetrated far into Mutsu and
destroyed the Yemishi's chief stronghold. This success was followed
by an aggressive policy on the part of the lord-warden, Ki no
Hirozumi. He extended the chain of forts to Kabe in Dewa, and to
Isawa in Mutsu. This was in 780. But there ensued a strong movement
of reprisal on the part of the Yemishi. Led by Iharu no Atamaro, they
overwhelmed Hirozumi's army, killed the lord-warden himself, and
pushed on to Taga Castle, which they burned, destroying vast stores
of arms and provisions. It was precisely at this time that the State
council, as related above, memorialized the Throne, denouncing the
incompetency of the provincial conscripts and complaining that the
provincial authorities, instead of training the soldiers, used them
for forced labour. The overthrow of the army in Mutsu and the
destruction of Taga Castle justified this memorial.
The Court appointed Fujiwara Tsugunawa to take command of a punitive
expedition, and once again Bando levies converged on the site of the
dismantled castle of Taga. But beyond that point no advance was
essayed, in spite of bitter reproaches from Nara. "In summer," wrote
the Emperor (Konin), "you plead that the grass is too dry; in winter
you allege that bran is too scant. You discourse adroitly but you get
no nearer to the foe." Konin's death followed shortly afterwards, but
his successor, Kwammu, zealously undertook the pursuit of the
campaign. Notice was sent (783) to the provincial authorities
directing them to make preparations and to instruct the people that
an armed expedition was inevitable. News had just been received of
fresh outrages in Dewa. The Yemishi had completely dispersed and
despoiled the inhabitants of two districts, so that it was found
necessary to allot lands to them elsewhere and to erect houses for
their shelter.
The Emperor said in his decree that the barbarian tribes, when
pursued, fled like birds; when unmolested, gathered like ants; that
the conscripts from the Bando provinces were reported to be weak and
unfit for campaigning, and that those skilled in archery and
physically robust stood aloof from military service, forgetting that
they all owed a common duty to their country and their sovereign.
Therefore, his Majesty directed that the sons and younger brothers of
all local officials or provincial magnates should be examined with a
view to the selection of those suited for military service, who
should be enrolled and drilled, to the number of not less than five
hundred and not more than two thousand per province according to its
size. Thus, the eight Bando provinces must have furnished a force of
from four to sixteen thousand men, all belonging to the aristocratic
class. These formed the nucleus of the army. They were supplemented
by 52,800 men, infantry and cavalry, collected from the provinces
along the Eastern Sea (Tokai) and the Eastern Mountains (Tosan). so
that the total force must have aggregated sixty thousand. The command
in chief was conferred on Ki no Kosami, thirteenth in descent from
the renowned Takenouchi-no-Sukune, who had been second in command of
the Fujiwara Tsugunawa expedition nine years previously. A sword was
conferred on him by the Emperor, and he received authority to act on
his own discretion without seeking instructions from the Throne.
Meanwhile, the province of Mutsu had been ordered to send 35,000 koku
(175,000 bushels) of hulled rice to Taga Castle, and the other
provinces adjacent were required to store 23,000 koku (115,000
bushels) of hoshi-i (rice boiled and dried) and salt at the same
place. The troops were to be massed at Taga, and all the provisions
and munitions were collected there by April, 789. These figures are
suggestive of the light in which the Government regarded the affair.
Kosami moved out of Taga at the appointed time and pushed northward.
But with every forward movement the difficulties multiplied. Snow in
those regions lies many feet deep until the end of May, and the thaw
ensuing brings down from the mountains heavy floods which convert the
rivers into raging torrents and the roads into quagmires. On reaching
the bank of the Koromo River, forty-five miles north of Taga, the
troops halted. Their delay provoked much censure in the capital where
the climatic conditions do not appear to have been fully understood
or the transport difficulties appreciated. Urged by the Court to push
on rapidly, Kosami resumed his march in June; failed to preserve
efficient connexion between the parts of his army; had his van
ambushed; fled precipitately himself, and suffered a heavy defeat,
though only 2500 of his big army had come into action. His casualties
were 25 killed, 245 wounded, and 1036 drowned. A truce was effected
and the forces withdrew to Taga, while, as for Kosami, though he
attempted to deceive the Court by a bombastic despatch, he was
recalled and degraded together with all the senior officers of his
army.
It would seem as though this disaster to one comparatively small
section of a force aggregating from fifty to sixty thousand men need
not have finally interrupted the campaign, especially when the enemy
consisted of semi-civilized aborigines. The Government thought
differently, however. There was no idea of abandoning the struggle,
but the programme for its renewal assumed large dimensions, and
events in the capital were not propitious for immediate action. The
training of picked soldiers commenced at once, and the provision of
arms and horses. Kosami's discomfiture took place in 789, and during
the next two years orders were issued for the manufacture of 2000
suits of leather armour and 3000 of iron armour; the making of 34,500
arms, and the preparation of 1 10,000 bushels of hoshi-i. To the
command-in-chief the Emperor (Kwammu) appointed Saka-no-ye no
Tamuramaro.
This selection illustrates a conclusion already proved by the annals,
namely, that racial prejudice had no weight in ancient Japan. For
Tamuramaro was a direct descendant of that Achi no Omi who, as
already related, crossed from China during the Han dynasty and became
naturalized in Japan. His father, Karitamaro, distinguished himself
by reporting the Dokyo intrigue, in the year 770, and received the
post of chief of the palace guards, in which corps his son,
Tamuramaro, thereafter served. Tradition has assigned supernatural
capacities to Tamuramaro, and certainly in respect of personal
prowess no less than strategical talent he was highly gifted. In
June, 794, he invaded Mutsu at the head of a great army and, by a
series of rapidly delivered blows, effectually crushed the
aborigines, taking 457 heads, 100 prisoners, and 85 horses, and
destroying the strongholds of 75 tribes. Thereafter, until the year
of his death (811), he effectually held in check the spirit of
revolt, crushing two other insurrections--in 801 and 804--and
virtually annihilating the insurgents. He transferred the garrison
headquarters from Taga to Isawa, where he erected a castle,
organizing a body of four thousand militia (tonden-hei) to guard it;
and in the following year (803), he built the castle of Shiba at a
point still further north.
NATIONALITY OF THE INSURGENTS
Annals of historical repute are confined to the above account. There
is, however, one unexplained feature, which reveals itself to even a
casual reader. In their early opposition to Yamato aggression, the
Yemishi--or Ainu, or Yezo, by whatever name they be called--displayed
no fighting qualities that could be called formidable. Yet now, in
the eighth century, they suddenly show themselves men of such prowess
that the task of subduing them taxes the resources of the Yamato to
the fullest. Some annalists are disposed to seek an explanation of
this discrepancy in climatic and topographical difficulties. Kosami,
in his despatch referring to the Koromo-gawa campaign, explains that
12,440 men had to be constantly employed in transporting provisions
and that the quantity carried by them in twenty-four days did not
exceed eleven days' rations for the troops. The hardship of
campaigning in a country where means of communication were so
defective is easily conjectured, and it has also to be noted that
during only a brief period in summer did the climate of Mutsu permit
taking the field. But these conditions existed equally in the eras of
Yamato-dake and Hirafu. Whatever obstacles they presented in the
eighth century must have been equally potent in the second and in the
seventh.
Two explanations are offered. They are more or less conjectural. One
is that the Yemishi of Mutsu were led by chieftains of Yamato origin,
men who had migrated to the northeast in search of fortune or
impelled by disaffection. It seems scarcely credible, however, that a
fact so special would have eluded historical reference, whereas only
one passing allusion is made to it and that, too, in a book not fully
credible. The other explanation is that the Yemishi were in league
with hordes of Tatars who had crossed from the mainland of Asia, or
travelled south by the islands of Saghalien and Yezo. The main
evidence in support of this theory is furnished by the names of the
insurgent leaders Akuro-o, Akagashira, and Akahige. Ideographists
point out that the character aku is frequently pronounced o, and with
that reading the name "Akuro-o" becomes "Oro-o," which was the term
used for "Russian." As for "Akagashira" and "Akahige," they frankly
signify "red head" and "red beard," common Japanese names for
foreigners. In a shrine at Suzuka-yama in Ise, to which point the
insurgents pushed southward before Tamuramaro took the field, there
used to be preserved a box, obviously of foreign construction, said
to have been left there by the "Eastern Barbarians;" and in the
Tsugaru district of the modern Mutsu province, relics exist of an
extensive fortress presenting features not Japanese, which is
conjectured to have been the basis of the Tatar invaders. But all
these inferences rest on little more than hypothesis.
RISE OF MILITARY HOUSES
What is certain, however, is that a collateral result of these
disturbances was to discredit the great Court nobles--the Otomo, the
Tachibana, the Ki, and the Fujiwara--as leaders of armies, and to lay
the foundation of the military houses (buke) which were destined to
become feudal rulers of Japan in after ages. Ki no Hirozumi, Ki no
Kosami, Otomo Yakamochi, Fujiwara Umakai, and Fujiwara Tsugunawa
having all failed, the Court was compelled to have recourse to the
representatives of a Chinese immigrant family, the Saka-no-ye. By
those who trace the ringer of fate in earthly happenings, it has been
called a dispensation that, at this particular juncture, a descendant
of Achi no Omi should have been a warrior with a height of six feet
nine inches,* eyes of a falcon, a beard like plaited gold-wire, a
frown that terrified wild animals, and a smile that attracted
children. For such is the traditional description of Tamuramaro.
Another incidental issue of the situation was that conspicuous credit
for fighting qualities attached to the troops specially organized in
the Bando (Kwanto) provinces with the sons and younger brothers of
local officials. These became the nucleus of a military class which
ultimately monopolized the profession of arms.
*The height recorded is five feet eight inches, but as that would be
a normal stature, there can be little doubt that "great" (dai)
measure is referred to and that the figures indicate six feet nine
inches.
RELATIONS WITH KOREA
During the eighth century relations of friendship were once more
established with Koma. A Manchurian tribe, migrating from the valley
of the Sungali River (then called the Sumo), settled on the east of
the modern province of Shengking, and was there joined by a remnant
of the Koma subjects after the fall of the latter kingdom. Ultimately
receiving investiture at the hands of the Tang Court, the sovereign
of the colony took the name of Tsuying, King of Pohai, and his son,
Wu-i, sent an envoy to Japan in 727, when Shomu was on the throne.
Where the embassy embarked there is no record, but, being blown out
of their course, the boats finally made the coast of Dewa, where
several of the envoy's suite were killed by the Yemishi. The envoy
himself reached Nara safely, and, representing his sovereign as the
successor of the Koma dynasty, was hospitably received, the usual
interchange of gifts taking place.
Twenty-five years later (752), another envoy arrived. The Empress
Koken then reigned at Nara, and her ministers insisted that, in the
document presented by the ambassador, Pohai must distinctly occupy
towards Japan the relation of vassal to suzerain, such having been
the invariable custom observed by Koma in former times. The
difficulty seems to have been met by substituting the name "Koma" for
"Pohai," thus, by implication, admitting that the new kingdom held
towards Japan the same status as that formerly held by Koma.
Throughout the whole of her subsequent intercourse with the Pohai
kingdom, intercourse which, though exceedingly fitful, lasted for
nearly a century and a half, Japan uniformly insisted upon the
maintenance of that attitude.
ENGRAVING: EMPEROR KWAMMU