ART, RELIGION, LITERATURE, CUSTOMS, AND COMMERCE IN THE KAMAKURA
PERIOD
ART
From the establishment of the Bakufu, Japanese art separated into two
schools, that of Kamakura and that of Kyoto. The latter centered in
the Imperial Court, the former in the Court of the Hojo. Taken
originally from Chinese masters of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the
Kyoto art ultimately developed into the Japanese national school,
whereas the Kamakura art, borrowed from the academies of Sung and
Yuan, became the favourite of the literary classes and preserved its
Chinese traditions. Speaking broadly, the art of Kyoto showed a
decorative tendency, whereas that of Kamakura took landscape and
seascape chiefly for motives, and, delighting in the melancholy
aspects of nature, appealed most to the student and the cenobite.
This distinction could be traced in calligraphy, painting,
architecture, and horticulture. Hitherto penmanship in Kyoto had
taken for models the style of Kobo Daishi and Ono no Tofu. This was
called o-ie-fu (domestic fashion), and had a graceful and cursive
character. But the Kamakura calligraphists followed the pure Chinese
mode (karayo), as exemplified by the Buddhist priests, Sogen (Chu
Yuan) and Ichinei (I Ning).
In Kyoto, painting was represented by the schools of Koze, Kasuga,
Sumiyoshi, and Tosa; in Kamakura, its masters were Ma Yuan, Hsia
Kwei, and Mu Hsi, who represented the pure Southern Academy of China,
and who were followed by Sesshu, Kao, and Shubun. So, too, the art of
horticulture, though there the change was a transition from the stiff
and comparatively artificial fashion of the no-niwa (moor garden) to
the pure landscape park, ultimately developed into a Japanese
specialty. Tradition ascribes to a Chinese bonze, who called himself
Nei-issan (or Ichinei), the planning of the first landscape garden,
properly so designated in Japan. He arrived in Kyushu, under the name
of I Ning, as a delegate from Kublai Khan in the days of Hojo
Sadatoki, and was banished, at first, to the province of Izu.
Subsequently, however, the Bakufu invited him to Kamakura and
assigned the temple Kencho-ji for his residence and place of
ministrations. It was there that he designed the first landscape
garden, furnishing suggestions which are still regarded as models.
LITERATURE
The conservatism of the Imperial city is conspicuously illustrated in
the realm of literature. Careful perusal of the well-known work,
Masukagami, shows that from year's end to year's end the same
pastimes were enjoyed, the same studies pursued The composition of
poetry took precedence of everything. Eminent among the poetasters of
the twelfth century was the Emperor Go-Toba. The littérateurs of his
era looked up to him as the arbiter elegantiarum, especially in the
domain of Japanese versification. Even more renown attached to
Fujiwara no Toshinari, whose nom de plume was Shunzei, and who earned
the title of the "Matchless Master." His son, Sadaiye, was well-nigh
equally famous under the name of Teika.
After the Shokyu disturbance (1221), the empire enjoyed a long spell
of peace under the able and upright sway of the Hojo, and during that
time it became the custom to compile anthologies. The first to essay
that task was Teika. Grieving that the poets of his time had begun to
prefer affectation and elegance to sincerity and simplicity, he
withdrew to a secluded villa on Mount Ogura, and there selected, a
hundred poems by as many of the ancient authors. These he gave to the
world, calling the collection Hyakunin-isshu, and succeeding
generations endorsed his choice so that the book remains a classic to
this day. Teika's son, Tameiye, won such favour in the eyes of the
Kamakura shogun, Sanetomo, that the latter conferred on him the manor
of Hosokawa, in Harima. Dying, Tameiye bequeathed this property to
his son, Tamesuke, but he, being robbed of it by his step-brother,
fell into a state of miserable poverty which was shared by his
mother, herself well known as an authoress under the name of
Abutsu-ni. This intrepid lady, leaving her five sons in Kyoto,
repaired to Kamakura to bring suit against the usurper, and the
journal she kept en route--the Izayoi-nikki--is still regarded as a
model of style and sentiment. It bears witness to the fact that
students of poetry in that era fell into two classes: one adhering to
the pure Japanese style of the Heian epoch; the others borrowing
freely from Chinese literature.
Meanwhile, at Kamakura, the Bakufu regents, Yasutoki, Tokiyori and
Tokimune, earnest disciples of Buddhism, were building temples and
assigning them to Chinese priests of the Sung and Yuan eras who
reached Japan as official envoys or as frank propagandists. Five
great temples thus came into existence in the Bakufu capital, and as
the Chinese bonzes planned and superintended their construction,
these buildings and their surroundings reflected the art-canons at
once of China, of Japan, and of the priests themselves. The same
foreign influence made itself felt in the region of literature. But
we should probably be wrong in assuming that either religion or art
or literature for their own sakes constituted the sole motive of the
Hojo regents in thus acting. It has already been shown that they
welcomed the foreign priests as channels for obtaining information
about the neighbouring empire's politics, and there is reason to
think that their astute programme included a desire to endow Kamakura
with an artistic and literary atmosphere of its own, wholly
independent of Kyoto and purged of the enervating elements that
permeated the latter.
This separation of the civilizations of the east (Kwanto) and the
west (Kyoto) resulted ultimately in producing asceticism and
religious reform. The former, because men of really noble instincts
were insensible to the ambition which alone absorbed a Kyoto
littérateur--the ambition of figuring prominently in an approved
anthology--and had, at the same time, no inclination to follow the
purely military creed of Kamakura. Such recluses as Kamo Chomei,
Saigyo Hoshi and Yoshida Kenko were an outcome of these conditions.
Chomei has been called the "Wordsworth of Japan." He is immortalized
by a little book of thirty pages, called Hojoki (Annals of a Cell.)
It is a volume of reflections suggested by life in a hut measuring
ten feet square and seven feet high, built in a valley remote from
the stir of life. The style is pellucid and absolutely unaffected;
the ideas are instinct with humanity and love of nature. Such a work,
so widely admired, reveals an author and an audience instinct with
graceful thoughts.
In the career of Saigyo--"the reverend," as his title "hoshi"
signifies--there were episodes vividly illustrating the manners and
customs of the tune. Originally an officer of the guards in Kyoto, he
attained considerable skill in military science and archery, but his
poetic heart rebelling against such pursuits, he resigned office,
took the tonsure, and turning his back upon his wife and children,
became a wandering bard. Yoritomo encountered him one day, and was so
struck by his venerable appearance that he invited him to his mansion
and would have had him remain there permanently. But Saigyo declined.
On parting, the Minamoto chief gave him as souvenir a cat chiselled
in silver, which the old ascetic held in such light esteem that he
bestowed it on the first child he met. Yoshida Kenko, who became a
recluse in 1324, is counted among the "four kings" of Japanese
poetry--Ton-a, Joben, Keiun, and Kenko. He has been called the
"Horace of Japan." In his celebrated prose work, Weeds of Tedium
(Tsure-zure-gusa), he seems to reveal a lurking love for the vices he
satirizes. These three authors were all pessimistic. They reflected
the tendency of the time.
RELIGION
The earliest Buddhist sect established in Japan was the Hosso. It
crossed from China in A.D. 653, and its principal place of worship
was the temple Kofuku-ji at Nara. Then (736) followed the Kegon sect,
having its headquarters in the Todai-ji, where stands the colossal
Daibutsu of Nara, Next in order was the Tendai, introduced from China
by Dengyo in 805, and established at Hiei-zan in the temple
Enryaku-ji; while fourth and last in the early group of important
sects came the Shingon, brought from China in 809 by Kukai, and
having its principal metropolitan place of worship at Gokoku-ji (or
To-ji) in Kyoto, and its principal provincial at Kongobo-ji on
Koya-san. These four sects and some smaller ones were all introduced
during a period of 156 years. Thereafter, for a space of 387 years,
there was no addition to the number: things remained stationary until
1196, when Honen began to preach the doctrines of the Jodo sect, and
in the space of fifty-six years, between 1196 and 1252, three other
sects were established, namely, the Zen, the Shin, and the Nichiren.
THE TWO GROUPS OF SECTS
In what did the teachings of the early groups of sects differ from
those of the later groups, and why did such a long interval separate
the two? Evidently the answers to these questions must have an
important bearing on Japanese moral culture. From the time of its
first introduction (A.D. 522) into Japan until the days of Shotoku
Taishi (572-621), Japanese Buddhism followed the lines indicated in
the land of its provenance, Korea. Prince Shotoku was the first to
appreciate China as the true source of religious learning, and by him
priests were sent across the sea to study. But the first sect of any
importance--the Hosso--that resulted from this movement does not seem
to have risen above the level of idolatry and polytheism. It was a
"system built up on the worship of certain perfected human beings
converted into personal gods; it affirmed the eternal permanence of
such beings in some state or other, and it gave them divine
attributes."* Some of these were companions and disciples of Shaka
(Sakiya Muni); others, pure creations of fancy, or borrowed from the
mythological systems of India. It is unnecessary here to enter into
any enumeration of these deities further than to say that, as helpers
of persons in trouble, as patrons of little children, as healers of
the sick, and as dispensers of mercy, they acted an important part in
the life of the people. But they did little or nothing to improve
men's moral and spiritual condition, and the same is true of a
multitude of arhats, devas, and other supernatural beings that go to
make up a numerous pantheon.
*Lloyd's Developments of Japanese Buddhism, "Transactions of the
Asiatic Society of Japan," Vol. XXII; and Shinran and His Work, by
the same author.
It was not until the end of the eighth century that Japanese Buddhism
rose to a higher level, and the agent of its elevation was Dengyo
Daishi, whom the Emperor Kwammu sent to China to study the later
developments of the Indian faith. Dengyo and his companions in 802
found their way to the monastery of Tientai (Japanese, Tendai), and
acquired there a perception of the true road to Saving Knowledge, a
middle route "which includes all and rejects none, and in which alone
the soul can be satisfied." Meditation and wisdom were declared to be
the stepping-stones to this route, and to reach them various rules
had to be followed, namely, "the accomplishment of external
means"--such as observing the precepts, regulating raiment and food,
freedom from all worldly concerns and influences, promotion of all
virtuous desires, and so forth; "chiding of evil desires"--such as
the lust after beauty, the lust of sound, of perfumes, of taste, and
of touch; "casting away hindrances;" "harmonizing the faculties," and
"meditating upon absolute truth."
Now first we meet with the Buddhas of Contemplation, and with a creed
which seems to embody a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit. Such, in
briefest outline, was the doctrine taught at the close of the sixth
century by a Chinese bonze at the monastery of Tientai, and carried
thence to Japan two hundred years later by Dengyo, who established
the Tendai sect on Mount Hiei near Kyoto. Dengyo did not borrow
blindly; he adapted, and thus the Tendai creed, as taught at
Hiei-zan, became in reality "a system of Japanese education, fitting
the disciplinary and meditative methods of the Chinese propagandist
on the pre-existing foundations of earlier sects."
"The comprehensiveness of the Tendai system caused it to be the
parent of many schisms. Out of it came all the large sects, with the
exception of the Shingon," to be presently spoken of. "On the other
hand, this comprehensiveness ensured the success of the Tendai sect.
With the conception of the Buddhas of Contemplation came the idea
that these personages had frequently been incarnated for the welfare
of mankind; that the ancient gods whom the Japanese worshipped were
but manifestations of these same mystical beings, and that the
Buddhist faith had come, not to destroy the native Shinto, but to
embody it into a higher and more universal system."*
*"The Buddhists recognized that the Shinto gods were incarnations of
some of the many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas brought from India and
China, and then the two faiths amalgamated and for centuries
comfortably shared the same places of worship."--Every-Day Japan, by
Lloyd.
THE SHINGON SECT
It was not to Dengyo, however, that Japan owed her most mysterious
form of Buddhism, but to his contemporary, Kukai, remembered by
posterity as Kobo Daishi. The traditions that have been handed down
with reference to this great teacher's life and personality reveal
one of those saints whose preaching and ministration have bestowed a
perpetual blessing on humanity. Here, it must suffice to say that he
found no peace of mind until a visit to China brought comprehension
of a Sutra which he had vainly studied in Japan. On his return, in
806, he appeared before the emperor and many bonzes, and astonished
all by his eloquence and his knowledge.
There are three "vehicles" in Buddhism, but only two of them need be
mentioned here--the Hina-yana, or Small Vehicle, and the Maha-yana,
or Great Vehicle. The term "vehicle" signifies a body of doctrine on
which "a believer may ride to the perfect consummation of his
humanity." The difference between these two requires many words to
explain fully, whereas only a few can be devoted to the purpose here.
"The Hina-yana Sutra is intended for beginners; the Maha-yana for
those more advanced in the path of the law." The teaching in the
former is negative; in the latter, positive. In the Hina-yana the
perfect path is to abstain from four things--women, palaces,
beautiful objects, and riches. In the Maha-yana perfect virtue is the
presence of four things--the spirit of wisdom, the love of virtue,
patience and firmness, and the retired life. By the "spirit of
wisdom" is meant the constant desire for the truth; by the "love
of virtue" is signified the abhorrence of evil; by "patience and
firmness" are indicated perfect manliness as exhibited towards
the weak; by "the retired life" is designated humility and
self-effacement.
"There is nothing in the world like the Chinese scriptures of the
Maha-yana. The canon in China is seven hundred times the amount of
the New Testament," and, of course, this vast extent means that there
is a correspondingly wide field for eclecticism. "The Hina-yana did
not trouble itself with metaphysical speculation; that was reserved
for the Maha-yana, and Kukai was the greatest Japanese teacher of the
arcana of Buddhism. How much of his system he owed to studies
conducted in China, how much to his own inspiration, research has not
yet determined. An essentially esoteric system, it conceived a world
of ideas," grouped logically and systematically according to genera
and species, forming a planetary cosmos, the members of which, with
their satellites, revolved not only on their own axes but also round
a central sun.
This was the "world of golden effulgence"--a world permeated by the
light of truth. The sect was called the Shingon (True Word); and the
central body was Dainichi (Great Sun), the Spirit of Truth, anterior
to Shaka and greater than him. "To reach the realization of the Truth
that Dainichi is omnipresent and that everything exists only in him,
a disciple must ascend by a double ladder, each half of which has ten
steps, namely, the intellectual ladder and the moral ladder." These
ladders constitute, in fact, a series of precepts, warnings, and
exhortations; some easily comprehensible, others demanding profound
thought, and the whole calculated to educate an absorbing aspiration
for the "transcendental virtues," to possess which is to attain to
perfect Buddhahood. Unquestionably the offspring of a great mind,
this Shingon system, with its mysterious possibilities and its lofty
morality, appealed strongly to the educated and leisured classes in
Kyoto during the peaceful Heian epoch, while for the illiterate and
the lower orders the simpler canons of the Tendai had to suffice.
THE JODO SECT
It has been shown, however, that the preachers of these sects, one
and all, were readily prone to resort to violence and bloodshed in
pursuit of worldly interests, not even the exponents of the exalted
"True Word" creed being exempt from the reproach. Teachers of a
doctrine having for cardinal tenet the sacredness of life, the
inmates of the great monasteries nevertheless did not hesitate to
appeal to arms, at any time, in defence of their temporal privileges
or in pursuit of their ambitious designs. Yet the discredit attaching
to such a flagrant discrepancy between precept and practice might not
have produced very signal result had not the twelfth century brought
the Gen-Hei struggle, which plunged the empire into a state of
turbulence and reduced the lower orders to a condition of pitiable
misery.
For this distress neither the Tendai doctrines nor the Shingon
conceptions were sufficiently simple to supply a remedy. Something
more tangible and less recondite was needed, and it came (1196), in
the sequel of twenty-five years' meditation and study, to
Genku--posthumously called Honen Shonin--a priest of the Tendai sect.
The leading characteristics of the Jodo (pure land) system introduced
by him are easily stated. "Salvation is by faith, but it is a faith
ritually expressed. The virtue that saves comes, not from imitation
of, and conformity to, the person and character of the saviour,
Amida, but from blind trust in his efforts and from ceaseless
repetition of pious formulae. It does not necessitate any conversion
or change of heart. It is really a religion of despair rather than of
hope. It says to the believer: 'The world is so very evil that you
can not possibly reach to Buddha-ship here. Your best plan,
therefore, is to give up all such hope and simply set your mind upon
being born in Amida's paradise after death.'"*
*Lloyd's Development of Japanese Buddhism and Shinran and His Work.
THE SHIN SECT
An immediate offspring of the Jodo, though not directly following it
in the chronological sequence of sects, was the Shin, established
(1224) under the name of Jodo Shin-shu* (True Sect of Jodo), and
owing its inception to Shinran, a pupil of Genku. It was even simpler
and less exacting than its parent, the Jodo-shu, for it logically
argued that if faith alone was necessary to salvation, the believer
need not trouble himself about metaphysical subtleties and profound
speculations; nor need he perform acts of religion and devotion; nor
need he keep a multitude of commandments; nor need he leave his home,
renounce matrimony, or live by rule. Only he must not worship any
save Amida, or pray for anything that does not concern his salvation.
As for the time of attaining salvation, the Jodo sect taught that if
the mercy of Amida be called to remembrance, he would meet the
believer at the hour of death and conduct him to paradise; whereas
Shin-shu preaches that the coming of Amida was present and immediate;
in other words, that "Buddha dwelt in the heart now by faith."
*It is called also the Monto-shu.
THE ZEN SECT
In the Jodo and the Shin sects an ample spiritual rest was provided
for the weary in mind or body, for the illiterate, and for the
oppressed. But there was for a time no creed which appealed specially
to the military men; no body of doctrine which, while strengthening
him for the fight, could bring to him peace of mind. The Zen-shu
ultimately satisfied that want. Zen is the Japanese equivalent of the
Indian term dhyana, which signifies "meditation." In fact, the Zen is
a contemplative sect. Its disciples believe that, "knowledge can be
transmitted from heart to heart without the intervention of words."
But though purely a contemplative rite at the time of its
introduction into Japan, 1168, it was subsequently modified--from
1223--by two teachers, in whose hands it took the form known as the
Soto sect. This "joined scholarship and research to contemplation,"
and taught that, when the highest wisdom and most perfect
enlightenment are attained, all the elements of phenomenal existence
are seen to be empty, vain, and unreal. "Form does not differ from
space or space from form; all things surrounding us are stripped of
their qualities, so that in this highest state of enlightenment,
there can be no longer birth or death, defilement or purity, addition
or destruction. There is, therefore, no such thing as ignorance, and
therefore none of the miseries that result from it. If there is no
misery, decay, or death, there is no such thing as wisdom, and no
such thing as attaining to happiness or rest. Hence, to arrive at
perfect emancipation we must grasp the fact of utter and entire
void." Such a creed effectually fortified the heart of a soldier.
Death ceased to have any terrors for him or the grave any reality.
ENGRAVING: NICHIREN PREACHING IN THE STREET
THE NICHIREN SECT
This is the only one among Japanese sects of Buddhism that derives
its name from that of its founder. And justly so, for Nichiren's
personality pervades it. The son of a fisherman, from youth he
applied himself to the study of Buddhism, became a bonze of the
Shingon sect, and took the name of Nichiren (lotus of the sun). He,
too, studied originally at Hiei-zan under Tendai tutors, but he
ultimately followed an eclectic path of his own, which led him to the
"Scripture of the Lotus of Good Law," and he taught that salvation
could be attained merely by chaunting the formula, "namu myo ho renge
kyo" ("hail to the Scripture of the Lotus of Good Law") with
sufficient fervour and iteration. In fact, Nichiren's methods partook
of those of the modern Salvation Army. He was distinguished, also, by
the fanatical character of his propagandism. Up to his time, Japanese
Buddhism had been nothing if not tolerant. The friars were quick to
take up arms for temporal purposes, but sectarian aggressiveness was
virtually unknown until Nichiren undertook to denounce everyone
differing from his views.* His favourite formula for denouncing other
sects was, "nembutsu mugen, Zen temma, Shingon bokoku, Ritsu
kokuzoku" ("incantations are phantasms; the Zen is a demon; the
Shingon, national ruin; and the Ritsu, a rebel"). Nichiren gained
great credit for predicting, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, that
a heavy calamity was about to fall upon the country, but owing to an
accusation of political intrigues, he was first condemned to be
beheaded, and then was banished to the island of Sado. His sentence
was soon revoked, however, by the regent Tokimune, who granted him
written permission to propagate his doctrines. Thereafter the spread
of his sect was very rapid.
*Out of some 72,000 temples in Japan to-day, 20,000, approximately,
belong to the Shin sect; an equal number to the Zen; 13.000 to the
Shingon; 8000 to the Jodo; and smaller numbers to the rest.
THE PEOPLE
With the decentralization of the administrative power there was a
corresponding growth of the vassal class. Of course the Court nobles
had vassals in their households, but the power exercised over these
vassals had legal limits, whereas the vassals of the provincial
chiefs were liable to imprisonment or even death by order of their
chiefs. One result was that the provinces came gradually into
possession of a large body of men skilled in arms and in
administration. Moreover, among these provincial vassals, men
originally of humble origin, found themselves raised to the level of
honoured subjects, and a man's status came to be determined by his
occupation rather than by his lineage. The lines of this new
discrimination were fourfold, namely, shi, no, ko, sho--that is to
say, military, agricultural, industrial, and commercial. The
tradesman stood at the bottom of the scale, and the farmer, as the
principal taxpayer, ranked next to the military man. It will be
observed that this classification does not include any persons whose
occupation involved pollution. This was a result of religious
prejudice. Degradation attended every profession that required
contact with the sick, the dead, or offal of any kind. Persons
practising such callings were designated eta (men of many
impurities). All belonging to the class inferior to tradesmen were
originally regarded as outlaws, but subsequently, when society was
reorganized on a military basis, an official was specially entrusted
with absolute control over persons excluded from the quadruple
classification of soldier, farmer, mechanic, and merchant. Beggars
constituted an important section of the outcasts (hiniri). Next to
them were professional caterers for amusement, from dog-trainers,
snake-charmers, riddle-readers, acrobats, and trainers of animals, to
brothel-keepers and executioners.
DWELLING-HOUSES
During the two centuries from the middle of the twelfth, aristocratic
dwellings in the capital underwent little change. Military
residences, however, developed some special features, though, in
general, their architecture was of the simplest character. They had
two enclosures, each surrounded by a boarded fence, and the whole was
encircled by a fosse crossed by outer and inner gates. There were
ranges for archery and there were watch-towers, but the dwelling
itself was small and plain. It consisted mainly of a hall, having a
dais with a lacquered chair for important visitors; an apartment for
women; a servants' room, and a kitchen, heat being obtained from a
hearth sunk in the floor. Austere simplicity was everywhere aimed at,
and it is related that great provincial chiefs did not think the
veranda too lowly for a sleeping-place. The use of the tatami was
greatly extended after the twelfth century. No longer laid on the
dais only, these mats were used to cover the whole of the floors, and
presently they were supplemented by cushions made of silk crepe
stuffed with cotton-wool. In the great majority of cases, roofs were
covered with boards. Only in the houses of magnates was recourse had
to tiles imported from China or slates of copper-bronze. In the
better class of house, the roof-boards were held in place by girders,
but humble folks used logs of timber, or stones, to prevent
wind-stripping, and these weights imparted an untidy, rude appearance
to the structure.
COSTUME
A notable feature of costume in this era was that the skirt of an
official's outer garment had to be long in proportion to his rank.
But military men did not observe this rule. It was followed only by
the comparatively effeminate Court nobles and civil officials, who
shaved their eyebrows, painted their cheeks, and blackened their
teeth, as women did. While the soldiers of the Kamakura period wore
their hair short and shaved the top of the head,--possibly for
greater comfort when they were accoutred in heavy helmets,--the Court
noble and the exquisite of the day wore their hair long and gathered
in a queue which was bound with paper.
As for women, long hair was counted a beauty, and when a lady of rank
left the house, her tresses were gathered in a box carried by an
attendant who walked behind; and when she seated herself, this
attendant's duty was to spread the hair symmetrically on the ground
like a skirt. Girls in their teens had a pretty fashion of wearing
their hair in three clearly distinguished lengths--a short fringe
over the forehead, two cascades falling below the shoulders, and a
long lock behind. Women's hairdressing was simple in one respect:
they wore no ornaments in the hair. Aristocratic ladies continued to
wear loose trousers, but robes with skirts began to form a part of
the costume of the lower classes and of unmarried girls. The girdle,
so characteristic of Japanese habiliments in later days, had not yet
come into use. Its predecessor was a narrow belt of silk encircling
the waist and knotted in front, the outer garment being a long
flowing robe, reaching from the neck to the heels and having
voluminous sleeves. Female headgear was various. A woman walking
abroad wore a large hat like an inverted bowl, and when she rode on
horseback, she suspended from the rim of this hat a curtain from
three to four feet long.
There were other fashions, but only one of them need be mentioned,
namely, a hood to envelop the face so that the eyes alone remained
visible. In the city streets women of the town wore a distinctive
costume as courtesans did in certain parts of Europe in the Middle
Ages. The badge in Japan was a spirally twisted pyramidal cap of
linen, about a foot and a half high. The materials of which clothing
were made varied from rich Chinese brocade to coarse homespun, but,
in general, the use of brocade was forbidden except to persons who
had received it as a gift from the Court in Kyoto or Kamakura.
Historical mention is first made of badges during the war of the
Minamoto and the Taira. Their use was originally confined to purposes
of distinction, and ultimately they came to be employed as a family
crest by military men. A chrysanthemum flower with sixteen petals and
a bunch of Paulownia leaves and buds constituted the Imperial badges,
the use of which was interdicted to all subjects. It is not to be
supposed, however, that badges were necessarily a mark of
aristocracy: they might be woven or dyed on the garments of
tradespeople or manufacturers. Footgear, also, offered opportunities
for embellishment. Common people wore brown-leather socks, but those
of position used blue leather having decorative designs embroidered
in white thread.
BRAZIERS, ETC.
Braziers now came into general use, and quickly became objects of
ornament as well as of utility. Manufactured of brass or bronze, and
sometimes even of silver, they had decorative designs repousse or
chiselled, and sometimes they took the shape of a metal receptacle
inserted in a case of finely grained or richly lacquered wood.
Another important warming utensil was the kotatsu, a latticed wooden
frame enclosing a brazier and covered by a quilt. Lanterns were also
employed. They consisted of a candle fixed in a skeleton frame on
which an envelope of thin paper was stretched. Their introduction was
quickly followed by that of a kind of match which took the form of a
thin piece of wood tipped with sulphur.
DIET
The military class did not allow themselves to be influenced by any
religious scruples in their choice of viands. They ate everything
except the flesh of oxen or horses. In serving meals, tables of
Chinese form ceased altogether to be used, edibles being placed on a
tray which stood about four inches high. These trays and cups, and
the bowls and plates ranged on them, showed great refinement, rich
lacquer, silver, and gold being freely used in aristocratic
dwellings.
AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY
Agriculture was, of course, greatly interrupted by the long
continuance of military campaigns; but, on the other hand, it
received every encouragement from the Minamoto and the Hojo. The most
important incident of the era in this context was the introduction of
the tea-shrub from China in 1191. As for industrial pursuits, signal
progress took place in the art of tempering steel. The Japanese
swordsmith forged the most trenchant weapon ever produced by any
nation. The ceramic industry, also, underwent great development from
the thirteenth century onwards. It may be said to have owed its
artistic beginning to Kato Shirozaemon Kagemasa, who visited China at
that time, and "learned the art of applying glaze to pottery biscuit,
a feat not previously achieved in Japan." Another profession carried
to high excellence was the sculpturing of Buddhist images. This
reached its acme in a celebrated bronze Buddha which was set up at
Kamakura, in 1252, and which remains to this day "one of the most
majestic creations of art in any country."
SUMPTUARY EDICTS
The laws enacted by the Hojo regents bear ample testimony to their
desire of enforcing frugality. In the middle of the thirteenth
century, they went so far as to interdict the brewing of sake
throughout the empire, and another ordinance vetoed the serving of
cakes at meals. Such interdicts could not possibly be strictly
enforced, but they undoubtedly exercised much influence, so that the
samurai limited themselves to two meals a day and partook only of the
coarsest fare.
ENGRAVING: WRESTLERS
ENGRAVING: DAIMYO'S GATE