THE TEMPORARY RESTORATION OF IMPERIAL POWER. 1339-1393
The fall of the Hōjō resulted in a rehabilitation of the imperial power,
which, however, as quickly relapsed under a new feudal rule. The story
of this momentary success of the sovereign house must be prefaced by an
account of its domestic affairs, which had caused its renewed uprising
against the usurping regent at Kamakura. It will be remembered that, in
1221, the Hōjō exiled three ex-emperors and their partisans, who had
raised their arms against the all-powerful feudal government. The
influence of the Hōjō became so strong in Kyōto after this event that,
when the Emperor Shijō died without heir, in 1242, the Regent Yasutoki
succeeded, in spite of opposition, in raising his nominee on the throne
as the Emperor Gosaga. This naturally further enhanced the power of the
Hōjō. Gosaga abdicated in 1246, and was succeeded by his two sons, one
after the other. Of these, the younger and abler, Emperor Kameyama, was
the favorite of his retired father, and would have bequeathed the throne
exclusively to his own descendants, had it not been for the intervention
of the ex-emperor, who advocated the cause of the elder prince, the
Emperor Gofukakusa. It was finally decided, during the regency of Hōjō
Sadatoki, that the descendants of the two emperors--called, from the
names of their respective residences, the Daikaku-ji and the Jimyō-in
lines--should reign alternately, each for ten years. The Daikaku-ji line
came first to the throne in the person of Gonijō (1301-1308), followed
by Hanazono of the other line. The latter had to abdicate, in 1319, in
favor of Godaigo of the first line. It was this last emperor who
successfully, though for a brief period, restored the power of the
imperial house, for, being like all other princes of his line, penurious
and discontented, he was particularly offended at the conduct of the
Kamakura regency, which not only kept him in straitened circumstances,
but also alternated his house with the other and richer house favorable
to the Hōjō. Godaigo perceived that, if he would insure his sovereignty,
he must do away at the same time with the Hōjō rule and the system of
alternate succession.
Such an attempt promised greater success in 1325 than in 1221, as the
power of the Hōjō had now greatly declined, particularly under the
regency of the dissolute Takatoki. Bribery was rife, partiality presided
at the tribunals of justice, and dissatisfaction with the Hōjō rule
prevailed among the _samurai_. A premature plot of Godaigo[1] to
overthrow Kamakura was, however, discovered, and he barely saved his
throne by falsely professing innocence and goodwill. The time soon came
when a prince of the Jimyō-in line should replace Godaigo, who on the
contrary sought to name his own son heir apparent. This project was
peremptorily opposed by Takatoki, who also provoked the emperor in other
matters, until the latter again sought to find means to undo the Hōjō.
The immense military following of Kamakura, however, rendered hopeless
all schemes of open defiance. Under the circumstances the emperor
conceived the idea of having recourse to priestly aid. He placed his
son, Prince Morinaga, in the post of lord abbot of Enryaku-ji, and
himself proceeded to Hieizan and Nara, where he succeeded in winning the
priests and elaborating with them a scheme for the overthrow of the
Hōjō. But this plan also was divulged. In August, 1331, the regent sent
three thousand men to Kyōto with orders to arrest the emperor. Godaigo
had escaped during the night, and taken refuge on Mount Kasagi, where he
mustered his partisans from the neighboring provinces and posted them
for the protection of his temporary residence. The siege did not last
long, for Takatoki raised a Jimyō-in prince to the throne, captured
Godaigo, and exiled the latter and his two sons to distant islands.
[Illustration: NORTHERN JAPAN]
The imperial cause seemed completely lost, but about this time a warrior
destined to become a celebrated hero with the loyal sons of Japan,
Kusunoki Masashige, raised the standard of revolt in Kawachi and
declared in favor of the exiled emperor. He constructed a castle at
Akasaka, and when it was destroyed, retired to Mount Kongō and there
held his ground, subsequently developing sufficient strength to restore
the fortifications at Akasaka. Meanwhile Prince Morinaga raised troops
and fought against the Hōjō at Yoshino in Yamato, and afterward at Kōya
in Kii. The time had now come for the Hōjō to put forth their strength.
In February, 1333, a large army was sent from Kamakura against Kyōto,
but great numbers of fighting men flocked to the imperial standard in
Sanyō and Nankai, and in the following month the exiled emperor escaped
from the Island of Oki and proceeded to Hōki, being supported by Nawa
Nagatoshi, who raised troops in the San-in districts. The provinces of
Hizen and Higo were also on the emperor's side, as was the powerful Yūki
family of Mutsu. The Hōjō's army which had been dispatched against Kyōto
suffered defeat in several engagements. Takatoki now sent Ashikaga
Takauji to assume charge of the campaign in Kyōto and its neighborhood.
This was a fatal choice. For not only was Takauji closely related to the
Minamoto clan whom the Hōjō had overthrown, but he also viewed with
strong disfavor the oppressive arbitrariness of the latter. No sooner
had he reached Kyōto than he declared for the imperial cause, and, in
concert with other loyalists, attacked and destroyed Rokuhara, the
headquarters of the Hōjō administration in Kyōto. This event occurred in
May, 1333. The imperial forces then reoccupied Kyōto. About this time
Nitta Yoshisada, a renowned member of the Minamoto, laid siege to the
fortress which Kusunoki Masashige had constructed on Mount Kongō,
combining the forces of the Hōjō for the purpose. But Prince Morinaga
opened relations with him, and in obedience to the prince's secret
instructions he pretended illness, retired to his own province of
Kōzuke, and after consultation with his relatives and partisans, raised
the standard of revolt against Kamakura. Events now marched rapidly. All
the blood relatives of the Minamoto family in Echigo and Shinano came
together, and marching against Kamakura in great numbers, demolished or
burned all the offices and public buildings there. The Regent Takatoki,
together with all the members of his family, committed suicide, and the
rule of the Hōjō came to an end.
A month later the exiled emperor reëntered Kyōto in state and resumed
the reins of government. The eastern provinces, some of which were still
loyal to the memory of the Hōjō, were also greatly reduced. No sooner
was, however, the imperial prestige assured, than difficulties arose
which might long have been expected. The restoration had been effected
by warriors of feudal tenure, whose merits had to be rewarded, and whose
ambitions were hardly compatible with a centralized civil administration
such as would naturally follow the return of the imperial government. At
this juncture the emperor's conduct was not calculated to perpetuate his
success. The estates of the late Hōjō which he had confiscated were
rather indiscriminately parceled among his personal favorites, so that
when the case of the warriors who had rendered real service to his cause
had to be considered, there was little left with which to reward their
merits. Also, private soldiers and landlords of the provinces flocked to
Kyōto to obtain confirmed possession of their holdings or additional
grants for the service they claimed to have done to the sovereign. Under
these circumstances it was inevitable that discontent and disappointment
should be keenly felt in many quarters, and men's minds should once more
turn from an artificial reign of peace to a period of unrest and
plunder. Nor was a leader of exceptional ability lacking to take
advantage of this state of affairs.
Of the two great soldiers of noble descent, Nitta Yoshisada was
comparatively little known, owing to the fact that his ancestor, being
on bad terms with Yoritomo, had lived in retirement at Nitta in Kōzuke.
The other, Ashikaga Takauji, who was, like Yoshisada, of the historic
clan of Minamoto, was well known otherwise for the marriage relations of
his ancestors with the Hōjō. By nature winning and brilliant, he enjoyed
both influence and popularity. The emperor himself was highly pleased by
Takauji's achievements, for which he conferred on him rewards such as no
one else received, and authorized him, among other things, to use for
the first part of his name one of the ideograms in the name of the
sovereign himself, which was likewise pronounced "Taka." Nothing,
however, arouses the indignation of the nation of the present day more
than the story of the way in which Takauji attracted the emperor and
warriors to his side for selfish interests, and wrought the ruin of one
after another of all the truly upright and loyal persons of the day. The
first victim of Takauji's growing ambition was Prince Morinaga, who had
already doubted the sincerity of his motives. Takauji so prevailed upon
the emperor as to cause the prince to be arrested and confined in
Kamakura, where he was later assassinated. When the remaining partisans
of the Hōjō assembled in Shinano and marched against Kamakura, and
Tadayoshi, Takauji's brother, finding himself unable to defend it,
retreated to Mikawa, Takauji at once affected a union with Tadayoshi,
destroyed the Hōjō partisans, reoccupied Kamakura, and bestowed rewards
lavishly on the captains and warriors who had aided him. Now he threw
away the mask. Established on the vantage ground of Kamakura, he called
himself shōgun, and under pretense of subduing Nitta Yoshisada, sent
orders throughout the provinces directing that troops should be raised.
The emperor, whose eyes were at last opened, appointed Prince Takanaga
to the chief command of a large army against Takauji, with Nitta
Yoshisada as chief of staff, and at the same time instructed Kitabatake
of Mutsu to attack Takauji's rear. So began the dramatic campaign, the
incidents of which still appeal to the hearts of the Japanese people.
In November, 1335, Yoshisada encountered the forces of Takauji in Suruga
and Mikawa, and defeated them in successive engagements; but Takauji,
and Tadayoshi subsequently, established themselves at strong positions
in the Hakone district, and Yoshisada's army attempting to dislodge
them, suffered a signal defeat and was driven westward. This event
determined the various provincial magnates whose position had been
undefined to declare for Takauji, and the Ashikaga chief found himself
strong enough, in the following year, to pursue Yoshisada and push on to
Kyōto itself, where in the face of a stout resistance he gained the
victory. The emperor retreated to the temple Enryaku-ji. Meanwhile,
Kitabatake Akiiye, with an army under the command of Prince Yoshinaga,
followed Takauji to Kyōto, and having effected a junction with the
forces of Nitta Yoshisada and Kusunoki Masashige, succeeded in defeating
the Ashikaga chief. Shortly afterward Takauji sustained another severe
defeat in Hyōgo, and was compelled to retreat precipitately westward,
the imperialists once more occupying Kyōto.
Under these reverses, Takauji revealed the remarkable resourcefulness of
his nature. The restoration of imperial authority by Godaigo had
resulted in completely thrusting the princes of the Jimyō-in line into
the background. Takauji descried an opportunity in this circumstance.
Addressing himself to the dethroned Emperor Kōgon, he obtained a mandate
to raise an army. With remarkable energy he got together troops from all
parts of the empire and once more renewed the contest, defeating
Kikuchi, Aso, Akitsuki, and other supporters of the Daikaku-ji princes
at Tadaranohama. Stationing a trusted general in Kiushū, with
instructions to bring the provinces in that quarter under control, he
himself advanced eastward by land and by sea at the head of large forces
raised in the west. Yoshisada and Masahige made a desperate stand in
Hyōgo against the Ashikaga army, but were defeated. It was then that the
pathetic end of Masashige occurred at Minatogawa. He had always been a
steadfast and unassuming servant of the emperor, ever since he rose from
his retired residence at Kawachi to champion the imperial cause against
the Hōjō. How with a handful of soldiers he had defended his castle upon
Mount Kongō, and how his example had inspired other warriors in the land
to take a stand with the emperor, is a story that the Japanese school
children love to tell. To him more than to any other one person had been
due the restoration of imperial rule. But his wise counsels were no
longer followed when selfish ambition began to divide the sovereign's
supporters. Yet Masashige did not complain. Seeing in the last campaign
that his end had come, he dissuaded his son Masatsura from following him
in the battle and exhorted him to grow up to gather the remnants of his
followers and to die for the emperor's cause. He himself gallantly fell
in battle. After his death the imperial cause, which had already begun
to wane, could never again master the situation.
Takauji, who had occupied Kyōto, enthroned there a Jimyō-in prince as
the Emperor Kōmyō, and established his shōgunate at Muromachi in the
capital. The Emperor Godaigo shortly after repaired to Yoshino, about
fifty miles south of Kyōto. For fifty-seven years subsequent to this
event (1336-1393) two emperors reigned simultaneously, one at Kyōto and
the other at Yoshino. The former was of the Jimyō-in line and the latter
of the Daikaku-in line, now known respectively as the Northern and
Southern dynasties (_hoku-chō_ and _nan-chō_).[2] It was a period of
perpetual conflict between the supporters of the two imperial houses.
Among the partisans of the Southern dynasty the most puissant and
popular were Nitta Yoshisada and Kitabatake Akiiye, of whom the former
had his headquarters in Echizen, where he guarded the heir-apparent of
the South, while the latter, under the auspices of Prince Yoshinaga,
held Mutsu under control. Soon, however, the armies of Ashikaga overran
Echizen, and Yoshisada fell in battle. This was followed by the death of
the Southern emperor, Godaigo (1339), who on his deathbed summoned all
the imperial princes to his side, and laid upon them his earnest
injunctions never to rest until the imperial power had been restored. He
was succeeded by Prince Yoshinaga, who ascended the throne as
Gomurakami.
A series of reverses now overtook the imperialists. One after another
their armies were defeated in the provinces, until Kitabatake Chikafusa
alone remained unconquered in Hitachi. But he, too, was soon overpowered
by the shōgun's forces. He effected his escape to Yoshino, and the
emperor issued a summons to the warriors of Chiugoku and Nankai to
reinforce the imperial army in Kiushū. The southern island was thus once
more brought under the imperial sway, and this success encouraged
Chikafusa at Yoshino, who now made one supreme effort. Assembling a
force in Kyōto and its neighborhood, he attempted to reoccupy the city,
and the suddenness of his effort seemed to him a temporary advantage.
But Takauji dispatched large forces to attack the temporary palace at
Yoshino, the defenders of which saw themselves utterly outnumbered.
Kusunoki Masatsura, son of the great Masashige, had hitherto guarded the
palace with stubborn bravery. But now he and his captains bade a final
farewell to the sovereign, and, marching out to encounter the foe,
fought their last battle at Shijōnawate, and fell fighting. After this
victory, the shōgun's army burned the temporary palace at Yoshino, and
the emperor escaped to Anau in Yamato.
Despite all these successes, the shōgun's forces were unable to crush
the defense of the dynasty of the South, as his own armies were often
rent by the disloyalty and mutual jealousy of his immediate followers.
Even his brother Tadayoshi, to whose stout support Takauji's success was
largely due, and his son Yoshiakira, were alienated from him. His
generals and warriors had been attracted to him only from ambition and
selfishness, and now they readily threw off their fealty. Many a
soldier vacillated between the two sovereigns, serving the one who
suited his own interested motives the better.
Takauji died in Kyōto in 1357, and was succeeded by his son, Yoshiakira.
The latter was followed in 1368 by Yoshimitsu. In the meantime, the
prestige of the Southern dynasty had further been impaired, until
finally, in 1393, the Southern sovereign Gokameyama, handed over the
insignia to his Northern rival, Gokomatsu, and the two dynasties being
thus united, Gokomatsu ascended the throne as the hundredth emperor of
Japan.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Reference to the following table will make the genealogical
issues clear:
88. Emperor Gosaga, 1243-1247.
|
JIMYŌ-IN LINE. | DAIKAKU-JI LINE.
+---------------------+
| |
89. Emperor Gofukakusa, 1247-1266. 90. Emperor Kameyama, 1266-1276.
| |
92. Emperor Fushimi, 1288-1299. 91. Emperor Gouda, 1276-1288.
| |
+-----------------+ +--------------------+
| | | |
93. Emperor 95. Emperor 94. Emperor 96. Emperor
Gofushimi, Hanazono, Gonijō, Godaigo,
1299-1301. 1308-1319. 1301-1308. 1319-1339.
[2] Table showing genealogy and chronology of the Northern and
Southern dynasties.
DYNASTY OF THE SOUTH.
96. Emperor Godaigo, [1319-] 1336-1339.
|
97. Emperor Gomurakami, 1339-1368.
|
+----------------------------------+
| |
98. Emperor Chōkei, 1368-1370. 99. Emperor Gokameyama, 1370-1393.
DYNASTY OF THE NORTH.
(I. Kōgon, 1332-1336.) II. Kōmyō, 1336-1349.
|
+----------------------------+
| |
III. Sūkō, 1349-1352. IV. Gokōgon, 1352-1372.
|
V. Goenyū, 1372-1383.
|
VI. Gokomatsu, 1383-1393 [-1413].
In the year 1393 A. D. the two dynasties became united in the person of
a single sovereign, Gokomatsu.