Nevertheless, the immortality of Yoshitsuné is secured. Worshiped as a god by the Ainōs, honored and beloved by every Japanese youth as an ideal hero of chivalry, his features pictured on boys' kites, his mien and form represented in household effigies displayed annually at the boys' great festival of flags, glorified in art, song, and story, Yoshitsuné, the hero warrior and martyr, will live in unfading memory so long as the ideals of the warlike Japanese stand unshattered or their traditions are preserved.* *The struggles of the rival houses of Gen and Hei form an inexhaustible mine of incidents to the playwright, author, poet, and artist. I can not resist the temptation of giving one of these in this place. The artist's representation of it adorns many a Japanese house. At the siege of Ichinotani, a famous captain, named Naozané, who fought under the white flag, while in camp one day investing the Taira forces, saw a boat approach the beach fronting the fort. Shortly after, a Taira soldier rode out of the castle-gate into the waves to embark. Naozané saw, by the splendid crimson armor and golden helmet of the rider, that he was a Taira noble. Here was a prize indeed, the capture of which would make the Kuanto captain a general. Naozané thundered out the challenge: "Do my eyes deceive me? Is he a Taira leader; and is he such a coward that he shows his back to the eye of his enemy? Come back and fight!" The rider was indeed a Taira noble, young Atsumori, only sixteen years of age, of high and gentle birth, and had been reared in the palace. Naozané was a bronzed veteran of forty years. Both charged each other on horseback, with swords drawn. After a few passes, Naozané flung away his sword, and, unarmed, rushed to grasp his foe. Not yet to be outdone in gallantry, Atsumori did the same. Both clinched while in the saddle, and fell to the sand, the old campaigner uppermost. He tore off the golden helmet, and, to his amazement, saw the pale, smooth face and noble mien of a noble boy that looked just like his own beloved son of the same age. The father was more than the soldier. The victor trembled with emotion. "How wretched the life of a warrior to have to kill such a lovely boy! How miserable will those parents be who find their darling is in an enemy's hand! Wretched me, that I thought to destroy this life for the sake of reward!" He then resolved to let his enemy go secretly away, and make his escape. At that moment a loud voice shouted angrily, "Naozané is double-hearted: he captures an enemy, and then thinks to let him escape." Thus compelled, Naozané steeled his heart, took up his sword, and cut off Atsumori's head. He carried the bloody trophy to Yoshitsuné, and, while all stood admiring and ready to applaud, Naozané refused all reward, and, to the amazement of his chief and the whole camp, begged leave to resign. Doffing helmet, armor, and sword, he shaved off his hair, and became a disciple of the holy bonze Hōnen, learned the doctrines of Buddha, and, becoming profoundly versed in the sacred lore, he resolved to spend the remnant of his days in a monastery. He set out for the Kuantō, riding with his face to the tail of the animal, but in the direction of paradise. Some one asked him why he rode thus. He replied, "In the Clear Land, perchance they're me reputing Because I turn my back, refusing Fame, once so dear." XV. THE GLORY AND THE FALL OF THE HŌJŌ FAMILY. THOUGH there may be some slight justification of Yoritomo's setting up a dual system of government to control and check the intrigues of courtiers at Kiōto, yet at best it was a usurpation of the power belonging only to the mikado. The creation of a duarchy was the swift and sure result of Japan having no foreign enemies. So long as the peace or existence of the empire was threatened by the savages on the frontier, or by invading fleets on the sea-coast, there was an impelling cause to bind together the throne and people; but when the barbarians were tranquilized, China and Corea gave no signs of war; and especially when the nobility were divided into the civil and military classes, and the mikado was no longer a man of physical and mental vigor, a division of the governing power naturally arose. From the opening of the thirteenth century, the course of Japanese history flows in two streams. There were now two capitals, Kiōto and Kamakura, and two centres of authority: one, the lawful but overawed emperor and the imperial court; the other, the military vassal, and a government based on the power of arms. It must never be forgotten, however, that the fountain of authority was in Kioto, the ultimate seat of power in the ancient constitution. Throughout the centuries the prestige of the mikado's person never declined. The only conditions under which it was possible for this division of political power to exist was the absence of foreigners from the soil of Japan. So soon as Japan entered into political relations with outside nations, which would naturally seek the real source of power, the duarchy was doomed. When Yoritomo died, all men wondered whether the power would remain at Kamakura, the country rest peaceful, and his successors reign with ability. The Japanese have a proverb conveying a bitter truth, learned from oft-repeated experience, “Taishō ni tané ga nashi” (The general has no child, or, There is no seed to a great man). The spectacle of a great house decaying through the inanity or supineness of sons is constantly repeated in their history. The theme also forms the basis of their standard novels. Yoritomo's sons, not inheriting their father's ability, failed to wield his personal power of administration. From the day of his death, it may be said that the glory of the Minamoto family declined, while that of the Hōjō began. Yet it seemed strange that the proverb should be verified in this Yoritomo had married no ordinary female. His wife, Masago, was a woman of uncommon intellectual ability, who had borne him a son, Yoriiyé. This young man, who was eighteen years old at his father's death, was immediately appointed chief of all the military officers in the empire, and it was expected he would equal his father in military prowess and administrative skill. His mother, Masago, though a shorn nun, who had professed retirement from the world, continued to take a very active part in the government. case. The parental authority and influence in Japan, as in China, is often far greater than that of any other. Not even death or the marriage relation weakens, to any great extent, the hold of a father on a child. With affection on the one hand, and cunning on the other, an unscrupulous father may do what he will. We have seen how the Fujiwara and Taira families controlled court, throne, and emperor, by marrying their daughters to infant or boy mikados. We shall now find the Hōjō dispensing the power at Kamakura by means of a crafty woman willing to minister to her father's rather than to her son's aggrandizement. Hōjō Tokimasa was the father of Masago, wife of Yoritomo. The latter always had great confidence in and respect for the abilities of his father-in-law. At his death, Tokimasa became chief of the council of state. Instead of assisting and training Yoriiyé in government affairs, giving him the benefit of his experience, and thus enabling the son to tread in his father's footsteps, he would not allow Yori iyé to hear cases in person, or to take active share in public business. When the youth plunged into dissipation and idleness, which terminated in a vicious course of life, his mother often reproved him, while Tokimasa, doubtless rejoicing over the fact, pretended to know nothing of the matter. All this time, however, he was filling the of fices of government, not with the Minamoto adherents, but with his own kindred and partisans. Nepotism in Japan is a science; but cursed as the Japanese have been, probably none exceeded in this subtle craft the master, Tokimasa; though Yoriiyé, receiving his fa 1 ther's office, had been appointed Sei-i Tai Shōgun, with the rank juni-i (second division of the second rank), his grandfather still kept the real power. When twenty-two years of age, while he was suffering from sickness-probably the result of his manner of life—his mother and Tokimasa, who instigated her, attempted to compel him to resign his office, and to give the superintendency of the provincial governors to his infant son, and set over the Kuansei, or Western Japan, his younger brother, aged twelve years. This was the old trick of setting up boys and babies on the nominal seat of power, in order that crafty subordinates might rule. Yoriiyé heard of this plan, and resolved to avert its execution. He failed, and, as is usual in such cases, was compelled to shave off his hair, as a sign that his interest in political affairs had ceased. He was exiled to a temple in Idzu. There he was strangled, while in his bath, by the hired assassins sent by Tokimasa. Sanétomo, brother of Yoriiyé, succeeded in office. The boy was but twelve years old, and very unlike his father. He cared nothing for hunting or military exercises. His chief occupation was in playing foot-ball-a very mild game, compared with that played in this country and composing poetry. His time was spent with fair girls and women, of whom he had as many as he wished. All this was in accordance with the desire and plans of the Hōjō family, who meanwhile wielded all power. Sanétomo lived his luxuriant life in the harem, the bath, and the garden, until twenty-eight years old. Meanwhile, Kugiō, the son of Yoriiyé, who had been made a priest, grew up, and had always looked upon Sanétomo, instead of Tokimasa, as his father's murderer. One night as Sanétomo was returning from worship at the famous shrine of Tsurugaōka- the unusual hour of nine having been chosen by the diviners-Kugiō leaped out from behind a staircase, cut off Sanétomo's head, and made off with it, but was himself beheaded by a soldier sent after him. The main line of the Minamoto family was now extinct. Thus, in the very origin and foundation of the line of shōguns, the same fate befell them as in the case of the emperors-the power wielded by an illustrious ancestor, when transferred to descendants, was lost. A nominal ruler sat on the throne, while a wire-puller behind directed every movement. This is the history of every line of shōguns that ruled from the first, in 1196, until the last, in 1868. The usurpation of the Hōjō was a double usurpation. Properly, they were vassals of the shōgun, who was himself a vassal of the mi kado. It must not be supposed that the emperor at Kiōto calmly looked on, caring for none of these things at Kamakura. The meshes of the Minamoto had been woven completely round the imperial authority. Now the Hōjō, like a new spider, was spinning a more fatal thread, sucking from the emperor, as from a helpless fly, the lifeblood of power. The Hōjō family traced their descent from the mikado Kuammu (782-805) through Sadamori, a Taira noble, from whom Tokimasa was the seventh in descent. Their ancestors had settled at Hōjō, in Idzu, whence they took their name. While the Minamoto rose to power, the Hōjō assisted them, and, by intermarriage, the two clans had become closely attached to each other. The names of the twelve rulers, usually reckoned as seven generations, were: Tokimasa, Yoshitoki, Yasutoki, Tsunétoki, Tokiyori, Masatoki, Tokimuné, Sadatoki, Morotoki, Hirotoki, Takatoki, and Moritoki. Of these, the third, fourth, and fifth were the ablest, and most devoted to public business. It was on the strength of their merit and fame that their successors were so long able to hold power. Yasutoki established two councils, the one with legislative and executive, and the other with judicial powers. Both were representative of the wishes of the people. He promulgated sixty regulations in respect to the method of judicature. This judicial record is of great value to the historian; and long afterward, in 1534, an edition of Yasutoki's laws, in one volume, with a commentary, was published. In later times it has been in popular use as a copy-book for children. He also took an oath before the assembly to maintain the same with equity, swearing by the gods of Japan, saying, "We stand as judges of the whole country; if we be partial in our judgments, may the Heavenly Gods punish us." In his private life he was self-abnegative and benevolent, a polite and accomplished scholar, loving the society of the learned. Tsunétoki faithfully executed the laws, and carried out the policy of his predecessor. Tokiyori, before he became regent, traveled, usually in disguise, all over the empire, to examine into the details of local administration, and to pick out able men, so as to put them in office when he should need their services. In his choice he made no distinction of rank. Among the upright men he elevated to the judges' bench was the Awodo, who, for conscientious reasons, never wore silk garments, nor a lacquered scabbard to his sword, nor ever held a bribe in his hand. He was the terror of venal officials, injustice and bribery being known to him as if by sorcery; while every detected |