How The Taira And The Minamoto Fought For Power
In the struggle of the great families of Japan for precedence, the lords
of the Fujiwara held the civil power of the realm, while the shoguns, or
generals, were chosen from the Taira and Minamoto clans. Bred to arms,
leading the armies of the empire in many a hard-fought war, making the
camp their home, and loving best the trumpet-blast of battle, they
became hardy and daring warriors, the military caste of Japan. While war
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court, themselves preferring the active labors of the field. Only when
peace prevailed, and there were no enemies to conquer nor rebels to
subdue, did these warriors begin to long for the spoils of place and to
envy the Fujiwara their power.
Chief among those thus moved by ambition was Kiyomori, the greatest of
the Taira leaders. As a boy he possessed a strong frame and showed a
proud spirit, wearing unusually high clogs, which in Japan indicates a
disposition to put on lordly airs. His position as the son of a soldier
soon gave him an opportunity to show his mettle. The seas then swarmed
with pirates, who had become the scourge alike of Corea and of Japan and
were making havoc among the mercantile fleets. The ambitious boy, full
of warlike spirit, demanded, when but eighteen years of age, to be sent
against these ocean pests, and cruised against them in the Suwo Nada, a
part of the Inland Sea. Here he met and fought a shipload of the most
desperate of the buccaneers, capturing their vessel, and then attacking
them in their place of refuge, which he destroyed.
For years afterwards Kiyomori showed the greatest valor by land and sea,
and in 1153, being then thirty-six years of age, he succeeded his father
as minister of justice for Japan. Up to this time the families of the
Taira and the Minamoto had been friendly rivals in the field. Now their
friendship came to an end and was succeeded by bitter enmity. In 1156
there were rival claimants for the throne, one supported by each of
these great families. The Taira party succeeded, got possession of the
palace, and controlled the emperor whom they had raised to the throne.
Kiyomori soon attained the highest power in the realm, and in him the
military caste first rose to pre-eminence. The Fujiwara were deposed,
all the high offices at court were filled by his relatives, and he made
himself the military chief of the empire and the holder of the civil
authority, the mikado being but a creature of his will.
History at this point gives us a glimpse of a curious state of affairs.
Go-Shirawaka, the emperor whom Kiyomori had raised to the throne in
1156, abdicated in 1159, shaved off his hair, and became a Buddhist
monk, professing to retire from the world within the holy cloisters of a
monastery. But nothing was farther from his thoughts. He was a man of
immoral desires, and found his post on the throne a check to the
debaucheries in which he wished to indulge. As a monk he exercised more
power than he had done as a mikado, retaining the control of affairs
during the reigns of his son and his two grandsons. The ranks and titles
of the empire were granted by him with a lavish hand, and their
disposition was controlled by Kiyomori, his powerful confederate, who,
in addition to raising his relatives to power, held himself several of
the highest offices in the realm.
The power of the Taira family increased until sixty men of the clan held
important posts at court, while their lands spread over thirty
provinces. They had splendid palaces in Kioto, the capital, and in
Fukuwara, overlooking the Inland Sea. The two sons of Kiyomori were made
generals of high rank, and his daughter became wife of the emperor
Takakura, a boy eleven years of age. The Taira chief was now at the
summit of power, and his foes in the depths of distress. The Fujiwara,
who had no military power, were unable to contend with him, and his most
dangerous rivals, the Minamoto, were slain or driven into exile.
Yoshitomo, the head of the house, was assassinated by a traitor bribed
by Kiyomori, his oldest son was beheaded, and the others--whom he
thought to be the last of the Minamoto--were either banished or immured
in monasteries. All the reins of power seemed to be in the regent's
grasp.
The story is here diversified by a legend well worth repeating. One of
the Minamoto, Tametomo by name, was an archer of marvellous powers. His
strength was equal to that of fifty ordinary men, and such was the power
of his right arm, which was shorter than his left, that he could draw a
bow which four common archers could not bend, and let fly a shaft five
feet long, with an enormous bolt as its head. This Japanese Hercules was
banished from the court at the instigation of the Taira, the muscles of
his arm were cut, and he was sent in a cage to Idzu.
Escaping from his guards, he fled to one of the smaller islands, and
remained in concealment until his arm had healed. Here the great archer
became governor of the people, and forbade them to pay tribute to the
throne. A fleet of boats was despatched against him, but, standing on
the strand, he sent an arrow hurtling through the timbers of the nearest
vessel and sunk it beneath the waves. Then, shouting defiance to his
foes, he shut himself up in his house, set fire to it, and perished in
the flames. But another legend relates that he fled to the Loochoo
Islands, where he became ruler and founder of their dynasty of kings. On
the Japanese greenback notes is a picture of this mighty archer, who is
shown grasping his bow after sinking the ship.
It was the purpose of Kiyomori to exterminate the family of his foes. In
two instances he was induced to let sons of that family live, a leniency
for which the Taira were to pay bitterly in the end. The story of both
these boys is full of romance. We give one of them here, reserving the
other for a succeeding tale. Yoritomo, the third son of Yoshitomo, was
twelve years of age at the date of his father's defeat and death. During
the retreat the boy was separated from his companions, and fell into the
hands of an officer of the opposite party, who took him as prisoner to
Kioto, the capital. Here the regent sentenced him to death, and the day
for his execution was fixed. Only the tender heart of a woman saved the
life of one who was destined to become the avenger of his father and
friends.
"Would you like to live?" the boy's captor asked him.
"Yes," he replied; "my father and mother are both dead, and who but I
can pray for their happiness in the world to come?"
The feelings of the officer were touched by this reply, and, hoping to
save the boy, he told the story to the step-mother of Kiyomori, who was
a Buddhist nun. The filial piety of the child affected her, and she was
deeply moved when the officer said, "Yoritomo is much like Prince Uma."
Uma had been her favorite son, one loved and lost, and, her mother's
heart stirred to its depths, she sought Kiyomori and begged him to spare
the boy's life. He was obdurate at first, worldly wisdom bidding him to
remove the last scion of his foes, but in the end he yielded to his
mother's prayer and consented to spare the child, condemning him,
however, to distant exile. This softness of heart he was bitterly to
regret.
Yoritomo was banished to the province of Idzu, where he was kept under
close guard by two officers of the Taira. He was advised by a friend to
shave off his hair and become a monk, but a faithful servant who
attended him counselled him to keep his hair and await with a brave
heart what the future might bring forth. The boy was shrewd and
possessed of high self-control. None of the remaining followers of his
father dared communicate with him, and enemies surrounded him, yet he
restrained all display of feeling, was patient under provocation,
capable of great endurance, and so winning in manner that he gained the
esteem even of the enemies of his family.
The story of Yoritomo's courtship and marriage is one of much interest.
Hojo Tokimasa, a noble with royal blood in his veins, had two daughters,
the elder being of noted beauty, the younger lacking in personal charms.
The exiled youth, who wished to ally himself to this powerful house and
was anxious to win the mother's favor in his suit, was prudent enough to
choose the homely girl. He sent her a letter, asking her hand in
marriage, by his servant, but the latter, who had ideas of his own and
preferred the beauty for his master's wife, destroyed the letter and
wrote another to Masago, the elder daughter.
That night the homely sister had a dream. A pigeon seemed to fly to her
with a box of gold in its beak. She told her vision to her sister, whom
it deeply interested, as seeming to be a token of some good fortune
coming.
"I will buy your dream," she said. "Sell it to me, and I will give you
my toilet mirror in exchange. The price I pay is little," she repeated,
using a common Japanese phrase.
The homely sister willingly made the exchange, doubtless preferring a
mirror to a dream. But she had hardly done so when the messenger arrived
with the letter he had prepared. Masago gladly accepted, already being
well inclined towards the handsome youth, but her father had meanwhile
promised her hand to another suitor, and refused to break his word. The
marriage was solemnized. But an understanding had been reached between
the lovers, and early on the wedding-night Masago eloped with the
waiting youth. In vain the husband sought for the fleeing pair. The
father, seemingly angry, aided him in his search, though really glad at
the lovers' flight. He much preferred Yoritomo, though he had been bound
by his word, and in later years he became one of his ablest partisans.
Masago rose to fame in Japanese history, aided in the subsequent triumph
of her spouse, and did much to add to the splendor and dignity of his
court.
During this period Kiyomori was making enemies, and in time became so
insolent and overbearing that a conspiracy was formed for his overthrow.
At the head of this was one of the royal princes, who engaged Yoritomo
in the plot. The young exile sent out agents right and left to rouse the
discontented. Many were won over, but one of them laughed the scheme to
scorn, saying, "For an exile to plot against the Taira is like a mouse
plotting against a cat."
But a conspiracy cannot be killed by a laugh. Yoritomo was soon in the
field at the head of a body of followers. A fierce fight took place in
the mountains, in which the young rebel fought bravely, but was
defeated and forced to flee for his life. Pursuit was sharp, and he
escaped only by hiding in a hollow log. He afterwards reached a temple
and concealed himself in the priests' wardrobe. At length he succeeded
in crossing the Bay of Yedo to Awa, on its northern side. Here he found
friends, sent out agents, and was not long in gathering a new army from
the old friends of the Minamoto and those who hated the tyrant. In a few
months he was at the head of a large and well-drilled force, with many
noted generals in command. The country was fertile and food abundant,
and day by day the army became larger.
But the Taira were not idle. Kiyomori quickly gathered a large army,
which he sent to put down the rebellion, and the hostile forces came
face to face on opposite sides of the Fuji River, the swiftest stream in
Japan. Between them rolled the impetuous flood, which neither party
dared to cross in the face of the foe, the most they could do being to
glare at one another across the stream.
The story goes that one of the Taira men, knowing that the turn of the
tide would favor their enemies, went to the river flats at night and
stirred up the flocks of wild fowl that rested there. What he hoped to
gain by this is not very clear, but it told against his own side, for
the noise of the flocks was thought by the Taira force to be due to a
night attack from their foes, and they fled in a sudden panic.
After this bloodless victory Yoritomo returned to his chosen place of
residence, named Kamakura, where he began to build a city that should
rival the capital in size and importance. A host of builders and
laborers was set at work, the dense thickets were cleared away, and a
new town rapidly sprang up, with streets lined with dwellings and shops,
store-houses of food, imposing temples, and lordly mansions. The anvils
rang merrily as the armorers forged weapons for the troops, merchants
sought the new city with their goods, heavily laden boats flocked into
its harbor, and almost as if by magic a great city, the destined capital
of the shoguns, rose from the fields.
The site of Kamakura had been well chosen. It lay in a valley facing the
open sea, while in the rear rose a semicircle of precipitous hills.
Through these roadways were cut, which might easily be defended against
enemies, while offering free access to friends. The power of the
Minamoto had suddenly grown again, and the Taira saw fronting them an
active and vigorous foe where a year before all had seemed tranquil and
the land their own.
To the proud Kiyomori this was a bitter draught. He fell sick unto
death, and the high officials of the empire gathered round his bed, in
mortal fear lest he to whom they owed their power should be swept away.
With his last breath the vindictive old chief uttered invectives against
his foes.
"My only regret is that I am dying," he said, "and have not yet seen the
head of Yoritomo of the Minamoto. After my decease do not make offerings
to Buddha on my account; do not read the sacred books. Only cut off the
head of Yoritomo of the Minamoto and hang it on my tomb. This is my
sole command: see that it be faithfully performed."
This order was not destined to be carried out. Yoritomo was to die
peacefully, eleven years afterwards, in 1199, with his head safe on his
shoulders. Yet his bedchamber was nightly guarded, lest traitors should
take his life, while war broke out from end to end of the empire.
Kiyomori's last words seemed to have lighted up its flames. Step by step
the forces of Yoritomo advanced. Victory followed their banners, and the
foe went down in death. At length Kioto, the capital of the mikado, was
reached, and fell into their hands. The Taira fled with the young mikado
and his wife, but his brother was proclaimed mikado in his stead, and
all the treasures of the Taira fell into the victors' hands.
Though the power of Yoritomo now seemed assured, he had a rebellion in
his own ranks to meet. His cousin Yoshinaka, the leader of the
conquering army, was so swollen with pride at his success that he forced
the court to grant him the highest military title, imprisoned the old
ex-mikado Go-Shirakawa, who had long been the power behind the throne,
beheaded the Buddhist abbots who had opposed him, and acted with such
rebellious insolence that Yoritomo had to send an army against him. A
battle took place, in which he was defeated and killed.
Yoritomo was now supreme lord of Japan, the mikado, for whom he acted,
being a mere tool in his hands. Yet one great conflict had still to be
fought by the shogun's younger brother, whose romantic story we have
next to tell.
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In the latter half of the fifteenth century Europe had two notable sovereigns, Louis XI. of France and Charles the Bold, or Charles the Rash, of Burgundy; the one famous in history for his intricate policy, the other for his lack of anything that co... Love's Knight-errant
On the 18th of February, 1623, two young men, Tom and John Smith by name, plainly dressed and attended by one companion in the attire of an upper-servant, rode to the ferry at Gravesend, on the Thames. They wore heavy beards, which did not look al... Luther And The Indulgences
Late in the month of April, in the year 1521, an open wagon containing two persons was driven along one of the roads of Germany, the horse being kept at his best pace, while now and then one of the occupants looked back as if in apprehension. This... Lycurgus And The Spartan Laws
Of the many nations between which the small peninsula of Greece was divided, much the most interesting were those whose chief cities were Athens and Sparta. These are the states with whose doings history is full, and without which the history of a... Maceo And The Struggle For Cuban Independence
On the 24th of February, 1895, the people of Havana, the capital of Cuba, were startled by a report that rebels were in the field, a band of twenty-four having appeared in arms at Ybarra, in the province of Matanzas. Other small bands were soon he... Magnus The Good And Harold Hardruler
After the death of King Olaf the Saint, and after the Danes had for some years ruled over Norway, Olaf's son Magnus, who had been left in Russia, was brought to Norway and proclaimed king. The Danes had oppressed the people, and had put over them a ... Manila And Santiago
The record of Spain has not been glorious at sea. She has but one great victory, that of Lepanto, to offer in evidence against a number of great defeats, such as those of the Armada, Cape St. Vincent, and Trafalgar. In 1898 two more defeats, those... Maximilian Of Austria And His Empire In Mexico
It is interesting, in view of the total conquest and submission of the Indians in Mexico, that the final blow for freedom in that country should have been made by an Indian of pure native blood. His name was Benito Juarez, and his struggle for lib... Mazeppa The Cossack Chief
Among the romantic characters of history none have attained higher celebrity than the hero of our present tale, whose remarkable adventure, often told in story, has been made immortal in Lord Byron's famous poem of "Mazeppa." Those who wish to rea... Morgan The Freebooter And The Raid On Panama
During the seventeenth century the Spanish Main was beset with a horde of freebooters or buccaneers, as they called themselves, to whose fierce attacks the treasure-ships bound for Spain were constantly exposed, and who did not hesitate to assail ... Napoleon's Return From Elba
All was quiet in Elba. Nothing was talked of at Porto-Ferrajo but the ball to be given by Pauline, the sister of Napoleon, who had exchanged his imperial dominion over half Europe for kingship over that little Mediterranean island. Evening came. The... Nobunaga And The Fall Of The Buddhists
For more than two centuries the Ashikaga lorded it over Japan, as the Hojo had done before them, and the mikados were tools in their strong hands. Then arose a man who overthrew this powerful clan. This man, Nobunaga by name, was a descendant of Kiy... Olaf Dethrones Odin And Dies A Hero
Earl Haakon was the last heathen king of Norway. Olaf, the new king, was a zealous Christian and was determined to introduce the new faith. And this was done not in the mild and gentle way in which Haakon the Good had attempted it, but with all the ... Olaf The Saint And His Work For Christ
The story of Olaf the Saint, the Norse king who comes next into our view, illustrates the barbarous character of the heathen people with whom we are dealing. Few warriors in those days died in their beds, death coming to them in some more violent fo...