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132 centralisation. Though the Mikados were allowed to retain an outward semblance of authority, all real power, civil and military, had passed from their hands; while, on the other hand, the local nobles saw themselves supplanted by officers appointed by the Shōguns and entirely dependent on them.

Yoritomo was succeeded by his two sons, who with their father are known to history as the "Three Shōguns." After them the Hōjō dynasty of Shikken (directors), who were simply Shōguns under a different name, took their place as the rulers of Japan. They remained in power until A.D. 1335.

The rule of a class to whose very existence a practical knowledge of war and warlike accomplishments was vital, and who necessarily neglected, if they did not despise, intellectual culture, was not conducive to the production of important literary works. Nor was this the only unfavourable condition of the time. Intercourse with China and Corea had become much interrupted. The shores of these countries were infested by Japanese pirates, in punishment for whose descents it was that Kublai Khan despatched his famous but abortive expedition against Japan. Chinese learning consequently languished. Buddhism, on the other hand, flourished greatly, as the colossal figure of Buddha (A.D. 1252) at Kamakura testifies to this day. Most of the Mikados, after a few years of reign, became monks, as did also many of the highest personages of their court, though it must be said that the adage "Cucullus non facit monachum" was in their case abundantly exemplified.

The three thousand monasteries which at this time dotted the slopes of Hiyeisan (a mountain north-east of Kiōto) were a very material embodiment of Buddhist