Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 1.djvu/264

 brilliant writers—Sei, Murasaki, Daini no Sammi, Izumi, Koshikibu, and Udaisho—whose names are never to be forgotten so long as Japanese literature exists, not one of these celebrities can be said to have worn the white flower of a virtuous life. In the hands of the Fujiwara nobles women were an essential instrument, since it was by giving a daughter to be the mistress of a sovereign, if not his consort, that the political supremacy of the family was maintained in each generation. A woman might always be required to sacrifice her virtue in the interests of others, and naturally she did not shrink from sacrificing it voluntarily in her own interests. She fought the battle of life with every weapon that nature had given her. Yoritomo, the great Minamoto leader, before he came to power and during his exile in the province of Izu, loved a girl of good family who bore him a son. But her father, fearing Yoritomo's enemies, caused the child to be thrown into a river and married the girl to another man under another name. Yoritomo then paid his addresses to a younger daughter of Hojo Tokimasa, but was loved in turn by the elder daughter, Masa, who ultimately succeeded in winning his affections. By and by Yoritomo showed signs of transferring his heart elsewhere. Masa did not remonstrate with him. She sent a body of soldiers to raid the new love's house and drive her family across the border. Yet this Masa was a very high type of woman. Conspicuous for frugality, keen fore-