Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/562

542 who died in 835. The abdication of the emperors after short reigns began at this time or a little earlier to be a regular custom; after abdication they would become priests. Among other notable events in Japan, Yezo was invaded and completely subdued about the year 658, the art of brewing saké was invented in 693, and gold was discovered in 749, after which money was coined and came into general use. In 788 a people from the west, supposed to be Mongols, attempted the invasion of Japan, but were driven away, and their army and fleets nearly annihilated by the valor of the natives and the fury of the elements. For three or four centuries the history of the empire may be written in the successive rise to power of individuals of the great families of the nobles, whose names, such as Fujiwara, Taira, Minamoto, and Tachibana, fill the pages of the Japanese annals, and are venerated at the present day. The imperial power began to decay, and the throne finally became the toy of leaders and the prey of contending factions. The real origin of the decline of imperial power is found in the basis of the system of succession. The looseness of the marriage tie produced weakness in the social structure and in the government. The mikado was allowed 12 concubines and one wife, so as to insure offspring; but no law existed defining the constitution of a legal heirship, or the rights of an heir to the throne. The succession did not depend upon birth, but wholly upon the arbitrary will of the sovereign. Every member of the imperial family was, under these circumstances, left free to promote his ambitious designs upon the throne as best he could. The natural consequences of such a rude system of inheritance are obvious, and the pages of Japanese history for nearly four centuries reflect the story of turbulence, intrigue, and bloody strife, as the different clans in turn got possession of the throne; and at one time there were two emperors. From the civil custody of the courtiers, the throne finally became the bauble of the military class, like the throne of imperial Rome. Meanwhile the vassal princes took advantage of the weakness of the imperial government to strengthen their own power, adding to the national confusion. To remedy these evils, the court of the mikado created the office of shogun, or governor generalissimo, and appointed Yoritomo to it. This man, one of the most renowned heroes in Japanese history, was the son of a court noble of the Minamoto family by a peasant woman. After quelling the turbulence of the great vassals, and restoring the authority of the throne, he gradually concentrated in his own hands the real power of the government, without however depriving the mikado of his nominal rank, dignity, and religious supremacy. The office of shogun was made hereditary in the family of Yoritomo, but did not finally remain so. Abnegating official titles and rank, he nevertheless held the fulness of sovereignty. He chose Kamakura, about 35 m. from Yedo, for his capital, and made the court of the first shogunate one of great magnificence and dignity. From this date, 1195, the shogun was regarded as the lord of the land, and the influence and power of the emperor became nominal. The Mongols having invaded China in 1260, and conquered the greater part of it, their leader Kublai Khan sent envoys to Japan in 1268, and again in 1271 and 1273. On their arrival at Kamakura the first envoys were insulted, and those who came later were arrested and put to death. In 1274 an expedition was sent by the Mongol conqueror, which was defeated. In 1281 an immense fleet and army were despatched to Japan, which when off the coast of Chikuzen, were destroyed in a storm and by Japanese valor. From that time Japan has not been molested by invaders. From 1331 to 1392 occurred the civil wars between the factions of the northern emperor and the southern emperor, both of whom claimed the throne. The period from 1336 to 1573 is known as the "epoch of war," and the country was ruled by 13 shoguns of the Ashikaga family. About this time there rose into notice three of the greatest names that adorn the pages of Japanese history; they are Nobunaga, Hidoyoshi, and Iyeyasu. Nobunaga conceived the idea of bringing the whole empire under his sway; and reducing first the weak clans, he gradually overawed the great clans, but was killed by a traitor before he finished his work. Hideyoshi hastened to complete it, and succeeded in bringing the whole empire under his absolute rule. Nobunaga hated the Buddhist priesthood, and persecuted them with sword and fire. Hideyoshi likewise hated them, and both pretended to welcome the Jesuit missionaries, in order to offset them against the Buddhists and diminish their power. Hideyoshi is usually called by the Jesuit fathers Faxiba (correctly Hashiba), a name chosen by himself in a trivial mood, and made up of the first and last halves of two different men's names. He is also called Taiko Sama by foreigners, but this was merely the title of his office, and there have been many taikos. Hideyoshi was not only a great warrior, but a consummate statesman and legislator, and the "laws of Taiko" have been venerated for centuries. Aspiring to conquer the vast empire of China, he sent by the way of Corea in 1592 an army 160,000 strong. Corea submitted, being entirely unprepared, but further advance was stopped by the death of Hideyoshi, and the expedition returned. The country was now distracted by two parties, one led by the adherents of the infant son of Hideyoshi, the other by Tokugawa Iyeyasu. The latter triumphed, and founded the shogunate of Tokugawa, the family which ruled over Japan from 1603 till 1867, during which period the country enjoyed profound peace. He made Yedo, then a small town, his capital, and in a few years it became a great city. Iyeyasu is regarded as