Historical Japan From the map, Japan looks like a long silk scarf, floating on the vast Western Pacific. It is also like a long wall tightly blocking our way to the Pacific. It is this chain of islands together with our Taiwan Province, Philippine Islands, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries that has become a heavy chain for the United States to block the Chinese dragon. It is called the "island chain policy" in history. And Japan is in this policy Play an important role in Japan! Japan consists of Honshu\Kyushu\Shikoku\Hokkaido\Ryukyu Islands and other parts, with a population of over 100 million. The implementation of the political system is a constitutional monarchy with the exclusive responsibility of the prime minister. The supreme head of state is called the emperor, and the emperor implements a hereditary system. Direct male inheritance of the royal family (but the current crown prince in Japan cannot give birth to a son. It seems that Japan will have its first female emperor). Japan’s emperor system was established around the sixth century AD and has been continued to this day. However, the origin of the emperor has been verified by What is forbidden cannot stand the test. Historically, Japan's feelings towards China have gone through a tortuous development process, from admiration to superstition, from worship to awe, from sympathy to contempt, and then to the sinister intention of trying to swallow up the "teacher"! As early as the Tang Dynasty, Japan sent Tang envoys to China to study. It sent 13 batches of Tang envoys. With the civil strife in Japan, there were also many Sino-Japanese frictions. The most famous one was Qi Jiguang's Japanese invasion. The first official Sino-Japanese conflict was the most serious conflict in Japan. It started with the invasion of Goryeo by the famous war maniac Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but this time it ended with our great victory. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols sent flat ships to attack the Japanese mainland three times, but unfortunately they were defeated by the "Japanese Kamikaze" three times. ! It is precisely because of this that Fengshen occupies a special historical position in Japan! Generally speaking, Japan was in a state of fear towards China before the Sino-Japanese War! Compared with China and Japan, China has been leading for a long time! But it was precisely in modern history that Japan produced a great man, Emperor Meiji, who influenced the whole world. He changed Japan and the relationship between China and Japan. He made Japan a rich and powerful country. It was this The small and wealthy countries have brought devastating blows to China and even Asia as a whole. ． ． ． It is also this small country that makes us understand that resistance is more important than anything else, and self-improvement is more urgent than anything else! This small country has done the most harm to the Chinese nation in modern history. From the beginning of the Restoration, it used all its strength to win every benefit like a gambler. In 1894, Emperor Meiji took a gamble of a century. He used the whole country of Japan to win every benefit. He launched the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1898. This time he made a big gamble and won the first pot of gold for a wealthy country. If China lost, we lost the Beiyang Navy, the interests of North Korea, and 200 million taels of silver. We lost our ancestral territory and the last dignity of the Chinese nation! Japan won for the first time, but it would not be the last time. They made a bigger gamble. They defeated Tsarist Russia, annexed North Korea, and seized the interests of the Northeast! Just like this, they have succeeded in gambling again and again. They think they can bankrupt China. However, the Chinese nation has never been afraid of invasion and has always been an unyielding nation. We have told them with our actual actions, I am sorry that your reward code is not available. La. ． ． ． ． You are broke! http://www.newzgjs.org/dispbbs.asp?boardid=23amp;id=1289amp;page=1
Japanese History
Jiku Rebellion
In 1199 (the first year of Shoji), Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, died, and his 18-year-old son Yoriie succeeded him as shogun. The Yori family was skilled in archery and equestrian skills, but lacked the political talent and authority of his father. He acted arbitrarily, favoring his father-in-law and ostracizing the elders of the shogunate, which aroused the dissatisfaction of many imperial family members. Under the auspices of Minamoto Yoritomo's wife Hojo Masako, the Yori family's judicial power was first deprived, and then a consensus system was formed for 13 elders to decide major decisions. In 1200, Hojo Jisei eradicated the Kajiwara family that supported the Yori family, and placed the Yori family under house arrest in 1203. At the same time, he destroyed his father-in-law's family and appointed his younger brother Mitomo as the shogun. He controlled the power of the shogunate in the name of auxiliary general and was called "the executive." right".
Tokimasa killed the Yori family the following year, but due to Masako's opposition, Tokimasa was forced to retire, and his son Hojo Yoshitoshi took control of the shogunate. In 1213, Yoshitoki destroyed Shishibetsuwada Yoshimori and his family, consolidating his position in power. But at this time, Shi Chao was already an adult and actively participated in the affairs of the shogunate. He loved public culture and had a good relationship with the court. In 1219, Minatomo was killed by his nephew Gongxiao on the way to his inauguration as the right minister. Gongxiao was also killed, and the Genji family was extinct. Yoshitoki hoped to make the imperial prince a shogun, but was opposed by Emperor Gotoba, so he had no choice but to make three-year-old Fujiwara Noriyuki, a distant relative of the Minamoto family, a shogun. He continued to control the shogunate. From then on, the general became a mere figurehead.
The internal struggle within the shogunate gave the emperor's court, which was already dissatisfied with the samurai regime, an opportunity to try to restore public power. Emperor Go-Toba, who took office in 1198, actively took measures to strengthen the economic strength of the court and passed the The gift of land attracted samurai from the Kinki region and imperial families who were dissatisfied with the Hojo family. In addition to the "Northern Samurai" organization, a "Western Samurai" organization was also established. The emperor rejected Hojo Yoshitoshi's request to allow the prince to become shogun, and in May 1221, he issued a proclamation to the samurai from various countries to attack Hojo Yoshitomi. It was the third year of Chengjiu, so it was called the "Chengjiu Rebellion". However, there were not many samurai who responded to the imperial court. Under the instigation of Hojo Masako, most of the imperial family regrouped under the shogunate and divided their forces from Kamakura to the east sea, Higashiyama, and Hokuriku to head towards Kyoto. Facing the 190,000-strong shogunate army, the imperial army of more than 10,000 men collapsed at a stroke. In less than a month, the shogunate army defeated the imperial army and occupied Kyoto. The shogunate established a new emperor, exiled three emperors, including Emperor Gotoba, to remote islands, and executed the nobles and samurai who participated in the plan to subjugate the shogunate. The emperor's punishment and the execution of nobles were unprecedented, which had a great impact on the society at that time. The shogunate confiscated 3,000 territories belonging to the nobles and samurai who participated in the rebellion and made them the territories directly under the shogunate's jurisdiction. They appointed imperial family members who had made military exploits in the civil strife as new territories, called "new territories", and decided on new territories. Local salary standards. In addition, the shogunate established the "Rokupora House" in Kyoto, with Hojo Tokifusa, Hojo Yoshitoki's brother, and his son Hojo Taitoki as its chiefs - the "Rokupora Tentai", replacing the previous guardian of Kyoto. In addition to guarding Kyoto and supervising the activities of the imperial family, its responsibilities are also responsible for commanding the imperial family in Western Japan and taking charge of administrative, judicial and other affairs in Western Japan. After the "Chengjiu Rebellion", the imperial court lost the power to own the army. The succession of the throne and court politics were also decided by the shogunate. State power was heavily tilted towards the samurai family.
In 1224, Hojo Yoshitoshi died, and the following year Oe Hiromoto and Hojo Masako also died. Hojo Yasushi, who took power as the shogunate, carried out a series of reforms to address current shortcomings. First of all, the system of arbitrary power was changed. In 1125, the position of "Co-signer" was established, and his uncle Hojo Tokifusa served as this position to assist the power in managing government affairs. At the same time, 11 imperial family members who were proficient in government affairs were appointed to form the "assessment group" , as the highest decision-making body of the shogunate, negotiates with the executive and co-signers to decide on major administrative and judicial matters; secondly, in 1232, the samurai regulations of the "Gosei Shikime" (also known as the "Sadainaga Shime") were formulated , which outlines in simple and easy-to-understand language the rules of administration and justice, as well as the codes of conduct and ethics that warriors should abide by. It requires warriors at all levels to strictly abide by their duties, betray private interests to the public, and not act beyond their authority. State affairs are not about land but greed for land benefits, etc. When Hojo Tokiyori, the grandson of Hojo Taitoki, came to power, he further improved the political system centered on power administration. That is to say, in 1249, a "Yin Fu Zhong" composed of several officials was established, whose duty was to assist the assessors in hearing documents and making judgments. At the same time, Tokiyori eliminated the powerful families of the Hojo clan, concentrated the power of the shogunate in the direct family of Hojo - the "Tokumune", abolished the shoguns from the Fujiwara family, and established royal princes who were completely at the mercy of the shogunate as shoguns.
During the Kamakura period, the phenomenon of samurai becoming lords became more and more obvious. Samurai known as "royal family members" were in charge of the fields, while those "non-royal family members" were usually appointed as village officials to manage the servants, followers, and farmers in agricultural production.
All children of a samurai have the right to inherit. After the family is divided, they will also obey the dispatch of the family to form a large family. The patriarch is called a leader. He leads the family members to fight in wartime and leads his children to Kyoto or Kamakura for guard duty in peacetime. Female samurai members do not participate in military activities, but they can also become local or imperial family members. Marriage is a popular system, but they still use their original surnames after marriage. Samurai lived in the "Samurai Hall" and practiced riding and shooting skills, gradually forming a "military culture" that valued bravery, etiquette, shame, integrity, frugality, etc. Peasants are divided into upper-class farmers "name masters" and lower-class farmers "zuoren". They are the main labor force engaged in agriculture and pay about 30% of the harvest as "annual tribute". In addition, they also have to pay "official duties" for local specialties and provide titles. A corvee for "husband's service". At that time, two-season agriculture, cattle plowing, fertilizers, water trucks, etc. had been popularized, but farmers' lives were still difficult. Therefore, they often led the name owners to resist the oppression and exploitation of the land and lords, and the methods were mostly lawsuits and escapes. Despite this, due to the increase in productivity and the development of cash crops, handicrafts and trade also developed, and regular markets and a monetary economy emerged. A large amount of Song Dynasty money was imported into Japan. By the end of the Kamakura Shogunate, 84% of transactions were using currency. At the same time, usury "borrowing", long-distance exchange and "wenwan" engaged in wholesale appeared.
Tags: The long-lasting chaos in Japanese history
By passer at 2006-06-10 16:39 | History | Leave a comment
The Tale of the Heike is more exciting
Staki left a message in the comments a few days ago and did a small survey about "The Tale of the Heike": As a reader of "The Tale of the Heike", if you want to recommend this novel to everyone, what do you think? Which part is the most exciting and representative of the style of the work?
I just saw it today. I will post it after replying, and anyone who is interested can also tell me. The parts I like are: First, the "Fierce Horse" section, which is the story of Sasaki Shiro Takazuna after he got "raw food". The characters of the Kanto Samurai are portrayed very vividly.
Of course, there is also the Death of Taira Atsumori that I mentioned before. The contrast between the Kanto samurai and the nobles accustomed to palace life is very classic.
In Japan, The Tale of the Heike is usually compared with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. For the first time in the history of Japanese literature, "heroes wearing armor, holding swords, leaping on horses and wielding spears" appeared. It changed the elegant writing of novels during the Heian Dynasty. The characteristic of lingering writing style. In addition to the two paragraphs mentioned above, you can also look at the death of Kiso. Imai received the news that Kiso was dead:
Imai Shiro was fighting fiercely when he heard the cry and said: "The matter is over, I Who else are you fighting for? Look, everyone in the Eastern Kingdom! This is the example of the toughest man in Japan committing suicide!" After saying that, he inserted the tip of the knife into his mouth, fell under the horse, and died through the throat.
Is it very different from The Tale of Genji?
The Tale of the Heike
A Japanese medieval historical war novel. Author unknown. Originally called "Pingqu", also known as "Heike Bipa Song", it is a script sung by a blind artist with the accompaniment of the pipa. There are only 3 volumes. It was later sung and supplemented by storytellers, and collated and modified by some literati. It was initially produced between 1201 and 1221. The 13 volumes of Jinzhuan were formed.
"The Tale of the Taira" mainly tells the story of the Taira family headed by Taira Kiyomori. It can be divided into two parts according to its content. The first six volumes describe the prosperity and arrogance and arrogance of the Taira family; the last seven volumes focus on describing the battle between the two Genpei samurai groups, exaggerating the tragic ending of the Taira family's eventual annihilation. "The Tale of the Heike" revolves around the central clue of the Taira group's rise and fall, and artistically reproduces the decline of the old aristocratic class at the end of the Heian Dynasty, gradually replaced by the emerging samurai class, and the samurai group that rose to the political stage. A historical picture of being assimilated by the nobles and being swallowed up by the powerful local samurai group. Although the author intentionally attributes the demise of the Taira clan to their evil deeds, objectively speaking, it is revealed that "aristocraticization" is the crux of the Taira clan's decline. The greatest artistic achievement of "The Tale of the Heike" is the creation of a heroic figure who is unparalleled in dynasty literature and has a leaping horse and a spear.
The emergence of these images marked the creation of a new tradition in Japanese classical literature that was completely different from dynastic literature, and had a profound impact on later generations of literature.
The Genpei War
The Genpei War, historically known as the "Jisei Shounaga Rebellion", refers to the end of the Heian period in Japan, during the six years from 1180 to 1185, the Minamoto clan and the Heira clan The general name for a series of wars between two major samurai family groups competing for power.
The Genpei War had a significant impact on Japanese history. It shows the gradual rise of the samurai group and the rapid decline of the public officials group. After the end of the Genpei War, Minamoto Yoritomo became the general to conquer the barbarians in 1192, and established a governorship in Kamakura, beginning the Kamakura shogunate period and creating the shogunate government system that lasted for more than 700 years.
The aristocratic demeanor of Minamoto Yoshitsune in "The Man on the Tiger's Tail"
This film, filmed in the same month as Japan's surrender, had a troubled life and only received its premiere in 1952. And when people discuss Akira Kurosawa's films, it is rarely discussed.
My interest in it first originated from Minamoto Yoshitsune. Minamoto Yoshitsune is a figure known as the God of War in Japan. Although Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin and even Nogi Nogi will all be dubbed the God of War in the future, Minamoto Yoshitsune is still the most legendary among them.
Minamoto Yoshitsune lost his father when he was young. Later, he helped his half-brother Minamoto Yoritomo to attack the Taira family. He rushed down the cliff with seven cavalry in Ichinogani, disrupted the Taira family's position from behind, and defeated him in one fell swoop. The numerically superior Taira team. However, those who have achieved great success are met with jealousy: "Unfortunately, it is human nature to be jealous," Kurosawa said at the beginning of the film. After Yoshitsune destroyed the Taira family, Minamoto no Yoritomo was afraid of his ambition to usurp the throne, so he ordered Yoshitsune to be hunted down. The story of stepping on the tiger's tail begins here.
In the film, Yoshitsune seems to be a weak noble son, but this is just a superficial phenomenon. Yoshitsune is short and handsome, but he is a legendary swordsman. In Yoshitsune's wandering life before he met Yoritomo and commanded the army, he met Benkei, the evil monk who made a living by robbing thousands of people at Gojo Bridge. One theory is that Benkei fell in love with Yoshitsune's sword. A more gossipy rumor is that Benkei fell in love with Yoshitsune himself, who was dressed as a woman at the time. In short, after a fierce battle, the powerful Benkei was defeated, and he surrendered to Yoshitsune for the rest of his life.
Is this statement reliable? Can the image of a weak aristocrat and a swordsman master overlap? In particular, there are rumors that Yoshitsune accidentally lost his bow during the final sea battle with the Taira family, and he hurriedly jumped off the boat to salvage it. Afterwards, he said that this was because his bow was very soft, and if his opponent picked it up, he would be laughed at.
These two images are actually not contradictory. In kendo and other weapon fighting, due to the role of weapons, physical qualities such as strength and speed take a back seat, while skills, experience, etc. can determine the outcome. For example, some of the masters of the popular Filipino sword and stick art (kali) are over 90 years old and cannot even walk smoothly. But once he has a knife in his hand, he will easily defeat three or five armed people, which is difficult to achieve in a bare-handed fight. Weapons will effectively amplify technical advantages.
In Stepping on the Tiger's Tail, Minamoto Yoshitsune is treated as an image of an aristocratic prince who will be found to be extraordinary as soon as he shows his face. According to historical records, when he was chased by Minamoto Yoritomo and the group of people came out of the customs in disguise, his aristocratic temperament that could not be concealed aroused the suspicion of the guards. At that time, there were seven of them. Benkei and others were dressed as monks, and Yoshitsune was dressed as a porter. In order to avoid Yoshitsune being discovered, Benkei scolded him and pushed Yoshitsune to the ground and raped him. The soldiers guarding the gate thought that no one dared to attack the master, and the porter could not be Yoshitsune, so they let them go.
However, even a noble son with such a temperament is just the commander of a rude samurai in The Tale of the Heike. The princes of the Taira family are the real nobles who have lived in Kyoto for a long time. The confrontation between the rough Kanto samurai and the Taira nobles accustomed to elegant court life in the Genpei War has always been the most sympathetic part. Its impact on people led to the birth of many romantic genres of literature, which later became the basis of Japanese Noh drama and Kabuki. source of.
The story that best embodies this in The Tale of the Taira family is the story of Taira Atsumori. Ping Dunsheng is versatile, has a good understanding of music, and is good at playing the transverse flute.
On February 6, the two armies of Genpei and Genpei faced each other in Ichinogani. At midnight, Atsumori could not sleep, so he took out his beloved famous flute "Twig" and played a song. It's late at night, the moon is high, the fields are silent, and the elegant flute sound can be heard far away. Not only people in our own formation, but also people in the enemy formation woke up one after another, listened attentively, and were full of praises.
Kumatani Naomi in the Genji Formation is extremely powerful, highly skilled in martial arts, and proficient in music. He listened attentively and applauded: "I don't think there is such an elegant person in the Ping family formation. When the war is about to start, he plays the flute calmly, and the flute sound is clear and moving, without any signs of turbidity and disorder."
In a fierce battle on the second day, Yoshitsune rode his horse from the cliff into the next valley, and the Ping army was defeated. Kumagai Jiro Naomi chased towards the seaside and saw a samurai riding towards the ship in the bay. He rode his horse into the sea and swam five or six miles away. Xiong Gu shouted: "Hey, I see you are a great general. Don't you feel ashamed to run away from the battle? Come back quickly!" He raised his fan to greet him, and the man really turned back. When he was about to reach the shore, Kumagai Jiro jumped on his horse to fight with him, immediately knocked him off his horse, and held him down to cut off his head. When he took off his helmet and looked at it, he turned out to be a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old. He was only the same age as his youngest son. How could he use a sharp knife to do this? So he said: "Who are you? Tell me your name and I can save you." "Who are you?" "I am an ordinary person, Kumagai Jiro, a resident of Musashi Province." "In this case, I don't want to use my name to you." A decent opponent, I don’t need to tell you the name, you can cut off the head and ask, people will recognize him.”
Hearing this, Kumagai Jiro thought: “He is really a great general. Come on, spare him." But when he looked behind him, more than fifty Qiyuan family troops were already following him. Xiong Gu felt pity for the young man and didn't know how to start, so he had no choice but to cry and take the young man's head. At the same time, he took the flute that the man had put in his brocade bag and hung it on his waist.
Later, when he showed the flute to Yoshitsune, everyone shed tears. This young man is sixteen-year-old Ping Dunsheng. Since then, it has been passed down as a tragic folk story and sung everywhere. The famous line in Taira Atsumori's martyrdom dance was Oda Nobunaga's favorite song in the future:
Fifty years on earth are nothing but a small thing compared to the sky. Looking at the world, dreams are like water. You can live your life once, and then you will be destroyed. This is the seed of Bodhi, the feeling of annoyance that fills the heart. If you go to Kyoto right now, if you see the head of Lord Atsheng! Looking at the world, there is no one who is immortal within the sea and the sky.
Minamoto Yoshitsune
Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-May 17, 1189), the son of Minamoto Yoshitomo and Tokiwa. Not long after Yoshitsune was born, his mother Tokiwa took refuge with Taira Kiyomori, the enemy who killed her husband, in order to save her young children.
At the age of 8, Yoshitsune was sent to a temple in Kurama to become a monk, and his name was changed: King Zana. Minamoto Yoshitsune spent his youth in the temple, where he learned the art of war and swordsmanship.
When he became an adult, he changed his name to Minamoto Yoshitsune, also known as Minamoto Kuro Yoshitsune, Magistrate Yoshitsune, and Gosoji Yoshitsune.
Later, under his half-brother Minamoto Yoritomo, he commanded the Minamoto family’s army and became the greatest contributor to the Minamoto-pei war that destroyed the Taira family. Later, a disagreement with Minamoto Yoritomo led to a conflict, and he finally committed suicide at the age of 31.
Shimabara Uprising
In the early days of the Edo shogunate in Japan, farmers and Catholics on the Shimabara Peninsula and Amakusa Island in Kyushu rebelled against the feudal oppression and religious persecution of the shogunate. Also known as Shimabara and Amakusa Uprising. It broke out in 1637 and failed the following year.
Shimabara and Amakusa are the Catholic missionary centers in Japan. The daimyo Amakusa Tanemoto, Konishi Yukinaga and Arima Kenobu who successively owned the place were all Catholics. From 1612 onwards, the Edo shogunate intensified its persecution of Catholics while implementing the policy of seclusion. After Matsukura Shigemasa took control of Shimabara, Naozumi Arima used poisonous tortures such as pouring cold water, roasting, branding, acupuncture, bamboo sawing, and boiling sulfur water to force believers to convert. He also carried out extensive construction projects in his territory. In order to please the shogunate, he took the initiative to bear huge military taxes and supported the construction of Edo Castle, which increased the burden on farmers. After his son, Katsuie Matsukura, took over the throne, he cleverly set up a name and the exploitation was particularly harsh. After 1634, there were successive years of poor harvests, and the farmers were unable to pay the annual tribute and various miscellaneous taxes. Matsukura Katsuie imposed various tortures on the farmers.
The Terasawa clan, the lord of Amakusa Island across the water from Shimabara, also used the same method to persecute farmers and Catholics.
On October 25, 1637, the farmers of Kuchunozu raised the flag of justice for the first time. Nearby villages responded one after another, expelling officials and killing them. Farmers and believers in Amakusa also began to take action. The rebels elected young Masuda Tokisada (also known as Amakusa Shiro) as their leader, and with Catholics such as Masuda Yoshiji, ronin, and samurai as staff, they soon controlled the southern part of the Shimabara Peninsula and most of Amakusa, but they attacked the islands on the peninsula. Hara Castle and Tomioka Castle on Amakusa Island were defeated one after another. In early December, the shogunate ordered Itakura Shigemasa to lead his army to suppress the rebellion. Nearly 40,000 rebels and their families occupied Hara Castle, the ruined city of the Arima clan on the peninsula, and held on to the danger. The stubborn resistance of the rebels caused Itakura's two attacks to fail. During the New Year's Day attack in 1638, Itakura was killed. On January 14, veteran Matsudaira Nobutsuna led his army to Shimabara, besieged the city with 120,000 troops, and used Dutch warships to bombard the city for 14 days. In order to break the siege of the Tokugawa army, the rebels often attacked the enemy at night and took the opportunity to seize food and ammunition. However, due to long-term siege and difficulty in supply, they finally ran out of ammunition and food. On February 27, Matsudaira Nobutsuna launched a general attack, and the city fell on the 28th. More than 10,000 insurgents, men, women, and children, led by Masuda Tokisada, were brutally killed.
The Shimabara Uprising dealt a huge blow to the Edo shogunate. In order to ease the peasants' resistance, Matsukura Katsuie was executed for failure, and the Terazawa family's territory was confiscated. After that, the shogunate strictly implemented the policy of banning religion and promoted the final completion of the seclusion system (see the seclusion order).