"A Brief History of Japan" Author: Zhang Hongjie
In the previous section, we talked about the unique influence of primitive heritage on Japan, such as internal marriage, the low status of second sons, and the myriad of surnames. Later, during the Tang Dynasty on the mainland, Japan set off a "comprehensive Tang Dynasty" movement, known as the "Dahua Reform". So, let's start with this topic and see how Japan has achieved leapfrog development.
Dahua reform
For the reform of Dahua, Mr. Zhang Hongjie's evaluation is very interesting, saying that it is a special case in human history, and its uniqueness is reflected in the fact that under the premise of no external force, a country can take the initiative, comprehensively and deeply learn from another country, "reborn", "re-do the country", but in the end what is learned is only scratching the surface.
Why does Mr. Zhang Hongjie comment like this? Let's start with the background of the new era of Dahua reform. This revolution was initiated by the emperor's faction, and the reason why they wanted to learn from China was, to put it bluntly, their envy of the Chinese-style centralized system. Because, although the Imperial Family nominally unified Japan at that time, its power was extremely limited.
At that time, the emperor only had the name of "co-owner" of the Japanese archipelago, and the other wealthy families also had strong political strength and even armed forces. For example, the "Soga clan" has held a position similar to that of the prime minister for generations, and once set up the emperor; The "Nakatomi clan" was in charge of the sacrifice for generations, and the "Monobe clan" firmly controlled the military power in their own hands.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Japan's Prince Shotoku began to take charge of the government. When he learned of the power of the Chinese emperor to "rule the whole world", he was extremely envious, so he sent students to China to study this "advanced" political system in an all-round way. Based on national pride, he also changed the name of the emperor from "the king who rules the world" to "the emperor who rules the world".
When these students returned to Japan, they hit it off with the reformers in the imperial family. They staged a coup d'état to kill the Soga clan and prop up a new emperor to the throne, taking the era name "Taika", which means to promote the full "sinicization" of Japan. Since then, the Taika Reform has been officially launched, and the core goal is to improve the power and status of the emperor through the centralization of power.
On the surface, Japan has spared no effort to fully copy the system and mechanism of the Tang Dynasty. For example, they imitated the Tang Dynasty's "Zhenguan Order" and "Yonghui Order", etc., and compiled and sorted out the first written code in Japanese history, "Omi Order"; They also created a new capital, Pingchengjing, which is equivalent to a miniature version of Chang'an, and even the names of the streets were copied.
And in order to "overtake in corners" and gain a "late-mover advantage", Japan also reformed the financial system of the Tang Dynasty. It is also amazing that these complex systems can be implemented in the vicinity of Kyoto, which shows the great enthusiasm and innovation of the Japanese people in learning.
But whether they copied it across the board or tried to surpass it, the reformers never forgot their core goal, which was to comprehensively strengthen the power of the emperor and elevate his authority. At that time, Japan enacted legislation to declare that the emperor was the "Myojin Imperial State", that is, "the kingdom of the gods of the present world", and the status of the "gods of the present world" was obviously much higher than that of the "Son of Heaven" of Confucianism.
After a series of reforms, Japan seemed to have been a complete success, with unprecedented national unity, supreme authority of the emperor, a thriving economy, a greatly growing population, and a new capital with palaces...... Unfortunately, this picture only lasted for a century, and Japan returned to the old path of feudal secession and the emperor being overthrown.
Why did this reform end in failure? Because Japan only learned the surface of the Sui and Tang civilizations, but did not introduce the most core thing, that is, the imperial examination system that can solve the problem of class mobility. Although Japan also established universities, national studies, and held "tribute examinations", it was turned into a minority game in aristocratic circles from the beginning.
Compared with China, Japan's aristocracy has a long history, and the gap between nobles and commoners is even more significant. The Dahua Reform was also initiated by the aristocracy, who were unwilling to change this "inequality" situation, nor were they willing to build an "equal society" that could break the monopoly of the class and allow the children of the common people to change their fate by studying.
Because there was no mechanism for civilians to enter the office, Dahua finally changed the soup but did not change the medicine, a group of old nobles fell, and the new ones came to power The desire for power continued to breed, and finally entrenched in the aristocratic family of the government. The old retainer Soga clan was ousted, and the new retainer Fujiwara clan soon came to prominence, and the emperor was once again overturned and became an out-and-out puppet.
The emperor and the ministers are overhead and anti-overhead
In view of the tragic history of the Soga dictatorship, the Japanese imperial family once stipulated at the time of the Taika reform that the supreme power would never be allowed to be touched by people outside the imperial family. Therefore, even if the emperor is too ill to take care of things, the power will be handed over to the empress and the crown prince.
So, how did the Fujiwara clan find the opportunity to overthrow the emperor? The first step is to obtain the status of a relative through marriage with the royal family. In 825 A.D., the left minister Fujiwara Fuyuji married his daughter to the crown prince as a concubine, and succeeded in giving birth to a son, Prince Doyasu. The second step is to abolish the establishment and let the prince with Fujiwara blood inherit the throne.
In 842 AD, Fujiwara Ryobo, the son of Fujiwara Fuyutsugu, deposed the crown prince on "trumped-up" charges of rebellion and put his nephew, Prince Michiyasu, on the throne. Fujiwara Ryobo was named "regent", that is, in the name of the minister, the emperor of heaven. After the death of Fujiwara Ryobo, his son Fujiwara Kitsune took charge of the government and received the new name of "Sekihaku".
The word "Guan Bai" first came from the Book of Han, which means "retribution". However, in 887 A.D., the emperor issued an edict: "All things are very detailed, and all officials have been counted, and all of them are related to the minister of the White Imperial Minister, and then they will be played." "That is to say, all matters large and small are reported to the Imperial Minister, Fujiwara Kikyo, and then to the emperor. Since then, the position of "Guan Bai" was born and became the official name of the first minister.
This regency and Sekihaku system lasted for 210 years and did not end until 1068. It was in this year that an emperor without Fujiwara blood ascended to the throne. Perhaps this is the fate of the family, this generation of Fujiwara family ministers have never been able to give birth to daughters, and he was forced to send several adopted daughters into the palace, but he also failed to give birth to a prince.
Therefore, in 1068 AD, Emperor Gosanjo, who did not have the blood of the Fujiwara family, ascended to the throne. Without the ties of family affection, the relationship between the emperor and the Fujiwara family immediately took a turn for the worse. The new emperor ascended the throne at the age of thirty-five, and was in the prime of his life, intellectual, and intelligent, eager to change the unfavorable situation in which the power of the powerful ministers and the decline of the imperial family were weak.
But in the face of the almost golden rule of the regency Sekihaku system, and the entrenched power of the Fujiwara clan, what can Emperor Gojo do? The answer is to take advantage of the loopholes in the system and become the emperor. Because the regent Sekihaku system is in charge of the current emperor, but not the emperor.
So Emperor Gosanjo became emperor for four years, then gave up the throne to his son, Emperor Shirakawa, and became Emperor Taijo himself. Emperor Shirakawa followed his father's example and soon gave way to his eight-year-old son, Emperor Horikawa, and two generations of emperors got rid of the regency system and established a set of administrative institutions called "Yuan Office".
Rather than relying on the traditional aristocratic families, this "court politics" formed political alliances with the emerging samurai forces. During the time of Emperor Shirakawa, there were two families with the most samurai in Japan, the Taira clan and the Genji clan. They are all side branches of the Imperial Family, and they will be relatively close to the Imperial Family.
Emperor Shirakawa managed to gather two samurai regiments into Beijing, and from then on he had an armed force that was loyal to him. As the saying goes, whoever masters the handle of the knife will have the right to speak. After several generations of Emperor Taijo concocted the same method, the power of the court became stronger and stronger, and finally succeeded in suppressing the regent and the Sekibai ministers.
However, the front door drove the wolf, and the back door came to the tiger, and the emperors relied on the samurai group to defeat the old retainer Fujiwara, but the Taira clan and Genji became the new retainers one after another. In 1192 A.D., Minamoto Yorishio established the shogunate with Kamakura as his base camp and fought against the emperor's court, which was known as the "Kamakura Shogunate" in history. Since then, the shogunate period has begun.
Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi
The establishment of the Kamakura shogunate marked the end of the old aristocratic era, and the originally low-status samurai class began to enter the stage of history. The Kamakura shogunate was followed by the Muromachi shogunate and the Edo shogunate, and the entire shogunate period lasted for nearly 700 years, starting in 1192 AD and ending in 1867.
So, what is the difference between the shogunate era and the old aristocratic era? The biggest difference is that the gameplay on the battlefield has changed significantly. In the old aristocratic era, samurai warfare was based on procedure and honor, and each side sent a general to decide the outcome through one-on-one fighting, which was relatively small in scale and low in lethality.
However, in the late Muromachi shogunate, Japan began the "Warring States Period" that lasted for more than a century. At this time, the infantry composed of civilians became the main force on the battlefield, and the war began to become collectivized, large-scale, more cruel, and more unscrupulous. It was against this background that Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi stepped onto the stage of history.
Oda Nobunaga was originally a daimyo of Owari Province, and because of his perverse and deviant behavior since childhood, he also earned the nickname "The Fool of Owari". But the nickname hints at the secret of his later rise: a curiosity rarely seen in conservative Japanese society, and an eclectic style.
It was with this trait that Oda Nobunaga invented the advanced arquebus method of "three-stage strike". You know, arquebus technology was not mature at that time, and the interval between two shots was 20 seconds. Oda Nobunaga divided the arquebus team into three columns, one for filling, one for aiming, and one for firing, shortening the firing interval to 8 seconds.
With this advanced tactic, Oda Nobunaga overwhelmingly routed Takeda Shingen's cavalry. Takeda Shingen was known as the "Kai Tiger" and was one of the few opponents who could compete with Oda Nobunaga at the time. In 1573, Oda Nobunaga invaded Kyoto and succeeded in seizing the central power.
However, only nine years later, Oda Nobunaga was defeated and killed by his subordinates at Honnoji Temple in Kyoto. This mutiny seems to be accidental, but when you think about it, it is inevitable. Because of Oda Nobunaga's deviant practices and cruel and tyrannical character, it has aroused dissatisfaction and backlash from various political forces. A generation of legends ushered in death in the raging war.
After Oda Nobunaga's death, his general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, continued to promote the unification of Japan. Compared with his master, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's life experience is even more legendary. Born at the bottom of society, he was poorly nourished since childhood, he grew thin, withered and ugly, and was ridiculed as a "monkey" and a "bald rat".
Because his father died early, his mother remarried, and his stepfather had a rough temperament and couldn't beat him at every turn, so Toyotomi Hideyoshi ran away from home when he was a teenager and worked as a slave in Owari and other places. Later, he became a servant of the Oda Nobunaga family, and with his military exploits on the battlefield, he was appreciated by his master, and his status leaped to become a daimyo.
Like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was strong, domineering, and conceited. In 1590, he finally completed the unification of Japan. To strengthen the centralization of power, he built Osaka Castle and forced the unreliable daimyo and their families to move there. In addition, he also confiscated folk iron tools to cast the Buddha in order to weaken the resistance of the people.
Of course, from a long-term perspective, Toyotomi Hideyoshi also did something for the benefit of the country and the people. For example, he abolished the checkpoints in various places, built roads in all directions, and unified weights and measures, which objectively contributed to the economic development of the entire Japanese archipelago. In addition, he also took stock of the land area and cracked down on the landlords, giving ordinary people a chance to breathe.
Two years later, the ambitious Toyotomi Hideyoshi, hoping to dominate Asia, brazenly sent troops to Korea, but was met with combined resistance from the Ming Dynasty and Korea. The invincible Toyotomi Hideyoshi was defeated, and he could not bear the blow of this defeat, and finally died suddenly. Only five years later, his family rule was overthrown, and his descendants were killed by his political enemies.
After the overthrow of the Toyotomi family, Tokugawa Ieyasu inaugurated the Edo shogunate period. This was the last shogunate in Japan, after which the West knocked on the door of Japan with its strong ships and cannons, which led to the Meiji Restoration in Japan.