hojo soun's 21 articles

Hojo Soun's Twenty-One Articles. The Code of Conduct of the Odawara HojoAuthor(s): Carl SteenstrupSource: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Autumn, 1974), pp. 283-303Published by: Sophia UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2383669 .

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Hojo Soun's Twenty-One Articles

The Code of Conduct of the Odawara Hojo

by CARL STEENSTRUP H 6 7 ~OjO S6UN, alias Ise Nagauji, alias Shinkurb,l 1432-1519, was a self- made daimyo with an unusual career. His origins are obscure. Until he was almost sixty he served others in warlike and diplomatic capacities.

Then in 1491 he began a series of conquests on his own behalf. He pursued his campaigns with outstanding vigor and skill until he was eighty-four. Retiring two years later, in 1518, he left to his son and successor a large and well-governed part of the Kanto plain, plans for further expansion, and a set of maxims for the guidance of his clansmen.

Many warrior leaders of medieval Japan have left instructions to their clans. But Soun's 'Articles' are of particular interest because his life's experience was so long and varied. He was born a generation before the Onin War (1467-77), and he died only some twenty years before the first Europeans reached Japan in 1542. During part of his early career he was probably a ronin; in his middle years he was a trusted retainer of a powerful clan; and he ended as an independent prince. As a ruler, he spanned two of the stages of daimyo development discerned by Professor J. W. Hall.2 He set up as a sengoku daimyj, ousting a member of the traditional warrior aristocracy and establishing, with the aid of disciplined and devoted followers, his own rule in a limited area. But in the expanding territories under his control, he introduced a decent administration, the beginnings of cadastral surveying, army professionalization, and various policies aiming at economic growth. Thus his way of rule came to resemble that of the developed shokuho daimyo3 of the sixteenth century.

The information we have about Saun's background and early career is frag- mentary and conflicting. He may have been born in Kyoto, or in Ise or Bitchu

THE AUTHOR wishes to thank the following scholars for their kind help and enouragement: Kakehi Yasuhiko, Kanai Madoka, Kobayashi Hiroshi, Kozu Haruo, Kumagi Kaisaku, Oka- zaki Susumu, and Tsuiki Mochitaka. Respon- sibility for any errors or mistaken interpretations

is, of course, the author's. 1 it * fr 2 See John W. Hall, 'Foundations of the

Modern Japanese Daimyo', in Journal of Asian Studies, xx, 1960-1, pp. 320-6.

3 *Jf



284 Monumenta Nipponica, XXIX, 3

provinces. His ancestors may have belonged to the Seki4 sub-branch of the Ise branch of the Taira, but we do not know for certain.

Sources do not agree about his birthplace, nor about the name and status of his father. Neither do we definitely know what Soun did in his early years. It seems probable, however, that he lived in Kyoto in his twenties; that he studied Buddhism and the Chinese classics under monks at Daitokuji,5 the main temple of a Rinzai Zen sub-sect of the same name; and that he became a retainer of Ashikaga Yoshimi,6 whom he served until 1468. For some time he was probably a ronin. But his fortunes took a turn for the better when his younger sister became a mistress of the head of the Imagawa clan, Yoshitada,7 and bore him a son, Ujichika,8 the heir presumptive to the headship of the Imagawa clan. In 1476, Yoshitada fell in battle. Ujichika was still a child, and his rights were contested by powerful factions of the Imagawa clan, each supported by neighboring lords who stood to gain from the internal strife among the Imagawa. Soun managed, however, to subdue the contending groups, and vindicated the rights of Ujichika.

Saun was made a castellan and was recognized as the leading retainer of the Imagawa clan. A predictable outcome of this situation in an age when ge-koku- jJ,9 i.e., 'the lower topple the higher', was common, would have been an effort on Soun's part to subvert the Imagawa, and to make himself ruler of their territories. Saun, however, remained loyal to the Imagawa. But his prestige and power increased so much that he could begin to act independently, supported by the Imagawa.

In 1491, he intervened successfully in a sanguinary succession dispute in the neighboring province of Izu, ousted the ruling family, occupied the province, and established a strong military base at the castle of Nirayama.10 He immediately set about to make a model province of his war-ravaged conquests. He confirmed the land titles of the local warriors and peasants, temporarily reduced taxes, abolished illegal exactions by stewards, and permitted no pillaging by his vic- torious troops, whom he even used for relief work in areas stricken by epidemics and famine. Such behavior was regarded as highly unusual at the time. Even more so was the fact that he confiscated only the lands held by the ousted ruler: these he kept as 'directly administered lands',"' the income of which paid for his army and administration. Those who farmed these lands were given special privileges, as were the artisans who plied their trades in Izu. Soun was able to undertake such policies because his men already made up a disciplined army and were not a loosely organized host whom only the prospect of free plunder could entice into temporary obedience. His motives may have been entirely sel-

4IMF

5 -kM t 6 X 4,0, 1439-91. 7 4j11^, 1436-76.

8 4g1I i, 1470?-1526. 9 T L 10 A 11 Daidokoro-ryo 1XIf4 or chokkatsu-ry3 LA$I.



Sounji, Yumoto

Contemporary portrait of Hojo Soun, I432-I5I9



Steenstrup: H`j5 Soun's Twenty-One Articles 285

fish, but his policies benefited the people and resembled those adopted by the rulers of the shokuho daimiates of the sixteenth century.

In 1495, Soun-without provocation and by means of trickery12-made himself master of Odawara Castle and part of the province of Sagami. The clan he ousted was the Omori,13 who were vassals to the Uesugi,$4 the most powerful clan in the Kanto region. The Uesugi were, however, disunited, and did not retaliate efficiently. Soun nurtured the dissensions within the Uesugi with great skill. In 1504, he invaded Musashi province, helping one of the Uesugi factions against the other. A long series of campaigns followed, during which he managed to win most of his battles, foment quarrels among his rivals, and manipulate his allies to serve his own ends.

In 1512, the 80-year-old Soun defeated the influential Miura15 clan and occupied Kamakura. The city was, however, situated in a contested area and difficult to defend. Nirayama in Izu therefore remained the base for his army and his administration, while Ujitsuna,16 his eldest son and designated successor, was put in charge of Odawara. In a series of desperate campaigns (1513, 1514, and 1516) the Miura fought back, supported by one of the Uesugi branches. Soun held out and managed not only to keep the lands he had taken, but also to give them a relatively efficient government, introducing reforms similar to those he had instituted in Izu. In 1518, Soun retired at the age of 86 in favor of Ujitsuna, and died in 1519. His posthumous name was Saunji-den Tengaku S6ZUi.17

Later ages have usually called him Hojo Soun, or merely Soun. His heirs claimed that he was a descendant of the H`jo family who had as shikken'8 been the virtual rulers of Japan from the death of Yoritomo'9 in 1199 until the fall of Kamakura in 1333. This claim was not justified: Soun's ancestors may, as were the 'real' H'jo, have been of Taira stock, but they did not belong to the Hojo line. In order to distinguish Soun's progeny from the 'real' Hojo, Soun and his sons are often called the 'Later Hojo' or the 'Odawara Hoj`'.20 Their dynastic philosophy was to establish a Kanto state ruled by scions of the Taira surpassing in martial virtues even the Minamoto clan in its prime and, certainly, the then declining Ashikaga shoguns, who were descendants of the Minamoto. The age believed that Minamoto and Taira ascendancy went by turns, and the Odawara Hojo perceived a parallel between the vindication of the Taira name achieved by the shikken and their own 'Taira' rule over the Kanto.21

As a man and a politician Soun has been judged a Machiavellian rogue by those who emphasized that all his campaigns were unprovoked wars of planned

12 See the commentary on Article XIV. 13 iA

14 _1%: 15 = "

16 it 17 JR,:TA

18 U,S1, regent of a shogun. 19 ) A 20 4ktf, 21 S6un's son and successor Ujitsuna used

the names 'Taira' and 'Hoj6' in architectural inscriptions.



286 Monumenta Nfipponica, XXIX, 3

aggression, and regarded as a great statesman by those who primarily considered his forward-looking internal policies; both views are probably true, but comple- mentary to each other. As a historical figure, Soun unquestionably occupies an important place. The start of his campaigns in 1491 ushers in the heyday of the sengoku warlords. As founder of the Odawara H`jo dynasty, the 'Hojo Godai',22 Soun is also important, for the Kanto provinces ruled by these H`jo became a well defended, efficiently administered, and militarily strong state; it comprised the largest arable plain in Japan and was provided with good natural defenses and harbors for fishing and shipping.23

Soun's eldest son Ujitsuna ruled from 1519 to 1541. He brought more of the Kanto under Hojo rule, and made Odawara the commercial and intellectual capital of the plain. His son and successor Ujiyasu24 ruled from 1541 to 1571. Under him, the 'later Hojo' reached the peak of their power. Not only was Ujiyasu a gifted strategist who conquered the rest of the Kanto for his clan; he also developed the territory into a full-blown shokuho daimiate through economic and administrative reforms. In addition, he was a poet and a great patron of learning. The last two H'jo rulers, Ujiyasu's son Ujimasa25 and the latter's son Ujinao,26 managed to defend Kanto against hostile neighbors, but were vanquished by Hideyoshi and Jeyasu in 1590. The campaign ended with the siege and fall of Odawara Castle, the enforced suicides of Ujimasa and his younger brother Ujiteru,27 and the exile of Ujinao, whose life was spared only because he was married to a daughter of Ieyasu. He was given a small fief at Sayama in Kawachi province, not far from present Osaka. When he died, Ujinori,28 a younger brother of Ujimasa, was allowed to succeed to the Sayama fief. Ujinori had labored in vain for an understanding between the Hojo and the unifying forces under Hideyoshi and Jeyasu.

Thus fell the H'jo of Odawara. But their former territory continued to be of prime importance. Soon after the conquest, Hideyoshi ordered his junior ally, Ieyasu, to exchange his native Mikawa and the other provinces he held for the newly conquered Kanto area. Hideyoshi may have intended to weaken Ieyasu, who had built up a strong position in the provinces he then held. However, the transfer of Ieyasu's 40,000 men plus dependents-an impressive logistic feat, the anniversary of which was always celebrated by the Tokugawa-proceeded rapid- ly and without mishap, and the ultimate result was a considerable strengthening of Ieyasu's military and financial position. The territory he moved into was at least as well developed and well governed as the former, its productive capacity was larger, and he became the master of the Kanto warriors, who were known

22 jtWa- 23 There is still a quarter called Tojin-machi

)A , or 'Chinatown', in Odawara, for Ming traders called at the port of Odawara. While Odawara flourished, Kamakura declined, and Edo was still a small fortress surrounded by a

fishermen's village. 24 i r 25 O, ruled 1571-82. 26 A, ruled 1582-90. 27 08 1540?-90. 28 , 1545?-1600.



Steenstrup: H`jo Soun's Twenty-One Articles 287

for their soldierly qualities. He enlisted some of the Hojo vassals into his own army; for his capital, he chose Edo, an outlying stronghold of the Hojo, and around Edo he placed, in concentric rings, his own lands and those of his hereditary vassals.29 Summing up, one might say that the organization of the 'Kanto regional state' was the enduring feat of Soun and his sons, and that the territory and the people of this state after 1590 became the nucleus of Tokugawa Japan.

The standards for the political and private behavior of the rulers and the retainers of the 'later HEjW' were laid down by Soun the founder in twenty-one 'Articles'.30 No contemporary manuscript exists, but there appears to be little reason to doubt that Soun either wrote them himself, or that his third son, the warrior-poet Nagatsuna, or Gen'an,3l compiled them from Saun's own utterances. When exactly the Articles were first written down is not known, but it was probably during the first two decades of the sixteenth century. The Articles were intended as guidance for the clan, but, like other works of the same kind, they were soon used by all classes in the territory ruled by the clan, both for instruction in ethics and as material for writing practice. There are several lines of transmission of the text, but the differences are slight. This is probably because the Articles were used as a school text; many knew them by heart, and garbled copying would be frowned upon.

The Articles come in the order of the daily routine of those for whose instruction they were written. As regards their contents, the text is no 'Mirror for Kings', but applicable to any warrior. As for style, there are no learned pedantries, and the few quotations used are there to make a point, not to show off the author's erudition. The text goes deeply into detail when it treats of subjects likely to be neglected, however trifling, whereas matters supposed to be known and understood by all concerned are treated perfunctorily, irrespective of their importance. The Articles were not a literary performance but a pedagogical one, and so balance was sacrificed for instructional efficiency.

In the following translation of the Articles I have used the text given in the critical edition by Sato Shin'ichi, Ikeuchi Yoshisuke, and Momose Kesao in Chasei Hosei Shiryo-shu, vol. 3: 'Buke Kahj', part I.32 My own commentary appears in italics. For the above brief introduction, and when translating obsolete words or difficult passages, I have relied on information found in works by Kakehi Yasuhiko, Watsuji Tetsuro, Tsuji Zennosuke, Sugiyama Hiroshi, Johannes Barth, Ishii Susumu, and Tsuiki Mochitaka.33 The last-mentioned scholar is a

29 Conrad T. Totman, Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu 1600-1843, Harvard U. P., 1967, pp. 19, 27, 29 & 53.

30

31 , , 1493-1589. 32

Wffi, %~t, RggtI, Iwanami, 1969, pp. 345-50.

33 Chiisei Buke Iakun no Kenkyii tE-ff

A**i1I?'O)l , Kazama Shob6, 1967; foLt %1, N>ihon Rinri Shiso-shi B$ SS,Iwa- nami, 1971, vol. ii; t?#t*, Nihon Bunka-shi E 2Ltk, Shunjfi-sha, 1970, vol. Iv; bt', Nihon no Rekishi E*O , Chfuo Koronsha, 1971 , Sengoku Daimyj R IT AkM; Johannes Barth, Kamakura-Romantik und Tragddie einer mittel- alterlichen Stadt, Supplementband xxx der Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft furr*



288 Monumenta Nifpponica, XXIX, 3

descendant of a family belonging to S6un's clan, and is the prime mover of the Go-Hojo-uji KenkyiIkai34 in Odawara. A valuable source for the whole period of the 'later H`jo' is the Hojo Godaiki, or 'Record of the Five Reigns of the [later] Hojo'.35 The standard Western work on Muromachi institutions is now Margarete von Eucken-Addenhausen's survey.36

* Natur- und Vo1kerkunde Ostasiens, Tokyo, 1969-70, 2 vols.; F -#it et al., Chuisei Seiji- Shakai Shliso tA -t 6 M, 1, I ,Jwanami, 1972; A*I-fg, Hoij S&un Suj&-kU i i, Kyodo-bunka Kenkyu-jo, Odawara, 1971.

34 35 l IiR,J, available in Kondo Kappanjo

Z.i MAM, ed., Kaitei Shiseki Shu7ran e--Tk*A A, 1900, v; see pp. 90-1 & 105-6.

36 'Die Wandlung der Sozialen Struktur des Ritterstandes in der Muromachi-Zeit', in Oriens Extremus, 1967; see in particular pp. 116-24, 200 & 207-14.



Twenty-One Articles by Lord Soun

First of all, you shall believe in the Buddha(s) and the Gods.37

It was customary to open a set of clan rules with a general exhortation to piety. Its inclusion does not indicate that the author was particularly pious. But the troubled times and the general insecurity of life had brought about an upsurge of Buddhist faith, particularly in the form of Zen, among the warriors. Soun's own religious views are developed in Article V.

II

In the morning, you shall always rise early. If you get up late, even the servants will become negligent, and you will not be able to get proper service from them; you will certainly come to neglect your public and private affairs, and, without fail, in the end you will lose your lord's favor. Think carefully about this!

III

In the evening, go to sleep before the fifth watch [i.e., before 8.00 P.M.].

Night burglars always sneak in at the hours of the Rat [11.00 P.M.-I.00 A.M.] or of the Ox [1.00-3.00 A.M.]; if you carry on unnecessarily pro- tracted conversation in the evening and go to sleep at the hours of the Rat or the Ox, you will suffer loss through having household property stolen. Do not earn such a reputation [i.e., do not make yourself ridiculous], but save the fuel and lighting materials which you might otherwise wantonly spend in the evening.

Get up at the hour of the Tiger [3.00-5.00 A.M.], wash, worship, dress tidily, and give instructions to your wife,38 children, and retainers con-

37 1TT 38 Saishi %f means 'wife/wives and chil-

dren'. Many warriors had secondary wives in addition to their principal one.



290 Monumenta Nipponica, xXIx, 3

cerning the day's tasks; then begin attending to your duties before the sixth watch [i.e., before 6.00 A.M.]. There is an old proverb, 'Go to sleep in the hour of the Rat, and get up at the hour of the Tiger.' However, this varies from person to person. But, in general, he who gets up at the hour of the Tiger attains profit, but if a man stays in bed until the hours of the Dragon [7.00-9.00 A.M.] or the Serpent [9.00-11.00 A.M.], his attendance on his lord, and his service of the lord, will come to naught. He will also neglect his private affairs; unwittingly, he will squander his days, achieving nothing.

The time expressions are rough approximations only: time was counted in double hours, the length of which varied with the seasons.39

In the passage about 'going to sleep in the hour of the Rat and rising at the hour of the Tiger', there may be a double entendre on Soun's part. Soun claimed to have had a prophetic dream-vouchsafed by the kami Mishima Daimyoejin40-in which he saw a rat (he was born in ayear of the Rat) gnawing at the roots of two tall cryptomerias. Soun's rivals for power in Kanto were the Uesugi clan. They wrote the name of their clan with the characters for 'top' and 'cryptomeria'. As mentioned in the introduction, they were divided into contending factions, two of which41 had survived to fight each other bitterly, to the great benefit of Soun. During the dream the rat had changed into a tiger, and Soun woke up, sure that his house would grow strong enough to destroy the Uesugi. By 1518, the year before he died, he had inflicted severe defeats upon the Uesugi. In order to celebrate the fulfillment of his dream he adopted the tiger as emblem of the government seal of the HJjJ.42

IV

Before you wash yourself in the morning, take a look from the toilet room and view the stables and gardens to the area in front of the gateway. First of all, tell those in charge which places should be cleaned up; next, use the washing water quickly; and, though water is a plentiful com- modity, do not waste quantities of it for mere mouth-rinsing. [Further,] though you are in your own house, remember that it is offensive to other people's ears to hear you loudly clearing your throat in an unrestrained manner. [In short,] get through your morning toilet unobtrusively, 'stooping under Heaven and stepping cautiously on the Earth', as the saying goes.

39 See the table in Meikai Kogo Jiten <gX P*,, Sanseid6, 1971 edition, p. 1234.

40 _lTic ; see Sugiyama, pp. 69-72.

41 Yamanouchi Lb r and C)gigayatsu A 4: Sugiyama, pp. 58 if.

42 See the illustration in Sugiyama, p. 79.



Steenstrup: H'jo Soun's Twenty-One Articles 291

The localities mentioned show that many warriors still lived close to agricultural pursuits. The generation of daimyo after Soun moved their warriors into castle towns, gave them rice stipends instead of fief lands, and alienated them from the farming population.

The reference to 'Heaven and Earth' alludes to a poem in the Book of Songs; orthodox commentators interpret it as an exhortation to circumspect behavior. The words had already long standing as an independent quotation; that they are brought in here does not prove that Soun had actually studied the work.43

V

Worship should be expressed in acts ;44 simply keep your mind upright and gentle, have respect for those above you and pity on those below you, be direct and straightforward in what you do, and look the facts in the face ;45 then you will fulfill the aims of the Buddha(s) and the Gods, and obtain their protection. Indeed, if your state of mind is like this, you will be protected by the divine powers, even though you do not pray; whereas, if your mind is not upright, though you do pray, you will only alienate yourself from the Way of Heaven.46 Consider this!

Soun was affiliated to the Daitokuji sub-sect of the Rinzai sect of Zen. As mentioned in the introduction, he had probably studied Buddhism and the Chinese classics under monks of the Daitokuji, and in his mature years he kept up his friendship with clerics of that temple. But he also showedfavor to the most important rival of the Rinzai, the Soto sect, and had a relative installed as abbot of Shuzenji47 in Izu province; supported by donations from Soun and his successors, the temple soon developed into an important Soto center.

On the whole, Soun's religious policies seem well designed to contribute to the stable government of his territories. As regards his personal beliefs, it appears from the incident related in the note to Article III that he shared the belief of his age inportents;further, we known that some time between 1492 and 1495 he donned a priestly garb, and became a 'lay priest' of the Daitokuji sect.48 Thus he came to wage most of his wars

43 See James Legge, tr., The Chinese Classics, Hongkong, 1960, iv, p. 317; also Kakehi, p. 57, n. 6, for the attribution of this expression in Japan to Prince Sh6toku. For the originally intended meaning of the passage, see Bernhard Karlgren, 'Glosses on the Siao Ya Odes', in Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (Stockholm), xvi, 1944, p. 81.

44 Ogami wo suru koto, mi no okonai nari #A

2t :i 4 - tAVit?. This passage can be interpreted in various ways, but this seems

to fit the context best. 45 Aru wo ba aru to shi, naki wo ba naki to shi,

ari no mama naru kokoro-mochi J56 tIfAi 6 e L, t? If tS C , A 90) At-C 6 * 46 Tends At. See also Tsuda Sokichi 5:EE

= , Bungaku ni Arawaretaru Kokumin-shisd no Kenkyi7 ;SRi,TzA 1 6 QR J.Z I Da , Iwa- nami, 1971, ii, pp. 564 ff.

47 fW 48 S6un was over sixty years old, an age at

which retirement was usual.



292 Monumenta N'fipponica, XXIX, 3

in a semi-ecclesiastical status.49 Probably his beliefs were based on his own thinking and experience rather than on the doctrines of the Buddhist sects; in the present Article, he extols character discipline, disparages the prayer of the Amidists, and is silent regard- ing the meditative practices basic to members of the Zen sects.

In times of relative peace, Buddhism had provided the state with a metaphysical basis for its pretensions, and the individual with figures to whom he could pray for favors. But as the sengoku anarchy deepened, it became clear to the warrior elite that Bauddhas and Gods did not protect the state against dismemberment, or devotees against meaningless destruction. The supernatural powers-whose existence was not doubted- seemed to favor not piety, but strong character; men who knew exactly what they wanted and how to get it; who lived according to a schedule of self-imposed duties; who might be totally ruthless in politics (see Article XIV), but took their obligations toward those they ruled seriously; who recognized their own motives and did not flatter themselves; and who were able to discipline their minds to the extent that they could not only face death calmly, but enjoy every moment of life granted them. Bushi leaders hit upon this 'rock-bottom' ethic during the sengoku period; Soun was thefirst toformulate it; its philosophical superstructure was later provided by Neo-Confucianism.50

VI

As for swords and clothes, you should not try to look splendid when you appear before others. To think that one's plain possessions are a dishonor, and borrow others' [finery], is needless ostentation, and invites ridicule.5'

This is an early piece of sumptuary legislation, but several of the characteristics which such rules were to have in the Tokugawa age are still absent. The injunction is not directed against soft living, but against warriors' coveting splendid outfits. Neither is there any obsession with the maintenance of status differences, nor any diatribe against 'grasping and scheming merchants'. The objects warned against are significantly Japanese: swords and clothes. Since the Kamakura age a cult of the sword had been

49 This was not considered an outrage. The Buddhist and the warrior could be combined in the same person at the same time. See the example of the poet, general, and lay-priest Imagawa Sadayo (Ry6shun) in Kawazoe Sh6ji )1Ui$H_, Imagawa Ryoshun 4-J117T4, Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1969, pp. 74, 172 & 272.

50 See Kakehi Yasuhiko ; & Ozawa Tomio 4'T g, A, ed., Nihon no Rinri-shiso

gg93.s Tosen Shuppan, 1972, pp. 132-4.

51 I have translated this article from a version found in a manuscript discovered in the Kanagawa Prefectural Archives by Pro- fessor Kakehi. This version makes better sense and fits the context better than the text hitherto known (reproduced on pp. 346 & 483 in Sato, Chlsei; see n. 32). In the Kanagawa version, kindly supplied to me by Professor Kakehi, the text runs as follows: 2RvKA: ;A 0) 'A I

--R &Xtt 7DqT, 44 h < C 9 . ikp t iAe 9 It- 6 e < L. tfJ "- ti @ )




prominent. Beautiful clothes had been part of Heian aesthetics, but had spread from court society to the tough scions in the provinces and their retainers.

Soun's thrift-which, as seen in Article IV above, extended even to water-soon became proverbial. A warlord52 of the next generation said in the rules for his army that downright miserliness was unseemly in a warrior, and that Soun was a miser, but added that Soun's motives had made his hoarding laudable, because he had hoarded in order to be able to spend recklessly in war. In such a point of view may lie one of the reasons why the Tokugawa government would have to take such pains to exhort the warriors to thrift, once the respectable purpose for saving-war expense-disappeared under its peaceful rule.

VII

You should do your hair early [as soon as you rise]. I need not tell you that this rule applies when you are to attend on your lord; but even when you must stay at home because you are not well or have urgent business to do, you should do your hair early, for you must not be seen in an ungroomed state by others. Slovenliness also shows that your mind is without firmness; and if you become prone to personal slovenliness, even your servants will imitate you and become untidy. Should a person of your own status unexpectedly come to see you, your flurry to get groomed will be unsightly.

The morning routine of high-ranking retainers of the later Hojo was a complicated affair, because, considering themselves as 'Taira', they still followed certain ancient court fashions. They wore pleated baggv trousers, pulled out their facial hair with tweezers, and even men blackened their teeth. Their hairdo, too, was a particularly complicated version of the samurai topknot.53

VIII

When in attendance, do not immediately approach your lord. First, proceed to the anteroom, salute your colleagues, notice their dress and arrange your own exterior accordingly. Only then is it right to appear before your lord; if you do not do this, you will get into embarrassing situations.

52 Asakura S6teki tA *Ui; see Sugiyama, p. 201.

53 Hojo Godaiki, pp. 105-6; A. Gonthier,

Histoire des Institutions Japonaises, Brussels, 1956, pp. 177-9.



294 Monumenta Nipponica, XXIX, 3

Ix

If your lord says something to you, show respect [i.e., bow], even though you are still far away from him. First of all, answer 'Yes, Sir,'54 quickly; approach him on your knees, then receive his order respectfully and withdraw quickly. Next, carry out the lord's business and report to him truthfully; in this report, do not be boastful. You should also, according to the nature of the business, ask for the confidential advice of experienced men about how to frame your report, for you should not deal with such matters unaided.

This article emphasizes politeness, deference, and honesty toward the lord, whereas the underlying obligation of 'loyalty'55 is taken for granted, and only covered by the general exhortation in Article XXI to comply with the warrior's code of behavior.56

The precept on asking experienced men for advice when one has to write letters or reports is found in similar instructions already in the Kamakura age.57

x

When in attendance,58 do not mingle with gossips and keep clear of them. Even more, remember that if you yourself tell tales or smile falsely [i.e., gossip], you will lose the favor not only of your superiors, but also of your thoughtful equals.

Slander and gossip were much feared. Asakawa Kanichi has noticed that so many medieval documents deal with the baleful efects of tale-telling.59 The reason why such practice was particularly pernicious may have been that nobody ever told the victim about the tales so that he couldpublicly deny the allegations against him. For to tell him would be to tell a person something unpleasant-which was, and still is, the height of bad form.

54 Mazu wa hayaku at'to gohenji wo moshi cAi [

55 Chi 56 Bun-bu-kyi-ba no michi )A e A 6) 57 See my article, 'Hoj6 Shigetoki's Letter

of Instruction to His Son Nagatoki-A Guide to Success in Thirteenth Century Japan', in Acta Orientalia, Copenhagen, xxxvi, 1974, Articles 2 & 11. Original text in Kakehi, pp. 15 & 23.

58 Omedori nite MO A i ) :- ; possibly the text originally said, OtJri nite *pi. ) [ -., 'in the corridors of the lord's house'. Manuscripts differ on this point: Chuisei Hosei Shiryo ShM, p. 347, n. 10. But the general idea remains the same: Do not mingle with story-tellers.

59 Kanichi Asakawa, ed., The Documents of Iriki, 2nd ed., Tokyo, 1955, documents 127D, 132, 136B, 137, 142 & 145.



Steenstrup: Hojo Soun's Twenty-One Articles 295

XI

In the presence of a large company, it is advisable to keep in the background; let the others advance! 60

I owe this interpretation to Professor Kakehi. Tsuiki Mochitaka-likewise in personal communication-preferred, 'Do not meddle in too many matters; it is wise sometimes to let things take their course.' Both interpretations come to the same basic idea: 'Curb youryouthful exuberance-keep out of trouble, don't meddle, quarrel, or makeyourself conspicuous.'

XII

If you have a little leisure, read books. But hide your reading matter in your breast-fold; in general, you should not let people see you read. But whether in bed or up and about [i.e., in every free moment], you must always practice writing; otherwise, you will forget how to read and write characters.

Soun's preferred reading was works on military science, poetry, and, above all, history; he particularly studied Taiheiki and Azuma Kagami. This reading matter does not indicate an antiquarian interest on his part, for the facts contained in these books were relevant to him because he patterned himself on the 'real' Hojo. Later, Tokugawa Ieyasu studied-and saw to the publication of-Azuma Kagami, for he wanted to emulate the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, Minamoto roritomo.

Soun recommends writing characters in every free moment not only out of concern for literacy, but also as part of mental discipline, for he thought that idling was bad in itself He warns against parading ones reading matter in public probably because it was still considered bad form for a Kanto warrior to appear bookish. Such a man might be thought soft by some, particularly those who could not read, and others might resent that he had leisure for such activities, or even think, 'This is the effeminacy one might expect from a warrior aping the Taira.'

XIII

When you pay your respects to senior retainers, you should stoop slightly, and your hand should touch the floor as you pass by. It is out of the

60 Amata majiwarite koto nakare to iu koto ari, nanigoto mo hito ni makasubeki koto nari t: 1I

9 C S z f J g I iq* tk I --a

Si it. Some texts have tI after ; the last :4: is missing in several manuscripts.



296 Monumenta N'ipponica, XXIX, 3

question to stalk upright and noisily past them, for it is the duty of every warrior to be polite.

XIV

You must not tell the slightest falsehood to any rank and the common people. On every occasion, be truthful; if you tell lies, others will do the same to you and will come to shun you. And when they catch you in a lie, you will realize that you are disgraced for life.

Soun here goes beyond the 'sincerity of purpose' which he advocated in Article V, and demands verbal veracity in its Western and Chinese sense. Soun may have had good personal reasons for doing so. In the Kamakura age lords could rely on the life-long and devoted service of their retainers, retainers on the benevolence qf their lords, and the whole ruling class on the traditional docility of the peasants. But things were somewhat different in the Ashikaga age. Retainers had now a customary right to give notice to terminate their promise of allegiance;61 lords tried to drag their retainers into perilous military undertakings against other lords; and peasants often rose in arms against their oppressors. Soun had built up his band offollowers and his state from scratch. He had to enter into many deals during this process, and he seems to have fulfilled these scrupulously. This proved to be a wise policy, for even people who were able to quit his service supported him in adversity.

The principle of honesty, however, did not apply to exterior policies. Outside rulers were, fundamentally, enemies. No trace of international law prevailed between sengoku warlords, and Soun probably did not see any contradiction between the principles he advocated in this Article, and the way in which he acted in politics. He took Odawara Castle, 1495, from a man whom he had befriended, asking permission to enter the neighborhoodfor deer-hunting, and turning the hunting party into an assault party. He played underhand tricks on allies who had become burdens rather than assets to him. And peace was to him-treaty or no treaty-simply a period in which to prepare for the next war of aggression. But in this respect the sengoku period was ruthless, even by modern standards. In the Tokugawa era, however, when the conditions of 'bellum omnium contra omnes' and its corresponding mentality had been to some extent forgotten, Soun had a worse reputation than almost any other sengoku daimyo. This was not least because his Articles had glossed his political actions with high moral principles. Objectively, however, he had probably spread more order and less disaster than had other warlords of his era.

61 F. Joiuon des Longrais, L'Est et l'Ouest, Tokyo, 1958, p. 151.




xv

It is boorish and vile to have no poetic sensibility or skill,62 and you should study the art of poetry. But be just as careful in the choice of words in an ordinary conversation, for a man's mind can become apparent from only one of his words.

The accomplishment here required is kada, i.e., ability not only to appreciate, but also to compose waka. A very popular variation of waka writing in Soun's time was the production of renga, or linked verse. Famous renga experts toured IKanto, and renga parties were held in the castles. But to be adept at renga one had to be adept at waka; for the cultured warrior, waka was the poetic art. Soun was able to turn out both elegant and deep waka. The ability seems to have run in the family, for Gen'an was famous as a poet, and Ujiyasu was not only a patron of the art, but a talent in his own right. The most famous of Soun's waka is the poem he composed on the autumn day in 1512 when, as an octogenarian, he entered Kamakura at the head of his vic- torious army, after having spent eightyears in killing off or outwitting enemies who had stood in his ambition's path:

Karuru ki ni Mata hana no ki wo

Uesoete Moto no miyako ni Nashite koso mime63

N'fear the withered tree I will plant another

Blossoming one; Thus shall I re-create The ancient Cafpital.

The imagery evocatively expresses several layers of ideas. The withered tree is Soun and the defunct rule of the Hojo in Kamakura, and the now powerless and corrupt Ashikaga shogunate in Kyoto. The blossoming tree is Soun's posterity, and Taira rule revived, and hope for a nationwide regeneration of competent and unified military rule. The Capital is Kyoto, of which (cherry) blossom was a widely used epithet, but what should be re-created wasfirst of all the status of Kamakura as the hub of the realm, as it had been in the age of the Hojo.

xvI

In your off-duty hours, practice riding. First you should become skilled in the essentials, and then practice the standard techniques for guiding the horse.

62 Kado naki hito wa, mute ni iyashiki koto nari *t t- 1s + kI 1: mi- + I l N*Ys 9

63 4t I-ItZ *t A t

I- t L{A* .



298 Monumenta JVipponica, XXIX, 3

XVII

Seek good friends, such are to be found among those who study penman- ship and read books.64 Quit bad friends, such are found among com- panions for go, chess, the flute and shakuhachi.65 To be ignorant of such arts is no disgrace, but neither is it wrong in itself to learn them; such pursuits are better than just idling time away. Whether a man becomes good or bad, depends on whom he associates with. There is a saying: 'When three of us walk together, the other two cannot but teach me something. For in one I may see a good point, and I will do likewise; in the other a bad point, and then I will try to do better.'

'Whether a man becomes good or bad depends on whom he associates with'66 appears almost identically in the 'Letter of Instruction to his rounger Brother' said to have been composed a hundred years earlier by Imagawa Ryishun.67 It is highly probable that Soun knew the 'Letter', for it was an educational text in the Imagawa clan in whose service he had been.

The quotation with which the article ends comes from the Analects,68 which he had probably studied with the Daitokuji monks.

What Soun added to this traditional wisdom was its practical application-by which objective criteria do you know whom to favor and whom to shun? Plus a balanced view of the pro's and con's of a gentleman's various pastimes. A much sterner warning against indulging in accomplishments apt to make a dilettante out of a warrior is found in the 'Letter of Instruction to his Son Nagatoki' composed about 1240 by Shigetoki, one of the Kamakura Hojo whom Soun emulated and read about in the Azuma Kagami.69 For the warrior ideal had changed considerably during the Ashikaga era when the shogunate ruledfrom Kyoto, and in the process had assimilated much of the culture of the Court.

XVIII

If you go home to your own dwelling when you are off duty, you should walk from the front [of the compound] where the stables are, over to the rear side, and see to it that the walls [i.e., ramparts] on all sides and the fences are kept in good repair, and that holes where dogs may have crept in are closed. [Remember that] maidservants are apt to be negli-

64 Tenarai gakumon k f 4 ; see Kakehi, p. 245, n. 2.

65 ,, 66 Hito noyoshi-ashi mina tomo niyoru A)-4 M:; t$1-Y : II

67 See my article, 'The Imagawa Letter', in MN, xxviii, 1973, pp. 307-8.

68 Book vii, ch. 21, in Legge, i, p. 202. 69 See Article xiv in the article cited in n. 57

above; original text in Kakehi, pp. 25-6.




gent; they are stupid enough to take [wood] from the eaves for fuel.70 They see only what is in front of their noses, and do not think of the consequences. Never forget that everything in your household tends to be like this [and that you must watch everything and everybody].

Mr Tsuiki was kind enough to show me the remains of Gen'an's yashiki7l near Oda- wara, and explain its layout and use. Soun-or Gen'an, his amanuensis- probably had a dwelling of this kind in mind when writing this article.

The yashiki was a square fortified compound surrounded by a dry moat, inside which was an earthen rampart with a pole fence on top. The gateway was in the middle of one side of the square. A detachable plank-bridge across the dry moat was in front of the gate. The rampart was strengthened by boulders. The rampart pierced by the gateway was called the omote, and the one opposite it, the ura.72 The stables and barns were just inside the omote, and the houses of the retainers just inside the ura. The later Hojo were conservative in this respect. During the Kamakura age retainers had lived inside the compound, during the sengoku era they lived outside, but the later Hojo kept to the ancient manner. The huts of tenants and day-laborers were outside the fortifications.

The master's house was as austere and airy as those of his retainers, but bigger, and while theirs were semi-detached, his was detached. Whether Gen'an had his womenfolk and children living in houses detachedfrom his own is not apparentfrom the vestiges of the ground-plan, but it is probable.

In front of the master's house there was a pond supplied by a spring. It was essential to have a water supply inside the compound, which was essentially a small fortress. AMilitarily, such establishments lost their value after cannon came into general use, i.e., after c. 1560, but in Soun's time they still offered reasonable protection against attacks.

The greatest danger wasfire, accidental or intentional. That is why it was important that holes dug under the fences by wild dogs were closed immediately, because through such a hole an enemy arsonist might creep in unseen. All the buildings on the compound were of wood, and could easily be put to the torch.

Important strongholds -Gen'an's yashiki was not intended as such-were still for the most part hilltop fortifications in Soun's time. The great, high, compact 'flatland castles'73 belong to the latter half of the sixteenth century.

70 Gejo tsutanaki mono wa, noki wo nukite yaku * f-) t t-C S, 0)II ft-#

-

71 RR, VM. The description given me tallies well with the illustration in Sugiyama, p. 466. See also J.W. Hall in Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan, Princeton U.P., 1968, pp. 171 if; for the development of warrior mansions, see Inagaki Fumio i ed., Sengoku Buke Jiten R 9 A $;, Seia-bo, 1970, pp. 121 ff. A graphic description of warriors'

dwellings in the sengoku era is found in J.W. Hall, Government and Local Power in Japan 500- 1700, Princeton U.P., 1966, pp. 248-50.

72

73 Hira-jo -TA; Inagaki, pp. 385 if. For the effect of firearms upon strategy, castle building and social structure, see Delmer M. Brown, 'The Impact of Firearms on Japanese Warfare, 1543-98', in Far Eastern Qyarterly, vii, 1947-8, pp. 236-58.



300 Monumenta NiPPonica, XXIX, 3

The author's diatribe against maidservants should be read in connection with the disparaging remarks in Article XX concerning the women of the household in general. A noticeable misogyny-or rather, disrespect of women as rational humans-is already present. It became stronger as the sengoku anarchy and its concomitant brutalization of customs proceeded. Woman's legal and social status had been high in the Kamakura era, at least among the upper warrior class, but deteriorated continuously from the sengoku era, until it reached-under Chinese influence-an all-time low under the Tokugawa.74

XIX

In the evening, at the sixth watch [i.e., at 6.00 P.M.], you should order the gateway to be closed. When people come in or go out, have it opened, but otherwise keep it shut. If you are careless and do not do this, evil things75 will invariably happen.

The attitude of suspicion, which was only too justified in the sengoku era, persisted in Tokugawa times* at night the gateways of each town ward were closed, and every house blocked up with shutters. As in so many cases, earlier military measures became part of living conditions under the Tokugawa.

The 'evil things' were the acts of enemy incendiaries and spies. The 'later Hjjo' were reputedly pioneers in the art of commando raids, and a night attack might easily come as a complete surprise. The ambush with which the 'Odawara deer hunt', 1495, ended was a night attack. Soun knew what he was talking about.

XX

In the evening, the fires in the kitchens and the living quarters76 should be inspected. You should issue strict orders to that effect and go the rounds in person. Further, inculcate the habit of watching out for spread- ing fires. Every evening you should enjoin the above rules upon your people. [Remember that] the women of the household, both high and low, lack understanding of these matters and are prone to be negligent, and so they leave household effects and clothes scattered about [i.e., easy to catch fire, and difficult to rescue]. Though you employ servants, do not imagine that that you can just issue orders to them77 [and then relax].

74 Sugiyama, pp. 438 if. 75 Akuji A 76 Naka-i p4'. In particular, the rooms where

the women lived, adjoining the kitchen. 77 Hito wo meshitsukaisJraedomo banji wo hito ni

bakari mJshitsukubeki tomo omowazu A afiA- X:$i Q AI- t, -< Y t f, tI . This passage may refer to female servants in particular: Sugiyama, p. 439.




No, you must become personally acquainted with the facts;78 only then will you be able to decide which matters can be delegated to others [i.e., to your servants].

xxI It is not necessary to write here about the 'Arts of Peace and War, in- cluding Archery and Horsemanship', for to pursue these is a matter of course. From of old, the rule has been, 'Practice the Arts of Peace on the left hand, and the Arts of War on the right.' Mastery of both is required.

The wording as well as the contents of this article are very similar to those of Article I of the Buke Shohatto,79 issued by Tokugawa Ieyasu and his son and successor, Hidetada, in 1615, and re-issued with minor modifications by succeeding shoguns. Both texts refer to the aims of the warrior education program initiated by the Kamakura government in the thirteenth century; its implementation and growth under the Ashikaga ultimately led to the emergence of that unique invention by the Japanese in the field of statecraft, the rule by an hereditary, but intellectually skilled, warrior class.80 Both Ieyasu and Soun are known to have studied the Kamakura governmental institutions and policies thoroughly from the official source, Azuma Kagami.81

The program was initiated in 1250, when the shikken Hojo Tokiyori82 advised the shogun KujJ roritsugu83 to issue an order to the effect that the sons of leading warrior families should henceforth study Bun (e.g., 'Letters', 'Civil Arts', 'Arts of Peace') concurrently with Bu (e.g., 'Weapons', 'Martial Arts', 'Arts of War'). The proposal was adopted. Tokiyori and his colleagues knew that an illiterate warrior in high office was at the mercy of the bureaucrats who were trained at court or in monasteries and who did his secretarial chores.

From that time 'Bun-bu-kyui-ba no michi' was a commonly used term for the warriors' educational ideals. Bu was necessary for survival, and was, on a large scale, the warriors' only ticket to power. Bun, too, was understood as a tool of power, and not

78 Ware to tezukara shiteyotai wo shiri g L 4t

79 A*M&t ; see Shintei Z5ho Kokushi Taikei VtT 'SIIM 0 Yoshikawa K6bunkan, 1964, XXXIX, p.55.

80 Tokiomi Kaigo, Japanese Education, Its Past and Present, Kokusai Bunka Shink6-kai, Tokyo, 1965, p. 20; see also Azuma Kagami, in Shintei Z5ho Kokushi Taikei #fNiTI S-t., xxxiii, pp. 422-3.

81 Ryusaku Tsunoda et al., ed., Sources of

Japanese Tradition, Columbia U.P., 4th ed., 1968, I, p. 332, n. 2; and Sugiyama, p. 82.

82 , shikken 1246-56. The program became almost too successful among some warriors; in 1245 Tokiyori scolded them for preferring polite studies to athletics-Helen Craig McCullough, ed., The Taiheiki, Columbia U.P., 1959, p. XXXI.

83 ;i1,shogun 1244-52. The shogun was still a child at this time and the will of Tokiyori was supreme: Barth, i, p. 137.



302 Monumenta Nfipponica, XXIX, 3

as a mere social grace; this is brought out clearly in the 'Letter of Instruction to his rounger Brother' attributed to Imagawa Ryishun.84 A hundred years later, when Soun's Articles were written, it was already a time-honored ideal that a warrior's son, to the extent that time and means permitted, ought to learn Bun in addition to Bu. During the whole sengoku period, however, Bu remained the more highly valued ability, because it was necessary for survival, and was constantly put to the test on the battlefield. Also, only the upper crust of sengoku warriors learnt to read and write, and these accomplishments were still viewed with suspicion in some quarters. Only during the Tokugawa era of peace did literacy spread to the whole warrior class, and still with some leeway for foot-soldiers.85

Bun ranged from basic literacy to scholarship, and Bu from fencing to the science of tactics. Bu comprised archery, riding, swordsmanship, wrestling, and swimming. When the boy was capable, elementary tactics were added. Fathers taught their sons. There were no schools for Bu skills before the Tokugawa age, except certain temples where the arts of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand fighting were taught. Bun skills were taught in the houses of such warriors as specialized in them, in temples, and in the houses of court nobles. Reading and writing were taught by means of oraibon or 6raimono,86 i.e., collections of model letters, to which schoolmasters had added vocabulary lists, hints on phraseologv, and scraps of encyclopedic information. From here, pupils proceeded to waka, Chinese manuals on politics and government, and the code of the clan to which they belonged, and of other warrior clans. At the highest levels, shogunate laws, Buddhist sutras, and Confucian classics were studied, in addition to the military manuals of ancient China, with later Chinese and Japanese commentaries. As would appear, this was not at all a bad curriculum for an aspiring warrior leader. But after the genpuku87 ceremony, few warriors had time to spare for regular studies; their overriding concern was how to keep their heads, not to fill them, and such scholarly institutions as existed were libraries more than teaching institutions.

When Soun reminded his clansmen of their duty to live according to the Bun-bu-kyfl-ba no michi, he probably had in mind not only the above-mentioned skills, but also the whole outlook on life which the warriors had developed, and the standards of behavior expected of them.88 How much of this traditional material Soun, the upstart political innovator, regarded as valid and relevantfor his own time, is hard to know. Butjudging from its place and its wording, Article XXI looks most of all like an afterthought, which one might paraphrase thus, 'I have now established a series of detailed rules of thought and behavior. But please remember that in any situation not covered by my precepts, we-being new rulers-should make a point of not diverging from accepted standards in our class.' Whether the formulation of Article XXI is due to Soun or to

84 See the article cited in n. 67 above, in MN, xxviii, pp. 299-300 & 306-7.

85 R.P. Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan, University of California Press, 1965, pp. 75 & 84-5.

86 : **, tr 87 7Lt: Inagaki, p. 261. This usually took

place about the age of fifteen; but the ceremony was often held earlier among warriors of very high rank, in which case the education of the boy continued after his genpuku.

88 See the instructive article, William Ritchie Wilson, 'The Way of the Bow and Arrow', in MN, xxviii, 1973, pp. 187-90.



Steenstrup: H`jo Soun's Twenty-One Articles 303

Gen'an,89 this interpretation of the article fits in well with their pretensions of being successors to the Taira.

* * *

IN MATTERS of statecraft, Soun blazed new trails. In many respects, he is parallel to the princes of the Renaissance and the Age of Absolutism in Europe. Immense ambition, a certain hard-headed rationalism, thrift, clockwork-like attention to duties, and the realization that aggrandizement is dependent on internal economic growth were attitudes which the more successful of them had in common with S6un.

In the history of ideas, Soun holds an important place in the development of bushi philosophy. Hojo Shigetoki (I198-1261), the foremost spokesman for the ideas of Soun's political models, the Kamakura Hojo, had been a devout Buddhist; in practical matters he advocated an 'outer-directed' ethic, according to which people's opinion of a man was frequently the most important guideline for his behavior; toward the culture of Kyoto he felt respect, but also a certain fear because of its debilitating effect on warriors. Imagawa Ryoshun (c. 1325-c. 1420), the most important figure of the Imagawa clan which Soun had served before he commenced his own career, had also been a devout Buddhist; his practical ethic was Buddhist with Confucian overtones, but it was still 'outer-directed';90 his cultural ideal was the amalgamation of the warrior's spirit with the courtier's finesse. Whereas Shigetoki lived in the heyday of Kamakura and Ryoshun during the ascendancy of the Ashikaga, Saun belonged to the post-Onin world of blood and iron. To Soun, Buddhism meant less than what experience taught him; his practical ethic was puritanically 'inner-directed'.91 In matters ofculture, he simply recommended such arts and accomplishments as contributed to character building and success; in Soun there is no trace left of the medieval warrior's awe of the courtier's culture.92 The only element needed for the final synthesis of ideas which proved capable of guiding the military leaders during the next three and a half centuries was the superstructure of Neo-Confucian concepts and verbiage added by the state-sponsored pundits of Tokugawa Ieyasu.93

89 For Gen'an's own educational writing, see Tsuiki, p. 525, and also Tsuiki Mochitaka A*vk g1X, Gaisetsu Hojo Gen'an LiktLAk: Ky6do- bunka Kenkyfu-kai, Odawara, 2nd ed., 1971, pp. 46 ff.

90 Steenstrup, 'Imagawa Letter', p. 310: original text in Kakehi, p. 13.

91 See Article V above and its commentary.

92 Soun did not even bother to collect all the high-sounding court titles that he could easily have obtained: Sugiyama, p. 82.

93 See Kakehi & Ozawa, pp. 140 if, for a lucid account of the Confucianization of Japa- nese society under the Tokugawa, and the limits and effects of this process.

