The chronicle of lord nobunaga

444 THE MEDIEVAL AGE: DESPAIR, DELIVERANCE, AND DESTINY

THE ASSAULT ON MOUNT HIEI AND

THE BLESSINGS OF NOBUNAGA

As this extract from The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (Shincho-Ko ki) seeks to dem­ onstrate, Nobunaga's assault on the Enryakuji was not so much a wanton act of sac­ rilege as retaliation against a military adversary. The temple had permitted the strategic position it occupied on Mount Hiei between Kyoto and Lake Biwa to be used by the armies of the daimyo Asakura Yoshikage and Azai Nagamasa, enemies who had fallen on Nobunaga's rear and forced him to abandon a campaign in the area of Osaka in 1570. Sakamoto, the Enryakuji's rich municipality on Lake Biwa, became one of their bases, and they were given succor by the monks when Nobunaga counterattacked. In short, Nobunaga had ample justification when he took his revenge on the Enryakuji in September 1571. To consolidate his position on Kyoto's eastern flank, he then in­ stalled his own man, Akechi Mitsuhide, in Sakamoto, assigning him landed properties

from the temple's extensive domains.

Wm. Theodore de Bary et al., ed., Sources of Japanese Tradition, 2nd ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001)

The Regime of the Unifiers 445

The author of The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga (Shincho-Ko ki), Nobunaga's old vassal Ota Gyuichi (1527-after 16!0), went on to serve Hideyoshi in important admin­ istrative capacities and after Hideyoshi's death entered the service of his son Hideyori. Ota's elaborate chronicle, partially based on his diaries, was completed in 16!0. It is composed of an introductory book and fifteen books covering year by year the period 1568 to 1582, "the fifteen years Lord Nobunaga ruled the realm." The introductory book has serious flaws, but the rest of the work is meticulous and highly reliable; indeed, it is an indispensable source for that period of Japanese history. Ota is, on the whole, a factually oriented and dry, not florid, writer. In these two passages, however, he permits himself a certain level of rhetorical embellishment, juxtaposing the tale of Nobunaga's brutality with a gushing account of his generosity toward the imperial court and the blessings brought upon the realm by the hegemon. Needless to say, Nobunaga cultivated the court with a view toward manipulating it. The restoration of the imperial palace, begun in 1569, was a project through which Nobunaga sought to display his munificence, bring into prominence his contributions to revitalizing the political order, and establish his own claim to public authority.

Ota and other sixteenth- and seventeenth-century writers frequently refer to Ten to, the Way of Heaven, in seeking to explain history. Their notion of Ten to conveys the sense of a governing natural order that is impersonal yet exerts a moral force, guiding the endeavors of the virtuous to success while ensuring the downfall of the wicked. The Jesuit missionaries found the term to be related to their own concept of Heavenly Providence and used it as a synonym for God while stressing that pagans meant some­ thing else by it.

(5) On the 12th of the Ninth Month [September 30, 1571], Nobunaga attacked Mount Hiei. The reason was as follows: The previous year, Nobunaga had laid siege to Noda and Fukushima. As those castles were about to fall, the Asakura of Echizen, joined by Azai Bizen, moved on Sakamoto. Realizing that things would get untidy if they forced their way into Kyoto, Nobunaga withdrew from Noda and Fukushima. Straightaway, he crossed Ausaka, confronted the Echizen and Omi forces, and chased them up Mount Tsubokasa with the intention of letting them starve there. Nobunaga then summoned the monk soldiers from the Enryakuji and promised, striking steel on steel,3 that if the monks were to give him loyal service on this occasion, he would restore all of the Enryakuji's domains in the provinces under his rule, with their original privileges intact. Moreover, he sent the monks a vermilion-seal document to that effect. But if their religious principles prevented them from supporting one side exclusively,

3. To emphasize the solemnity of his pledge, a samurai might strike the blade of his sword or

the sword guard with a piece of metal.

446 THE MEDIEVAL AGE: DESPAIR, DELIVERANCE, AND DESTINY

he reasoned, then they should not interfere at all. Nobunaga also made it clear

to the monks that if they violated these conditions, then he would burn down

the whole mountain from the Central Hall (Konponchudo) and the Twenty­ One Shrines of the Mountain King (Sanna) on down.

Was it that their time had come? Mount Hiei was the guardian of the im­ perial capital. Nevertheless, the monks who lived on the mountain and at its foot cared nothing for penances, ascetic exercises, and religious customs and felt no shame at the derision of the realm. Heedless of the Way of Heaven (Ten to) and its terrors, they gave themselves over to lewdness, ate fish and fowl, and became habituated to bribes in gold or silver, They took the side of the Azai and Asakura, and while they did as they pleased, Nobunaga restrained himself and let them be for the moment, because he was wont to adjust himself to_ the times and the circumstances. To Nobunaga's regret, he had to withdraw his army. In order to dispel his resentment, this day, the 12th of the Ninth vlonth, he invested Mount Hiei. Surging round in swarms, Nobunaga's troops

__ 1 a flash set fire to a multitude of holy Buddhas, shrines, monks' quarters, and sutra scrolls; they spared nothing, from the Central Hall and the Twenty-One Shrines of the Mountain King on down. How miserable it was to see it all reduced to ashes! At the foot of the mountain, men and women, young and old ran about panic-stricken. In feverish haste, barefooted, they all fled up Mount Hachioji, seeking refuge in the precincts of the inner Hie Shrine. Soldiers shouting battle cries advanced up the mountain from all sides. One by one they cut off the heads of monks and laymen, children, wise men and holy men alike. They presented the heads to Lord Nobunaga, saying: "Here is an exalted prelate, a princely abbot, a learned doctor, all the men of renown at the top of Mount Hiei," Moreover, they captured countless beautiful women and young boys and led them before Nobunaga, "We don't care about the evil monks," they shrieked, "but spare us!" Nobunaga, however, absolutely refused to reprieve them. One by one, they had their heads chopped off, a scene horrible to behold. Thousands of corpses lay scattered about like so many little sticks, a pitiful end. Thus Nobunaga dispelled years of accumulated rancor. Shiga District was now given to Akechi Jubyoe, who took up residence in Sakamoto.

-On the 20th of the Ninth Month, Lord Nobunaga returned from his cam­ paign to Gifu in Mino Province.

On the 21st of the Ninth Month, acting on Nobunaga's orders, Kawajiri

Yohyoe and Niwa Gorozaemon invited Takamiya Ukyo no Suke and all promi­ nent members of his family to Sawayama and killed them. The Takamiya put up a fight but were finished off without difficulty. The reason for this measure was that during the previous year's Noda and Fukushima campaign, the Taka­ miya had acted in concert with the Honganji in scheming to cause an uprising, Halfway through the campaign they had deserted their post at Kawaguchi, an outpost of Nobunaga's fort in Tenmagamori, and had gone over to the side of Osaka.

The Regime of the Unifiers 447 (6) The imperial palace had long gone to ruin and nothing was left of its 7

former splendor. Thinking that it would bring blessings, Nobunaga had in a previous year appointed Nichij6 Shonin and Murai Sadakatsu as superinten­ dents of a project to repair it. At length, after three years' work, the Shishiiden, the Seiryoden, the Naishidokoro, the Shoyosha, and various other palace quar- ters were all finished. Lord Nobunaga moreover thought of a plan that would unfailingly provide for the imperial court's income for all times to come. He::L gave out a loan in rice to the_to"'rlsmen of Kyoto and ordered that the int"'.rE�t J be presented to the court-every month:A

f the same time, Nob��g; also broughtthe maint;����� CJfimp��;ished nobles in order, amply securing their familyyuccession. The satisfaction of all the people of the realm could not have been greater. One could not possibly measure Nobunaga's glory and the dignity_J of his family in our empire.

--· Furthermore, Nobunaga abolish�cl �11 clllties_ attoH�arriers throughout the

provinces under his control. Ther-�·alm was at peace. Travelers could come and go as they pleased, thanks to Nobunaga's benevolence. As his compassion was exceedingly profound, so did his blessings and his good fortune surpass the ordinary. This was the foundation of his ever-increasing prosperity. But the cause of it all was Nobunaga's desire to "study the Way, rise in the world, and gain fame in future generations."4 How auspicious! How auspicious!

[Ota, Shincho-Ko ki, bk. 4, sec. 5-6, pp. 126-129; )PL]