Hōjō Shigetoki

This article is about the samurai Hōjō Shigetoki ( 北 条 重 時 ). For the same name, however, 北 条 茂 時 written Samurai see Hōjō Shigetoki († 1333) .

Hōjō Shigetoki ( Japanese 北 条 重 時 ; * September 11, 1198 ( Kenkyū 9/6/6); † November 26, 1261 ( Kōchō 1/11/3)) was a member of the family that dominated the Kamakura shogunate at one time when real feudal structures began to develop. He was successful as a mediator between the imperial court and the Bakufu . His writings shed light on the contemporary ethics of his class.

Life path

At the time of the birth of Hōjō Shigetoki , his grandfather Hōjō Tokimasa was the adviser to the shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo († 1199), who was married to Shigetoki's aunt Masako . He is the third oldest son of the later shikken Hōjō Yoshitoki († 1224). His mother was Hime no Mae .

Kamakura-Bakufu

Shigetoki's career began at the age of 21 in the seventh month of 1219 when he was part of the Guard of Honor that escorted the childish Shogun Mitora from Kyoto to Kamakura . He appeared under the name Mutsu Samburō ( 陸 奥 三郎 , that is, "third son [of the provincial governor] of Mutsu" = Yoshitoki). In the same year, the first chief ( bettō ) of the newly created Kosamuraidokoro , who had to perform guard duties. He also acted as a sword bearer for the young shogun on excursions. On jōkyū war he did not participate. For 1223/10/13 a shogunal bodyguard ( kinjūban ) was created, with Shigetoki as the first captain (until 1230). He was also the mentor of the Shogun until 1230, who was declared of legal age in 1224. In 1228 he brokered the miai between the ten-year-old Shogun and Take Gosho (30, surviving daughter of Minamoto Yoriie ), the wedding took place four years later.

Under Go-Toba , he received court rank for the first time , together with the appointment as shuri no gonsuke . But were more important its governor positions ( kami ) in provinces, as bungoku the Bakufu were assigned. This was initially the province of Suruga (1223). The following year, when his brother Hōjō Yasutoki had become shikken , he received - as a shugo - in addition the province of Shinano . He held this position even after his appointment as tandai ; his descendants held the office for several generations.

Tandai in Kyoto

Yasutoki decided in 1230/2/19 that his brother, who had meanwhile acquired a good knowledge of the ceremonial, should represent Bakufu at court in Kyoto as one of the two tandai , where he arrived five weeks later. It all came down to diplomatic skills. His duties also included police control of the capital, a task which he obviously did excellently. When Hōjō Tokimori resigned from the office of "southern" Tandai in 1242 , Shigetoki held both posts until 1247.

After the nationwide famine from 1229 to 1232, it was his job - he had still been shugo of Wakasa Province in 1231 - to restore order in the country and ensure the flow of crops into the capital. In 1233 he opposed the rebellious sōhei as well as the monk soldiers of the Kōya-san . He exerted influence on the noble families mainly through social interaction, rarely through pressure.

After he had acted against warriors who intercepted deliveries of grain to the capital in 1236, the court gave him the upper following fifth court rank. As early as the next year came the nomination as the nominal governor of the Sagami province , which was actually administered by the Miura . In contemporary documents he is known as Sagami no kami from that point on . When his brother Yasutoki stayed at court with the Shogun for most of the year 1238, he was given the right to face the “ heavenly majesty ” in private audience when he was raised to the lower real fifth rank . His relations with the court were good, in Kyoto he arranged the establishment of police posts and street lighting. From 1241, the year in which his Renga teacher and friend Fujiwara no Taika died, the Tandai took over the jurisdiction over murder cases in Kyoto.

At the succession controversy in 1242 Shigetoki does not seem to have been active, but the Bakufu supported the son Tsuchimikados († 1231), Go-Saga (r. 1243-46), who became a willing tool of Bakufu. He was significantly more active in the follow-up questions of the shoguns 1244-46, when he supported the forced resignation of Yoritsune († 1256). Yoritsune was kept under control after his dismissal as a "guest" in the residence of the Tandai.

In the provinces it was necessary that he had important temples, such as the Hachiman Shrine in Usa in 1244, protected against attacks. The parts of Shikoku and Kyushu , which were most affected by looting by akutō ("gangs of evil people") and pirates, were also within his area of ​​office . The campaign against these from 1245 onwards showed only limited success.

When the Hōjō began in 1247/6/5 in Kamakura to eliminate their opponents, the Miura, he received the order to slaughter all Miura and their followers in western Japan on the 9th of the month. Most of the executions took place outside on the road to Kamakura.

Rensho

Immediately after successfully completing the mission, he was ordered to go to Kamakura, where he arrived in 1247/7/17. Ten days later he was appointed deputy shikken . This office, vacant since 1240, was called Rensho ( 連署 ). His appointment further strengthened the family's position on the council ( Hyōjōshū ). His son Nagatoki (1247/7/18) succeeded him in the office of Tandai. Shigetoki was once again the tutor of an underage Shogun, this time the 10-year-old Yoritsugu .

In 1249 he received the appointment e. H. to the governor of the "wild" province of Mutsu , which for him was primarily a source of additional income. In 1252 he intrigued against Yoritsugu and obtained his removal from the court. As a result, the practice of installing imperial princes as shoguns began, beginning with Munetaka . The Hōjō now believed they had secured their position of power forever.

After he had already shown signs of fatigue in 1254, he resigned as Rensho in 1256/3/11. However, he remained involved in day-to-day political affairs in an advisory capacity. Soon afterwards he became a lay priest ( 入道 , nyūdō ) of the Kegon-shū , until his death he became a follower of the Jōdō-shū .

In the fourth month of 1261, the Shogun and his wife visited Shigetoki's temple-style villa that he had rebuilt. Five weeks later, he fell ill with some form of malaria. After the illness initially improved, he suffered a relapse four months later, which he did not survive, so that he died in 1261/11/3. The villa was expanded under his son Nagatoki to the temple Gokuraku-ji under the direction of the monk Ninshō .

family

Women:

• a daughter of Taira no Tokichika who survived him, mother of Nagatoki and probably Tokishige .

Sons:

1. Tametoki † 1235, 8 years old with smallpox
2. Hōjō Nagatoki (1230-1264), officiated as shikken: 1256-1264
3. Hōjō Tokishige * 1241; from 1256 Tandai
4. Naritoki
5. Yoshimasa

Daughter:

• married to Tokiyori , mother of the shikken Hōjō Tokimune (1251–1284)

Works

For his son, successor in Rokuhara, he wrote rules of conduct under the title Rokuhara-dono no kakun ("House teachings of the Lord of Rokuhara"). He was the first member of the warrior caste to create such kakun , which were common in court families.

At the time when he had already withdrawn, he wrote the Gokurakiuji-dono no go-shōsoku ("Letters of the Lord of Gokurakiuji"), which is divided into 99 sections , a moral teaching which, permeated by the Buddhist spirit, gives a good insight into the customs of that time exist, but would still be appropriate today.

• Rokuhara Sagami no kami no shisoku wo oshiuru ... (before 1247)
• 10 of his waka were included in an imperial anthology

literature

• Johannes Barth: The legacy of Hōjō Shigetoki. In: Kurt Meissner on his 80th birthday. P. 5- ?.
• Hiroyuki Momo: Hōjō Shigetoki no kakun. In: Tenri Toshokan koten fukkan. No. 2. Tambaichi 1947, Yōtokusha.
• Carl Steenstrup: Hōjō Shigetoki (1198-1261), and his Role in the History of Political and Ethical Ideas in Japan. Dissertation. Malmö 1979, ISBN 0-7007-0132-X .
• Carl Steenstrup: Hōjō Shigetoki: a Buddhist Philosopher-Statesman of the Thirteenth Century Japan. In: IH Nish (Ed.): European Contributions to Japanology. London 1979.

Remarks

1. ↑ Dates according to the Japanese lunisolar calendar
2. ↑ cf. Printed diary of Fujiwara no Taika Meigetsuki : Tokyo 1911
3. ↑ engl. in: Steenstrup, Carl (Diss. 1979, p. 143-?)
4. ↑ engl. in: Steenstrup, Carl (Diss. 1979), p 158-; German: Barth, Johh. P. 13-.