most with the Taira leader, however, was the propinquity
of the three great monasteries; Hiei-zan on the north, Miidera on the
east, and Nara on the south. In fact, the city lay at the mercy of
the soldier-priests. At any moment they might combine, descend upon
the capital, and burn it before adequate succour could be marshalled.
That such a peril should have been dreaded from such a source seems
strange; but the Buddhist priests had shown a very dangerous temper
more than once, and from Kiyomori's point of view the possibility of
their rising to restore the fortunes of the Fujiwara was never
remote.

Kiyomori carried with him to Fukuhara the boy-Emperor (Antoku), the
ex-Emperor (Takakura), the cloistered Emperor (Go-Shirakawa), the
kwampaku (Motomichi), and all the high Court officials with rare
exceptions. The work of construction at Fukuhara not being yet
complete, Go-Shirakawa had to be lodged in a building thirty feet
square, to which men gave the name of the "jail palace." Kyoto, of
course, was thrown into a state of consternation. Remonstrances,
petitions, and complaints poured into the Fukuhara mansion. Meanwhile
the Minamoto rose. In August of 1180, their white flag was hoisted,
and though it looked very insignificant on the wide horizon of Taira
power, Kiyomori did not underrate its meaning. At the close of the
year, he decided to abandon the Fukuhara scheme and carry the Court
back to Kyoto. On the eve of his return he found an opportunity of
dealing a heavy blow to the monasteries of Miidera and Nara. For, it
having been discovered that they were in collusion with the newly
risen Minamoto, Kiyomori sent his sons, Tomomori and Shigehira, at
the head of a force which sacked and burned Onjo-ji, Todai-ji, and
Kofuku-ji. Thereafter a terrible time ensued for Kyoto, for the home
provinces (Kinai), and for the west of the empire. During the greater
part of three years, from 1180 to 1182 inclusive, the people
suffered, first from famine and afterwards from pestilence. Pitiful
accounts are given by contemporary writers. Men were reduced to the
direst straits. Hundreds perished of starvation in the streets of
Kyoto, and as, in many cases, the corpses lay unburied, pestilence of
course ensued. It is stated that in Kyoto alone during two months
there were forty-two thousand deaths. The eastern and western
regions, however, enjoyed comparative immunity. By the priests and
the political enemies of the Taira these cruel c