he eve of the Mongol invasion, that
a heavy calamity was about to fall upon the country, but owing to an
accusation of political intrigues, he was first condemned to be
beheaded, and then was banished to the island of Sado. His sentence
was soon revoked, however, by the regent Tokimune, who granted him
written permission to propagate his doctrines. Thereafter the spread
of his sect was very rapid.

*Out of some 72,000 temples in Japan to-day, 20,000, approximately,
belong to the Shin sect; an equal number to the Zen; 13.000 to the
Shingon; 8000 to the Jodo; and smaller numbers to the rest.

THE PEOPLE

With the decentralization of the administrative power there was a
corresponding growth of the vassal class. Of course the Court nobles
had vassals in their households, but the power exercised over these
vassals had legal limits, whereas the vassals of the provincial
chiefs were liable to imprisonment or even death by order of their
chiefs. One result was that the provinces came gradually into
possession of a large body of men skilled in arms and in
administration. Moreover, among these provincial vassals, men
originally of humble origin, found themselves raised to the level of
honoured subjects, and a man's status came to be determined by his
occupation rather than by his lineage. The lines of this new
discrimination were fourfold, namely, shi, no, ko, sho--that is to
say, military, agricultural, industrial, and commercial. The
tradesman stood at the bottom of the scale, and the farmer, as the
principal taxpayer, ranked next to the military man. It will be
observed that this classification does not include any persons whose
occupation involved pollution. This was a result of religious
prejudice. Degradation attended every profession that required
contact with the sick, the dead, or offal of any kind. Persons
practising such callings were designated eta (men of many
impurities). All belonging to the class inferior to tradesmen were
originally regarded as outlaws, but subsequently, when society was
reorganized on a military basis, an official was specially entrusted
with absolute control over persons excluded from the quadruple
classification of soldier, farmer, mechanic, and merchant. Beggars
constituted an important section of the outcasts (hiniri). Next to
them were professional caterers for amusement, from dog-trainers,
snake-charmers, riddle-readers, acrobats, and trainers of animals, to
brothel-keepers and execut