him in the
shogun's seat at Kyoto.

REVIEW OF THE ASHIKAGA

Among the fifteen representatives of the Ashikaga, two were slain by
their own vassals, five died in exile, and one had to commit suicide.
From the accession of Takauji, in 1338, to the death of Yoshiaki, in
1597, a period of 259 years, there was not so much as one decade of
signal success and efficient government. With justice the story of
the time has been summed up in the epithet "ge-koku-jo," or the
overthrow of the upper by the lower. The appreciation of the eminent
historian, Rai Sanyo, is most faithful. Every great conflict
throughout the era was marked by similar features. It is a weary
record of broken promises, violated allegiances, and family feuds. If
the Hatakeyama, the Hosokawa, and the Miyoshi set their own interests
above those of the shogun, the Ashikaga, in turn, sacrificed the
interests of the Throne on the altar of their own ambition. A river
cannot be purer than its source. If the Miyoshi vassals plotted
against their chiefs, so did the latter against the Hosokawa; so did
the Hosokawa against the Ashikaga; so did the Ashikaga against the
Imperial family, and so did one branch of the Imperial family against
another. Everywhere there was lack of loyalty.

The loyalty wanting among masters was equally deficient among
servants. There is no more treacherous episode in the Middle Ages
than Matsunaga Hisahide's poisoning of his liege lord to compass the
downfall of the Miyoshi family and slaying the shogun, Yoshiteru, to
overthrow the Ashikaga, though he enjoyed the confidence of both. The
Dai Nihon-rekishi (History of Great Japan) observes that the ethical
primers, with which a literary education had formerly familiarized
the nation, lost their influence in this military era. There was no
inordinate desire for landed property until the Gen-Hei epoch, when a
manor became the principal reward of a successful soldier.
Thereafter, greed for domains acquired strength every year. Again,
when Yoritomo became so-tsuihoshi (commander-in-chief) and so-jito
(general steward) of the whole country, and his meritorious vassals
were appointed shugo and jito in each province, local authority
passed from the Throne to the military families, and when, after the
Shokyu struggle, the shugo and the jito came into actual possession
of the estates they had previously administered, military feudalism
was practically established. The Hojo, by their just administratio