the most important incident
which the law was intended to prevent took the form of alliances
between barons of adjacent provinces.

"(8) Marriages must not be contracted at private convenience.

"Now, the marriage union is a result of the harmonious blending of the
In and Yo (i.e. the Yin and Yang of Chinese metaphysics, the female
and male principles of nature). It is therefore not a matter to be
lightly undertaken. It is said in the 'Scowling' passage of the
(Chow) Book of Changes, 'Not being enemies they unite in marriage.'
Whilst (the elders are) thinking of making advances to the opponent
(family), the proper time (for the marriage of the young couple) is
allowed to slip by. In the 'Peach Young' poem of the Book of Odes it
is said, 'If the man and woman, duly observing what is correct, marry
at the proper time of life, there will be no widows in the land.' To
form cliques (political parties) by means of matrimonial connexions
is a source of pernicious stratagems."

This provision was, in fact, a codification of the veto pronounced by
Hideyoshi on his death-bed against marriages between the families of
different daimyo. Ieyasu himself had been the first to violate the
veto, and he was the first to place it subsequently on the statute
book. The third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, extended the restriction by
ordering that even families having estates of only three thousand
koku should not intermarry without Yedo's previous consent.

"(9) As to the rule that the daimyo shall come (to the shogun's court
at Yedo) to do service:--

"In the Shoku Nihongi (The Continuation of the Chronicles of Japan) it
is recorded amongst the enactments,

"'Except when entrusted with some official duty to assemble, no one
(dignitary) is allowed at his own pleasure to assemble his tribe
within the limits of the capital, no one is to go about attended by
more than twenty horsemen, etc.'

"Hence it is not permissible to lead about a large force of soldiers.
For daimyo whose revenues range from 1,000,000 koko down to 200,000
koku, the number of twenty horsemen is not to be exceeded. For those
whose revenues are 100,000 koku and under, the number is to be in the
same proportion.

"On occasions of official service, however (i.e. in time of warfare),
the number of followers is to be in proportion to the social standing
of each daimyo."

The above rule of repairing to the capital to pay respects
(go-sankin) was an old fashion, and barons w