HISTORIAN'S OPINION

Referring to the above laws the Tokugawa Jidaishi says:

"The above laws and regulations were the Constitution of the Tokugawa
Bakufu. By the aid of their provisions the influence of Yedo was
extended to every part of the nation from the Imperial Court to the
world of religion. No such codes had ever previously existed in
Japan. Any unit of the nation, whether a Court noble, a great
feudatory, a priest, or a common samurai, had to yield implicit
obedience or to suffer condign punishment. Thus, it fell out that
everybody being anxious to conform with the rules, the universal
tendency was to share in preserving the peace. From the point of view
of this system, Ieyasu was eminently above all modern and ancient
heroes. Hideyoshi won brilliant victories in war, but he saw no
better method of maintaining peace at home than to send the country's
armies to fight abroad. He seems to have conceived a hope that his
generals would find goals for their ambition in Korea or China, and
would exhaust their strength in endeavouring to realize their dreams.
But his plan brought about the contrary result; for the generals
formed fresh enmities among themselves, and thus the harvest that was
subsequently reaped at Sekigahara found hands to sow it.

"Ieyasu, however, prized literature above militarism. He himself
became a pioneer of learning, and employed many scholars to assist in
constructing a solid framework of peace. The territorial nobles had
to follow his example. Even Kato Kiyomasa, Asano Yukinaga, and Kuroda
Nagamasa, each of whom during his lifetime was counted a divinely
inspired general, found themselves constrained to study the Chinese
classics under the guidance of Funabashi Hidekata and Fujiwara
Seigwa. How much more cogent, then, was the similar necessity under
which lesser men laboured. Thus, Ieyasu's love of literature may be
regarded as a cause of the peace that prevailed under the Tokugawa
for 260 years."

REVIVAL OF LEARNING

Ieyasu employed four instruments for educational purposes--the
establishment of schools, the engagement of professors, the
collection of ancient literary works, and the printing of books. In
accordance with his last will his son Yoshinao, daimyo of Owari,
built, in 1636, the Daiseiden College beside the temple of Kiyomizu
in Ueno Park, near the villa of Hayashi Kazan, the celebrated
Confucian scholar; but, in 1691, the college was moved to the slope
called Shohei-zaka, w