Formation of the Kamakura Shogunate
Turn of the 9th-10th centuries AD In Japan, times are very difficult. Emperors are tonsured monks one after another; in reality, clans armed to the teeth are in power - powerful families that support their own “private armies”, and the confrontation between the two most powerful of them - the Taira and Minamoto clans , in the period 1180-1185 leads Japan to real civil war.
The Minamoto clan succeeded in completely defeating the Taira in 1185 at the Battle of Dannoura (a bay east of Shimonoseki). shogun in 1192 , the Minamoto established their headquarters in the east in the city of Kamakura.
The creation of a residence in Kamakura was caused by Minamoto's desire to weaken the power of the imperial house and the intention to create his own independent government. By the name of the location of the headquarters in Japanese historiography, the period of the Kamakura shogunate . Although Kamakura was the capital of the shogunate, it was located in the backward eastern region, which ultimately predetermined its economic weakness and led to its death. Kyoto continued to be the most important economic center: in the 13th century. there were 44 za craft and trade associations there, while in Kamakura there were only 27. In addition, the Kyoto za were economically stronger than the Kamakura ones.
Battle between the Taira and Minamoto clans (Taira on the right, Minamoto on the left)
The reign of shoguns in Japan. Tokugawa Shogunate
As a result, Japan was forced to conclude a number of unequal treaties (“Ansei Treaties”) with Western powers: the USA, Russia, France, England, etc. The disastrous results of the “opening of the country” for Japan give rise to a powerful wave of anti-Western sentiment, calls for the overthrow of the shogunate regime and the restoration of imperial power.
Some of the opposition-minded principalities form an anti-shogun coalition and, speaking under the slogans of “expulsion of the barbarians and respect for the emperor,” overthrow the shogun regime during the civil war.
Features of the Kamakura shogunate
In the early 80s of the 12th century. The Minamoto sought to cover the entire population of the country with their power, but in conditions of social chaos this was impossible. Therefore, although the court, having lost control over the eastern provinces, was forced to sanction the political power of the samurai class, already in the second half of the 80s the samurai prompted the emperor to again take over the functions of managing the shogun's non-vassals, which was legally formalized in a special decree of 1205, according to to which all appeals from the shogun's non-vassals were to be sent to Kyoto for consideration by the ex-emperor.
In addition, all foreign policy relations were controlled by the Kyoto court, and not by the shogunate. In a word, a rather peculiar policy developed in the country, characterized by dual power, and, due to the nature of both “branches of power,” neither side had the real power of law.
The economic basis of such dual power is shoen , which began to disintegrate and fragment, as the lands of the shogun’s opponents were distributed among his vassals, who turned into small-scale nobles, samurai. However, the shogunate kept a vigilant eye on its vassals and limited the process of their feudalization, seeking to preserve the shōen as the economic basis of its power. Therefore, although the shōen system underwent collapse, individual shōen existed until the 16th century. as a form of land ownership by the court, court aristocracy, church and samurai class.
In the 13th century. The erosion of the main tax unit in the shoen - “nominal owners” - this intermediate social layer, at one pole of which “new names” were formed - small feudal lords and samurai who settled on the land, and at the other - the small peasantry. This marked the development of the process of social demarcation between the classes of peasants and nobles (samurai).
Small peasants, to a greater extent than wealthy ones, needed collective protection of their interests, which led to some strengthening of the rural community, which in the legislation of the early 14th century. was determined as part of four villages. In the previous period, in the village called Shoen, officials were appointed mainly from the center to collect taxes and duties from the peasants.
Such villages essentially broke up into separate isolated farmsteads, which were united only formally during the period of predominant dominance of the “nominal owners.” Of course, where the production process required the collective efforts of a significant number of people (during irrigation, fishing, marine fishing), the social ties of the rural community were stronger.
The situation of artisans, merchants and peasants
The situation of merchants and artisans was even worse. Most cities belonged to either shoguns or influential princes. And in such cities, the arbitrariness of officials and samurai had no restrictions. Actually, there were not so many large shogun cities, where the situation of merchants and artisans was more or less tolerable. You can list cities such as Osako, Hokato, Kyoto, and a number of others.
The situation of the peasantry was even worse.
Ieyaso Tokugavi is credited with saying, “A peasant is like a sesame seed, the more you press, the more you squeeze out.”
His associates expressed the idea that the best way to treat a peasant is this: you have to beat out of the peasant everything that he can give, except food for himself for a year. Peasants had no rights. They were the main part of taxpayers, and the feudal lords and samurai treated them as they pleased.
Economy of Japan during the Kamakura Shogunate
In a rural community of the XIII-XIV centuries. communal lands ( sanya ) were still the property of the feudal lord. Peasants were allowed to mow grass and collect brushwood, but this was not their inviolable right. There were many disputes about the rights to common lands.
There was no self-government in the community of this period. The shogun administrator, the “land chief” (jito), administered court and supervised the fulfillment of duties and the collection of taxes. Prosperous peasants showed some initiative, entering into tax contracts with feudal lords and the administration so that the tax would not be revised annually.
At the beginning of the 14th century. Community solidarity arises in the form of oaths (kishomon) , signed by all members of the community when reaching an agreement on a certain issue.
At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV centuries. letters began to circulate - appeals from peasants (hyakusho moshijo) , which the feudal shoguns could no longer ignore. In 1250, the procedure of “communal litigation” was established, according to which complaints were formally encouraged by the shogun. However, the peasants actually could not complain about the lawlessness of the jito, since in order to file a complaint they had to have permission from the jito against whom the complaint was made.
Some strengthening of the rural community contributed to the consolidation of the bulk of the peasants, although the influence of the wealthy village elite in matters of community leadership did not decrease.
On the development of commodity-money relations in the 13th century. evidenced by the 1226 ban on using cloth as money. In 1290, a special embassy was sent to China to purchase copper money in exchange for gold, since only copper coins were in circulation, which were not then produced in Japan.
Wholesale trade appeared along the rivers of the central region of Honshu Island. Initially, it was carried out by Shoen officials, who combined administrative functions with the transportation and storage of grain, but then they began to specialize in the transportation of handicrafts, sometimes over quite long distances. These wholesalers, dealing in large quantities of rice, began making rice liquor and engaging in moneylending.
The development of commodity-money relations entailed a partial replacement of corvée and in-kind tax with money (commutation). This process accelerated in the second half of the 13th century. and meant the emergence of a monetary reform of feudal land rent, which survived until the end of the 16th century. The commutation sharply worsened the financial situation of the bulk of the peasants, who were deprived of the opportunity to sell their products on the market and did not have the money to pay taxes.
The only way out for them was to seek financial help from merchants, moneylenders and rural rich people. The latter, being drawn into commodity-money relations, became significantly richer, and the mass of the poor inevitably fell into servile dependence. Social differentiation of peasants widened the gap between their individual categories.
The emergence of Shoen markets stimulated the development of the monetary form of feudal land rent. The feudal lords considered the Shoen markets as their property. Some of these markets in Central Japan spanned several provinces. Trade in the Shoen market gave the feudal lord an additional source of income and marked the emergence of a new type of landowner who sought to reduce labor rent and increase food rent, and increase income from trade and usury. The social conditions of the Kamakura regime constrained the activities of this category of new feudal lords, and they increasingly advocated its overthrow.
At the end of the XII and especially in the XIII century. rural dzas appeared, marking the penetration of commodity-money relations into the village, drawing rural rich people into the local, local market.
Thus, the development of trade was the economic basis for the aggravation of social and class contradictions.
Founder of the Kamakura shogunate - head of the Minamoto clan
A two-year-old child could become a shogun
The rule of shoguns in Japan lasted from 1192 until the Meiji Revolution. During this period, the supreme commander-in-chief passed on his power by inheritance and combined the highest government posts, while the power of the emperor was rather ceremonial and nominal. From the deceased Yoritomo Minamoto, power passed to the regents of his son - the Hojo clan.
After the termination of the Minamoto line in the male line, the Japanese shoguns, perhaps for the only time in history, included among their number a child from the Fujiwara clan, who was appointed to the highest government position of the time at the age of two.
The administrative system of Japan during the Kamakura shogunate
The administrative structure of power of the samurai class arose on the basis of the spread of the practice of managing feudal houses to the entire noble class. The military administration of the shogunate, called the Field Headquarters (Bakufu) , was divided into two main groups: administrative and judicial, consisting of the Administrative Chamber and the Supreme Court of Justice. In addition, there was a special Samurai department.
To carry out administrative and police functions, the shogunate established the institutions of the Land Head (jito) and the Guards and Protectors (shugo) .
Sources date the emergence of jito to 1185. They were appointed from among Minamoto's vassals, but at first not regularly. For several months (from November 1185), jito were sent to 36 western provinces to provide the shogun's troops with food, but already in the next year this function began to fade away. Under the contract agreement with Kamakura jito, full local management rights were granted in exchange for regularly supplied taxes.
After 1221, the jito became the shogun's representatives in the private feudal shoen, where their administrative and police activities duplicated the functions of the managers appointed by the shoen owners. The Jito committed lawlessness, ignored Kamakura court decisions, and forced local residents to sign affidavits favorable to themselves. The jito received fodder lands, but they widely practiced appropriating part of the annual shōen tax.
Where the jito coexisted with local officials, mainly in the west, their income was less than in the east, where they had unlimited governing rights. From the second half of the 13th century. The practice of dividing income between the owners of shoen and jito began. The rights of the latter were strengthened by reducing the real power and income of the shoen owners.
From 1190, Shugo began to be appointed by the shogun in the province as leaders of the police forces to restore order and maintain contact with the shogun's vassals. Possessing armed force, they began to displace the governors and, having appropriated their main functions, became the main military-administrative force in the province, military governors.
The shogun proclaimed himself “Head of Shugo and Jito,” claiming full administrative and police power. However, his orders met with opposition even among the samurai class, not to mention his opponents. The armed suppression of disobedient people was carried out by the “commissioner of coercion” - one of the strongest vassals of the shogun.
A characteristic feature of the Kamakura shogunate was the omnipotence (soryo) of the heads of large family groups. This omnipotence marched through all social strata of that time.
The head of the family was obliged to take care of the preservation of family property, the surname as a symbol of the family, the traditional family profession, and to exercise control over family members. He could deprive those who violated the established order of land. The head of the family performed ancestor worship. In wartime conditions, he commanded his family unit.
During the Kamakura period, the functions of the head of the family could be concentrated in the hands of a woman, which was no longer observed subsequently.
The authority of the head of the family was indisputable; even the shogun did not interfere in his decisions.
In addition to managing family affairs, the patriarch performed social functions and in this regard was subordinate to the shogun, being his direct vassal (gokenin) . Legally, this was determined by a charter, according to which, for the land provided, the vassal was obliged to ensure the payment of taxes and the fulfillment of labor and military duties.
The lands of the shogun's vassals were divided into hereditary (sanctioned by the shogun) and received for merit. The granted lands, paid for in blood, were a source of special pride for the samurai. The last category of land was especially highly valued by them.
Non-vassals of the shogun (higokenin) were placed in a lower social position in relation to the shogun's vassals, since they served other feudal lords who could potentially be carriers of centrifugal tendencies.
As large family groups naturally grew and disintegrated, the shogunate became increasingly interested in increasing the number of its vassals and made seceded younger sons into vassals. This process took place at the beginning of the 14th century. and testified to the loss by the patriarchs of their former omnipotence. Since 1303, the provision of the same grants to the heads of small separated families as to the patriarchs equalized the rights of both.
of rebellious leagues (ikki) from the They consisted of younger sons who were hired out to one or another feudal lord. The success or defeat of the parties in internecine wars for land, for power, and for the sole right of the feudal lord to exploit the peasants often depended on the support of such leagues.
Formation of Japanese statehood
In the I-II centuries. the population of the southern Japanese islands (where there were significant groups of immigrants from Indonesia, Korea, etc.) was at the stage of forming a supra-communal administration. The basis of the social organization was a clan “family” of several thousand members (families of up to 60-70 thousand people are also known). It was headed by an elder-patriarch, who was also considered the priest of the clan. A stable social hierarchy has developed in families: lower people (geko) and “big people” (daijin). Sometimes entire small clans were dependent on their superiors. Slavery was also known, but slaves were expensive and rare. Clan families represented separate associations, and Chinese chronicles of the era wrote about the Japanese: “They are divided into more than a hundred states. They come to us every year and bring us tribute.”
From the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries. the social hierarchy in clans began to quickly turn into proto-state institutions. The powers of rulers became hereditary, they were sanctified by religious authority. The increasing role of rulers was facilitated by the recognition of vassalage in relation to China, as well as military campaigns. The supremacy of one of these tribal unions gradually emerged. Primary public education in Japan was named after such a union.
Unification (mid 5th - early 7th century)
was a typical proto-state. It developed under significant Chinese influence. This influence especially increased from the 6th century, after the spread of Buddhism in Japan; The role of Buddhist monasteries in strengthening the centers of statehood was great.
The power of the head of the dominant union was gradually recognized as national. The king (okimi) acquired the title of tenno (“heavenly sovereign”, emperor). The ruler combined both religious and state power. Gradually he was granted the powers of the supreme judge.
By the 6th century local clan rulers turned into representatives of the central government. This hierarchy, already completely state-level, was strengthened by the system of social ranks - kabane (established in the 5th century). The heads of the most influential families and clans secured ranks associated with discrete management functions: omi - courtiers, muradzi - military, etc.; In total, up to 9 such specializations were identified. Tribal clans began to turn into provinces with their own governors; the number of provinces reached 120, they were divided into communities. In 569, the first census of lands and duties of the dependent population was recorded. The tax system moved from periodic offerings to regular taxes (rice) and labor duties. Through the growth of economic coercion for the bulk of the peasant population, the tribal authorities began to form large estates, and the former tribesmen began to turn into semi-free (tomobe) with the consolidation of professional occupations and functions.
Throughout the 6th century. The noble families that emerged as a result of the formation of the proto-state administration waged a fierce struggle for leadership. The struggle continued until about 587, when the powerful Soga clan prevailed, seizing the imperial throne. Centralization reforms were undertaken in the Chinese spirit, aimed at strengthening the rank hierarchy, the formation of bureaucrats, and a new tax apparatus.
With the reign of the Prince Regent of the House of Soga Umayadaw
The appearance of the first laws is associated - 12 Articles (603) and 17 Articles Laws (604-622). Laws were not so much legal norms as a set of political and moral teachings. However, they were the basis of government activities. Clans were encouraged to unite and serve the common good. The entire population was divided into three classes: rulers - nobles - people. The ruler was no longer considered just the head of the highest clan, but a sole ruler with special powers of government. According to Chinese models, it expressed “universal law”, which was considered the basis of the rule of law. For the purposes of such a legal order, the ruler had the right to demand unconditional submission from lower officials. At the same time, the ruler was not recognized as completely autocratic: he was required to have advisers with him. It was proclaimed that “matters should not be decided by the sovereign alone.”
From the end of the 6th century. The unification of Yamato began to strive to liberate itself from the suzerainty of the Chinese Song Empire (very conditional) and turn into an independent early state.
The final formation of the state organization was a consequence of the transformations called the Taika coup (645–646)
.
Taking advantage of the discontent of the peasant masses, other clans overthrew the regime of the Soga rulers and established a new imperial dynasty. The most important social turn was the declaration of all land as state (imperial) property only. A state system of land allotment was established, following a hierarchy of traditional and newly established ranks. This marked the beginning of a new class system in the country.
Due to political changes in the second half of the 7th century. a central administration was formed. Supreme governance was carried out by the State Council (dazekan), which included the heads of the ruling clans and senior administrators. The real work on current management was carried out by the State Secretariat of 2 divisions: right and left (according to Chinese tradition). The Secretariat supervised 8 departments: punishment, treasures, military, court, central affairs, ranks, administration, and people's affairs. In addition, there were special departments: for the affairs of the Shinto cult and for the investigation of crimes (dadzedan). The activities of the bureaucratic administration practically embodied the entire state organization. The authorities paid special attention to its correct flow. At the end of the 7th century. a special administrative code was issued; the old ranks were abolished, and in their place a new branched bureaucratic system (of 48 ranks) was formed. At the end of the 7th century. The position of first minister was established in the government.
The country acquired a new rigid division into provinces, counties and villages. Villages (up to 50 households) became the basis of a new tax and military recruitment system. In local government, tribal traditions were also eliminated, and management was entrusted to appointed officials. The basis for the existence of a branched state organization was the so-called. triad of taxation, known from ancient China: land tax, taxes on peasant crafts, labor service (for the construction of buildings, roads, irrigation systems).
In its internal structure, the monarchical state of ritsur (law), established after the Taika coup, was similar to the European barbarian states. And just as in Europe, the new state became an incentive to reshape the social system in the direction of feudal relations.
Joei Shikimoku - laws for the samurai class during the Kamakura shogunate
The death in 1199 of Minamoto Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, was used by his father-in-law Hojo Tokimasa for the forced monastic vows of Minamoto's son Yoriie and the actual seizure of power under the guise of a ruler (shikken).
Ex-Emperor Gotoba also took advantage of the death of Minamoto Yoritomo, who, relying on the formation of Western samurai, in particular the Miura group, tried to regain power during the turmoil of 1219-1221. (Shokyu years), but the conspirators were defeated. From this time on, the Hojo began to regularly send two inspectors with detachments to Kyoto, in the Rokuhara region, where the official offices of the regents were located, to supervise the actions of the emperor and his entourage. More than 3 thousand shoen were confiscated from the rebels in favor of the shogun and his supporters.
The stabilization of the position of the eastern samurai as a result of the defeat of the palace opposition was legally secured in 1232 by a Code of Laws of 51 articles (“Joei Shikimoku”). The code was compiled to resolve legal cases of the samurai class. Not officially published, it was rather an order from the authorities for official use and, together with subsequent additions, quite accurately reflected the socio-economic situation of the country in the 13th century.
This legal monument testifies to the presence of a not yet fully developed hereditary fief system, in which land ownership was divided into fief land itself (ryochi, or chigyo) , lands of the Shinto and Buddhist churches (shinryo and butsuryo) , which fell under the concept of fief ownership, and, in addition Moreover, the uninhabited lands of large landowners and the provincial administration. And although uninhabited lands continued to be called “ state field” (koden) , they were no longer the property of the imperial house. There was also a raised new (konden) , which was divided into “named fields” (myoden) - the possessions of individuals who cleared the land for arable land, which received the name of the first uprooter, and forests, pastures, and water lands, which were the property of feudal lords.
The court in Kyoto continued to have its own legislation. Like Kamakura, it provided for the free will of the head of the family in choosing an heir and in dividing property between several heirs. However, Kyoto legislation denied the legality of making changes, while Kamakura legislation recognized the right to revise the will and change the heir (Articles 18 and 26).
If in the early Kamakura period, inheritance of the prerogatives of the head of the family was allowed only after his death, then, according to the law of 1241, it was also allowed during his life: in case of old age, when removed from business (inke), due to illness.
The samurai had the right to transfer the inheritance not only to the eldest son, but he had to receive the suzerain's sanction for this, and the eldest son was guaranteed 1/5 of the inheritance (Article 22, as well as the legislation of the Chosokabe family group, Art. 82).
A characteristic feature of the Kamakura period was the high social status of women, and this brings it closer to the previous, and not to the subsequent time. A widow, subject to chaste behavior, could lead the family, own the land of her late husband, and even receive a charter from the shogun (legislation of 1238 and 1267). The wife's property was confiscated only in the event of a serious crime by the husband, in the event of his participation in a rebellion or robbery, and then the wife was considered as his accomplice. In other cases, her property was not subject to confiscation (Article 11).
At that time, there was no clear distinction between wife and concubine. Both were protected by law; the possession given by a man was not taken away from them if the latter left them without guilt on their part (v. 21).
A woman who had no children could take an adopted son and transfer ownership to him. If a woman was the head of the family, she decided the issue herself; a married woman required her husband’s permission (Article 23).
The widow was ordered to mourn the deceased, her remarriage was considered immoral (Article 24), but in reality it often took place, as confirmed by additions to the Code of 1238, 1239 and 1286, again and again prohibiting remarriage.
If, according to the Taihoryo code (702), a father lost the right to a dowry after his daughter’s marriage, now he could demand its return, which at the same time meant the dissolution of the marriage. Along with the dowry, the married daughter also returned to the parental home (v. 17).
With the introduction of the Hojo Code, Yasutoki established the practice of a vassal's oath of allegiance to his overlord. The person taking the oath pricked his finger, moistened the seal, which at that time replaced the signature, with blood, and applied it to his oath.
But even oaths sealed in blood were not able to prevent the growth of social conflicts caused by the deepening contradiction between the level of development of the productive forces and the instability of dual power. In order to prevent conflicts, in 1238 a special guard was created in Kyoto to maintain order (kagariya shugonin).
Despite the defeat in the Shokyu Troubles (1219–1221), the court and its entourage still posed a serious threat to the dominance of the samurai class. To weaken their opponents, in 1252, by order of Hojo, the Fujiwara house was divided into 5 branches, which were alternately assigned regency-chancellor court titles.
Chronologically coinciding with the division of the Fujiwara house is the division of the imperial house into two branches: Northern and Southern. In 1259, Emperor Gofukakusa retired to the Jimyoin Monastery, and in 1276, Emperor Kameyama, having left the world, settled in the Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect - Daikakuji. Thus, the Northern branch (Jimyointo) and the Southern branch (Daikakujito) arose in the imperial house. As a result of the mediation of the Kamakura shogunate, an agreement was reached on alternating succession to the throne between these two lines.
Battle of the amphibious assault of the Mongols and Japanese samurai on the coast of Japan
State, society and law of Japan during the shogunate period.
The emergence of the early feudal state in Japan was preceded by a long struggle between tribal groups , which led to the hegemony of a tribal group led by the strongest Yamoto . Representatives of the Yamoto house began to be seen as bearers of the power of the highest leaders, priests and judges. Relying on the Buddhist church, which had significant political influence in the country, they appropriated to themselves the title of “ sons of heaven ” - emperors , and, together with the clan aristocracy, usurped the power of tribal leaders, turning it into hereditary.
All residents were declared direct subjects of the emperor - “ tenno ”. Under the emperor, whose power was inherited, an extensive state apparatus was created. An important place in the state was occupied by the Supreme State Council ( Dajōkan ), headed by the first minister ( daijōdaijin ), to whom eight departments were subordinate. The main ones were military, judicial and financial (treasure department).
Despite the deification of the emperor , his power was limited . He shared it with the heads of large feudal houses. All important positions in the state were occupied by members of the imperial house or other large feudal houses, the heads of which often relegated the emperor to the background and actually ruled the country.
Since 645, the territorial division of the country into provinces ( kuni ) and counties ( chun ) was introduced in Japan, headed by governors and district chiefs appointed from the local feudal aristocracy ( chunxi ).
At the same time, the “ five-yard ” system was introduced in Japan - associations of five neighboring peasant households, bound by a mutual guarantee in fulfilling all the duties of the peasants to the state and the community.
The clan squad in the early feudal state of Japan was replaced by a standing army , created from peasant recruits equipped by the rural community. In the early period, military affairs were not separated from agricultural labor. This separation occurred during the period of feudal fragmentation, which contributed to the concentration of military power in the hands of local feudal lords and the formation of a special military-feudal class of samurai - professional warriors, vassals of large feudal lords.
This process was accelerated by the aggravation of class contradictions and numerous protests by Japanese peasants, to combat which these first samurai feudal squads were created. The deepening process of class differentiation of Japanese society was reflected in the special worldview of the Japanese samurai, a special code of honor - bushido , with a pronounced contempt for peasant labor, with Confucian principles of loyalty and unquestioning submission to the father, overlord, and sovereign.
Numerous Buddhist sects, striving to play not only an ideological, but also a greater political role in the country, created their armed forces from warrior monks ( sohei ).
fief relations were being formalized in Japan , and a system of hierarchical vassalage was emerging between individual representatives of the feudal class. As early as the 12th century, a division of the feudal class into its most privileged group, the direct vassals of military rulers - shoguns and vassals of other feudal owners, temples and monasteries, arose. Trying to expand his social base, the shogun creates a small-scale fief nobility, which becomes the main support in his struggle with the large feudal lords to strengthen central power.
Important social changes took place in Japan in the 15th-16th centuries. The growth of crafts and trade, the development of cities lead to the creation of local markets, the final establishment of large, economically stronger feudal farms of the sovereign princes - daimyo . The daimyo only nominally recognized the power of the central government and waged endless internecine wars. They almost everywhere liquidated the estates of their samurai vassals, settled some of them in their castles and provided them with rice rations.
Small samurai landownership, partially preserved, was unstable. The samurai went bankrupt and mortgaged their lands to moneylenders. Impoverished samurai replenished the army of ronin ( wandering samurai ), who had lost their possessions in internecine wars.
The beginning of the second period of development of the feudal state in Japan coincides with the emergence in the 12th century of a unique political form of the Japanese feudal state - the shogunate , in which all political power , both in the center and largely locally, was concentrated in the hands of one of the largest feudal houses . This is a military-feudal dictatorship of the strongest feudal family economically, militarily and politically, based on the samurai - the military-service nobility, under which the importance of imperial power is nominally preserved. Previously, individual feudal houses removed the emperor from the political arena, but at the end of the 12th century, a government apparatus - bakufu .
In the 13th century, the shogun arrogated to himself the right to approve the emperor , determine the order of succession to the throne, and appoint regents and other senior court advisers. The central apparatus of the bakufu consisted of the main administrative chamber, which was in charge of the legislation of the main military chamber, a special body in charge of the samurai class, and the main judicial chamber. Military governors were appointed to all provinces. They oversaw the fulfillment of duties in favor of the central government, commanded local garrisons, and had all local judicial and police power in their hands.
, the process of centralization of the country began in Japan . Crafts and trade grew. Despite feudal regulation and restrictions, the first shoots of capitalist industry began to emerge in Japan in the form of domestic peasant production subordinated to merchants. A single national market was taking shape. Along with economic reasons, there were a number of political conditions that accelerated the unification of the country . The 16th century was a time of continuous anti-feudal uprisings, an extreme aggravation of social contradictions, which prompted the most far-sighted representatives of the ruling class to create a strong central government aimed at strengthening the feudal order. The middle feudal lords saw strengthening the central government as a means of protection against large feudal lords, while the small ones saw it as a means of ensuring their existence at the expense of it.
, the first Europeans entered Japan and the threat of loss of political independence also dictated the need for unification. The process of unification of the country especially intensified during the third shogunate of the Tokugawa house . The unification of Japan was accompanied by the suppression of rebellious feudal lords and a stricter attachment of peasants to the land.
In Tokugawa Japan, there were four classes : the samurai “ bushi ”, which included the feudal princes daimyo, the samurai proper and the court aristocracy “ kuge ”, the peasants “ nomin ”, the artisans “ shukogyosha ”, and the merchants “ shonin ”. At the top of this complex hierarchical system was the Tokugawa house . The military support of the shogunate were the samurai, who were part of the princely troops and received rice rations or land for this. The samurai , who were prohibited from all types of activities except military ones, turned into a closed military-noble class .
The peasant in Japan was the traditional owner of the land, using it on a perpetual lease basis, for which he had to pay taxes and perform duties in favor of the state and the feudal lord. At the same time, the Japanese peasant at that time was a serf, because he was forbidden to move from one feudal lord to another, to move freely around the country, or to choose his occupation.
The head of the state was the shogun - the commander . The special role of military force in Japan was explained by the ongoing separatist movements and the need to maintain the fragile centralization that was achieved under the third shogunate.
An extensive bureaucratic police apparatus was created under the bakufu There was a special layer of samurai in the country - hatomoto, from whom the accounting, tax and administrative apparatus of the shogun, which was under his direct subordination, was staffed. The senior government officials - roju (elders, ministers) who made up the shogun's government were in charge of the imperial court, state finances, the provision of land holdings, relations with foreign states, etc. Sometimes the position of chief regent or chief minister - tairo - was established. Below the roju stood the younger elders, their assistants in all matters of administration. Many positions were inherited.
Tokugawa Japan was a police state in which any manifestations of anti-government sentiment were brutally persecuted. One of the means of strengthening the power of the shogunate was the hostage system (sankinnotai), finally enshrined in law in 1635, under which all daimyo had to alternately reside in the shogun's house, and when returning to their domains, leave them in Edo. (capitals of the shogunate) their families. A special deputy of the shogun of Kyoto, the shoshidai, was appointed to oversee the imperial court. A special detective system (“metsuke - seiji”, metsuke - literally “attached eye”) carried out secret police surveillance over officials and the entire population of the country. It was headed by police inspectors - o-metske, who were simultaneously monitoring each other. O-mztske penetrated into the houses of daimyos and even into the house of the emperor. Movement in the country was regulated by a strict pass system.
To supervise the peasants and, above all, to collect taxes from them, the position of daikan, deputy head of the financial department, was established. They, in turn, were subordinate to the village elders (seya). In cities, in addition to appointed mayors, there were councils of large merchants, but the system of city government did not receive any noticeable development in Japan.
Basic features of law. The most important source of early medieval law is the Taiho Yero Re code - the main source characterizing the law of Japan in the 8th - 10th centuries. This Code of Laws summarized and systematized legislative acts on socio-economic and political reforms aimed at eliminating primitive communal separatism and creating a centralized state, consolidating the privileged position of the new aristocracy;
The Taiho Yero Re, or as it is more commonly referred to as the Taiho Code, contains both civil (Taihore) and criminal laws (Taihoritsu). Taihore contains 30 civil laws; “Taihoritsu” - 10 criminal laws (for example, on robbery and robbery; on the protection of the palace).
Speaking about other sources of Japanese feudal law, it is necessary to talk about the Japanese emperors as the power of the Shoguns increased from the 12th century. gives way to government orders and government instructions of the bakufu, called codes. One of these legal sources was the “Kemmu Code” (1334-1338), consisting of 17 articles. In 1509, a code appeared consisting of approximately 200 orders, instructions, and instructions to judges; here, for example, it talks about responsibility for bribery, the purpose of punishment, the fairness of judicial decisions, i.e., their compliance with federal principles of law and morality. An important source of law was the famous “Code of One Hundred Articles” of 1742. It can be said that judicial precedent was also one of the sources of feudal Japanese law.
Ownership. In Japan, as a result of the “Taika coup” in 645, an allotment system of land ownership was introduced, according to which the monarch was declared the supreme owner of the land. At the same time, lands were divided into three types: public (“koti” - forests, mountains, wastelands); state, government (“kanti”); personal or private (“city”). There was, for example, a special type of crown lands called “palace fields” (kanden), which were cultivated by peasants as labor service. These lands were under the special control of the Ministry of the Household, which determined the area planted, the type of crops planted and the amount of labor required.
The peasants received land plots from the monarch on the terms of paying taxes and fulfilling duties; leaving the allotment was prohibited, i.e. they turned into state serfs. The allotment system provided for the distribution of land to men in the amount of two tan (one tan was 0.12 hectares; 10 tan is equal to one te) and to women in the amount of 2/3 of the male allotment39. The law determined the size of the peasant land tax: two sheaves of rice and two handfuls of rice in an ear (two bunches) per tan.
During the late Middle Ages in Japan, a unique form of large conditional feudal land ownership, transferred by the shoguns to their vassals, was finally established.
The owners of land in Tokugawa Japan were the shogun, feudal lords, temples and monasteries (Buddhist and Shinto). About a quarter of Japan's land belongs to the Tokugawa house. The rest of the land was mainly the inheritance of the princes. About a third of the lands belonging to the Tokugawa were held by the shogun's direct vassals - small and medium-sized feudal lords.
The ruling class of feudal lords was divided into several categories. A special group - kuge - was made up of the court nobility of the imperial capital of Kyoto; kuge received support from the shogun.
Obligation is right. The feudal law of Japan regulated the following types of contracts: purchase and sale, loan, lease, donation, barter, storage, etc. The subject of purchase and sale were various things, including land. Thus, even peasants could sell their garden plots. However, it was strictly forbidden for peasants and officials to sell, donate fields, personal and garden plots to Buddhist temples, and even exchange these types of lands with them. There were attempts to limit transactions regarding land, but they did not produce significant results.
Measures were taken by the shogun to preserve small peasant farms that were not subject to alienation. Thus, the law of 1643 prohibited the alienation of land and the division of land if the plot was less than 1 te (0.99 hectares) and the harvest from it consisted of less than 10 koku of rice. In fact, impoverished peasants often fell into the category of unpaid debtors, finding themselves in bondage to moneylenders, merchants, and officials who, in order to repay the loan,
A peculiar case of quasi-lease is the unauthorized plowing of someone else's abandoned land. In Japan, a field was considered abandoned if it had not been cultivated for three years. Such land remained in the use of the person who plowed it for three years if it was private, and six years if it was state-owned. In Japan, plots were allowed to be rented out for short-term rent - for a year, and gardens - for a longer period. In general, Japanese medieval contract law was underdeveloped. Thus, there was no clear distinction between a loan and a loan.
Under the loan agreement, both the state (its institutions) and private individuals acted as creditors, and only a private person could be the debtor. The law recognized interest, but the total amount of interest could not exceed the amount of the debt. Thus, the law states that if the subject of the loan agreement was grain, then the interest rate could not be more than 100% for a private lender and 50% for the treasury for a period from spring to autumn.
Interest could be charged 60 days after repayment of the debt; was carried out every 60 days in the amount of 1/8 of the debt (12.5%), and after 480 days, when the amount of interest reached the debt, their collection stopped.
Japanese law provided for both bail and surety; At the same time, the creditor could not arbitrarily dispose of the collateral, which he could sell only with the permission of the authorities. The debtor was given the right to work off the debt through personal labor, which excluded debt slavery.
Marriage, family and inheritance law. In Japan, a large patriarchal family has been preserved, the head of which enjoyed enormous power over all members of the family community related by origin, veneration of ancestors and the performance of family religious rites. He was considered the administrator of the family property; His duties included compiling tax lists and a household register by a certain date.
The eldest son occupied a special position in the family, as the potential future head of the court (large family), performer of the cult of ancestors, and heir. In Japan, there was an institution of adoption of candidates for the role of the first-born in the absence of natural sons.
The issue of marriage was decided by the heads of families; the consent of the bride and groom was not required. The age of marriage was set at 15 years for the groom and 13 for the bride. As already noted, direct concern for the marriage of children was assigned to the father, who had the final say in matters of matchmaking, engagement, and marriage. Violation of the engagement by one of the parties was punishable. The bride's family could refuse the engagement if the groom committed a crime, went abroad for a year or more, if the marriage was not concluded within three months after the engagement. A detected premarital affair between the bride (even with the groom) was an obstacle to marriage. Marriages during the period of illness or imprisonment of parents could take place only by their special instructions and without any pomp.
The position of the wife as a whole was subordinate, while the groom remained, to a certain extent, quite honorable. The wife was the owner of the dowry. Dissolution of marriage by divorce was allowed. Reasons for divorce for a husband: lack of male offspring, the wife’s debauchery, her disobedience to her father-in-law or mother-in-law, talkativeness, thievery, jealousy, the wife’s bad illness. Divorce initiated by the wife: unknown absence of the husband, adultery of the husband, premarital cohabitation of the bride, serious insult by the husband of the wife's parents. In this case, the dowry was returned to the wife; she had the right to live in her ex-husband's house. The husband could dissolve the marriage unilaterally by informing his wife of the divorce. Adultery was considered a crime only for the wife. The inequality of the wife and her husband also lay in the fact that he could have a concubine. Illegitimate children could be part of the father's family if they were recognized by him.
In Japan, the main type of inheritance was intestate inheritance, according to which all family members received an appropriate share of the property. The eldest son had the right to 2 shares; surviving spouse - 2 shares; daughters - half share.
The widow was subject to guardianship by her husband's family; the law prohibited separating her from her husband’s court.
Criminal law. For state crimes, the perpetrators were usually sentenced to death. Thus, for rebellion or conspiracy to attack the imperial palace, the perpetrators were punished by death through beheading and confiscation of property. At the same time, their relatives and persons dependent on them (fathers, sons, courtyard people) were brought to justice, whose property was also subject to confiscation. Obviously, in this case we are talking about accomplices, since the law says: “if someone in a rebellion against the sovereign failed to rouse the people subordinate to him and failed to involve influential persons in the rebellion, then the culprit should be executed, and his father and sons send to a distant exile. The confiscated property was divided between the treasury and relatives who were not accused of complicity.
High treason was also punishable by death. Thus, the law states that “if anyone is contemplating high treason, he should be hanged,” and in the event of a crime committed, all perpetrators are sentenced to death by beheading. In this case, the sons of the culprit are sent to middle exile; but if the conspirator led ten or more accomplices, then his sons are sent into distant exile.
Subsequently, significant changes were made to the concept of a state crime, which consisted in the fact that during the periods of developed and late feudalism, a state crime began to be understood as any act directed against the regime of the shogun's rule.
Among crimes against the person, special attention was paid to the most serious of them - murder, for which capital punishment was provided by decapitation.
Among the most dangerous crimes was the murder of parents and relatives. So, for example, only for the intent to kill a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother; or wife's grandfather or grandmother; her husband; husband's grandparents; father, wife's mother, the accused was sentenced to death by beheading. For intent to kill his wife, the perpetrator was sentenced to distant exile. It is clear that the death penalty was also imposed on a slave for intent to kill his master or his relatives, as well as his grandfather and grandmother on the side of the master’s wife. In the feudal law of Japan, a distinction was made between intentional and reckless murder; murder in a quarrel; murder committed with the assistance of a hired killer; by poisoning. So, for example, Art. 14 “Taiho Ritsure” states: “...If someone threatens another person and he, being frightened, commits murder, then he should be tried, depending on the circumstances, for intentional murder, or for murder in a fight, or for murder through negligence.” In Art. 15 says: “If someone makes and stores poisons (which can harm people), or teaches this to other people, then the culprit should be hanged... Family members of this person, even if they did not know the specified circumstances, should be sent into distant exile...”
The code speaks of necessary defense as a circumstance excluding or mitigating criminal liability. So, in Art. 5, talking about responsibility for murder in a fight, Fr.
In Art. 22, for example, says: “If someone deliberately enters someone else’s house at night, and the owner of the house hits and kills the intruder, then he will not be punished.”
As for liability for causing injuries, according to the feudal law of Japan, the perpetrator was punished either by hard labor or exile; could also be subjected to corporal punishment. So, in Art. 3 states that if the victim is seriously injured (the shoulder is severed, the eyes are damaged), then the perpetrator is sentenced to two years of hard labor. And for attempting to injure someone, the accused was punished with 100 blows of sticks.
Japanese law included theft, robbery, robbery, fraud, and extortion as crimes against property. The most common punishments were hard labor, exile, and caning.
If each crime is punished with sticks or rods, then the total punishment cannot exceed 200 blows.
The law provided for the responsibility of the local administration for committing murders and thefts in the territory under its jurisdiction. So in Art. 51 states: “If several cases of theft or murder occur in the districts of any province, then the governor of the province will be sentenced to hard labor for up to 2.5 years. At the same time, village elders (as well as city elders, neighborhood elders) and district commanders were subjected to corporal punishment.
Japanese law also provided for liability for such crimes as counterfeiting coins or documents, using incorrect scales, and perjury. At the same time, the list of crimes continuously increased. Fraudsters, sorcerers, and fortune tellers were severely punished; persons leading a parasitic lifestyle; persons professing the Christian religion, etc.
In 1637, Japan passed a law prohibiting Japanese people from traveling abroad. Violation of this law was punishable by death.
Blood feuds persisted in the country for a long time; but committing blood feud without the appropriate permission from the authorities was considered as premeditated murder.
During the periods of developed and late feudalism, the main purpose of punishment becomes deterrence. In the system of punishments, the leading place began to be occupied by the death penalty in its most painful forms (crucifixion, boiling in a cauldron, burning, sawing). At the same time, objective imputation was widely practiced: the application of the death penalty to the relatives of the convicted person.
Japanese law reinforced social inequality in the penal system. Thus, “Tai-khore” in Art. 7 lists six groups of privileged: relatives of the monarch, his old friends, wise men, great talents; persons with special merits; court nobility. In relation to these groups, criminal punishment was significantly softened and mainly consisted of dismissal from positions, deprivation of ranks, awards and benefits, and the imposition of a fine. It should be noted that the law provided the opportunity to pay off punishment. The ransom consisted of contributing to the treasury rare for that time pure copper (in the form of ingots) in the amount of 1 kin (kin - 1 kg) to 200 kin. Only wealthy criminals were able to pay the ransom. The issue of replacing punishment with a ransom was decided by the court, and there were certain deadlines within which the ransom must be paid: within 60 days for exile replacement, 50 for hard labor, 40 for sticks, 30 days for rods. Failure to comply with deadlines without a good reason entailed the execution of the sentence. However, ransom was not allowed for the most serious crimes (state crimes, premeditated murder, production and storage of poison, etc.).
In the punishment system there was the concept of “complete demotion” (i.e. deprivation of titles, posts, awards).
The law also provided for additional punishment in the form of a reduction in rank (there were 8 ranks in total; officials of the 6th, 7th and 8th ranks belonged to the lowest (third) category of officials) for committing a crime for which punishment was provided for by exile or hard labor.
Criminal process. In the feudal law of Japan, elements of the search process were already established in early sources. In Japan, there were several administrative and judicial authorities. The county government was considered the lowest authority; the next authority is the provincial government; Next came the Ministry of Justice, and, finally, the highest authority - the State Council, the emperor.
Jurisdiction was determined both by the place where the crime was committed and by its importance (meaning acts for which punishment was punishable by hard labor or more).
Cases were initiated at the initiative of the state and at the request of private individuals. Secret denunciations (not anonymous) were widespread. In this case, the informer was punished for slander.
The arrest of certain categories of persons provided for a special procedure. Dignitaries of the 5th rank and above could be arrested with the permission of the emperor; but on charges of a state crime, a suspect could be detained for murder and subsequently sanctioned.
The first stage of the process was the investigation, in which the official was obliged to ensure the completeness of the evidence; the manner of speaking, listening, complexion, breathing, and the expression of the defendant’s eyes should have been taken into account.
When accused of serious crimes, insufficient evidence, evidence and denial, the defendant was allowed to be tortured. However, during the entire period of investigation it was forbidden to torture the accused more than three times: and at least 20 days must pass between tortures. The defendant’s own confession is becoming increasingly important in the system of evidence. This explains the persistence of torture in Japan until the bourgeois revolution of 1868.
Officials under investigation, accused of crimes for which the punishment was dismissal from service, were prohibited from ongoing official activities and participation in court festivities. However, these restrictions did not apply to dignitaries of the 3rd rank and above.
The investigator was subject to replacement if he was related to the accused in the fifth degree or closer, and through his wife - in the third degree or closer; and also if he was a mentor of the accused in the past.
During the investigation, the accused and his accomplices were in prison. But this did not apply to the highest ranking officials, who were not detained and continued to hold their posts.
Prisoners were supposed to be provided with clothing, food, mats, and medicine. If the investigation was completed, but not all accomplices were detained, it was allowed to pass a verdict against those arrested. In the feudal law of Japan, the principle of “absorption” of a less serious crime by a more serious one operated, according to which the investigation was actually conducted.
The sentence was carried out on the day it was announced. Relatives and friends of those sentenced to death were allowed to bid farewell to him. The death penalty was usually carried out publicly in the city market. However, officials of 7th rank and above, as well as women, were not publicly subjected to the death penalty. Dignitaries of the 5th rank and above, if they had not committed the murder of relatives or a more serious crime, were allowed to commit suicide at home.
For the especially privileged (we are talking about the six groups mentioned above: the emperor’s relatives, his friends, high dignitaries, etc.), the law allowed for an appeal against the verdict. In these cases, the case was reconsidered at an enlarged meeting of the State Council with the participation of the most prominent imperial advisers and the Minister of Justice, after which the written conclusion of the Council was sent to the monarch, who made the final decision.
It should be noted that an official sentenced to death, having been granted an amnesty, was nevertheless deprived of the right to hold his position.
The highest administrative and judicial bodies monitored the state of affairs related to justice: the modernity and correctness of local decisions, the execution of the death sentence, order and compliance with the regime in prisons, and compliance with the regime in hard labor; monitoring the progress of the investigation, stopping, in particular, red tape that leads to long periods of detention in a pre-trial prison.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the consideration of civil cases was carried out in the manner of claim proceedings, in which a system of relevant types of claims was in effect
42. Formation of a bourgeois state in England.
English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century. was the beginning of a new era. She for the first time proclaimed the principles of a new bourgeois socio-political order . Made the process of its formation irreversible not only in England, but also in Europe as a whole.
Driving forces of the revolution.
two economic structures coexisted in England : the old - feudal and the new - capitalist . The peculiarity of the country's development was that bourgeois relations in agriculture began to develop much earlier than in industry . For this reason, it was the English village that became the center of social conflict. Here the peasantry is dispossessed of land and a capitalist class of tenants is formed.
Features of the revolution:
The threat of Mongol invasion and the Kamakura shogunate
The threat of the Mongol invasion, which arose in the second half of the 13th century, aggravated the internal political situation.
In 1266, Kublai Khan sent envoys demanding recognition of his power over Japan. This arrogant demand was left unanswered, and the Japanese refused subsequent similar claims.
In November 1274, a Mongol fleet approached the western shores of Japan, capturing the islands of Tsushima and Iki, then troops began landing in the northwest of Kyushu in the province of Chikuzen (modern Fukuoka Prefecture). The samurai units fought fierce battles, but they were not prepared to repel the onslaught of such a powerful enemy. Help came from unexpected places - a typhoon arrived and destroyed more than 200 enemy ships and thwarted the Mongol invasion.
In June-August 1281, a new campaign was undertaken to the shores of Japan: two armadas with a total number of 3,500 ships and boats approached the Japanese shores - one from the Korean Peninsula, and the other from China. By this time, the coast was already fortified, combat ships were also prepared, but a typhoon swept away the enemy fleet, and the remaining ships were sunk by the Japanese. Since then, the typhoon began to be called “Divine Wind” ( kamikaze ) - a term that during the Second World War was used to refer to suicide bombers sent to bomb or sink enemy ships.
In the fight against the Mongols, the Japanese samurai squads encountered new tactics - the interaction of different units, with outflanking and encircling maneuvers, actions from the flanks, and with firearms, which destroyed most of the coastal fortifications. This contributed to the development of a new military organization, tactics of maneuverable combat, as well as lightening military equipment and was subsequently used by the feudal lords in their ongoing internecine wars.
The threat of the Mongol invasion benefited the southwestern feudal lords, who, at the expense of the treasury, strengthened their own possessions, as well as trade and usury capital, which financed military preparations. However, the socio-economic consequence of the Mongol invasion was a general deterioration in the position of the samurai as a result of mobilization, which caused a massive sale and mortgage of land.
The weakening of the shogun's vassals affected the position of the shogun's government, which lost its previous positions. This led to an intensification of the struggle within the samurai class. Hojo's rule took on a despotic character. The despotism of Hojo, which intensified in the 80s of the 13th century, was manifested in the seizure of the main positions in the government by the Hojo house, in the discussion of the main issues of government at narrow meetings of their family members. Hojo sought to prevent the decline of the samurai class and its enslavement by trade and usurious capital.
To this end, the first, but by no means the last law, aimed at preserving the land fund of the samurai, was the decree of 1297 (Tokuseiryo), which annulled transactions of the shogun's vassals on the sale, mortgage of land, and samurai debt to moneylenders. However, this legislation was not able to significantly weaken the position of trade and usurious capital in the conditions of the development of commodity-money relations.
The Kamakura shogunate hindered the activities of feudal lords associated with the market, craftsmen and merchants and the wealthy peasantry, and therefore they all began to fight this regime. Opponents of the shogunate from the samurai class were called in official documents “bad troops” (akuto). In reality these were progressive forces. Their emergence was especially characteristic of the period of aggravation of social contradictions at the end of the 13th-14th centuries.
Relations with Korea and the Ainu
Under Ieyasu's rule, relations with Korea, interrupted due to Hideyoshi's attempts to invade it, were resumed. Korean embassies began to visit Japan frequently, introducing the islanders to Korean culture. The Japanese island of Tsushima became the center of trade. With the permission of the Korean government, the merchants of this island had a trading post in South Korean Busan.
The authorities of the Principality of Matsumae in the south of Hokkaido were engaged in trade with the Ainu tribes. The main export product of the Ainu was seafood. Since the Ainu also traded in northeast China, Chinese goods reached the Japanese through them. The Japanese did not always trade fairly, which was the reason for many Ainu uprisings. The most powerful was the performance led by Shakusyain.
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End of the Kamakura Shogunate
Anti-shogun forces on the island of Kyushu sought to throw off the hated yoke of the House of Hojo, which had strengthened after the Mongol invasion.
In Central Japan, in and around the Kinai region, the opposition was primarily against the shōen owners, since it consisted of local feudal lords who were administrative officials in the shōen and sought to use their official position to appropriate crops and seize land from the shōen feudal lords. The monks of Buddhist temples also joined them. They, as feudal owners, were burdened by the shogun administrators in their domains and advocated their abolition.
Peasants fought against the shogunate both in samurai squads and independently, defending their interests through collective efforts in military detachments of rural communities. The peasants fought against the lawlessness of the Shoen and central administrations, against corvee labor and labor rent.
The heterogeneity of opposition forces necessitated their consolidation. At that time, it could only be carried out on a religious basis, with the help of the authority of the emperor. Using his religious influence, Emperor Godaigo (representative of the Southern Court), who inherited the throne in 1318, plotted to return political power to the imperial house. Relying on the samurai of the central region and on some shogunal vassals of the eastern provinces, on the military strength of a number of Buddhist monasteries, Godaigo in 1324 began to attract his supporters to Kyoto, but the plot was discovered, the leaders of the samurai groups committed suicide.
In March 1332, for a new attempt to seize power, Godaigo was deposed and exiled to Oki Island, from where he fled in February of the following year and openly joined the anti-Kamakura forces.
The influential southwestern feudal lord Ashikaga Takauji captured Kyoto in early May 1333, and at that time the eastern feudal lord Nitta Yoshisada invaded Kamakura and completely exterminated all Hojo.
The united army of the feudal lords of the island of Kyushu overthrew the shogunal inspector of the local military administration, and almost simultaneously the shogunal administration in the remaining provinces was removed from power.
The Kamakura shogunate was overthrown. Now the struggle began among the winners: the Ashikaga and Nitta clans. They represented two types of economic regions: advanced western and backward eastern. If the west was dominated by flooded rice fields, there were good water transport arteries, developed crafts and thriving trade, then in the east there was desolation, many lands were abandoned or not cultivated at all, the transport system was in a deplorable state, there were no conditions for the widespread development of crafts and trade . Economically, Ashikaga's victory was a foregone conclusion.
Domestic and foreign policy of the shogunate
Tokugawa Ieyasu encouraged trade. From 1604, by his order, the courts of Western daimyo and merchants of the cities of Nagasaki and Sakai, who conducted foreign trade, were required to obtain licenses - letters of approval with red seals, so that they would not be confused with pirate ships. Licensed ships traded extensively in Macau, Taiwan and various regions of Southeast Asia.
Many Japanese who went abroad settled there, forming Japanese trading colonies. At the beginning of the 17th century, the number of overseas Japanese was 10,000 people. The most famous was Yamada Nagamasa, who received a high official title from the Siamese king.
In the beginning, the shogunate promoted trade relations with Western countries and was kind to Christianity. Thanks to this, the government treasury was replenished, and the number of Japanese Christians grew. However, the confrontation between European states in the Japanese market forced the shogunate to reconsider its foreign policy course. In 1617, the shogun issued a ban on the spread and practice of Christianity, and the arrival of Spanish ships in Japan. Restrictions were gradually placed on Japanese merchant boats leaving the country. In 1635, the government prohibited Japanese from leaving Japan at all or returning if they were abroad.
