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I n S e a rc h o f t h e Way
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

In Search of the Way


Thought and Religion in Early-Modern
Japan, 1582–1860

Ri c h a r d B ow r i n g

1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

3
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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

Preface

Choices, choices. Where to begin, where to end, what to include, what to omit?
This book is an attempt to trace the development of intellectual and religious
thinkers in early-modern Japan. It takes up the story in the late sixteenth century
at the point where my previous book The Religious Traditions of Japan, 500–1600
broke off, and it ends around the year 1860. The choice of this latter date was
deliberate in that I wished to try to produce a narrative that did not chart a steady
progress towards an inevitable end, that end being the Meiji Restoration. In this
sense I have tried to keep the story ‘naive’, working on a more or less chronological
basis, walking the reader into the unknown and tracing how one set of arguments
developed into another set with many interesting possibilities cropping up on the
way. To have stood at the end of the line and looked back would have been to
produce a very different kind of history. Not that we can undo what we already
know, of course, but the advantage of choosing 1860 as an end point is that no one
at the time knew what was going to happen eight years later. One colleague tried
to persuade me to stop in 1863 on the grounds that it was in this year that the
Shōgun requested an audience with the Emperor as a matter of expediency rather
than as a show of force, but it seemed to me that from the point of view of intel-
lectual history the events and arguments that raged from 1860 onwards really
belong to the next stage in the story and that to do anything more than touch on
them lightly was to ask for trouble.
Using chronology as a frame has the advantage of giving a strong sense of con-
stant movement and constant change, but this is sometimes difficult to maintain
because nothing moves at the same pace and context can demand that one has to
move forward with one subject while leaving something else to be picked up later
on. Such compromises are inevitable. Nevertheless, what is presented here does,
I think, answer a need for an overview. There are numerous monographs on indi-
vidual figures and movements but nothing in a Western language that gives a sense
of the whole, nothing that shows how X flowed into Y over the entire span of
Tokugawa rule. As the title shows, I have envisaged this flow in terms of a search
for a way (of life). The term ‘Way’ is ubiquitous; almost everyone discussed in this
book appropriated it by defining it in his own fashion and by giving it a name.
I have not tried to create a new Way for each chapter, but the intention certainly
was to structure the narrative around this search.
Since this study deals mainly with the development of ideas as presented through
texts, it is best to warn the reader at the outset not to expect much discussion of
religion in practice. Ritual, be it in the home, the workplace, the courts in Kyōto
and Edo, the daimyō residences, or the temples and shrines, is dealt with only in
passing. Neither is there any in-depth analysis of such phenomena as pilgrimage or
any ‘thick’ description of daily life. At first glance, therefore, it may seem that there
is too much concern here with dry academic debates, debates which are hopelessly
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

vi Preface

entangled with obligatory reference to the Chinese classics and of relevance to but
a tiny fraction of the population. But most of the ideas expressed by these intellec-
tuals (and the term is certainly appropriate to the period) not only reflect a deep
desire to influence the world in which the majority lived out their lives, searching
for a satisfactory ‘way’ to live, think, and respond, but did in the end manage to
find channels by which they percolated down to have real influence on the
­preconceptions and motivations of the population at large. This was by any stand-
ard a highly sophisticated and educated society in which there was much lively
debate across the board and where the written word had particular strength and
influence.
There are some other limitations that need to be kept in mind. First, given that
this is an overview covering a large number of topics and a long time span, I have
relied exclusively on printed material. In many cases this is adequate to form a
sensible picture of an individual’s views but in other cases so much writing remains
in manuscript form (and under-researched) that an analysis made today must inev-
itably be tentative and open to future reappraisal. Second, in an ideal world I
would have wished to trace the influence of all these ideas in literature and the arts,
but that would have been another kind of book. Third, despite some recent publi-
cations, it is worth noting that the historiography of Tokugawa Buddhism is in its
infancy in Japan as elsewhere and I suspect that developments in Buddhism from
1800 onwards are best approached from the viewpoint of the Buddhist revival that
began in the middle of that century.
The book has been divided into three sections, breaking at 1680 and then at
1786. Since ideas and concepts do not emerge in a vacuum, each section begins
with a short outline of the historical and cultural context to set the scene. Characters
for names will be found in the glossary, but I have retained in-text characters for
book titles and other places where the discussion would not make sense without
them. I hope they can be welcomed by many and simply ignored by others. Since
this is, above all, a work of synthesis rather than work done at the coalface, my debt
to previous scholarship is enormous and has been recorded in the notes. And lastly,
a big ‘thank you’ to all those who have had to put up with me and my strange
obsession with things Japanese. A list would be too long, but they all know who
they are. This book is dedicated to my granddaughter Eleanor (b. 2016). May she
too find her own ‘Way’ in the course of time.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

Contents
List of Abbreviations xi
Commonly Used Japanese Terms xiii

I . 1 5 8 2 – 16 8 0
1. From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna 3
1.1 The shogunate 3
1.2 The relationship between shogunate and daimyō 4
1.3 Foreign affairs 6
1.4 Fiscal difficulties 8
1.5 Chronology 9

2. The fate of Christianity 12


2.1 Hideyoshi and the Jesuits 12
2.2 Persecution and trade 17
2.3 The intellectual response 19
2.4 Later anti-Christian writings 26

3. Creating a new order 30


3.1 Strategies of legitimation 30
3.2 Reconfiguring the Buddhist tradition 33
3.3 The commissioners for religious affairs 36
3.4 Buddhism in everyday life 40
3.5 The arrival of ‘Ōbaku Zen’ 42

4. The Confucian turn 46


4.1 Early interest in Cheng-Zhu thought 46
4.2 The Great learning and its importance 47
4.3 Fujiwara Seika 52
4.4 ‘Manifesting luminous virtue’ and ‘Having affection for the people’ 54
4.5 ‘Resting in the utmost good’ 59
4.6 The Hayashi lineage 62

5. Two individualists 69
5.1 Nakae Tōju, the teacher 69
5.2 ‘Weighing in the balance’ 72
5.3 Adapting to conditions 75
5.4 The divine gift of filial piety 77
5.5 Kumazawa Banzan, the ‘daimyō’s minister’ 79
5.6 Disillusionment 82
5.7 Autre temps, autre mœurs84
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

viii Contents

6. The Way of the Kami 88


6.1 The politics of Shintō 88
6.2 The situation in Mito and Okayama 90
6.3 A Shintō–Confucian synthesis 93
6.4 Yamazaki Ansai 97
6.5 Kaibara Ekiken and Shintō 103

7. The Way of the Warrior 106


7.1 Whither the samurai? 106
7.2 Yamaga Sokō 109
7.3 Rejecting Cheng-Zhu thought 111
7.4 The Way of the Warrior 117

8. The Way of Man 121


8.1 Itō Jinsai 121
8.2 Back to Confucius 123
8.3 Rejecting principle 127
8.4 Human nature 130
8.5 The primacy of feeling 133

II. 1680–1786
9. From Tsunayoshi to Ieharu 139
9.1 The shogunate 139
9.2 Genroku 139
9.3 The Kyōhō reforms 141
9.4 The Tanuma Period 142
9.5 Chronology 144

10. The encouragement of learning 146


10.1 The dissemination of information 146
10.2 The beginnings of ‘science’ 149
10.3 The study of nature 152
10.4 The Way of the Merchant 156
10.5 Two types of education 160
10.6 A utopian curiosity 162

11. Recasting the Chinese mould 166


11.1 Historiography 166
11.2 Wherein does sovereignty lie? 169
11.3 The legacy of Ansai 172
11.4 Family rituals 174
11.5 Loyalty to whom? 176
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

Contents ix

12. Matters of faith 181


12.1 Buddhist reform 181
12.2 Institutional changes 185
12.3 Street preachers and pilgrims 189
12.4 Faith deconstructed 194

13. The Way of the Former Kings 198


13.1 Ogyū Sorai 198
13.2 How best to govern the state 207
13.3 Dazai Shundai 209
13.4 Yamagata Daini 214

14. Contesting Confucian values 216


14.1 The Man’yōshū216
14.2 The Ancient Way 218
14.3 The Way of Wit and the Way of Lust 223

III. 1786–1860
15. From Ienari to Iemochi 233
15.1 The shogunate 233
15.2 The Kansei reforms 233
15.3 Bunka–Bunsei (1804–1830) 235
15.4 Tenpō and beyond (1830–1860) 236
15.5 Chronology 237

16. Competing visions of the future 239


16.1 Matsudaira Sadanobu 239
16.2 The rise of ‘Dutch studies’ 242
16.3 The view from Ōsaka 246
16.4 The Way of the Market 251

17. In search of times past 255


17.1 What is poetry? 255
17.2 Shaping an ancient tongue 260
17.3 Chinese culture denied 264
17.4 Critics of the Ancient Way 269

18. A new kind of Shintō 275


18.1 Making ancient history accessible 275
18.2 A different kind of afterlife 280
18.3 Living spirits 283
18.4 Reaching out to the countryside 286
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

x Contents

19. A time for action 290


19.1 ‘Young Turks’ at Mito 290
19.2 The ‘Institute to Promote the Way’ 296
19.3 Three iconic figures 300

20. Retrospect 304

Glossary of Names 307


Works Cited 313
Index 323
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

List of Abbreviations

CC The Chinese Classics, trans. James Legge, 5 vols. (Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 1960); reprint of Hong Kong and Oxford edn. (1865–93).
CHC The Cambridge History of China, ed. Denis Twitchett et al., 15 vols.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979–).
CHJ The Cambridge History of Japan, ed. John Whitney Hall, et al., 6 vols.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988–99).
EZ Ekiken zenshū 益軒全集, 8 vols. (Tokyo: Ekiken Zenshū Kankōbu, 1912).
HJAS Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
JJRS Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
MN Monumenta Nipponica
MNS Motoori Norinaga-ō shokanshū 本居宣長翁書簡集 (Tokyo: Keibunsha, 1934).
MNZ Motoori Norinaga zenshū 本居宣長全集, 20 vols. (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō,
1968–76).
MT Mitogaku taikei 水戸学大系, 8 vols. (Tokyo: Mitogaku Taikei Kankōkai,
1941).
NJS Nihon jurin sōsho 日本儒林叢書, 6 vols. (Tokyo: Tōyō Tosho Kankōkai, 1927).
NKBT Nihon koten bungaku taikei 日本古典文学大系, 102 vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami
Shoten, 1963–87).
NKT Nihon keizai taiten 日本経済大典, 54 vols. (Tokyo: Keimeisha, 1928).
NMSCZ Nihon meika shisho chūshaku zensho 日本名家四書註釈全書, 13 vols. (Tokyo:
Hō Shuppan, 1973).
NRI Nihon rinri ihen 日本倫理彙編, 10 vols. (Tokyo: Ikuseikai, 1901–3).
NST Nihon shisō taikei 日本思想大系, 67 vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1970–82).
SCT Sources of Chinese Tradition, 2nd edn., ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary et al., 2 vols.
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).
SFMZ Shinpen Fujitani Mitsue zenshū 新編富士谷御杖全集, 8 vols. (Kyoto:
Shibunkaku, 1979–93).
SJT Sources of Japanese Tradition, 2nd edn., ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary et al., 2
vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005).
SNKBT Shin Nihon koten bungaku taikei 新日本古典文学大系, 100 vols. (Tokyo:
Iwanami Shoten, 1999–2004).
SNKBZ Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū 新編日本古典文学全集, 88 vols. (Tokyo:
Shōgakkan, 1994–2002).
SNKS Shinchō Nihon koten shūsei 新潮日本古典集成, 82 vols. (Tokyo: Shinchōsha,
1976–89).
ST Shintō taikei 神道大系 120 vols. (Tokyo: Seikōsha, 1977–2007).
TK Tokugawa kinreikō 徳川禁令考, 6 vols. (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan,
1931–2).
TSZ Tōju sensei zenshū 藤樹先生全集, 5 vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1940).
YAZ Yamazaki Ansai zenshū 山崎闇斎全集, 2 vols. (Tokyo: Matsumoto Shoten,
1936–7).
YJ Yijing 易経, 3 vols. Shinshaku kanbun taikei 新釈漢文大系 (Tokyo: Meiji
Shoin, 1987–2009).
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

xii List of Abbreviations


YSS Yamaga Sokō shū 山鹿素行集, 8 vols. (Tokyo: Meguro Shoten, 1943).
YSZ Yamaga Sokō zenshū 山鹿素行全集, 15 vols. (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten,
1940–2).
ZQ Zhuzi quanshu 朱子全書, 27 vols. (Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe,
2002).
ZYAZ Zoku Yamazaki Ansai zenshū 続山崎闇斎全集, 3 vols. (Tokyo: Matsumoto
Shoten, 1937).
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi

Commonly Used Japanese Terms

bakufu strictly speaking, the Tokugawa house administration based in the capital Edo,
although it is often used in its extended meaning of ‘the government’.
daimyō a local ruler whose domain produced at least 10,000 koku of rice per year, a koku
being the amount of rice judged necessary to feed one person for one year.
kami the quality of having a divine, sacred, or spiritual essence. Should not be thought
of simply as a Shintō deity, because it may refer to a place, an object, an ancestor,
or any figure beyond the ordinary.
rōnin anyone of samurai rank who has been deprived of a stipend and is therefore a free
agent ‘on the loose’.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 22/10/16, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/10/16, SPi

PA RT I
1582–1680
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/10/16, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/10/16, SPi

1
From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna

1 . 1 T H E S H O G U N AT E

[Hideyoshi 綱吉 b. 1537 1582–98]


Ieyasu 家康 b. 1542 1603–5 d. 1616
Hidetada 秀忠 b. 1579 1605–23 d. 1632
Iemitsu 家光 b. 1604 1623–51
Ietsuna 家綱 b. 1641 1651–80
The story begins with the death of the first unifier, Oda Nobunaga, in 1582. I have
chosen to deal with the next period, that of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, through the
prism of Christianity although he is, of course, chiefly known for his extension of
power, his cadastral survey, the Sword Hunt, and the abortive invasion of Korea.
This was followed by the advent of the Tokugawa shogunate itself, foreshadowed
by Ieyasu’s decisive victory over his rivals at the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and
initiated by his ‘acceptance’ of the title shōgun in 1603. Early in 1605 he retired in
favour of his son Hidetada and moved to Sunpu (present-day Shizuoka) but con-
tinued to exercise de facto power until his death in 1616, leaving Hidetada to run
the administration in Edo. True hegemony, however, was only achieved in 1615
with the fall of Ōsaka castle and the final destruction of the Toyotomi house.
Following his father’s example, Hidetada retired in 1623, designating his eldest son
Iemitsu as shōgun but retaining power until 1632.
The position of Ieyasu and, to a lesser extent, Hidetada was never really in
­danger of being challenged. Nevertheless Hidetada worked hard to secure good
connections with the court in Kyōto, marrying his daughter to the emperor
Go-Mizunoo, who abdicated in 1629, at which point Hidetada’s 6-year-old grand-
daughter became the next sovereign, Meishō 明正 (r. 1629–43), the first female to
hold such a position for almost 900 years. Both shōgun had considerable personal
authority and took it for granted that their own staff would occupy the major
administrative positions. In time, however, this kind of direct substitution became
more difficult to arrange as appointments became subject to institutional process
rather than personal preference, with the inevitable result that the personal author-
ity of the shōgun was gradually curtailed. Iemitsu, for example, was somewhat
more constrained than his father, having to deal quite carefully with his uncles,
those younger sons of Ieyasu who had been designated as the Three Houses (gosanke
御三家). It is worth noting that martial values were also very much alive at this
stage: when Iemitsu died in 1651, for example, five of his senior officials followed
him in death, a traditional warrior practice known as junshi 殉死.
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/10/16, SPi

4 In Search of the Way

When Iemitsu’s son Ietsuna became shōgun he was still only 10 years old and so
his uncle, Iemitsu’s younger brother Hoshina Masayuki, was appointed regent. As
luck would have it, Hoshina proved to be a serious man dedicated to his task
and a strong advocate of Neo-Confucian virtues and Shintō rites. Even after the
boy reached his majority, Hoshina continued to advise and remained the most
powerful figure in the Tokugawa hierarchy, only resigning when forced by ill-
health in 1669. It is under Ietsuna that the lack of experience in armed conflict
began to show and the military character of the Tokugawa house became some-
what attenuated. A mere twelve years after his accession, in 1663, the decision was
made to proscribe the practice of junshi as being unnecessary and a sad waste of
good talent. Clearly, the ideals of the ruling class were changing. Thinkers emerged
such as Yamaga Sokō, who worked to provide justification for the continuation of
rule by a warrior class in a time of peace. Duty and selfless loyalty became defined
as virtues that were equally as important for bureaucratic life as they were for
a martial elite, and the physical practice of the martial arts became seen not as a
talent necessary to survival but as an essential part of character building. It is a
measure of the stability that had been achieved by this time that when Ietsuna died
in 1680 without issue the succession was peacefully arranged through discussion
and consensus.

1 . 2 T H E R E L AT I O N S H I P B E T W E E N
S H O G U N AT E A N D D A I M YŌ

Although there has been much discussion as to the applicability of the term ‘feudal’
in the context of pre-modern Japan, it remains a useful label. After Sekigahara,
Ieyasu extended the amount of land under direct control of the Tokugawa house
and rewarded his friends and allies in similar fashion. He did not, however, attempt
to exert direct authority over the whole country. He had only won at Sekigahara
because of a coalition of forces; not only had that delicate coalition to be main-
tained and strengthened, but some of his enemies still constituted a substantial
threat. The Toyotomi family, for example, retained a considerable following, a
thorn in the flesh that eventually had to be extracted by force, but he managed to
avoid major armed conflict with the other powerful lords or daimyō 大名 (‘great
names’) as they were known. It was preferable, he decided, to come to a modus
vivendi whereby he would guarantee a certain degree of local autonomy if they in
turn would curb their own territorial ambitions. As it turned out, this precarious
arrangement miraculously held.
Many of those who had fought against him were, of course, wiped off the
map and many others cut down to size, but others were allowed to remain and run
their own domains. The definition of a daimyō house was the possession of pro-
ductive land worth at least 10,000 koku 石 of rice, a koku being the amount of
rice judged necessary to feed one person for one year. In practice Ieyasu was no
absolute monarch and no despot but a good strategist who managed to create
a balance of disparate forces. Matters were to change and become lax as time
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 18/10/16, SPi

From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna 5

went by, but during the seventeenth century the shogunate was certainly able and
­willing to exert considerable pressure on daimyō who stepped out of line. Ieyasu
and his successors were in a position to rearrange and transfer them almost at will,
playing a game of diplomatic go, making sure to allocate and reallocate lands in
such a way that the most powerful of them were isolated, their domains hedged
round either with their enemies or with lands belonging to or allied with the
Tokugawa house itself. In 1617 the daimyō were forced to recognize that hence-
forth all land was to be regarded as being under the shōgun’s control and that they
held the land not as a hereditary right but as a grant. What could be given could
be taken away.
Restrictions were imposed on the number and size of castles that were to be
permitted and in 1649 limits were placed on the size of private armies. Relations
between daimyō families were carefully monitored to avoid untoward alliances and
their contact with the court in particular was tightly controlled. Daimyō were not
permitted to leave their domain without the permission of the shōgun and in 1635
a system of alternate residence in Edo was made compulsory for all those who had
been on the losing side at Sekigahara, the tozama 外様. This arrangement, known
as sankin kōtai 參勤交代, whereby a daimyō not only had to keep his immediate
family in Edo but had to progress to and from Edo every other year, was estab-
lished as a hostage system to ensure good behaviour and in 1642 it was extended
to include all vassal daimyō of the Tokugawa house (fudai 譜代). It was to have
far-reaching economic consequences that no one could foresee. The Tokugawa
house also maintained control over all the major cities, the main trunk routes, and
the mines. In 1633 Iemitsu created a system of inspectors (metsuke 目付), whose
job it was to keep themselves informed about domainal affairs. Detailed maps were
requested in 1646. Of particular concern were the powerful daimyō in Kyūshū and
the west of Honshū, who were well placed to gain undue advantage from contact
with the outside world, one of the reasons why the presence of foreign priests was
of such concern.
Ieyasu insisted on control of all foreign affairs, which often gave outsiders the
mistaken impression that Japan was in fact a unified ‘country’ under one rule.
From the inside, however, the situation looked rather different. Once things had
settled down, in actual practice there was little undue interference in domainal
affairs unless they had been so badly mismanaged that stability was threatened, and
as time went by the daimyō were allowed a substantial degree of self-government.
Although efforts were made to standardize the coinage and the shogunate claimed
full responsibility for the infrastructure necessary for the free movement of food-
stuffs and goods between the major urban centres, the economy within each
domain was left to the domain itself. From time to time they even created their
own coinage and paper money (hansatsu 藩札) for internal purposes and the
domestic infrastructure was largely treated as a domainal responsibility. Since
the Tokugawa showed no interest in imposing a countrywide, centrally organized
tax system, domainal taxes went to the daimyō rather than the shogunate,
which meant that the Tokugawa administration had to support itself on income
from Tokugawa lands alone. There were, of course, onerous demands made from
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6 In Search of the Way

time to time on daimyō for special purposes such as the building of Edo castle
and the creation of the shrines at Nikkō, added to which was the constant
­burden of the sankin kōtai itself, which often absorbed a frightening percentage
of a daimyō’s yearly income, but no attempt was made to create a centralized econ-
omy. Requests for support were by no means only a one-way affair. In times of
distress, during years of famine or natural disasters, for example, the Tokugawa
administration itself would arrange for the distribution of rice or loans to the
affected areas.
Japanese historians use the term bakuhan taisei 幕藩體制 to describe this state
of affairs, a system of joint control by the Tokugawa house administration (bakufu
幕府) on the one hand and the c.260 domains (han) on the other, but in fact there
was very little systematic about it. It was the result of a series of ad hoc arrange-
ments that were continually shifting and developing. When describing events it is
always tempting to talk in terms of ‘the government’ and ‘the state’ taking this or
that action, but this temptation should be avoided because it suggests a unity that
was not recognized within, no matter how often it might have been misread from
the outside. Japan was a patchwork quilt of states of various sizes, some of them
not even forming coherent geographic unities, one of which turned out to be more
powerful than the others but not powerful enough to dominate without creating
and maintaining alliances. The shōgun did not reign, he ruled for another. There
was still a sovereign (tennō 天皇) ensconced in Kyōto, who remained a symbolic
entity but with little income and even less influence. This duality, which confused
those coming from abroad, could be used to great advantage, however, because, by
presenting himself as ruling on behalf of another (fiction though that certainly
was), the shōgun could appear to be acting not as ‘lord of all’, but merely as primus
inter pares. He could thereby avoid the situation of an English king who might
claim a divine right to rule yet constantly found himself in opposition to the bar-
ons as a group. In Japan, the shōgun did not stand apart but was a member of that
group and could therefore legitimately claim that it was the role and duty of
the daimyō to aid him in the task of ensuring benevolent rule on behalf of the
sovereign. Terminology, as ever, was crucial.

1 . 3 F O R E I G N A F FA I R S

Foreign affairs were inextricably linked to trade. The late sixteenth century was
overshadowed by Hideyoshi’s two abortive invasions of the Korean peninsula and
it is not surprising that it took some time for normal contact to be resumed. Trade
discussions began in 1609 and missions arrived in 1607 and 1617 to arrange for
the repatriation of prisoners, but it was not until a formal embassy arrived in 1636
to congratulate Iemitsu on his succession that relations were normalized. Similar
embassies came in 1643 and 1655. It should be noted, however, that these were
sent in response to requests from Edo. Domestically Tokugawa clearly wished to
bolster the prestige of the shōgun by presenting them as ‘tribute missions’, but
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From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna 7

there were no reciprocal arrangements, partly because Seoul never requested (or
‘allowed’) one, preferring to concentrate on securing a lucrative market for its
products. The bulk of this trade was conducted via the domain of Tsushima, which
maintained a Japanese trading post in Pusan from about 1610.1
Hideyoshi’s enterprise had also brought Japanese forces into direct contact with
the Ming armies and it is sometimes claimed that the fall of the Ming dynasty was
in part due to the cost of financing this conflict. In fact official diplomatic links
between the two were never established, partly because the Tokugawa were not
willing to be seen in their turn as a ‘vassal state’ of China and partly because such
links turned out to be unnecessary. Although direct trade with Japan had been
banned by the Ming authorities as far back as 1547, private trading had not
ceased and it now grew in response to demand on both sides. Simply put, an
insatiable requirement in Japan for raw Chinese silk and other luxuries was
matched by an equally insatiable need in Ming China for Japanese silver. Such
was the productivity of the silver mines in Iwami, for example, that for a time it
rivalled production in New Spain and it has been estimated that during the early
Tokugawa period a third of the world’s movement of silver bullion was being
carried between Japan and China on a mixture of Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese
shipping.2
The same story could be told about Japanese trade with south-east Asia.
Portuguese and Japanese ships carried merchants and adventurers right across the
area, allowing for ‘Japan towns’ to be established at Dilao near Manila, in Chochin
China (Vietnam), and Ayutthaya (Siam).3 It is generally accepted, for example,
that the major base that the Spanish had established at Manila in 1571 would
never have survived without regular imports from Japan. But this healthy state of
affairs came to an end in the 1630s, when the shogunate in Edo became seriously
concerned at the degree to which the whole Kyūshū region was flexing its muscles
and operating its own independent foreign trade. Worried about the instability
this might encourage, Iemitsu began by placing a ban on all Japanese travelling
abroad and restricting the size of Japanese ships. In a stroke this brought to an end
any active participation by Japanese themselves in overseas trade. Then, in 1639,
partly in response to the Shimabara rebellion of 1637–8, a final ban was placed on
all Portuguese trade and shipping. Trade as such did not cease, of course, but fell
instead into the waiting hands of the Chinese and the Dutch. In 1641 the Dutch
were moved from their base in Hirado to Nagasaki and from that time on all
non-Korean trade was supposed to pass exclusively through this port. A fear of
losing control had won over the advantages of the market.

1 For details of contact between Korea and Japan in this period see Toby 1984 and Lewis 2003.
2 For an explanation of why Ming China had such a demand for silver see Atwell 1998.
3 The Japanese presence in the Philippines continued until 1623, when the bakufu severed rela-
tions with the Spanish. As far as Siam was concerned, at one point some 3,000–4,000 Japanese recruits
formed an entire army division in Siam and both countries had a close relationship until 1630, when
the Japanese enclave at Ayutthaya was destroyed.
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8 In Search of the Way

1 . 4 F I S C A L D I F F I C U LT I E S

In many ways Ieyasu had been extremely lucky. In the early years the gold and
silver mines (which he took care to bring under direct control) proved highly pro-
ductive. Much of the silver went to pay for imports of Chinese luxury goods but
such was the amount being mined that he was able to bequeath to his sons a
healthy surplus. For the first half-century the Tokugawa administration was in
rude financial health, but eventually income from the mines began to level off, so
much so that in 1668 a ban was imposed on the export of silver. From that point
on the major part of Tokugawa income came from taxes, which took the form of a
percentage of the rice yield on their own lands. Despite a substantial increase in
both the amount of land under cultivation and the yield, income hit a plateau
around the middle of the century while expenditure continued a slow but inevita-
ble rise. Things were made worse with the additional burden of unforeseen expend-
iture such as reconstruction of Edo after fire damage in 1657, special one-off
projects such as the expansion at Nikkō, recurring natural disasters, and fluctua-
tions in the price of rice. This last problem was, of course, self-inflicted. The deci-
sion to base the economy on rice rather than precious metals helps explain why
there was for some time no compunction in exporting silver in huge quantities
but, at a far more fundamental level, it meant that the weather and its effect on
crop yield had an unusually direct and immediate impact not just on the livelihood
of the peasant but on the whole structure and welfare of society.
Why was this impact so serious? As part of his attempt to control constant out-
breaks of violence, Hideyoshi had made sure that the peasantry were denied access
to arms (the Sword Hunt); he then went further and started the process of alienat-
ing the fighting man from his land, taking away his financial independence and
making him entirely reliant on his lord by forcing samurai to relocate to provincial
castle towns. Ieyasu continued this policy, the results of which were not entirely
beneficial. It led to more self-government for villagers and farmers than they had
been used to, but it also had the effect of creating a warrior ruling class who, once
fighting was at an end, had very little raison d’être and almost nothing to do except
collect a stipend. Deracinated, they slowly became transformed into a bureaucratic
class, but there were not enough jobs and from an economic point of view they
were unproductive. Given that they obtained a hereditary claim to a regular sti-
pend, they soon became a heavy burden on shōgun and daimyō alike. By 1678 the
Tokugawa administration itself was running a fiscal deficit and by the end of the
period the whole country was suffering, income being spent on servicing debt.
Since stipends were calculated in terms of rice, when rice was plentiful and the
price of rice fell the samurai suffered; when rice was scarce and the price of rice
rose, their stipends were worth more but the countryside suffered and famine was
never far away.
The debts that were inevitably incurred by all daimyō were held by merchants,
who were not afforded high status but who, as time went by, became more and
more influential. The idealized social order (never legally defined) was presented as
being samurai, farmer, artisan, and merchant (shi-nō-kō-shō 士農工商) but reality
differed and there were many who fell outside this Procrustean bed. Nevertheless
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From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna 9

it was the samurai class who had the privileges if not the financial wherewithal. An
innate conservatism meant that the production of rice continued to form the basis
of taxation and the increasing profits from not only a burgeoning mercantilism but
also non-rice agricultural products were never systematically taxed. This blind spot
stemmed from pure prejudice and was to bedevil the country for the next 200
years.
The enforced urbanization inevitably led to a growth in the size of cities. The
requirement that all daimyō had to house their families in Edo, for example, pro-
duced the largest city in the world by the end of the century, and within a genera-
tion Edo had become ‘home’ for many of them; it has been estimated that by 1680
five out of six daimyō had been born there. But it was to be many years before Edo
became economically and culturally dominant. During this early period Kyōto
maintained its role as the major economic and cultural centre, while Ōsaka devel-
oped as a mercantile city. Rice and other heavy goods were moved by sea, but an
increasing amount of human traffic was to use the country’s major artery, the
Tōkaidō 東海道. The peace and prosperity created in these early years also gave rise
to a new environment in which the printed word became the chief tool for the
dissemination of knowledge, leading to an increasingly educated and self-aware
population.

1 . 5 C H RO N O L O G Y

1582 Assassination of Nobunaga.

Hideyoshi
1583 Valignano’s Sumario de las cosas de Japon.
1585 Hideyoshi in full control except for Kyūshū.
1586 Hideyoshi becomes Dajō daijin and takes the name Toyotomi.
1587 Hideyoshi moves against Shimazu and takes over control of Nagasaki. Jesuits are
ordered to leave but the order is not rigorously enforced.
1588 Hideyoshi orders the Sword Hunt.
1590 Valignano returns with four young samurai, bringing with him a printing press.
1592 Invasion of Korea.
1593 Four friars arrive from Manila.
1595 Beginning of the Nichiren Fuju-fuse movement.
1596 San Felipe shipwrecked. Twenty-six Christians crucified in Nagasaki.
1597 Second invasion of Korea. Shimazu ban Ikkōshū in their domain.
1598 Hideyoshi dies.

Ieyasu
1600 Dutch ship Leifde arrives. Battle of Sekigahara.
1603 Ieyasu becomes shōgun. Dominicans arrive from Manila.
1605 Construction of Zōjōji begins. Habian’s Myōtei mondō. Ieyasu retires. Sūden
becomes abbot of Nanzenji.
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10 In Search of the Way

Hidetada
1607 First Korean mission arrives. Hayashi Razan starts working for Ieyasu.
1608 Debate held between Nichiren and Jōdo monks in Edo.
1609 Dutch allowed to set up trading post at Hirado.
1610 Various temple ordinances (hatto) issued.
1611 Ming traders at Nagasaki.
1612 Sūden takes charge of religious affairs.
1613 English granted permission to trade.
1614 Ban imposed on Christianity. Takayama Ukon exiled to Manila.
1615 Fall of Ōsaka castle and the end of the Toyotomi.
1616 Ieyasu dies.
1617 Ieyasu pronounced Tōshō Daigongen. Yoshiwara established.
1618 Trade limited to Hirado and Nagasaki.
1619 Fujiwara Seika dies. Over sixty Christians burned at the stake in Kyōto.
1620 Nagasaki commissioner destroys the churches.
1622 The ‘Great Martyrdom’ at Nagasaki.

Iemitsu
1623 Iemitsu succeeds Hidetada. English withdraw from Japan.
1624 Dutch establish a base in Taiwan.
1625 Kan’eiji established in Edo. Nichiren honzan appeals for a ban on Fuju-fuse.
1627 340 Christians put to death in Shimabara.
1628 Debates over the Fuju-fuse sect continue.
1629 Women banned from acting in kabuki. Fumie introduced at Nagasaki.
1630 Chinese books with references to Christianity banned.
1631 Ban on the building of new temples in Edo. All main temples asked to provide a
list of sub-temples under their jurisdiction.
1632 Bonshun dies.
1633 Sūden dies.
1634 Kumazawa Banzan enters service with the Ikeda in Bizen.
1635 Teimon haikai popular. Commissioner for temples and shrines established. Ban
imposed on all foreign travel by Japanese.
1636 Nikkō Tōshōgū rebuilt by Iemitsu. Nakae Tōju opens his academy.
1637 Shimabara rebellion begins. Tenkai begins printing the Buddhist canon.
1638 Banzan leaves service.
1639 Portuguese trade ceases. Kirishitan monogatari.
1640 Shūmon aratameyaku established.
1641 Dutch moved to Deshima. Okayama opens an Academy (Hanabatake kyōba).
1642 Famine. Continued efforts made to control temple expansion.
1644 The Ming dynasty falls to the Manchu invaders.
1645 Banzan re-enters service. Takuan dies.
1647 Razan’s Santokushō. Yamazaki Ansai’s Heki’i.
1648 Nakae Tōju dies.
1650 Watarai Nobuyoshi’s Yōfukuki.
1651 Iemitsu dies. Pilgrimage to Ise becomes popular.
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From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna 11

Ietsuna
1652 Wakashū kabuki banned.
1653 Japanese printing of Seiri taizen.
1654 Yinyuan arrives in Nagasaki. Tamagawa aqueduct in Edo completed.
1656 Yamaga Sokō’s Bukyō zensho.
1657 Meireki fire. Banzan retires from active service.
1659 Yinyuan starts work on creating Manpukuji (Ōbaku sect).
1660 Construction of Ryōkoku Bridge allows Edo to expand further east.
1661 Further requests to ban Fuju-fuse activities.
1662 Itō Jinsai opens his Kogidō academy about this time. Razan sensei bunshū
published.
1663 Junshi banned. Mito investigates the situation of temples in the domain.
1665 Sokō’s Seikyō yōroku. Itō Jinsai’s Rongo kogi.
1666 Mito rationalizes its temples. The terauke system is temporarily replaced by a
Shintō equivalent in Bizen. Kinmō zu’i published.
1669 Yamaga Sokō’s Chūchō jijitsu. Weights and measures standardized.
1670 Hayashi Gahō’s Honchō tsugan. First official map of Edo published.
1671 Attempts made to standardize the form of the Shūmon aratamechō.
1673 Yinyuan dies.
1674 Seki Takakazu’s Hatsubi sanpō. Engakuji honmatsuchō. Death of Kano Tan’yū.
1675 Sokō’s Haisho zanpitsu.
1678 Keichū becomes abbot of Myōhōji. Tetsugen completes the printing of the Ōbaku
canon.
1679 Chōon’s Kyūji hongi daizōkyō.
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2
The fate of Christianity

2 . 1 H I D E YO S H I A N D T H E J E S U I T S

The year is 1582. The Jesuit Visitor Valignano left Nagasaki for Macao early that
year, accompanied by four young Japanese from important daimyō families. They
were destined to be feted as Japan’s first ambassadors to Europe but in truth they
were not an ‘embassy’ at all; Valignano had simply calculated that their presence in
Rome would be living proof of the mission’s success in the Far East and would help
attract further funding.1 He might have been forgiven for thinking that the future
of the Jesuit mission in Japan was reasonably bright at this point; it was not secure
by any means, but neither was it in danger of immediate collapse. Since his arrival
in 1579, he had worked hard to undo the damage caused by the insensitive atti-
tude of Francisco Cabral and the results were impressive. There were a number of
important daimyō, Konishi Yukinaga and Takayama Ukon for example, who had
converted and who were content to profess their faith openly. Nagasaki had been
ceded to the Jesuits by Ōmura Sumitada (aka Dom Bartolomeu) in 1580 and was
already developing into a substantial Jesuit city. Padre Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino
had been given permission to establish a seminary in Azuchi and the interpreter
João Rodriguez had become a favourite of Nobunaga. As Valignano wrote in his
Sumario de las cosas de Japon in 1583, there was a Jesuit college in Funai, a novitiate
in Usuki, seminaries in Arima as well as Azuchi, ten Jesuit residences, some 200
churches, and thirty European priests assisted by forty-five irmãos and novices,
some twenty of whom were Japanese. There may have been up to 150,000 con-
verts, although this figure needs to be taken with a pinch of salt (Elison 1973: 81).
Gaspar Coelho was in charge of the newly established Vice Province, and Western
Kyūshū in particular was beginning to look like a Christianized area. But these
were extremely long voyages and the unforeseen often happened while one was still
at sea.
Arriving in Macao in the spring, Valignano discovered that the Netherlands had
achieved independence and that the royal families of Spain and Portugal had been
united. He was not slow to recognize what this might mean for the Society of
Jesus: whereas Spanish friars had previously been denied access to Japan thanks to
the fifteenth-century Treaty of Tordesillas, there would now be little to stop their

1 For details see Cooper 2005. The boys were Mancio Itō (Sukemasu), representing Ōtomo Sōrin,
Miguel Chijiwa (Seizaimon), representing Arima Harunobu, and Martinho Hara and Julião Nakaura,
representing the Ōmura family. Major sources for this chapter include Boxer 1993 and Elison 1973.
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The fate of Christianity 13

missionaries heading north from Manila with all that meant in terms of potential
rivalry; and any discord within the fledgling church in Japan at this crucial juncture
might spell disaster. In the long run his fears were to prove correct.
Until now many of the lords of Japan have been very suspicious of us, that we are
engaged in machinations of evil in Japan, and that if they permitted their kingdoms
to become Christian, then we might later rebel with them for the king who maintains
us in Japan; and they have been unable to persuade themselves that the kings [of
Europe] go to such great expenditure unless it be with the intent to turn it to profit
later by the seizure of land. Many lords have many times stated this quite clearly, for
this is one of the things in which the bonzes propagandize against us. Now that they
know about the union of the kingdoms of Castile and of Portugal, should there move
into Japan other religious orders which are strange to them, then this suspicion would
be greatly augmented among them and might move them to contrive some foul game
against us and against the Christians.2
In Japan, meanwhile, other unforeseen events lay in store. On the second day of
the sixth month of 1582, Nobunaga, who had treated the Jesuits even-handedly
ever since his first meeting with Fróis in Gifu in 1569, was killed in a surprise
attack orchestrated by Akechi Mitsuhide, an event which brought about the rise of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Valignano’s absence from Japan during this period proved to
be crucial, for Vice Provincial Coelho did not possess his magisterial talents and in
the end failed to understand how precarious the position of the Jesuits remained.
To survive and prosper they had to be politically astute and gain the support of
powerful men, but by playing politics they ran a terrible risk. Even if they backed
the right side (and this was still largely a matter of luck rather than good judge-
ment), they were in danger of appearing potentially subversive. What Coelho
failed to appreciate was the degree to which all religious organizations of whatever
hue were suspect to hegemonic rulers such as Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. It is sober-
ing to discover that supporters of the Jesuit cause were known as daiusu monto
提宇子門徒, monto being a term of disapprobation that had been used to describe
the Jōdo Shinshū (Ikkō) congregations that had been so disruptive an influence
within living memory.
By 1585 Hideyoshi was in full control of much of the country except for Kyūshū
and the north-east, and he had already put in train his cadastral surveys. He took
the title of kanpaku 關白 and made preparations to subdue the last remaining areas
of dispute. At this juncture Coelho believed he saw a chance to ingratiate himself
with the new ruler and requested audience. They met at Ōsaka castle in the fourth
month of 1586. During the meeting Coelho asked Hideyoshi to intervene in
Kyūshū to stop the Shimazu and their allies from threatening daimyō sympathetic
to the Christian cause. Then, in a step that appalled Valignano when he was
informed about it later, he tried to give the impression that the Christian daimyō
were all at his beck and call; he could, in other words, ‘deliver’ them to Hideyoshi.
And when the conversation turned to Hideyoshi’s plans for Korea and China,
Coelho hinted that two of the Portuguese Great Ships might be put at his disposal

2 Elison 1973: 81–2 quoting from Valignano’s Sumario.


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14 In Search of the Way

for such a venture. We learn from Organtino’s record of this meeting that everyone
present had been concerned at how the discussion was proceeding, for they knew
full well how Hideyoshi would respond if he felt that the Jesuits were becoming
too interested in matters of internal politics. They were of interest to him chiefly
for their connection to Portuguese traders, whose carracks brought much sought
after gold and silks from Macao and points west (Elison 1973: 114).
As it turned out, Hideyoshi had already decided to bring Shimazu to heel and
had little reason to need support from the Jesuits, who clearly valued themselves
too highly. But Coelho was not to be deterred and when Hideyoshi finally moved
to suppress Kyūshū the next year he wasted no time in paying him a congratula-
tory visit at his headquarters. He arrived in some style in a ship of some 200 or 300
tons known as a fusta, which was fully armed. Hideyoshi appeared impressed and
asked to see the Great Ship that had bypassed Nagasaki because of the presence of
Shimazu forces and was lying off Hirado. In the end it was decided the harbour
was too shallow to accommodate such a large vessel, but Hideyoshi had seen
enough to convince him that the Jesuits were becoming too self-assured and
needed to be shown who was master. It is clear from the following memorandum
that he saw Christianity and Buddhism in much the same light.3

Memorandum
1. The question as to whether one becomes a Christian [bateren monto] or not
should be a personal matter.
2. For those who have been granted lands and estates to force those peasants
under their jurisdiction who are registered with [Buddhist] temples to
become Christians against their will, as well as forcing their own servants, is
unreasonable and will not be permitted.
3. The granting of lands and estates to those who serve is a temporary arrange-
ment. The grantee may change but the peasants remain the same and so if
unreasonable demands are placed upon them, of whatever sort, it is the
grantee who will be deemed at fault. This should be acted upon.
4. Those persons holding more than 200 chō of land, or more than 2,000 or
3,000 kan, who wish to become Christians may only do so after they have
obtained official permission.
5. As far as those with stipends less than the aforementioned are concerned,
because this is purely a sectarian matter the decision should lie with the head
of the household.
6. It has come to our attention that the Christians, even more so than the
­members of the Ikkō sect, have external connections. The Ikkō established
temples in the provinces but refused to pay yearly taxes to those who served
me. What is more, the whole province of Kaga became sectarians, chased out
Lord Togashi, the ruler of the province, and paid their dues to the head of the

3 See Boxer 1993: 146 for the four leading questions he asked Coelho the next evening.
Another random document with
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between the tropics. Several species (P. vulgaris, P. auriga, P.
bocagii) occur in the Mediterranean and the neighbouring parts of
the Atlantic; one (P. argyrops) is well known on the coasts of the
United States under the names of “Scup,” “Porgy,” or “Mishcup,” and
one of the most important food fishes, growing to a length of 18
inches and a weight of 4 lbs.; another (P. unicolor) is one of the best-
known sea-fishes of Southern Australia and New Zealand, where it is
called “Snapper;” it is considered very good eating, like all the other
species of this genus, and attains, like some of them, a length of
more than 3 feet and a weight exceeding 20 lbs.
Pagellus.—Body oblong, compressed, with scales of moderate
size. Jaws without canines; molars on the sides arranged in several
series. Cheeks scaly. The spines of the dorsal fin, from eleven to
thirteen in number, can be received in a groove; anal spines three.
Seven species are known, the majority of which are European, as
P. erythrinus, common in the Mediterranean, and not rare on the
south coast of England, where it is generally termed “Becker;” P.
centrodontus, the common “Sea-bream” of the English coasts,
distinguished by a black spot on the origin of the lateral line; in the
young, which are called “Chad” by Cornish and Devon fishermen,
this spot is absent; P. owenii, the “Axillary or Spanish Sea-Bream,”
likewise from the British coasts. Pagellus lithognathus, from the
coasts of the Cape of Good Hope, attains to a length of four feet,
and is one of the fishes which are dried for export and sale to
whalers.
Chrysophrys.—Body oblong, compressed, with scales of
moderate size. Jaws with four or six canine teeth in front, and with
three or more series of rounded molars on each side. Cheeks scaly.
The spines of the dorsal fin, eleven or twelve in number, can be
received in a groove; anal spines three.
Some twenty species are known from tropical seas and the
warmer parts of the temperate zones. Generally known is Ch.
aurata, from the Mediterranean, occasionally found on the south
coast of England, where it is named “Gilthead.” The French call it
“Daurade,” no doubt from the Latin Aurata, a term applied to it by
ancient authors. The Greeks named it Chrysophrys (i.e. golden
eyebrow), in allusion to the brilliant spot of gold which it bears
between its eyes. According to Columella, the Aurata was among the
number of the fishes brought up by the Romans in their vivaria; and
the inventor of those vivaria, one Sergius Orata, is supposed to have
derived his surname from this fish. It is said to grow extremely fat in
artificial ponds. Duhamel states that it stirs up the sand with the tail,
so as to discover the shell-fish concealed in it. It is extremely fond of
mussels, and its near presence is sometimes ascertained by the
noise which it makes while breaking their shells with its teeth.
Several species found on the Cape of Good Hope attain to as large
a size as Pagellus lithognathus, and are preserved for sale like that
species. Chrysophrys hasta is one of the most common species of
the East Indian and Chinese coasts, and enters large rivers.
Fifth Group—Pimelepterina.—In both jaws a single anterior
series of cutting teeth, implanted by a horizontal posterior process,
behind which is a band of villiform teeth. Villiform teeth on the vomer,
palatines and the tongue. Vertical fins densely covered with minute
scales. Only one genus is known, Pimelepterus, with six species
from tropical seas. These fishes are sometimes found at a great
distance from the land.

Fifth Family—Hoplognathidæ.
Body compressed and elevated, covered with very small ctenoid
scales. Lateral line continuous. The bones of the jaws have a sharp
dentigerous edge, as in Scarus. The teeth, if at all conspicuous,
being continuous with the bone, forming a more or less indistinct
serrature; no teeth on the palate. The spinous portion of the dorsal
fin is rather more developed than the soft; the spines strong; anal
with three spines, similar to the soft dorsal. Ventrals thoracic, with
one spine and five soft rays.
One genus only is known, Hoplognathus, with four species from
Australian, Japanese, and Peruvian coasts.
Fig. 176.—Teeth of Hoplognathus.

Sixth Family—Cirrhitidæ.
Body oblong, compressed, covered with cycloid scales; lateral
line continuous. Mouth in front of the snout, with lateral cleft. Eye
lateral, of moderate size. Cheeks without a bony stay for the
præoperculum. Generally six, sometimes five or three
branchiostegals. Dentition more or less complete, composed of small
pointed teeth, sometimes with the addition of canines. One dorsal
fin, formed by a spinous and soft portion, of nearly equal
development. Anal with three spines, generally less developed than
the soft dorsal. The lower rays of the pectoral fins simple and
generally enlarged; ventrals thoracic, but remote from the root of the
pectorals, with one spine and five rays.
The fishes of this family may be readily recognised by their
thickened, undivided lower pectoral rays, which in some are
evidently auxiliary organs of locomotion, in others, probably, organs
of touch. They differ from the following family, the Scorpænidæ, in
lacking the bony connection between the infraorbital ring and the
præoperculum. Two groups may be distinguished in this family,
which, however, are connected by an intermediate genus
(Chironemus). The first, distinguished by the presence of vomerine
teeth, consists of Cirrhites and Chorinemus, small prettily coloured
fishes. The former genus is peculiar to the Indo-Pacific, and consists
of sixteen species; the second, with three species, seems to be
confined to the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. The second
group lacks the vomerine teeth, and comprises the following genera:

Chilodactylus.—One dorsal fin, with from sixteen to nineteen
spines; anal fin of moderate length; caudal forked. One of the simple
pectoral rays more or less prolonged, and projecting beyond the
margin of the fin. Teeth in villiform bands; no canines. Præoperculum
not serrated. Scales of moderate size. Air-bladder with many lobes.

Fig. 177.—Chilodactylus macropterus, from Australia.


Seventeen species are known, chiefly from the temperate parts
of the Southern Pacific, and also from the coasts of Japan and
China. They belong to the most valuable food-fishes, as they grow to
a considerable size (from five to twenty-five lbs.), and are easily
caught in numbers. At the Cape of Good Hope they are very
abundant, and preserved in large quantities for export.
Mendosoma from the coast of Chili, and Nemadactylus from
Tasmania, are allied genera.
Latris.—Dorsal fin deeply notched; the spinous portion with
seventeen spines; anal fin many-rayed. None of the simple pectoral
rays passes the margin of the fin. Teeth villiform; no canines.
Præoperculum minutely serrated. Scales small.
Two species only are known from Tasmania and New Zealand,
which belong to the most important food-fishes of the Southern
Hemisphere. Latris hecateia or the “Trumpeter,” ranges from sixty to
thirty lbs. in weight, and is considered by the colonists the best
flavoured of any of the fishes of South Australia, Tasmania, and New
Zealand, and consumed smoked as well as fresh. The second
species, Latris ciliaris, is smaller, scarcely attaining a weight of
twenty lbs., but more abundant; it is confined to the coast of New
Zealand.

Fig. 178.—Skull of Scorpæna percoides; so, Suborbital ring;


pr, Præoperculum; st, Bony stay, connecting the sub-orbital with
the præoperculum.

Seventh Family—Scorpænidæ.
Body oblong, more or less compressed, covered with ordinary
scales, or naked. Cleft of the mouth lateral or subvertical. Dentition
feeble, consisting of villiform teeth; and generally without canines.
Some bones of the head armed, especially the angle of the
præoperculum, its armature receiving additional support by a bony
stay, connecting it with the infraorbital ring. The spinous portion of
the dorsal fin equally or more developed than the soft and than the
anal. Ventrals thoracic, generally with one spine and five soft rays,
sometimes rudimentary.
This family consists of carnivorous marine fishes only; some
resemble the Sea-Perches in form and habits, as Sebastes,
Scorpæna, etc., whilst others live at the bottom of the sea, and
possess in various degrees of development those skinny
appendages resembling the fronds of seaweeds, by which they
either attract other fishes, or by which they are enabled more
effectually to hide themselves. Species provided with those
appendages have generally a coloration resembling that of their
surroundings, and varying with the change of locality. The habit of
living on the bottom has also developed in many Scorpænoids
separate pectoral rays, by means of which they move or feel. Some
of the genera live at a considerable depth, but apparently not beyond
300 fathoms. Nearly all are distinguished by a powerful armature
either of the head, or fin spines, or both; and in some the spines
have been developed into poison organs.
The only fossil representative known at present is a species of
Scorpæna from the Eocene of Oran.
Sebastes.—Head and body compressed; crown of the head scaly
to, or even beyond, the orbits; no transverse groove on the occiput.
Body covered with scales of moderate or small size, and without
skinny tentacles. Fin-rays not elongate; one dorsal, divided by a notch
into a spinous and soft portion, with twelve or thirteen spines; the anal
with three. No pectoral appendages. Villiform teeth in the jaws, on the
vomer, and generally on the palatine bones. Vertebræ more than
twenty-four.
About twenty species are known, principally from seas of the
temperate zones, as from the coasts of Northern Europe (S.
norvegicus, S. viviparus), of Japan, California, New Zealand, and
Van Diemen’s Land. All seem to prefer deep water to the surface,
and Sebastes macrochir has been obtained at a depth of 345
fathoms. In their general form they resemble the Sea-Perches, attain
to a weight of from one to four lbs., and are generally esteemed as
food.
Scorpæna.—Head large, slightly compressed, generally with a
transverse naked depression on the occiput; bones of the head armed
with spines, and generally with skinny tentacles. Scales of moderate
size. Mouth large, oblique. Villiform teeth in the jaws, and at least on
the vomer. One dorsal, 12–13/9, A. 3/5. Pectoral fins without detached
rays, large, rounded, with the lower rays simple and thickened. Air-
bladder none. Vertebræ twenty-four.

Fig. 179.—Head of Scorpæna percoides, from New Zealand.


Fig. 180.—Scorpæna bynoensis, from the coasts of Australia.
About forty species are known from tropical and sub-tropical
seas. They lead a sedentary life, lying hidden in the sand, or
between rocks covered with seaweed, watching for their prey, which
chiefly consists of small fishes. Their strong undivided pectoral rays
aid them in burrowing in the sand, and in moving along the bottom.
The type of their coloration is very much the same in all the species,
viz. an irregular mottling of red, yellow, brown, and black colours, but
the distribution of these colours varies exceedingly, not only in the
same species but also in the same individuals. They do not attain to
any considerable size, probably never exceeding a length of 18
inches. Their flesh is well flavoured. Wounds inflicted by their fin-
spines are exceedingly painful, but not followed by serious
consequences.
Glyptauchen and Lioscorpius are genera closely allied to
Scorpæna, from Australian seas.
Setarches is also allied to the preceding genera, and provided
with very large eyes, in accordance with the depth (215 fathoms)
which the two species known at present inhabit; one has been found
near Madeira, the other near the Fiji Islands.
Pterois.—Head and body compressed; scales of small or
moderate size. Bones of the head armed with numerous spinous
projections, between which often skinny tentacles are developed. The
dorsal spines and pectoral rays are more or less prolonged, passing
beyond the margin of the connecting membrane. Twelve or thirteen
dorsal spines. Villiform teeth in the jaws and on the vomer.
Nine species are known from the tropical Indo-Pacific. They
belong to the most singularly formed and most beautifully coloured
fishes of the Tropics, and formerly were believed to be able to fly, like
Dactylopterus. But the membrane connecting their pectoral rays is
much too short and feeble to enable them to raise themselves from
the surface of the water.
Apistus.—Head and body compressed, covered with ctenoid
scales of rather small size. Some bones of the head, and especially
the præorbital, are armed with spines. One dorsal with fifteen spines;
the anal with three. The pectoral fin is elongate, and one ray is
completely detached from the fin. Villiform teeth in the jaws, on the
vomer, and palatine bones. Air-bladder present. A cleft behind the
fourth gill.
Two species from the Indian Ocean. These fishes are very small,
but of interest on account of the prolongation of their pectoral fins,
which indicates that they can take long flying leaps out of the water.
However, this requires confirmation by actual observation.
Agriopus.—Head and body compressed, scaleless; head without
any, or with very feeble, armature. Cleft of the mouth small, at the end
of the produced snout. One dorsal fin, which commences from the
head, the spinous portion being formed by from seventeen to twenty-
one strong spines; anal short. Villiform teeth in the jaws, generally
none on the vomer.
Seven species. This singular genus is peculiar to the temperate
parts of the South Pacific, occurring at the Cape, on the coast of
South Australia, and Chili. The largest species (A. torvus) attains a
length of two and a half feet. Nothing is known of its mode of life.
Synanceia.—General appearance of the fish, especially of the
head, monstrous. Scales none; skin with numerous soft warty
protuberances or filaments. Mouth directed upwards, wide. Eyes
small. From thirteen to sixteen dorsal spines; pectoral fins very large.
Villiform teeth in the jaws, and sometimes on the vomer.
Four species are known from the Indo-Pacific, of which S. horrida
and S. verrucosa are the most generally distributed, and,
unfortunately, the most common. They are justly feared on account
of the great danger accompanying wounds which they inflict with
their poisoned dorsal spines, as has been already noticed above, p.
191. The greatest length to which they attain does not seem to
exceed eighteen inches. They are very voracious fishes, and their
stomach is of so great a capacity that they are able to swallow fishes
one-third of their own bulk.
Micropus.—Head and body strongly compressed, short, and
deep; no scales, but the skin is covered with minute tubercles. Snout
very short, with nearly vertical anterior profile. Præorbital, præ- and
inter-operculum with spines on the edge. Dorsal fin with seven or
eight, anal with two spines. Pectorals short, ventrals rudimentary.
Jaws with villiform teeth.
These fishes belong to the smallest of Acanthopterygians,
scarcely exceeding 1½ inches in length. Two species are known,
which are rather common on the coral reefs of the Pacific.
Chorismodactylus.—Head and body rather compressed,
scaleless, with skinny flaps. Bones of the head with prominent ridges;
the præorbital, præoperculum, and operculum armed; a depression on
the occiput. One dorsal fin, with thirteen spines; the anal with two.
Three free pectoral appendages. Ventral fins with one spine and five
rays. Villiform teeth in the jaws only.
Only one small species, Ch. multibarbis, is known, from the
coasts of India and China.
Fig. 181.—Chorismodactylus multibarbis.
To complete the list of Scorpænoid genera, we have to mention
Tænianotus, Centropogon, Pentaroge, Tetraroge, Prosopodasys,
Aploactis, Trichopleura, Hemitripterus, Minous and Pelor.

Eighth Family—Nandidæ.
Body oblong, compressed, covered with scales. Lateral line
interrupted. Dorsal fin formed by a spinous and soft portion, the
number of spines and rays being nearly equal; anal fin with three
spines, and with the soft portion similar to the soft dorsal. Ventral fins
thoracic, with one spine, and five or four rays. Dentition more or less
complete, but feeble.
This small family consists of two very distinct groups.
A. Plesiopina. Marine fishes of small size, with pseudobranchiæ
and only four ventral rays. Plesiops from the coral-reefs of the Indo-
Pacific, and Trachinops from the coast of New South Wales, belong
to this group.
B. Nandina. Freshwater fishes of small size from the East Indies,
without pseudobranchiæ, and five ventral rays. The genera are
Badis, Nandus, and Catopra.

Ninth Family—Polycentridæ.
Body compressed, deep, scaly. Lateral line none. Dorsal and
anal fins long, both with numerous spines, the spinous portion being
the more developed. Ventrals thoracic, with one spine and five soft
rays. Teeth feeble. Pseudobranchiæ hidden.
Only two genera, each represented by one or two species in the
Atlantic rivers of Tropical America, Polycentrus and Monocirrhus,
belong to this family. They are small insectivorous fishes.

Tenth Family—Teuthididæ.
Body oblong, strongly compressed, covered with very small
scales. Lateral line continuous. Eye lateral, of moderate size. A
single series of cutting incisors in each jaw; palate toothless. One
dorsal fin, the spinous portion being the more developed; anal with
seven spines. Ventral fins thoracic, with an outer and an inner spine,
and with three soft rays between.
This family consists of one very natural genus, Teuthis, readily
recognised by the singular structure of the fins. In all the species the
fin-formula is D. 13/10. A. 7/9. The incisors are small, narrow, and
provided with a serrated edge. The air-bladder is large, and forked
anteriorly as well as posteriorly. Their skeleton shows several
peculiarities: the number of vertebræ is twenty-three, ten of which
belong to the abdominal portion. The abdominal cavity is surrounded
by a complete ring of bones, the second piece of the coracoid being
exceedingly long, and extending along the whole length of the
abdomen, where it is joined to a spinous process of the first
interhæmal. The pubic bones are slender, long, firmly attached to
each other, without leaving a free space between them. They are
fastened by a long process which passes the symphysis of the radii,
and extends on to that of the humeri.

Fig. 182.—Teuthis nebulosa, Indian Ocean.


Thirty species are known, all from the Indo-Pacific; but they do
not extend eastwards beyond 140° long., or to the Sandwich Islands.
They are herbivorous, and do not exceed a length of fifteen inches.

Second Division—Acanthopterygii Beryciformes.


Body compressed, oblong, or elevated; head with large
muciferous cavities which are covered with a thin skin. Ventral fins
thoracic, with one spine and more than five soft rays (in Monocentris
with two only).
One family only belongs to this division.

Family—Berycidæ.
Body short, with ctenoid scales, which are rarely absent. Eyes
lateral, large (except Melamphaës). Cleft of the mouth lateral,
oblique; jaws with villiform teeth; palate generally toothed. Opercular
bones more or less armed. Eight (four) branchiostegals.
This family offers several points of biological interest. All its
members are strictly marine; but only two of the genera are surface-
forms (Holocentrum and Myripristis). All the others descend
considerably below the surface, and even some of the species of
Myripristis habitually inhabit depths of from 50 to 100 fathoms.
Polymixia and Beryx have been found in 345 fathoms. Melamphaës
must live at a still greater depth, as we may infer from the small size
of its eye; this fish is not likely to come nearer to the surface than to
about 200 fathoms. The other genera named have extremely large
eyes, and, therefore, may be assumed to ascend into such
superficial strata as are still lit up by a certain proportion of sun-rays.
The highly-developed apparatus for the secretion of superficial
mucus, with which these fishes are provided, is another sign of their
living at a greater depth than any of the preceding families of
Acanthopterygians. In accordance with this vertical distribution,
Berycoid fishes have a wide horizontal range, and several species
occur at Madeira as well as in Japan.
Fossil Berycoids show a still greater diversity of form than living;
they belong to the oldest Teleosteous fishes, the majority of the
Acanthopterygians found in the chalk being representatives of this
family. Beryx has been found in several species, with other genera
now extinct: Pseudoberyx, with abdominal ventrals, from Mount
Lebanon; Berycopsis, with cycloid scales; Homonotus, Stenostoma,
Sphenocephalus, Acanus, Hoplopteryx, Platycornus, with granular
scales; Podocys, with a dorsal fin extending to the neck; Acrogaster,
Macrolepis, and Rhacolepis, from the chalk of Brazil. Species of
Holocentrum and Myripristis occur in the Monte Bolca formation.
Monocentris.—Snout obtuse, convex, short; eye of moderate
size. Villiform teeth on the palatine bones, but none on the vomer.
Opercular bones without armature. Scales very large, bony, forming a
rigid carapace. Ventrals reduced to a single strong spine and a few
rudimentary rays.
Fig. 183.—Monocentris japonicus.
One species only is known (M. japonicus) from the seas off
Japan and Mauritius. It does not attain to any size, and is not
common.
Hoplostethus.—Snout very short and obtuse; eye large. Villiform
teeth on the palatine bones, but none on the vomer. Operculum
unarmed, a strong spine at the scapulary and the angle of the
præoperculum. Scales ctenoid, of moderate size; abdominal edge
serrated. One dorsal, with six spines; ventrals with six soft rays;
caudal deeply forked.
One species only is known (H. mediterraneus), which occurs in
the Mediterranean, the neighbouring parts of the Atlantic, and in the
sea off Japan.
Trachichthys.—Snout very short and obtuse, with prominent
chin; eye large. Villiform teeth on the palatine bones and on the
vomer. A strong spine at the scapulary and at the angle of the
præoperculum. Scales rather small; abdomen serrated. One dorsal,
with from three to six spines; ventral with six soft rays. Caudal forked.
Four species are known from New Zealand and Madeira.
Anoplogaster is an allied genus from tropical parts of the Atlantic;
it is scaleless.
Beryx.—Snout short, with oblique cleft of the mouth and
prominent chin; eye large. Villiform teeth on the palatine bones and
vomer. Opercular bones serrated; no spine at the angle of the
præoperculum. Scales ctenoid, of moderate or large size. One dorsal,
with several spines; ventrals with seven or more soft rays. Anal with
four spines; caudal forked.

Fig. 184.—Beryx decadactylus.


Five species are known from Madeira, the tropical Atlantic, and
the seas of Japan and Australia. The species figured is B.
decadactylus, common at Madeira, and occurring near Japan at a
depth of 345 fathoms; it attains a length of 1½ feet.
Melamphaes.—Head large and thick, with very thin bones, nearly
all the superficial bones being transformed into wide muciferous
channels. Eye small. Palate toothless; no barbels; opercles not
armed. Scales large, cycloid. One dorsal, with six spines; anal spines
very feeble; caudal forked. Ventrals with seven rays.
Two species, deep-sea fishes of the Atlantic; they are very
scarce, as only three or four specimens have been found hitherto.
Polymixia.—Snout short, with the cleft of the mouth nearly
horizontal; eye large. Two barbels at the throat. Opercles without
armature. Scales of moderate size. One dorsal. Anal with three or four
spines; caudal forked; ventrals with six or seven soft rays.
Three species are known: P. nobilis from Madeira and St. Helena,
P. lowei from Cuba, and P. japonica from Japan; the latter species
from a depth of 345 fathoms. Average size eighteen inches.
Myripristis.—Snout short, with oblique cleft of the mouth and
prominent chin; eye large or very large. Villiform teeth on the vomer
and palatine bones. Opercular bones serrated; præoperculum without
spine. Scales large, ctenoid. Two dorsals, the first with ten or eleven
spines; anal with four spines; caudal forked; ventrals with seven soft
rays. Air-bladder divided by a contraction in two parts, the anterior of
which is connected with the organ of hearing.
Eighteen species from the tropical seas of both hemispheres, the
majority living near the coast at the surface. The coloration is
(principally) red or pink on the back and silvery on the sides. They
attain a length of about 15 inches, and are esteemed as food.
Holocentrum.—Snout somewhat projecting, with the cleft of the
mouth nearly horizontal; eye large. Villiform teeth on the vomer and
palatine bones. Opercular bones and præorbital serrated; operculum
with two spines behind; a large spine at the angle of the
præoperculum. Scales ctenoid, of moderate size. Two dorsals, the
first with twelve spines; anal with four spines, the third being very long
and strong; caudal forked. Ventrals with seven soft rays.
Fig. 185.—Holocentrum unipunctatum, from the South Sea.
About thirty species are known from the tropical seas of both
hemispheres; all are surface fishes, and very common. The young
have the upper part of the snout pointed and elongate, and were
described as a distinct genus (Rhynchichthys). The coloration of the
adult is uniform; red, pink, and silvery prevailing. They attain to a
length of about 15 inches, and are esteemed as food.

Third Division—Acanthopterygii Kurtiformes.


One dorsal fin only, much shorter than the anal, which is long and
many-rayed. No superbranchial organ.
One family only belongs to this division.

Family—Kurtidæ.
Body compressed, oblong, deep in front, attenuated behind.
Snout short. The spines of the short dorsal are few in number, if
developed. Scales small or of moderate size. Villiform teeth in the
jaws, on the vomer, and palatine bones.
This family consists of a small number of species only, which
form two distinct genera, Pempheris and Kurtus. They are shore
fishes of tropical seas. In both the air-bladder shows some
peculiarity: in Pempheris it is divided into an anterior and posterior
portion; in Kurtus it is lodged within the ribs, which are dilated,
convex, forming rings. The number of vertebræ is respectively
twenty-four and twenty-three.

Fourth Division—Acanthopterygii Polynemiformes.


Two rather short dorsal fins, somewhat remote from each other;
free filaments at the humeral arch, below the pectoral fins;
muciferous canals of the head well developed.
One family only belongs to this division.

Family—Polynemidæ.
Body oblong, rather compressed, covered with smooth or very
feebly ciliated scales. Lateral line continuous. Snout projecting
beyond the mouth, which is inferior, with lateral cleft. Eye lateral,
large. Villiform teeth in the jaws and on the palate. Ventrals thoracic,
with one spine and five rays.
The fishes of this natural family have been divided, on slight
differences, into three genera—Polynemus, Pentanemus, and
Galeoides. They are found in rather numerous species on the coasts
between the tropics, and the majority enter brackish or even fresh
water. Very characteristic are the free filaments which in this family
are organs of touch; they are inserted on the humeral arch at some
distance from the pectoral fin; but, nevertheless, can be regarded
only as a detached portion of that fin; they can be moved quite
independently of the fin; their number varies from three to fourteen,
according to the species; in some they are exceedingly elongate,
twice as long as the fish, in others they are not longer or even
shorter than the pectoral. It is evident from the whole organisation of
these fishes that they live on muddy bottom or in thick water, such as
is found near the mouths of great rivers. Their eyes are large, but
generally obscured by a filmy skin, so that those feelers must be of
great use to them in finding their way and their food. The
Polynemoids are very useful to man: their flesh is esteemed, and
some of the species are provided with an air-bladder which yields a
good sort of isinglass, and forms an article of trade in the East
Indies. Some of these fishes attain to a length of four feet.

Fig. 186.—Pentanemus quinquarius, from the West Coast of Africa and the
West Indies.

Fifth Division—Acanthopterygii Sciæniformes.


The soft dorsal is more, generally much more, developed than
the spinous, and than the anal. No pectoral filaments; head with the
muciferous canals well developed.
Also this division is composed of one family only.

Family—Sciænidæ.
Body rather elongate, compressed, covered with ctenoid scales.
Lateral line continuous, and frequently extending over the caudal fin.

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