Ashikaga Yoshimasa

Ashikaga Yoshimasa
In this Japanese name, the family name is Ashikaga.

Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利 義政, January 20, 1436 – January 27, 1490)[1] was the 8th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimasa was the son of the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori.[2] His official wife was Hino Tomiko.

On the August 16, 1443 (Kakitsu 3, 21st day of the 7th month), 10-year-old shogun Yoshikatsu died of injuries sustained in a fall from a horse. He had been shogun for only three years. Immediately, the bakufu elevated Yoshinari, the young shogun's even younger brother, to be the new shogun.[3] Several years after becoming shogun, Yoshinari changed his name to Yoshimasa, by which name he is better known.[4]

Shogunal succession

Significant events which shaped the period during which Yoshimasa was shogun:

Events leading up to civil war

A number of decisions lead eventually to armed conflict:

Ōnin War

Main article: Ōnin War

By 1464, Yoshimasa had no heir, so he adopted his younger brother, Ashikaga Yoshimi, in order to avoid any conflicts which might arise at the end of his shogunate. However, in the next year, Yoshimasa was surprised by the birth of a son, Ashikaga Yoshihisa. The infant's birth created a conflict between the two brothers over who would follow Yoshimasa as shogun. Yoshimasa's wife, Hino Tomiko, attempted to get Yamana Sōzen to support the infant's claim to the shogunate.[7] By 1467 the simmering dispute had evolved, encouraging a split amongst the powerful daimyō and clan factions. The armed conflict which ensued has come to be known as the Ōnin War.[8] This armed contest marks the beginning the Sengoku period of Japanese history, a troubled period of constant military clashes which would last over a century. A number of developments affect the unfolding Ōnin War's battles:

In the midst of on-going hostilities, Yoshimasa retired in 1473. He relinquished the position of Seii Taishogun to his young son who became the ninth shogun Ashikaga Yoshihisa; but effectively, Yoshimasa continued to hold the reins of power. With the leaders of the two warring factions dead and with the ostensible succession dispute resolved, the rationale for continuing to fight faded away. The exhausted armies dissolved and by 1477 open warfare ended.

Yoshimasa's heirs

When Yoshimasa declared that Yoshihisa would be the next shogun after he stepped down from that responsibility, he anticipated that his son would out-live him. When Shogun Yoshihisa died prematurely, Yoshimasa reassumed the power and responsibility he had wanted to lay aside. Shogun Yoshimasa adopted the son of his brother, Yoshimi. In 1489, shogun Yoshitane was installed; and Yoshimasa retired again.

Grave of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Kyoto

Before Yoshimasa died in 1490, he again adopted a nephew as heir, this time the son of his brother, Masatomo. Although Yoshitane did outlive Yoshimasa, his shogunate would prove short-lived. Yoshitane died in 1493.[9]

Also before he married with Hino Tomiko,sister of Hino Katsumitsu,he has a concibune,Lady Oima who pregnant at 8 month and Tomiko know it later she push Lady Oima from stair and she miscarriage.

Shogun Yoshimasa was succeeded by shogun Yoshihisa (Yoshimasa's natural son), then by Shogun Yoshitane (Yoshimasa's first adopted son), and then by shogun Yoshizumi (Yoshimasa's second adopted son). Yoshizumi's progeny would directly succeed him as head of the shogunate. In the future, power struggles from outside the clan would also lead to a brief period in which the great-grandson of Yoshitane would be installed as a puppet leader of the Ashikaga shogunate.[9]

Higashiyama culture

Main article: Higashiyama Culture

During Yoshimasa's reign Japan saw the growth of the Higashiyama Culture (Higashiyama bunka),[10] famous for tea ceremony (Sado), flower arrangement (Kado or Ikebana), Noh drama, and Indian ink painting. Higashiyama culture was greatly influenced by Zen Buddhism and saw the rise of Japanese aesthetics like Wabi-sabi and the harmonization of imperial court (Kuge) and samurai (Bushi) culture.

In the history of this Higashiyama bunka period, a few specific dates are noteworthy:

Eras of Yoshimasa's bakufu

The years in which Yoshimasa was shogun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.[16]

Notes

  1. "Ashikaga Yoshimasa" in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625.
  2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 342., p. 342, at Google Books
  3. Titsingh, p. 342, p. 342, at Google Books; Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822, p. 234 n.10; n.b., Yoshikatsu (b. 1434 – d. 1443) = 8yrs. In this period, "children were considered one year old at birth and became two the following New Year's Day; and all people advanced a year that day, not on their actual birthday."
  4. Titsingh, p. 346., p. 346, at Google Books
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron, p. 331.
  6. In the name "Ōnin War," the noun "Ōnin" refers to the nengō (Japanese era name) after "Bunshō" and before "Bunmei." In other words, the Ōnin war occurred during the Ōnin era, which was a time period spanning the years from 1467 through 1469. Although the fighting continued long after, the conflict came to be identified with the nengō in which it began.
  7. "Hino Tomiko". Daijirin.
  8. Sansom, George (1961). A History of Japan, 1334-1615. Stanford University Press. p. 217-229. ISBN 0804705259.
  9. 1 2 Ackroyd, p. 298.
  10. "Higashiyama Bunka" (東山文化), JAANUS: Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.
  11. Ponsonby-Fane. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines, p. 452.
  12. Yamasa: Gikaku-ji.
  13. "Protecting Ginkaku-ji, the Beauty of Wabi-sabi; Reluctance to Black Lacquering the Outer Wall," Kyoto Shimbun. January 23, 2008.
  14. Keene, Donald. (2003). Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion, p. 87., p. 87, at Google Books
  15. Titsingh, p. 361., p. 361, at Google Books
  16. Titsingh, pp. 331-361., p. 331, at Google Books

References

Preceded by
Ashikaga Yoshikatsu
Muromachi Shogun
1449–1473
Succeeded by
Ashikaga Yoshihisa
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