Tokugawa Ieyasu
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Tokugawa Ieyasu
He seized power in 1660 and was appointed shogun (military dictator) in 1603. The rise to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu inaugurated the control of Japan by the Tokugawa family which was to last from 1603 to 1867 (a period known as the Tokugawa Shogunate), when it was ousted by the Meiji Restoration.
During the Tokugawa period, the shogun exercised the real power whereas the formerly powerful emperor found himself increasingly reduced to a purely ceremonial and religious role.
Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu (Tuttle Classics)
Amazon Price: $11.31 (as of 02/17/2012)
One of the most successful rulers in Japanese history and one of the most cunning military strategists in world history, Tokugawa Ieyasu overcame countless dangers and intrigues in his country's most violent age to become the man who finally united all of Japan. His accomplishments and work cemented in place the system of governance and way of life that have become forever linked with traditional Japan.
Shogun, A. L. Sadler's classic biography of this Japanese legend, has been completely re-typeset and designed-and is still the best available. It is dramatic in its narration of the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the measures he took to win the Shogunate and insure that power would remain in his family's hands. It also features a new foreword by bestselling author and samurai expert Stephen Turnbull.
Tha author, A. L. Sadler, was Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney from 1922 to 1948.
Patience
"The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining one's inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience."
-- Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu: Shogun
Tokugawa Ieyasu: Shogun
Amazon Price: $58.84 (as of 02/17/2012)
Tokugawa Ieyasu was probably one of the world's great leaders. He was patient and brilliant. He waited for just the right moment to make his move and unify Japan under his Shogunate. Unfortunately little is availible about this great man in English. Clavell's Shogun is a masterpiece based on Ieyasu's life, but ultimately fiction. Totman's book is a rare English biography of Ieyasu. And Totman wrote an excellent and highly readable account of Ieyasu's life.
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If you are looking for a readable bio of Tokugawa Ieyasu in English, you have found one in Totman's. However, this is a rather lightweight historical work. Much of it was copied from a Japanese text, and the author admits this. Unfortunately, pickings on Tokugawa in English are slim. General works on Japan's 16th century are better. I recommend Boxer's The Christian Century in Japan, Elison's collection Warlords, Artists, and Commoners, and Sansom's A History of Japan: 1334-1615. They give a clearer picture of the times.
Armour and other items used by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600)
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byA History of Japan, 1334-1615
A History of Japan, 1334-1615
Amazon Price: $28.49 (as of 02/17/2012)
Sir George Bailey Sansom (1883-1965) was a British diplomatist, knighted for his services to the crown, who was also a fine scholar of Japan. When the three volumes of his _History of Japan_ were written they were much the best in the field, well written, full of sharp insights, and reflecting current scholarship. They remain well written but a great deal has been learned since the 1950s that is not reflected in them.
With that said, although I have 75 volumes of Japanese history in my library, I still occasionally consult this book, which remains the most comprehensive narrative history for the period up to 1600. The trick is to be able to know when what he says has been superseded. But for most people, it is likely to be the only Japanese history they will read, and they are going to be misled in some respects.
One alternative is a biography that is also a history: Mary Elizabeth Berry, _Hideyoshi_ (Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1982), ISBN 0674390261. Its subject, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (c.1536-1598), was the most amazing man in Japanese history, and among the most amazing in anyone's history. It was Hideyoshi who unified Japan toward the end of the long period of turmoil that Sansom's book covers, and Berry tells the story of the background as well as of Hideyoshi's unification. She wrote two decades after Sansom and so benefits from a great deal of original scholarship in the interim (to which she contributed). Her book is also nicely affordable.
Another fine alternative, at least in part, is Marius B. Jansen, ed., _Warrior Rule in Japan_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), ISBN: 0521484049. This is a collection of five articles from volumes 3 and 4 of the magnificent (and magnificently costly) _Cambridge History of Japan_, here presented in convenient (and affordable) form. It traces the three shogunates or bakufu (the Kamikura bakufu, the Muromachi or Ashikaga bakufu, and the final Tokugawa bakufu) up through 1800. Its weakness is the era of the unification, but that is the strength of Berry's book, so the two are complementary. The book has a good deal of Japanese terminology in it, but its index is set up also to serve as a glossary, so there is no need to get confused.
Precepts on the secret of success in life drafted by Tokugawa Ieyasu (published image, 1934; original calligraphy, 1604)
Two Translations of the above Precepts
Translation:
"Life is like walking along a long road shouldering a heavy load; there is no need to hurry.
One who treats difficulties as the normal state of affairs will never be discontented.
Patience is the source of eternal peace; treat anger as an enemy.
Harm will befall one who knows only success and has never experienced failure.
Blame yourself rather than others.
It is better not to reach than to go too far."
--Tokugawa Ieayasu, 1604
Source: http://www.oldtokyo.com/toshogu-shrine.html
Alternate translation:
Life is like carrying a heavy burden:
It is best not to rush ahead too hastily.
He who accepts it as natural for life not to go exactly how he wants it to will not feel dissatisfied.
Rather than doing too much, it is best to leave things undone.
When managing others, give full reign to their good points and overlook their weak points.
--Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1604.
Source: http://www.globaled.org/japanproject/lessons/lesson19_1.php
Shogun (by James Clavell)
Shogun
Amazon Price: $83.33 (as of 02/17/2012)
Shogun is one of those rare books that you wish would go on forever. Indeed, I know people who re-read it every year. The story follows the adventures of marooned English sailor John Blackthorne in late medieval Japan during the tumultuous years when Tokugawa Ieyasu (here called Toranaga) was uniting all of Japan under his rule by any means necessary. It's truly an epic tale of war, honor, treachery, masterful manipulations, tragic heroism, and star-crossed love.
The characters come alive completely and the plot is absolutely gripping. Be warned that you probably won't be able to put this one down - Somehow I read this 1000+ page book in only five days, ignoring all my schoolwork. I can't say enough good things about this book - it never lets up, always keeps you thinking, and can be quite moving emotionally too. The other thing that's cool about this book is how amazingly accurate it is historically, considering it's fiction. One of my only complaints about this book is that Clavell changed all the names even though almost all his characters were real people - even the main character, Blackthorne, was based on a real guy. It would have been cool to get the real names.
Shogun is Clavell's masterwork - if any author writes a book this good even only once in a lifetime he or she has suceeded. Everyone should read it, not because it will incredibly enrich your life (its only fiction after all), but simply because this book is so damn good it would be a shame for anyone to miss out on it.
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Edutopia
Feb 14, 2012 @ 8:11 pm | delete
- A great general that founded a great dynasty but his successors unfortunately were not as capable for the job as he was.
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