AGE OF EMPIRES: Yamato, Empire of the Rising Sun - REAL HISTORY

Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, feared death and sought a way to achieve immortality. According to legends, he tasked Shu Fu, the court sorcerer and alchemist, with finding an elixir of life on the mythical Penglai Mountain in the islands east of China. According to Chinese accounts, Shu Fu landed on the key peninsula of Japan, near Mount Fuji, in 210 BCE, with a crew of soldiers, farmers, and craftsmen. Shu Fu never returned to China, however, presumably making himself king of the islands, rather than return home empty-handed. Legends relate that Shu Fu, who became known as Jofuku in Japanese histories, taught the natives of the islands medicinal and farming techniques. He would eventually become one of the possible historical inspirations for the first Japanese emperor, Jimu. While archaeological records cannot confirm these legendary events, it seems that beginning in 300 BCE, rice farmers from mainland Asia settled in the Japanese archipelago and introduced elements of Chinese culture and technology to the islands. The earlier inhabitants of Japan, whose culture is known as Jōmon, were a Neolithic people who subsisted primarily through hunting, fishing, and gathering. They used basic stone and wooden tools, and stitched together their clothing from the bark of the mulberry tree. The Jōmon are best known for their patterned pottery, from which the culture gets its name. Their earthenware is among the oldest pottery found in the world, with pieces dating to as early as 14,500 BCE. Around 300 BCE, the material culture of Japan became more sophisticated due to mainland influences. Over the next six centuries, a period known as the Yaoi period, Japan saw a technological revolution with the introduction of rice agriculture and metalworking. Chinese historical records from this period describe Japan as a land of hundreds of scattered tribal communities, often in conflict with one another. The Yaoi period marked the change in Japanese society from one of hunter-gatherers to an militarized society. Stone tools and weapons were replaced with those of bronze and iron, while rice farming encouraged the Japanese to settle in larger communities. The first powerful clans and the beginnings of a class system appeared, laying the foundations for the daimyo and samurai of later centuries. The use of metal was not restricted to weapons and tools. The Yaoi were skilled blacksmiths, creating ceremonial bells known as dōtaku. These bells were richly decorated with patterns and images, representing nature and animals. They were used in agriculture, and as warning bells in case of attacks. Chinese dynastic histories, which recount the activities of barbarian neighbors, reference a great civil war in Japan, during the late Yaoi period. The introduction of rice cultivation and metallurgy from the mainland had encouraged local leaders to extend their authority over other regions, particularly coastal villages, to control the flow of imports and mainland technologies. This conflict reduced the political fragmentation of the islands as a few powerful leaders expanded their territory, at the expense of smaller and weaker chiefdoms. Chinese records from the third century CE mention a kingdom called Yamatai-koku, a possible precursor state of the later Yamato. According to these sources, the kingdom was ruled by Queen Himiko, a spiritual leader who ascended the throne as a young woman, after the great civil war in the islands. It was said in the Chinese histories, that Himiko used magic and her knowledge of the spirits to bewitch the people into placing her on the throne. As queen, she established diplomatic relations with the Chinese kingdom of Cao Wei, famed for its role during the Three Kingdoms Himiko remained unmarried during her long reign, and resided in a grand palace, with 1,000 women and one man as attendants. Around 300 CE, large earthen burial mounds, called Kofun tombs, began appearing in Japan. These mounds varied in size and shape, but most distinctive were those resembling a giant keyhole pattern. Rulers and the elite were buried in the tombs, with weapons and other personal items. As with the construction of monuments in other parts of the ancient world, the building of these tombs coincided with political centralization, and a period of warfare, during which various local chiefs competed for dominance. The Shinto religion also emerged from previous belief systems during the Kofun period, although the oldest Shinto shrines, such as Isamotesha and Issei Grand Shrine, date to as early as the Yaoi period. The word Shinto, meaning way of the gods, was adopted from the Chinese Shandao, meaning spirit path or study. In Shinto religion, practitioners rely on diligent ritual, to establish a connection to the Kami, or gods. The Kami embody the powers of nature, such as the sun, wind, storms, and the sea. As the Yamato consolidated control of Japan, their name became synonymous with the island empire. Influenced by China, the Yamato developed a central administration and an imperial court. Many clans still aspired for power however, and vied for influence over the emperor. The Soga were one such family, occupying key positions in the imperial family. Devout Buddhists, the Soga found themselves in conflict with the rival Mononobi clan, who held conservative Shinto beliefs. The sudden death of the emperor Waimei in 587 CE, brought the tension between clans to open warfare. A son of the emperor, and scion of the Soga clan, Prince Shotoku, led the pro-Soga armies against the Mononobi, at Mount Shigi. According to legend, the young prince prayed for victory, and was visited by Bishamonten, the Buddhist deity of war, who led him to victory. In recognition of this aid, the prince would go on to construct many Buddhist temples through Japan. Although he never became emperor himself, Prince Shotoku held substantial power as regent for his aunt, the figurehead Empress Suiko. After defeating the Mononobi, the Soga clan heads were the powers behind the throne for the next few emperors and empresses. By 645 CE, Soga no Omishi, and his son Soga no Iruka, had begun to assert themselves more overtly in imperial affairs. In response, a courtier named Nakatomi no Kamatari, conspired with a junior member of the Soga clan, and Prince Naka no Oe, son of the reigning Empress Kogyoku, to assassinate the Soga clan heads. Known as the Ishi Incident, the assassination of Soga no Iruka, took place during a court ceremony, at which memorials were being read to the Empress. Prince Naka no Oe had ordered four assassins to kill the Soga leader, but when they became too frightened to carry out the order, the prince himself rushed Iruka, killing him in front of the Empress. Shocked by the violence, Empress Kogyoku, abdicated and her brother ascended the throne as Emperor Kotoku. Having heard of his son's death, Soga no Omishi committed suicide by self-immolation, and the Soga clan passed into history. Although he only ruled for ten years, Emperor Kotoku established significant reforms in Japanese political culture, with the support of his nephew Prince Naka no Oe. Known as the Taika Reforms, these policies, implemented in 645 CE, centralized imperial power, in imitation of Chinese political systems. Confucian ideas were introduced, and Japanese envoys and scholars were sent to China, to learn and adopt many aspects of Chinese culture and religion. Ten years after ascending the throne, Kotoku died, and his sister returned to rule Japan. On her death in 661 CE, Prince Naka no Oe, ascended the throne, and took the name Emperor Tenji. After strengthening imperial power, the Emperor Tenji resolved to designate an heir, as he approached old age. His eldest son, Prince Otomo, was talented enough to succeed him, but the Emperor had sired him with a low-born wife. This parentage, and the lowly status of his maternal family, would make Prince Otomo an unlikely heir to his father, as his political support was limited. Nevertheless, the Emperor decided that his son would succeed him, and named him heir. The Emperor did have a younger brother, Prince Oama, who had the backing of some members of the imperial court. The youngest son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kogyoku, Oama's ancestry fulfilled expectations for an emperor. In fact, until he decided on his son succeeding him, the Emperor Tenji had designated Oama as crown prince. In 670 CE, the Emperor fell ill, and fearing that Oama would attempt to seize power, had his brother brought to him. The Emperor asked Oama if he wished to succeed the throne. The Prince stated he did not wish to become emperor, but would retire to a temple and become a monk. The Emperor was satisfied with this answer, and Oama retired to a temple. In 672 CE, Emperor Tenji died, and his son Otomo ascended the throne as Emperor Kabun. Prince Oama, despite his claim to his brother, had no intentions of giving up the chance to become emperor, and secretly raised an army. He then marched on the Emperor at his palace in Otsu. In the conflict, known as the Jinshin War, Oama defeated his nephew, who committed seppuku, a ritual suicide, and ascended the throne as Emperor Tenmu. The Fujiwara clan originated when Nakatomi no Kamatari was rewarded with the clan name by the Emperor Tenji, for his role in the Ishi incident that ended Soga power. During the rule of the Emperor Tenji and his successors, the Fujiwara increased in power, and married into the imperial family, just as the Soga had done. By the 730 CE, the clan took power on the council of state, with 4 out of 10 seats held by a Fujiwara clan member. In 735 CE however, a devastating plague swept through Japan, and led to the deaths of the leading Fujiwara officials. This setback allowed other clans to gain prominence. These clans quickly pushed the Fujiwara out of power, causing Fujiwara officials to be demoted, and sent to remote posts. Fujiwara no Hirotsugu was one such official. He had been demoted from governor of Yamato province, to a remote post at Dezaifu, in Kyushu in 738 CE. In September 7, 1940 CE, Hirotsugu began a rebellion, demanding the dismissal of corrupt officials he blamed for his clan's decline. Hirotsugu found willing followers in Kyushu. The island had suffered from the plague and repeated years of bad harvests. Government attempts to assuage the gods by constructing temples, only exacerbated the conditions of the locals, who were forced into providing labor for the building programs. Hirotsugu was soon able to raise an army, and began establishing relations with the Korean kingdom of Silla. The Emperor Shomu responded to these actions by sending an army to Kyushu. Hirotsugu's rebellion fell apart as several of his allies defected, and the imperial forces distributed a decree, promising rewards for the death of the rebel leader. Hirotsugu led his remaining forces to battle at the Itabitsu river, where they were decisively defeated. Hirotsugu then attempted to flee to Silla by boat, but storms caused him to abort his journey, and he was finally captured and beheaded.