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By her he had a son whom he caused to be adopted by the Empress, preparatory to placing him on the throne as Emperor Konoe, at the age of three. Thus, the cloistered sovereigns followed faithfully in the footsteps of the Fujiwara. A phenomenon which became conspicuous during the reign of Shirakawa was recourse to violence by Buddhist priests.
In one of these edifices repose the remains of Kiyohira, Motohira, and Hidehira. In the days of Kiyohira the monastery consisted of forty buildings and was inhabited by three hundred priests. The 69th Sovereign, the Emperor Go-Shujaku A.D. 1037-1045 70th " " Go-Reizei 1046-1068 71st " " Go-Sanjo 1069-1072 72nd " " Shirakawa 1073-1086 73rd " " Horikawa 1087-1107 74th " " Toba 1108-1123
They forced the Shirakawa palace, and after a desperate struggle,* the defenders took to flight. Thus far, except for the important issues involved and the unnatural division of the forces engaged, this Hogen tumult would not have differed materially from many previous conflicts. But its sequel acquired terrible notoriety from the cruel conduct of the victors.
The earnest efforts made by Go-Sanjo to check the abuse of sales of rank and office as well as the alienation of State lands into private manors, were rendered wholly abortive under the sway of Shirakawa. The cloistered Emperor was a slave of superstition. *These were designated Roku-sho-ji, or "six excellent temples."
With difficulty the Court kept peace between them. It is related of Shirakawa Ho-o that the three things which he declared to defy his control were the waters of the Kamo River, the fall of the dice, and the yama-hoshi. THE period we are considering is a long one which owes its unity to the sole fact that the capitol was at Kyoto. It is, therefore, unsafe to generalize on its manners and customs.
In the capital the bushi served as palace guards; in the provinces they were practically independent. *It is of this noble that history records an incident illustrative of the superstitions of the eleventh century. The cloistered Emperor Shirakawa kept Tadamori constantly by his side.
But in the greatly inferior hands of Shirakawa this new division of Imperial authority and the segregation of its source undoubtedly conspired to prepare the path for military feudalism and for curtained Emperors. Toba, with the title of Ho-o, took the tonsure and administered from the cloister after Shirakawa's death.
A Prince of Shirakawa jots down his random thoughts, and among them is the following: "Though they come stealing to your bedside in the silent watches of the night, drive not away, but rather cherish these the fragrance of flowers, the sound of distant bells, the insect humming of a frosty night."
Instances of such turbulence were not infrequent, and they account in part for the reckless prodigality shown by Shirakawa in building and furnishing temples. The cenobites did not confine themselves to demonstrations at the palace; they had their own quarrels also.
This was, in short, Go-Sanjo's plan for rendering the regent a superfluity. But fate willed that he should not carry his project into practice. He abdicated, owing to ill health, in 1073, and died the following year. Go-Sanjo was succeeded by his eldest son, Shirakawa. He had taken for consort the daughter of Fujiwara Yorimichi.
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