. The mikado's empire. the splendor of his forefathers. He was eligible, by rightof descent, to become Sei-i Tai Shogun, or chief of all the daimios. The family of Tokugawa took its name from a place and river inShimotsiike, near Ashikaga and Nitta — which are geographical as THE FERFECTION OF DUARCHT AND FEUDALISM. 271 well as personal names — claimed descent from the mikado Seiwathrougli the Minamoto Yoshiiye, thence through that of Nitta Yoshi-sada. Tokugawa Shiro, the father of lyeyasii, lived in the village ofMatsudaira, in Mikawa. lyeyasu always signed the documents sentto foreigners, Mi
. The mikado's empire. the splendor of his forefathers. He was eligible, by rightof descent, to become Sei-i Tai Shogun, or chief of all the daimios. The family of Tokugawa took its name from a place and river inShimotsiike, near Ashikaga and Nitta — which are geographical as THE FERFECTION OF DUARCHT AND FEUDALISM. 271 well as personal names — claimed descent from the mikado Seiwathrougli the Minamoto Yoshiiye, thence through that of Nitta Yoshi-sada. Tokugawa Shiro, the father of lyeyasii, lived in the village ofMatsudaira, in Mikawa. lyeyasu always signed the documents sentto foreigners, Minamoto no lyeyasu. As it is the custom in Japan, as in Europe, to name families afterplaces, the name of this obscure village, Matsudaira, was also taken asa family name by nearly all vassals, who held their lands by directgrant from lyeyasii. In 1867, no fewer than fifty-four daimios wereholding the name Matsudaira. The title of the daimio in whose capi-tal the writer lived in 1871, was Matsudaira Echizen no Crest of the Tokugawa Family. The Tokugawa crest was a circle inclosing three leaves of the awoi(a species of mallow, found in Central Japan) joined at the tips, thestalks touching the circle. This gilded trefoil gleamed on the Govern-ment buildings and property of the shogun, and on the official docu-ments, boats, robes, flags, and tombs. On Kaempfers and Hildrethsbooks there is printed under it the misleading legend, Insignia Im-jyeratoris Japonici. The trefoil flag fluttered in the breeze whenCommodore Perry made his treaty under its shadow. To this daymany foreigners suppose it to be the national flag of Japan. It wassimply the family crest of the chief daimio in Japan. The imperial court, yearning for peace, and finding in lyeyasu theperson to keep the empire in order, command universal obedience, and 272 THE MIKADOS EMPIRE. satisfy the blood requirements of precedent to the office, created himSei-i Tai Shogun, and it was left to Minamoto Tokugawa lyeyasii
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Keywords: ., bookauthorgriffisw, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1894
