Biographies LVIII: The Fujiwara Regents and Ministers

Fujiwara-no-Yoshifusa

¶Fujiwara-no-Yoshifusa was the second son of Fuyutsugu, Sadaijin, Minister of the Left. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) He was of outstanding bearing and character, and when he was about twenty he was chosen to take as his wife Minamoto-no-Kiyohime, a daughter of Emperor Saga. (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku.) In the Tenchō era he was appointed Kurōdo, Chamberlain, and granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin); he rose by degrees to become Sakonoe-no-gon-no-chūjō, Provisional Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, and advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Lower. In the Jōwa era he was made Sangi, Counsellor, and raised to Junior Third Rank; he was transferred to Gon-chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor, and concurrently served as Azechi, Inspector, of Mutsu and Dewa. Soon afterwards he was also made Ukonoe-no-taishō, Great Captain of the Right Palace Guards, and was transferred to Dainagon, Great Counsellor, holding concurrently the post of Minbu-kyō, Minister of Popular Affairs. He submitted a memorial asking to be relieved of his concurrent posts, but this was not granted. In the first year of Kashō he was appointed Udaijin, Minister of the Right. He declined this and repeated his memorial, but it was not heeded. He also memorialized asking that half of his fief households be reduced, but this too was not granted. In the following year he was raised to Junior Second Rank. (Note: following the Shoku Nihon Kōki.) In the Ninju and Saikō eras he advanced to Senior Second Rank and was transferred to a post concurrently holding the office of Sakonoe-no-taishō, Great Captain of the Left Palace Guards (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku), and he took charge of supervising the compilation of the national history. (Note: following the preface to the Shoku Nihon Kōki and the Montoku Jitsuroku.) In the first year of Ten'an he was appointed Daijō-daijin, Chancellor. He firmly declined and submitted three memorials, but they were not accepted; the emperor bestowed on him a pair of treasured swords and said: "Wear these swords, and answer my earnest wish. I will not let Xiao He alone monopolize the honor of the Han court." He also granted him an anja (Note: a carriage for the nobility) and ordered him to attend at court in it, but Yoshifusa firmly refused and would not accept it. He then submitted a memorial declining the additional fief households, office lands, attendants and sword-bearing guards that had been added to his grant, and this was permitted. Soon afterwards he was advanced to Junior First Rank. (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku.) When Emperor Seiwa ascended the throne, he granted him thirty sword-bearing attendants. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the colophon of the Ōkagami.) In the early years of Jōgan he asked that his stipend be reduced and that his attendants and sword-bearers be declined, and this was permitted. His fief households were set at an amount corresponding to that of the Ministers of the Left and Right. In the fifth year, when a banquet was given for him in the inner palace to celebrate his sixtieth birthday, all of the gifts bestowed were articles connected with the number six. In the following year, when the emperor made a visit to the Hana-no-tei, the Flower Pavilion, of the Somedono, Yoshifusa summoned men of letters to compose poems, and they enjoyed the banquet all day long. At the Oigeba, the archery ground, the emperor himself shot an arrow and struck the center of the target, and the assembled officials shouted "Banzai." Yoshifusa wished the emperor to know the hardships of farm labor, and had Ki-no-Imamori, governor of Yamashiro, lead the district officials and common people in a ceremony of plowing the fields. In the eighth year an imperial command was issued that he should act on the emperor's behalf in the whole of government affairs. (Note: the Ōkagami treats this year as that of his appointment as Kanpaku, but this is mistaken.) Yoshifusa submitted a memorial and firmly declined. The emperor issued an edict saying: "Of late, calamities and portents have followed one another, and there is unrest both within the court and without. I earnestly ask for your assistance." He would not permit him to decline. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) In the eleventh year he presented the Shoku Nihon Kōki to the throne. (Note: following the preface of that work.) Before this, the Chancellor had been fixed to receive three thousand fief households and also to be granted attendants to accompany him; but Yoshifusa, holding that even in that position this was beyond what was fitting, firmly declined and accepted only one thousand. In the thirteenth year a further edict was issued: "We shall add three thousand households to his fief, grant him treatment equivalent to the Three Empresses with the right of nominating annual appointments (Note: the Kugyō Bunin and the colophon of the Ōkagami state that on the accession of Emperor Seiwa, Yoshifusa was treated as equal to the Three Empresses and was granted nen-kan and nen-shaku, but since this work has no explicit text on the point, this account is not adopted), two Uchi-toneri, palace attendants, and six men each from the Left and Right Palace Guards as an escort, and further thirty sword-bearing attendants will be provided." Yoshifusa again submitted a memorial declining this, but it was not accepted. After firmly declining, he agreed to receive two thousand households, and the emperor ordered that a jikiro, a private waiting chamber, be set up within the palace for Yoshifusa. In the fourteenth year his illness became grave. The emperor issued the following edict: "In drawing upon the teachings of the imperial line and in refining the genealogy of sovereigns, there has never been an instance in which one did not bestow generous favor and honor great virtue, or fail to grant special benefits to reward great merit. The Chancellor Fujiwara, my maternal grandfather, has performed lofty service across three reigns, and his rank has reached the very highest. His benevolence covers the nine provinces (Note: the whole country) and still overflows, and his kindness extends a thousand ri and is not exhausted. As for his service in watching over, guarding, and assisting me from my swaddling clothes until this day, even the Duke of Zhou and Emperor Guangwu of the Han cannot be set beside him. For this merit that cannot be repaid, I wish to add extraordinary favor. But knowing his utterly modest nature, I have not spoken of it openly, and have sought to repay him in some small measure, one ten-thousandth part, by adding to his rank and his fief households. Even so, his spirit of humility has grown only deeper and more earnest, and I am moved by his feelings and cannot bear to go against them. It is my wish that, supported by the sincerity of his humility, he may increase the blessing of long life and live on for many years to guide me. I wish him to be as secure as one who leans upon the Southern Mountain and sits upon a broad plain; therefore I have restrained my own feelings and followed his will, and have not taken his purpose from him, yet I fear that the people of the realm will take me for one who does not know gratitude. Now, however, he has long lain ill in his private residence, and though prayers have been offered again and again with jewels and offerings of cloth, they have still had no effect. I am troubled by this illness as though it were my own; I find no peace in eating or sleeping, and my heart is consumed with longing. Tears flow with my words, and I think deeply on how to save him and restore him to health, and wish to do all that can be done. According to the Buddhist scriptures, the merit of ordaining people and leading them to the Buddha's Way can save a person's imperiled life. Again, in the virtuous government of the former kings, they deliberated on lawsuits and eased punishments, pitied the aged and nurtured orphans. I wish to bestow this benefit of compassion and so answer my earnest feeling. Even if the illness has entered the kōkō (Note: the deep place beyond the reach of treatment), I hope that needles and medicine may take effect. Eighty persons shall be granted ordination. Moreover, a general amnesty shall be proclaimed throughout the realm, so as to save him from his illness." In the ninth month he died at the Higashi-Ichijō mansion. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku; the Higashi-Ichijō mansion is from the Nihon Kiryaku.) He was sixty-nine years old. (Note: following the colophon of the Ōkagami, the Kugyō Bunin, and the Nihon Kiryaku.) The emperor mourned him and suspended the conduct of government for three days. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Nihon Kiryaku.) He was posthumously granted Senior First Rank, invested as Mino-kō, Duke of Mino, and given the posthumous name Chūjin. His fief households and attendants were left as they had been in his lifetime. Mototsune submitted a memorial saying that it was Yoshifusa's dying wish that the fief households be declined. An edict was then issued granting rank fiefs and provincial fiefs, and his tomb at Otagi was added to the number of those to which the nosaki, the ceremonial offerings of cloth from the court, were presented. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) In the world he was called the Somedono Minister, or the Shirakawa Minister. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Ōkagami.) In the Gangyō era an edict ordered that one household be established to guard his tomb. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.)

¶His daughter Akirakeiko was a child borne by Minamoto-no-Kiyohime. She entered the harem of Emperor Montoku and bore Emperor Seiwa. The emperor was made Crown Prince at nine months of age. Emperor Montoku had originally favored Imperial Prince Koretaka, and, since the Crown Prince (Emperor Seiwa) was still an infant, he thought of first installing Imperial Prince Koretaka and having the throne passed on once the child had grown. But while he hesitated and could not decide (Note: following the colophon of the Ōkagami), the emperor died, and Yoshifusa assisted the infant emperor onto the throne and took charge of the government. Emperor Seiwa had originally been raised in Yoshifusa's own residence, and even after his accession, mindful of his old debt, he held Yoshifusa in esteem and treated him generously without change to the end. For fifteen years, before and after, Yoshifusa acted on the emperor's behalf in the whole of government affairs; he attained the highest position a subject could hold, and the power of the state came to belong to his family. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) His descendants in succession became Sesshō and Kanpaku, regents, and the prosperity of the Fujiwara clan truly has its foundation here. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) Yoshifusa had no son of his own and took Mototsune, the son of his elder brother Nagara, as his heir. (Note: following the Fujiwara Keizu and the Renchūshō.)

Fujiwara-no-Mototsune

¶Fujiwara-no-Mototsune had the childhood name Teko. (Note: following the colophon of the Ōkagami.) In the first year of Ninju he underwent the genpuku, capping ceremony, in the inner bedchamber of the Crown Prince's palace, with the emperor himself attending. (Note: the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku both cite the Kaden for this.) He was granted Senior Sixth Rank Upper. (Note: following the Montoku Jitsuroku.) In the Saikō and Ten'an years he successively held the posts of Sahyōe-no-shōjō, Junior Lieutenant of the Left Gate Guards, Shōnagon, Lesser Counsellor, and Sakonoe-no-gon-no-shōshō, Provisional Lesser Captain of the Left Palace Guards, and was appointed Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain. In the Jōgan years he was transferred to Chūjō, Middle Captain, and became Sangi. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku; for the posts of Sahyōe-no-shōjō and Kurōdo-no-tō, following the Kugyō Bunin.) When Tomo-no-Yoshio slandered Minamoto-no-Makoto, Fujiwara-no-Yoshimi believed it and ordered Mototsune to arrest Makoto. Mototsune suspected a plot behind this and informed Yoshifusa. Yoshifusa did everything in his power to save him, and so Makoto in the end escaped punishment. (Note: following the colophon of the Ōkagami.) In this year Mototsune advanced to Junior Third Rank and was appointed Chūnagon, Middle Counsellor. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) In the following year, by special edict, he was also made Sakonoe-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) Soon he was promoted to Taishō, Great Captain, and concurrently served as Azechi of Mutsu and Dewa. In the twelfth year he was transferred to Dainagon and raised to Junior Second Rank. In the fourteenth year he was appointed Udaijin. When Emperor Yōzei ascended the throne, he was still a child, and so Mototsune was made Sesshō, Regent. This followed the precedent of Duke Chūjin (Yoshifusa). In the first year of Gangyō he resigned as Taishō. The emperor sent the Dainagon Minabuchi-no-Toshina with the memorial to present it to the Retired Emperor. The Retired Emperor issued an edict saying: "The entrusting of the whole of government cannot be confined to a single office, and his wish ought to be granted. However, his waist will suddenly be bare and military preparedness will be lacking. He should be specially granted the right to wear a sword, so that his dignity of bearing may be made solemn." He took out a precious sword decorated with gold and silver and gave it to Toshina. The emperor that same day bestowed it on Mototsune and permitted his resignation as Taishō. In autumn he asked to decline the regency on account of a drought, but was not permitted, by means of a courteous edict. In the second year he was raised to Senior Second Rank and granted soldiers bearing arms as personal escort. Citing the disturbances of the Emishi on the frontier, he again asked to decline, but this too was not permitted. In the fourth year he was appointed Daijō-daijin. (Note: the Kugyō Bunin, the Gukanshō, the colophon of the Ōkagami, and the Ichidai Yōki all state that on the eighth day of the eleventh month Mototsune's office was changed from Sesshō to Kanpaku; but here, since the word Kanpaku does not appear in the Sandai Jitsuroku, this account is not adopted.) In the following year he was raised to Junior First Rank and withdrew to his own residence. He repeatedly submitted memorials asking to resign, but was not permitted. About this time, official business sometimes fell behind, and the high officials consulted together and decided to send the head of the Benkan, the Controllers, to Mototsune's jikiro to seek his decision; this later became the established practice. When the emperor underwent the genpuku, Mototsune submitted a memorial asking to return the conduct of government, but it was not heeded; instead his office stipend, office lands, attendants and miscellaneous allowances were increased, and he declined these. By special edict he was given authority over appointments and the conferral of ranks, and was treated as equal to the Three Empresses. This followed the precedent of Duke Chūjin. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) As the emperor grew somewhat older, he gradually began to behave in an unruly fashion; he had a stable built within the palace in which he kept thirty horses, and called it the Hokuhen-in. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku; see also the Shōdanshō.) Ono-no-Kiyoyuki, Ma-no-shōjō, Junior Secretary of the Right Bureau of Horses, was skilled in raising horses and so won favor. Ki-no-Masanao, Gon-no-shōsakan, Provisional Junior Clerk, was fond of the arts of the Way and went in and out of the palace, and Fujiwara-no-Kinkado, an onshi, son of a high official entitled to rank by hereditary privilege, served at the foot of the steps and was constantly made to run errands. Among them Kiyoyuki's lawless conduct was the worst, and so Mototsune expelled them all. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) Even so the emperor's conduct did not change; he caught frogs and snakes, set dogs and monkeys to fight, and made men climb trees and then beat them to death. (Note: following the Yotsugi Monogatari.) There was even a case of his cutting a man down with his own hand before the Toshigoi-no-matsuri, (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku) and Mototsune was deeply troubled and thought of deposing the emperor and setting up another in his place. Imperial Prince Tsunesada, who had been deposed as Crown Prince, had long been known for his wise conduct, and Mototsune secretly wished to set him up and hinted at his intention. But Imperial Prince Tsunesada refused and would not accept. (Note: following the Tsunesada Shinnō Den Zanpen.) Mototsune then sought out other princes, but none was suitable. (Note: following the Kojidan and the Yotsugi Monogatari.) Once, when Imperial Prince Tokiyasu had gone to a great banquet at Yoshifusa's mansion, a server by mistake took the meal intended for a person of low rank and set it before the Prince. The Prince, without changing countenance, put out the candle and thus smoothed over the situation. Mototsune happened to see this, was deeply struck by the greatness of his composure, and had looked on him with favor ever since. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) He therefore visited Prince Tokiyasu's residence and asked to see him, and after a while the Prince came out to receive him. His bearing was calm and his dress plain, and he asked quietly, "On what business have you come?" Mototsune became convinced that here was a man with the capacity of a sovereign (Note: following the Yotsugi Monogatari; see also the Kojidan), and conveyed his wish to enthrone him as emperor. The Prince consented, fixed a day, and went home. Mototsune went into the palace and falsely reported to the emperor, "I will hold a horse race, and I should like Your Majesty to watch it." The emperor was delighted and asked, "When is it?" and Mototsune answered, "In two days." (Note: following the Yotsugi Monogatari.) The main policy had already been settled, but when he gathered the high officials and told them of the matter, debate became confused. The Sadaijin Minamoto-no-Tōru said, "If you are looking for the blood of the imperial house, Tōru and others are still alive." Mototsune replied, "That is so. But since ancient times there has been no instance of one who descended to subject status and was granted a surname ever ascending to the throne." (Note: following the Ōkagami and the Kojidan.) The Sangi Fujiwara-no-Morokazu put his hand to his sword, shouted at them, and declared, "In today's matter, anyone who does not obey the disposition of the Chancellor will be cut down," and so the debate was finally settled. (Note: following the Gyokukai, the second year of Jōan.) On the day itself, an old retainer who knew nothing of the matter was assigned to accompany Emperor Yōzei to the Yōzei-in, and it was reported to him: "Your Majesty is violent and lacks the virtue of a Son of Heaven. For the sake of the state, we ask that you yield the throne here." The emperor, on hearing this, was greatly startled, and grieved and regretted and cried out in tears. Mototsune led the hundred officials to welcome and enthrone Prince Tokiyasu. This was Emperor Kōkō. (Note: following the Yotsugi Monogatari.) On ascending the throne, the emperor, thinking of the merit of Mototsune in devising the plan, treated him with still greater courtesy. He permitted him to enter and leave the palace while riding in a renja, a hand-drawn carriage. He also had the Doctors of the various disciplines investigate the duties of the Chancellor and report them. Mototsune became ever more modest and repeatedly asked to resign. The emperor issued a special edict fixing that, as before, government business was to be reported to Mototsune first for his instructions before being presented to the throne. Mototsune further asked that Minamoto-no-Tōru and Minamoto-no-Masaru be allowed to conduct government affairs in his place, but this was not permitted. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) In the first year of Ninna he presented the annual observances to the emperor painted on a folding screen. (Note: following the Nenjū Gyōji Shō.) The emperor granted him Inano in Settsu as a hunting ground. In this year he was permitted, at the Sechie banquets, to ascend directly to the hall without taking his place in the line, and was also granted a banquet in a hall of the inner palace. At the celebration of his fiftieth birthday, music was played all night, and he was given five horses, five sets of robes each for winter and summer, bedding and a folding screen, and fifty persons were ordained. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) The emperor had many princes but, out of deference to Mototsune, did not say whom he would set up. In the third year, when the emperor fell ill, Mototsune entered his bedchamber and asked, "After Your Majesty has passed on, to whom will you leave the throne?" The emperor answered, "I will leave it entirely to your choice." Mototsune replied, "In my view, the Ōjijū, the Prince-Chamberlain, would be suitable." The Prince-Chamberlain was Sadami. The emperor was greatly pleased and called Sadami, took Sadami's hand in his right hand and Mototsune's hand in his left, and with tears said, "The Minister's service is beyond measure. You must never forget it." (Note: following the Gukanshō.) When Mototsune withdrew, he led the hundred officials in submitting a memorial and asked that a Crown Prince be installed. In this way Sadami was installed as Crown Prince. When the emperor died (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku), the Crown Prince ascended the throne. This was Emperor Uda. On the very day of his accession he wrote an edict with his own hand conveying the late emperor's will and praising Mototsune's service as his assistant. (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki.) Soon afterwards an edict was issued to the hundred officials that "whether the matter of government be great or small, all shall be referred to the Kanpaku Daijō-daijin before being reported." (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku, the Fusō Ryakki, and the Gukanshō.) All of this was in accordance with precedent. (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku and the Gukanshō.) The title Kanpaku begins here. Mototsune submitted a memorial asking to return the conduct of government, but it was not permitted. The edict read: "A subject who serves the state is not the subject of me alone. Let the office of Akō be your office." This edict was drafted by Tachibana-no-Hirome, Sa-daiben, Senior Controller of the Left. At that time the meaning of the words "office of Akō" was questioned, and debate became confused. (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku and the Fusō Ryakki.) Fujiwara-no-Sukeyo had earlier told Mototsune, "Akō has no fixed duties. How, then, could it be used to hold the Kanpaku authority over the whole of government?" and so Mototsune would no longer read the memorials presented by the Daijōkan. (Note: the Jikkinshō records that when someone said to Mototsune, "Are you going to give up the conduct of government? Akō is high in rank but takes no part in government," Mototsune said, "Then I need only ask people. What use shall I make of that?" and had the horses in his stable set free; this is added for reference.) When this became known, the emperor had the Doctors investigate the duties of Akō. (Note: following the Hokuzanshō.) Nakahara-no-Tsukio, Yoshibuchi-no-Chikanari and others all answered, "Akō means the Sankō, the Three Ministers, and is an office that merely sits and expounds the Way." Mototsune submitted a memorial as follows: "The affairs of government in the state amount to ten thousand in a single day. Yet from the eighth month of last year until today, I have not yet reported anything of the business the Daijōkan ought to report. I respectfully received the edict of the twenty-first day of the eleventh month of last year stating that 'whether the matter of government be great or small, let him exercise the Kanpaku authority over it,' but I submitted a memorial declining and did not dare to accept. I also received the imperial intention of the twenty-seventh day of the intercalary eleventh month of the same year stating that 'let the office of Akō be your office,' but I have still not known what the office of Akō is, and have long held doubts. I have heard it said that when the Sadaijin had the Doctors of the Classics investigate, they said, 'The office of Akō should have no fixed duties. Precisely because it has no fixed duties, Akō is honored.' I am quite unable to perform such a task. And if indeed there are no fixed duties, that happens to coincide with my own wish. I beg that you quickly command an official to take charge of presenting government affairs, so that government is not delayed." Thereupon Ki-no-Haseo and Miyoshi-no-Kiyoyuki, together with Sukeyo, discussed the history of the official system, and said: "The Akō of the Yin dynasty corresponds to the Sankō, the Three Ministers, of the Zhou dynasty. That the Three Ministers have no fixed duties is stated plainly in the classics and histories, and there is no room left for doubt." The emperor had Hirome, Sukeyo and Tsukio debate in court, and had the Sadaijin Minamoto-no-Tōru adjudicate. Sukeyo tried to hold to his earlier argument, and Tōru was equivocal and could not settle the matter. It was the height of midsummer, and the emperor was utterly worn out. The high officials, out of deference to Mototsune, all pleaded illness and withdrew. As the stoppage of government dragged on, the various offices grew more and more anxious. The emperor sent Minamoto-no-Tōru to Mototsune's mansion to ask him to conduct government as in the earlier edict, but Mototsune answered, "On the duties of Akō, the debate has not yet been settled. I cannot accept that clear edict." When Tōru reported this, the emperor showed displeasure. Tōru said, "It is a cause for concern that the Chancellor has long not conducted government. I beg that the wording of the later edict be revised. Otherwise there is a fear that some unforeseen event may occur." The emperor had no choice and proclaimed to the hundred officials the following edict: "The Chancellor placed the late emperor on the throne and protected and assisted my person. The greatness of his merit and virtue far exceeds that of the Duke of Zhou and Huo Guang. Even the sage and enlightened Sons of Heaven of past generations still relied on such assistance. How much more could I, an immature person, fail to rely on him? Therefore last year I issued an edict that he should exercise the Kanpaku authority over government, but the Minister submitted a memorial and firmly showed his resolve to decline. I had wished that he continue as before to exercise the Kanpaku authority over government, but when Tachibana-no-Hirome, Sa-daiben, drafted the edict, the wording he used damaged my true intention; and so it caused the Minister to be suspicious and no longer take up government. All the affairs of the realm have come to a standstill. From now on, whatever is to be reported or to be handed down shall always be discussed first with the Chancellor. I shall fold my hands and look to him for the result." Sugawara-no-Michizane also sent a letter to Mototsune and remonstrated with him. Mototsune finally accepted this edict. (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku.) In the first year of Kanpyō he was permitted to ride in a yōyo, a hand-carried litter. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin; the Rekidai Kōki gives the yōyo as a renja, but this is mistaken.) In the second year he fell ill, and when the emperor wished to visit him, he firmly declined and dissuaded him. When his illness became grave, he asked to resign. The emperor permitted this by a courteous edict, granted persons for ordination, and pardoned criminals so that they might pray for his recovery. (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō.) In the following year he died. He was fifty-six years old. The emperor suspended the conduct of government for three days. He was posthumously granted Senior First Rank, invested as Echizen-kō, Duke of Echizen, and given the posthumous name Shōsen. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) His fief households and attendants were left as they had been in his lifetime (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Rekidai Kōki), one household was established to guard his tomb, and his tomb was added to the number of those to which the nosaki offerings were presented. (Note: following the Engishiki.)

¶During his years in office Mototsune was meticulous and circumspect and served the gods and buddhas with reverence. Whenever a calamity or portent occurred, he repeatedly asked to return the conduct of government, and when this was not permitted, he restrained himself and applied himself to his duties so as to answer Heaven's warning. In the reign of Emperor Seiwa he took charge of the whole of government and strove to increase the benefit of the state. The officials were faithful to their duties, and the people enjoyed his kindness. The court was tranquil and at peace, and order reigned within and without. He deeply honored Confucian learning, and on the day of the Sekiten, the ceremony in honor of Confucius, he paid homage to the Former Sage together with the high officials and had the Doctor of the Classics lecture on the Zhou Yi. (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) In the Gangyō era he received an imperial command and compiled the Montoku Jitsuroku in ten volumes. (Note: following the preface of that work.) Yoshimine-no-Chikashi, the governor of Akita castle, was greedy and squeezed the people without limit, so that the Emishi rose in revolt and the northern frontier was thrown into disorder. Mototsune was troubled by this, recommended Fujiwara-no-Yasunori, U-chūben, Middle Controller of the Right, and had him serve concurrently as Dewa-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Dewa, entrusting the administration of the frontier to him, and in the end Yasunori was able to pacify it. But Yasunori in the end received no reward, and Yoshimine-no-Chikashi was not dismissed either, and so the people of the time criticized Mototsune for lacking propriety in his bestowal of rewards and punishments. (Note: the Fujiwara-no-Yasunori Den, written by Miyoshi-no-Kiyoyuki.) Once, when Mototsune was attending a banquet in the inner palace, he happened to be wearing a robe bestowed on him by Emperor Seiwa. At that time the emperor had already abdicated and was living in retirement at Mizunoo, and Mototsune, prompted by this, composed a poem to the effect that, drunk, he gazed toward the western mountains where the imperial carriage was far away, and the humble subject let tears fall upon the robe of old favor. All who heard it were moved. (Note: following the Gōdanshō.) When Mototsune was a child, he once followed Emperor Ninmyō on a visit to Serikawa, and the emperor carelessly dropped the plectrum of his koto. Although there were many attendants, the emperor, trusting in Mototsune's quick wit, called him and commanded, "You will surely be able to find it. Go back and look for it." Mototsune, at a loss what to do, vowed in his heart, "If I can find it, I will build a temple." He did find the plectrum and presented it. The emperor was greatly ashamed, and this became the occasion for the founding of the Gokurakuji. (Note: following the Ōkagami; see also its colophon.) Mototsune at first lived in the Biwa mansion (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku), and later moved back and forth between the two residences of the Horikawa-in and the Kan'in. The Horikawa-in had broad grounds, and so large banquets were held there. For abstinence days and when inviting close associates he used the Kan'in. He was called in the world the Horikawa Minister. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) His sons were Tokihira, Nakahira, Kanehira, and Tadahira. (Note: following the colophon of the Ōkagami.) Tokihira has a separate biography. Kanehira became Kunai-kyō, Minister of the Imperial Household, and, being a master of the biwa, was called in the world the Biwa Kunai-kyō. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku.)

Fujiwara-no-Nakahira

¶Fujiwara-no-Nakahira. In the third year of Ninna, Nakahira was granted Senior Fifth Rank and rose by degrees. In the eighth year of Engi he was appointed Sangi. In the seventeenth year he became Chūnagon. In the Enchō years he was transferred to Dainagon and concurrently served as Ukonoe-no-taishō. In the Jōhei years he was transferred to a post concurrently holding the office of Sakonoe-no-taishō. Soon afterwards he was appointed Udaijin, raised to Junior Second Rank, and concurrently served as Bettō, Superintendent, of the Kurōdo-dokoro, the Chamberlains' Office. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) In the seventh year he was transferred to Udaijin, retaining his post as Taishō. In the second year of Tengyō he was permitted, at the Sechie banquets, to ascend directly to the hall without taking his place in the line, and permitted to ride in a renja and pass in and out of the palace gates. A few years later he advanced to Senior Second Rank and concurrently served as Tōgū-no-fu, Tutor to the Crown Prince. In the eighth year he shaved his head and took the name Jōkaku. He died at the age of seventy-one. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Nihon Kiryaku; the change of name is from the Kugyō Bunin.) Because he lived in the Biwa mansion, he was called in the world the Biwa Minister. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Ōkagami.) He was rich in wealth, and his storehouses stood in rows and occupied three quarters of the grounds of his residence. (Note: following the Gōdanshō.) Yet he was gentle by nature and of good character, and everyone praised him. Once, when he was Sakonoe-no-taishō, Great Captain of the Left, the office in charge of astronomy reported an anomaly among the stars, and the fault was said to lie with the Taishō. Sanehira, the Great Captain of the Right, disliked this and wished to perform a purification. Someone told Nakahira of this and urged him to perform a purification as well, but Nakahira answered, "That would be to shift the blame onto another and escape alone. Sanehira is young and talented, and his days of service to the court are still long. I am old; if I live I do no good to the world, and if I die I lose nothing." All who heard this were filled with admiration. (Note: following the Konjaku Monogatari.)

Fujiwara-no-Tadahira

¶Fujiwara-no-Tadahira was intelligent from childhood. When Mototsune was about to build the Gokurakuji and went to look over the land, Tadahira accompanied him and, pointing to one place, said, "If Father is to build a Buddhist hall, there is no place better than this." Mototsune looked at the place and, finding the lay of the land truly superb, said, "This shall be the land for you to build your own residence on in later days. I have already fixed another site for myself." From this time on Mototsune regarded Tadahira as an extraordinary person. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) In the Kanpyō years he was granted Senior Fifth Rank Lower, appointed Jijū, Chamberlain, and concurrently served as Higo-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Higo. In the third year of Shōtai he was made Sangi. He submitted a memorial asking to yield the post to his uncle Kiyotsune, Uhyōe-no-kami, Commander of the Right Gate Guards, and so became U-daiben, Senior Controller of the Right. In the early years of Engi he was appointed Sangi, concurrently served as Shunjū-daibu, Master of the Crown Prince's Household, and Sahyōe-no-kami, and was made Kebiishi-no-bettō, Superintendent of the Police. Soon afterwards he was raised to Junior Third Rank, appointed Gon-chūnagon, made Bettō of the Kurōdo-dokoro, and concurrently served as Ukonoe-no-taishō. A few years later he was transferred to Dainagon and moved to a post concurrently holding the office of Sakonoe-no-taishō. In the fourteenth year he was appointed Udaijin. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) In the nineteenth year a banquet was given for him at his residence to celebrate his fortieth birthday. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku.) In the second year of Enchō he was raised to Senior Second Rank and transferred to Sadaijin. In the following year he concurrently served as Tōgū-no-fu. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) Formerly his elder brother Tokihira had been engaged in compiling the Engi Kyaku and Shiki, but died before seeing it completed. Tadahira took over and finished it (Note: following the Gukanshō) and presented twelve volumes of the Kyaku and fifty volumes of the Shiki. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Engishiki.) When Emperor Suzaku ascended the throne, an edict was issued ordering Tadahira to act on the emperor's behalf in the whole of government affairs. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Kugyō Bunin.) After Mototsune's death no Sesshō or Kanpaku had been appointed, but at this time, as the emperor was still a child, the offices were established anew. (Note: following the Jinnō Shōtōki.) Tadahira repeatedly submitted memorials of refusal but was not permitted, and he was granted soldiers bearing arms as personal escort, two Uchi-toneri, and four men each from the Left and Right Palace Guards. In the second year of Jōhei he was raised to Junior First Rank and permitted to ride in an oxcart through the Jōtō Gate. In the sixth year he was appointed Daijō-daijin, retaining the regency as before. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) In the second year of Tengyō he was treated as equal to the Three Empresses. This followed the precedent of Duke Chūjin. He was permitted to ride in a renja. In this year, since he had reached the age of sixty, an edict was issued to six temples commanding them to "recite the sutras and pray for long life." The officials of the Daijōkan and the various temples such as the Enryakuji and Kōfukuji also performed this. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku.) In the fourth year he resigned as Sesshō and became Kanpaku. (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Sekkan Den.) An edict was proclaimed: "Whether the matter of government be great or small, report it only after consulting the Kanpaku Daijō-daijin. This shall be as in the precedent of Ninna." In the seventh year he fell ill. Fifty persons were granted ordination. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Nihon Kiryaku.) When Emperor Murakami ascended the throne, he asked to resign but was not permitted. (Note: following the Honchō Monzui.) In the third year of Tenryaku he submitted a memorial asking to retire. (Note: following the Kyūreki and the Nihon Kiryaku.) The emperor sent Yoshimine-no-Yoshikata, Ukonoe-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Right Palace Guards, to his residence to urge him to reconsider, and did not permit his resignation. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Nihon Kiryaku.) Soon his illness became grave, and the emperor, grieved at this, sent Fujiwara-no-Aritsuke, Kurōdo-no-tō, and granted fifty persons for ordination. Tadahira expressed his thanks, saying, "From ancient times, when a subject has been granted persons for ordination on account of illness, it has always been limited to those who had rendered service to the state, and the number has been only one or two. In recent years I have often been afflicted by illness and have held up my duties. Yet now I have received this unsurpassed kindness, and I do not know what to say." An edict was also issued ordering sixteen temples to recite sutras and pray. (Note: following the Kyūreki.) His illness grew ever heavier, and he again submitted a memorial asking to retire. (Note: following the Kyūreki and the Nihon Kiryaku.) The emperor sent Minamoto-no-Masanobu, Ukonoe-no-chūjō, to persuade him, and did not permit his resignation. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku.) Thirty persons were granted ordination and a general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the realm. In the eighth month he died at the Koichijō mansion. (Note: following the Kyūreki and the Nihon Kiryaku; the Koichijō mansion is from the Nihon Kiryaku.) He was seventy years old. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Eiga Monogatari.) He was called in the world the Koichijō Daijō-daijin. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) The emperor grieved deeply and suspended the conduct of government for three days. He was buried at the Hōshōji, and the Dainagon Minamoto-no-Kiyokage, the Chūnagon Fujiwara-no-Motokata, and the Sangi Minamoto-no-Koreakira were sent to confer on him posthumously Senior First Rank, to invest him as Shinano-kō, Duke of Shinano, and to give him the posthumous name Teishin, and an edict was issued adding his tomb to the number of those to which the nosaki offerings were presented. (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku.) Tadahira was generous and compassionate, and at his death there was no one, within the court or without, who did not mourn him. (Note: following the Eiga Monogatari.)

¶Because he and his elder brothers Tokihira and Nakahira all rose together to high office, the people of the time called the three the Sanpei, the Three Hira. (Note: following the Ōkagami.) Once Emperor Daigo summoned a physiognomist to the palace and had him read the faces of the Crown Prince and the Ministers of the Left and Right. The physiognomist looked at Crown Prince Bunken (Fuminori) and said, "His features are too beautiful." Looking at Tokihira, he said, "His wits work too much." Looking at Michizane, he said, "His talent is too high. None of these has the face of one who will obtain complete happiness." Tadahira was at the lowest seat at the time, but the physiognomist looked around the company, pointed to him from afar, and said, "In spirit, talent and features alike he is in harmony, and there is nothing about him that is not auspicious. One who will long serve the court and keep glory and high rank can be none other than this person." The Retired Emperor Uda had long thought highly of Tadahira's bearing, and on hearing the physiognomist's words he valued him still more and gave his own daughter, Princess Kishi, to Tadahira as his wife. (Note: following the Kojidan. The Ōkagami says that there was a physiognomist who came from Koryŏ and that Tadahira and his two elder brothers met him, and what the physiognomist said is largely the same as this; in fact it is the same event, but it has been transmitted in different ways. Here neither is adopted.) In the Tenryaku years Tadahira's two sons Sanehira and Morosuke became Ministers of the Left and Right respectively, and father and sons stood together at the same time among the Sankō, the Three Ministers, and their glory and eminence were unmatched in the world. (Note: following the Eiga Monogatari.) Tadahira had long been on close terms with Sugawara-no-Michizane, and even after Michizane was demoted he did not let correspondence lapse. He did not shun Michizane on account of his elder brother Tokihira's quarrel with him. Such was the breadth of his character. (Note: following the Gukanshō.) Beside his residence there was a shrine of Munakata, and whenever Tadahira passed to and fro he always got down from his carriage to show respect. One night the god possessed a person and said, "My rank is low, and your repeatedly showing respect and bowing is truly more than I can bear in awe." Tadahira, in response, petitioned the throne that the god's rank be raised to Senior First Rank. (Note: following the Ōkagami.)

¶His sons were Sanehira, Morosuke, Moroyasu, Morouji, and Morotada. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku. In this work they are listed in the order Moroyasu, Morosuke, but here the order has been corrected according to the Kugyō Bunin.) Sanehira and Morosuke have separate biographies. Moroyasu was of Junior Fifth Rank Lower. (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku.) Morouji rose to Senior Third Rank and Dainagon, and was called in the world Momozono. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku.) He loved waka, and his personal collection was called the Amanotekora. (Note: following the Yakumo Mishō.) Morotada rose to Sadaijin of Senior Second Rank; after his death he was posthumously granted Senior First Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin), and he was called in the world the Koichijō Sadaijin. (Note: following the Ōkagami and the Eiga Monogatari.) His son was Naritoki. (Note: following the Fujiwara Keizu.)

Fujiwara-no-Naritoki

¶Fujiwara-no-Naritoki was appointed U-chūben in the Kōhō years and made Kurōdo-no-tō. At the beginning of Anna he became Ukonoe-no-chūjō and was raised to Junior Third Rank, and soon afterwards became Uhyōe-no-kami and was appointed Sangi. In the third year of Tenen he was appointed Gon-chūnagon. In the second year of Jōgen he took over from Fujiwara-no-Kaneie as Ukonoe-no-taishō concurrently. In the Eien and Shōryaku years he was appointed Dainagon and moved to a post concurrently holding the office of Sakonoe-no-taishō; soon he was also made Azechi of Mutsu and Dewa, and reached Senior Second Rank. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin.) He was called in the world the Koichijō Taishō. (Note: following the Ōkagami and the Kugyō Bunin.) In the first year of Chōtoku he died. He was fifty-five years old. (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Shōyūki.) Fujiwara-no-Tadasuke had a habit of gazing up at the sky, and Naritoki teased him, saying, "Is there something unusual in the heavens?" Tadasuke at once answered, "A star is encroaching upon the Taishō." Naritoki was displeased at this. Soon afterwards he fell ill and in the end died. Formerly, when Emperor Sanjō was still Crown Prince, it was decided that Naritoki's daughter Seishi would be taken as his consort. On the day of the proclamation, Naritoki wished to be granted permission for a renja, and visited the Kanpaku Kaneie to convey his wish. Kaneie answered, "Understood. I will petition on your behalf." Naritoki was overjoyed, took it for granted that his wish would surely be granted, performed the ceremonial bow and dance of thanks, and withdrew. But the edict permitting the renja was never issued. The people of the time called Naritoki the Karahai-no-Taishō, the "Empty-Bow Taishō," a jibe playing on the fact that there was a red plum tree, kōbai, in the garden of his residence, and that the sounds of "karahai" and "kōbai" are close. (Note: following the Gōdanshō. Also: kōbai and karahai are similar in sound.) Later, when Seishi was installed as Empress, Naritoki was posthumously granted the office of Daijō-daijin. (Note: following the Ōkagami and the Eiga Monogatari.)