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Yagyū Munefuyu
was a ''daimyō'' and a teacher of kenjutsu and military strategy in Japan during the Edo period. His highest-ranking pupil was Tokugawa Ietsuna, fourth Tokugawa ''shōgun''. Munefuyu, who also went by the name Matajūrō, was the third son of Yagyū Munenori. One of his elder brothers was Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi. His younger brother was Retsudō Gisen, the real person who is fictionalized as Yagyū Retsudō, leader of the ''Ura-Yagyū'' (Shadow Yagyū), in ''Lone Wolf and Cub''. In 1650, Munefuyu became the head of the Yagyū clan. In 1657 he received the title '' Hida no kami''. In 1668 he rose to the rank of daimyo of the Yagyū Domain when he received an additional grant of land, bringing his holdings above the 10,000 '' koku'' minimum. Initially weaker than his brothers and father, a kōan tells how he managed to become an expert after training his ''zanshin'' (vigilance) for several years in a temple. Despite his success and fame, he was defeated in a single stroke by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the Emperor of Japan, emperor and the ''kuge''. In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the ''shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period, Sengoku to the ''daimyo'' of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of ''daimyo'' also varied considerably; while some ''daimyo'' clans, notably the Mōri clan, Mōri, Shimazu clan, Shimazu and Hosokawa clan, Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the ''kuge'', other ''daimyo'' were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period. ''Daimyo'' often hired samurai to guard their land, and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could aff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hatamoto
A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as ''gokenin.'' However, in the Edo period, ''hatamoto'' were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa house, and the ''gokenin'' were the lower vassals. There was no precise difference between the two in terms of income level, but a hatamoto had the right to an audience with the ''shōgun'', whereas gokenin did not.Ogawa, p. 43. The word ''hatamoto'' literally means "origin of the flag", with the sense of 'around the flag', it is described in Japanese as 'those who guard the flag' (on the battlefield) and is often translated into English as "bannerman". Another term for the Edo-era ''hatamoto'' was , sometimes rendered as "direct shogunal ''hatamoto''", which serves to illustrate the difference between them and the preceding generation of ''hatamoto'' who served variou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daimyo
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the emperor and the '' kuge''. In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the ''shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku to the ''daimyo'' of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of ''daimyo'' also varied considerably; while some ''daimyo'' clans, notably the Mōri, Shimazu and Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the ''kuge'', other ''daimyo'' were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period. ''Daimyo'' often hired samurai to guard their land, and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could afford to pay samurai in money. The ''daimyo'' era ended soon after the Meiji Resto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1675 Deaths
Events January–March * January 5 – Franco-Dutch War – Battle of Turckheim: The French defeat Austria and Brandenburg. * January 29 – John Sassamon, an English-educated Native American Christian, dies at Assawampsett Pond, an event which will trigger a year-long war between the English American colonists of New England, and the Algonquian Native American tribes. * February 4 – The Italian opera ''La divisione del mondo'', by Giovanni Legrenzi, is performed for the first time, premiering in Venice at the Teatro San Luca. The new opera, telling the story of the "division of the world" after the battle between the Gods of Olympus and the Titans, becomes known for its elaborate and expensive sets, machinery, and special effects and is revived 325 years later in the year 2000. * February 6 – Nicolò Sagredo is elected as the new Doge of Venice and leader of the Venetian Republic, replacing Domenico II Contarini, who had died 10 days ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1613 Births
Events January–June * January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans). * January 20 – King James I of England successfully mediates the Treaty of Knäred between Denmark and Sweden. * February 14 – Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England, marries Frederick V, Elector Palatine. * March 3 (February 21 O.S.) – An assembly of the Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, ending the Time of Troubles. The House of Romanov will remain a ruling dynasty until 1917. * March 27 – The first English child is born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy. * March 29 – Samuel de Champlain becomes the first unofficial Governor of New France. * April 13 – Samuel Argall captures Algonquian princess Pocahontas in Passapat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yagyū Shinkage-ryū
is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship (''kenjutsu''). Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryū. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyū Munetoshi, who added his own name to the school. Today, the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū remains one of the most renowned schools of Japanese swordsmanship. Its name roughly means ''Yagyū New Shadow School''. Feudal Japan and birth of the Shinkage school At the time of the school's founding by Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, the superiority of a school was determined through duels. Basic postures were distinct; a very low stance was maintained, in the interest of protecting the body. The idea of winning at any price was deeply ingrained in the schools of the time, as were the concepts of ''Isatsu-no-tachi'' (the school of the sword that kills only once) or ''Ichi-no-tachi'' (the sword of only one cut). A great deal of importance was placed on the technology of swords an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōan
A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word (). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters "public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable" and "table; desk; (law) case; record; file; plan; proposal." According to the Yuan dynasty Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben ( 1263–1323), originated as an abbreviation of (, Japanese —literally the "official correspondence; documents; files" of a "government post"), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang dynasty China. / thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle. Commentaries in col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koku
The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied with commercial Japanese rice cookers. The ''koku'' in Japan was typically used as a dry measure. The amount of rice production measured in ''koku'' was the metric by which the magnitude of a feudal domain (''han'') was evaluated. A feudal lord was only considered ''daimyō'' class when his domain amounted to at least 10,000 ''koku''. As a rule of thumb, one ''koku'' was considered a sufficient quantity of rice to feed one person for one year. The Chinese equivalent or cognate unit for capacity is the ''shi'' or ''dan'' ( also known as ''hu'' (), now approximately 103 litres but historically about . Chinese equivalent The Chinese ''shi'' or ''dan'' is equal to 10 ''dou'' () " pecks", 100 ''sheng'' () "pints". While the current ''shi' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
