A history of the Japanese people : $b from the earliest times to the end of the Meiji eraBrinkley, F. (Frank)
History
A history of the Japanese people : $b from the earliest times to the end of the Meiji era
Brinkley, F. (Frank)
Japan -- Civilization; Japan -- History
Two events specially memorable in this reign were the transfer of the
shrine of the Sun goddess to Ise, where it has remained ever since,
and the abolition of the custom of junshi, or following in death. The
latter shocking usage, a common rite of animistic religion, was in
part voluntary, in part compulsory. In its latter aspect it came
vividly under the notice of the Emperor Suinin when the tomb of his
younger brother, Yamato, having been built within earshot of the
palace, the cries of his personal attendants, buried alive around his
grave, were heard, day and night, until death brought silence. In the
following year (A.D. 3), the Empress having died, a courtier,
Nomi-no-Sukune, advised the substitution of clay figures for the
victims hitherto sacrificed. Nominally, the practice of compulsory
junshi ceased from that date,* but voluntary junshi continued to find
occasional observance until modern times.
*Of course it is to be remembered that the dates given by Japanese
historians prior to the fifth century A.D. are very apocryphal.
WRESTLING
The name of Nomi-no-Sukune is associated with the first mention of
wrestling in Japanese history. By the Chronicles a brief account is
given of a match between Nomi and Taema-no-Kuehaya. The latter was
represented to be so strong that he could break horns and straighten
hooks. His frequently expressed desire was to find a worthy
competitor. Nomi-no-Sukune, summoned from Izumo by the Emperor, met
Kuehaya in the lists of the palace of Tamaki and kicked him to death.
Wrestling thereafter became a national pastime, but its methods
underwent radical change, kicking being abolished altogether.
FOREIGN INTERCOURSE
It is believed by Japanese historians that during the reign of Suinin
a local government station (chinju-fu) was established in Anra
province of Mimana, and that this station, subsequently known as
Nippon-fu, was transferred to Tsukushi (Kyushu) and named Dazai-fu
when Japan's influence in Mimana waned. The first general (shoguri)
of the chinju-fu was Prince Shihotari, and the term kishi--which in
Korea signified headman--was thenceforth incorporated into his family
name. To the members of that family in later generations was
entrusted the conduct of the Empire's foreign affairs. But it does
not appear that the Imperial Court in Yamato paid much attention to
oversea countries in early eras. Intercourse with these was
conducted, for the most part, by the local magnates who held sway in
the western regions of Japan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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