Japan -- History; Japan -- Politics and government
It has been stated above that the offices about the court of Yedo were
all settled by Iyeyas. In his testamentary rules he laid down the rank
and order in which they were to stand in the court. These may be here
more particularly described.
In the family of the Shiogoon, as given above, mention is made of the
San kay and of the San kio. The former name means the three families,
the latter the three princes of the blood.
The “three families” referred to are the descendants of the three
youngest sons of Iyeyas--to the one of whom was given the lordship of
Owarri, to the other that of Kii, and to the third that of Mito, a town
and district in the province of Hitatsi. The heirs of these nobles
stand at the top of the list of Daimios, and from out of these families
is chosen, in case of vacancy, a successor to fill the seat of Shiogoon.
The San kio (three princes of the blood) were sons of the eighth and
ninth Shiogoons, and having in view the possible extinction of the
direct line of Iyeyas at the time, these young men and their families
seem to have been set apart, in imitation of the Sin we, or imperial
families at Miako. They were assigned residences within the palace
_enceinte_ at Yedo, but take no regular part in public business. They
are paid a yearly income by the Shiogoon, each having a separate little
court. The three princes are respectively called Ta yass, Stotsbashi,
and Say midzu. The last, the house of Say midzu, is, so to speak, at
present extinct and the residence unoccupied, and though it is in the
power of the Shiogoon to reappoint a member of his family, it is not
likely soon to be filled up. The Go San kio are not styled Daimios.
The Go tai ro, or Regent.--In a hereditary jurisdiction, such as that
of the Shiogoon, provision must be made for the contingency of the
youth or incapacity of the heir upon his succession. Under this name,
which means the great or illustrious elder, a regency--an office
similar to that of the Sessio at Miako--is provided. It is an office
which is only filled when necessity calls for such an appointment; and
there are only certain men eligible for the office. He must be a Fudai
Daimio, and, if possible, one of the four known as the Si Ten wo. These
are Eeyee or Ee, Sakakibarra, Sakkai, and Honda. Of these the first, Ee
Kamong no kami, is called the Do dai, or foundation-stone of the power
of the dynasty; the ancestor of the family, Ee nawo massa, having been
lieutenant-general and right-hand man to Iyeyas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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