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9. Zen and the Regent
Generals of the Ho-Jo Period.
No wonder, then, that the
representatives of the Samurai class, the Regent Generals, especially such able
rulers as Toki-yori, Toki-mune, and others noted for their good administration,
of the Ho-jo period (1205-1332) greatly favoured Zen. They not only patronized
the faith, building great temples2 and inviting best Chinese Zen
teachers.3
but also lived just as Zen
monks, having the head shaven, wearing a holy robe, and practising cross-legged
Meditation. Toki-yori (1247-1263), for instance, who entered the monastic life
while be was still the real governor of the country, led as simple a life, as
is shown in his verse, which ran as follows:
"Higher
than its bank the rivulet flows;
Greener than moss tiny grass grows.
No one call at my humble cottage on the rock,
But the gate by itself opens to the Wind's knock."
Toki-yori attained to
Enlightenment by the instruction of Do-gen and Do-ryu, and breathed his last
calmly sitting cross-legged, and expressing his feelings in the following
lines:
"Thirty-seven
of years,
Karma mirror stood high;
Now I break it to pieces,
Path of Great is then nigh."
His successor, Toki-mune
(1264-1283), a bold statesman and soldier, was no less of a devoted believer in
Zen. Twice he beheaded the envoys sent by the great Chinese conqueror, Kublai,
who demanded Japan should either surrender or be trodden under his foot. And
when the alarming news of the Chinese Armada's approaching the land reached
him, be is said to have called on his tutor, Tsu Yuen, to receive the last
instruction. "Now, reverend sir," said. he, "an imminent peril
threatens the land." "How art thou going to encounter it?" asked
the master. Then Toki-mune burst into a thundering Ka with all his might to
show his undaunted spirit in encountering the approaching enemy. "O, the
lion's roar!" said Tsu Yuen.
"Thou art a genuine
lion. Go, and never turn back." Thus encouraged by the teacher, the Regent
General sent out the defending army, and successfully rescued the state from the
mouth of destruction, gaining a splendid victory over the invaders, almost all
of whom perished in the western seas.
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