Man in the time of Odai
Saru as a monkey in English was the nickname of Toyotomi Hideyoshi called by Oda Nobunaga. Toyotomi didn’t mind it although he was the most unbelievably self-made man of his time from the background of being born as a peasant to the Imperial Regent, the real ruler of unified Japan. Invading Joseon two times in the years 1592 and 1597, he was a sworn enemy of the Joseon people at that time. Even in Japan, his launching an invasion into Joseon has been mostly regarded negatively. What he did to survive and achieve what he wanted by all means evidenced how a human being as an existence can do anything overcoming one’s obstacles in an extreme fashion. He is regarded as an epitome of Gegokuji (下剋上) – a lower towering a higher - in Sengoku Jidai – a constant warring period- when its caste system underwent unprecedented upheaval, proved by his own ascending to the number one in political power from a wandering samurai. His life was a continuous string of extraordinary anecdotes such as his knowing in advance what horse Oda Nobunaga would ride, with a conjecture of his lord’s condition on the day, unbeatable outsourcing skill compared to any of his peerage vassals, and wrapping his lord’s sandals within his robe for Oda to put them on in the warm condition.
To Toyotomi’s dismay, his clan couldn’t rule after his demise. It is because he didn’t prepare a solid political foundation for his heir and out of notable misjudgment to invade Joseon in his later political years, he lost daimyos’ faith. His glory ended with his death. On the contrary, Tokugawa Iyeyasu called the raccoon in Kanto was praised as a figure who possessed wisdom and virtue, compared to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, mainly I suppose, due to the victorious result in history for Tokugawa who gulped down unified Japan endeavored by Oda and Toyotomi. Tokugawa bombed the grave of Toyotomi to be destroyed after winning the battle of Sekigahara where the Toyotomi clan and Tokugawa clan clashed against each other to put an end to their rivalry which was in the way of Japan’s unification. Bombing his enemy’s grave doesn’t look like an honorable behavior done by a person of wisdom and virtue but rather looks like the behavior of pure mediocrity and grudge. How can a true victor exist in history? From the macro-historical viewpoint, they are just non-existence to have vanished regardless of whether a victor or defeated. Reading history makes me reflect on myself on its background. Or the person who experiences history, makes me reflect on myself too.
Fascinated by the novel ‘The Greatest Ambition’, mom ranted about Oda Nobunaga, airing the spirit like a dauntless warlord sweeping the battlefield, whereas while calling Toyotemi a cunning monkey, she squinted her eyes. She didn’t mind me who didn’t empathize with her talks and just continued her story in a jolly mood. Has the consciousness of people who live at the end of history evolved compared to one of the people beforehand? I don’t think so, considering what I would deduce from the cases of mom and me. In my thirties was that I worked at a more sought-after company after having studied abroad while having quit quite a still good company after graduation from one of the best universities. However, what prevailed in my mind or consciousness was just a talk from my colleague that made me uncomfortable all day long or the irrespectable behavior of my then boss throughout the day. Although mom in her thirties was in harsh condition, she didn’t unleash her ties to family and her life. Under the suffocating daily lives, she still enjoyed and sympathized with the lives of heroes in Sengoku Jidai, musing their era with her imagination and also diverted her empathy from Patten to Rommel, at the background of the Second World War with her spacious mind. I miss more the people of the past who had the mind of unaffected dignity and magnanimity.
Comments