Talk:Imagawa Sadayo

message: Angus, maybe you can get this guy to send us a copy of his thesis.  I have written several times offering to pay even, but received no reply.
:http://ealc.berkeley.edu/people/gradstudentprofiles.htm
:http://www.fulbrightonline.org/us/program_student_us.php?id=971
:BARRETT J. HEUSCH (Japanese Literature)
:bheusch@berkeley.edu
  
:"Barrett is a doctoral student specializing in pre-modern Japanese literature. After receiving his B.A. in Japanese from Pomona College he spent several years teaching in Japan and traveling throughout Asia and Central Europe. Possibly because of this, one of his main research interests is travel literature; others include medieval poetry, especially waka, and exile. His M.A. thesis was a study and translation of Michiyukiburi, a travel diary written in 1371 by Imagawa Ryoshun. His dissertation will continue his work on Ryoshun."
:I actually e-mailed Barrett a few months ago and asked about his translation of Michiyukiburi. He told me that he is preparing his translation for eventual publication and also plans on trying to include a translation of Sadayo's nan-taiheiki as well. He gave no indication of when this might be ready, but I'm pretty excited about it. --AngusH 02:16, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  I'm trying to get a English translation of Michiyukiburi 

message: THE REGULATIONS OF IMAGAWA RYOSHUN
Imagawa Sadayo was one of the most remarkable men of his age. He ranked as a leading general and strategist along with Kusu­noki and Kitabatake, and as a poet and scholar became a promi­nent figure in the Court-dominated literary world, composing both historical works and poetry.
 
The Imagawa were a cadet family of the Ashikaga, taking their name from their manor at Imagawa in Mikawa Province. Ima­gawa's father had supported the Shogun Takauji and had been re-warded with the governorship of Suruga Province. Here the clan settled and in time formed marriage ties with the Court nobility.
 
Imagawa's military career began with the dispute of the North-ern and Southern Courts. He chose to back the Northern Court and by 1361 had defeated Hosokawa Kiyouji at the fighting in Yoshino. Returning to Kyoto, he shaved his head and entered re­ligion, taking the name of Ryoshun. By 1370, the bakufu had lost control of most of the island of Kyushu and sent Ryoshun to serve as military governor to pacify the area. To this task he devoted the next decade of his life, at the same time continuing his literary interests and contacts with his teacher, Nijo Yoshimoto.  
 
In 1395 it was suggested to the Shogun Yoshimitsu that Ryo­shun was by far too powerful and held rebellious intentions. Thus he was recalled to his governorship in Suruga where he devoted most of his remaining years to literature and poetry.
Ryoshun was the author of a number of literary works and documents, among them the Michiyukiburi, a travel diary includ­ing some of his own poetry; the Nan Taiheiki, an historical work; and the present text, the Regulations, written in 1412 for his younger brother, Tadaaki. Also called the Imagawa Wall Inscrip­tions, the Regulations has been respected and studied as a text on proper morality up until WWII, and used during the Edo period as a basic text in temple schools. Written in kanbun, it sets down the classic view that a warrior must be a man of both military skill and of letters—that lacking one, he will lack both. As a Buddhist, Ryo­shun proscribed the wanton taking of life, but as a member of the warrior class, he held great respect for his profession. As a Confu­cian, he cited the Chinese Classics and demanded respect for one's family, as well as stressing the concept of loyalty and duty to one's master. In him we see the ideal of the warrior at its most balanced stage.
The Regulations of Imagawa Ryoshun 
"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories." 
"Cormorant fishing and falconing are pleasures that uselessly destroy life. They are forbidden." 
"it is forbidden to pass the death sentence on a man who has committed a major crime without full investigation" 
"It is forbidden to use favoritism and excuse a man who has committed a major crime" 
"It is forbidden to bring about one's own excessive prosperity by means of exploiting the people and causing the destruction of shrines." 
"It is forbidden to tear down one's ancestors' family temples and pagodas, thereby embellishing one's own domicile" 
"It is forbidden to forget the great debt of kindness one owes to his master and ancestors and thereby make light of the virtues of loyalty and filial piety." 
"It is forbidden that one should, acting disrespective of the Way of Heaven, attach little importance to his duties to his master and be overly attentive to his own business" 
"It is forbidden to be indiscriminate of one's retainers good or evil actions and to distribute unjust rewards and punishments." 
be mindful of the fact that, as you know the works of your own retainers, the master knows yours in the same way. 
"It is forbidden to disrupt the relationships of other people, and to make others anguish your own pleasure." 
"It is forbidden to put others profit at a loss and, recklessly embracing one's own ambition, increase one's own power" 
"It is forbidden to be disregardful of one's own financial status and to live too far above it or below it" 
"It is forbidden to have contempt for wise retainers and prefer flatterers, and to have one's actions be influenced by those conditions" 
"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness." 
"It is forbidden to be given up to drinking and carousing and, in gambling and the like, to forget one's family duties." 
"It is forbidden to be prideful of one's own cleverness, and to ridicule others about everything" 
"When a person comes to one's home, it is forbidden to feign illness and thus avoid meeting him." 
"It is forbidden to enjoy one's own tranquility, and to retire a man without adding to him some stipend." 
"It is forbidden to be excessive in one's own clothing and armor, while his retainers go about shabbily." 
"One should be highly reverential of Buddhist priests and treat them with correct manners." 
"Regardless of a person's high or low position, it is forbidden to disregard the law of karma, and to simply live in ease." 
"It is forbidden to erect barriers in one's own domain and thus cause distress to travelers both coming and going" 
THE ABOVE ARTICLES SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND AT ALL TIMES 
Postcript: 
"It is natural that training in the martial arts is the Way of the warrior, but it is important to put them into actual practice. First, it is written in the Four Books and Five Classics (*See footnote) as well as in the military writings that in protecting the country, if one is ignorant in the study of literature, he will be unable to govern. 
Just as Buddha preached the various laws in order to save all living beings, one must rack one's brains and never depart from the Ways of both Warrior and Literary Man." 
"From the time one is young, he should associate with companions who are upright and not even temporarily be taken in by friends of low character. Just as water will conform to the shape of the vessel that contains it, so will a man follow the good and evil of his companions. This is so true. Therefore it is said that the master who governs his domain well loves wise retainers, while the man who exploits the people loves flatterers. This means that if one would know the heart of the master, he should look to the companions who the master loves. One should truly take this to heart. To prefer friends who are superior to him, and to avoid those who are his inferiors, is the wisdom of the good man. However, considering this to be true, it will not do to be overly fastidious in one's choice of people. This is simply saying that one should not love those who are evil. This is not limited to the man who governs the country, for without the love and respect of the masses, all matters are difficult to achieve. 
First of all, a samurai who dislikes battle and has not put his heart in the right place even though he has been born in the house of the warrior, should not be reckoned among one's retainers. Many famous generals have made this admonition. Next, if one would wonder about the good and evil of his own heart, he may think of himself as good if many people of both high and low positions gather at his door. And, even if one invites many people, and still they neglect him and he has no comrades, he should think of his own conduct as being incorrect. 
Yet, I suppose there are two ways of having the gate crowded with callers. There are also occasions when the people are fearful of the masters' iniquity, are exploited by the high handedness of his retainers and opposed by the plots of his companions, and will gather at the gates of the authorities complaining of their afflictions with explanations of their distress. One should be able to discern such situations well and to correct the arbitrariness of his retainers. He should entrust himself to the wise sayings of the ancients and follow the conditions of the law. 
A man who is said to be a master should, in the same way the sun and the moon shine on the grass and trees all over the land, ponder day and night with a heart of compassion into matters of rewards and punishments, for his vassals both near and far, and even to those officials separated from him by mountains and sea; and he should use those men according to their talents. It is possible that there are many examples of men becoming leaders of samurai, and yet being negligent and lacking wisdom and ability, and thus incurring the criticism of men both high and low. Just as Buddha preached the various laws in order to save all living beings, one must rack one's brains and never depart from the Ways of both Warrior and Scholar. 
In Governing the country, it is dangerous to lack even one of the virtues of humanity, righteousness, etiquette and wisdom. IN adhering to correct government, , there will be no rancor from the people when crimes are punished. But when the government makes its stand in unrighteousness and the death penalty is passed, there will be deep lamenting. and in such a case there will be no escaping the retribution of Karma. 
"There is a primary need to distinguish loyalty from disloyalty and to establish rewards and punishments. It is meaningless to divide up the administration of the domain if one's vassals commit useless acts in their own interests, have no ability in the martial arts, and do not sustain their underlings. And though one can say that the treatment of his vassals in the division of the fiefs has not differed since the time of his ancestors, differences in conduct and authority are dependant of the same frame of mind of the present master. 
Being born into a family that has from the beginning earnestly known the Way of Battle, it is truly regrettable to wastefully tamper with the domain, support no soldiers, and receive the scorn of all." 
Thus the above is written 
in the 19th year of Oei (1412 A.D.)
Imagawa Ryoshun
Footnote: 
1The basic Confucian texts. The Four Books are the Analects, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean and the Book of Mencius. The Five Classics are the Odes, the Book of History, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes and the Book of Spring and Autumn Annals.
2According to Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha Shakamuni preached in various ways so that sentient beings of all levels would be able to understand and reach Nirvana.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.7.85.209 (talk) 22:32, 8 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Source document:  The regulations 1412 ad 

message: This article was listed at WP:JAPAN as needing an infobox. I am working through the backlog at the project and have translated some data from the corresponding Japanese Wikipedia article. Therefore some data in the infobox may not appear in the main text of the article. The image in the article is now in the infobox and the older file link can be deleted.
Furthermore I have not translated all the data in the infobox used in the Japanese article. This includes the consecrated Buddhist name given to the deceased, several common names traditionally used for this person between Imagawa clan members, and the names of his immediate relatives and descendants. 
Please look over the information in the infobox and discuss any errors or changes you think is necessary. I can translate other data if there is a good argument to do so. 
Dr.khatmando (talk) 07:31, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  About infobox