Letter by Date Masamune
- Person
-
作者伊達政宗
- Date
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制作年 AD16
- Title
- ダテマサムネヒツショジョウ
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
A military commander active from the end of Momoyama Period to the early Edo Period, Lord Date Masamune (1567-1636) was born in Yonezawa, Dewa Province (today’s Yamagata Pref.), the first son of Date Terumune (1544-85). His childhood name was Bonten-Maru, which was changed to Masamune when he came of age in 1577. But after he lost sight in one eye, he was nicknamed “Singled-Eyed Dragon”. Masamune succeeded his father as head of the family at age 18. Thereafter, he enlarged the family sphere of influence in and around Yonezawa. In 1589, he defeated his old adversary Ashina Yoshihiro and moved into Aizu Kurokawa Castle, which was later called Aizu Wakamatsu Castle. In the following year, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshi confiscated Aizu, Iwase, and Asaka estates that belonged to Masamune, and the lord was forced to return to Yonezawa Castle. In 1591, he put down the riots that erupted in Kasai and Osaki, in northern Japan, and was given Iwadeyama Castle as a reward. During the Bunroku Campaign of 1592, in which Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent an invading army to the Korean Peninsula, Lord Date Masamune went to serve at the Nagoya war headquarters set up in Hizen (today’s Saga Pref.), from where he crossed the straight to invade Korea. After his return to Japan, he became entangled in a revolt plotted by Toyotomi Hidetsugu and was ordered to house arrest. He was soon pardoned and fought on the Tokugawa side during the Battle of Sekigahara and defeated General Uesugi Kagekatsu, a warlord in Aizu. Later, Masamune built a new castle in Sendai (1603) and consolidated his estates, thus laying the foundation of the great Date House of 620,000-goku (rice bales) in Sendai Province. He died at age 70 at the Date government mansions in Edo.Masamune was a bold, daring and formidable military general, but he also cultivated a taste for Japanese poetry, sado (way of tea), and Noh theatre and was instrumental in introducing to the remote northern regions the splendor of Momoyama culture. Not only that, he also had a progressive mind and a grand vision for the world beyond Japan, sending at one point envoy Hasekura Tsunenaga to Rome to seek an audience with the pope.This letter has something to do with Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s 1590 siege upon the Hojo family, the Lord of the Odawara Castle. The year before, Masamune had defeated the Ashina family in Aizu and conquered much of the southern part of Ohu, the northernmost region of mainland Japan, and now a rivalry was just beginning to brew between the Date and Satake families in Kanto. Around this time, Generalissimo Toyotomi Hideyoshi commissioned numerous warlords across the nation to amass the aforementioned assault upon the Hojo family, and understandably, Masamune was called upon to take part. Masamune in turn sent his retainer Endo Funyusai to Kyoto for reconnaissance on the actions of Hideyoshi’s close allies, while also keeping a watchful eye on the Hojos in Odawara.This letter, however, was written to Masamune’s other retainer, Shiraishi Munezane (1553-99), who had been dispatched, amid rampant political plots and intrigue, to spy on the rival Satake Yoshinobu father and son alliance, and the correspondence contains detailed instructions. By this time, Masamune had learned throughEndo Funyusai’s reconnaissance activities in Kyoto that a formidable army led by the Lord of Kaga (today’s Ishikawa Pref.) had enlisted 160,000 men and had already reached Kyoto. Hideyoshi ordered Masamune to attack the enemy from the rear, and if the campaign was successful, he promised to grant to Masamune the 54 counties in Ohu and 12 counties in Dewa (today’s Yamagata and Akita Prefs.), all located in northern Japan. As this letter was written during a military campaign, it is a rare legacy for its many strategic details.
追々被相切レ候当方へ者小田原後詰之儀頻ニ来候於京都廿一日之書翰只今巳刻到着加州より上之衆計之着到十六万餘ニ候自是住（注）進候不移時刻田へ此方ヘ其着到下候仍当方ヘ者早打無比類候然処ニ義宣奥州五十四郡出羽十二郡可被父子共一途之扱無之入馬相付候ハゝ万事可然事共ニ候之由餘ニ無甲斐事ニ候随而旁以可為大悦候歟以上自是進発之儀来下旬前可為寒風候歟得其意候手前上下之支度悉相調候何之日ニ出馬候共輒候先々無何事候者被打返可然候其元家老衆ヘ及一札候吉事期永日候恐惶謹言追而京都之儀悉正ノ廿三日政宗（花押）相調不入斎加州就下向ニ其身老足故于今無下着候併数身之者一人相下候南方与者必々 白石右衛門佐殿
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