More than 400 years have passed since the Sekigahara War, which determined the direction of japan's warring states, but the debate over this war has not stopped, and has even intensified, and in recent years, the discussion of who is the righteous side in the war between the two sides has been a topic that the Japanese people talk about after dinner.
In fact, according to the secular view and the Japanese understanding of "loyalty and righteousness", although the Western Army failed, they were morally the righteous side.
Japanese 2017 film Sekigahara Battle
The Sekigahara War occurred after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the Iechen faction led by Ishida Misei and the foreign relatives and arbitrary factions led by Tokugawa Ieyasu began to confront and fight, which is equivalent to the original side of the Toyotomi family, Tokugawa Ieyasu and other great generals bullying others' orphans and widows (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), trying to seize the foundation of the toyotomi family, this kind of seizure of power is like Sima Yi in the Three Kingdoms period, ungrateful, and fundamentally in line with the values of that time and now.
And is ishida Sansei and other courtiers can not see the direct rebellion and Tokugawa Ieyasu to fight. "Defending one's master's house to the death" is also a purpose that the Japanese samurai spirit has always adhered to, so the Western Army represented by Ishida Sansei is morally in line with the principle of "loyalty" followed by the Japanese.
Ishida Mitsunari, who is taken to the execution ground in "Sekigahara Battle"
In addition to gaining a moral foothold, the charisma of the Western generals is also the reason why they are called the righteous side. Although many of the daimyōs of the Western Army, led by the Maori and Yoshikawa families, were wall-riding factions, the main backbone of the Western Army, represented by the Toyotomi family members, also showed the glory of loyalty.
The actual leader of the Western Army, General Ishida Sansei, was a moral model himself, and in order to repay the favor of the lord (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) with three cups of tea, knowing that his strength was only 200,000 stones, he dared to challenge the aggressive Andogawa Ieyasu of 2.6 million stones, and this performance of not fearing power was itself admirable, and the following Kagami has always been flaunted by The Japanese samurai.
Ishida Misei's best friend Yoshiki Otani (with leprosy)
In addition to being loyal to the lord, is also a reason for is the personal charm of Ishida Sansei.
Otani Yoshiji, who was originally close to Tokugawa Ieyasu, knew that he could not do anything but still joined the Western Army camp without hesitation, and the acquaintance of the two was also somewhat legendary, because he had leprosy and was looked down upon by other arbitrary soldiers during the conquest of Korea, and it was Ishida Sansei who took the initiative to make friends with him and established a deep friendship between the two. Even Governor Konishi and others had been favored by Ishida Sansei and joined the Western Army without hesitation.
Therefore, Ishida Misei's Western army, which gathered because of friends and personal friendships, was more convincing than the Eastern Army, which Tokugawa Ieyasu had gathered together by profit. Even after the defeat of Ishida Sansei, generously refused to eat persimmons on thirst, showing the loyalty of the samurai at that time, at least during the Sekigahara War, Ishida Sansei was more like a hero than Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Ishida Misei's chief minister, TadaoShima, is near the left
In addition to Ishida Sansei, the general Ukita Hideya, in order to repay Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nurturing grace (Toyotomi Hideyoshi's adopted son), Chiontoshi joined the Western Army defending his brother Hideyoshi.
Hideya's performance is also in line with the "grace of dripping water, when the spring repays" view of the world, in the battle, Ukita Hideyasu is also a pioneer, Ukita Hideyasu's simple act of repaying favor also makes people have a natural affinity for the Western Army, and even after the defeat, Ukita Hideya would rather give up the fiefdom and be alone in the desert island, rather than easily bow to Tokugawa Ieyasu, always finally to the Toyotomi family.
On the contrary, the MVP of the Battle of Sekigahara, Hideya Kohayakawa, was also the adopted son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and a relative of the Western Army's Maori Keigen, but Kohayakawa Hideaki abandoned the Western Army at a critical time, leaving the Western Army's flank completely vacant, causing the Western Army to collapse, and became the chief contributor to the victory of the Eastern Army. The appearance of Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Hideki Uchiha and Hideaki Hayakawa is one positive and one negative, which makes people sympathize with the Western Army.
Hideya Ukita on the battlefield sekigahara
Tokugawa Ieyasu was a tyrant-like figure who, in his dictionary, wanted to dominate Japan, and everything was based on profit. Coupled with the unlimited humiliation and burden of humiliation under the pressure of the Takeda family in the early years, it is even more deep that the Ieyasu Castle House is very deep, so compared to the heroes of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu is more like Sima Yi who secretly exerts his strength, imagine what Sima Yi's reputation is, and this moral Kawa Ieyasu is in Japan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu stills
Back to the Battle of Sekigahara... Tokugawa's approach in some areas did not conform to the Japanese philosophy of the time. Before the start of the war, Tokugawa Ieyasu divided and disintegrated the Western Army by other means, on the one hand, by promising to expand the fiefdom after the war to the Maori and Yoshikawa families of the wall-riding faction, but in fact they opened up the Maori family, and after the war, not only did the territory not increase, but on the contrary, the Territory of the Maori family was not collected, and the Maori family of the good people gave you an undercover for so long. The same is true for another undercover, Hideaki Hayakawa, who was also sanctioned by Tokugawa after the war and eventually became insane.
Battle of Sekigahara mvp, Tadaomi Nobita Ko hayakawa Hideaki
On the other hand, in the attitude towards the boss's orphans, Tokugawa's methods are a bit cruel, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's treatment of Oda Nobunaga's widowed third mage is to confess it, and to be a rich man's daimyō is also a benevolent and righteous end. But Tokugawa not only got rid of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (granddaughter-in-law), who was not a threat to him, but even Hideyoshi's son, his own great-grandson, and even withdrew the title of the Toyotomi family, it can be said that what his boss's family did was called a "no"...
Sanada Yukimura, who hated Tokugawa to the bone
Although many people are evaluating who is righteous in the East and West Armies, for the loyal Western Army of the Lord's family, more people respond to moral compassion and the tragic life of the Western Army's generals as the starting point. Both the character and the position of the Western Army are in line with the attitude and view of the world of "loyalty, righteousness, and faith" of eastern culture.
Tokugawa Ieyasu's vertical and horizontal means are more like a thick-and-thin tyrant, following the unscrupulous tyrant route for the purpose, naturally can not get the recognition of the samurai class, coupled with the shogunate period after Tokugawa ruled Japan, Japan was backward and closed, and after the modern Japanese fall of the curtain movement, led by the descendants of the Western Army " Satsuma Domain and Choshu Domain" as the head of the propaganda, Tokugawa Ieyasu's flaws were infinitely magnified, naturally also implemented his immoral performance in the Battle of Sekigahara.
Therefore, in the evaluation of later generations, the folk scholars headed by Sima Liaotalang are more from the position of "western army justice".
— the end —