THE MILITARY EPOCH
and the families of the effeminate aristocrats whom they had hitherto despised. Those that could not by fair means obtain wives among these dainty dames, often had recourse to foul expedients. A passion for gambling was soon added to the excitements of the capital. Swords and armour were staked on a throw of the dice, and men learned to dread war, since it called them away from the delights of the Imperial city. Even the principle of loyalty, the first article of the bushi's creed, began to be weakened, for the turmoil of the time brought such sharp and incalculable changes of fortune that no certain advantage seemed to accrue from adhering to one leader, however secure his position might appear. It became every man's first business to look out for himself. There is no blacker period of Japan's history. Fealty and honesty disappeared from the ethics of the time. Even before Takauji died, the powers that he had hoped to bequeath to his descendants had been largely usurped by his lieutenants. Treachery and intrigue were in the air. Men that espoused the cause of the Northern Dynasty yesterday were found fighting for the Southern to-day. The great barons in the provinces paid little heed to the Ashikaga rule. Each fought for his own hand. If an official of high aims attempted to stem the current of corruption and abuses, it closed over his head, for integrity immediately provoked slander.
To Yoshimitsu, third of the Ashikaga Shōguns,
25
