1. Kitabatake Chikafusa was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors.
11 Facts About Kitabatake Chikafusa
1. 2.
Kitabatake Chikafusa wrote of Nitta Yoshisada, one of the greatest military supporters of Go-Daigo, in a bad light.
3.
Kitabatake Chikafusa saw Nitta as a warrior, little different from the Shoguns, but accused him of never being available when the Emperor called upon him.
4.
When Go-Daigo died in 1339, Kitabatake Chikafusa was under siege in his stronghold in Hitachi Province.
5.
Kitabatake Chikafusa sent copies of his major works to the new emperor, twelve-year-old Emperor Go-Murakami, advising him and his advisors.
6.
The siege of Hitachi lasted four years, and though his fortress ultimately fell to the supporters of the shogunate, Kitabatake Chikafusa escaped to Yoshino, the capital of the Southern Court, where he advised the Emperor until his own death in 1354.
7.
Kitabatake Chikafusa recognized that certain privileges gained by the bushi and kuge in that time would not be relinquished, but he did seek to abolish the systems of land tenure and tax collection that supported the power of the bushi.
8.
Kitabatake Chikafusa viewed the bushi, and by extension the bakufu, the military government, as enemies of the throne.
9.
Kitabatake Chikafusa wrote that seeking rewards was not part of proper behavior, and that it was a warrior's place to give up land and even his life for duty.
10.
Kitabatake Chikafusa claimed that the chaos of feudalism was derived, ultimately, from an unlimited number of people claiming a limited amount of land.
11.
Kitabatake Chikafusa is considered one of the greatest men of his time, along with his rival Ashikaga Takauji.