412 JAPAN AND EAST ASIA
to create his own authority, the Yuan dynastic order, whose political
base lay in the Chinese agricultural region.
47
The Yuan dynasty attacked Japan twice - first in 1274 and then
again in 1281. The attackers were called Yuan pirates
{genko).
In this
chapter, I shall call these attacks Mongol invasions
{Moko
shurai),
as
they are referred to in contemporary sources. The two wars them-
selves are known from the era names as the Bun'ei and Koan cam-
paigns. One can consider the significance of the Mongol invasions in
Japanese history in two
ways.
The first is to look at them in the context
of East Asian history, using a time frame from the Mongol invasions
themselves to the end of the Kamakura period, during which the
bakufu, fearing yet another attack, kept its defense structure intact.
This would be, in other words, a cross-sectional analysis. But such an
approach has two problems: how to regard the Mongol invasions from
the standpoint of Japan's relations with Yuan, Koryo, and Southern
Sung and how to analyze Japan's internal situation in terms of politics,
economics, society, thought, and culture. The second approach re-
veals how this unprecedented foreign attack functioned in terms of the
Japanese consciousness of foreign peoples, that is, in the formation of
a national consciousness. This is a sort of vertical analysis.
48
Because I
cannot use both approaches here, I shall first describe the interna-
tional situation leading to the Mongol invasions, and then explain the
reasons behind them.
49
Because the Japanese-Mongol negotiations were initiated through
Koryo, the relationship between the Mongols and Koryo requires
some clarification.
50
This relationship began when the Mongols at-
tacked the Tungusic Jurchin kingdom of Chin (1115-1234). The
Chitan people, previously subject to the Chin, had revolted and rav-
aged the northern area of Korea; consequently, in 1219, Koryo joined
the Mongols to subdue them. Later, however, Mongol envoys periodi-
cally visited Koryo, demanding and collecting large amounts of trib-
ute.
But in 1225, when Ogotei (1168-1241) succeeded Genghis Khan,
47 Murakami Masatsugu, "Mongoru teikoku no seiritsu to bunretsu," in Iwanami koza sekai
rekishi, vol. 9 (chusei 3) (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1970).
48 There are numerous studies dealing with the Mongol invasions, and for a history of these
studies, see Kawazoe Shoji, Moko shurai kenkyu
shiron
(Tokyo: Yuzankaku, 1977).
49 The following discussion is based mainly on Kawazoe, Chusei Kyushu no seiji to bunka, pp.
103—33.
Consequently, I have not listed each document. Two representative works on the
Mongol invasions are by Ikeuchi Hiroshi, Genko noshinkenkyu (Tokyo: Toyo bunko, 1931);
and Aida Niro, Moko shurai no kenkyu (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 1971). For more
details, see Kawazoe, Moko
shurai
kenkyu shiron.
50 The following discussion of Japanese-Koryo relations is based on the first two chapters of
Ikeuchi, Genko no shin kenkyu.
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