Katō Kiyomasa
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Katō Kiyomasa (加藤清正, July 25, 1562-August 2, 1611) was a daimyō during the Sengoku and Edo periods of Japanese history.
The son of a blacksmith, and a native of Owari Province, at the age of 18 he joined rising military warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, to whom his mother was related.[citation needed] At the Battle of Shizugatake, he was one of the "seven lancers," and was successful in a number of subsequent battles. In 1586, when Sassa Narimasa was removed from his fief in Higo Province, Kiyomasa received half the province, together with Konishi Yukinaga, and entered Kumamoto Castle at the age of 26[citation needed].
A devoted member of Nichiren Shu Buddhism, he encouraged the building of Nichiren temples. He did not see eye-to-eye with Ishida Mitsunari, and Hideyoshi recalled him to Kyoto. He came into conflict with the lord of a neighboring province, a Christian named Konishi Yukinaga. He was noted for suppressing Christianity.[citation needed] At the battle of Hondo, he ordered his men to cut open the bellies of all pregnant Christian women and cut off their babies' heads. [Luís Frois, Furoisu Nihon-shi 12, trans. Matsuda Kiichi and Kawasaki Momota (Tokyo: Chuo-koron-shinsha, 2000), 32.]
During the Battle of Sekigahara, Kiyomasa remained in Kyūshū. He cooperated with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who after winning, awarded him the former territories of Konishi Yukinaga in Higo Province after Konishi was executed,[citation needed] increasing his fief to between 520 - 540,000 koku. He died in Kumamoto in 1611.
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[edit] Evaluation in Korea
Kiyomasa was active during the Seven-Year War (1592-1598) against the Korean dynasty of Joseon. He was one of the three supreme commanders to invade the peninsula, and with Konishi Yukinaga, captured Seoul, Busan, and many other crucial cities.
According to the Japanese record, The Korean King feared him, deserted Seoul and his children. He sympathized with the two deserted Korean princes[citation needed], and protected them importantly[citation needed]. He killed a tiger in Korea peninsula[citation needed], and presented Hideyoshi the fur. Kiyomasa's most famous fight is the Battle of Ulsan (蔚山城の戦い) on December 22, 1593. Kiyomasa bravely[citation needed] succeeded in the fight defense though Chinese general Yang Hao (楊鎬) encircling Ulsan with 60,000 military forces. He defended frequent attacks from the Chinese army with Ulsan until November 23, 1598. However, his brave[citation needed] fight was not reported to Hideyoshi by his rival's overseer Ishida Mitsunari. After Hideyoshi's death, he conflicted with Ishida Mitsunari, and approaches Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Known for hunting tigers for sport armed with only a spear, the Koreans greatly feared[citation needed] Kato Kiyomasa and called him "Kishokan"--"The Devil General". William Scott Wilson describes Kato Kiyomasa thus: "He was a military man first and last, outlawing even the recitation of poetry, putting the martial arts above all else. His precepts show the single-mindedness and Spartan attitudes of the man, (they) demonstrate emphatically that the warrior's first duty in the early 17th century was simply to "grasp the sword and die." Contemporary accounts of Kato describe him as awe-inspiring, yet not unfriendly, and a natural leader of men."
[edit] Kiyomasa that Korean recorded
According to Korean Record, The Japanese advance did not last long, however, for General Kato met heavy resistance the following year in the form of General Kwon Yul of the Joseon Army, Admiral Yi Sun-sin of the Korean Navy and Commander Li Rusong of the Chinese Ming salvage force. Kiyomasa felt the sting of defeat at the disastrous Battle of Haengju, where his 40,000 army was defeated by a force one tenth of that size. Casualties were upwards of 10,000 men. (According to a military record of Japan, Kiyomasa was joined Nabeshima Naoshige, and entered Seoul in February, 1593. He was researching the negotiation of China with Ukita Naoie at this time.) This and many other defeats coupled with the breaking of supply lines from Japan by Admiral Yi Sun-Sin forced Kato's retreat from Korea. During the Korean action, Konishi Yukinaga had also run into fierce fighting and tried to negotiate a peace treaty with the Korean and Chinese forces surrounding him. "Kato was infuriated by the surrender attempt and upon his return to Japan, and on return he ravaged the Konishi family's neighboring domain in retaliation."=
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Precepts of Kato Kiyomasa (brief excerpts)
