THE AWAKENING OF JAPAN
that followed, the predatory attacks of neighboring barons on the monasteries caused the establishment of an armed monkhood. These warrior-priests guarded the sanctuaries, and, either alone or in alliance with various daimios, were a prominent feature in the Ashikaga wars, where they are often found foremost in the fray, their robe of mercy ill concealing the bloodstained mail beneath. They had, however, almost disappeared by the time of Iyeyasu, when the Hongangi, the last sect which still boasted of some military adherents, was easily made to submit to the authority of the shogun.
The policy of Iyeyasu toward Buddhism is characteristic of the fundamental idea of Eastern statesmanship. Himself a Confucian, he counted among his best friends the three great
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