330 Part IV: East Asian Civilization
Warfare was a highly ritualized affair in the beginning of the samurai
period. As seen in war tales like the Konjaku Monogatari, Heike Monogatari, and
the Taiheiki, armies would first arrange a time and date of battle; they would
exchange envoys as the armies faced each other in the field and they would fire
“humming arrows” to announce the commencement of fighting; as the armies
moved together, at first they exchanged volleys of arrows, and finally warriors
paired off sword-to-sword for the climax of the fighting. Rank counted even in
battle, for you had to find someone of your own rank, as evidenced by insignia
on armor, to slug it out with. You might need to shout out one’s own name and
genealogy to attract an opponent of suitable rank, but there were other reasons
for shouting your name. You might need to establish witnesses for later claims
to reward or promote the fame of yourself and your family.
The victorious shouting of one’s name (kachi-nanori) was a ritual formula that
included one’s genealogy. Varley records the following exchange between a Taira
and a Minamoto, whose parties encounter each other at the entry to the capital:
[I am] the police lieutenant of Aki, Motomori; descended in the twelfth
generation from Emperor Kammu; a distant relative in the eighth genera-
tion of the Taira general [shogun] Masakado; grandson of the minister of
punishments, Tadamori; and second son of the governor of Aki, Kiyo-
mori.” Not to be outdone, Chikaharu then recites his lineage: “I am the res-
ident of Yamato province Uno no Shichiro Chikaharu; descended in the
tenth generation from Emperor Seiwa; a distant relative of the Sixth Grand-
son Prince; five generations removed from the governor of Yamato, Yor-
ichika, the younger brother of the governor of Settsu, Raiko; grandson of
the vice-minister of central affairs, Yoriharu; and oldest son of the governor
of Shimotsuke, Chikaharu.” (Varley 1994:60)
In the Hogen, a 19-year-old warrior is initiated into battle during the attack on
Shirakawa Palace. He wrestles with two brothers who are famous for their strength
and stabs them to death. Taking their heads and remounting his horse, he shouts:
I, Kaneko no Juro Ietada, a resident of Musashi province, have come forth,
before the renowned Tametomo of Tsukushi, and with my own hands have
taken the heads of two noted warriors (samurai). Observe this, both enemy
and ally! A feat rarely achieved either in ancient times or the present!... I
am the Ietada who wishes to bequeath his name (na) to generations to
come. If there are warriors among Tametomo’s band who feel they are my
match, let them come and grapple with me! (Varley 1994:61)
At the end of the battle, a few hours or a day later, enemy heads were cut
off and carried to Kyoto or Kamakura for display. This was bloody and defiling
work, so usually servants did the actual decapitation, and the head was carried
at the end of a sword stuck into the victim’s topknot. Part of the system of
honor of the samurai was to prevent comrades’ heads from falling to the
enemy. In Heiji there is a story of a commander in flight from Kyoto along with
his injured son. Seeing that his son cannot continue traveling, he kills him and
takes his head to keep it from falling into enemy hands (Varley 1994:27).