A Burning Temple #KingAwakening #RevengeAlbum

This is the second post of #KingAwakening, in which I consider the haunting of an obscure aspect of queer Japanese history to help me become a drag king! For it to make sense, you may need to read the first post on here.

The Honnoji Incident was a pivotal moment in Japanese history when Akechi Mitsuhide betrayed and attacked Oda Nobunaga, forcing him to commit seppuku at the Honnoji Temple in 1582. Akechi attacked with an army of thousands, while Oda was resting at the temple for a tea ceremony and were only accompanied by his attendants and personal bodyguards. During the attack, the temple was also set ablaze, leaving no remains and Oda’s body was never found, further complicating Akechi’s attempt at mutiny. This shocking event abruptly ended Nobunaga’s campaign to unify Japan and plunged the country back into chaos, setting the stage for a new power struggle. It’s a historic lesson of the fragility of even the most carefully laid plans.

I’ve been reflecting on what it means to be haunted by writing. I woke up this morning shortly before six, and was immediately attacked by a strange melancholy, thinking about these people almost 500 years ago who rose in this same way at dawn and were shortly greeted by the knowledge that they would almost certainly die today.

^Artist unknown

2 June 1582

The following is taken from the defining primary source on Oda’s life (Shincho-koki, written contemporary to his life by one of his retainers), with some gaps filled by the writer Takuji Ishikawa:

It was early morning on June 2, 1582. In the quiet bedroom of Honnoji Temple, there was the sound of people making a commotion in the distance. Nobunaga, who was an early riser, was probably getting ready for the morning with his page. The Shincho Koki records that both Nobunaga and the page "believed that the current quarrel was being stirred up by people of lower rank." Someone must have started a fight.

At that time, the temple grounds of Honnoji were one cho (about 110m) square, with over 30 sub-temples surrounding it. Because Nobunaga often stayed in Kyoto, it was heavily defended with moats and walls. That morning, Nobunaga was guarded by only about 30 pages, but he did not consider the commotion in front of the temple to be a threat.

However, the noise of the commotion did not subside at all. Soon, the cries of war rose, and the sound of chestnuts crackling could be heard. It was a sound that had ingrained in Nobunaga's ears. A bullet was being fired. It was not a fight. It was the unmistakable sound of a battlefield.

"Is this a treason? What is this plot?"

It was Mori Ran who answered Nobunaga's question. His given name was Naritoshi. He is well known by his common name Ranmaru, but Nobunaga called him by his childhood name Ran. He was 18 years old at the time. At 13 he became a page and served Nobunaga closely. In storytelling, he is described as a beautiful boy with fair skin, but it was this young man's quick thinking that Nobunaga loved. Nobunaga was quick to act, and even when he went out to battle, he left his retainers behind. If he could not predict Nobunaga's movements, he would not be able to serve his lord, but Mori Ran could predict Nobunaga's feelings more keenly than anyone else. At this time, too, he probably went outside to see what was going on while Nobunaga was discussing with another page, saying, "It must be a fight between the lower classes." If the commotion died down as expected, it would be good, but if not, he would surely be asked, "What is the commotion about?" Then he saw the flags with the bellflower crest surrounding the temple.

"It appears to be Akechi."

Nobunaga's response to Mori Ran's quick response was just one short word.

"It's a matter of right or wrong"

-Takuji Ishikawa

From there, the details are hazy. It is said that Oda and his small entourage fought back, and pushed for the women and servants to escape the temple, which at this point had caught on fire. It is also unclear who started the fire, It would have been crucial for Akechi to secure Oda’s head in order to prove that his mutiny was successful. Therefore, it would not be logical for their side to have started the fire at Honno-ji. Instead, there is reason to believe that Oda had ordered his trusted pages to burn the temple while he commited seppuku, in order that his body would not be violated or humiliated.

Below is the dramatisation of Oda and Ranmaru’s death in Eiji Yoshikawa’s Taiko:

Looking on the corpses of the attendants who had died together in battle, he (Oda Nobunaga) knew that his final moments were at hand. Quitting the battle, he withdrew into a room and placed Ranmaru outside to guard the door, saying, “If you hear my voice inside, you can take it that I am committing suicide. Put my body under some sliding panels and set them on fire. Until then, do not let the enemy make their way in.” As Nobunaga gave these instructions, he looked steadily into Ranmaru’s eyes.

…[I skip parts where he basically stabs himself in the gut 🤢]…

It was a moment before his heavy breathing became peaceful.

Is this what it is to die? He felt so peaceful that he even doubted it himself. He was even aware of a desire to laugh.

So I slipped up too.

….

“No regrets!” Nobunaga said out loud.

Ranmaru heard Nobunaga’s shout, and ran in. His master, wearing a white silk kimono already lay facedown on the floor, embracing a flow of fresh blood. Ranmaru pulled the doors from the low closet and placed them over Nobunaga’s corpse, as though he were making a coffin. Closing the door peacefully once again, he stood back from the alcove. He grasped the short sword with which he, too, might commit seppuku, but his shining eyes settled on Nobunaga’s corpse until the room were consumed in flames.¹

Such is the power of writing, and even now retyping it on my laptop like a strange sutra, I feel something small and sharp cleave my soul. Especially as a teenage girl, reading this book for the first time, I had the experience of following the characters page by page from their childhood, to their rise and fall, until one day, I arrive onto the page when they die. It is the simulation of a life and a death. One of the most fascinating things about the Sengoku period to me is to witness the lives of men who soberly knew that death was a certainty. And they wisely chose to spend it on a life of honour and beauty and tea ceremonies, and foolishly on murdering each other. I spoke before on my own fear of old age, death and the life unlived, and perhaps these hauntings I am experiencing are part of a metamorphosis to overcome these fears.

The fire at Honno-ji was a pivotal aspect that turned the tides of history. Without proof that Oda had died, other warlods were fain to support him. Akechi’s rebellion was short-lived, as he was defeated and killed by Hideyoshi's forces at the Battle of Yamazaki just 13 days later, solidifying Hideyoshi’s rise to power.

By Nobukazu Yosai

Consider a burning building

Burning buildings have been a strange motif for me lately.

For every Chinese Indonesian, May 1998 was a formative moment in our lives. These were a series of violent events triggered by widespread political and economic unrest during the final days of President Suharto's 32-year authoritarian regime. The Asian financial crisis had devastated Indonesia's economy, leading to soaring inflation, unemployment, and social tension. The riots, which occurred in Jakarta and other cities, were marked by violent protests, widespread looting and arson, with much of the anger directed at the ethnic Chinese community. An estimated 1,000 people died (most of them trapped in burning buildings) alongside an estimated 4,000 properties that were destroyed.

^Lootings and burnings May 1998

Years later, I discovered that apart from the well known lootings and burnings, May 1998 was also marked by 156 confirmed mass rapes of Chinese women. Some scholars estimate that up to 400 Chinese women were raped, although many never came forward due to stigma and even those who were willing to speak were terrorised and faced death threats. Most of the rapes were gang rapes, accompanied by torture and imolations. This part of the memory of May 1998 is shrouded in silence, one that even I was completely unaware of, most probably because it was a fact that was purposefully kept from women of my generation.

Revenge

I have been fascinated by revenge, I hope not because I’m a particularly hateful or morbid person, but because, that is the nature of revenge! It is like a black hole that keeps growing bigger and bigger sucking everything in its vicinity. Part of what I find special about the formidability of art in human life is its ability to hold revenge. Whereas in life, revenge (the revenge of Akechi, the revenge of an angry mob in 1998 who believed in the lies of an authoritarian government) often leaves nothing but a pile of ashes.

And out of those ashes, what might whisper back?

Honnoji burned almost 500 years ago, and as I had mentioned, there is nothing left but a project of speaking to the silence.² However, this is what the survivors of 1998 had to say:

With regards to their stance, she has stated the following:

Para korban yang hidup hingga saat ini masih dekat dengan Ita. Ada yang sudah berkeluarga dan ada yang tinggal di luar negeri. Namun, mereka tidak mau muncul ke publik karena tidak ada perlindungan. Mereka masih mempertanyakan, mengapa mereka dikorbankan. ”Tiga poin yang disampaikan korban pemerkosaan adalah kami minta penjelasan kenapa kami dikorbankan. Kami tidak butuh direparasi, dan biarkan kami meneruskan hidup yang sudah bahagia ini,” kata Ita.

Translated:

The victims who are still alive today remain close to Ita. Some are already married, and others live abroad. However, they do not want to appear in public because there is no protection. They still question why they were victimised. "The three points expressed by the rape victims are: we want an explanation of why we were victimised. We do not need reparations, and let us continue living the happy lives we have now," said Ita.

Out of the ashes, rises another kind of revenge. A revenge that demands why, that says let me live. A revenge through story.

In thinking about art as revenge, I have realised the key difference lies in the fact that I remain whole and, as an artist, am privileged with the ability to speak, while others have been both violated and silenced. What is revenge? I know that we speak to a hegemonic structure that largely remains unchanged and unchangeable—the earth might turn cold before one can expect an apology or any remorse from the perpetrators.

What is revenge?

1. Historically, it is unknown what happened to Ranmaru, other than that he perished alongside two of his younger brothers, who were both younger than 15. He might have died in battle, or committed seppuku (perhaps after assisting Oda).

2. Also, Oda is a tyrant and far from an unproblematic figure and his men are far from innocent, although that is not to say our crimes change what fates we deserve.