Re: Yee-Yee-Oh!: Mori (Legendary, Domination)
Chapter 1. Lesson of three arrows
Long time ago... about the time when the Spanish conquistadors destroyed the Inca empire and Jean Calvin advocated Protestant Reformation, there was a clan lord in Japanese. His family name is Mori. His given name is Motonari.
Mori Motonari's clan, the Mori clan, was weak. They were surrounded by two powerful neighbors, the Amako clan, and the Ouchi clan, who rivaled each other. Mori Motonari had to play smart in order to survive between these two rivalry clans. In essence, his clan had to become a vassal of Amako or Ouchi, depending on who granted them better protection.
Now Motonari was getting old, and he had to worry about what would happen when he eventually pass away. Motonari had three promising sons (actually in history Mori Motonari eventually had 9 sonsBut at the time of the story he only had 3.).
The oldest son, the heir of the Mori clan, Takamoto, was a very kind man. Motonari worried that he did not have the heart to perform cruel but necessary actions, such as cutting down enemies' heads, ordering his family members to commit Seppoku (cut their belly open and pick their intestine out) for committing dishonorable deeds, etc.
The second son, Motoharu, was regarded as one of the future greatest generals of Japan. He knew tactics; he was brave; and he knew how to win soldiers' heart. But Motonari knew military alone cannot make a clan survive. Military action was only directed by diplomacy and grand strategy. A wise clan lord would only fight battles he could win. (Note: Motoharu was adopted into the Kikkawa clan so he could become the heir of Kikkawa. This essentially incorporate Kikkawa into Mori like a parent-subsidiary company.)
The third son, Takakage, was one of the brightest man of Japan. He was smart; he knew strategy; he was calm; he always planned severa steps ahead. Takakage would complement Motoharu, so the Mori clan would prosper under sound strategy and brilliant tactics. (Note: Takakage was adopted into the Kobayagawa clan to incorporate them into Mori.)
Worried that Takamoto one day would not gain enough support from his two great younger brothers, Mori Motonari gathered all three one day, and was ready to give them a lesson. This lesson later became worldly famous as the "Lesson of Three Arrows".
You must have heard of the story when you were little, but the characters are of course replaced with easier-to-understand folks like an old farmer or some random landlord. And the subject is changed from arrows to chopsticks or just some random branch from the trees.
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