ABSTRACT
Zen Buddhism lost much of its invigorating power among the warriors, yet the school of Confucian ethics it had introduced was destined to exhibit its full power in the following period. The code of honour and the training in etiquette among the warriors, which had been started in the fourteenth century, supplied a basis for the moral life of the warrior class who became the rulers as times changed. The art of the Muromachi renaissance was primarily a result of the inspiration given by Chinese art introduced by Zen monks. Under the patronage of Yoshimasa some indigenous characteristics were given to it, but it was after all a manifestation of aestheticism monopolized by the nobility and literati. The reign of Hideyoshi as ruler of the whole country, short though it was, marked an epoch significant in many respects.
