Liubeibei wrote:Well this is gonna disappoint you then :3
According to the JP wiki on Hidetada:
First wife: Ohime (¬•P), Oda Nobukatsu (D“cM—Y)'s eldest daughter, later adopted by Hideyoshi, married Hidetada (age 12) in year 1590. She was said to be 6 years old at the time. Soon after, they divorced because Hideyoshi and Nobukatsu didn't get along well. She died in 1591. No children between them, of course.
Second wife: Gou (]), who gave birth to 2 sons and 5 girls, including eldest daughter Senhime (ç•P), second son Iemitsu (‰ÆŒõ), and third son Tadanaga (’‰’·).
Concubine: Shizuka (Ã), who gave birth to Hidetada's 4th son, Hoshina (because he was later adopted by the Hoshina clan) Masayuki (•Û‰È³”V).
Unnamed servent (?) girl: gave birth to Hidetada's eldest son Chomaru (’·ŠÛ), who was said to be killed by Gou o.O at 9 months of age.
Thank you,
Liubeibei! That's Japanese WIKI's version, now let me share informations I got from this Japanese historical book I just bought in Kinokuniya^^
Ogou to Tokugawa Hidetada ~101 no Nazo~ by Kawaguchi Sunao.
According to this book, for Hidetada, Gou is his first wife. With Ohime, Nobukatsu's daughter, they were only engaged but didn't get the chance to get married. So, Ohime was only Hidetada's fiancee (probably coz they were still very young).
Before I continue, let's define "concubine". Before I became a taiga fangirl, I always thought "concubine" can be considered as a second wife. But then, apparently they never had any wedding ceremonies, so I realized "concubine" can't be considered as "wife".
After watching many taiga dramas, I started to understand that as long as the married lord sleep together with another woman, then keep them in the castle, the woman would automatically become "concubine", with or without child. That's my understanding of "concubine". Seem like in this era, having a "concubine" doesn't mean the man committed an affair.
But how about those women who did a one-nighter with a married man, but they never see each other again? Is that called a "concubine"? In "Toshiie to Matsu", Toshiie slept with another woman, but she was definitely not considered as a "concubine", and Toshiie admitted that he had an affair and apologized to his wife. In "Komyo ga Tsuji", Yamauchi Kazutoyo did the same thing, he had an affair and the woman is not considered as "concubine". Or, does "concubine" only applies for feudal lords (daimyou) and not for vassals/retainers-level?
The reason I'm elaborating this, is because Hidetada never kept any "extra woman" at all in the castle. He slept with those women, yes, but due to his fear to Gou, he never kept those women in the castle, and he never openly admit that they are his concubines. He did all the deeds secretly from Gou. Really equal to what we call "having an affair" in the modern days.
As Liubeibei mentioned, Hidetada had children from other 2 women. According to the "Ogou to Tokugawa Hidetada ~101 no Nazo~", Hidetada's first son, Chomaru's mother was thought to be Gou, in the beginning. But tracing back to the birth year, it was impossible because Chomaru's birth year was the same as Katsu-hime's birth year, Gou and Hidetada's third daughter. That's why, it is speculated by the historians, that Chomaru is Hidetada's child from another woman. (although if I were a historian, I would investigate more on the birth years of Chomaru and Katsu-hime, because there might still be chances that their birth years are wrong and that Chomaru could really be Gou's child! =P) And yes, Chomaru died in 9 months of age.
After the birth of Gou and Hidetada's second son, Tadanaga, Hidetada had an affair with the palace maid, Shizu. When she gave birth to a baby boy, Hidetada immediately sent her and the baby away far from Edo, and kept it a secret from Gou. Hidetada asked Takeda Shingen's daughter to take care of Shizu and his baby at her home.
Only after Gou passed away, that Hidetada called this child, Hoshina Masayuki, back to Edo castle. The third shogun, Iemitsu, Hoshina's half-brother gets along very well with Hoshina. (while seem like Iemitsu hates his birth brother, Tadanaga, to the core)
Later, Hoshina Masayuki became one of the most trusted retainer for his nephew, the 4th shogun, Ietsuna.
There had been so many speculations of why Hidetada had to sent Shizu and his child away. One of the speculation said, that Gou killed Chomaru. And so Hidetada was afraid that Gou would kill this child too. This speculation was the root of another "legend" that Gou is an overly-jealous and evil woman. She didn't want to let any woman give birth to Hidetada's son, before she herself give birth to the successor.
But most of historians would deny this legend/theory, because there were also other anecdotes which shows that Gou is actually a kind(yasashii) mother/wife, like when she decided to accompany her 5 years old daughter, Sen-hime, all the way to Osaka, to be wedded to Toyotomi Hideyori, Chacha's son.
Most of all, many historians speculated that Hidetada won't have 7 childrens with Gou, if she's a scary woman, as the one theory says. In fact, this book I'm reading "101 no Nazo", mentioned a few times how Hidetada spent most of his life loving just one woman, his wife, Gou... unlike his father, Ieyasu, who loved his concubines more than his wife.
So... does the 2 women Hidetada slept with, can be considered as "concubine"? I would say, no... because Hidetada didn't keep them in the castle. He had an affair twice. That's my conclusion^^ And with all the historical facts saying that Hidetada is a very sober and honest man, and naturally kind. I choose to believe that he really loves Gou, sincerely. And the reason why he sent Shizu and the baby away, was just out of respect for his wife, Gou^^
("AOI-Tokugawa Sandai" told the story even much better! That Hidetada had affairs simply because his father, and his vassals, told him too. And kept saying "Lord, if you don't take a concubine, people will think you have some kind of illness!", LOL.)
Oh, the "101 no Nazo" book, also says that Tokugawa Iemitsu MIGHT NOT be Gou's child. There are several theories about Iemitsu's birth parents. Some says, he's the son of Ieyasu and Kasuga-no-Tsubone. Some says, he's the son of Hidetada and Kasuga-no-Tsubone. Wow! XD
Taihen desu ne... so many blanks to fill in the history^^
Sorry for the long explanation (essay?)! :bow: I'm a big fan of Gou-Hidetada couple (the real people AND the TV adaptations), hehe :victory:
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