Hogen rebellion
| date | July 28 to August 16, 1156 |
|---|---|
| place | Kyoto , Japan |
| output | Victory for Emperor Go-Shirakawa Establishment of the rivalry between the Minamoto and Taira |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Armed forces of the Emperor Go-Shirakawa |
Armed forces of the abdicated emperor Sutoku |
| Commander | |
|
Fujiwara no Tadamichi |
Fujiwara no Yorinaga |
| Troop strength | |
| unknown | unknown, including 600 mounted men |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The Hōgen Rebellion ( Japanese 保 元 の 乱 Hōgen no ran ) was a brief civil war that took place in Japan in the summer of 1156 during the Heian period . He was led to the Tennō succession and control of the Fujiwara family over the reign. However, one of their results was the dominance of the samurai clans over the imperial family and the establishment of a samurai-led government for the first time in Japanese history .
The noun Hōgen refers to a Nengō in the Japanese calendar . It comes after Kyūju and before Heiji . Thus, the Hōgen rebellion took place during the Hōgen era, which covers the period from April 1156 to April 1159.
causes
A smoldering power struggle at the imperial court in 1155 focused on three people. After the abdication of the former emperors Toba and Sutoku , both intended to continue to exercise influence over the affairs of state during the reign of Emperor Konoe (this system is called Insei ). However, when the young Konoe died on August 22, 1155, the dynamics of the warring factions changed. Contemporary scholars believe that the line of succession passed to a younger brother, the fourth son of the former emperor Toba. Shortly thereafter, Go-Shirakawa is said to have ascended the throne.
With the accession to the throne began a new phase of this multi-faceted power struggle. A bitter argument between two of Toba's sons was accompanied by divisions within the various Kuge families. Toba had forced one of his sons to abdicate in favor of the son of another wife; after 1142, the former emperor Sutoku had the expectation that his son would succeed the emperor Konoe to the throne. His hopes were dashed with the upliftment of another brother, Go-Shirakawa. On July 20, 1156, the former emperor Toba also died. As a result, forces loyal to the ruling Emperor Go-Shirakawa and the allies of the abdicated Emperor Sutoku fought over Go-Shirakawa's accession to the throne and the continuation of his rule.
course
Fujiwara no Tadamichi , the first son of the regent Fujiwara no Tadazane , sided with Go-Shirakawa, while his younger brother Fujiwara no Yorinaga sided with Sutoku. Both parties in turn sought military support from the Minamoto and Taira clans . Minamoto no Tameyoshi , head of the Minamoto, and Taira no Tadamasa professed Sutoku and Yorinaga. Minamoto no Yoshitomo , the eldest son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi and Taira no Kiyomori , the head of the Taira and nephew of Taira no Tadamasa, made a pact with Go-Shirakawa and Tadamichi.
On July 28, the two sides faced each other in Kyoto . On the Sutoku side, Minamoto no Tametomo (son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi and younger brother of Yoshitomo) proposed a night attack on the enemy palace, but Fujiwara no Yorinaga refused. Meanwhile, their enemy Minamoto no Yoshitomo suggested the same thing and put the strategy into practice. On the night of July 29th, Kiyomori and Yoshitomo led 600 mounted men and attacked Sutoku during the siege of Shirakawa-den. Kiyomori attacked the west gate, which was defended by Tametomo. Tametomo repelled Kiyomori's force with his excellent archery units. Then Yoshitomo attacked Tametomo, but he too was repulsed. Sutoku's samurai stubbornly defended themselves and the fierce fighting continued. Yoshitomo finally suggested setting fire to the palace. This advice was followed and Sutoku's samurai - unable to fight the flames and Go-Shirakawa's forces at the same time - fled.
consequences
The armed forces of the ruling Emperor Go-Shirakawa then defeated those of the former Emperor Sutoku. This paved the way for Go-Shirakawa. He became the new regent in 1158 in monastic exile and should continue to exercise unrestricted power during the reign of five emperors ( Nijō , Rokujō , Takakura , Antoku and Go-Toba ). His influence did not end until his death in 1192. Sutoku was exiled to Shikoku in Sanuki Province , Fujiwara no Yorinaga was killed in battle, Minamoto no Tameyoshi and Taira no Tadamasa were executed. Tametomo survived the battlefield and was forced to flee. Minamoto no Yoshitomo became head of the Minamoto after the death of his father and, together with Taira no Kiyomori, established these two samurai families as significant new political forces in Kyoto.
The result of the Hōgen rebellion and the resulting rivalry between the two clans led to the Heiji rebellion of 1159. Hōgen Monogatari , an epic from the Kamakura period , is about the exploits of the samurai who took part in the rebellion. Together with Heiji Monogatari and Heike Monogatari , this work describes the rise and fall of the Minamoto and Taira families.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Louis Frédéric : Heiji . In: Japan Encyclopedia . Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2002, ISBN 0-674-00770-0 , pp. 339 .
- ↑ Isaac Titsingh : Nihon Odai Ichiran (ou Annales des Empereurs du Japon) . Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London 1834, OCLC 5850691 , p. 189 ( google.ch ).
- ↑ Delmer M. Brown, Ichirō Ishida: Gukanshō: The Future and the Past . University of California Press, Berkeley 1979, ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0 , pp. 326 .
- ↑ Donald Keene : Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century . Columbia University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7 , pp. 616 .
- ↑ Hiroshi Kitagawa, Bruce T. Tsuchida: The Tale of the Heike . Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppan-kai, Bunkyō 1975, OCLC 262297615 , p. 783 .
- ↑ a b Stephen Turnbull: The Samurai, A Military History . MacMillan, London 1977, ISBN 0-02-620540-8 , pp. 34-37 .
- ↑ George Sansom: A History of Japan to 1334 . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1958, ISBN 0-8047-0523-2 , pp. 256 .