Heiji rebellion
Night attack on the palace of Sanjō
(detail from a scroll painting)
| date | January 19 to February 5, 1160 |
|---|---|
| place | Kyoto and the surrounding area ( Japan ) |
| output | Victory of the Taira, banishment of the Minamoto leaders |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Taira Clan |
Minamoto clan |
| Commander | |
|
Minamoto no Yoshitomo |
|
| Troop strength | |
| a few thousand | a few thousand |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The Heiji Rebellion ( Japanese 平 治 の 乱 Heiji no ran ) was a brief civil war that took place in Japan at the beginning of 1160 during the Heian period . It was a military conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans over political control at the court of Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had retired to the monastery . The Heiji Rebellion is viewed as a direct result of the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156; but unlike the earlier conflict, which was a dispute between members of the same clan, this was more of a power struggle between two rival clans. It is also seen as the forerunner of a wider civil war, the Gempei War from 1180 to 1185.
The noun Heiji refers to a Nengō in the Japanese calendar . It comes after Hogen and above Eiryaku . Thus, the Heiji Rebellion took place during the Heiji Era, which spanned the period from April 1159 to January 1160.
causes
After the Hōgen rebellion, the most powerful samurai families, the Taira and the Minamoto , exerted a great influence on the imperial court . Relations between the clans quickly deteriorated. The Taira, who saw the growing power of the Minamoto with unrest, approached the Emperor Go-Shirakawa . He withdrew to a monastery on September 5, 1158 and abdicated. After the formal enthronement of his son Nijō , the administration of all affairs remained entirely in the hands of Go-Shirakawa (this system of government is called Insei ).
At the end of 1159, Taira no Kiyomori , head of the Taira clan and supporter of Emperor Nijō, left the capital Kyoto with his family to go on a pilgrimage. This provided the perfect opportunity for his enemies, Fujiwara no Nobuyori and the Minamoto clan, to start a riot. The beginning of the Heiji Rebellion is dated January 19, 1160.
course
During the siege of the Sanjō Palace , Nobuyori and his Minamoto allies kidnapped the abdicated Emperor Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Emperor Nijō, and they also set the palace on fire. Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Fujiwara no Nobuyori placed the two emperors under house arrest and killed his henchman, the scholar Fujiwara no Michinori . Nobuyori had himself declared imperial chancellor and began to put his plans for political power into practice. However, the Minamoto did not plan well enough militarily and were not prepared to defend the city against Kiyomori. After his return the Minamoto took no decisive action and hesitated. Kiyomori made some peace proposals to Nobuyori, but it was a ruse. After he had so seduced Nobuyori to carelessness, it enabled Kijomori that Nijō and Go-Shirakawa could escape to his side.
In return, Kiyomori received a financial contribution from the emperor for the attack on Yoshitomo and Nobuyori. Taira no Shigemori (Kiyomori's eldest son) commanded 3,000 cavalrymen and attacked the imperial palace where Yoshitomo and Nobuyori were holed up. Nobuyori fled, but Minamoto no Yoshihira (Yoshitomo's eldest son) defended himself and a fierce battle resulted. Yoshihira fought hard and pursued Shigemori on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. The Taira troops then withdrew and the Minamoto left the Imperial Palace to pursue them. The escape was only faked, however, because meanwhile a detachment of Taira troops occupied the palace. The Minamoto's forces were now cut off from retreat. They attacked a Kiyomori base near Rokuhara. Another violent battle broke out, at the end of which the Minamoto began a disorderly retreat.
consequences
Taira no Kiyomori won the war. Yoshitomo was betrayed and murdered by a henchman while fleeing Kyōto in Owari Province . Yoshitomo's two sons, Minamoto no Tomonaga and Minamoto no Yoshihira, were also killed. Three other sons, namely Yoritomo (then only 13 years old and future founder of the Kamakura shogunate ), Noriyori and Yoshitsune were spared. Thereafter, Taira no Kiyomori banished Yoshitomo's son Yoritomo, confiscated property and land from the Minamoto, and formed the first samurai- dominated government under the leadership of the Taira in Japanese history . The rivalry between the Minamoto and Taira clans was exacerbated by the Heiji rebellion. This led to the Gempei War , which ended with the decisive defeat of the Taira in the sea battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185.
The epic Heiji Monogatari , written during the Kamakura period , is about the exploits of the samurai who took part in the Heiji rebellion. Together with the Hōgen Monogatari and the Heike Monogatari , it describes the rise and fall of the Minamoto and Taira clans.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Louis Frédéric : Heiji . In: Japan Encyclopedia . Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2002, ISBN 0-674-00770-0 , pp. 304 .
- ↑ Delmer M. Brown, Ichirō Ishida: Gukanshō: The Future and the Past . University of California Press, Berkeley 1979, ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0 , pp. 327 .
- ↑ Isaac Titsingh : Nihon Odai Ichiran (ou Annales des Empereurs du Japon) . Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London 1834, OCLC 5850691 , p. 191 ( google.ch ).
- ↑ Hiroshi Kitagawa, Bruce T. Tsuchida: The Tale of the Heike . Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppan-kai, Bunkyō 1975, OCLC 262297615 , p. 783 .
- ↑ Stephen Turnbull: The Samurai Sourcebook . Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppan-kai, London 1998, ISBN 978-1-85409-523-7 , pp. 200 .
- ↑ a b Stephen Turnbull: The Samurai, A Military History . MacMillan, London 1977, ISBN 0-02-620540-8 , pp. 37-40 .
- ↑ a b George Sansom: A History of Japan to 1334 . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1958, ISBN 0-8047-0523-2 , pp. 256-258 .