Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Minamoto no Yoshitsune ( Japanese 源 義 経 ; * 1159 ; † June 15, 1189 ) was the youngest son of Minamoto no Yoshitomos and a direct descendant of Tsunemoto (a grandson of Seiwa Tennō ), who was the first to use the name Minamoto , in 961, his Year of death, received. He was a Japanese general and half-brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo .
Historical facts
Brief history
In 1030, an ancestor of Yoshitsune, Yorinobu, was sent out to quell a Taira revolt under Tadatsune. He also succeeded, with which he was able to make the Taira clan in the Kantō area his vassals.
The most famous Genji / Minamoto before Yoshitsune and Yoritomo were probably Yoriyoshi, who put down the revolt of the Abe between 1051 and 1062 in the so-called Early Nine Years War ( 前 九年 の 役 , Zenkunen no eki ). He was also considered a just prince and enjoyed a very high reputation among his followers. This also applied to his son Yoshiie, who had already fought with his father against the Abe and who further expanded his sphere of influence, both in terms of the country and power at court. After his death, the Minamoto's reputation gradually waned.
When the Hogen War broke out in 1156 , Yoshitsune's father, Yoshitomo, was the most important Genji general. It was said that he looked very much like his grandfather Yoshiie. He fought on the side of Taira Kiyomori , and Emperor Go-Shirakawa . After the war, he and Taira Kiyomori were the most powerful men in Japan . But since Taira Kiyomori was preferred by the emperor, Yoshitomo rebelled in 1159. In the so-called Heiji rebellion, however, he was defeated. The Genji were nearly annihilated - towards the end of the unrest, Yoshitomo was slain by a traitor and his two eldest sons were killed by the Taira. His son Yoritomo was exiled to Izu Province (now Shizuoka Prefecture ) and placed there under the supervision of the Hojo. He later allied with these through his marriage to Hojo Masako. The Heiji Rebellion left Taira Kiyomori as the most powerful man in Japan.
Youth Yoshitsunes
Few facts are known about the youth of Yoshitsune, but there are all the more legends about it.
When the Heiji rebellion was over, Yoshitsune, who at that time still bore the name Ushiwaka, was not even a year old. His mother Tokiwa tried to escape with him and his two brothers Zenjō and Gien to the Yamato province, because the Taira were looking for all of Yoshitomo's sons. However, when her mother was captured, she surrendered to the Taira. It is said that it was only because of her beauty, to which Taira Kiyomori succumbed, that she and her three sons survived. His two brothers were immediately sent to a monastery and had to become monks. When Yoshitsune was seven years old, he, too, was sent to Kurama-dera Monastery and raised to be a monk. At the age of 11 he was given the name Shanaō.
In the same year Yoshitsune accidentally discovered chronicles about the Minamoto. From them he found out who he really was. Since then, he has had only one goal - to avenge his father. He successfully refused to have his scalp hair shaved, the visible mark of a monk. Instead, he secretly began to practice sword fighting, which was not a problem in the deserted area around Kurama. In the third month of 1174, Yoshitsune fled the temple and made his way to Ōshū in northern Japan. On the way there, Yoshitsune celebrated his coming of age ceremony at the age of 14. During this ceremony he took his final name "Minamoto Kuro Yoshitsune", where Kuro means something like "Yoshitsune, ninth son of Minamoto". The Oshu territory fell to the Fujiwara , led by Fujiwara Hidehira , in the course of the "Later Three Years War" . Yoshitsune knew that he would find shelter there, as his ancestor Yoshiie and grandfather Fujiwara Hidehiras fought together in the same war. Yoshitsune stayed there from 1174 to 1180.
During these years Taira Kiyomori continued to expand his power, which the ex-emperor Go-Shirakawa disliked very much, and so it came about that on April 4, 1180 Minamoto Yorimasa, a 76 year old warrior poet living in Heian-kyō , called for rebellion against the Taira. Although this first rebellion was quickly put down, Minamoto Yoritomo heeded this call in August of the same year. When Yoshitsune heard of his brother's rebellion, he decided to join him, although Fujiwara Hidehira advised against it.
Yoshitsune in the Gempei War
Yoshitsune met his brother on October 21, 1180. The meeting took place near Kisegawa. From that point on, until his escape in late 1185, one can trace what Yoshitsune did quite closely. Since the Taira had been expelled from the area at that time, the two brothers returned to Kamakura for the next 3 years . There they secured power in the Kanto plain around what is now Tokyo and in the surrounding provinces. Meanwhile, her cousin Minamoto Yoshinaka advanced westward against the Taira. He managed to drive them out of Heian-kyō (now Kyōto ) very quickly . The Taira and the underage emperor Antoku had to flee to Yashima (today: Yurihonjō ) in July 1183 . At the end of 1183 there were three roughly equal powers in Japan: the Taira clan in the west, Minamoto Yoshinaka in the central provinces and Heian-kyō, and in the east Yoritomo and Yoshitsune.
At the end of 1183, Yoshinaka behaved so barbarically in Heian-kyō that the ex-emperor Go-Shirakawa turned to Yoritomo and asked him to drive Yoshinaka out of the capital. (John W. Hall says in the volume "The Japanese Empire" from the series Fischer's World History, however, that Yoritomo was jealous of Yoshinaka's military successes.) Thereupon Yoritomo sent his two brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori against Yoshinaka, although Yoshitsune has not yet done any Had experience as a military leader and Noriyori had no military skills.
Yoshitsune faced a victorious opponent in his first battle, and he knew that the Taira were also waiting on the other side of town, ready to take over the capital at any time. The situation was exacerbated when Yoshinaka made a non-aggression pact with the Taira. But Yoshitsune managed to divide Yoshinaka's army when his uncle Yukiie went to battle against Yoshinaka in Kawachi, and he led him to believe that he himself only had 1,000 men under his command - in truth it was probably between 3,000 and 4,000.
Yoshinaka, in turn, trusted that he could fight back Yoshitsune due to natural geography and obstacles created by his men, but the warriors from eastern Japan quickly crossed the barricaded rivers around Heian-kyō without considering losses. Yoshinaka had to withdraw and was caught and killed in Ōmi by Noriyori.
Immediately after defeating Yoshinaka, Yoshitsune and Noriyori (in Yoritomo's name) asked Go-Shirakawa for permission to attack the Taira. Immediately after getting permission, the two Genji generals went out against the Taira. The battle broke out near today's city of Kobe , where the Taira had built their two fortresses Ichi no Tami and Ikuta no Mori . The fortresses were held by about 20,000 men, compared to Yoshitsune's 2,000 to 3,000 men.
After feigning defeat against a small Taira outpost, he handed over the command of command to one of his commanders and rode with around 30 men over the mountains into the unprotected ridge of the fortresses. When the battle was in full swing, he orchestrated an attack in the rear of the Taira and set buildings and trees on fire. The Taira, caught between two enemy units and beset by the flames of their burning fortresses, fled in spite of their numbers, and Yoshitsune won a glorious victory.
After this victory, Yoshitsune returned to Heian-kyō to act as Yoritomo's deputy. At the age of 25 he was already a celebrated hero who was highly valued by the court nobility and the ex-emperor. But intrigues were already being spun against him at that time. Its originator was Kajiwara Kagetoki , who was against Yoshitsune from the start and was aiming for his position on Yoritomo's side. Shortly before the battle for Ichi no Tami, their relationship was so bad that Kagetoki was transferred to Noriyori's army.
Shortly after defeating the Taira, Kagetoki returned to Kamakura, where he turned Yoritomo against Yoshitsune, who had not served him properly and allegedly claimed all the fame for himself. So then, at Yoritomo's request, Noriyori was rewarded for his services on the battlefield, while Yoshitsune received nothing.
The ex-emperor Go-Shirakawa saw this as an opportunity to drive a wedge between the two brothers, and a few weeks later awarded Yoshitsune the appropriate ranks on his own initiative. This turned the brothers against each other, although Yoshitsune Yoritomo made it clear that there was no way he could have refused the appointment. Yoritomo then released him from his command, so that Noriyori now went into the field alone against the Taira.
Due to his incompetence, Noriyori had little success against the Taira, among other things, since he first moved against the second base under the command of Tomomori on Kyushu instead of against the main base at Yashima. By 1185, Noriyori's forces were almost worn out and demoralized, and Yoritomo decided to reinstate Yoshitsune as commander. Yoshitsune left Kyushu and Tomomori to the left and marched against Yashima, where the child emperor Antoku also had his palace.
Yashima was bordered by the sea on one side and by steep slopes on the other. Yoshitsune wanted to attack from the land side for two reasons: firstly, he estimated - apparently rightly - the fighting strength of his warriors on horseback than on foot from ships, and secondly, no one would expect an attack from the steep slopes. He crossed with 150 men and launched a surprise attack on the base near Yashima on February 19. The surprise went perfectly and Yoshitsune was able to score a quick victory over the defenders despite the Taira's vast superiority.
On February 21, the Taira withdrew from Yashima to Kyushu. When Kajiwara Kagetoki arrived the next day with the rest of the armed forces, there were no more enemies to fight, which Yoshitsune not only made friends among the samurai. Kagetoki, in particular, saw himself deprived of his chance to fight the Taira and accused Yoshitsune of claiming all the fame and praise for himself.
After a month of preparation, the Genji finally marched into the decisive naval battle of Dan-no-ura . During this time, Yoshitsune and Kagetoki clashed so hard that they almost attacked each other with swords. The battle took place on March 24th. After the tide changed, which negated the previous advantage of the Taira, Yoshitsune was able to win the battle quickly.
In this battle Emperor Antoku drowned, and with him the sword sank in the inland sea, which with the jewel and the mirror represented the three holy throne insignia of Japan. Antoku's mother and the Taira general Munemori were captured. After this battle, Yoritomo was the undisputed ruler of Japan.
Exile and death
After the victories of Yashima and Dan-no-Ura, Yoritomo probably feared that his brother Yoshitsune would become more powerful than him. These fears were fueled by Kagetoki. Both Noriyori and Yoshitsune had senior warriors on their side as advisors for their campaigns, but while Noriyori clarified every step with his adviser, Yoshitsune decided for himself and gave Kagetoki almost no say.
After Yoshitsune had triumphantly returned to Heian-kyō and married a daughter from the court aristocracy there, Yoritomo gave the order that officials of the Bakufu (shogunate, military government) should no longer obey Yoshitsune, although he was still the official representative of the Kamakura Bakufu was in the province. When Yoshitsune learned of Yoritomo's growing suspicion and anger, he sent several written oaths of loyalty to Kamakura, and when they were all negatively answered, he went there himself. However, he was denied entry and had to move into Sakai quarters. Finally, on April 24th, he wrote the famous “Koshigoe Letter” to his brother, but this last attempt also failed. Instead, he was ordered to return to Heian-kyō, which he did on June 9th. Four days later, Yoritomo took back 24 fiefdoms that he had given to Yoshitsune. On October 9, 1185, Yoritomo sentenced Yoshitsune to death, who became such a hunted man.
On October 17, Yoshitsune was attacked in Kyoto , but although outnumbered, he was able to repel the attack with the help of his uncle Yukiie. The assassins were captured and killed on October 26 in Kurama by Yoshitsune's former friars. When the Bakufu wanted to take military action against him shortly afterwards, Yoshitsune asked for governor posts in Kyushu and Shikoku for himself and Yukiie, and on November 3rd he withdrew peacefully from Kyoto. For the next two days they fought their way to Settsu to cross over there with ships, but they got caught in a storm in which more than half of their fleet sank. They were barely able to escape to the coast of Izumi.
There Yoshitsune and Yukiie separated, and while Yukiie was officially in the area for six months before he was captured and killed, Yoshitsune went into hiding the next day. When Yoritomo heard of Yoshitsune's escape and disappearance, he returned to Kamakura and did not fail to replace officials at the imperial court and in the western provinces who were loyal to Yoshitsune or who sympathized with him with his own confidants.
Despite thorough research, Yoshitsune remained undetectable for Yoritomo, only when more and more troops were looking for him at the end of 1186, Yoshitsune had to withdraw from the area around Heian-kyō. And on the run again he took the route north, to Ōshu, to his old friend Fujiwara Hidehira. And like about ten years earlier, this shelter granted him. But Yoritomo found out where Yoshitsune was and sent a message to Hidehira asking him to extradite Yoshitsune. Hidehira defied this order, and as long as Yoshitsune had Hidehira's support, Yoritomo did not dare to go to war with his brother because of his military genius. It was only after Hidehira's death in 1188 that Yoshitsune's position became uncertain.
In April 1189, Hidehira's son broke his house's allegiance to Yoshitsune. He holed himself up in his fortress and committed suicide at the moment of defeat against an overwhelming odds together with his family and a number of loyal followers. On June 13, a messenger finally came to Koshigoe and handed the head of Yoshitsune to the two heads, Wada Yoshimori and Kajiwara Kagetoki, in a black lacquered container filled with sweet sake . Allegedly none of the warriors present should have endured this sight, not even Kagetoki.
Legends and Myths
Of course, it is very easy to create a myth out of such a short but very interesting life, and it happened that way. Already during or shortly after Yoshitsune's lifetime the name Hōgan Biiki was created , which means sympathy for the underdog . Hōgan because Yoshitsune's full name was Minamoto Kurō Hōgan Yoshitsune, Hōgan is a title he had received after the liberation of Kyōtō. This Hōgan Biiki was primarily responsible for the fact that Yoshitsune's story continued to develop into a legend and ultimately into a myth. Especially during the Muromachi period , when the legend of Yoshitsune began to develop, great importance was attached to the national, old, Japanese values, and these were adopted without reservation, which of course helped Yoshitsune's reputation. The story was interpreted by the writers of this time in all literary forms, in war stories such as the Taiheiki , in the Nō-Theater , in the Kōwakamai (dance theater) and in Otogi Zōshi / Chūsei Shōsetsu the short stories. Even if little new was created during this time, the old stories were finally written down and passed on to posterity.
The legend of Yoshitsune can be divided into two main types. The first, smaller, consists of six stories telling of Yoshitsune's actions during his time as Genji general. All of these stories appear in Heike Monogatari and Gempei Seisuiki . The sources are relatively reliable and probably come from the Kamakura period . Part of it is particularly interesting as it sheds a light on Yoshitsune's character. In them he is described as a military genius, as a warrior, daring and fearless, but also as a typical young man with equally typical strengths and weaknesses. He was loyal, friendly and accommodating to his friends, he valued social ties, but he could also be arrogant, tactless and hot-headed.
The second, much more extensive, type of Yoshitsune story originated in the Muromachi period. Although many stories were written during the Edo period , they are of little importance in terms of content. The stories from the Muromachi period have to be divided into two categories. The first, called the “Ushiwaka group,” covers the period from Yoshitsune's childhood to his meeting with Yoritomo. The second is about Yoshitsune's experiences after the final break with his half-brother.
Yoshitsune is described differently in the two categories. In the "Ushiwaka" stories he is described both with the typical traits of a court aristocrat (playing the flute, an all-over beauty, seduction of countless young women, etc.), as well as with the classic warrior qualities such as courage, skill, strength and Assertiveness, despite his youth. These qualities were also necessary to explain his later military successes.
Just as unique as the warlike qualities in the "Ushiwaka group" are the Shinto spirits and demons, from whom the young Yoshitsune is said to have learned to use the sword or how to lead an army. Some of these spirits also allegedly promised him to protect him for life. These supernatural teachers tried to explain Yoshitsune's outstanding swordsmanship and his military genius. Likewise, Yoshitsune alone is the determining character in these stories.
In the second group the warlike qualities are completely abandoned. So Yoshitsune is only described in them as the typical aristocrat at the court of the Heian period , because after the battle of Dan-no-Ura he was no longer involved in any important fights. Likewise, the ghosts from the stories about Yoshitsune's youth are missing. In the stories about his escape he only takes on a passive role, while his allies hold the strings in their hands. This development is probably due to the fact that in the Muromachi period the court nobility of the Heian period was still considered the cultural ideal, and this unworldly cultural splendor stood in stark contrast to the here and now oriented philosophy of the sword nobility. This characterization of Yoshitsune as a typical court nobleman of the Heian period places him above the other warriors of his time.
An attempt was made to summarize the legends about Yoshitsune completely in a book of the same name. But Yoshitsune is also reported in the Heike Monogatari and the Soga Monogatari . Of approx. 240 Nō pieces, 50–60 go back to heroic stories, to Yoshitsune alone approx. 30. Of a total of 44 Kōwakanomai alone, 14 deal only with Yoshitsune. Short stories have been written on almost every subject. Of the 16 who tell of heroes of Japanese history, 8 are about Yoshitsune. In 2005, Japanese television also broadcast a so-called Taiga- Dorama with a total of 49 episodes that was entitled "Yoshitsune". In this series, with a huge cast of Japanese media celebrities, the life of Kuro Yoshitsune was staged, and became a huge ratings hit.
The figures mentioned make it clear how important the tragic figure of Minamoto Kurō Hōgan Yoshitsune was and is for Japanese history, culture and literature.
Shinto
Yoshitsune is venerated as a kami in at least five Shinto shrines : in Yoshitsune-sha in Hiratori-mura on Hokkaidō , in Yorohi Shrine (Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture ), in Nonami Shrine ( Saga , Saga Prefecture), in Kumano Shrine ( Yamamato-gun, Akita Prefecture ) and in Shirahata Shrine ( Fujisawa , Kanagawa Prefecture), where his head is said to be buried. He is also venerated in Hokkaidō by Ainu under the name Gikyō-dai-myōjin.
literature
- Ivan Morris: Samurai or From the Dignity of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan , Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig 1999, pp. 90–135
Web links
- Minamoto Yoshitsune in Enciclopedia Británica.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Minamoto no Yoshitsune |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 源 義 経 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1159 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 15, 1189 |