Taira no Kiyomori

Taira No Kiyomori

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Taira no Kiyomori

was a general of the late Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical History of Japan, running from 794 to 1185. It is the period in Japanese history when Confucianism and other Chinese culture were at their height....
of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
. He established the first samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial society Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character ? was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau....
-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan

History of Japan

The written history of Japan begins with brief references of Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts, in the 1st century AD....
.

After the death of his father Taira no Tadamori

Taira no Tadamori

Taira no Tadamori was a Taira clan samurai, father of Taira no Kiyomori, and member of the Kebiishi . He was also governor of the provinces of Harima province, Ise province, Bizen province, and Tajima province....
in 1153, Kiyomori assumed control of the Taira clan and ambitiously entered the political realm in which he had previously only held a minor post.

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was a general of the late Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical History of Japan, running from 794 to 1185. It is the period in Japanese history when Confucianism and other Chinese culture were at their height....
of Japan

Japan

Samurai

History of Japan

Taira no Tadamori

Minamoto no Yoshitomo

was the head of the Minamoto clan and a general of the late Heian period of History of Japan. His son Minamoto no Yoritomo became shogun and founded the Kamakura Shogunate, the first shogunate in the history of Japan....
, head of the Minamoto clan, suppressed the Hogen Rebellion

Hogen Rebellion

The Hogen Rebellion was a Japanese civil war fought in 1156 over Emperors of Japan succession and control of the Fujiwara Regents clan of regents....
. This established the Taira and Minamoto samurai clans as the top warrior clans in Kyoto

Kyoto

Sorry, no overview for this topic
. However, their new strength in effect caused the allies to become bitter rivals which culminated three years later during the Heiji Rebellion

Heiji Rebellion

The was fought between rival subjects of the Cloistered rule Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan in 1159. It was preceded by the Hogen Rebellion in 1156. In many ways, this struggle is seen as a direct outcome of that earlier armed dispute....
in 1159. Kiyomori, emerging victorious with Yoshitomo and his two eldest killed, was now the head of the single most powerful warrior family/clan in Kyoto. However, his clan's power and influence in the provinces at this time is a matter of debate. Kiyomori showed mercy and exiled a few of Yoshitomo's sons, including Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoritomo

was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199....
, Noriyori

Minamoto no Noriyori

was a late Heian period period general, who fought alongside his brothers Minamoto no Yoritomo and Minamoto no Yoshitsune at a number of battles of the Genpei War....
, and Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo....
– a benevolence that would turn out to be the Taira clan's downfall later on.

Due to his status as the head of the sole remaining courtier/warrior clan, Kiyomori was in a unique position to manipulate the court rivalry between the retired sovereign Go-Shirakawa and his son, Nijo tenno (tenno - sovereign). Via this manipulation, Kiyomori was able to climb the ranks of government, though the majority of his promotions as well as the success of his family in gaining ranks and titles at court was due to the patronage of the retired sovereign Go-Shirakawa. This culminated in 1167, when Kiyomori became the first courtier of a warrior family to be appointed Daijo Daijin, chief minister of the government, and the de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
administrator of the imperial government. As was the norm, he soon relinquished the position and leadership of the Taira clan, with the goal of maintaining the social and political prestige of having attained the highest office in the land, but being free of the attendant duties. This had been a common practice for many years in the highest levels of Japanese government and in doing so Kiyomori was asserting what he felt was his strong position in the Kyoto government. However, many of the courtiers from traditional (non-warrior noble families) were less than pleased with both Kiyomori's attainment of the rank of Daijo-daijin and how he comported himself with regard to other high ranking courtiers.

In 1171, Kiyomori arranged a marriage between the Emperor Takakura

Emperor Takakura

Emperor Takakura was the 80th Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1168 through 1180....
and his daughter Taira no Tokuko

Taira no Tokuko

For the asteroid, see 5242 Kenreimonin , later known as , was the last Heike Imperial survivor from the modest vessel carrying the emperor in the great naval battle of Dan-no-ura....
. Their first son, Prince Tokihito was born in 1178. The next year, in 1179, Kiyomori staged a coup d'etat

Coup d'état

A coup d??tat , often simply called a coup, is the sudden unconstitutional overthrow of a government by a part of the state establishment – usually the military – to replace the branch of the stricken government, either with another civil government or with a military government....
forcing the resignation of his rivals from all government posts and subsequently banishing them. He then filled the open government positions with his allies and relatives, and imprisoned the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa

Emperor Go-Shirakawa

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158....
. Finally, in 1180 Kiyomori forced the emperor Takakura to abdicate and give Prince Tokuhito the throne, becoming the Emperor Antoku

Emperor Antoku

Emperor Antoku was the 81st Emperor of Japan of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1180 through 1185....
.

With the exertion of Taira power and wealth and Kiyomori's new monopoly on authority, many of his allies, most of the provincial samurai, and even members of his own clan turned against him. Prince Mochihito

Prince Mochihito

, also known as the 'Takakura Prince', and as 'Minamoto Mochimitsu', was a son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. He is noted for his role in starting the Genpei War....
, brother of Emperor Takakura, called on Kiyomori's old rivals of the Minamoto clan to rise against the Taira beginning the Genpei War

Genpei War

The was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clan clans and in late-Heian period Japan. It resulted in the fall of the Taira clan and establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto Yoritomo in 1192....
in the middle of 1180. Kiyomori died early in the next year from sickness, leaving his son Munemori to preside over the downfall and destruction of the Taira at the hands of the Minamoto in 1185. Legend has it that at the time of his death, Kiyomori's fever was so high that anyone who attempted to even get near him would be burned by the heat & his corpse had to be left to cool for several hours before it could be removed.

Taira no Kiyomori is also the main character in the Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of History of Japan that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
epic, the Tale of Heike.

In video games, Kiyomori appears in Warriors Orochi: Rebirth of the Demon Lord fighting for Orochi's army and using prayer beads as weapons.

Kiyomori also features prominently as a sympathetic villain in Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka

was a Japanese people Mangaka, animator, movie producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion....
's Phoenix series

Phoenix (manga)

is a manga series by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era....
in the first half of the ninth volume, Turbulent Times (retitled as Civil War in English), another Genpei War epic. Like most villains in the series he desires the titular bird for its immortality granting blood, due to his desire to continue to lead & protect the Taira clan & lack of confidence in his successors, but winds up being tricked into buying an imported Peacock instead.

Taira no Kiyomori

See also