Taira no Kiyomori 平清盛 | |
|---|---|
 Taira no Kiyomori | |
| Born | 1118 |
| Died | March 20, 1181(1181-03-20) (aged 62–63) Heian-kyō, Japan |
| Occupation(s) | military leader,kugyō |
Taira no Kiyomori (平 清盛;Japanese pronunciation:[taꜜi.ɾano|kʲi.joꜜ.mo.ɾʲi],[1] 1118 – March 20, 1181) was a military leader andkugyō of the lateHeian period ofJapan. He established the firstsamurai-dominated administrative government in thehistory of Japan.
Kiyomori was born in Japan, in 1118 as the first son ofTaira no Tadamori. His mother, Gion no Nyogo, was wife of Tadamori and a palace servant according toThe Tale of the Heike.[citation needed]
Father:Taira no Tadamori
Mother: Gion no Nyogo (d. 1147)
Concubine(s):Taira no Tokiko
Children:
After the death of his father in 1153, Kiyomori assumed control of theTaira clan and ambitiously entered the political realm, in which he had previously only held a minor post. Before that though, in 1156, he andMinamoto no Yoshitomo, head of theMinamoto clan, suppressed the rebels in theHōgen Rebellion. This established the Taira and Minamoto as the top samurai clans inKyoto. However, this caused the allies to become bitter rivals which culminated four years later during theHeiji Rebellion in 1160. Kiyomori, emerging victorious over Yoshitomo (whose two eldest sons were killed), was now the head of the single most powerful warrior clan in imperial capitalKyoto. However, his clan's power and influence in theprovinces at this time is a matter of debate. Kiyomori showed mercy and exiled a few of Yoshitomo's surviving sons, includingYoritomo,Noriyori, andYoshitsune – a benevolence that would turn out to be the Taira clan's downfall later on.[2][3]
Due to his status as the head of the sole remaining warrior clan in imperial court, Kiyomori was in a unique position to manipulate the court rivalry between theretired emperor,Go-Shirakawa, and his son,Emperor Nijō. Because of 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 Shirakawa's patronage. This culminated in 1167, when Kiyomori became the firstcourtier of a warrior family to be appointeddaijō-daijin, chief minister of the government, and thede facto administrator of the imperial government. As was the norm, he soon relinquished the position and leadership of theTaira 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 ancient Japanese government and in doing so Kiyomori was asserting what he felt was his strong position in theKyoto government. However, many of the courtiers from traditional civil (non-warrior) noble families were less than pleased with both Kiyomori's attainment of power, and how he comported himself with regard to other high ranking courtiers.[2]: 266–267
In 1171, Kiyomori arranged a marriage between his daughterTokuko andEmperor Takakura. Their first son, the futureEmperor Antoku, was born in 1178.[2]: 268, 285 The next year, in 1179, Kiyomori staged acoup d'état 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 (house arrest) the cloisteredEmperor Go-Shirakawa. Finally, in 1180 Kiyomori forced Emperor Takakura to abdicate and give Prince Tokihito the throne, who then becameEmperor Antoku.[2]: 275, 285
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, brother ofEmperor Takakura, called on Kiyomori's old rivals of the Minamoto clan to rise against the Taira, beginning theGenpei War in the middle of 1180. Kiyomori died early the next year from sickness, leaving his sonMunemori to preside over the downfall and destruction of the Taira at the hands of the Minamoto in 1185.[2]: 278, 287
The Tale of the Heike states that as he lay dying, Kiyomori's fever was so high that anyone who attempted to even get near him would be burned by the heat.[4]
The rapid rise of certain notable figures to prominence, as well as their decline, have been popularly attributed to Dakiniten. A certain anecdote regarding the military leader Taira no Kiyomori found in theGenpei Jōsuiki (one of a number of variants of theHeike Monogatari) claims that Kiyomori once shot an arrow at a fox during a hunt. The fox then transformed into a woman who promised to grant Kiyomori whatever he wanted in exchange for her life. Kiyomori, realizing this woman is none other than the goddess Kiko Tennō (貴狐天王, lit. "Venerable FoxDeva-King", i.e. Dakiniten), spared her life. He subsequently became a devotee of the goddess, despite his awareness that the benefits obtained through the Dakiniten rite (吒天の法,Daten no hō) would not be passed on to his progeny. The story thus attributes both Kiyomori's rise in power and the subsequent fall ofhis clan to his performance of the Dakiniten ritual.[5][6][7]
Taira no Kiyomori is the main character in theKamakura period epic, theTale of Heike.
TheDaiei Film production ofKenji Mizoguchi's 1955 filmShin Heike Monogatari (variously translated asTaira Clan Saga, Tales of the Taira Clan, andThe Sacrilegious Hero) credits its story as "from the novel byYoshikawa Eiji", which in turn is a 1950 retelling of the 14th-century epicThe Tale of the Heike. The opening introduction to the film, in its English subtitles, is
Japan, in the Tenth and Eleventh centuries, was virtually controlled by theFujiwara clan. But in the Twelfth century, Fujiwara influence began to wane, partly due to the double-monarchy. An Emperor would abdicate but continue to rule from behind the scenes. Thus there was an Imperial Court and an ex-Emperor's Cloister Court, both emperors being descended from the Sun Goddess. Inevitably, there was conflict between the courts. Both began to depend on the warriors, thesamurai. Until then, Fujiwara rule had involved little bloodshed. Some monasteries also had their own armies. The monasteries used them to intimidate both courts. Big landowners paid no taxes. Piracy and banditry increased. The Cloister Court attempted to restore order using the warriors of the samurai Taira Clan. Thus were sown the seeds of military governments which dominated Japan for 700 years[i.e.,until 1868]. This story begins in 1137, in Kyoto, ancient capital of Japan.
Unlike most other tellings, Mizoguchi's film includes only the story of Taira no Kiyomori's youth, depicting him as aheroic character, particularly in breaking the power of the tyrannical armed monks and theirpalanquin shrines, where he says at his father's grave "Father, with two arrows from my bow I destroyed a superstition that gripped men for centuries. The courtiers and priests have tried to have me for blasphemy. But others have supported me, more than I expected. Some of them are lords, too. Father, a greater battle lies ahead. But I remain undaunted. No matter how I am beaten, I shall rise again". The film then ends with Kiyomori approaching an alfresco Fujiwara dance, vowing to himself, "Dance, my Lords, dance. Your end is near. Tomorrow will be ours!"[8]
Taira no Kiyomori was featured by 19th-centurywoodblock print artists as an exemplar of guilt and retribution, see the accompanying print byYoshitoshi. The famous print generally known asThe Vision of Kiyomori byUtagawa Hiroshige depicts the actorNakamura Utayemon IV in the character of Kiyomori, confronted by the horrific vision of his snow-filled garden transformed into the heaped bones and skulls of his slaughtered enemies.
In video games, Kiyomori appears inWarriors Orochi 2,3 and4 fighting for Orochi's army and using prayer beads as weapons. He also makes an appearance inDynasty Warriors Strikeforce, as a boss in one of the game's Crossover Missions. Additionally, he is the main antagonist inHarukanaru Toki no Naka De 3.
Kiyomori also features prominently as a sympathetic villain inOsamu Tezuka'sPhoenix series in the first half of the ninth volume,Turbulent Times (retitledCivil War in English), anotherGenpei 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 and protect the Taira clan and lack of confidence in his successors, but winds up being tricked into buying an importedpeacock instead.
A character named Lord Kiyomori appears in Book 6, "The Lords of the Rising Sun" in theFabled Lands adventure gamebook series, where he is portrayed as the Imperial Sovereign Takakura's chancellor, and on the verge of war with the self-proclaimed shogun by the name of "Yoritomo".
The 2012 NHKTaiga drama was about him.[9]
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