| Minamoto Clan | |
|---|---|
 The emblem (mon) of the Minamoto clan (three Japanese gentian flowers on five bamboo leaves) | |
|
Other Names |
Minamoto, Genji ("Minamoto clan"), Genke ("House of Minamoto") |
|
Founding Year |
May, 814 |
|
Founder |
Minamoto no Makoto (first recorded ) |
Origin[]
Minamoto was a noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility since 814. Several noble lines were bestowed the surname, the most notable of which was the Seiwa Genji, whose descendants established the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates following the Heian era. The Minamoto was one of the four great clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period in Japanese history—the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana.
In the late Heian period, Minamoto rivalry with the Taira culminated in the Genpei War (1180–1185). The Minamoto emerged victorious and established Japan's first shogunate in Kamakura under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself as shōgun in 1192, ushering in the Kamakura period (1192–1333) of Japanese history. The name "Genpei" comes from alternate readings of the kanji "Minamoto" (源 Gen) and "Taira" (平 Hei).
The Kamakura Shogunate was overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo in the Kenmu Restoration of 1333. Three years later the Kenmu government would then itself be overthrown by the Ashikaga clan, descendants of the Seiwa Genji who established the Ashikaga shogunate (1333 to 1573).
The Minamoto clan is also called the Genji (源氏, "Minamoto clan"), or less frequently, the Genke (源家, "House of Minamoto"), using the on'yomi readings of gen (源) for "Minamoto", while shi or ji (氏) means "clan", and ke (家) is used as a suffix for "extended family". # The Emperors of Japan bestowed noble surnames upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility. In May 814, the first emperor to grant the surname "Minamoto" was Emperor Saga, to his seventh son—Minamoto no Makoto, in Heian-Kyō (modern Kyōto). The practice was most prevalent during the Heian period (794–1185), although its last occurrence was during the Sengoku period. The Taira were another such offshoot of the imperial dynasty, making both clans distant relatives.
The most prominent of the several Minamoto families, the Seiwa Genji, descended from Minamoto no Tsunemoto, a grandson of Emperor Seiwa. Tsunemoto went to the provinces and became the founder of a major warrior dynasty. Minamoto no Mitsunaka formed an alliance with the Fujiwara. Thereafter the Fujiwara frequently called upon the Minamoto to restore order in the capital, Heian-Kyō (modern Kyōto). Mitsunaka's eldest son, Minamoto no Yorimitsu, became the protégé of Fujiwara no Michinaga; another son, Minamoto no Yorinobu suppressed the rebellion of Taira no Tadatsune in 1032. Yorinobu's son, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, and grandson, Minamoto no Yoshiie, pacified most of northeastern Japan between 1051 and 1087.
The Seiwa Genji's fortunes declined in the Hōgen Rebellion (1156), when the Taira executed most of the line, including Minamoto no Tameyoshi. During the Heiji Disturbance (1160), the head of the Seiwa Genji, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, died in battle. Taira no Kiyomori seized power in Kyoto by forging an alliance with the retired emperors Go-Shirakawa and Toba and infiltrating the kuge. He sent Minamoto no Yoritomo, the third son of Minamoto no Yoshimoto of the Seiwa Genji, into exile. In 1180, during the Genpei War, Yoritomo mounted a full-scale rebellion against the Taira rule, culminating in the destruction of the Taira and the subjugation of eastern Japan within five years. In 1192, he received the title shōgun and set up the first bakufu in the history of Japan at Kamakura—Kamakura shogunate.
The later Ashikaga (founders of the Ashikaga shogunate of Muromachi period), Nitta, Takeda, and Tokugawa (founders of the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period) clans claim descents from the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji branch).
Even within royalty there was a distinction between princes with the title shinnō (親王), who could ascend to the throne, and princes with the title ō (王), who were not members of the line of imperial succession but nevertheless remained members of the royal class (and therefore outranked members of Minamoto clans). The bestowing of the Minamoto name on a (theretofore-)prince or his descendants excluded them from the royal class altogether, thereby operating as a reduction in legal and social rank even for ō-princes not previously in the line of succession.
Many later clans were formed by members of the Minamoto clan, and in many early cases, progenitors of these clans are known by either family name. There are also known monks of Minamoto descent; these are often noted in genealogies but did not carry the clan name (in favour of a dharma name).
The Minamoto is the ancestor and parent clan of many notable descendant clans, some of which are Ashikaga, Tokugawa, Matsudaira, Nitta, Takeda, Shimazu, Sasaki, Akamatsu, Kitabatake, Tada, Ota, Toki, Yamana, Satomi, Hosokawa, Satake, Yamamoto, Hemi, Ogasawara, Yasuda, Takenouchi, Hiraga, Imagawa, Miyake, etc.
There were 21 branches of the clan, each named after the emperor from whom it descended. Some of these lineages were populous, but a few did not produce descendants.
Important Minamoto Members[]
- Minamoto no Tameyoshi (1096-1156) - Minamoto no Tameyoshi was the head of the clan in the mid-12th century. In the 1156 Hogen Disturbance the retired emperor Sutoku was supported by Tameyoshi and some factions of the equally powerful Fujiwara clan led by Yorinaga. Meanwhile, the then emperor Go-Shirakawa was supported by Tameyoshi's eldest son, Yoshitomo, who joined with the Taira and other members of the Fujiwara, led by Tadamichi, Yorinaga's brother. The Go-Shirakawa side, with help from the military commander Taira no Kiyomori, quashed the rebellion, and Tameyoshi was executed along with a large number of Minamoto warriors.
- Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1123-1160) - Minamoto no Yoshitomo was the eldest son of Minamoto no Tameyoshi. He sided with Taira no Kiyomori and opposed his father during the Hogen Disturbance. Yoshitomo then became jealous of the rewards and prestige won by Taira no Kiyomori following his success in defeating Tameyoshi and so seized the throne in 1159 while his rival was away from court. This sparked the 1160 Heiji Disturbance when Taira no Kiyomori swiftly returned to restore order and Yoshitomo was killed.
- Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147-1199) - Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan. He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (shikken) after his death. Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After successfully maneuvering himself to the position of rightful heir of the Minamoto clan, he led his clan against the Taira from his capital in Kamakura, beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of civil war, the Minamoto clan finally defeated the Taira in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo established the supremacy of the samurai caste and the first shogunate (bakufu) which was to be centered around Kamakura, thus beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the 17th century.
- Minamoto no Yoshinaka (1154-1184) - Minamoto no Yoshinaka, also known as Kiso Yoshinaka, was a Japanese samurai lord mentioned in the epic poem The Tale of the Heike. A member of the Minamoto clan, he was a cousin and rival of shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans in the late Heian period.
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189) - Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo consolidate power. He is considered one of the greatest and the most popular warriors of his era, and one of the most famous samurai in the history of Japan. Yoshitsune perished after being betrayed by the son of a trusted ally and was labelled as a tragic hero.
- Minamoto no Yorie (1182-1204) - Minamoto no Yorie was the eldest son of Yoritomo who succeeded his father as shogun in 1202. Yorie quickly faced competition for power from his mother Hojo Masako and her father Hojo Tokimasa - which may explain why it took three years to establish himself as shogun when his father died in 1199 - and was forced into exile in 1203. A year later Yorie was assassinated, probably on Tokimasa's orders.
- Minamoto no Sanetomo (1192-1219) - Minamoto no Sanetomo was the second son of Yoritomo and brother of Yorie, who became shogun in 1203 CE with his mother Hojo Masako and her father Hojo Tokimasa acting as regents. Sanetomo was something of a poet. Sanetomo's 16-year reign came to a brutal end with his assassination in 1219 at the hands of his own nephew Kugyo, the son of Minamoto no Yorie. When the assassin was himself assassinated, it left the Yoritomo line extinct and all key government positions were subsequently held by Hojo family members.
The protagonist of the classical Japanese novel The Tale of Genji (The Tale of Minamoto clan)—Hikaru Genji, was bestowed the name Minamoto for political reasons by his father the emperor and was delegated to civilian life and a career as an imperial officer.
The Genpei War is also the subject of the early Japanese epic The Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari).
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Minamoto Clan before January 1, 1930 are public domain.
Some Notable Appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Tale of Genji
- The Tale of the Heike
Notes[]
- The surname Minamoto is not common today as most of the descendant families have taken other surnames, usually from their places of residence.