Taira no Takakiyo

  • Other Names: 平六代 (Taira no Rokudai)
  • Japanese: 高清 (Taira no Takakiyo)

Taira no Takakiyo, also known as Rokudai, was the last male descendant of Taira no Kiyomori to be hunted down by the forces of Minamoto no Yoritomo.

The son of Taira no Koremori and Wakaba no Naishi, Takakiyo was a direct great-grandson of Kiyomori. Surviving the Genpei War, he took the tonsure, and devoted himself to Buddhist practice at Mt. Takao. Even so, Shogun Yoritomo was concerned about his potential loyalty to reviving Taira power, and the threat Takakiyo thus potentially posed to Minamoto authority. Takakiyo was 30 years old when Andô Sukekane, on the shogun's orders, took him from Takao to bring him to the Kantô; along the way, also on the shogun's orders, Okabe Yasutsuna beheaded Takakiyo, along the road. This episode marks the end of the 12th and final chapter of the Kakuichibon version of the Tale of the Heike.[1]

References

  • Elizabeth Oyler, “Time and History in The Tale of the Heike: Narrating the Genpei War (1180-1185).” Talk given at UC Santa Barbara, 26 Oct 2015.
  1. The 12th chapter is followed by additional sections called the Kanjô no maki, but is still considered to be the final chapter, as the Kanjô no maki appears to have been added later.