Difference between revisions of "Taira clan"

From SamuraiWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
Line 22: Line 22:
 
===Other Members of the Taira clan===
 
===Other Members of the Taira clan===
 
*[[Taira no Masakado]] (d. [[940]]) - led a rebellion against the Court in [[939]]-940
 
*[[Taira no Masakado]] (d. [[940]]) - led a rebellion against the Court in [[939]]-940
**[[Taira no Tadatsune]] - known for attacks against government compounds in [[Awa province]] in [[1028]]
+
**[[Taira no Tadatsune]] - grandson of Masakado; known for attacks against government compounds in [[Awa province]] in [[1028]]
 
*[[Taira no Yasuyori]] - conspirator in the [[1177]] [[Shishigatani Incident]]
 
*[[Taira no Yasuyori]] - conspirator in the [[1177]] [[Shishigatani Incident]]
 
{{stub}}
 
{{stub}}

Revision as of 15:45, 11 October 2013

  • Japanese: (Heishi) or 平家 (Heike)

The Taira clan was one of the four most prominent families of court aristocracy in the Heian period, along with the Minamoto, Tachibana, and Fujiwara clans; in the 1150s-1180s, under Taira no Kiyomori, they became the most powerful clan in the realm. The Taira were defeated by the Minamoto, however, in the Genpei War of 1180-1185, and all but destroyed. The Taira would never achieve prominence again, but many prominent samurai clans claimed descent from the Taira, whether legitimately, or in order to claim more elite ancestry, and legitimacy as rulers.

The most prominent and powerful lineage or family within the broader clan was the Kammu Heishi, who claimed descent from Emperor Kammu, through four of the eight sons of Takamochi, son of Takami, who in turn was the son of Prince Kazurahara, eldest son of Emperor Kammu.[1]

The story of the fall of the Taira is related in the eponymous romantic / fictionalized epic, The Tale of the Heike.

Taira Lineage

Other Members of the Taira clan

References

  • Helen McCullough trans., The Tale of the Heike, Stanford University Press (1990), 3-4.
  1. Karl Friday, Samurai Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Routledge (2004), 9.