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[[File:Gion-shoja.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Calligraphy by a contemporary artist, of the famous opening lines of the ''Tale of the Heike'': <br>祇園精舎の鐘の聲、諸行無常の響あり。娑羅雙樹の花の色、盛者必衰のことわりをあらはす。おごれる人も久しからず、唯春の夜の夢のごとし。たけき者も遂にほろびぬ、偏に風の前の塵に同じ。
<p>''Gion shôja no kane no koe, shogyô mujô no hibiki ari. Shara sôju no hana no iro, shôsha hissui no koto wari wo arawasu. Ogoreru hito mo hisashikarazu, tada haru no yoru no yume no gotoshi. Takeki mono mo tsui ni horobinu, hitoe ni kaze no mae no akuta ni onaji.''
<br>The sound of the Gion Shôja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall. The proud do not endure; the mighty fall at last, to be no more than dust before the wind.]]
*''Dates: [[1180]]-[[1185]]''
*''Combatants: [[Minamoto clan]] (and allies) vs. [[Taira clan]] (and allies)''
*''Outcome: Minamoto victory; Taira clan largely wiped out''
*''Japanese'': 源平合戦 ''(Genpei kassen)''
The Genpei War, fought between the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] and [[Taira clan|Taira]] samurai clans in [[1180]]-[[1185]], marks the end of rule by a Taira-dominated Imperial Court, and was followed shortly afterward by the establishment of the [[Kamakura shogunate]]; as such, it represents the fall of the Taira and the rise of the Minamoto, the end of the [[Heian period]] and the beginning of the [[Kamakura period]], and the boundary between the Classical period of aristocrat/Court rule, and the Medieval period of samurai rule.
The war takes its name from the ''on-yomi'' or "Chinese-style" readings of the names of the two clans - Genji and Heike (or Heishi) meaning "Minamoto clan" and "Taira house" (or "Taira clan") respectively.
The events of the war were retold most famously in the epic ''[[The Tale of the Heike]]'', which was passed down as an oral tradition by traveling musician storytellers for a time before being written down for the first time in [[1371]]. Numerous [[Noh]], [[Kabuki]], and [[ningyo joruri|puppet]] plays, as well as countless paintings and other cultural creations draw upon these stories, which have grown into legend.
==Opening Moves==
==Opening Moves==
[[Image:UjiBridge.jpg|right|thumb|300px|[[Uji Bridge]], site of the opening clashes of the Genpei War.]]
In May [[1180]] [[Prince Mochihito]], the son of Retired [[emperor Go-Shirakawa]], issued a statement urging the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] to rise against the [[Taira clan|Taira]]. While Mochihito would be killed in June and [[Minamoto Yorimasa]] crushed at the [[Battle of Uji]], a fire had been set. In September [[Minamoto Yoritomo]], who had recieved Mochihito's call from [[Miyoshi Yasukiyo]], set about raising an army in the Province of [[Izu province|Izu]], where he had been in exile. There was an irony in the preceeding events, as [[Taira Kiyomori]] had himself sown the seeds of the war, so the poetic tale goes. His great error, we are told, had been to spare the sons of Minamoto Yoshitomo in the wake of the [[Heiji disturbance]], allowing these three boys - Yoritomo, [[Minamoto Noriyori|Noriyori]], and [[Minamoto Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] - to mature and form the leadership of a new and dangerous threat.
In May [[1180]] [[Prince Mochihito]], the son of Retired [[emperor Go-Shirakawa]], issued a statement urging the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] to rise against the [[Taira clan|Taira]]. While Mochihito would be killed in June and [[Minamoto Yorimasa]] crushed at the [[Battle of Uji]], a fire had been set. In September [[Minamoto Yoritomo]], who had recieved Mochihito's call from [[Miyoshi Yasukiyo]], set about raising an army in the Province of [[Izu province|Izu]], where he had been in exile. There was an irony in the preceeding events, as [[Taira Kiyomori]] had himself sown the seeds of the war, so the poetic tale goes. His great error, we are told, had been to spare the sons of Minamoto Yoshitomo in the wake of the [[Heiji disturbance]], allowing these three boys - Yoritomo, [[Minamoto Noriyori|Noriyori]], and [[Minamoto Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] - to mature and form the leadership of a new and dangerous threat.
