Sanmon Envoy - Sanmon Shisetsu

Japanese: 山門使節 - さんもんしせつ

This organization was created by the Muromachi Shogunate at the end of the Northern and Southern Court period to control the monks of Enryaku-ji Temple. The members were selected from the most powerful monks, who were called mountain monks at the time. Since the beginning of the Southern and Northern Court civil war, when the monks of Enryaku-ji Temple sided with Emperor Go-Daigo and caused trouble for the samurai powers led by Ashikaga Takauji, they have threatened the Muromachi Shogunate and the Northern Court at every opportunity throughout the Nanboku-cho period, and controlling them was a long-standing concern for the Shogunate. It was the third Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who found a way to resolve this issue by establishing the Sanmon Envoys.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

南北朝時代末期に室町幕府が延暦寺の衆徒統制のために作った組織。メンバーには，当時山徒と呼ばれていた衆徒らのうちで特に強勢な者が選ばれた。延暦寺の衆徒は，南北朝の内乱の初め，後醍醐天皇方について足利尊氏ら武家勢力を悩まして以来，南北朝時代を通じことあるごとに嗷訴（ごうそ）をもって室町幕府，北朝を威嚇し，その統制は幕府の積年の懸案であった。この懸案解決の道を，山門使節の創設に見いだしたのは，3代将軍足利義満である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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