Taira no Kiyomori - Taira no Kiyomori

Japanese: 平清盛 - たいらのきよもり

A military commander in the late Heian period. The eldest son of Taira Tadamori, he is said to have been an illegitimate son of Emperor Shirakawa. The most widely accepted theory is that his mother was the younger sister of Empress Gion. He was born in the first year of the Gen'ei era. With the political and financial power accumulated by his grandfather Masamori and father Tadamori as trusted aides and provincial governors, he rose to prominence in the political world, and rose to the rank of Daijo Daijin Ju Ii. He seized political power as a powerful military family and established the Taira government. He was commonly known as Taira Heishokoku, Rokuharadono, Nyudo Minister, and Rokuhara Nyudo. His Buddhist name was Seiren, later Jokai.

[Yukiko Iida]

Concentration of power

After the death of his father, Tadamori, in 1153 (Nihei 3), Kiyomori led the Heike clan and served Emperor Toba as one of the military leaders. In 1156 (Hogen 1), following the death of Emperor Toba, the Hogen Rebellion broke out, in which he led warriors from Kinai, Kinki and the western provinces, sided with Emperor Goshirakawa, and achieved victory. After allied with Shonagon Nyudo Shinzei, Kiyomori showed a desire to expand his power, and in 1159 (Heiji 1), in the Heiji Rebellion, he defeated Minamoto no Yoshitomo, establishing his position as a powerful military family. This marked the beginning of the establishment of a military government. After this, Kiyomori's promotion in rank was remarkable, and in 60 (Eiraku 1), he was promoted to the rank of Shosanmi (Senior Third Rank) as a councilor, becoming the first person of samurai origin to be ranked as a nobleman. In 67 (Jin'an 2), he finally attained the rank of Daijo-daijin (Minister of State) Juichii (Junior First Rank). Kiyomori was 50 years old at the time. The following year, due to illness, he became a monk, and thereafter retired to Fukuhara in Settsu (Hyogo Ward, Kobe City), but continued to maintain a hidden influence as the head of his clan.

During this time, Kiyomori attempted to approach the regents and made his daughter, Moriko, the wife of the regent Fujiwara no Motozane. When Motozane died of illness in 1166, he had Moriko inherit his estates, effectively succeeding in seizing the regents' estates. Later, he made Moriko's younger sister, Hiroko, the wife of Motozane's son, Motomichi. In relation to the Imperial family, he placed his wife Tokiko's younger sister, Shigeko (Kenshunmon'in), in the Imperial Court, and had his daughter, Tokuko (Kenreimon'in), enter the Imperial Court to Emperor Takakura, the son of Tokuko. In 1180 (Jisho 4), when the son of Tokuko ascended to the throne (Emperor Antoku), Kiyomori gained the position of maternal grandfather of the emperor. The Taira clan, which had once emerged in the political world as the pillar supporting the Insei system, were now transforming into political power itself.

[Yukiko Iida]

Taking control of power

The prosperity of Kiyomori and his clan led to the monopoly of official positions in the Imperial Court and the accumulation of fiefs and manors, which further promoted the expansion of the power of the Taira clan. This political and economic foundation was also the foundation of the old powers represented by the retired emperor and aristocrats. Therefore, as the Taira clan advanced, conflict and friction began to arise between the old powers and the Taira clan. The Shishigatani incident in 1177 (Jisho 1) was the first incident in which such conflict came to the surface. This was the revelation of a conspiracy by the retired emperor's close aides to overthrow the Taira clan, and it was rumored that Emperor Goshirakawa himself was involved in this. Then, when Moriko died in June 1179, the retired emperor confiscated his estates, and when Shigemori, Kiyomori's eldest son, died of illness in July, the retired emperor seized his fiefs, and Goshirakawa's oppression of the Taira clan intensified. In November of the same year, Kiyomori finally left Fukuhara and went to Kyoto, where he imprisoned the Emperor and staged a coup d'état, attempting to drive out from the political world all the aristocrats he considered anti-Taira. The Taira now had complete control of the government in both name and reality.

However, the anti-Taira forces continued to gather around the temples, and even local samurai, who were supposed to have been the original base of the Taira government, joined in, and in 1180 King Mochihito raised an army, followed by Minamoto no Yoritomo, Do Yoshinaka and others. Kiyomori tried to fight back by moving the capital to Fukuhara and burning down Nara, but this only angered the old powers, and he was branded an enemy of Buddhism, further isolating him. As the whole country fell into civil war, on February 4th, the following year (Jisho 5, leap year), Kiyomori fell ill with a fever and died at the age of 64, worrying about the situation.

[Yukiko Iida]

Personality

The Tale of the Heike portrays Taira no Shigemori as a man of deep faith, loyalty, and filial piety, a symbol of goodness. Kiyomori, on the other hand, is portrayed as the polar opposite of Shigemori, and this impression has captured the hearts of many. However, if we trace the historical facts, we can see that both Shigemori and Kiyomori were military commanders living at the time, and essentially lived the same way.

Like his father, Tadamori, Kiyomori was enthusiastic about trade with the Song Dynasty, and renovated Owada no Tomari in Settsu to allow Song ships to enter the area. Legend has it that he also opened the Ondo Strait in Aki. As a member of the Taira clan, whose ancestors had been enthusiastic about organizing the sea people of the Seto Inland Sea, Kiyomori's consciousness was likely open to the sea. He was also a devout Buddhist, but was also able to take a firm stance against monks, temples, and shrines, as symbolized by the burning of Nara. In that sense, he can be considered one of the free people of his time. However, perhaps it is precisely because of this that he was too romantic to be the leader of the medieval samurai government.

[Yukiko Iida]

"The World of the Tale of the Heike" by Yasuhiko Murai (1973, Tokuma Shoten) " "The Fiction and Truth of the Tale of the Heike" by Masataka Ueyokote (1973, Kodansha)

[Reference] | Taira clan | Taira clan government

Taira no Kiyomori's signature
©Shogakukan ">

Taira no Kiyomori's signature

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

平安末期の武将。平忠盛(ただもり)の嫡男、実は白河(しらかわ)院の落胤(らくいん)といわれる。母は祇園女御(ぎおんのにょうご)の妹とする説が有力。元永(げんえい)元年誕生。祖父正盛、父忠盛が院近臣・受領(ずりょう)として蓄えた政治力・財力を背景に政界に台頭し、太政(だいじょう)大臣従(じゅ)一位まで昇進。軍事権門として政治権力を掌握し平氏政権を現出した。通称平相国(へいしょうこく)、六波羅殿(ろくはらどの)、入道相国、六波羅入道。法号清蓮、のち静（浄）海(じょうかい)。

［飯田悠紀子］

権力集中

1153年（仁平3）父忠盛の死没後、平家一門を率い武門棟梁(ぶもんのとうりょう)の一人として鳥羽(とば)院に仕える。56年（保元1）鳥羽院の死を契機に起こった保元(ほうげん)の乱では、畿内(きない)近国・西国(さいごく)の武士を率いて後白河(ごしらかわ)天皇方にくみし、勝利を収めた。少納言(しょうなごん)入道信西(しんぜい)と結んだ清盛は、以後権力伸張に意欲をみせ、59年（平治1）平治(へいじ)の乱では源義朝(よしとも)を破り、軍事権門としての地位を確立。ここに武家政権樹立への端緒を開いた。こののち清盛の官位昇進は目覚ましく、60年（永暦1）参議正三位(しょうさんみ)となり、武家出身として初めて公卿(くぎょう)に列した。67年（仁安2）にはついに太政大臣従一位の地位を得る。ときに清盛50歳。翌年病により出家、以後摂津(せっつ)福原（神戸市兵庫区）に引退するが、その後も一門の総帥として隠然たる勢力を保持し続けた。

　この間、清盛は摂関家への接近を図り、娘盛子を関白藤原基実(もとざね)の室としている。基実が1166年に病死すると、その遺領を盛子に継がせ、実質的に摂関家領を押領(おうりょう)することに成功。その後、盛子の妹寛子を基実の子基通(もとみち)の室とした。皇室関係では、妻時子の妹滋子(しげこ)（建春門院(けんしゅんもんいん)）を後白河院にいれ、所生の皇子高倉(たかくら)天皇のもとへは娘徳子(とくこ)（建礼門院(けんれいもんいん)）を入内(じゅだい)させた。1180年（治承4）徳子所生の皇子が即位（安徳(あんとく)天皇）するに及び、清盛は天皇外祖父の地位を獲得。かつて院政を支える支柱として政界に台頭してきた平氏は、いまや政治権力そのものへと転化しつつあった。

［飯田悠紀子］

政権掌握

清盛およびその一門の繁栄は、朝廷内の官位独占、知行(ちぎょう)国や荘園(しょうえん)の集積という現象をもたらし、そのことがまた平氏一門の勢力伸張をいっそう促進させた。このような政治的・経済的基盤は、院・貴族に代表される旧勢力の基盤でもあった。そのため、平氏の進出によって旧勢力と平氏との間には対立摩擦が生じ始めた。1177年（治承1）の鹿ヶ谷(ししがたに)事件は、そうした対立が表面化した最初の事件である。これは院近臣による平氏倒滅の陰謀が露顕したものであるが、これには後白河院自身も荷担していると噂(うわさ)された。ついで79年6月に盛子が死ぬと、その遺領を院が没収、7月清盛嫡子重盛(しげもり)病死に際しては、その知行国を院が奪取するなど、後白河院の平氏への弾圧が強まった。同年11月清盛はついに福原を発して上洛(じょうらく)、院を幽閉してクーデターを敢行、反平氏と思われる貴族の政界からの駆逐を図った。ここに平氏は名実ともに政権を完全掌握することになる。

　しかし反平氏勢力の結集は寺院を核に進められ、しかも平氏政権本来の基盤であったはずの地方在地武士までがこれに加わり、1180年には以仁(もちひと)王の挙兵、ついで源頼朝(よりとも)・同義仲(よしなか)以下の挙兵が続いた。これに対し清盛は、福原遷都、南都焼打ちで対抗しようとしたが、かえって旧勢力の反感を買い、仏敵の汚名を着せられて孤立化を深めた。全国が内乱状態に陥るなかで、翌治承(じしょう)5年閏(うるう)2月4日、清盛は熱病に冒され、事態を憂慮しながら64歳の生涯を閉じた。

［飯田悠紀子］

人となり

『平家物語』は、信仰心厚く、主に忠、親に孝を尽くす善の象徴として平重盛を描き出している。一方清盛はその重盛と対照的な人物として描かれており、その印象が強く人々の心をとらえている。しかし重盛も清盛も、当時を生きた武将の一人として、本質的には同じ生き方をしていたことは、史実をたどってみればわかるところである。

　父忠盛と同様、対宋(そう)貿易に熱心であった清盛は、摂津大輪田泊(おおわだのとまり)を修築して宋船がここまで入れるようにし、また伝説では安芸(あき)の音戸(おんど)ノ瀬戸を開いたともいわれる。父祖以来、瀬戸内の海民の組織化に熱心であった平氏の一族として、清盛もその意識は海に向かって開かれていたと思われる。また仏法に厚く帰依(きえ)していたが、南都焼打ちに象徴されるように、僧や寺社に対しては断固たる態度をとりうる人物でもあった。その意味では当時の自由人の一人であったととらえることができる。しかし、あるいはそうであるからこそ、中世武家政権の担い手としては、浪漫(ろうまん)的でありすぎたということもできよう。

［飯田悠紀子］

『村井康彦著『平家物語の世界』（1973・徳間書店）』▽『上横手雅敬著『平家物語の虚構と真実』（1973・講談社）』

[参照項目] | 平氏 | 平氏政権

平清盛花押

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