Taira no Shigehira

Japanese: 平重衡 - たいらのしげひら

Year of death: 23 June 1185 (21 July 1185)
Year of birth: 1157
A military commander in the late Heian period. He was the fifth son of Taira no Kiyomori, and his mother was Taira no Tokiko. He was the younger brother of Munemori, Tomomori, and Tokuko. There is also a theory that he was born in 1156. He was bestowed a rank in 1162, and after serving as Owari no Kami, Samatou no Kami, Chugu no Suke, etc., he was promoted to Left Middle Captain of the Konoe in 1179, and to Kurodo no To the following year. As his highest rank was Shosanmi (Senior Third Rank) Left Middle Captain of the Konoe, he was also called Honsanmi (Real Middle Captain). He was a man of both letters and martial arts, and while he handled court ceremonies and official affairs as Kurodo no To, he also fought bravely as a military commander when the Genpei War broke out, suppressing the uprising of Prince Mochihito and Minamoto no Yorimasa in May 1111, and becoming the supreme commander of the attack on Kofuku-ji Temple and Todai-ji Temple in December of the same year, he burned down the Great Buddha Hall and other buildings. For this reason, he was criticized as an enemy of Buddhism, but in March of the following year, he defeated Minamoto no Yukiie in the Battle of Sunomatagawa, and even after the Taira clan fled the capital, he won victories in the Battle of Mizushima in the intercalary October of 1183, and the Battle of Muroyama the following month. However, in February of the following year, he was captured in the Battle of Ichinotani, and sent an emissary to his brother Munemori to try to return the Three Sacred Treasures and negotiate a peace agreement between the Genji and Taira clans, but this did not come to fruition and he was escorted to Kamakura. He was treated well by Minamoto no Yoritomo, but at the strong request of the monks of Kofuku-ji and Todai-ji temples, he was sent to Nara and beheaded on the banks of the Kizu River as the mastermind behind the burning of Nara. The Tale of the Heike depicts Shigehira, who became a prisoner, in a tragic manner as an unfortunate military commander who symbolizes the downfall of the Taira clan. <References> Yasuda Motohisa, "Portraits of the Heike"

(Tanaka Fumihide)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文治1.6.23(1185.7.21)
生年：保元2(1157)
平安末期の武将。平清盛の5男,母は平時子。宗盛,知盛,徳子らの同母弟。生年を保元1(1156)年とする説もある。応保2(1162)年に叙爵し,尾張守,左馬頭,中宮亮などを経て,治承3(1179)年左近衛権中将,翌年蔵人頭と累進。極官が正三位左近衛権中将であったため,「本三位中将」ともいわれた。文武兼備の人物で,蔵人頭として朝儀・公事をよく処理する一方,源平争乱が勃発すると,武将として奮迅の活躍をし,治承4年5月に以仁王・源頼政の挙兵を鎮圧,同年12月には興福寺・東大寺攻撃の総大将となって大仏殿以下を焼き打ちした。このため,仏敵と非難されるが,翌年3月墨俣川の戦で源行家を撃破し,平家都落ちののちも,寿永2(1183)年閏10月の水島合戦,翌月の室山合戦などでも勝利を収めた。しかし,翌年2月,一の谷の戦で捕虜となり,兄宗盛のもとに使者を遣わして,三種の神器の返還と源平の和議を試みようとするが実現せず,鎌倉に護送された。源頼朝に厚遇されるが,興福・東大両寺の衆徒の強い要求によって奈良に送られ,南都焼き打ちの張本として木津川畔で斬首。『平家物語』は,虜因の身となった重衡を,平家の滅亡を象徴する非運の武将として哀切に描いている。<参考文献>安田元久『平家の群像』

(田中文英)

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