Tomomori Taira

A military commander in the late Heian period. He was the fourth son of Kiyomori, and his mother was Taira Tokiko. After the Heiji Rebellion (1159), the Taira clan rose to prominence, and with his father Kiyomori's promotion in rank, Tomomori was promoted to Left Middle Captain, Left Guard Commander, and then to Junior Second Rank Provincial Middle Counselor. As the Taira government was enjoying its heyday, opposition forces, including those of Emperor Goshirakawa, gradually began to surface. In 1180 (Jisho 4), Minamoto no Yorimasa raised an army with Emperor Goshirakawa's son, Prince Mochihito, and an imperial decree to pursue and destroy the Taira clan was sent to various provinces. Tomomori headed for Onjo-ji Temple, where the king was hiding, to pursue Emperor Mochihito and Yorimasa, and defeated the king's army, which had escaped to Nara, at Byodo-in Temple in Uji. After that, he continued to fight against Minamoto no Yukiie, Kiso Yoshinaka, and others, and temporarily retreated to Sanuki Yashima (Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture). In 84 (Genryaku 1), he fought bravely at the Battle of Ichinotani, but was defeated and fled westward by sea. In February of the following year, he also lost the Battle of Yashima, and on March 24, he was defeated at the Battle of Dannoura, and after witnessing Emperor Antoku and the women of his clan drown, he himself drowned. The second act of the puppet theatre "Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Blossoms," written by Namiki Sosuke and others and first performed in 1747 (Enkyo 4), tells of Tomomori's heroic yet tragic end.

[Tanabe Hisako]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安後期の武将。清盛(きよもり)の四男、母は平時子。平治(へいじ)の乱（1159）ののち平氏の台頭は著しく、父清盛の官位昇進に伴い、知盛も左中将、左兵衛督(さひょうえのかみ)と累進し、従(じゅ)二位権中納言(ごんのちゅうなごん)となる。全盛を謳歌(おうか)する平氏政権に対して、後白河(ごしらかわ)院をはじめとしてしだいに対立勢力が表面化してきた。1180年（治承4）に源頼政(よりまさ)が後白河院の皇子以仁王(もちひとおう)を奉じて挙兵、平家追討の令旨(りょうじ)が諸国に伝えられた。知盛は以仁王・頼政追討のため王の隠れる園城(おんじょう)寺に向かい、奈良へ向かって脱出した王の軍を宇治(うじ)平等院に破った。以後源行家(ゆきいえ)、木曽義仲(きそよしなか)らとの戦いが続き、一時讃岐屋島(さぬきやしま)（香川県高松市）に退いた。84年（元暦1）一ノ谷の戦いに奮戦したが敗れ、海上を西へ逃れた。翌年2月屋島の戦いにも利なく、3月24日壇(だん)ノ浦(うら)の戦いに敗れ、安徳(あんとく)天皇はじめ一門の女性の入水(じゅすい)を見届けて、自らも海に沈んだ。1747年（延享4）初演の並木宗輔(そうすけ)らの作になる人形浄瑠璃(じょうるり)『義経(よしつね)千本桜』二段目の「碇(いかり)知盛」に、知盛の豪快にして悲壮な最期が語られている。

［田辺久子］

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