History of Asia

[Rough flow of Japanese history] Flow of the Heian period ... From customs politics to the Taira administration

Aristocratic society Heian period From Birth of the Samurai Government Kamakura period Until then, it was an era with a lot of content, and there were many characters, so it was very difficult to understand. The political system also changes drastically between the early and late Heian periods, so I will introduce it while holding down the points.

You may not understand the reason because there are many important words and phrases, but there are many places where you can take the test even in school classes, so please refer to it.

For more details, please refer to the link.

The flow of Japanese history from the Heian period

According to the Japanese era, the Heian period began in 794 when Emperor Kanmu relocated to Heiankyo. However, around this time, Emperor Shomu and Emperor Kanmu were restlessly relocating to the capital.

The reason is [ tatari ], And at that time, floods and plagues were both [ tatari ], So when these disasters occur, it is called tatari [ relocation ] Was repeated.

Speaking of Emperor Shomu, he is known as a religious emperor who set up Kokubunji and Kokubunnanji temples all over the country, built Todaiji Temple, and built the Great Buddha. is.

When Emperor Kanmu took the throne, 784 Nagaokakyo The capital will be relocated to Heiankyo in 794, just 10 years later. Will be moved to. In this relocation, the relatives of Emperor Kanmu died one after another, and plagues such as smallpox also overlapped, so it was a relocation that remembered the tatari.

After this relocation, the capital settled in Heiankyo, and the capital was to be established until the Meiji era. Will be called.

During the Heian period, customs politics with the rise of Mr. Fujiwara It can be said that it was an era when the rule system changed rapidly, such as the cloister rule by the emeritus and the rise of samurai such as the appearance of Taira no Kiyomori.

In this era, I think it will be easier to remember if you take into account the characteristics of the governing system at that time.

The beginning of the Heian period 794 ~ 1185 or 1192

Emperor Kanmu Is Heiankyo Moved to 794-1185 and 1192 It refers to 390 years until the opening of the Kamakura Shogunate, and since the central government was almost Heiankyo (Kyoto) until the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, [ Heian period ] Is called.

Immediately after the relocation of Heiankyo, the government was Emperor Kanmu . Is in charge of politics himself, and the relocation of Heiankyo and the subjugation of Ezo, which he carried out, often appear in tests as two major policies.

Especially in the Ezo era, 797 Sakanoue Tamura Maro (Tamura Maro on the back) "is Shogun I played an active part next to me.

As I introduced in the article of the samurai before, to differentiate the military and reduce the burden on the farmers, [ healthy child system ] Has been introduced.

The beginning of customs politics by Mr. Fujiwara

Fujiwara no Kamatari since the pro-government by Emperor Kanmu Mr. Fujiwara, whose ancestor is, will run up to the top of political power. Around this time, Mr. Fujiwara was divided into four families, the Kita family, the Minami family, the Shikike family, and the Kyo family, by the boys of Kamatari and Fuhito. However, as a result of the political struggle of each family, the Fujiwara Kita family * in the middle of the Heian period. Will prosper. * Since then, Mr. Fujiwara

This Fujiwara Kita family, Yoshifusa Fujiwara is the first non-royal family [ regent ], As a consort kin of the emperor, he occupies important positions such as regent, kampaku, and nairan, and has continued to monopolize the real power of politics for generations. [ Regent politics ] Has come to be done.

This customs politics is 891 Emperor Uda During the reign of Japan, the relationship between the emperor and Mr. Fujiwara was weak and the pro-government was drawn. At this time, Sugawara no Michizane appeared. So, the emperor appointed talented people regardless of Mr. Fujiwara.

894 Mission to Tang It was this Sugawara no Michizane who abolished.

After that, Emperor Daigo-Emperor Murakami Until about three generations, the emperor held a pro-government.

To the heyday of customs politics by Fujiwara no Michinaga

In the political struggle by the four Fujiwara families, the Fujiwara Kita family won and took control, but even within the Kita family, [ Chōja ] Will be in conflict. It was Fujiwara no Michinaga who won this. And the child's Yorimichi At the same time, the heyday of the regent Fujiwara will be reached.

Around this time, Emperor Ichijo had two empresses (Nakamiya), and in 1000, Fujiwara no Teishi became the empress, and in 1000, Michinaga's daughter, Akiko, was married as Nakamiya. The lady-in-waiters of these two empresses were Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu.

Sei Shonagon Serves Teishi [ Pillow grass ] Murasaki Shikibu Serves Akiko [ Genji Monogatari ] Was written.

Murasaki Shikibu also depicts the state of Miyanaka [ Murasaki Shikibu Diary ] Is left, and it seems that Sei Shonagon was dismissed during the work.

The beginning of the cloister rule in which the emperor's father took power

Fujiwara no Michinaga Yorimichi who inherited the regent position at a young age Worked for Kampaku for 50 years and realized the heyday of Mr. Fujiwara with his father. However, the daughter who became the empress of the emperor was not blessed with boys, Toi's invasion, Taira no Tadatsune's rebellion, the role of the previous nine years The power base up to now has been shaken from inside and outside by the war.

After being estranged from Yorimichi, the Emperor Go-Sanjo reigned, and the Fujiwara Sekiseki family declined. To go.

It was Emperor Go-Sanjo who made the foothold for the cloister rule, and since his wife was not from Mr. Fujiwara, there was no need to hesitate to regent, and he made use of his strengths.> ] Was promulgated and achieved results such as reduction of economic power of regents and large temples and reconstruction of the imperial economy.

After that, he gave up after four years in office, and he was supposed to take control of politics in a free position as an emeritus, and he was planning to do cloister rule, but the dream of cloister rule was destroyed by his illness the following year. ..

However, Emperor Go-Sanjo stipulated in his will and his next successor, and since then, he has seized political power for 43 years during the reign of Shirakawa, Horikawa, Toba, and Takanori.

What is cloister rule?

The cloister rule is when the emeritus who has been transferred becomes the emeritus and takes power on behalf of the current emperor.

The person who actually did politics by this emeritus is Chiten no Kimi (Chiten no Kimi) Is called.

The central institution was the [In-no-cho], and this office, which was set up at the emperor's palace, had an official called a priest. Although it was not a public institution, no one was able to resist the orders issued by it.

Regent and Kampaku did not disappear during the cloister rule, but it was the emeritus who was in control at the end of the Heian period. ] 3 Emperor is famous.

He was an emeritus who reigned in politics almost dictatorially as a prince of the heavens, but as a result of deploying samurai on the north side and using it too much, he allowed the rise of Taira and Genji and helped establish the samurai government. It was.

The beginning of the mansion and the samurai

Under the decree system, all land was state-owned, and the people rented land from the country to run agriculture.

However, as the population grows, there is not enough land to allocate. Therefore, the imperial court decided in 743 [ Konden Einen Shizai Law . ] Was established. You may own the land forever if you clear it with the permission of the imperial court ] Was the law.

As the times went back, the number of [villages] where influential farmers donated the land cleared to aristocrats and temples and shrines increased. The donations were just names, and the substantive ownership was in the developing lords, but they were trying to escape the pressure and taxes of the Kokushi with the authority of aristocrats and temples and shrines.

These villas are [ donation villas ] And spread nationwide, the development lords will be armed to protect their land. This was the beginning of the samurai, and eventually the samurai corps formed a large force and entered the central government.

The two major powers of the samurai corps are [Taira] and [Genji] . was.

The aristocratic classes such as the imperial court were enthusiastic Buddhist believers and were in trouble because they couldn't get their hands on [monk soldiers]. Most of the monk soldiers were bosses with their peasants curled up, but the aristocrats were still afraid of [Buddha punishment] and couldn't get their hands on them.

There, the imperial court will make heavy use of the samurai corps that can defeat the monks without fear of Buddhist punishment and tatari.

By using the samurai corps politically in this way, Taira and Genji will strengthen and lead to the era of samurai.

Among them, the local aristocrats and indigenous aristocrats who needed to be armed were samurai . To form an organization (bushidan). When Mr. Fujiwara's power declines, samurai will rise in his place.

Hogen rebellion, an internal conflict in the imperial court

Due to the feud between Emperor Sutoku and Emperor Go-Shirakawa, the armed struggle between Genpei and Genpei is the Hogen rebellion.

The case becomes bigger as Emperor Sutoku urged his father, Emperor Toba, to transfer to his younger brother, King Toba.

Emperor Sutoku was urged by Emperor Toba to open a cloister rule in the future, and he handed over the position of emperor to his younger brother, who was only three years old. At this time, he also made a promise to make his own child the emperor after Emperor Konoe.

However, when Emperor Konoe died at the age of 17, Emperor Toba broke his promise and espoused Emperor Go-Shirakawa, the half-brother of Emperor Konoe. It was the Hogen rebellion that began with the idea of ​​a coup d'etat.

When Emperor Toba died in 1156, the conflict between Takanori and Go-Shirakawa intensified. In addition, the first war in Heiankyo will occur due to the turmoil of Tadamichi Fujiwara and Yorinaga.

The samurai corps that each had had was convened in this battle.

By this time, the aristocrats could not even resolve the internal conflict without using the military power of the samurai.

As a result of the Hogen rebellion, it ended with a big defeat on the side of Takanori, and Yorinaga Fujiwara and Tadamasa Hira died and Takanori was sent to Sanuki. After that, [ Heiji Rebellion ] Is a power struggle that took place in the Fujiwara clan, and Taira no Kiyomori played an active part in this battle, and Genji, led by Minamoto no Yoshitomo, was defeated and executed.

At this time, the child Minamoto no Yoritomo is still being sent to Izu.

Taira no Kiyomori, the ancestor of Taira's prosperity, becomes Daijo-daijin ...

The royal dispute over succession to the throne divides the aristocrats and samurai into two. Go-Shirakawa Is Michinori Fujiwara Taira no Kiyomori And Minamoto no Yoshitomo Mobilize Hogen Rebellion Victory.

After that, Michinori Fujiwara And Taira no Kiyomori Fujiwara no Nobu who rebelled against the heavy use of And Minamoto no Yoshitomo Is raised. Heiji Rebellion Developed into. Taira no Kiyomori Will win and will be used more and more. Minamoto no Yoshitomo Child ・ Minamoto no Yoritomo Was swept away by Izu.

Taira no Kiyomori, who solidified his position in the Heiji rebellion, married his sister and daughter to the imperial family and the regents, rapidly expanding their power and strengthening their authority in the imperial court. And 1167 Taira no Kiyomori Is Daijo-daijin Will be appointed to.

Daijo-daijin is a position that can be said to be the top of the aristocrats who have been appointed as a lord, and he has achieved prosperity not only as a samurai but also as a public servant.

Taira no Kiyomori, who was a samurai but also had an aristocratic side, such as winning the emperor's consort kin and controlling the mansion and the chigyokoku, but his father, Taira no Tadamori, was enthusiastic about the Japan-Song trade / strong> We are also focusing on the construction of Owada no Tomari so that the Song dynasty can come to the cabin.

This was an idea that was not found in the aristocrats at that time, and it can be said that it was a tribute to Kiyomori's excellent sense of economics.

The future of Japan that Kiyomori envisioned may have been Japan, an economic powerhouse that thrives in trade. In that dream, Kiyomori died in the midst of a confrontation with Pope Shirakawa and a battle with Genji.

Then, in 1185, Mr. Taira was destroyed in Dannoura, and Kiyomori's dream never came true.

The Heian period is roughly divided into three eras.

  1. Fujiwara-dominated customs politics
  2. Emperor-centered cloister rule
  3. Samurai government era ruled by Taira no Kiyomori

I think it will be easier to remember if you remember these three eras separately and connect them.