#12 The Rise & Fall of The Taira Clan

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The theme of this topic is the rise and fall of the Taira clan. Let us look at how the samurai era began.

今回のテーマは平家の盛衰です。サムライの時代がどのように始まったのか見ていきましょう。

From the middle of the 11th century, the emperors had an active movement to regain power from the aristocratic Fujiwara clan. Emperor Go-Sanjo was not closely related to the Fujiwara. He organized the manors and took control of the public domain. And it damaged the aristocrats.

１１世紀の半ばから、天皇家は貴族の藤原氏から力を取り戻そうとします。後三条天皇は藤原氏との関係が薄く、荘園や公領を整理し、貴族にダメージを与えました。

The next emperor, Shirakawa, gave up the imperial throne to his young son and became a “Joko”, or retired emperor. It allowed him to govern freely. This was called “Insei”, or cloistered rule. Following this, Joko Toba increased the number of manors and assigned warriors to guard the capital to deal with land disputes.

次の白河天皇は幼い子供に譲位し「上皇」となり自由に政治を行うようになりました。これを「院政」といいます。これに続き、鳥羽上皇は荘園を増やし、土地をめぐる争いから都を守るために武士をおきました。

After the death of Joko Toba in the middle of the 12th century, the rivalry between the Emperors and the Fujiwara clan over political power intensified. Against this backdrop, Taira no Kiyomori had won the Hogen and Heiji wars in Kyoto and gained the trust of Joko Go-Shirakawa. And he came to hold political power.

１２世紀半ばに鳥羽上皇が亡くなり、天皇家と藤原氏の間で権力をめぐる争いが激しくなる中で平清盛が京都で起こった保元の乱と平治の乱を勝ち後白河上皇の信頼を得、政治権力を握りました。

Taira no Kiyomori became the first samurai to hold real political power. He became Grand Minister of State, the highest position in the Imperial Court. He made his daughter the consort of the emperor. He appointed members of his family to high positions and ruled over vast tracts of land. The Taira clan prospered.

平清盛は政治の実権を握った最初のサムライとなりました。彼は朝廷の最高職である太政大臣となりました。娘を天皇の后とし、一族の者を高い役職につけ、膨大な土地を支配しました。このようにして平家は栄えました。

Kiyomori also established shipping routes in the Seto Inland Sea and traded with the Sung Dynasty in China, earning enormous profits. Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture, now a World Heritage site, was established by the Taira clan.

清盛は瀬戸内海の航路を整備し、中国の宋と貿易をし莫大な利益をあげました。世界遺産に登録されている広島県の厳島神社は平家が整備したものです。

The emperor, aristocrats, and local warriors were increasingly opposed to the growing power of the Taira clan. When Prince Mochihito, son of Joko Go-Shirakawa, issued an order to overthrow the Taira. Minamoto no Yoritomo, whose father had been killed by Taira no Kiyomori during the Heiji war and who had been exiled to Izu, united with other warriors of the Minamoto clan and rose in arms.

天皇家、貴族、地方の武士たちは勢いのある平家に対して不満をつのらせました。後白河上皇の子以仁王が平家追討の命令を出すと、父親を平治の乱で清盛に殺され伊豆に流されていた源頼朝が源氏の武士たちとともに挙兵しました。

Minamoto no Yoshinaka from the Kiso province entered Kyoto defeating the Taira forces. When Taira no Kiyomori fell ill and died, the Taira army was utterly defeated. The Taira, defeated after numerous battles, were driven back by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Yoritomo’s younger brother. The Taira clan finally fell at Dannoura, on the western edge of Honshu in 1185.

木曽の源義仲が平氏の軍勢を破って京都に入り、平清盛が病死すると平氏の軍勢は総崩れとなりました。数々の戦に破れ、ついに頼朝の弟である源義経に追い詰められ、本州の西端、壇ノ浦で１１８５年に滅びました。

The story of the Heike clan’s rise and fall was later compiled into the Heike Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike), which was sung by biwa poets and passed down to the present day.

平家の盛衰は後に平家物語にまとめられ、琵琶法師によって歌い継がれ現代に伝わりました。

Thank you for reading.