User:BRPXQZME/Minamoto no Yoshitsune
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Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源 義経, Kyūjitai: 源 義經) was a late Heian period military commander of the Kawachi Genji clan. He was a younger brother by a different mother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate. His lineage is of the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Kawachi Genji led by Minamoto no Yorinobu. His alias alias (Haikōmei) was Kurō (九郎, signifying that he was the ninth son); his true name (Imina) is Yoshitsune.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune | |
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Born | 1159, the first year of Heiji, end of the Heian period. |
Died | (1189-06-15)June 15, 1189, 30 intercalary Uzuki in the fifth year of Bunji, beginning of the Kamakura period. |
Other names | Ushiwaka (牛若), Shana-ō (遮那王), Yoshitsune, Yoshiyuki (義行), Yoshiaki (義顕); aliases: Kurō (九郎), Hōgan (判官), Teii (廷尉), Yoshū (豫州); Kaimyō: Tsūzan Genkō Daikoji (通山源公大居士) |
Title | Saemon no Jō, Kebiishi, Jugoi-ge, Kami of Iyo |
Spouse(s) | legal wife: Sato Gozen, daughter of Kawagoe Shigeyori Shizuka Gozen, daughter of Taira no Tokitada |
Children | a daughter, a daughter (the wife of Minamoto no Aritsuna), and a son. |
Parent(s) | Minamoto no Yoshitomo Tokiwa Gozen |
Relatives | Yoshihira (eldest brother) Tomonaga (elder brother) Yoritomo (elder brother) Yoshikado (elder brother) Mareyoshi (elder brother) Noriyori (elder brother) Zenjō (elder brother) Gien (elder brother) the wife of Ichijō Yoshiyasu (younger sister) Rō no Onkata (younger sister; different father) Yoshinari (younger brother; different father) a daughter of Tokiwa (younger sister; different father) Clan: Seiwa Genji, Yoshitomo’s line (Kawachi Genji) |
Born to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the eldest-son descendant of the Kawachi Genji, he was the ninth son; his childhood name was Ushiwakamaru (牛若丸). Because of the fact that his father was defeated in the Heiji Rebellion, he was left in the care of the Kurama-dera, but later on he would go on to Hiraizumi in Ōshū, and receive protection from head of the Northern Fujiwara, Fujiwara no Hidehira. When his elder brother Yoritomo raised an army to defeat the Heishi (the Jishō-Juei War), he hastened to join; experiencing the battles of Ichi-no-Tani, Yashima, and Dan-no-Ura and the overthrow of the Heishi, he was renowned for his distinguished service. Afterwards, without obtaining his brother’s permission, and with the office and rank he received, he had gained Yoritomo’s contempt. Moreover, for showing off his opposing independent activities, he was considered “chōteki” (朝敵, a traitor) for his opposition to Yoritomo. When a decree for his arrest was issued to all the land, he once again escaped apprehension through Fujiwara no Hidehira’s protection; however, after Hidehira’s death, the next head (Fujiwara no Yasuhira) gained the wrath of Yoritomo and turned on Yoshitsune, who killed himself at the Koromogawa Castle to avoid disgrace.
The circumstances concerning his death have provoked the sympathy of many people. The term Hōgan Biiki (判官贔屓) meaning “sympathy for the judge”, today indicates sympathy for a tragic hero, or correspondingly rooting for the underdog in modern Japanese. His story has also given rise to many legends and tales.