Heiji Battle (1159)???

[Kamuii]

Greetings...

What was the Heiji Battle(1159) all about?


Best,

Arnold Vargas
Genbukan Satoichi Dojo
&
Tsunami-Ryu Bujutsu

[Richard A Tolson]

Arnold,,
The Heiji no Ran was one of the two major incidents that inspired the Gempai War. The incident began when the Minamoto, lead by Yoshitomo, attacked the Sanjo palace. The palace was burned and the ex-emperor, Go-Shirakawa and his son, Emperor Nijo were captured.

[Joseph Svinth]

For background to this battle, try Donald Richie, "Memoirs of the Warrior Kumagai: A Historical Novel" (Rutland, VT and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1998). As the title says, it's a novel, but Richie's fiction is more factual than most people's history. Reasonably priced, too.

[Kamuii]

Thank you very much Richard and Joe, I appreciate it. :smilejapa

Best,

Arnold Vargas
Genbukan Satoichi Dojo
&
Tsunami-Ryu Bujutsu

[Joseph Svinth]

A site I forgot to mention -- Encyclopaedia Britannica online: http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/5/0,5722,72825,00.html

"Taira Kiyomori, the son of Tadamori and grandson of Masamori, continued to enlarge the family's holdings and to increase its influence at court, making a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto inevitable. Finally in 1156 a dispute over control of the court between two brothers, the former emperor Sutoku and the reigning emperor Go-Shirakawa, resulted in the Hogen War between Kiyomori and the head of the Minamoto. Aided by the defection of a group of Minamoto warriors, Kiyomori emerged victorious. Three years later, in the Heiji War of 1159, Kiyomori brutally eliminated those Minamoto who had sided with him in the Hogen War and thus became the most powerful figure in Japan."

The follow-up is important, too. For some background to one of the key players, see http://www.kodansha.co.jp/eoj/japanese/djl/vol_4/child/articles/djl_child_yoshitsune_j.html

[Edited by Joseph Svinth on 09-26-2000 at 01:56 AM]