The Authority of the Fujiwara Family Was Derived From ________ .

Powerful family of regents in Nihon

Fujiwara 藤原
Monday: Sagarifuji
Domicile province	Yamato Province
Parent house	Nakatomi clan
Founder	Fujiwara no Kamatari
Founding year	668
Cadet branches	Hokke Nanke Shikike Kyōke Numerous others

Fujiwara association ( 藤原氏 , Fujiwara-uji or Fujiwara-shi ) was a powerful family unit of regal regents in Nihon, descending from the Nakatomi clan and through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial courtroom until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. They held the championship of Ason.^[ane] The abbreviated class is Tōshi ( 藤氏 ).^[ii]

The 8th century clan history Tōshi Kaden (藤氏家伝) states the post-obit at the biography of the clan's patriarch, Fujiwara no Kamatari (614–669): "Kamatari, the Inner Palace Minister who was likewise called 'Chūrō,' was a homo of the Takechi district of Yamato Province. His forebears descended from Ame no Koyane no Mikoto; for generations they had administered the rites for Sky and Earth, harmonizing the infinite between men and the gods. Therefore, it was ordered their clan was to exist called Ōnakatomi"^[iii]

The clan originated when the founder, Nakatomi no Kamatari (614–669) of the Nakatomi clan, was rewarded by Emperor Tenji with the honorific "Fujiwara", which evolved as a surname for Kamatari and his descendants.^[iv] In time, Fujiwara became known as a clan name.^[5]

The Fujiwara dominated the Japanese politics of Heian menstruum (794–1185) through the monopoly of regent positions, Sesshō and Thouampaku.^[6] The family's primary strategy for central influence was through the marrying of Fujiwara daughters to emperors. Through this, the Fujiwara would gain influence over the next emperor who would, co-ordinate to family unit tradition of that time, exist raised in the household of his mother's side and owe loyalty to his grandfather.^[7] Every bit abdicated emperors took over ability by exercising insei ( 院政 , cloistral rule) at the cease of the 11th century, then followed by the rise of the warrior class, the Fujiwara gradually lost its control over mainstream politics.

The Northern Fujiwara (Ōshū Fujiwara) ruled the Tōhoku region (northeast Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century.^[viii]

Beyond the 12th century, they connected to monopolize the titles of Sesshō and Kampaku for much of the time until the system was abolished in the Meiji era. Though their influence declined, the association remained close advisors to the succeeding Emperors.

Asuka/Nara period [edit]

The Fujiwara clan's political influence was initiated during the Asuka period. Nakatomi no Kamatari, a member of the lower-nobility Nakatomi family led a coup against the Soga in 645 and initiated a series of sweeping government reforms that would be known as the Taika Reform. In 668 Emperor Tenji (reigned 668–671), bestowed the kabane Fujiwara no Ason ( 藤原朝臣 ) on Kamatari. The surname passed to the descendants of Fujiwara no Fuhito (659–720), the second son and heir of Kamatari, who was prominent at the courtroom of several emperors and empresses during the early on Nara flow. He made his daughter Miyako a concubine of Emperor Monmu. Her son, Prince Obito became Emperor Shōmu. Fuhito succeeded in making another of his daughters, Kōmyōshi, the empress consort of Emperor Shōmu. She was the offset empress espoused of Nihon who was not a girl of the imperial family unit itself. Fuhito had 4 sons; and each of them became the progenitor of a buck branch of the clan:

• the Hokke or Northern branch founded by Fujiwara no Fusasaki^[nine]
• the Kyōke branch founded past Fujiwara no Maro^[10]
• the Nanke or Southern co-operative founded by Fujiwara no Muchimaro^[11]
• the Shikike branch founded by Fujiwara no Umakai^[12]

Among them, the Hokke came to exist considered as the leaders of the entire association. All four brothers died in 737 during a major smallpox epidemic in Japan.^[13]

Heian period [edit]

During the Heian period of Japanese history, the Hokke managed to establish a hereditary claim to the position of regent, either for an underage emperor (sesshō) or for an adult i (kampaku). Some prominent Fujiwaras occupied these positions more than once, and for more than one emperor. Lesser members of the Fujiwara were court nobles, provincial governors and vice governors, members of the provincial elite, and samurai. The Fujiwara was one of the 4 great families that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian Menses (794–1185), and the most important of them at that time. The others were the Tachibana, the Taira and the Minamoto. The Fujiwara exercised tremendous ability, especially during the period of regency governments in 10th and 11th centuries, having many emperors as practically puppet monarchs.

The Fujiwara dominated the government of Nippon 794–1160. In that location is no articulate starting point of their potency. All the same, their domination of civil administration was lost by the institution of the first shogunate (i.e., Kamakura shogunate) under Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192.

Fujiwara princes initially served equally highest ministers of the purple Court (kampaku) and regents (sesshō) for underage monarchs. The Fujiwara were the proverbial "power behind the throne" for centuries. Apparently they never aspired to supplant the regal dynasty. Instead, the clan'south influence stemmed from its matrimonial alliances with the majestic family. Considering consorts of crown princes, younger sons, and emperors were mostly Fujiwara women, the male heads of the Fujiwara house were oftentimes the father-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, or maternal grandfather of the emperor. The family reached the peak of its power under Fujiwara no Michinaga (966–1027). He was the grandfather of three emperors, the father of six empresses or imperial consorts, and the grandfather of seven additional royal consorts; it is no exaggeration to say that it was Michinaga who ruled Nippon during this period, non the titular Emperors. Equally a result of these unusually strong familial links, Michinaga never took the title of Kampaku - he held more the power that the position would bring, and had no need of the title.

The Fujiwara association is featured prominently in The Pillow Volume, by Sei Shōnagon, and the character of Genji is partially based on Michinaga in the eponymous the Tale of Genji.

Fujiwara government in the Heian menstruum [edit]

The Fujiwara Regency was the primary characteristic of government during near of the Heian era. Kyoto (Heian-kyō) was geopolitically a better seat of authorities; with skillful river access to the sea, it could be reached by land routes from the eastern provinces.

Just before the move to the Heian-kyō, the Emperor had abolished universal conscription in the eighth century and soon local, individual militaries came into being. The Fujiwara and the clans of Taira and Minamoto created later during the 9th century were amidst the most prominent families supported by the new armed forces grade.

In the ninth and 10th centuries, much authority was lost to the cracking families, who disregarded the Chinese-way land and tax systems imposed by the authorities in Kyoto. Stability came to Heian Japan, but, fifty-fifty though succession was ensured for the Regal family through heredity, power again concentrated in the hands of one noble family, the Fujiwara.

Family administrations now became public institutions. Equally the almost powerful family, the Fujiwara governed Japan and determined the general diplomacy of land, such every bit succession to the throne. Family and state affairs were thoroughly intermixed, a pattern followed among other families, monasteries, and even the imperial family unit.

Every bit the Soga had taken command of the throne in the 6th century, the Fujiwara by the 9th century had intermarried with the imperial family, and one of their members was the start head of the Emperor'southward Private Office. While the earliest parts of the Heian period was marked by unusually strong emperors governing themselves (in particular from Emperor Kanmu to Emperor Saga (781-823)), the Fujiwara started to rebuild their influence first nether Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu in the first half of the 9th century. Fuyutsugu'south son Fujiwara no Yoshifusa was the outset person not from the majestic family to become regent for a minor emperor when he gained that position when his grandson was enthroned as Emperor Seiwa in 858. His adopted son, Fujiwara no Mototsune, had himself farther appointed kampaku (regent for an developed emperor, a newly invented position). Later Mototsune's expiry Emperor Uda (who was not the son of a Fujiwara daughter) managed to regain control of much of government. However, after abdicating in favour of his son, Emperor Daigo (897–930), while apparently intending to control regime from retirement, Mototsune's son Fujiwara no Tokihira managed to maneuver himself back to very prominent position until his early death in 909. The remaining period of Daigo's reign was over again relatively free from Fujiwara dominance, only from the beginning of the reign of his son Emperor Suzaku, the Fujiwara again re-established their dominance of the courtroom with the leadership of Fujiwara no Tadahira.

Nevertheless, the Fujiwara were not demoted by Emperor Daigo but in many ways became stronger during his reign. Primal command of Japan had connected to reject, and the Fujiwara, along with other great families and religious foundations, acquired ever larger shōen and greater wealth during the early on tenth century. By the early Heian catamenia, the shōen had obtained legal condition, and the large religious establishments sought clear titles in perpetuity, waiver of taxes, and immunity from government inspection of the shōen they held. Those people who worked the land found it advantageous to transfer championship to shōen holders in render for a share of the harvest. People and lands were increasingly beyond central control and taxation, a de facto return to conditions before the Taika Reform.

Within decades of Emperor Daigo's decease, the Fujiwara had absolute control over the court. By the year grand, Fujiwara no Michinaga was able to enthrone and dethrone emperors at will. Little potency was left for traditional officialdom, and government affairs were handled through the Fujiwara family'south private administration. The Fujiwara had become what historian George B. Sansom has chosen "hereditary dictators".

The Fujiwara presided over a flow of cultural and artistic flowering at the imperial courtroom and amongst the aristocracy. There was swell involvement in graceful poetry and vernacular literature. Japanese writing had long depended on Chinese ideograms (kanji), merely these were now supplemented by kana, two types of phonetic Japanese script: katakana, a mnemonic device using parts of Chinese ideograms; and hiragana, a cursive grade of kanji writing and an art class in itself. Hiragana gave written expression to the spoken word and, with it, to the rise in Japan'due south famous colloquial literature, much of it written by courtroom women who had not been trained in Chinese as had their male person counterparts. Three late tenth century and early eleventh century women presented their views of life and romance at the Heian courtroom in Kagerō Nikki ("The Gossamer Years") by "the mother of Michitsuna", Makura no Sōshi (The Pillow Book) by Sei Shōnagon, and Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji) by Murasaki Shikibu (herself a Fujiwara). Indigenous art also flourished under the Fujiwara after centuries of imitating Chinese forms. Vividly colored yamato-e (Japanese fashion) paintings of court life and stories about temples and shrines became common in the mid and late Heian periods, setting patterns for Japanese fine art to this day.

Decline in nutrient production, growth of the population, and competition for resources amidst the not bad families all led to the gradual decline of Fujiwara power and gave rise to military disturbances in the mid-tenth and eleventh centuries. Members of the Fujiwara, Taira, and Minamoto families—all of whom had descended from the imperial family—attacked one some other, claimed control over vast tracts of conquered land, fix up rival regimes, and generally broke the peace of Japan.

The Fujiwara controlled the throne until the reign of Emperor Get-Sanjō (1068–73), the first emperor not built-in of a Fujiwara female parent since the ninth century. Emperor Go-Sanjō, adamant to restore majestic control through strong personal rule, implemented reforms to curb Fujiwara influence. He likewise established an office to compile and validate estate records with the aim of reasserting fundamental control. Many shōen were not properly certified, and big landholders, like the Fujiwara, felt threatened with the loss of their lands. Emperor Go-Sanjō likewise established the In no chō, or Role of the Cloistered Emperor, which was held past a succession of emperors who abdicated to devote themselves to behind-the-scenes governance, or insei (Cloistered rule).

The In no chō filled the void left by the decline of Fujiwara ability. Rather than being banished, the Fujiwara were mostly retained in their old positions of civil dictator and minister of the center while being bypassed in decision making. In time, many of the Fujiwara were replaced, mostly past members of the rise Minamoto family unit. While the Fujiwara fell into disputes among themselves and formed northern and southern factions, the insei system allowed the paternal line of the regal family to gain influence over the throne. The flow from 1086 to 1156 was the age of supremacy of the In no chō and of the rise of the military grade throughout the country. Military might rather than ceremonious say-so dominated the regime.

A struggle for succession in the mid-twelfth century gave the Fujiwara an opportunity to regain their onetime power. Fujiwara no Yorinaga sided with the retired emperor in a violent battle in 1158 confronting the heir apparent, who was supported by the Taira and Minamoto. In the end, the Fujiwara were destroyed, the old system of government supplanted, and the insei arrangement left powerless as bushi took control of courtroom affairs, marking a turning bespeak in Japanese history. Within a year, the Taira and Minamoto clashed, and a twenty-yr menstruation of Taira ascendancy began. The Taira were seduced past courtroom life and ignored problems in the provinces. Finally, Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–99) rose from his headquarters at Kamakura (in the Kantō region, southwest of modern Tokyo) to defeat the Taira, and with them the kid emperor Emperor Antoku they controlled, in the Genpei State of war (1180–85).

After this downfall, the younger branches of the Fujiwara association turned their focus from politics to the arts, producing literary scholars including Fujiwara no Shunzei and Fujiwara no Teika.

Refuse [edit]

Only forty years subsequently Michinaga's death, his Fujiwara heirs were not able to prevent the accession of Emperor Go-Sanjō (reigned 1068–73), the showtime emperor since Emperor Uda whose mother was not a Fujiwara. The organization of government by retired emperor (daijō tennō) (cloistral rule) beginning from 1087 farther weakened the Fujiwara'south control over the Imperial Court.

The Fujiwara-dominated Heian period approached its end along disturbances of 12th century. The dynastic struggle known every bit the Hōgen Disturbance (Hōgen no Ran) led to the Taira emerging as the about powerful clan in 1156. During the Heiji Disturbance (Heiji no Ran) in 1160 the Taira defeated the coalition of Fujiwara and Minamoto forces. This defeat marked the end of the Fujiwara's dominance.

Split up and indelible influence [edit]

During the 13th century, the Hokke Fujiwara (Hokke), was split into five regent houses: Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujō, Nijō and Ichijō.

They had a "monopoly" to the offices of sesshō and kampaku, and served in plow. The political power had shifted away from the court dignity in Kyoto to the new warrior class in the countryside. However, Fujiwara remained close directorate, regents and ministers to the emperors for centuries, the family remained and political reputation and influence even until the 20th century (such as Fumimaro Konoe and Morihiro Hosokawa, who became the Prime Ministers). Every bit such, they had a certain political power and much influence, as often the rival warriors and later bakufu sought their brotherhood. Oda Nobunaga and his sister Oichi claimed to take descent from the Taira and Fujiwara clans; regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi and shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu were related by marriage to diverse families from Fujiwara clan. Empress Shōken, wife of Emperor Meiji, was a descendant of the Fujiwara association.

Until the marriage of the Crown Prince Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) to Princess Nagako of Kuni (posthumously Empress Kōjun) in January 1924, the principal consorts of emperors and crown princes had often been recruited from one of the Sekke Fujiwara. Imperial princesses were often married to Fujiwara lords – throughout a millennium at least. As recently equally Emperor Shōwa's third daughter, the sometime Princesss Kazuko and Prince Mikasa'southward elder girl, the sometime Princess Yasuko, married into Takatsukasa and Konoe families, respectively. Likewise a girl of the last shōgun married a second cousin of Emperor Shōwa.

Family unit tree [edit]

Encounter as well [edit]

• Sesshō
• Shōgun
• Bakufu
• Puppet emperor
• Cloistered rule
• History of Japan
• Lists of incumbents
• Tōshi Kaden, an early bibliographic clan record

Notes [edit]

References [edit]

• Bauer, Mikael. The History of the Fujiwara House. Kent, United kingdom: Renaissance Books, 2020. ISBN 1912961180;
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Nippon Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Printing. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Plutschow, Herbert Due east. (1995). Japan's Proper name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political and Social Context. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781873410424; OCLC 34218992

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiwara_clan

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