Fujiwara clan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fujiwara藤原 |
|
|---|---|
Mon: Sagarifuji
|
|
| Home province | Yamato Province |
| Parent house | Nakatomi clan of Ame-no-Koyane of legendary genealogy Izanagi |
| Founder | Fujiwara no Kamatari |
| Founding year | 668 |
| Cadet branches |
|
The Fujiwara clan (藤原氏 (Fujiwara-shi)) was a very powerful family in Japan. They were like a royal family, but they didn't sit on the throne themselves. Instead, they often acted as regents, meaning they ruled for the Emperor.
The Fujiwara family came from the Nakatomi clan. Legend says their family god was Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara clan became very strong in ancient times. They controlled the imperial court for many centuries. They kept their power until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
The clan started when a man named Nakatomi no Kamatari (614–669) was given a special honor by Emperor Tenji. This honor was the name "Fujiwara." It came from the wisteria (fuji) fields on Mount Tōno. Kamatari and Prince Naka (who later became Emperor Tenji) were friends. They worked together to remove another powerful family, the Soga clan. The name Fujiwara then became a family name for Kamatari and his children.
The Fujiwara family became super important during the Heian period (794–1185). They held special jobs like Sesshō and Kampaku. These were positions where they ruled for the Emperor. The Sesshō ruled if the Emperor was too young. The Kampaku ruled if the Emperor was an adult.
The Fujiwara's main secret to power was marriage. They would marry their daughters to the Emperors. This meant the next Emperor would be their grandson. Since the Emperor was raised by his mother's family, he would feel loyal to his Fujiwara grandfather. This gave the Fujiwara family huge influence.
Later, other powerful groups like the samurai warriors started to rise. Emperors also began to rule from retirement, a system called insei. Because of these changes, the Fujiwara slowly lost their direct control over politics. However, they still remained important advisors to the Emperors.
Contents
How the Fujiwara Clan Grew Strong
The Fujiwara clan's power began during the Asuka period. A man named Nakatomi no Kamatari led a big change in 645. He helped overthrow the Soga clan. This led to important government changes called the Taika Reform.
In 668, Emperor Tenji gave Kamatari the special name "Fujiwara." Kamatari's son, Fujiwara no Fuhito (659–720), made the family even stronger. Fuhito was very important in the early Nara period. He made his daughter Miyako a wife of Emperor Monmu. Their son, Prince Obito, later became Emperor Shōmu.
Fuhito also made another daughter, Kōmyōshi, the empress of Emperor Shōmu. She was the first empress who was not from the imperial family itself. Fuhito had four sons. Each son started a new branch of the Fujiwara family:
- The Hokke (Northern branch) started by Fujiwara no Fusasaki.
- The Kyōke branch started by Fujiwara no Maro.
- The Nanke (Southern branch) started by Fujiwara no Muchimaro.
- The Shikike branch started by Fujiwara no Umakai.
The Hokke branch became the most important and led the whole clan. Sadly, all four brothers died in 737 during a major smallpox sickness.
The Fujiwara in the Heian Period
During the Heian period, the Hokke branch of the Fujiwara clan made sure that only their family could be regents. They held the positions of sesshō (for young emperors) and kampaku (for adult emperors). Some Fujiwara leaders held these jobs many times.
Other Fujiwara family members became court nobles or provincial governors. The Fujiwara were one of the four most powerful families in Japan during the Heian Period. They were the most important of all. They had huge power, especially from the 10th to 11th centuries. Many emperors during this time were like puppet monarchs, with the Fujiwara truly in charge.
The Fujiwara family controlled the Japanese government from 794 to 1160. Their power came from marrying their daughters into the imperial family. This meant the heads of the Fujiwara family were often the Emperor's father-in-law, uncle, or grandfather.
The family reached its highest point of power under Fujiwara no Michinaga (966–1027). He was the grandfather of three emperors. He was also the father of six empresses or imperial wives. It's fair to say that Michinaga ruled Japan during his time, not the Emperors themselves. He was so powerful that he didn't even need the title of Kampaku.
The Fujiwara clan is famous in Japanese literature. They appear in The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon. The main character Genji in Tale of Genji is partly based on Michinaga.
How the Fujiwara Ruled
The Fujiwara family's rule was a key part of the Heian era government. The capital city, Kyoto (then called Heian-kyō), was a good place for the government. It had good river access to the sea and land routes to other areas.
During this time, the Emperor stopped having a universal army. Instead, local private armies started to appear. The Fujiwara, along with the Taira and Minamoto families, became very strong because they had support from these new military groups.
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the government in Kyoto lost some control. Powerful families like the Fujiwara ignored the old Chinese-style land and tax rules. Japan became stable, but power ended up in the hands of one family again: the Fujiwara.
The Fujiwara family controlled Japan and decided important things like who would be the next Emperor. Their family business and state affairs became mixed together.
The Fujiwara had married into the imperial family since the 9th century. Fujiwara no Yoshifusa was the first person not from the imperial family to become regent for a young emperor in 858. His adopted son, Fujiwara no Mototsune, even created a new job: kampaku (regent for an adult emperor).
After Mototsune died, Emperor Uda tried to take back control. But Mototsune's son, Fujiwara no Tokihira, managed to get back into a powerful position. After Emperor Daigo's reign, the Fujiwara again became very powerful under Fujiwara no Tadahira.
The Fujiwara also became very rich. They gained control of large private estates called shōen. These estates were often free from government taxes and checks. People who worked the land found it helpful to give their land to shōen owners. This meant more and more land and people were outside the government's control.
By the year 1000, Fujiwara no Michinaga could choose and remove emperors as he wished. The Fujiwara family's private rules became the government's rules. Historians have called them "hereditary dictators."
The Fujiwara period was a time of great art and culture at the imperial court. People enjoyed poetry and Japanese literature. Japanese writing had used Chinese characters for a long time. But now, two new Japanese writing systems, katakana and hiragana, were used. Hiragana was especially important. It allowed people to write down spoken Japanese. Many famous books were written by court women, like The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon and Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (who was also a Fujiwara). Japanese art also grew, with colorful yamato-e paintings showing court life.
The Decline of Fujiwara Power
Over time, problems like less food production and more people led to the Fujiwara's power slowly fading. There were also military fights in the 10th and 11th centuries. Members of the Fujiwara, Taira, and Minamoto families (all related to the imperial family) fought each other. They took control of land and started their own governments.
The Fujiwara controlled the throne until Emperor Go-Sanjō (1068–73). He was the first emperor since the 9th century whose mother was not a Fujiwara. Emperor Go-Sanjō wanted to bring back imperial control. He made changes to limit Fujiwara influence. He also started an office to check land records. This made the Fujiwara worried about losing their lands.
Emperor Go-Sanjō also started the In no chō, or Office of the Cloistered Emperor. This was where emperors would step down but still rule from behind the scenes. This system, called insei, filled the gap as Fujiwara power declined. The Fujiwara were kept in their old jobs, but they were no longer making the big decisions.
The period from 1086 to 1156 was when the In no chō was most powerful. It was also when the military class grew strong across Japan. Military power, not civil power, now controlled the government.
A fight over who would be the next emperor in the mid-12th century gave the Fujiwara a chance to regain power. Fujiwara no Yorinaga sided with a retired emperor in a battle in 1158. But they lost to the heir, who was supported by the Taira and Minamoto clans. This battle destroyed the Fujiwara's old power. The insei system also lost its strength. Warriors took control of court affairs. This was a major turning point in Japanese history.
Soon after, the Taira and Minamoto clans fought each other. The Taira ruled for about twenty years. But they became too focused on court life and ignored problems in the provinces. Finally, Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–99) defeated the Taira in the Genpei War (1180–85).
After this defeat, the younger branches of the Fujiwara clan focused on arts and learning. They produced famous writers like Fujiwara no Shunzei and Fujiwara no Teika.
Later Influence
Even after their main power ended, the Fujiwara family remained important. In the 13th century, the main Fujiwara branch (Hok-ke) split into five families: Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujō, Nijō, and Ichijō.
These five families had a "monopoly" on the jobs of sesshō and kampaku. Even though the real political power moved to the new warrior class in the countryside, the Fujiwara remained close advisors to the emperors for centuries. They kept their political reputation and influence even into the 20th century. For example, Fumimaro Konoe and Morihiro Hosokawa (who were from Fujiwara-related families) became Prime Ministers.
The Fujiwara family often formed alliances with powerful warrior leaders. For example, Oda Nobunaga and his sister Oichi claimed to be related to the Taira and Fujiwara clans. Regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi and shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu were also related by marriage to Fujiwara families. Empress Shōken, the wife of Emperor Meiji, was a descendant of the Fujiwara clan.
For a very long time, the main wives of emperors and crown princes often came from one of the Fujiwara families. Imperial princesses also often married Fujiwara lords. Even recently, Emperor Shōwa's daughter, the former Princess Kazuko, and Prince Mikasa's daughter, the former Princess Yasuko, married into Fujiwara-related families.
See also
- Cloistered rule
- History of Japan
- Minamoto
- Sesshō
- Shōgun
- Tachibana
- Taira
