Mōri clan
The Mōri clan (毛利氏 Mōri-shi) was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. During the Edo period his descendants became daimyō of the Chōshū Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the han system and daimyō, the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility.[1] OriginsThe founder of the clan, Mōri Suemitsu, was the fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto. He founded the clan when he took the name from his shōen named "Mōri" in Aikō District, Sagami Province.[2] After the Jōkyū War, Suemitsu was appointed to the jitō office of a shōen in Aki Province. He was defeated by Hōjō Tokiyori in 1247 and committed suicide (seppuku) at Minamoto no Yoritomo's shrine (hokkedō) along with his Miura clan allies.[3] The lineage of the Mori clan is well verified because it matches up from several different sources such as the Mōri Family Tree (毛利系図), Sonpi Bunmyaku and Ōe Family Tree (大江氏系図).[4] According to the Sonpi Bunmyaku (尊卑分脈) from the late 14th century:[5] Ōe no Hiromoto (大江広元, 1148–1225) ┃ Mōri Suemitsu (毛利季光, 1202–1247) ┃ Mōri Tsunemitsu (毛利経光, ? – ? ) ┃ Mōri Tokichika (毛利時親, ? –1341) ┃ Mōri Sadachika (毛利貞親, ? –1351) ┃ Mōri Chikahira (毛利親衡, ? –1375), moved the family to Aki Province. ┃ Mōri Motoharu (毛利元春, 1323– ? ) Kamakura periodDuring the Kamakura shogunate the Mōri were a gokenin family due to the fame of their ancestor Ōe no Hiromoto. Mōri Suemitsu, the fourth son of Ōe no Hiromoto inherited Mōri-shōen from his father and that is why he began to use the name. It is reasonable to say he is the first head of the Mōri clan but in the Mōri family tradition he is the 39th head of the family as he is the 39th linear descendant of Amenohohi-no-mikoto (天穂日命), an ancient god of Japan.[6] After the third head of the clan, Mōri Tokichika, his son Mōri Sadachika (毛利貞親) was supposed to succeed him but he and his son were both killed by the Hōjō clan and the great-grandson of Tsunemitsu became the next head of the clan.[7] At the end of the Kamakura shogunate, they became distant from the shogunate and showed a favorable attitude to Ashikaga Takauji.[8] Sengoku periodIn the Sengoku period, Mōri Motonari expanded their power to the whole of Aki province and then to other neighboring provinces. In his generation, Mōri became the daimyō from a local jizamurai.[citation needed] During the war with the Oda clan and the Ikkō-ikki, the Mōri helped the Ikkō-ikki clans by establishing a naval trade route between each other's provincial docks and harbours, the Oda eventually nullified this by laying siege to the trade ships between the two clans and went to further disrupt trade by attempting to destroy the Mōri fleet, failing on their first attempt in 1571. The second battle took place in 1579 with the Oda sending eight Atakebune (heavily armoured ships with iron-clad plating) warships to finally destroy the Mōri naval threat. After a struggle between Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who led his army as a general of Oda Nobunaga, the two sides made peace and Mōri remained as a daimyō who kept six provinces in Chūgoku. Edo periodIn 1600, Mōri Terumoto nominally led the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara. The Western Army lost the battle and the Mōri clan lost four eastern provinces and moved their capital from Hiroshima to present-day Hagi, Yamaguchi. The newer fief, Mōri han, consisted of two provinces: Nagato Province and Suō Province. Derived from the former, Mōri han was referred to often as Chōshū han. After the Meiji RestorationAfter the Meiji Restoration with the abolition of the han system and daimyō, the Mōri clan became part of the new nobility. They became a ducal family.[9] Clan heads
In popular cultureThe clan's war with Hideyoshi appears in Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan. The Mōri are a playable faction in Shogun: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2. See also
References
This article incorporates text from OpenHistory. |