gen-pei

Updated: May 13, 2025

*"Gen" is the alternative pronunciation of "Minamoto" as "Hei" is of "Taira." The two great families who occupy such a large space in the pages of Japanese history are spoken of together as "Gen-Pei," and independently as "Genji" and "Heishi," or "Minamoto" and

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

DESCRIBED superficially, the salient distinction between the epochs of the Fujiwara and the Gen-pei was that during the former the administrative power lay in the hands of the Court nobles in Kyoto, whereas, during the latter, it lay in the hands of the military magnates in the provinces.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

They were called the Seiwa Genji, and next in importance came the Saga Genji and the Murakami Genji.* The Minamoto are alluded to in history as either the Genji or the Minamoto. Both names are often combined into Gen-pei.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era