United States or Fiji ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
It is easy to comprehend that in the Kwanto it became a common saying, "Better serve the Minamoto than the sovereign." Fujiwara Kiyohira, who is mentioned above as having espoused the cause of the Minamoto in the Go-sannen, was descended from Hidesato, the conqueror of Masakado. After the Go-sannen outbreak he succeeded to the six districts of Mutsu which had been held by the insurgent chiefs.
It has been shown in the story of the Three Years' War, and specially in the paragraph entitled "The Fujiwara of the North," that the troops of Fujiwara Kiyohira and Minamoto Yoshiiye had fought side by side, and that, after the war, Kiyohira succeeded to the six districts of Mutsu, which constituted the largest estate in the hands of any one Japanese noble.
In one of these edifices repose the remains of Kiyohira, Motohira, and Hidehira. In the days of Kiyohira the monastery consisted of forty buildings and was inhabited by three hundred priests. The 69th Sovereign, the Emperor Go-Shujaku A.D. 1037-1045 70th " " Go-Reizei 1046-1068 71st " " Go-Sanjo 1069-1072 72nd " " Shirakawa 1073-1086 73rd " " Horikawa 1087-1107 74th " " Toba 1108-1123
In the storehouses of the Fujiwara, who, since the days of Kiyohira had ruled for a hundred years in the north, there were found piles of gold, silver, and precious stuffs with which Yoritomo recompensed his troops.
It fell to Yoshiiye, as governor of Mutsu, to quell the disturbance, and very difficult the task proved, so difficult that the issue might have been different had not Fujiwara Kiyohira who will be presently spoken of espoused the Minamoto cause.
That estate was in the possession of Hidehira, grandson of Kiyohira, at the time when the Minamoto family suffered its heavy reverses. Yoshitsune expected, therefore, that at least an asylum would be assured, could he find his way to Mutsu. He was not mistaken.
Word Of The Day