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In
Japanese history, a Shogun (将軍) was the practical
ruler of Japan before the
Meiji Era.
Technically, the Japanese term is a shorthand for Seii Taishogun
(征夷大将軍), a contraction of the ancient and rank of
general or
generalissimo, highest ranking
samurai title meaning "great generalissimo who overcomes the
barbarians". Since the launch of the
Kamakura shogunate, the shogun had seized the practical power of
ruling Japan, taking power over from the
Imperial Court in Kyoto until the
Meiji restoration.
The administration of a Shogun is called Bakufu, or the
shogunate.
Seii
Taishogun of Heian Period Japan (794 - 1185 AD)
Conquest of the Emishi
Originally, the Seii Taishogun title was given to military
commanders during the early
Heian Period for the duration of military campaigns against the
Emishi who resisted the governance of the imperial court based in
Kyoto. The most famous of these shoguns was
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro who conquered the Emishi in the name of the
emperor
Kammu. Eventually the title was abandoned in the later Heian after the
Emishi had been either subjugated or driven to
Hokkaido.
Gempei War
However, in the later Heian one more, however short-lived, shogun was
appointed.
Minamoto no Yoshinaka was named Seii Taishogun during the
Genpei War only to be killed shortly thereafter by his distant cousin
Minamoto no Yoshitsune, brother of
Minamoto no Yoritomo.
Seii
Taishogun of Feudal Period Japan (1185 - 1868 AD)
Kamakura Shogunate
After the defeat of the
Taira clan in the Genpei War in
1185,
Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the emperor and became the
dictator and
de facto ruler of Japan. He established a feudal system of
government based in
Kamakura in which the military, the samurai, assumed all political
power while the
Emperors of Japan and the
aristocracy in
Kyoto remained the figurehead
de jure rulers. In 1192 Yoritomo was awarded the title of
Seii Taishogun by the emperor and the political system he developed
with a succession of shogun at the head became known as a
bakufu (tent government) or
Shogunate. From this point in history, all shogun that headed
shogunates were by tradition descendants of the
Minamoto princes, the sons of
emperor Seiwa, and the title passed generation to generation to the
eldest sons.
Kemmu Restoration
During the
Kemmu Restoration after the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333,
another short-lived shogun arose.
Prince Moriyoshi (also known as Prince Morinaga), son of the
emperor Go-Daigo was awarded the title of Seii Taishogun and
put in charge of the military. After
Ashikaga Takauji, later founder of the
Muromachi shogunate, rebelled against the emperor, Prince Moriyoshi
was put under house arrest and killed in
1335 by Takauji's younger brother
Ashikaga Tadayoshi.
Muromachi and Edo Shogunates
In Japanese history, besides
Minamoto no Yoritomo whose
Kamakura Shogunate lasted for approximately 150 years, from
1192 to
1333, only
Ashikaga Takauji and
Tokugawa Ieyasu, each being descendants of the Minamoto princes, were
awarded the title of Seii Taishogun and established
bakufu on their own right. The
Ashikaga Shogunate lasted from
1338 to
1573, while the
Tokugawa Shogunate lasted from
1603 to
1868.
The so-called
Transitional shoguns of
1568-1598
were never given the title of Seii Taishogun by the emperor and
did not establish
bakufu, but did for a period hold power over the emperor and most/all
of
Japan.
The title Seii Taishogun was abolished during the
Meiji Restoration in 1868, in which effective power was "restored" to
the emperor and his appointees. See
Taisei houkan.
List of Seii Taishoguns
-
Otomo no Otomaro
-
Sakanoue no Tamuramaro
-
Hun'ya no Watamaro (title Seii Shogun)
-
Minamoto no Yoshinaka
- 9
Kamakura shoguns
-
Prince Morinaga (or Moriyoshi)
-
Prince Narinaga (or Nariyoshi)
- 15
Ashikaga shoguns
- 15
Tokugawa shoguns
Shogunate
Bakufu (幕府) originally described the dwelling
and household of a shogun, but in time it came
to be generally used in
Japanese to describe the system of government of a feudal military
dictatorship, exercised by the shoguns (literally "tent government",
meaning a military rule), and this is the meaning that has been adopted in
English, known as the shogunate.
The system of bakufu was originally established under the
Kamakura bakufu by
Minamoto no Yoritomo. The military wing of the government came to
dominate the civil (imperial) government, so that while the
Emperors of Japan still technically led the government, all practical
(and especially military) power rested with the shogun and the
daimyo. The system was essentially "feudal"
in nature, with lesser territorial lords pledging their allegiance to
greater ones.
Samurai were rewarded for their loyalty with land, which was in turn
handed down and divided among their sons. The loyalty that held together
this system of government was reinforced by close ties of male love
between samurai and their apprentices, and the shoguns as well all took
lovers from among the ranks of the samurai, a practice known as
shudo, "the way of the young", or
nanshoku, "male color".
Three primary bakufu periods are usually identified, each
centered around a family which tended to dominate the position of
shogun during that regime. In the Japanese language, the time period
of each regime is named after the capital of the bakufu. The
Ashikaga and Tokugawa bakufu can also be (and usually are) named
in this fashion.
-
Kamakura Bakufu -
Kamakura period
-
Ashikaga Bakufu or Muromachi Bakufu -
Muromachi period
-
Tokugawa Bakufu or Edo Bakufu -
Edo period
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