Tomoe Gozen
Tomoe Gozen | |
|---|---|
| 巴 御前 | |
| Tomoe Gozen, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Tomoe Gozen, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi | |
| Leader | Minamoto no Yoshinaka (commander) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1157 |
| Died | 1247 (aged 89–90) [2][3][4] |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Buddhist Nun (After the Battle of Awazu)[2] |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | The Minamoto clan (Specifically Minamoto no Yoshinaka) |
| Years of service | Two (1182-1184) |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Awazu |
| Military role/occupation | Onna-musha (Before the Battle of Awazu) |
Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前, Japanese pronunciation: [tomo.e][1]) was an onna-musha, a female samurai, mentioned in The Tale of the Heike.[5] There is doubt as to whether she existed as she does not appear in any primary accounts of the Genpei War.[6][7] She supposedly served under the samurai lord Minamoto no Yoshinaka during the Battle of Awazu,[8] part of the Genpei War in the late Heian period, which led to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.[9][10]
Genpei War
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Under the leadership of Yoshinaka she commanded 300 samurai against 2,000 warriors of the rival Taira clan during the war. After defeating the Taira in 1182 and driving them into the western provinces, Yoshinaka took Kyoto and desired to be the leader of the Minamoto clan. His cousin Yoritomo was prompted to crush Yoshinaka, and sent his brothers Yoshitsune and Noriyori to kill him.
Yoshinaka fought Yoritomo's forces at the Battle of Awazu on February 21, 1184,[11] where she is known for beheading Honda no Morishige, leader of the Musashi Clan.[12] She presented his head to her master Yoshinaka.[13] Although Yoshinaka's troops fought bravely, they were outnumbered and overwhelmed. When Yoshinaka was defeated there, with only a few of his soldiers standing, he told Tomoe Gozen to flee because he wanted to die with his foster brother.
There are varied accounts of what followed. She is also known for having killed Uchida Ieyoshi and for escaping capture by Hatakeyama Shigetada.[14] She then retired to become a Buddhist nun, remaining so supposedly until 1247 AD.[2]
Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Note: Gozen is not a name, but rather an honorific title, usually translated to "Lady", though the title was rarely bestowed upon men as well.
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- ^ Faure, Bernard. (2003). The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender, p. 211, p. 211, at Google Books; Kitagawa, p. 521.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Joly, Henri L. (1967). Legend in Japanese Art, p. 540.
References
[edit | edit source]- Faure, Bernard (2003). The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).; Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).; OCLC 49626418.
- Joly, Henri L. (1967). Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).; OCLC 219871829.
- Kitagawa, Hiroshi and Bruce T. Tsuchida, ed. (1975). The Tale of the Heike. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).; OCLC 164803926.
- McCullough, Helen Craig (1988). The Tale of the Heike. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).; OCLC 16472263.
- Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).; OCLC 48943301.
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Famous Women of Japanese History Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine. The Samurai Archives Japanese History Page.
- Shea, L. "Tomoe Gozen - Female Samurai". Bella Online, 2009.
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- 1150s births
- 1247 deaths
- Asian people whose existence is disputed
- 12th-century Japanese women
- 13th-century Japanese women
- 12th-century Japanese people
- 13th-century Japanese people
- Japanese folklore
- Japanese women in warfare
- Women warriors
- Onna-musha
- Minamoto clan
- Women in 12th-century warfare
- People of the Genpei War
- People of the Heian period