Japanese samurai clan
The
M?ri clan
(毛利氏
M?ri-shi
) was a
Japanese samurai clan
descended from
?e no Hiromoto
.
?e no Hiromoto
was descended from the
Fujiwara clan
. The family's most illustrious member,
M?ri Motonari
, greatly expanded the clan's power in
Aki Province
. During the
Edo period
his descendants became
daimy?
of the
Ch?sh? Domain
under the
Tokugawa shogunate
. After the
Meiji Restoration
with the
abolition of the
han
system
and
daimy?
, the M?ri clan became part of the
new nobility
.
[1]
Origins
[
edit
]
Grave of
M?ri Suemitsu
in
Kamakura
.
The founder of the clan,
M?ri Suemitsu
, was the fourth son of
?e no Hiromoto
. He founded the clan when he took the name from his
sh?en
named "M?ri" in
Aik? District
,
Sagami Province
.
[2]
After the
J?ky? War
, Suemitsu was appointed to the
jit?
office of a
sh?en
in
Aki Province
. He was defeated by
H?j? Tokiyori
in 1247 and committed suicide (
seppuku
) at
Minamoto no Yoritomo
's shrine (
hokked?
) 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 M?ri Family Tree (毛利系?),
Sonpi Bunmyaku
and ?e Family Tree (大江氏系?).
[4]
According to the
Sonpi Bunmyaku
(尊卑分脈) from the late 14th century:
[5]
?e no Hiromoto
(大江?元, 1148?1225)
┃
M?ri Suemitsu
(毛利季光, 1202?1247)
┃
M?ri Tsunemitsu
(毛利?光, ? ? ? )
┃
M?ri Tokichika
(毛利時親, ? ?1341)
┃
M?ri Sadachika
(毛利貞親, ? ?1351)
┃
M?ri Chikahira
(毛利親衡, ? ?1375), moved the family to
Aki Province
.
┃
M?ri Motoharu
(毛利元春, 1323? ? )
Kamakura period
[
edit
]
During the
Kamakura shogunate
the M?ri were a
gokenin
family due to the fame of their ancestor
?e no Hiromoto
.
M?ri Suemitsu
, the fourth son of
?e no Hiromoto
inherited M?ri-
sh?en
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 M?ri clan but in the M?ri family tradition he is the 39th head of the family as he is the 39th linear descendant of Amenohohi-no-mikoto (天?日命), an ancient god of
Japan
.
[6]
After the third head of the clan,
M?ri Tokichika
, his son
M?ri Sadachika
(毛利貞親) was supposed to succeed him but he and his son were both killed by the
H?j? clan
and the great-grandson of Tsunemitsu became the next head of the clan.
[7]
M?ri Takachika
At the end of the Kamakura shogunate, they became distant from the shogunate and showed a favorable attitude to
Ashikaga Takauji
.
[8]
Sengoku period
[
edit
]
M?ri Motonari's battle standard, housed at the
M?ri Museum
.
In the
Sengoku period
,
M?ri Motonari
expanded their power to the whole of Aki province and then to other neighboring provinces. In his generation, M?ri became the
daimy?
from a local
jizamurai
.
[
citation needed
]
During the war with the
Oda clan
and the
Ikk?-ikki
, the M?ri helped the Ikk?-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 M?ri 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 M?ri naval threat.
After a struggle between
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, who led his army as a general of
Oda Nobunaga
, the two sides made peace and M?ri remained as a
daimy?
who kept five provinces in
Ch?goku
.
Edo period
[
edit
]
In 1600,
M?ri Terumoto
nominally led the West Army in the
Battle of Sekigahara
. The West Army lost the battle and the M?ri clan lost three eastern provinces and moved their capital from
Hiroshima
to present-day
Hagi, Yamaguchi
. The newer fief, M?ri
han
, consisted of two provinces:
Nagato Province
and
Su? Province
. Derived from the former, M?ri han was referred to often as
Ch?sh? han
.
After the Meiji Restoration
[
edit
]
After the
Meiji Restoration
with the
abolition of the
han
system
and
daimy?
, the M?ri clan became part of the
new nobility
. They became a
ducal
family.
[9]
Clan heads
[
edit
]
M?ri clan crest (
mon
).
- M?ri Suemitsu
(毛利季光, 1202?1247), fourth son of
?e no Hiromoto
(大江?元),
gokenin
of the
Kamakura shogunate
.
- M?ri Tsunemitsu
(毛利?光, ? ? ? ),
gokenin
of the
Kamakura shogunate
.
- M?ri Tokichika
(毛利時親, ? ?1341),
gokenin
of the
Kamakura shogunate
.
- M?ri Motoharu
(毛利元春, 1323? ? ), great-grandson of Tokichika (father and grandfather) skipped over,
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
.
- M?ri Hirofusa
(毛利?房, 1347?1385),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
.
- M?ri Mitsufusa
(毛利光房, 1386?1436),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
.
- M?ri Hiromoto
(毛利?元, ? ?1464),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
.
- M?ri Toyomoto
(毛利豊元, 1444?1476),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
.
- M?ri Hiromoto
(毛利弘元, 1466?1506),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
. Died young of
alcohol poisoning
.
- M?ri Okimoto
(毛利興元, 1492?1516),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
. Died young of
alcohol poisoning
, succeeded by his infant son.
- M?ri K?matsumaru
(毛利幸松丸, 1515?1523),
jizamurai
of
Aki
, retainer of
Ashikaga shogunate
. Died at only 9 years of age, succeeded by his uncle.
- M?ri Motonari
(毛利元就, 1497?1571), arguably the most famous member of the clan. Expanded the clan's power to nearly all of the
Ch?goku region
.
- M?ri Takamoto
(毛利隆元, 1523?1563), became head of the clan when his father "retired" but died young before his father, suspected assassination by poisoning.
- M?ri Terumoto
(毛利輝元, 1553?1625), 1st
daimy?
of
Hiroshima Domain
, taken away from him after
Battle of Sekigahara
.
- M?ri Hidenari
(毛利秀就, 1595?1651), 1st
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Tsunahiro
(毛利綱?, 1639?1689), 2nd
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Yoshinari
(毛利吉就, 1668?1694), 3rd
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Yoshihiro
(毛利吉?, 1673?1707), 4th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
, adopted from the Ch?fu-M?ri branch family (長府毛利家).
- M?ri Yoshimoto
(毛利吉元, 1677?1731), 5th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Munehiro
(毛利宗?, 1717?1751), 6th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Shigenari
(毛利重就, 1725?1789), 7th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Haruchika
(毛利治親, 1754?1791), 8th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Narifusa
(毛利?房, 1782?1809), 9th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Narihiro
(毛利?熙, 1784?1836), 10th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Narimoto
(毛利?元, 1794?1836), 11th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Narit?
(毛利??, 1814?1837), 12th
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Takachika
(毛利敬親, 1819?1871), 13th (and last)
daimy?
of
Ch?sh? Domain
.
- M?ri Motonori
(毛利元?, 1839?1896),
Duke
under the
Kazoku
system.
- M?ri Motoakira
(毛利元昭, 1865?1938),
Duke
under the
Kazoku
system.
- M?ri Motomichi
(毛利元道, 1903?1976),
Duke
under the
Kazoku
system.
- M?ri Motoaki
(毛利元敬, 1930?2020),
Duke
under the
Kazoku
system.
[10]
- M?ri Motohide
(毛利元?, 1967? ), head of the family.
In popular culture
[
edit
]
The clan's war with Hideyoshi appears in
Eiji Yoshikawa
's novel
Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan
.
The M?ri are a playable faction in
Shogun: Total War
and
Total War: Shogun 2
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"The Far East".
University of Michigan
.
6
(7). 1875.
- ^
Mass, Jeffrey P. (1993).
The Bakufu in Japanese History
. Stanford University Press. p. 112.
ISBN
0804722102
.
- ^
Mass, Jeffrey P. (1993).
The Bakufu in Japanese History
. Stanford University Press. p. 113.
ISBN
0804722102
.
- ^
Mass, Jeffrey P. (1993).
The Bakufu in Japanese History
. Stanford University Press. p. 221.
ISBN
0804722102
.
- ^
Sonpi Bunmyaku
- ^
Zhong, Yijiang (2016).
The Origin of Modern Shinto in Japan: The Vanquished Gods of Izumo
. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 135.
ISBN
1474271103
.
- ^
Mass, Jeffrey P. (1993).
The Bakufu in Japanese History
. Stanford University Press. p. 209.
ISBN
0804722102
.
- ^
Mass, Jeffrey P. (1993).
The Bakufu in Japanese History
. Stanford University Press. p. 221.
ISBN
0804722102
.
- ^
Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph
. (1906).
Dictionnaire d’histoire et de geographie du Japon
; Papinot, (2003).
"Matsudaira" at
Nobiliare du Japon
, p. 29
; retrieved 2013-7-11.
- ^
"Seikei University"
.
Seikei Alumni Association
. Seikei Daigaku, Japan
. Retrieved
6 February
2023
.
This article incorporates text from OpenHistory.