| The Battle of Dan-no-ura |
| Ships stormy in the waters Fought in Eleven eighty-five, Ceasing years of civil strife; Bloodshed had blanketed Japan. Seitai-shogun Yoritomo Trampled the Taira that day. Military victorious, he turned to Encourage the Fine Arts. Yet it flourished like bonsai; Artistic creations Bound by a feudalistic strait-jacket. Minamoto's Kamakura. Waves at Shimonoseki still wail Of the battle at Dan-no-ura. |
| Historical context of this poem: The Genpei War, the great civil war of Japan (1180-1185), gets its name from the Chinese readings of the names of the two rival clans, the Genji (Minamoto) and the Heike (Taira). The Taira controlled the west and the imperial court while the Minamoto were dominant in the east. In 1156, the Minamoto declared a revolt against the Taira which was soon crushed. As a result, the Minamoto family was almost exterminated. A few boys escaped, however, and when they grew to manhood, set out to avenge their clan. In 1180, minor outbreaks developed into a full-scale civil war. The leader of the Minamoto clan was Yoritomo. The Taira leader, Imperial Grandfather Kiyomori, died of a fever in 1181 and was succeeded by his son, Munemori, an incompetent whose own mother revealed that he was not a true Taira but the son of an umbrella merchant. In 1182, Yoritomo's cousin, Minamoto Kiso no Yoshinaka, conquered Kyoto and set himself as shogun or military ruler. This enraged Yoritomo, who sent his younger half-brother, Yoshitsune, to retake the capital. After his defeat, Yoshinaka escaped with his wife, Tomoe Gozen, and a few retainers. They were ambushed and legend has it that Yoshinaka took his own life but refused to let Tomoe die with him. She killed some of the attackers and fled to a temple to become a nun. While their enemies were fighting amongst themselves, the Taira fled south, taking the eight-year-old emperor Antoku. Yoshitsune hounded them until they made their final stand at Dan-no-Ura, at the Shimonoseki Straight, the waterway that separates the main Japanese island of Honshu and the island of Kyushu. The Battle of Dan-no-ura proved a bitter struggle. The Taira had nothing to lose and so fought with an élan that recalled their glory days. Determined to kill Yoshitsune, Tomomori fought bravely and well, but, just as he feared, Taguchi switched sides and revealed which ship the Emperor Antoku could be found on. Combined with a change in the tides, this event sealed the battle and many Taira, having fought all they could, threw themselves into the sea. Battle of Dan no Ura (24 April 1185) that saw the final destruction of the Taira. In 1192, Yoritomo was proclaimed Shogun and set about to form his own government. The Heian Period had ended and the Kamakura Era had begun. Military dominance of Japan would continue until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. |
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| Anne P. Sharp |
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| Anne P. Sharp Los Angeles CA, USA Telephone (310) 600-9247 |
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