Surname of Japanese imperial family members demoted into ranks of nobility
Minamoto 源氏
The emblem (mon) of the Minamoto clan (three Japanese gentian flowers on five bamboo leaves)
Home province
Heian-kyō (Modern Kyōto)
Parent house
Imperial House of Japan (Emperor Saga)
Titles
Shogun, Daimyō, Kuge, Daijō-daijin, Sadaijin, Udaijin, Kazoku, and others
Founder
Minamoto no Makoto (first recorded)
Founding year
May 814 (1210 years ago)
Ruled until
still extant
Cadet branches
Saga Genji
Ninmyō Genji
Montoku Genji
Seiwa Genji
Yōzei Genji
Kōkō Genji
Uda Genji
Daigo Genji
Murakami Genji
Reizei Genji
Kazan Genji
Sanjō Genji
Go-Sanjō Genji
Go-Shirakawa Genji
Juntoku Genji
Go-Saga Genji
Go-Fusakusa Genji
Ōgimachi Genji
Minamoto (源) was a noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility since 814.[1][2][3] Several noble lines were bestowed the surname, the most notable of which was the Seiwa Genji, whose descendants established the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates following the Heian era. The Minamoto was one of the four great clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period in Japanese history—the other three were the Fujiwara, the Taira, and the Tachibana.[4][5]
In the late Heian period, Minamoto rivalry with the Taira culminated in the Genpei War (1180-1185 AD). The Minamoto emerged victorious and established Japan's first shogunate in Kamakura under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself as Shōgun in 1192, ushering in the Kamakura period (1192–1333 AD) of Japanese history. The name "Genpei" comes from alternate readings of the kanji "Minamoto" (源 Gen) and "Taira" (平 Hei).
The Kamakura Shogunate was overthrown by Emperor Go-Daigo in the Kenmu Restoration of 1333. Three years later the Kenmu government would then itself be overthrown by the Ashikaga clan, descendants of the Seiwa Genji who established the Ashikaga shogunate (1333 to 1573).
The Minamoto clan is also called the Genji (源氏, "Minamoto clan"), or less frequently, the Genke (源家, "House of Minamoto"), using the On'yomi readings of gen (源) for "Minamoto", while shi or ji (氏) means "clan", and ke (家) is used as a suffix for "extended family".[6]
^"...the Minamoto (1192-1333)" Warrior Rule in Japan, page 11. Cambridge University Press.
^Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^井上, 辰雄 (2011). 嵯峨天皇と文人官僚 (in Japanese). Japan: 塙書房. pp. 305–306. ISBN 9784827312409.
^Gibney, Frank (1984). Britannica International Encyclopedia. TBS-Britannica. Shisei: "Genji". OCLC 47462068.
^Frédéric, Louis (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 439–452. ISBN 9780674017535.
^Lebra, Takie Sugiyama (1995). Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520076020.
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