Posted by Dazai Shoni Fujiwara Hirotsugu started a rebellion in Kyushu in August 740AD in an effort to dislodge undesirable influences within the Heijo (Nara) royal court.
In the early 8th century, the Fujiwara clan held a powerful position within the Daijo-kan (Council of the State) under the direct service of Emperor Shomu. Fujiwara no Fuhito was a senior first ranked noble during the Asuka and Nara periods. From his lineage came the four heads of the Fujiwara branches, known as the ‘Fujiwara four’ who took up key positions within the council. The Fujiwara were also related to the emperor through marriage as Shomu’s mother and concubine were both daughters of Fuhito. The clan held a commanding position in the Heijo court but a smallpox pandemic broke out in 735AD in Kyushu and eventually found its way east to the capital two tears later. The disease affected much of the population including the aristocracy. As a result, all four brothers contracted the disease and subsequently died. Emperor Shomu was spared but the Fujiwara lost just about all of their influence in the court. Once new appointments were made no single family clan had as much power as the Fujiwara once did and positions were filled by a number of noble families including the Tachibana and Otomo.
Emperor Shomu ruled between 724 to 748AD. In the 730s his weak leadership produced a number of rebellions as well as continuous bickering among the nobles relating to the future of Heijo (Nara) as a capital or not. The nobility wanted rid of Buddhist influences in the court, but as Shomu often spent years away from Heijo this allowed infiltration of undesirables into the court. As mentioned in the introduction, Hirotsugu’s rebellion was essentially a movement to remove these undesirable influences within the court, namely two men, Kibi no Makibi and the priest Genbo. Both men had modest upbringings but were lucky enough to be members of a mission sent to Tang China where they lived for about 17 years. Once they returned, they served as advisors to the emperor with valuable information from their studies in Tang China and their Buddhism teachings. The promotion of Kibi to junior fifth rank in the court was the catalyst for Hirotsugu to make a racket about the rising influence of the two men within the court. However, this strategy backfired and it was Hirotsugu that was demoted, stripped of his lands in Yamato and sent into exile to Dazaifu in Kyushu as Dazai Shoni (Assistant Governor). Shomu was also accused of wanting to distance himself from any more Fujiwara influence in the court and this may have been the excuse to finally rid the court of the Fujiwara. Either way, Hirotsugu was unimpressed and of course, he was worried about the declining power of the Fujiwara within the court which came to a head a few years later.
Life in Kyushu had been difficult due to the smallpox plague and a couple of years of droughts. Hirotsugu was able to win over the local lords on the pretext of Shomu’s weak leadership and ever growing Buddhist influences within the court to raise a significant army as well as conscript soldiers from the Hayato, a minority group in Kyushu who had suffered from ongoing conflicts with the Yamato state for many years. Hirotsugu set up camp in Onga. The actual number of troops Hirotsugu could assemble is uncertain, some say 10,000, other 15,000. Conscripts came from Satsuma including the Hayato, Chikuzen and Bungo. Hirotsugu’s younger brother Tsunade travelled from Bungo with 1000 warriors and Tagokomaro marched an army from Tagawa province.
Once assembled, the army split into three and marched on Kokura. Emperor Shomu appointed Ono Azumabito to lead an army of 17000 to put down the rebellion. Ono was the ‘go-to’ warrior for Shomu, who had recently dealt with the northern Emishi tribes. The army was well armed with experienced cavalry archers. This conflict was to become Japan’s largest in the 8th century. The two armies met across the Itabitsu river in northern Kyushu. Hirotsugu’s army increased to about 10,000 troops but Tsunade nor Komaro had arrived. The majority of the army were foot soldiers and were not very well armed. In the meantime, it is thought that some Hayato who served with the imperial army persuaded their clansmen to defect which they did. This had a profound effect on the whole army and Hirotsugu’s army collapsed.
Not only did the Hayato defect but also local lords who had initially joined the rebels such as Kaeda Seimaro, of Buzen, Zen Tonji of Nakatsu and Yuzan Kimimaru of Shimoge quickly surrendered. Tsunade eventually arrived but it was too late. Both Hirotsugu and Tsunade made their escape but were captured in Kashima, Matsuura country in Hizen in October. They were both caught and executed the following month. There is another story that says the two rebels tried escape to Jeju Island and were trying to defect to Sila (Korea) but they were blown back to Kyushu by a storm. They took control of the Goto Islands off the coast of Kyushu which lasted two months before getting captured and beheaded.
Written and researched by
藍瑠杜スチュアート
Stuart Iles.
References
Shoku Nihongi
Yamamoto Hirofumi.あなたの知らない福岡県の歴史 (歴史新書) 2012. (History of Fukuoka you don’t know). Yosensha
SCHEID, Bernhard. “Shōmu Tennō and the Deity from Kyushu: Hachiman’s Initial Rise to Prominence.” Japan Review, no. 27 (2014): 31–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23849569.
Toby, Ronald P. “Why Leave Nara?: Kammu and the Transfer of the Capital.” Monumenta Nipponica 40, no. 3 (1985): 331–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/2384764.
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