Taira no Kiyomori

Taira no Kiyomori was a historical figure associated with military and political. The record associates Taira no Kiyomori with Japan. Taira no Kiyomori belonged to the Taira clan.

Kiyomori used military service, court office, marriage alliances and control of appointments to lift the Taira above rival warrior houses. The political order built around his family generated opposition that developed into the Genpei War and ended in the destruction of Taira power.

In Eiji Yoshikawa’s The Heike Story, Taira no Kiyomori raises his clan to unprecedented power at the imperial court, but the political order he builds creates resentments that spread through aristocratic and warrior society. Helen Craig McCullough’s The Tale of the Heike follows the ascent and destruction of the Taira clan during the political violence that culminates in the Genpei War. Taira no Kiyomori raises his family to dominance at court, but opposition gathers around the Minamoto, and the struggle moves from palace intrigue and provincial rebellion to celebrated battles on land and sea. Taira no Kiyomori is treated fictionally in Robert Shea’s The Last of the Zinja and Robert Shea’s Time of the Dragons.