Basic Life

Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189)
(Part 1)

The first time I read about this legendary samurai was in the book 'The Children of Hachiman' by Lynn Guest. The book iteslf came to me by chance.

A friend was migrating to Australia back when I was 15yrs old. Right before that, her house flooded because of a storm the previous night, so they had to clear everything out. At the same time I was visiting, saying goodbye and so on, when her brother invited me to pillage any books around.

I was happy and picked two books. One of them being 'Children of Hachiman'. At that time, I found it kinda boring and set it aside for many years, until one boring afternoon I picked it up again. After that it became one of my favourites.

Yoshitsune was the youngest son of Minamoto Yoshitomo who died while he attempted to defy the Taira Clan. Later one of his wives and children were found but not executed, Yoshitsune was one of them. Instead, he was sent to a temple where he ran away before he was forced to take his vow.

Later he was given the Sword of Hachiman, which was a legendary sword said to be fored by the great Hachiman God himself. It's been passed down from father to son in the Minamoto Clan for generations. Although by rights it should've been passed to Minomoto Yoritomo, his eldest brother......but for some reason (his talent perhaps in handling a sword) it was passed to him.

He ran away to Mutsu, where the governor, Fujiwara Hidehira, gave him shelter and treated him like his own son. At the time Hidehira was already an old man but still go on hunts on horseback daily. He admired Yoshitsune for his youthful vigor and sword skill. So much so that he passed Yoshitsune a priceless hierloom, a small dagger (usually used to preform Speukku).

Later our young hero goes to join his older brother, the head of the Minamoto Clan, Yoritomo. In his youthful mind, perhaps, he pictured his brothers and himself, riding side by side, charging into a battle or something equally dramatic. But it was said that he never got along with his older brother, who was a proud and suspicious man. Disillusioned, Yoshitsune vow to prove that he is a samurai that one can be proud of.

Off he set to win victory after victory in the name of the clan. It was an era of war, of one powerful samurai clan against another, Minamoto VS Taira.

But the Taira has some pretty big connections. One of the Taira daughters was given to the Emperor and have birth to a son. Taira Kiyomori, head of the Taira Clan, was the grandfather of a future emperor.

Many things contributed to Yoshitsune's downfall. During the preparations before a war champaign, he argued with Kajiwara Kagetoki, one the right hand men of Yoritomo. This later further fueled the animosity between the two brothers. Later Yoritomo refused to grant Yoshitsune court titles, the same that was given to Noriyori (also their brother, older than Yoshitsune, younger than Yoritomo), eventhough Yoshisune had won many battles and deserved the honour.

A lot speculated that Yoritomo was jealous of Yoshitsune's popularity among the common folk and people of the court alike. Not only he inherited the Sword of Hachiman but he was reputed as a good looking fella with an even greater reputation as a cunning strategist and brilliant general. Most probably Yoritomo feared that his younger brother would raise an army to take over the position of head of the Minamoto Clan.

[end of Part 1)