were a

Japanese clan This is a list of Japanese clans. The old clans (''Gōzoku'') mentioned in the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki lost their political power before the Heian period, Heian Period, during which new aristocracies and families, ''Kuge'', emerged in their place. ...

claiming descent from

Taira no Tomomori (1152–1185) was the son of Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira Clan's chief commanders in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. He was victorious at the Battle of Uji in 1180. He also became successful in t ...

. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)
"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 56
retrieved 2013-5-10. The clan governed and held

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese archipelago situated in-between the Tsushima Strait and Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. The main island of Tsushima, once a single island, was divided into two in 1671 b ...

from the 13th through the late 19th century, from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

until the end of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

and the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. In 1587,

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

confirmed the clan's possession of Tsushima. In the struggles which followed Hideyoshi's death, the clan sided with the Tokugawa; however, they did not participate in the decisive battles which preceded the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. The descendants of '' tozama''

Sō Yoshitoshi was a Sō clan ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the domain of Tsushima on Tsushima Island at the end of Japan's Sengoku period, and into the Edo period. His name is sometimes read as Yoshitomo.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'' -- Sō ...

(1568–1615) remained at

Tsushima-Fuchū Domain , also called the Tsushima domain, was a domain of Japan in the Edo period. It is associated with Tsushima Province on Tsushima Island in modern-day Nagasaki Prefecture. In the han system, Tsushima was a political and economic abstraction based ...

(100,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'') in

Tsushima Province was an Old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan on Tsushima Island which occupied the area corresponding to modern-day Tsushima, Nagasaki, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki. It was sometimes called . Political history The origin of T ...

until the abolition of the ''han'' system. The head of this clan line was ennobled as

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

in 1884.

History

Historians consider the Sō clan to have been an offshoot of the Koremune clan (惟宗氏), who served as local officials of Dazaifu and

. The earliest evidence of Sō clan cohesion arises in the 11th century. Appert, Georges. (1888)
''Ancien Japon,''p. 77.
/ref> The Koremune had their start as governors of Tsushima following an incident in 1246, when the

Abiru clan The was a Japanese clan which served the Kamakura shogunate as local officials on Tsushima. It is believed the clan may have been derived from the Taira clan, but the validity of this notion is not fully evident from primary sources. In 1246, t ...

, local district officials ('' zaichōkanjin'') on Tsushima, rebelled against the

Chinzei Bugyō , or Defense Commissioner of the West, was the name given to a post created in 1186 to oversee the defense of Kyūshū. At the time, the primary mission of the ''Bugyō'' was to seek out and eliminate anyone who had supported Minamoto no Yoshitsune ...

and the Dazaifu government which governed all of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

and the surrounding regions on behalf of the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

. Dazaifu ordered Koremune Shigehisa to stop the rebellion and to destroy the Abiru clan. He was rewarded for his victory with the post of '' Jito'' (local land steward), by the

Shōni clan was a family of Japanese nobles descended from the Fujiwara family, many of whom held high government offices in Kyūshū. Prior to the Kamakura period (1185–1333), "Shōni" was originally a title and post within the Kyūshū ( Dazaifu) governm ...

, ''

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The pos ...

'' (governors) of Tsushima. The Koremune extended its influence on Tsushima over the course of the

, as the deputies of the Shōni. When the Mongols invaded Japan in 1274, clan head

Sō Sukekuni was the Deputy Governor of Tsushima Province during the Kamakura period of Japan. During the first Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274, Sukekuni led the defence of the island despite only having 80 men. He was killed during the battle on Novembe ...

fought against the invaders and died on Tsushima. The Sō clan fought for the Shōni clan and for the

Ashikaga Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. The present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the Northern Cour ...

during the Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392), and seized a portion of

Chikuzen Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today part of Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyūshū. It was sometimes called or , with Chikugo Province. Chikuzen bordered Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, and Hizen Provinces. History The original provincial ...

Imagawa Ryōshun , also known as , was a renowned Japanese poet and military commander who served as tandai ("constable") of Kyūshū under the Ashikaga bakufu from 1371 to 1395. His father, Imagawa Norikuni, had been a supporter of the first Ashikaga ''shōgu ...

became '' Chinzei Tandai'' (head of the Dazaifu government) soon afterwards, and the

Imagawa clan was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in the ...

became ''

'' of Tsushima. When Imagawa Ryōshun was dismissed from his post in 1395, Sō Sumishige became ''shugo'' of Tsushima. Though now holding the hereditary post of ''shugo'' of Tsushima, the clan remained vassals of the Shōni until the late 15th century. In the course of breaking away from the Shōni clan, the Sō clan started to claim that it originated with a grandson of

, Taira no Tomomune. The Sō clan moved its base from northern Kyūshū to Tsushima around 1408. Although it struggled to keep its territory in Chikuzen on Kyūshū, the clan was finally purged from that region by the

Ōuchi clan was one of the most powerful and important families in Western Japan during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate in the 12th to 14th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi, comprised six provinces at their height, and ...

in the mid-15th century. From roughly the 1430s to the 1550s, the clan worked towards independence, its sights set on gaining true control of Tsushima, and on establishing friendly relations with

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. The first of these goals was attained through a reversal of fate in which the Shōni came to rely upon the Sō for military aid against the Ōuchi. Sō Sadamori and his younger brother Sō Morikuni helped to defeat the Ōuchi over ten times, and in doing so deepened their clan's relationship with the traders and merchants of Hakata, one of Kyūshū's major ports. Being based on the mountainous island, the Sō clan heavily relied on trade with Korea. Fortunately, the Sō clan shared mutual interests with the Joseon Dynasty. In 1443, the Daimyō of Tsushima, Sō Sadamori proposed a Gyehae treaty. The number of trade ships from Tsushima to Korea was decided by this treaty, and the Sō clan monopolized the trade with Korea. The Sō were required to greatly reduce the number of pirate attacks on Korea, and in return would be granted a virtual monopoly on Japanese trade with their neighbors on the peninsula. This would later lead to the emergence of the Sō as one of the major clans in Japan, their wealth and power from trade more than making up for their small territory and submissive position vis-a-vis Korea. Alongside the Shōni clan, whose hereditary clan heads now regularly operated under Sō clan guidance, the Sō fought the Ōuchi numerous times across the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

(1467–1600), and later the Mōri and

Ōtomo clan was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū. Origins The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took ...

s as well; the clan lost and regained their territory in Chikuzen province on Kyūshū many times over the course of the period. In the end, the downfall of the Shōni, marked by Shōni Fuyuhisa's 1559 defeat at the hands of

Ryūzōji Takanobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in Hizen Province during the Sengoku period. Takanobu was the head of the Ryūzōji clan. Biography Takanobu was the grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane (1454-1546). Ryūzōji Takanobu is known for expanding his clan's ho ...

, brought an end to the Sō clan's territorial aspirations on Kyūshū. Following a period of increased '' wakō'' predation, the Joseon-Japanese "Treaty of Tenbun" in 1547 (''

Tenbun , also known as Tenmon, was a after ''Kyōroku'' and before '' Kōji''. This period spanned from July 1532 through October 1555. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1532 : At the request of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the 12th ''shōgun'' of the ...

11'')limited trading to the Joseon port of Pusan and also limited Sō clan commerce to 20 ships annually. The Sō clan submitted itself to

in 1587 and supplied troops for the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Soon afterwards, however, the clan took it upon themselves to repair relations with Korea, sending a number of envoys under the guise of being official shogunal envoys. In doing this, the clan sought to improve their position with both the shogunate and Korea. There is evidence that they altered official documents from both to make themselves look better to the other The Sō did not participate in the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

in 1600. The ''tozama'' Sō clan were allowed to continue to rule Tsushima. Tsushima and the area around Tashiro in

Hizen Province was an old province of Japan in the area of the Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō. It did not inclu ...

were included in the clan's

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

(''

han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

''), rated as worth 100,000 ''

'' for its diplomatic and economic importance, though its agricultural production was actually under 30,000 ''koku'' per year. After the clan managed to resume diplomatic relations with Korea, the

entrusted it with diplomatic negotiations and trade with Joseon. After the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

in 1871, the last known head of the clan, Sō Shigemasa (Yoshiaki), was made Governor of Izuhara Prefecture ( Tsushima, renamed).

Clan lords

# Sō Shigehisa (重尚)(1245–1262) - fought against the Abiru/Ahiru clan (阿比留在庁) and became

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Tsushima #

(助國) (1262–1274) - fought Mongolian invasion force and died in 1274 # Sō Moriakira (盛明) (1274–1302) # Sō Morikuni (盛國) (1302–1349) # Sō Tsuneshige(經茂) (1349–1366) # Sō Sumishige (澄茂) (1366–1370) # Sō Yorishige (頼茂) (1370–1402) # Sō Sadashige (貞茂) (1402–1419) # Sō Sadamori (貞盛) (1419–1452) - fought the Korean army led by

Yi Jong Mu Yi Jong-mu (1360–1425) was a Korean general who led the Oei Invasion of Tsushima Island in 1419. He was noted for leading a fleet of 227 ships and 17,285 soldiers which landed at the Tsushima Island in Aso Bay on June 19, 1419, which was met ...

during the Oei Invasion and entered into relations with the

# Sō Shigemoto (成職) (1452–1468) - granted "Governor of Tsushima" title by the Joseon Court in 1461. # Sō Sadakuni (貞國) (1468–1492) # Sō Kimori (材盛) (1492–1505) # Sō Yoshimori (義盛) (1505–1520) - The Sō Clan supported a Japanese traders' uprising, against Joseon's policies, known as " Three-Ports incident". # Sō Morinaga (盛長) (1520–1526) #

Sō Masamori Sō, So or Sou (written: 宗 or 宋) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (born 1953), Japanese long-distance runner, twin brother of Takeshi * (born 1953), Japanese long-distance runner, twin brother of Shigeru * (1715 ...

(将盛) (1526–1539) # Sō Haruyasu (晴康) (1539–1553) #

Sō Yoshishige Sō, So or Sou (written: 宗 or 宋) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (born 1953), Japanese long-distance runner, twin brother of Takeshi * (born 1953), Japanese long-distance runner, twin brother of Shigeru * (1715 ...

(義調) (1553–1566) # Sō Shigehisa (茂尚) (1566–1569) # Sō Yoshizumi (義純) (1569–1579) # So Terukage (昭景)(1579–1589) - he submitted himself to

in 1587. # So Yoshishige (義調) (1589–1592) #

(義智) (1592–1615) - he was a daimyō under the commander of

Konishi Yukinaga Konishi Yukinaga (小西行長, baptized under the personal name Agostinho (Portuguese for Augustine); 1558 – November 6, 1600) was a Kirishitan daimyō under Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He is notable for his role as the vanguard of the Japanes ...

during the

Imjin War The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The river i ...

(1592–1598). # Sō Yoshinari (義成) (1615–1657) Toby, Ronald P. (1984)
''State and diplomacy in early modern Japan: Asia and the development of the Tokugawa bakufu,'' p. 78
excerpt, r. 1615-1658. # Sō Yoshizane (義真) (1657–1692) # Sō Yoshitsugu (義倫) (1692–1694) # Sō Yoshimichi (義方) (1694–1718) # Sō Yoshinobu (義誠) (1718–1730) # Sō Michihiro (方熙) (1730–1732) # Sō Yoshiyuki (義如) (1732–1752) #

(義蕃) (1752–1762) # Sō Yoshinaga (義暢) (1762–1778) # Sō Yoshikatsu (義功) (1778–1785) # Sō Yoshikatsu (義功) (1785–1812) # Sō Yoshitada (義質) (1812–1838) # Sō Yoshiaya (義章) (1838–1842) # Sō Yoshinori (義和) (1842–1862) # Sō Yoshiaki (義達) (1862–''1872'') # Sō Shigemochi (重望) (''1872''–''1923'') - First count of Tsushima. # Sō Takeyuki (武志) (''1923''–''1985'') - Adopted from the

Kuroda clan Kuroda (written: lit. "black ricefield") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese painter * Akinobu Kuroda 黒田明伸, Japanese historian *Chris Kuroda, lighting designer and operator for the band Phish and Ju ...

; he was married to Deokhye, Princess of Korea, from 1931 to 1953 # Sō Tatsuhito (立人) - current titular head, son of Takeyuki and his second wife Yoshie Katsumura

Notes

References

* Abe, Takeshi and Yoshiko Nishimura. (1987). ''Sengoku Jinmei Jiten'' (戦国人名事典). Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha (新人物往来社). ; * Appert, Georges and H. Kinoshita. (1888)
''Ancien Japon.''
Tokyo: Imprimerie Kokubunsha. * Hall, John Whitney. (1997). ''The Cambridge History of Japan: Early Modern Japan.'' Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

. ; * Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Papinot, Edmund. (1906) ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaish
..Click link for digitized 1906 ''Nobiliaire du japon'' (2003)
* Sansom, George Bailey. (1961)
''A History of Japan: 1334-1615.''
Stanford: Stanford University Press. ; * _________. (1963)
''A History of Japan, 1615-1867.''
Stanford: Stanford University Press. ; * Walker, Brett L
"Foreign Affairs and Frontiers in Early Modern Japan: A Historiographical Essay,"
''Early Modern Japan.'' Fall, 2002, pp. 44–62, 124-128.

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:So clan Japanese clans Taira clan

History

Clan lords

See also

Notes

References

External links