were a Japanese clan claiming descent from Taira no Tomomori. 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 from the 13th through the late 19th century, from the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

until the end of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. In 1587,

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

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, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. The descendants of '' tozama'' Sō Yoshitoshi (1568–1615) remained at Tsushima-Fuchū Domain (100,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'') in Tsushima Province 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 Tsushima Province. 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, local district officials ('' zaichōkanjin'') on Tsushima, rebelled against the Chinzei Bugyō and the Dazaifu government which governed all of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

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 Yori ...

. 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, ''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

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

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. Even though the present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the ...

during the Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392), and seized a portion of Chikuzen Province. Imagawa Ryōshun 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 ...

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 Tomomori, 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 14th to 16th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi in the western tip of Honshu island, compris ...

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 ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. 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 the 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 the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

(1467–1600), and later the Mōri and Ōtomo clans 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, 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 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) The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...

. 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 an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

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 provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...

were included in the clan's

fief A fief (; ) 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 overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

('' han''), 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 politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Tsushima # Sō Sukekuni (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 Chongmu 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 (将盛) (1526–1539) # Sō Haruyasu (晴康) (1539–1553) # Sō Yoshishige (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) # Sō Yoshitoshi (義智) (1592–1615) - he was a daimyō under the command of Konishi Yukinaga during the

Imjin War The Imjin War () was a series of two Japanese invasions of Korea: an initial invasion in 1592 also individually called the "Imjin War", a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 called the Chŏngyu War (). The conflict ended in 159 ...

(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) # Sō Yoshishige (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; 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 was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

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

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Papinot, Edmond. (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