Sō clan

was a Japanese clan claiming descent from Taira no Tomomori. The clan governed and held Tsushima Island from the 13th through the late 19th century, from the Kamakura period until the end of the Edo period and the Meiji Restoration.

In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 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 descendants of tozama Sō Yoshitoshi (1568–1615) remained at Tsushima-Fuchū Domain (100,000 koku) in Tsushima Province until the abolition of the han system. The head of this clan line was ennobled as count in 1884. 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 that governed all of Kyūshū and the surrounding regions on behalf of the Kamakura shogunate. Dazaifu ordered Koremune Shigehisa to stop the rebellion and to destroy the Abiru clan. The Shōni clan, the shugo 'governors' of Tsushima, rewarded him for his victory with the post of jitō 'local land steward'.

The Koremune extended its influence on Tsushima over the course of the Kamakura period, 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's Northern Court 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 became shugo 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 Kyushu to Tsushima around 1408. Although it struggled to keep its territory in Chikuzen on Kyushu, the clan was finally purged from that region by the Ōuchi clan in the mid-15th century.

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 (1467–1600), and later the Mōri and Ōtomo clans as well; the clan lost and regained their territory in Chikuzen province on Kyushu 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 Kyushu.

Following a period of increased wokou predation, the Joseon-Japanese "Treaty of Tenbun" in 1547 (Tenbun year 11) limited trading to the Joseon port of Busan and also limited Sō clan commerce to 20 ships annually.

The Sō clan submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 and supplied troops for the invasions of Korea during the Imjin War. The Sō sided with the Western Army of Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), yet they were not punished by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The prevalent theory is that Ieyasu sought to improve relations with Korea and China, and therefore pardoned the Sō clan, which had a diplomatic channel with Korea.

The tozama Sō clan were allowed to continue to rule Tsushima. 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.

The clan participated in the Japanese invasion of Korea. However soon afterwards, 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 embellished official documents to make themselves look better to the other.

Clan lords

Sō Shigehisa (重尚)(1245–1262) - fought against the Abiru/Ahiru clan (阿比留在庁) and became Governor 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 Joseon Dynasty
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 Toyotomi Hideyoshi 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 (1592–1598).
Sō Yoshinari (義成) (1615–1657)
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. ;
Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 48943301
Papinot, Edmond. (1906) Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du japon. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha...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.

Clan lords

See also

Notes

References

External links