Tajihi clan

Tajihi clan
多治比たじひ氏し
Tajihi clan; 多治比たじひ氏し
Parent house	Imperial family
Founder	Prince Tajihiko (多治比たじひ古いにしえ王おう), grandson of Prince Kamueha (上うえ殖ふえ葉は王おう), son of Emperor Senka

The Tajihi clan (多治比たじひ氏し Tajihi-uji; also written as 多た治ち, 丹比たんぴ, 丹治たんじ, 丹に墀) was a Japanese noble family. They were most prominent in the early Nara period, when they furnished several senior officers of the central government, before they were gradually driven out of the centre of power by the rival Fujiwara clan.

Name[edit]

The name of the Tajihi clan can be written with various combinations of kanji, including 多治比たじひ, 多た治ち, 丹比たんぴ, 丹治たんじ, and 丹に墀.^[1] The clan were descendants of Prince Tajihiko,^[1] who, according to tradition, was named for the tajihi (多治比たじひ, Japanese knotweed) blossoms that were blown by at the time of his birth,^[1] but it seems more likely that the clan were named for Tajihi District (丹比たんぴ郡ぐん) in Kawachi Province.^[1]

History[edit]

The Tajihi clan's ancestor Prince Tajihiko was a great-grandson of the sixth-century Emperor Senka through his son Prince Kamueha.^[1] Their imperial ancestry categorizes them as one of the kōbetsu (皇すめらぎ別べつ) clans, descended from the Japanese imperial family.^[1] The clan's original kabane was Kimi (公おおやけ),^[1] but were given the title Mahito (or Mabito) by Emperor Tenmu in 684.^[1]

Tajihi no Shima [ja], who served at the courts of Emperor Tenmu, Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, rose to the prestigious rank of Minister of the Left.^[1] His sons Ikemori (多治比たじひ池いけ守まもる), Agatamori (多治比たじひ県けん守もり), Hironari (多治比たじひ広こう成なり), Hirotari (多治比たじひ広足ひろたり) held various key positions at court, including dainagon and chūnagon.^[1] Tajihi no Mamune (多治比たじひ真宗しんしゅう, 769–823), a great-granddaughter of Ikemori, served as a consort of Emperor Kanmu.^[1]

Until the middle of the Nara period the Tajihi were one of the clans at the pinnacle of court society, but after this time became increasingly overshadowed by the Fujiwara clan.^[1] Around the start of the Heian period the Tajihi clan mostly disappeared from the court society.^[1] The Tantō clan [ja], a group of warriors in Musashi Province and one of the so-called Musashi Shichitō [ja], were remote descendants of the Tajihi clan who took up martial ways.^[1]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Mayuzumi 1994.

Works cited[edit]

Mayuzumi, Hiromichi (1994). "Tajihi-uji". Encyclopedia Nipponica (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2017-11-25.

[FOOTNOTEMayuzumi1994-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Mayuzumi 1994.

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