Sō clan

Sō clan (宗氏, Sō-shi) were a Japanese clan claiming descent from Taira no Tomomori.^[1] 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.^[1]

History

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

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 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

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.^[4] 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 (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.^[5]

The Sō clan submitted itself to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 and supplied troops for the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). 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^[6]

The Sō did not participate in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.^[1]

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

After the abolition of the han system in 1871, the last known head of the clan, Sō Shigemasa (Yoshiaki), was made Governor of Izuhara Prefecture (Tsushima, renamed).^{[citation needed]}

Clan lords

1. Sō Shigehisa (重尚)(1245–1262) - fought against the Abiru/Ahiru clan (阿比留在庁) and became Governor of Tsushima
2. Sō Sukekuni (助國) (1262–1274) - fought Mongolian invasion force and died in 1274
3. Sō Moriakira (盛明) (1274–1302)
4. Sō Morikuni (盛國) (1302–1349)
5. Sō Tsuneshige(經茂) (1349–1366)
6. Sō Sumishige (澄茂) (1366–1370)
7. Sō Yorishige (頼茂) (1370–1402)
8. Sō Sadashige (貞茂) (1402–1419)
9. Joseon Dynasty
10. Sō Shigemoto (成職) (1452–1468) - granted "Governor of Tsushima" title by the Joseon Court in 1461.
11. Sō Sadakuni (貞國) (1468–1492)
12. Sō Kimori (材盛) (1492–1505)
13. Three-Ports incident
    ".
14. Sō Morinaga (盛長) (1520–1526)
15. Sō Masamori (将盛) (1526–1539)
16. Sō Haruyasu (晴康) (1539–1553)
17. Sō Yoshishige (義調) (1553–1566)
18. Sō Shigehisa (茂尚) (1566–1569)
19. Sō Yoshizumi (義純) (1569–1579)
20. So Terukage (昭景)(1579–1589) - he submitted himself to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587.
21. So Yoshishige (義調) (1589–1592)
22. Imjin War
    (1592–1598).
23. Sō Yoshinari (義成) (1615–1657)^[7]
24. Sō Yoshizane (義真) (1657–1692)
25. Sō Yoshitsugu (義倫) (1692–1694)
26. Sō Yoshimichi (義方) (1694–1718)
27. Sō Yoshinobu (義誠) (1718–1730)
28. Sō Michihiro (方熙) (1730–1732)
29. Sō Yoshiyuki (義如) (1732–1752)
30. Sō Yoshishige (義蕃) (1752–1762)
31. Sō Yoshinaga (義暢) (1762–1778)
32. Sō Yoshikatsu (義功) (1778–1785)
33. Sō Yoshikatsu (義功) (1785–1812)
34. Sō Yoshitada (義質) (1812–1838)
35. Sō Yoshiaya (義章) (1838–1842)
36. Sō Yoshinori
    (義和) (1842–1862)
37. Sō Yoshiaki (義達) (1862–1872)
38. Sō Shigemochi (重望) (1872–1923) - First count of Tsushima.
39. Deokhye, Princess of Korea
    , from 1931 to 1953
40. Sō Tatsuhito (立人) - current titular head, son of Takeyuki and his second wife Yoshie Katsumura

See also

• Joseon missions to Japan
• Joseon Tongsinsa

Notes