Siege of Mount Hiei

The Siege of Mount Hiei (比叡山の戦い, Hiei-zan no Tatakai) took place in 1571 and was a battle between the warlord Oda Nobunaga and the sōhei (warrior monks) of the monasteries of Mount Hiei, north of the capital city Kyoto, western Japan.

Siege of Mount Hiei
Part of the Sengoku period

Nobunaga forces setting fire to Enryaku-ji and massacring the monks (depiction in the Ehon taikōki)
DateSeptember 29, 1571
Location
Mount Hiei, just outside Kyoto, Japan
Result Oda Nobunaga victory
Belligerents
forces of Oda Nobunaga Warrior monks of Mt. Hiei
Commanders and leaders
Oda Nobunaga Various monk leaders
Strength
30,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown 20,000 or more[1]

Oda Nobunaga led 30,000 men in destroying towns and temples on the mountain and near its base.[2] About 300 buildings were burnt to the ground. This event would mark the end of the great power of Mt. Hiei's warrior monks.

History

The Tendai monks of Mt. Hiei were long great enemies of Oda Nobunaga, due to their strength and independence, and due to their alliance with the Azai and Asakura clans.

Beginning on September 29, Nobunaga's men attacked the town of Sakamoto at the base of the mountain before moving up towards the Tendai temples. He then destroyed the Hiyoshi shrine honoring the kami of the mountain, Sannō. Nobunaga's massive force encircled the mountain and gradually moved upwards, killing and destroying anyone or anything in their way. Eventually, they made their way to Enryaku-ji, the powerful and famous temple at the summit, which was razed to the ground. His arquebusiers then formed search parties and eliminated anyone who had previously escaped their attack.[3]

George Sansom states, "The whole mountainside was a great slaughterhouse, and the sight was one of unbearable horror."[4] According to Stephen Turnbull, so one-sided was the siege that it should more rightfully be called a massacre than a siege or battle.

Only one minor building survived, the Ruri-dō (るり堂, "Lapis Lazuli Hall"), which is located down a long, unmarked path from the Sai-tō complex.[5] The structure dates originally to the 13th century and was repaired twice in the 20th century. Reconstruction of Enryaku-ji commenced not long after the death of Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but never regained its former size.

References
  1. Turnbull, Stephen (2003). Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949-1603. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 20.
  2. Totman, Conrad (1995). Early modern Japan (1. pbk. print. ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-520-20356-3.
  3. Turnbull, Stephen (2000). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & C0. p. 221. ISBN 1854095234.
  4. Sansom, George (1961). A History of Japan 1334–1615. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 284. ISBN 0804705259.
  5. http://www.kagemarukun.fromc.jp/page005e.html

Further reading
  • Turnbull, Stephen (2003). Japanese Warrior Monks AD 949–1603. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
  • Turnbull, Stephen (2005). Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710–1602. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

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