I had nothing to do recently, so I went to the library and found a very interesting book - "The History of Japan in the Family Coat of Arms".

This book mainly reviews the history of Japan from the late Heian period to modern times from the perspective of family crests. Although it belongs to Japanese history, it seems difficult to belong to the Japanese history series. Instead, it is more like a reference book.

Due to the influence of Japanese animation, I am more interested in Japanese history and culture, so I have looked for a lot of books and film and television resources to read. In the past, I have always paid attention to other aspects of Japanese culture, such as Japan’s Warring States Period. History, Bakumatsu history, and these two are also the key parts of Japanese Taiga dramas.

Especially in the history of Japan's Warring States Period, the flags behind the generals who came and went to fight inevitably had the emblems of their respective camps printed on them. At first, I was very curious, what is this? Later, when I checked, it turned out that I was ignorant. This was the legendary Japanese family crest, also called the family crest.

1. Why do Japan and Europe have family crests, but China does not?

Then I’m curious, isn’t Japan learning from China? Why does China not have such a family emblem culture, but Japan does? Western Europe also has corresponding family crests, which is really strange.

There must be some reason. Thanks to the almighty Du Niang, I got the answer to this question, which is the different social structures of Japan, Europe and ancient China.

Japan and Europe had similar social structures in ancient times. They are all so-called feudal societies, similar to my country's Western Zhou Dynasty feudal system. Therefore, the power of the nobles and warriors was very great, and these nobles and warriors naturally used blood as a bond to form the so-called family. Families conquered each other in order to expand their sphere of influence. In order to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, it must be explained on the flag. The family emblem is just like this, and the scope of application is getting wider and wider.

Therefore, in Japan and Europe, family crests are not only used to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, but also as proof of honor and totem of the family.

The emblem of the Stark family in "A Song of Ice and Fire"

But China is different. Since Qin Shihuang unified China, China has entered an imperial era, unlike Europe and Japan, which was a feudal era. The emperor kept his word and said, "The emperor's wrath will kill millions of people and bleed for thousands of miles." ” In addition, with the implementation of the county system, officials were selected by the emperor, which prevented the emergence of aristocrats to a certain extent. In addition, since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial examination system has become more and more perfect, making it even more difficult for clans to form.

Some people say that the power of the clan has always been very powerful in ancient times. Here is a counterexample that disproves this statement. In ancient times, there was a family whose family tradition was cultivated and studied. It was said that the family tradition was excellent and it had been flourishing for hundreds of years. It was famous all over the world. However, the emperor still let the family split up to prevent it from becoming too powerful and threatening the authority of the court.

Therefore, in this case, it is almost impossible for something as public as a family emblem to appear in China. However, it is also possible that the Chinese family emblem is the surname. Watch the TV series "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the military's Is the general's last name on the flag?

Ah, I can’t explain clearly. Anyway, I digress. Let’s talk about Japan’s family crest.

2. The Origin of Japanese Family Emblem

According to the "History of Japan in Family Emblem", Japanese family emblem first originated in the Heian period. The Heian period was an elegant era. The nobles often held Waka competitions, played Cuju and other activities, and most of their transportation tools were ox carts. Bullock carts are generally similar, with black paint applied to the carts. In order to identify each other, nobles decorated certain parts of their cars with gold threads. This is probably the earliest origin of Japanese family crests.

The bullock carts used by nobles during the Heian period

In 1159 AD, the Minamoto family and the Heijing family officially went to war. The Genji family uses a white flag, while the Taira family uses a red flag as a mark to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.

Later, the Taira clan won, but many people refused to accept it. In 1179, the second prince of Emperor Go-Shirakawa issued a decree with the Ninto Order, hoping that the Minamoto clan who had been exiled to various places would resist the rule of the Taira clan.

Since the samurai came from all over the country, it was no longer possible to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy simply by relying on the red and white colors, and the role of the family crest as a logo became apparent.

The samurai created their own or family's family emblem and printed it on tents, military flags and other items. The family emblem became a symbol of the family's status.

3. "Lower overcomes the upper" - a famous family emblem in Japan's Warring States Period

From the "Onin Rebellion" (1467 AD) to the unification of Japan by Oda Nobunaga, about a year The period of one hundred years is called the Warring States Period.

If we could sum up that era in three words, it would be - "the lower overcomes the upper".

Why does this happen?

The shogunate ruled Japan at that time. Japan has experienced three shogunate rule, namely: the Kamakura shogunate (founded by the Minamoto family), the Muromachi shogunate (founded by Ashikaga Takauji) and the last shogunate, the Tokugawa shogunate.

Since the Kamakura shogunate, retainers have obtained land and supported their families by making contributions to their lord. However, this master-servant relationship consisting of gifts and services has shortcomings, and samurai dissatisfaction gradually increased. .

In times of war, the head of the family is likely to be annexed due to incompetence. Instead of being such a retainer, it is better to replace him himself. The trend of "lower control of superiors" is getting stronger and stronger.

Through "lower control of superiors", the original manor system was destroyed and replaced by the daimyo who could directly control the peasants. In addition, due to the pressure of competition, the daimyo developed industry and commerce one after another, and at the same time rushed to use rifles from Western Europe.

Here is a little knowledge to popularize, that is, what is the difference between the Warring States Daimyos and the previous Daimyos.

Warring States Daimyo: It is independent from the general and controls the territory by itself. The samurai in the territory were organized as vassals, and there was a strong master-slave relationship.

The former daimyo were also called guardian daimyo: they relied on the power of the general to manage and control the affairs of the territory, and collected the annual tribute from the manor lord to run their own manors, but they did not cooperate with the samurai in the territory. Create a master-slave relationship.

Among the many great names of the Warring States Period, the most famous are the so-called "Three Heroes of the Warring States Period", namely Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The first is Oda Nobunaga. It is said that the ancestor of Oda Nobunaga was Taira Shigemori, the son of Taira clan. His descendants also serve as Owari's guardians. Oda Nobunaga was born in this family.

Oda Nobunaga’s family emblem is papaya, also known as "Oda Papaya".

Oda Papaya Pattern

Oda Nobunaga inherited his father's business at the age of 18 and controlled the entire Oda family through a series of actions. During this period, he formed and trained a strong team of retainers. . The "Battle of Okehazama" in 1560 made Oda Nobunaga famous.

Just when Oda Nobunaga was ambitious and preparing to "go to Luo", he did not want to be betrayed by his subordinate Mitsuhide Akechi. Akechi Mitsuhide launched the "Honnoji Incident" and successfully assassinated Oda Nobunaga.

Next, under the banner of revenge for Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi surrendered the daimyo and completed the unification of Japan in 1590.

As for Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s family crest, because he came from a poor family, he had to change his family crest almost every time he changed his surname. The final family emblem was "Gosantong".

Toyotomi family emblem: Gosantong

Because Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched a war to invade Korea, it was resisted by the Ming Dynasty and the Korean coalition forces, and ultimately ended in failure, and this became After understanding the cause of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of the situation to launch the Sekigahara War and won the victory. Following this, the shogunate was established in Edo (now Tokyo, Japan).

The family emblem of the Tokugawa family is the Aoi pattern, which is related to the predecessor of their family, the Matsudaira family (Tokugawa Ieyasu's surname was Matsudaira). The Matsudaira family was originally a member of the Jingu Shrine, and the Shrine used the Aoi pattern, which is the source of the Tokugawa family emblem.

Tokugawa family emblem: Aoi pattern

The history of Japan entered the Edo period.

4. Since the Edo period - family crests have entered the homes of ordinary people

Although the Edo shogunate strictly prohibited common people from carrying swords, there were no strict restrictions on the use of family crests.

As the political situation stabilized and the economy gradually developed, ordinary people began to use family emblems that were originally limited to nobles.

At this time, the role of the family emblem was not limited to war, but also had other uses.

For example, kabuki actors began to use family crests. Actors will give gifts with personal emblems to sponsors, and the recipients will proudly show off the gifts to their friends everywhere.

There are also family crests that are directly used as store logos or trademarks. For example, the famous Mitsui Foundation and Sumitomo, their trademark prototypes are family crests.

The use of family emblems is not limited to men. Women sometimes use family emblems, and they are passed down from mother to daughter.

5. Main classifications of Japanese family emblems

"The History of Japan in Family Emblem" roughly divides Japanese family emblems into seven categories.

Category 1: Flower decoration. People in the Heian period loved flowers and plants, and almost all family crests reflected this. For example, platycodon pattern and chrysanthemum pattern (especially the chrysanthemum pattern of the Japanese royal family, which has been spoiled in the Chinese world).

Category 2: Plant decoration. Trees often become objects of belief, and their images are chosen as symbols that are spiritual and can foretell good or bad luck. For example, the Aoi pattern of the Tokugawa family.

The third category: general decoration. There is no special classification of military commanders' ornaments. This classification is just an attempt to collect armor and other ornaments that symbolize the image of warriors who are brave and good at fighting. But as far as the family crest that samurai like to use is concerned, it actually includes other types of patterns. For example, the fan pattern. (What makes me think of here is the crest of the Uchiha family in "Naruto".)

Uchiha family crest: Uchiha fan pattern

Category 4: animal patterns. Compared with plant decorations, this type of decoration is much rarer. Most of the animal patterns evolved from butterflies and cranes. For example, the Uesugi family’s Yankin pattern.

Uesugi Family Emblem

Category 5: Natural decoration. This type of decoration uses the sun, moon and stars as family emblems. For example, ripples. During the Warring States Period, Saito Douzan used it as his family emblem.

Saito Dosan Family Emblem

Category Six: Utensil Decoration.

Family crests based on utensils only appeared after the Kamakura period, and gradually increased in number during the Edo period. For example, Genji pattern. The Sakakihara family, who was a priest of Ise Jingu Shrine, uses this as their family crest.

Category 7: Geometric pattern decoration. For example, lead lines. The Ashikaga family who founded the Muromachi shogunate used this type of family crest.

Reference book: "The History of Japan in the Family Emblem", World Book Publishing Company, May 2015.