Among the four great families that dominated the court politics of the Heian period (794-1185)—alongside the Minamoto (源), Fujiwara (藤原), and Tachibana (橘) families—the Taira (平) clan traced its origins to imperial lineage, as did the Minamoto and Tachibana. In the era preceding the Heian period, vague rules of succession frequently led to disputes over the throne and severely strained the imperial treasury. To address these challenges, descendants of emperors who were five or six...
Taira Clan