Chison (智尊)
Chison (year of birth unknown-August 23, 672) was a person from the Asuka Period in Japan. In the old Japanese syllabary characters, his name was pronounced in the same way. He had no Kabane (hereditary title). During the Jinshin War which broke out in 672, he fought for Prince Otomo (Emperor Kobun) as a commander, but died in the Battle of Seta when he led the vanguard.
His name only found in "Nihonshoki" (Chronicles of Japan) concerning in the Battle of Seta, but his genealogy etc. is unknown. He is considered to be a Toraijin (people from overseas, especially from China and Korea, who settled in early Japan and introduced Continental culture to the Japanese) as the name is not common for the then Japanese.
On August 23, 672, Prince Otomo became overwhelmed in the Jinshin War, and MURAKUNI no Oyori, the enemy, advanced his troops close to Omi no miya, the capital. The prince himself went into the battle field accompanied with a large number of his retainers and stationed his troops in the west side of the bridge of Seta to intercept the enemy coming from the east. The battle became a shooting fight with bow and arrows across the river. Chison led the experienced troops as the vanguard commander and defended the bridge of Seta. He cut about nine meters of the middle of the bridge and placed a long board with a rope tied around it. The idea was to pull the rope and make the enemy fall down off the bridge as soon as they tried to cross the river and step on the board. The enemy had difficulty in advancing the troops for some time, but OKIDA no Wakaomi bravely broke away with layered armors and rushed across the board and cut the rope. Seeing OKIDA's courageous effort, the troops of Chison started to flee in disorder. Chison draw his sword and killed his running troops, but he couldn't stop them. And Chison was slain near the bridge. Prince Otomo committed suicide the next day, and it was the end of the Jinshin War.