According to "Nan-Taiheiki" (a critique of the historical epic "Taiheiki") written by Sadayo IMAGAWA (also known as Ryoshun), his family is described to have lived a life of a common farmer, but it is unthinkable that the Yamana clan was in a low rank because it had been a gokenin from the time of establishment of Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) and it had matrimonial relations with the Uesugi clan.
今川貞世(了俊)の著した『難太平記』によれば、民百姓の暮らしをしていたとされるが、山名氏は鎌倉幕府成立時からの御家人であり、かつ上杉氏と姻戚関係を結んでいることから低い身分とは考えがたい。