Emperor Kōnin
Emperor Kōnin (光仁天皇 Kōnin-tennō?) (November 18, 709[1] – January 11, 782[2]) was the 49th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 770 through 781.[3]
Genealogy
Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina)[4] was Shirakabe-shinnō (Shirakabe-no ō).[5]
He was a son of Prince Shiki and a grandson of Emperor Tenji.[6] Initially, he was not in line for succession, as Emperor Temmu and his branch held the throne. He married Imperial Princess Ikami, a daughter of Emperor Shōmu, producing a daughter and a son.
Kōnin had five Empresses and seven Imperial sons and daughters.[7]
Events of Kōnin's life
After his sister in law, Empress Shōtoku (also Empress Kōken), died, he was named her heir. The high courtiers claimed the empress had left her will in a letter in which she had appointed him as her successor. Prior to this, he had been considered a gentle man without political ambition.
- Jingo-keiun 3, on the 4th day of the 8th month ( 669): In the 5th year of Shōtoku-tennō's reign (称徳天皇5年), the empress died; and she designated Senior Counselor Prince Shirakabe as her heir.[8]
- Jingo-keiun 3, on the 4th day of the 8th month ( 770): The succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by a 62-year-old grandson of Emperor Tenji. [9]
- Jingo-keiun 3, on the 1st day of the 10th month (770): Emperor Kōnin was is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’) in a formal ceremony.[10]
- Hōki 1, on the 1st day of the 10th month (宝亀元年; 770): The era name was changed to mark the beginning of Emperor Konin's reign.[7]
Kōnin attempted to reconstruct the state finance and administrative organizations, which had been corrupted under the reign of Empress Kōken.
After some months, Princess Ikami was promoted to empress and her son became the crown prince. Later, she was accused of cursing her husband, Kōnin. Today, it is believed this accusation was revenge for depriving her son of the throne. Princess Ikami was stripped of the rank of the consort, and died soon after from illness, at least according to the official documentation.
After her death, Prince Yamabe, a son of Kōnin's by Takano no Niigasa was named heir. According to the Shoku Nihongi, (続日本紀), Yamabe's mother Yamato no Niigasa, later Takano no Niigasa, was a descendant of King Muryeong of Baekje. Yamabe was born before his father ascended to the throne.
- Hōki 2, in the 4th month (781): The emperor abdicated in favor of his son (who would later come to be known as Emperor Kammu). Emperor Kōnin's reign had lasted for 11 years.[7]
- Hōki 2, in the 12th month (781): Kōnin died at the age of 73.[11]
Kugyō
Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.
In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Kōnin's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
- Sadaijin, Fujiwara no Nagate, 714-771.[7]
- Sadaijin, Fujiwara no Uona, 721-783.[7]
- Udaijin, Ōnakatomi Kiyomaro, 702-788.[7]
- Nadaijin, Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu, 716-777.[7]
- Dainagon, Fujiwara no Momokawa, 732-779.[7]
Eras of Kōnin's reign
The years of Kōnin's reign are encompassed within one era name or nengō.[12]
- Hōki (770-781)
References
- ^ November 18, 709 of the Julian calendar corresponds to the Thirteenth Day of the Tenth Month of the Second Year of Wadō of the Japanese lunisolar calendar.
- ^ January 11, 782 of the Julian calendar corresponds to the Twenty-third Day of the Twelfth Month of the Twelfth Year of Hōki of the Japanese lunisolar calendar.
- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 81-85; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 276-277; Varley, H. Paul. Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 147-148.
- ^ Brown, pp. 264. [Up until the time of Emperor Jomei, the personal names of the emperors (their imina) were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.]
- ^ Brown, p. 276, Varley p. 149.
- ^ Varley, p. 147.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brown, p. 277.
- ^ Brown, pp. 276-277.
- ^ Brown, p. 276; Varley, p. 44, 148. [A distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Go-Murakami.]
- ^ Titsingh, p. 81; Brown, p. 277; Varley, p. 44, 148.
- ^ Brown, p. 277; Varley, p. 148.
- ^ Titsingh, p. 81, Brown, p. 277.
- Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien, 1221], Gukanshō (The Future and the Past, a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretative history of Japan written in 1219). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
- Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.--Two copies of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006. Click here to read the original text in French.
- Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
| Preceded by Empress Shōtoku |
Emperor of
Japan: Kōnin 770-781 |
Succeeded by Emperor Kammu |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
