35th and 37th monarch of Japan (642-645, 655-661)
Empress K?gyoku / Empress Saimei
皇極天皇
/
?明天皇
|
---|
|
|
|
Reign
| 19 February 642 ? 12 July 645
|
---|
Predecessor
| Jomei
|
---|
Successor
| K?toku
|
---|
|
Reign
| 14 February 655 ? 24 August 661
|
---|
Predecessor
| K?toku
|
---|
Successor
| Tenji
|
---|
|
Tenure
| 630 ? 641
|
---|
|
Born
| Takara (
?
)
7 August 594
Japan
|
---|
Died
| 24 August 661 (aged 66?67)
Asakura no
Miya
|
---|
Burial
| Ochi-no-Okanoe no misasagi
(越智崗上陵) (Nara)
|
---|
Spouses
| |
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Issue
| |
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|
Father
| Prince Chinu
|
---|
Mother
| Princess Kibitsu-hime
|
---|
Empress K?gyoku
(
皇極天皇
,
K?gyoku-
tenn?
, 594?661)
, also known as
Empress Saimei
(
?明天皇
,
Saimei-tenn?
)
, was the 35th
[1]
and 37th
monarch of Japan
,
[2]
according to the traditional
order of succession
.
[3]
K?gyoku's reign spanned the years from 642 to 645. Her reign as Saimei encompassed 655 to 661. In other words,
- 642: She ascended the throne as K?gyoku
-tenn?
, and she stepped down in response to the assassination of
Soga no Iruka
(see:
Isshi incident
).
- 645: She abdicated in favor of her brother, who would become known as
Emperor K?toku
.
- 654: K?toku died and the throne was vacant.
- 655: She re-ascended, beginning a new reign as Saimei
-tenn?
.
- 661: Saimei ruled until her death caused the throne to be vacant again.
The two reigns of this one woman spanned the years from 642 through 661.
[4]
In the
history of Japan
, K?gyoku/Saimei was the second of eight women to take on the role of
empress regnant
. The sole female monarch before K?gyoku/Saimei was
Suiko
-tenn?
. The six female sovereigns reigning after K?gyoku/Saimei were
Jit?
,
Genmei
,
Gensh?
,
K?ken/Sh?toku
,
Meish?
, and
Go-Sakuramachi
.
Traditional narrative
[
edit
]
Before her ascension to the
Chrysanthemum Throne
, her personal name (
imina
)
[5]
was
Takara
(
?
)
.
[6]
As empress, her name would have been
Ametoyo Takara Ikashi Hitarashi
hime
(
天?財重日足姬
)
.
[7]
Princess Takara (
Takara no miko
) was a great-granddaughter of
Emperor Bidatsu
.
[8]
Events in K?gyoku's reign
[
edit
]
During her first reign the
Soga clan
seized power. Her son Naka no ?e planned a coup d'etat and slew
Soga no Iruka
at the court in front of her throne. The Empress, shocked by this incident, abdicated the throne.
K?gyoku's contemporary title would not have been
tenn?
, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of
Emperor Tenmu
and
Empress Jit?
. Rather, it was presumably
Sumeramikoto
or
Amenoshita Shiroshimesu ?kimi
(治天下大王), meaning "the Great Queen who rules
all under Heaven
". Alternatively, K?gyoku might have been referred to as (ヤマト大王/大君) or the "Great Queen of Yamato".
Empress K?gyoku reigned for four years. The years of K?gyoku's reign are not linked by scholars to any era or
neng?
.
[9]
The Taika era innovation of naming time periods ?
neng?
? was yet to be initiated during her son's too-brief reign.
In this context, Brown and Ishida's translation of
Gukansh?
offers an explanation about the years of Empress Jit?'s reign which muddies a sense of easy clarity in the pre-Taiho time-frame:
- "The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shuch? [(686+7=692?)]; and (2) Taika, which was four years long [695?698]. (The first year of this era was
kinoto-hitsuji
[695].) ... In the third year of the Taka era [697], Empress Jit? yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."
[10]
The years of K?gyoku's reign are not more specifically identified by more than one
era name
or
neng?
which was an innovation of K?toku's brief reign.
[11]
Events in Saimei's reign
[
edit
]
When K?toku died, his designated heir was Naka no ?e. When Naka no ?e's mother re-ascended, he continued in the role of her heir and crown prince. In this role, he could and did remain active in the political life of Japan.
In the fifth year of Saimei's reign,
Paekche
in
Korea
was destroyed in 660. Japan assisted Paekche loyals in an attempt to aid the revival of Paekche dynasty. Early in 661, Saimei responded to the situation by leaving her capital in
Yamato Province
. Her plan was to lead a military expedition to Korea. The empress stayed in Ishiyu Temporary Palace in
Iyo Province
, today
D?go Onsen
. In May she arrived at Asakura Palace in the north part of Tsukushi province in
Ky?sh?
, today a part of
Fukuoka Prefecture
. The allied army of Japan and
Baekje
was preparing for war against
Silla
, but the death of the empress thwarted those plans. In 661, Saimei died in the Asakura Palace before the army departed to
Korea
. In October her body was brought from Ky?sh? by sea to Port Naniwa-zu (today
Osaka city
); and her state funeral was held in early November.
Empress Saimei ruled for seven years. The years of Saimei's reign are not linked by scholars to any era or
neng?
.
[11]
The Taika era innovation of naming time periods ?
neng?
? languished until Mommu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming the commencement of Taih? in 701.
The actual site of K?gyoku/Saimei's
grave
is known,
[2]
having been identified as the
Kengoshizuka tomb
in the village of
Asuka
,
Nara Prefecture
.
[14]
[15]
This empress is traditionally venerated at a
memorial
Shinto
shrine
(
misasagi
) at Nara.
The
Imperial Household Agency
designates this location as K?gyoku/Seimei's
mausoleum
. It is formally named
Ochi-no-Okanoe no misasagi
.
[16]
Kugy?
[
edit
]
Kugy?
(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 K?gyoku's reign, this apex of the
Daij?-kan
included:
The
kugy?
during Saimei's reign included:
Spouses and children
[
edit
]
Empress Saimei, born Princess Takara, was the daughter of Prince Chinu, a grandson of
Emperor Bidatsu
, and his princess consort.
Firstly, she married Prince Takamuku and had a son. Secondly, the princess married Prince Toneri who also was
Emperor Bidatsu's
grandson.The marriage produce one daughter and two sons who both ascended the throne in the future.
- First Husband: Prince Takamuku (高向王), Prince Tame's son (also
Emperor Yomei
’s grandson)
- First Son: Prince Kara (漢皇子)
- Second Husband: Prince Tamura (田村皇子), later
Emperor Jomei
, Prince Oshisaka-no-hikohito-no-?e's son (also
Emperor Bidatsu
's grandson)
Popular culture
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Imperial Household Agency
(
Kunaich?
):
皇極(こうぎょく)天皇 (35)
and
齊明(さいめい)天皇 (37)
- ^
a
b
Kunaich?:
?明天皇 (37)
- ^
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959).
The Imperial House of Japan
, pp. 49, 51.
- ^
Brown, Delmer et al. (1979).
Gokansh?
, p. 265?267; Varley, H. Paul. (1980).
Jinn? Sh?t?ki
. p. 130?134; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).
Annales des empereurs du Japon
, pp. 43?54.
, p. 43, at
Google Books
- ^
Brown, pp. 264; prior to
Emperor Jomei
, the personal names of the emperors (
imina
) were very long and people did not generally use them; however, the number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.
- ^
Ponsonby-Fane, p. 8.
- ^
Ashton, William. (2005).
Nihongi
, p. 171; Ponsonby-Fane, p. 8.
- ^
Brown, p. 265.
- ^
Titsingh, pp. 43?47.
- ^
Brown, p. 270.
- ^
a
b
Titsingh, pp. 43?54.
- ^
"Kengoshizuka Kofun Tumulus, Koshitsuka-gomon Kofun Tumulus"
.
Exploring the Footsteps of the Heroines of Asuka
. Retrieved
2023-10-20
.
- ^
"Octagonal burial mound said to belong to ancient Japan empress reconstructed in Nara Pref"
.
Mainichi Daily News
. 2022-03-04
. Retrieved
2023-10-20
.
- ^
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100910a5.html
Japan Times: Nara tomb said that of seventh century empress
- ^
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tomb-identified-as-that-of-7th-century-empress-saimei
[
permanent dead link
]
Japan Today: Tomb identified as that of 7th-century Empress Saimei
- ^
Ponsonby-Fane, p. 420.
- ^
a
b
Brown, p. 267.
References
[
edit
]
- Aston, William George.
(1896).
Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697
.
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.
OCLC
448337491
- Brown, Delmer M. and Ichir? Ishida, eds. (1979).
Gukansh?: The Future and the Past
.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
ISBN
978-0-520-03460-0
;
OCLC
251325323
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon
. (1959).
The Imperial House of Japan
.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.
OCLC
194887
- Titsingh, Isaac.
(1834).
Nihon ?dai Ichiran
; ou,
Annales des empereurs du Japon
.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
OCLC
5850691
- Varley, H. Paul.
(1980).
Jinn? Sh?t?ki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns
.
New York: Columbia University Press.
ISBN
978-0-231-04940-5
;
OCLC
59145842