Empress Kōken

Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇 Shōtoku-tennō) (718 – August 28, 770^[1]) was both the 46th and the 48th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. The period in which she was the reigning sovereign stretched from 749 through the year of her death in 770.^[2]

Shōtoku initially ruled as Empress Kōken (孝謙天皇 Kōken-tennō) from 749 to 758. She abdicated in favor of her second cousin, Emperor Junnin; but six years later she took the crown from him and reascended the throne. She never renounced her Buddhist vows, setting a precedent. Her posthumous name for this second reign (764-770) was known as Empress Shōtoku.^[3]

Genealogy

Before her ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (her imina)^[4] was Abe-hime.^[5]

Events of Kōken's life

• Tenpyō-kanpō 1, on the 2nd day of the 7th month (749): In the 25th year of Shōmu-tennō's reign (聖武天皇25年), the emperor died; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his daughter. Shortly thereafter, Empress Kōken is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).^[6]

  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 Kōken's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

  • Taihō, Emi no Oshikatsu (formerly Fujiwara Nakamaro).^[5]
    • Daijō-daijin
    • Sadaijin, Tachibana no Moroe (formerly Katsuragi-ō, Prince Katsuragi) (half brother of Empress Kōmyō).^[5]
      • Udaijin, Fujiwara no Toyonari (first son of Fujiwara no Muchimaro).^[5]
        • Udaijin, Fujiwara no Nakamaro (second son of Fujiwara no Muchimaro).^[5]
          • Nadaijin
          • Dainagon

          Eras of Kōken's reign

          The years of Kōken's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.^[7]

          • Tenpyō-kanpō (749-749)
          • Tenpyō-shōhō (749-757)
          • Tenpyō-hōji (757-765)

          Events of Shōtoku's life

          • Tenpyō-hōji 9, on the 1st day of the 1st month (765): In the 6th year of Junnin-tennō's reign (淳仁天皇6年), the emperor was deposed by his adoptive mother; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by former-Empress Kōken. Shortly thereafter, Empress Shōtoku is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).^[8]

            Kōken/Shōtoku's reign was exceedingly turbulent, and she survived coup attempts by both Tachibana Naramaro and Fujiwara no Nakamaro.

            Today, she is remembered chiefly for her alleged affair with a Buddhist monk named Dōkyō (道鏡), a man upon whom she heaped titles and power. An oracle from the Hachiman (八幡) shrine in Usa pronounced that the monk should be made emperor. But when the empress sent Wake no Kiyomaro (和気清麻呂) to verify the pronouncement, Hachiman decreed that only one of imperial blood should ascend to the throne. The affair illustrated the growing power of the Buddhist priesthood and was a prime factor in Emperor Kammu's decision to move the capital away from Nara in 784. ^[9]

            • Jingo-keiun 3, on the 4th day of the 8th month (769): Empress Shōtoku died at age 57.^[10]

              Shōtoku died of smallpox, after which she was succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, Emperor Kōnin. She should not be confused with Prince Shōtoku (572-622), who was one of the first in Japan to sponsor Buddhism. Shōtoku's Imperial misasagi or tomb can be visited today in Misasagi-cho, Nara City.^[11][12]

              Kugyō

              The kugyō during Shōtoku's reign included:

              • Daijō-daijin, Dōkyō.^[10]
                • Sadaijin
                • Udaijin, Kibi Makibi.^[10]
                  • Nadaijin
                  • Dainagon, Fujiwara Matate.^[10]

                    Eras of Shōtoku's reign

                    The years of Shōtoku's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.^[13]

                    • Tenpyō-hōji (757-765)
                    • Tenpyō-jingo (765-767)
                    • Jingo-keiun (767-770)

                    References

                    1. ^ August 28, 770 corresponds to the Fourth Day of the Eighth Month of the Fourth Year of Jingo-keiun of the traditional lunisolar calendar used in Japan until 1873.
                    2. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 73-81; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 274-276; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. p. 143-147.
                    3. ^ Bender, Ross (1979). "The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident". Monumenta Nipponica 34 (2): 125-53. 
                    4. ^ 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.]
                    5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Brown, p. 274.
                    6. ^ Brown, pp. 274; Varley, p. 44. [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.]
                    7. ^ Titsingh, p. 73.
                    8. ^ Brown, pp. 276; Varley, p. 44, 145.
                    9. ^ Bender, Ross (2007). "Performative Loci of Shoku Nihongi Edicts, 749-770". 
                    10. ^ ^{a b c d} Brown, p. 276.
                    11. ^ Shōtoku's misasagi -- imge
                    12. ^ Shōtoku's misasagi -- map (top left)
                    13. ^ Titsingh, p. 78.

                    
                    

                    
                    

                    • Bender, Ross (2007). "Performative Loci of Shoku Nihongi Edicts, 749-770". 
                    • Bender, Ross (1979). "The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident". Monumenta Nipponica 34 (2): 125-53. 
                    • Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien, c. 1220], 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.... Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (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

                    See also

                    • Japanese empresses

                    
                    

                    Preceded by Emperor Shōmu	Empress of Japan: Kōken 749-758	Succeeded by Emperor Junnin
                    Preceded by Emperor Junnin	Empress of Japan: Shōtoku 764-770	Succeeded by Emperor Kōnin

                    v • d • e Emperors and Empresses of Japan
                    Currently: Heisei (Akihito)
                    Legendary Emperors	Jimmu · Suizei · Annei · Itoku · Kōshō · Kōan · Kōrei · Kōgen · Kaika · Sujin · Suinin · Keikō · Seimu · Chūai · Jingū‡ (regent)
                    Yamato Period (Kofun Period)	Ōjin · Nintoku · Richū · Hanzei · Ingyō · Ankō · Yūryaku · Seinei · Kenzō · Ninken · Buretsu · Keitai · Ankan · Senka
                    Asuka Period	Kimmei · Bidatsu · Yōmei · Sushun · Suikō‡ · Jomei · Kōgyoku‡ · Kōtoku · Saimei‡ · Tenji · Kōbun · Temmu · Jitō‡ · Mommu · Gemmei‡
                    Nara Period	Gensho‡ · Shōmu · Kōken‡ · Junnin · Shōtoku‡ · Kōnin
                    Heian Period	Kammu · Heizei · Saga · Junna · Ninmyō · Montoku · Seiwa · Yōzei · Kōkō · Uda · Daigo · Suzaku · Murakami · Reizei · En'yū · Kazan · Ichijō · Sanjō · Ichijō · Go-Suzaku · Go-Reizei · Go-Sanjō · Shirakawa · Horikawa · Toba · Sutoku · Konoe · Go-Shirakawa · Nijō · Rokujo · Takakura · Antoku · Go-Toba
                    Kamakura Period	Tsuchimikado · Juntoku · Chūkyō · Go-Horikawa · Shijō · Go-Saga · Go-Fukakusa · Kameyama · Go-Uda · Fushimi · Go-Fushimi · Go-Nijō · Hanazono · Go-Daigo
                    Northern Court	Kōgon · Kōmyō · Suko · Go-Kōgon · Go-En'yū · Go-Komatsu
                    Muromachi Period	Go-Murakami · Chōkei · Go-Kameyama · Go-Komatsu  · Shōkō · Go-Hanazono · Go-Tsuchimikado · Go-Kashiwabara · Go-Nara · Ōgimachi · Go-Yōzei
                    Edo Period	Go-Mizunoo · Meishō‡ · Go-Kōmyō · Go-Sai · Reigen · Higashiyama · Nakamikado · Sakuramachi · Momozono · Go-Sakuramachi‡ · Go-Momozono · Kōkaku · Ninkō · Kōmei
                    Modern Japan	Meiji · Taishō · Shōwa · Heisei
                    ‡ - Empresses

                    de:Kōken

                    es:Emperatriz Kōken fr:Kōken it:Koken nl:Keizerin Koken ja:孝謙天皇 pl:Cesarzowa Shōtoku pt:Imperatriz Shotoku