Emperor Annei
| Annei | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of Japan | |
 |
|
| Reign | legendary |
| Born | legendary |
| Died | legendary |
| Buried | Unebi-yama no hitsujisaru Mihodo no i no e no no misasagi (Nara) |
| Predecessor | Suizei |
| Successor | Itoku |
Emperor Annei (安寧天皇 Annei-tennō); also known as shikitsuhikotamatemi no Mikoto; was the third emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2]
No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 549 to 511 B.C.,[3] near the end of the Jōmon period.
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[edit] History
Modern scholars have come to question the existence of at least the first nine emperors; and Annei's descendant, Emperor Sujin is the first many agree might have actually existed.[4] The name Annei-tennō was assigned to him posthumously by later generations.[5]
Annei is regarded by historians as a "legendary emperor" and there is a paucity of information about him. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study.[6] The reign of Emperor Kimmei (509?–571), the 29th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, is the first for which contemporary historiography are able to assign verifiable dates;[7] however, the conventionally accepted names and dates of the early emperors were not to be confirmed as "traditional" until the reign of Emperor Kammu (737–806), the 50th sovereign of the Yamato dynasty.[8]
In Kojiki and Nihonshoki only his name and genealogy were recorded. The Japanese have traditionally accepted this sovereign's historical existence, and an Imperial misasagi or tomb for Annei is currently maintained; however, no extant contemporary records have been discovered which confirm a view that this historical figure actually reigned. He is considered to have been the second of eight emperors without specific legends associated with them, also known as the "eight undocumented monarchs" (欠史八代, Kesshi-hachidai).[9]
Emperor Annei was either the eldest son[10] or the only son of Emperor Suizei.[2] Before his ascension to the throne, he was known as Prince Shikitsu-hiko Tamatemi.[11]
Jien records that he ruled from the palace of Ukena-no-miya at Katashiro in Kawachi in what will come to be known as Yamato province.[10]
This emperor's posthumous name literally means "steady tranquillity". It is undisputed that this identification is Chinese in form and Buddhist in implication, which suggests that the name must have been regularized centuries after the lifetime ascribed to Annei, possibly during the time in which legends about the origins of the Yamato dynasty were compiled as the chronicles known today as the Kojiki.[9]
The actual site of Annei's grave is not known.[1] This emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara.
The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Annei's mausoleum. It is formally named Unebi-yama no hitsujisaru Mihodo no i no e no no misasagi.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 安寧天皇 (3)
- ^ a b Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 29.
- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 4 at Google Books; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 251; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 89.
- ^ "Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl," Japan Times. March 27, 2007.
- ^ Brinkley, Frank. (1915). A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the end of the Meiji Era, p. 21 at Google Books; excerpt, "Posthumous names for the earthly Mikados were invented in the reign of Emperor Kammu (782-805), i.e., after the date of the compilation of the Records and the Chronicles.
- ^ Kelly, Charles F. "Kofun Culture," Japanese Archaeology. April 27, 2009.
- ^ Titsingh, pp. 34-36 at Google Books; Brown, pp. 261-262; Varley, pp. 123-124.
- ^ Aston, William. (1896). pp. 109.
- ^ a b Aston, pp. 141-142.
- ^ a b Brown, p. 251.
- ^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Annei Tennō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 32 at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 418.
[edit] References
- 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 Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10-ISBN 0-520-03460-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
- Chamberlain, Basil Hall. (1920). The Kojiki. Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on April 12, May 10, and June 21, 1882; reprinted, May, 1919. OCLC 1882339
- Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai 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). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-04940-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Emperor Suizei |
Legendary Emperor of Japan 549 BC–511 BC (traditional dates) |
Succeeded by Emperor Itoku |
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