Emperor Ōjin
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| Emperor Ōjin | |
|---|---|
| 15th Emperor of Japan | |
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| Emperor Ōjin | |
| Reign | legendary |
| Born | legendary |
| Birthplace | Umi (Fukuoka) |
| Died | legendary |
| Place of death | Akira Palace (Nara) |
| Buried | Yega no Mofushi no oka no Misasagi (Osaka) |
| Predecessor | Emperor Chūai |
| Successor | Emperor Nintoku |
| Consort | Nakatsuhime |
| Father | Emperor Chūai |
| Mother | Empress Jingū |
Emperor Ōjin (応神天皇, Ōjin-tennō), also known as Homutawake or Hondawake (誉田別), was the 15th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.[1] Emperor Ōjin is considered by many to be a legendary figure, and the name Ōjin Tennō was assigned to him posthumously by later generations.
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[edit] Legendary narrative
No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign. Ōjin is regarded by historians as a "legendary emperor" because of the paucity of information about him, which does not necessarily imply that no such person ever existed. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study. If Ōjin did exist, there is no evidence to suggest that the title tennō was used during the time period to which his reign has been assigned. It is much more likely that he was a chieftain, or local clan leader, and the polity he ruled would have only encompassed a small portion of modern day Japan.
According to the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki, Ōjin was the son of the Emperor Chūai and his consort Jingū. As Chūai died before Ōjin's birth, his mother Jingū became the de facto ruler. The legend, presumably concocted much later, alleged that the boy Ōjin was conceived but unborn when Chūai died. His widow, Jingū, then spent three years in conquest of a promised land, which is conjectured to be Korea, but the story is largely dismissed by scholars for lack of evidence. Then, after her return to Japanese islands, the boy was born, three years after the death of the father. Either a period of less than nine months contained three "years" (some seasons), e.g. three harvests, or the paternity is just mythical and symbolic, rather than real. Ōjin was born (in 200 according to the traditional, but untrustworthy TC date, timetable; realistically sometime in the late 300's) in Tsukushi on the return of his mother from the invasion of the promised land and named him Prince Hondawake. He became the crown prince at the age of four. He was crowned (in 270) at the age of 70 and reigned for 40 years until his death in 310, although none of the TC dates around his reign have any historical basis. He supposedly lived in two palaces both of which are in present day Osaka.
He was recorded as the father of Emperor Nintoku, who became Ōjin's successor.[2]
Emperor Ōjin is regarded as the earliest "historical" emperor.[3]
He has been deified as Hachiman Daimyōjin, regarded as the guardian of warriors. The Hata Clan considered him their guardian Kami.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 19-21; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 103-110.
- ^ Aston, William. (1998). Nihongi, p. 254-271.
- ^ Wakabayashi, Tadashi. Japanese loyalism reconstrued, p. 108.
[edit] References
- Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. [reprinted by Tuttle Publishing, Tokyo, 2007. 10-ISBN 0-8048-0984-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-8048-0984-9]
- 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
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
- Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki (A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4
- Wakabayashi, Tadashi. Japanese loyalism reconstrued: Yamagata Daini's Ryūshi shinron of 1759. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 10-ISBN 0-824-81667-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-824-81667-4
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Empress Jingū |
Emperor of Japan: Ōjin 270-310 (traditional dates) |
Succeeded by Emperor Nintoku |
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