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Emperor Shōmu

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Shōmu
Emperor of Japan
ReignMarch 3, 724 – August 19, 749
PredecessorGenshō
SuccessorKōken
Born701
DiedJune 4 756
Nara, Japan
Burial
Sahoyama no minami no misasagi (Nara)
IssuePrince Motoi, Kōken, Prince Asaka, Princess Inoe, Princess Fuwa
FatherMommu
MotherFujiwara no Miyako (?–754), daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito

Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇 (Shōmu-tennō, 701 – June 4, 756) was the 45th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2]

Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749.[3]

Traditional narrative

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina)[4] is not clearly known, but he was known as Oshi-hiraki Toyosakura-hiko-no-mikoto.[5]

Shōmu was the son of Emperor Mommu and Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito.[6]

Shōmu had four Empresses and six Imperial sons and daughters.[7]

Events of Shōmu's reign

Shōmu was still a child at the time of his father's death; thus, Empresses Gemmei and Gensho occupied the throne before he acceded.[6]

  • 724 (Yōrō 8, 1st month): In the 9th year of Genshō-tennō 's reign (元正天皇9年), the empress abdicated; and her younger brother received the succession (‘‘senso’’). Shortly thereafter, Emperor Shōmu is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).[8]
  • January 31, 724 (Jinki 1): The era name is changed to mark the accession of Emperor Shōmu.[9]

Shōmu continued to reside in the Hezei Palace.[6]

Shōmu is known as the first emperor whose consort was not born into the imperial household. His consort Kōmyō was a non-royal Fujiwara commoner. A ritsuryo office was created for the queen-consort, the Kogogushiki; and this bureaucratic innovation continued into the Heian period.[10]

Timeline

  • 724 (Jinki 1): Emperor Shōmu rises to throne.[6]
  • 740 (Tenpyō 12, 8th month): In the Imperial court in Nara, Kibi no Makibi and Genbō conspire to discredit Fujiwara no Hirotsugu, who is Dazai shoni in Kyushu.[11]
  • 740 (Tenpyō 12, 9th month): Hirotsugu creates an army in reaction to the growing influence of Genbō and others.[11]
  • 740 (Tenpyō 12, 9th month): Under the command of Ōno no Azumabito, an Imperial army of 17,000 is sent to Kyushu to stop the potential disturbance.[11]
  • 740 (Tenpyō 12, 10th month): Hirotsugu is decisively beaten in battle; and he is beheaded in Hizen province.[11]
  • 740 (Tenpyō 12): The capital is moved to Kuni-kyō
  • 741 (Tenpyō 13): The Emperor calls for nationwide establishment of provincial temples. Provincial temples ("kokubunji") and provincial nunneries ("kokubunniji") were established throughout the country. The more formal name for these "kokubunji" was "konkomyo-shitenno-gokoku no tera" (meaning "temples for the protection of the cournty by the four guardian deities of the golden light"). The more formal name for these "bokubunniji" was "hokke-metuzai no tera" (meaning "nunneries for eliminating sin by means of the Lotus Sutra").[12]
  • 743 (Tenpyō 15): The Emperor issues a rescript to build the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), later to be completed and placed in Tōdai-ji, Nara.[13]
  • 743 (Tenpyō 15): The law of Perpetual Ownership of Cultivated Lands (墾田永代私財法) issued
  • 744 (Tenpyō 16): In the Spring, the court was moved to Naniwa-kyō which then became the new capital.[11]
  • 745 (Tenpyō 17): The Emperor declares by himself Shigaraki-kyō the capital
  • 745 (Tenpyō 17): The capital returns to Heijō-kyō, construction of the Great Buddha resumes.
  • 749 (Tenpyō 21, 4th month): Shōme, accompanied by the empress, their children and all the great men and women of the court, went in procession to Todai-ji. The emperor stood before the statue of the Buddha and proclaimed himself to be a slave to the three precious precepts of the Buddhist religion,[14] which are the Buddha, the Buddhist law, and the Buddhist church.[11]
  • 749 (Tenpyō 21, 7th month): After a 25-year reign, Emperor Shōmu abdicates in favor of his daughter, Princess Takano-hime, who will become Empress Kōken.[15] After his abdication, Shomu took the tonsure, thus becoming the first retired emperor to become a Buddhist priest.[15] Empress Komyo, following her husband’s example, also took holy vows in becoming a Buddhist nun.[15]

Legacy

Shōmu, a devout Buddhist, is best remembered for commissioning, in 743, the sixteen-meter high statue of the Vairocana Buddha (the Daibutsu) in Tōdai-ji of Nara. At the time, this was such a massive undertaking that later chroniclers accuse him of having completely exhausted the country's reserves of bronze and precious metals.[6] In 752, the Shōmu held the Eye-opening Ceremony of the Great Buddha.

Earlier in 741, he established the system of provincial temples, making this the closest anyone ever came to declaring Japan a Buddhist nation. In addition he commissioned the observance of the ohigan holiday for both spring and autumnal equinox.[17]

Emperor Shōmu died at age 56.[15]

Memorial Shinto shrine and mausoleum honoring Emperor Shōmu

The actual site of Shōmu's grave is known.[1] This emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Shōmu's mausoleum. It is formally named Sahoyama no minami no misasagi.[18] The tomb site can be visited today in Horenji-cho, Tenri City near Nara City.[19] The Imperial tomb of Shōmu's consort, Empress Kōmyō, is located nearby.[20]

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

Eras of Shōmu's life

The years of Shōmu's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.[22]

Consorts and Children

Empress: Fujiwara no Asukabe-hime (藤原安宿媛) (Empress Kōmyō, 光明皇后) (701–760), daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito

  • Imperial Princess Abe (阿倍内親王) (Empress Kōken) (718–770)
  • Prince Motoi (基王) (727–728)

Bunin: Agatainukai no Hirotoji (県犬養広刀自) (?–762), daughter of Agatainukai no Morokoshi

  • Imperial Princess Inoe (井上内親王) (717–775), married to Prince Shirakabe(later Emperor Kōnin)
  • Imperial Princess Fuwa (不破内親王) (?–after 795), married to Prince Shioyaki (son of Prince Niitabe)
  • Imperial Prince Asaka (安積親王) (728–744)

Bunin: A daughter of Fujiwara no Muchimaro (?–748)

Bunin: A daughter of Fujiwara no Fusasaki (?–760)

Bunin: Tachibana-no-Hirooka no Konakachi (橘広岡古那可智) (?–759), daughter of Tachibana no Sai

See also

Notes

Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom
  1. ^ a b Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 聖武天皇 (45)
  2. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 57.
  3. ^ Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 272-273; Varley, H. Paul. Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 141-143; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 67-73., p. 67, at Google Books
  4. ^ Brown, pp. 264; prior to 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. ^ Brown, p. 272; Varley, p. 141.
  6. ^ a b c d e Varley, p. 141.
  7. ^ a b c Brown, p. 272.
  8. ^ Titsingh, p. 67, p. 67, at Google Books; 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 Emperor Go-Murakami.
  9. ^ Titsingh, p. 67, p. 67, at Google Books.
  10. ^ Piggott, Joan R. (1997). The Emergence of Japanese Kingship, p. 308.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Titsingh, p. 71, p. 71, at Google Books. Cite error: The named reference "titsingh71" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ Varley, pp. 141-142.
  13. ^ Varley, p. 141; Brown, p. 273.
  14. ^ Titsingh, p. 73, p. 73, at Google Books.
  15. ^ a b c d Varley, p. 143.
  16. ^ Titsingh, p. 74, p. 74, at Google Books; Varley, p. 143.
  17. ^ "Middle Way & Higan Service, Nichiren Shu Beikoku Betsuin". Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  18. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 420.
  19. ^ Shōmu's misasagi -- map
  20. ^ Komyo's misasagi -- map
  21. ^ a b c d e Brown, p. 273.
  22. ^ Titsingh, p. 67; Brown, p. 273.

References

Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of Japan:
Shōmu
724–749 		Succeeded by

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