Emperor Yūryaku

Yūryaku
Emperor of Japan
Reign	legendary
Born	legendary
Died	legendary
Place of death	Hatsuse no asakura Palace
Buried	Tajii no Takawashi-hara no misasagi (Osaka)
Predecessor	Ankō
Successor	Seinei

Emperor Yūryaku (雄略天皇, Yūryaku-tennō) was the 21st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

Yūryaku is remembered as a patron of sericulture.

No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 456–479.

Legendard narrative

Yūryaku is considered to have ruled the country during the mid-5th century, but there is a paucity of information about him. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study.

According to the Kojiki, this emperor is said to have ruled from the Thirteenth Day of the Eleventh Month of 456 (Heishin) until his death on the Seventh Day of the Eight Month of 479 (Kibi).

According to Kojiki and Nihonshoki, Yūryaku was named Prince Ohatsuse Wakatake (大泊瀬 幼武) at birth. Swords unearthed from some kofuns indicate his name was Waka Takeru (Ōkimi). Yuryaku is a name posthumously assigned to him by a much later era. He was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Ingyō. After his elder brother Emperor Ankō was murdered, he won the struggle against his other brothers and became the new emperor. His title at his own lifetime was certainly not tennō, but presumably Ōkimi and/or Sumeramikoto (治天下大王 - amenoshita shiroshimesu ōkimi, or sumera no mikoto, Great King who rules all under heaven) and/or king of Yamato (ヤマト大王/大君 - yamato ōkimi, Great King of Yamato). He had three wives (including his consort Kusahahatahi). His successor, Prince Shiraka (Emperor Seinei), was his son by his wife Kazuraki no Karahime.

The actual site of Yūryaku's grave is not known. This emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Osaka.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Yūryaku's mausoleum. It is formally named Tajii no Takawashi-hara no misasagi.

Consorts and Children

Empress: Kusaka no hatabihime no Himemiko (草香幡梭姫皇女), daughter of Emperor Nintoku Or Emperor Richū

Lady: Katsuragi no Karahime (葛城韓媛), daughter of Katsuragi no Tsubura no Ōomi (葛城円大臣)

• Prince Shiraka (白髪皇子) (Emperor Seinei) (444?–484)
• Princess Takuhatahime (栲幡姫皇女) (?–459) (Saikū)

Lady: Kibi no Wakahime (吉備稚媛) (?–479), daughter of Kibi no Kamitsumichi no omi (吉備上道臣)

• Prince Iwaki (磐城皇子)
• Prince Hoshikawa no Wakamiya (星川稚宮皇子) (?–479)

Lady: Wani no warawakimi (和珥童女君), daughter of Kasuga no Wani no omi Fukame (春日和珥臣深目)

• Princess Kasuga no Ōiratsume (春日大娘皇女), married to Emperor Ninken

King Bu

King Bu, supposed to be Yūryaku, sent an envoy to the emperor of Liu Song, a minor Chinese dynasty, in 478. The ambassador explained that their ancestors were the conquerors of 115 barbarian countries. This claim was followed by the request of military support against Goguryeo of the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Yūryaku is believed to be referred to as Bu (武, In Japanese, it is read as Take or Takeru) in contemporary Chinese records. These records state that Bu began his rule before 477, was recognized as the ruler of Japan by the Liu Song, Southern Qi, and Liang dynasties, and continued his rule through to 502. Bu sent messengers to the Song dynasty in 477 and 478 to ask for military support for protecting Baekje against the threat of Goguryeo. South Korean scholar So Jin Cheol claim that Bu is not Yūryaku but Sima; who became King Muryeong of Baekje.

Poetry

This Japanese sovereign's interest in poetry is amongst the more well-documented aspects of his character and reign. Poems attributed to this 5th century monarch are included in the Manyōshū, and a number of his verses are preserved in the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki.

See also

• Emperor of Japan
• List of Emperors of Japan
• Imperial cult
• Inariyama Sword
• Eta Funayama Sword
• Five kings of Wa

Notes

Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom

References

• Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. OCLC 448337491
• Batten, Bruce Loyd. (2006). Gateway to Japan: Hakata in war and peace, 500-1300. Honolulu:University of Hawaii Press. 10-ISBN 0-8248-2971-9/13-ISBN 978-0-8248-2971-1; 10-ISBN 0-8248-3029-6/13-ISBN 978-0-8248-3029-8; OCLC 254764602
• 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
• Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai (1969). The Manyōshū: The Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation of One Thousand Poems. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08620-2
• 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

• 소진철. (2008). 백제무령왕의세계: 왕의세상은해양대국·대백제‎ (Paekche Muryŏng Wang ŭi segye: wang ŭi sesang ŭn haeyang taeguk tae Paekche). Seoul: 주류성. 10-ISBN 89-6246-010-6/13-ISBN 978-89-6246-010-0; OCLC 310625141

External links

• Nihon Shoki Online English Translations.Scroll 14 - Emperor Yuryaku

Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor Ankō	Emperor of Japan: Yūryaku 456–479 (traditional dates)	Succeeded by Emperor Seinei