Princess Iwa
Princess Iwa (磐之媛命 Iwa no hime mikoto), sometimes known as Empress Iwa no hime (磐姫皇后 Iwa no hime kōgō), was a poet and the Empress consort of Emperor Nintoku, who was the 16th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.[1] She was a descendant of Emperor Kōgen.[citation needed]
No firm dates can be assigned to Emperor Nintoku's life or reign, nor to that of his first wife. Nintoku is considered to have ruled the country during the late-fourth century and early-fifth century, but there is a paucity of information about him. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study.[citation needed]
Princess Iwa's poetry, or poems attributed to her, are included in the Kojiki, the Nihon shoki and the Man'yōshū. Her tomb is said to be located in Nara Prefecture.
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Literature [edit]
Poems which Iwa-no hime is said to have exchanged with her husband are related in the Kojiki and in the Nihon shoki.[2] Nintoku is reported to have suffered the resentment of the Iwa-no hime during a period in which he stopped the collection of taxes, which meant that even ordinary repairs to the palace were also deferred.[3]
Poetry attributed to Iwa is collected in the Man'yōshū,[2] the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry believed to have been collected by Ōtomo no Yakamochi (大伴 家持). In her four songs she expressed love and longing for her husband.[4] Some modern scholars, however, advise a healthy skepticism in these difficult to verify attributions.[5]
- Longing for Emperor Nintoku (君が行き 日長くなりぬ 山たずね 迎へか行かむ 待ちにか待たむ).[6]
|
Since my lord has gone away;
So shall I go and meet him. |
Burial mound tomb [edit]
The Imperial tomb of Iwa-no hime no Mikoto is said to be located in Saki-chō in the city of Nara.[8] Both kofun-type Imperial tombs are characterized by a keyhole-shaped island located within a wide, water-filled moat.[9]
Issue [edit]
- Prince Ooe no Izahowake (大兄去来穂別尊) Emperor Richū
- Prince Suminoe no Nakatsu (住吉仲皇子)
- Prince Mizuhawake (瑞歯別尊) Emperor Hanzei
- Prince Oasatsuma wakugo no Sukune (雄朝津間稚子宿禰尊) Emperor Ingyō
Notes [edit]
- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 22-24; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 110-111.
- ^ a b Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). "Iwa no Hime," Japan encyclopedia, p. 409.
- ^ Brownlee, John S. and Tarō Sakamoto. (1991). The Six National Histories of Japan, p. 64.
- ^ Sato. p. 16. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ Hall, John Whitney et al. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan: Ancient Japan, p. 474.
- ^ Poem No. 2-85, Man'yōshū Best 100;
- ^ Cranston, Edwin A. (1998). A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup, p. 51.
- ^ Iwa-no hime no Mikoto's misasagi -- map (upper right)
- ^ see kofun context of kofun-like elements
References [edit]
- Brownlee, John S. and Tarō Sakamoto. (1991). The Six National Histories of Japan. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. 10-ISBN 0-7748-0379-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-7748-0379-3]
- Cranston, Edwin A. (1998). A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-8047-3157-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-8047-3157-7
- Hall, John Whitney, Delmer M. Brown, Marius Jansen. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan: Ancient Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10-ISBN 0-521-22352-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-521-22352-2
- 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
- Hiroaki Sato (2008). Japanese women poets: an anthology. M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Odai Ichiran). 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
