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Emperor Kinmei

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Kinmei
Emperor of Japan
ReignDecember 5, 539 – April 15, 571
PredecessorSenka
SuccessorBidatsu
Born509
DiedApril 15, 571(571-04-15) (aged 62)
Burial
Hinokuma no saki Ai no misasagi (Nara)
IssueEmperor Bidatsu
Emperor Yōmei
Emperor Sushun
Empress Suiko
FatherEmperor Keitai
MotherTashiraka no Himemiko

Emperor Kinmei (欽明天皇, Kinmei-tennō, 509–571) was the 29th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2]

His reign is said to have spanned the years from 539 through 571. Kinmei is the first Japanese emperor for which contemporary historiography is able to assign verifiable dates.[3]

Traditional narrative

Kinmei's contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi (治天下大王), meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven." Alternatively, Kinmei might have been referred to as (ヤマト大王/大君) or the "Great King of Yamato."

Events of Kinmei's life

Because of several chronological discrepancies in the account of Emperor Kinmei in the Nihon Shoki, some believe that his was actually ruling a rival court to that of Emperors Ankan and Senka. Nevertheless, according to the traditional account, it was not until the death of Emperor Kinmei's older brother Emperor Senka that he gained the throne.

According to this account, Emperor Senka died in 539 at the age of 73;[4] and succession passed to the third son of Emperor Keitai. This Imperial Prince was the next youngest brother of Emperor Senka. He would come to be known as Emperor Kinmei. He established his court at Shikishima no Kanazashi Palace (磯城嶋金刺宮) in Yamato.[5]

The emperor's chief counselors were:

Although the imperial court was not moved to the Asuka region of Japan until 592, Emperor Kinmei's rule is considered by some to be the beginning of the Asuka period of Yamato Japan, particularly by those who associate the Asuka period primarily with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from Korea.

According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Kinmei received a bronze statue of Buddha as a gift from the king of Paekche King Song Myong (聖明王, Seimei Ō) along with a significant envoy of artisans, monks, and other artifacts in 552. (However, according to the Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu, Buddhism was introduced in 538.) This episode is widely regarded as the official introduction of Buddhism to the country.

With the introduction of a new religion to the court, a deep rift developed between the Mononobe clan, who supported the worship of Japan's traditional deities, and the Soga clan, who supported the adoption of Buddhism.

According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Kinmei ruled until his death in 571 and was buried in the Hinokuma no Sakai Burial Mound (桧隈坂合陵). An alternate stronger theory holds that he was actually buried in the Misemaruyama Tumulus (見瀬丸山古墳) located in Kashihara City (橿原市).

This emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara. The Imperial Household Agency designates the Nara location as Kinmei's mausoleum.[1] It is formally named Hinokuma no saki Ai no misasagi;[6] however, the actual sites of the graves of the early emperors remain problematic, according to some historians and archaeologists.

Genealogy

Emperor Kinmei's father was Emperor Keitai and his mother was Emperor Ninken's daughter, Princess Tashiraka (手白香皇女, Tashiraka Ōjo).[5] In his lifetime, he was known by the name Amekuni Oshiharaki Hironiwa (天国排開広庭).

Kinmei had six Empresses and 25 Imperial children (16 sons and 9 daughters).[5] According to Nihongi, he had six wives; but Kojiki only gives five wives, identifying the third consort to the sixth one. The first three were his nieces, daughters of his half brother Senka; two others were sisters, daughters of the Omi Soga no Iname

  • Princess Ishi-Hime (or Iwa-hime), daughter of Emperor Senka by his Empress Tachibana no Nakatsu; Empress 540 ; Grand Empress 572; 3 imperial children :
    • Imperial Prince Yata no Tamakatsu no Oe (eldest son)
    • Imperial Prince Nunakura Futotama-Shiki (Emperor Bidatsu); born 538 (second son)
    • Imperial Princess Kasanui (also named Princess Satake)
  • Princess Kura Wayaka-Hime, daughter of Emperor Senka by his Empress Tachibana no Nakatsu; second consort; 1 imperial Prince :
    • Imperial Prince Iso no Kami, born 539/540
  • Princess Hikage, daughter of Emperor Senka probably by a concubine; third consort; 1 imperial Prince:
    • Imperial Prince Kura (Prince Soga no Kura)
  • Soga no Kitashi Hime, daughter of Soga no Iname ; fourth consort; died before 612; 13 imperial children :
    • Imperial Prince Oe or Ikebe (Emperor YOMEI); born 540 (fourth son)
    • Imperial Princess Ihane-hime or Ihakumo, Ise Virgin; had to resign her charge being convicted of intrigue with her half brother Imperial Prince Mubaragi
    • Imperial Prince Atori
    • Imperial Princess Nukatabe (Empress SUIKO), born 553, died 626
    • Imperial Prince Maroko
    • Imperial Princess Ohoyake
    • Imperial Prince Iso no Kami Be (Imigako)
    • Imperial Prince Yamashiro
    • Imperial Princess Ohotomo or Ohomata; born about 560; married to her nephew Prince Oshisako no Hikohito no Oe, son of Emperor Bidatsu
    • Imperial Prince Sakurawi
    • Imperial Princess Katano
    • Imperial Prince Tachibana Moto no Wakugo
    • Imperial Princess Toneri, born about 565; died 603; married to her nephew Prince Tame Toyora, son of Emperor Yomei
  • Soga no Oane hime, daughter of Soga no Iname ; fifth consort ; 5 imperial children:
    • Imperial Prince Mubaragi
    • Imperial Prince Katsuraki
    • Imperial Princess Hasetsukabe no Anahobe no Hashihito, born about 560; died 621; married (A) to her half brother Emperor Yomei; married (B) to her nephew and stepson Prince Tame Toyora, son of Emperor Yomei
    • Imperial Prince Amatsukabe Anahobe (Prince Sume-Irodo), killed 7 VI 587
    • Imperial Prince Hatsusebe (Emperor SUSHUN)
  • Nukako no Iratsume, daughter of Kasuga no Hifuri no Omi ;sixth consort; 2 imperial children:
    • Imperial Princess Kasuga no Yamada no Iratsume
    • Imperial Prince Tachibana no Maro

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 欽明天皇 (29); retrieved 2013-8-22.
  2. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). pp. 34–36; Brown, Delmer. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 261–262; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). pp. 123–124; Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 45.
  3. ^ Hoye, Timothy. (1999). Japanese Politics: Fixed and Floating Worlds, p. 78; excerpt, "According to legend, the first Japanese emperor was Jimmu. Along with the next 13 emperors, Jimmu is not considered an actual, historical figure. Historically verifiable Emperors of Japan date from the early sixth century with Kimmei.
  4. ^ Varley, p. 121.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Brown, p. 262.
  6. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 419.

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. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
  • Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
  • Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai 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. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842
Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of Japan:
Kinmei
539–571 		Succeeded by
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