Emperor Uda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy datesTemplate:Infobox royalty

Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was the 59th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2]

Uda's reign spanned the years from 887 through 897.[3]

Traditional narrative

Name and legacy

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina)[4] was Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[5] or Chōjiin-tei.[6]

Emperor Uda was the third son of Emperor Kōkō. His mother was Empress Dowager Hanshi, a daughter of Prince Nakano (who was himself a son of Emperor Kanmu).[7] Uda had five Imperial consorts and 20 Imperial children.[8] Particularly important sons include:

Historical background

In ancient Japan, there were four noble clans, the Gempeitōkitsu Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. One of these clans, the Minamoto clan Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., is also known as Genji. Some of Uda's grandchildren were granted the surname Minamoto, the most used surname for former Japanese royalty. In order to distinguish Uda's descendants from other Genji, they became known as the Uda Genji Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., some of which moved to Ōmi Province and became known as Sasaki clan Script error: No such module "Nihongo". or Ōmi Genji Script error: No such module "Nihongo"..

Among the Uda Genji, Minamoto no Masazane Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., a son of Prince Atsumi Script error: No such module "Nihongo". succeeded in the court. Masazane became sadaijin (Minister of the Left). One of Masazane's daughters, Minamoto no Rinshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo". married Fujiwara no Michinaga and from this marriage three empresses dowagers and two regents (sesshō) were born.

From Masanobu, several kuge families originated including the Niwata, Ayanokōji, Itsutsuji, Ōhara and Jikōji. From his fourth son Sukeyosi, the Sasaki clan originated, and thus Kyōgoku clan originated. These descendants are known as Ōmi Genji today. From this line, Sasaki Takauji made a success at the Muromachi shogunate and the Amago clan originated from his brother.

Events of Uda's life

Uda's father, Emperor Kōkō, demoted his sons from the rank of imperial royals to that of subjects in order to reduce the state expenses, as well as their political influence. Sadami was given the clan name of Minamoto and named Minamoto no Sadami. Later, in 887, when Kōkō needed to appoint his successor, Sadami was once again promoted to the Imperial Prince rank with support of kampaku Fujiwara no Mototsune, since Sadami was adopted by a half-sister of Mototsune. After the death of his father in November of that year, Sadami-shinnō ascended to the throne.

  • September 17, 887 (Ninna 3, 26th day of the 8th month): Emperor Kōkō died; and his third son received the succession (senso). Shortly thereafter, Emperor Uda formally acceded to the throne (sokui).[10]
  • December 5, 887 (Ninna 3, 17th day of the 11th month): Mototsune asked Uda for permission to retire from his duties; but the emperor is said to have responded, "My youth limits my ability to govern; and if you stop offering me your good counsel, I will be obliged to abdicate and to retire to a monastery." Therefore, Mototsune continued to serve as the new emperor's kampaku.[11]
File:Ninnaji Garden.jpg
A garden at Ninnaji
  • 888 (Ninna 4, 8th month): Construction of the newly created Buddhist temple of Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was completed; and a former disciple of Kōbō-daishi was installed as the new abbot.[11]
  • 889 (Kanpyō 1, 10th month): The former emperor Yōzei became deranged, and afflicted by mental illness. Yōzei would enter the palace and address courtiers he would meet with the greatest rudeness. He became increasingly furious. He garroted women with the strings of musical instruments and then threw the bodies into a lake. While riding on horseback, he directed his mount to run over people. Sometimes he simply disappeared into the mountains where he chased wild boars and red deer.[12]

In the beginning of Uda's reign, Mototsune held the office of kampaku (or chancellor). Emperor Uda's reign is marked by a prolonged struggle to reassert power by the Imperial Family away from the increasing influence of the Fujiwara, beginning with the death of Mototsune in 891. Records show that shortly thereafter, Emperor Uda assigned scholars Sukeyo and Kiyoyuki, supporters of Mototsune, to provincial posts in the remote provinces of Mutsu and Higo respectively.[13] Meanwhile, non-Fujiwara officials mainly from the Minamoto family were promoted to prominent ranks, while his trusted counselor, Sugawara no Michizane rapidly rose in rank within five years to reach the third rank in the court, and supervision of the Crown Prince's household.[13] Meanwhile, Mototsune's son and heir, Fujiwara no Tokihira, rose in rank, but only just enough to prevent an open power struggle.

Meanwhile, Emperor Uda attempted to return Court politics to the original spirit envisioned in the Ritsuryō Codes, while reviving intellectual interest in Confucian doctrine and culture. In the seventh month of 896, Emperor Uda dispatched Sugawara no Michizane to review prisoners in the capitol and provide a general amnesty for the wrongfully accused, in keeping with Chinese practices. Emperor Uda also issued edicts reinforcing peasant land rights from encroachment by powerful families in the capital or monastic institutions, while auditing tax collections made in the provinces.[13]

Emperor Uda stopped the practice of sending ambassadors to China Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. The emperor's decision was informed by what he understood as persuasive counsel from Sugawara Michizane.[14]

The Special Festival of the Kamo Shrine was first held during Uda's reign.[15]

<templatestyles src="Rquote/styles.css"/>Template:Main other

In 897, Uda abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Prince Atsuhito, who would later come to be known as Emperor Daigo. Uda left behind an hortatory will or testament which offered general admonitions or precepts[16] for his son's guidance (see excerpt at right). The document praises Fujiwara no Tokihira as an advisor but cautions against his womanizing; and Sugawara no Michizane is praised as Uda's mentor. Both were assigned by Emperor Uda to look after his son until the latter reach maturity.

Three years later, he entered the Buddhist priesthood at age 34 in 900.[15] Having founded the temple at Ninna-ji, Uda made it his new home after his abdication.

File:Go-shichi no kiri crest 2.svg
Decorative emblems (kiri) of the Hosokawa clan are found at Ryōan-ji. Uda is amongst six other emperors entombed near what had been the residence of Hosokawa Katsumoto before the Ōnin War.

His Buddhist name was Kongō Kaku.[15] He was sometimes called "the Cloistered Emperor of Teiji Script error: No such module "Nihongo".", because the name of the Buddhist hall where he resided after becoming a priest was called Teijiin.[8]

Uda died in 931 (Shōhei 1, 19th day of the 7th month) at the age of 65.[17]

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

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Uda's mausoleum. It is formally named Kaguragaoka no Higashi no misasagi.[18]

The former emperor is buried amongst the "Seven Imperial Tombs" at Ryōan-ji Temple in Kyoto.[19] The mound which commemorates the Hosokawa Emperor Uda is today named O-uchiyama. The emperor's burial place would have been quite humble in the period after Uda died. These tombs reached their present state as a result of the 19th century restoration of imperial sepulchers which were ordered by Emperor Meiji.[20]

Kugyō

Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.[21]

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

Eras of Uda's reign

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

Consorts and children

Consort (Nyōgo): Fujiwara no Onshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Fujiwara no Mototsune’s daughter

  • Imperial Princess Kinshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., married to Imperial Prince Atsuyoshi

Consort (Nyōgo): Fujiwara no Inshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Fujiwara no Takafuji’s daughter

  • First Son: Imperial Prince Atsugimi Script error: No such module "Nihongo". later Emperor Daigo
  • Fourth Son: Imperial Prince Atsuyoshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Imperial Prince Atsukata Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Imperial Princess Jūshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., 25th Saiō in Ise Shrine (897–930)
  • Eighth Son: Imperial Prince Atsumi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Consort (Nyōgo): Tachibana no Yoshiko/Gishi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Tachibana no Hiromi's daughter

  • Second Son: Imperial Prince Tokinaka Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Third Son: Imperial Prince Tokiyo Script error: No such module "Nihongo". later Imperial Prince Priest Shinjaku Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Imperial Prince Tokikuni Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Fourth Daughter: Imperial Princess Kunshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., 10th Saiin in Kamo Shrine (893–902)

Consort (Nyōgo): Sugawara no Hiroko/Enshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Sugawara no Michizane’s daughter

Consort (Nyōgo): Tachibana no Fusako Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Court Attendant (Koui): Minamoto no Sadako Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Minamoto no Noboru's daughter

  • Imperial Princess Ishi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Court Attendant (Koui): Princess Norihime Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Prince Tōyo's daughter

  • Imperial Princess Fushi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Court Attendant (Koui): Fujiwara no Yasuko Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Fujiwara no Arizane's daughter

  • Imperial Princess Kaishi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., married to Imperial Prince Motoyoshi (son of Emperor Yōzei)
  • Imperial Princess Kishi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Court Attendant (Koui): Minamoto no Hisako Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Court Attendant (Koui): Fujiwara no Shizuko Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Lady-in-waiting: Fujiwara no Hōshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., Fujiwara no Tokihira’s daughter

  • Imperial Prince Masaakira Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Imperial Prince Noriakira Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Imperial Prince Yukiakira Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Court lady: A daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Ise Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

  • prince (died young)

(from unknown women)

  • Imperial Prince Yukinaka Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Imperial Princess Seishi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
  • Minamoto no Shinshi Script error: No such module "Nihongo".

Ancestry

Template:Ahnentafel

Notes

File:Imperial Seal of Japan.svg
Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom

Template:Reflist

References

See also

Template:Sister project

Template:S-endTemplate:Emperors of JapanTemplate:Authority control
Regnal titles
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Emperor of Japan:
Uda
887–897 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
  1. ↑ a b Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 宇多天皇 (59)
  2. ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 67–68.
  3. ↑ Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 289–290; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 175–179; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Template:Google books
  4. ↑ Brown, pp. 264; prior to Emperor Jōmei, the personal names of the emperors were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.
  5. ↑ Titsingh, p. 125; Brown, p. 289; Varley, 175.
  6. ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 8.
  7. ↑ Varley, p. 175.
  8. ↑ a b Brown, p. 289.
  9. ↑ Kitagawa, Hiroshi et al. (1975). The Tale of the Heike, p. 503.
  10. ↑ Brown, p. 289; 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.
  11. ↑ a b Titsingh, p. 126.
  12. ↑ Titsingh, p. 127.
  13. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Kitagawa, H. (1975). The Tale of the Heike, p. 222.
  15. ↑ a b c d e Brown, p. 290.
  16. ↑ Compare Precepts of Tokugawa Ieyasu
  17. ↑ Brown, p. 295; Varley, p. 179.
  18. ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 420.
  19. ↑ The "Seven Imperial Tombs" at Ryoan-ji are the burial places of Uda, Kazan, Ichijō, Go-Suzaku, Go-Reizei, Go-Sanjō, and Horikawa.
  20. ↑ Moscher, Gouverneur. (1978). Kyoto: A Contemplative Guide, pp. 277–278.
  21. ↑ Furugosho: Kugyō of Uda-tennō.
  22. ↑ Titsingh, p. 125.
Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Emperor_Uda&oldid=620612"