Empress Jitō Explained

Empress Jitō
Succession:Empress of Japan
Reign:686–697
Cor-Type:Japan
Predecessor:Tenmu
Successor:Monmu
Succession1:Empress consort of Japan
Reign1:673–686
Reign-Type1:Tenure
Posthumous Name:Chinese-style shigō


Empress Jitō (Japanese: 持統天皇)

Japanese-style shigō:
Takamanoharahiro-no-hime no Sumeramikoto (Japanese: 高天原広野姫天皇)

Spouse:Emperor Tenmu
Issue:Prince Kusakabe
Royal House:Imperial House of Japan
Father:Emperor Tenji
Mother:Soga no Ochi-no-iratsume
Birth Name:Uno-no-sarara (Japanese: 鸕野讚良)
Birth Date:645
Birth Place:Japan
Death Date:13 January 703 (aged 57–58)
Death Place:Fujiwara-kyō, Japan
Burial Place:Hinokuma-no-Ōuchi no misasagi (檜隈大内陵) (Nara)

[1] was the 41st monarch of Japan,[2] according to the traditional order of succession.[3]

Jitō's reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.[4]

In the history of Japan, Jitō was the third of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant. The two female monarchs before Jitō were Suiko and Kōgyoku/Saimei. The five women sovereigns reigning after Jitō were Genmei, Genshō, Kōken/Shōtoku, Meishō, and Go-Sakuramachi.

Traditional narrative

Empress Jitō was the daughter of Emperor Tenji. Her mother was Ochi-no-Iratsume, the daughter of Minister Ō-omi Soga no Yamada-no Ishikawa Maro. She was the wife of Tenji's full brother Emperor Tenmu, whom she succeeded on the throne.[5]

Empress Jitō's given name was, or alternately Uno.[6]

Events of Jitō's reign

Jitō took responsibility for court administration after the death of her husband, Emperor Tenmu, who was also her uncle. She acceded to the throne in 687 in order to ensure the eventual succession of her son, Kusakabe-shinnō. Throughout this period, Empress Jitō ruled from the Fujiwara Palace in Yamato.[5] In 689, Jitō prohibited Sugoroku,[7] in 690 at enthronement she performed special ritual then gave pardon and in 692 she travelled to Ise against the counsel of minister Miwa-no-Asono-Takechimaro.[8]

Prince Kusakabe was named as crown prince to succeed Jitō, but he died at a young age. Kusakabe's son, Karu-no-o, was then named as Jitō's successor. He eventually would become known as Emperor Monmu.[5]

Empress Jitō reigned for eleven years. Although there were seven other reigning empresses, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century.[9] Empress Genmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.

In 697, Jitō abdicated in Monmu's favor; and as a retired sovereign, she took the post-reign title daijō-tennō. After this, her imperial successors who retired took the same title after abdication.[5]

Jitō continued to hold power as a cloistered ruler, which became a persistent trend in Japanese politics.

The actual site of Jitō's grave is known.[2] This empress is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara.

The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Jitō's mausoleum. It is formally named Ochi-no-Okanoe no misasagi.[10]

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

Non-nengō period

Jitō's reign is not linked by scholars to any era or nengō.[4] The Taika era innovation of naming time periods – nengō – languished until Mommu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming the commencement of Taihō in 701.

However, Brown and Ishida's translation of Gukanshō offers an explanation which muddies a sense of easy clarity:

"The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shuchō [(686+7=692?)]; and (2) Taika, which was four years long [695–698]. (The first year of this era was kinoto-hitsuji [695].) ... In the third year of the Taka era [697], Empress Jitō yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."[6]

Family

Empress Jitō, known as Princess Uno-no-sarara (鸕野讃良皇女) in her early days, was born to Emperor Tenji and his concubine, who held of Beauty (Hin).She had two full siblings: Princess Ōta and Prince Takeru. Empress Jitō and her younger sister, Princess Ōta, shared the same husband, Emperor Tenmu, with whom both would have children.

Poetry

The Man'yōshū includes poems said to have been composed by Jitō. This one was composed after the death of the Emperor Tenmu:[11]

JapaneseRōmajiEnglish
やすみしし 我が大君の夕されば 見したまふらし明け来れば 問ひたまふらし神岳の 山の黄葉を今日もかも 問ひたまはまし明日もかも 見したまはましその山を 振り放け見つつ夕されば あやに悲しみ明け来ればうらさび暮らし荒栲の衣の袖は干る時もなしYasumishishi waga ōkimi noYū sareba meshita furashiAkekureba toita furashiKamuoka no yama no momichi toKyō mo ka mo toita mawamashiAsu mo ka mo meshita mawamashiSono yama o furisakemitsutsuYū sareba aya ni kanashimiAkekurebaUrasabikurashiAratae noKoromo no sode waFuru toki mo nashiOh, the autumn foliageOf the hill of Kamioka![12] My good Lord and SovereignWould see it in the eveningAnd ask of it in the morning.On that very hill from afarI gaze, wonderingIf he sees it to-day,Or asks of it to-morrow.Sadness I feel at eve,And heart-rending grief at morn—The sleeves of my coarse-cloth robeAre never for a moment dry.

One of the poems attributed to Empress Jitō was selected by Fujiwara no Teika for inclusion in the very popular anthology Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese[13] RōmajiEnglish
春過ぎて夏来にけらし白妙の衣干すてふ天の香具山Haru sugiteNatsu kinikerashiShirotae noKoromo hosu chōAma no KaguyamaThe spring has passedAnd the summer come againFor the silk-white robesSo they say, are spread to dryOn Mount Kaguyama

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Heroic with grace : legendary women of Japan. 1991. M.E. Sharpe. Mulhern, Cheiko Irie.. 0873325273. 1st. Armonk, N.Y.. 58. 23015480.
  2. [Imperial Household Agency]
  3. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 54.
  4. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834).
  5. Varley, H. Paul. Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 137.
  6. Brown, D. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 270.
  7. Nihon Shoki, Volume 30
  8. Nihon Shoki, Volume, 30
  9. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070327i1.html "Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl"
  10. Ponsonby-Fane, p. 420.
  11. Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p.18. This waka is here numbered 42; in the Kokka Taikan (1901), Book II, numbered 159.
  12. Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. 18 n1; n.b., This would be the so-called Thunder Hill in the village of Asuka near Nara.
  13. Web site: University of Virginia, Hyakunin Isshu on-line . Etext.lib.virginia.edu . 2012-06-10.