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Emperor Temmu
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(c. 631 - October 1, 686) was the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686.
as the youngest son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Saimei, and the younger brother of the Emperor Tenji. His name at birth was Prince Oama (?????:Oama no oji). He was succeeded by Empress Jito, who was both his niece and his wife.
During the reign of his elder brother, Emperor Tenji, Temmu was forced to marry several of Tenji's daughters because Tenji thought those marriages would help to strengthen political ties between the two brothers.
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(c. 631 - October 1, 686) was the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686.
Genealogy
He was the youngest son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Saimei, and the younger brother of the Emperor Tenji. His name at birth was Prince Oama (?????:Oama no oji). He was succeeded by Empress Jito, who was both his niece and his wife.
During the reign of his elder brother, Emperor Tenji, Temmu was forced to marry several of Tenji's daughters because Tenji thought those marriages would help to strengthen political ties between the two brothers. The nieces he married included Princess Unonosarara, today known as the Empress Jito, and Princess Ota. Temmu also had other consorts whose fathers were influential courtiers.
Temmu had many children, including his crown prince Kusakabe by Princess Unonosarara; Princess Tochi; Prince Otsu and Princess Oku by Princess Ota (whose father also was Tenji); and Prince Toneri, the editor of Nihonshoki and father of Emperor Junnin. Through Prince Kusakabe, Temmu had two emperors and two empresses among his descendents. Empress Shotoku was the last of these imperial rulers from his lineage.
Events of Temmu's life
Emperor Temmu is the first monarch of Japan, to whom the title tenno was assigned contemporaneously -- not only by later generations.
The only document on his life was Nihonshoki. However, it was edited by his son, Prince Toneri, and the work was written during the reigns of his wife and children, causing one to suspect its accuracy and impartiality.
Temmu's father died while he was young, and he grew up mainly under the guidance of Empress Saimei. He was not expected to gain the throne, because his brother Tenji was the crown prince, being the older son of their mother, the reigning empress.
After Tenji ascended to the throne, Temmu was appointed crown prince. This was because Tenji had no appropriate heir among his sons at that time, as none of their mothers was of a rank high enough to give the necessary political support. Tenji was suspicious that Temmu might be so ambitious as to attempt to take the throne, and felt the necessity to strengthen his position through politically advantageous marriages.
Tenji was particularly active in improving the military institutions which had been established during the Taika reforms.
In his old age, Tenji had a son, Prince Otomo, by a low-ranking consort. Since Otomo had weak political support from his maternal relatives, the general wisdom of the time held that it was not a good idea for him to ascend to the throne, yet Tenji was obsessed with the idea.
In 671 Temmu felt himself to be in danger and volunteered to resign the office of crown prince to become a monk. He moved to the mountains in Yoshino, Yamato province (now in Yoshino, Nara), officially for reasons of seclusion. He took with him his sons and one of his wives, Princess Unonosarara, a daughter of Tenji. However, he left all his other consorts at the capital, Omikyo in Omi Province (today in Otsu, Shiga).
A year later, (in 672) Tenji died and Prince Otomo ascended to the throne as Emperor Kobun. Temmu assembled an army and marched from Yoshino to the east, to attack Omikyo in a counterclockwise movement. They marched through Yamato, Iga and Mino provinces to threaten Omikyo in the adjacent province. The army of Temmu and the army of the young Emperor Kobun fought in the northwestern part of Mino (nowadays Sekigahara, Gifu). Temmu's army won and Kobun committed suicide (Jinshin incident).
- Post-Meiji chronology
- In the 10th year of Tenji, in the 11th month (671): Emperor Tenji, in the 10th year of his reign (????10?), designated his son as his heir; and modern scholars construe this as meaning that the son would have received the succession (‘‘senso’’) after his father's death. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Kobun is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’). If this understanding were valid, then it would it would follow:
- In the 1st year of Kobun (672): Emperor Kobun, in the 1st year of his reign (????1?), died; and his uncle Oaomi-shinno received the succession (‘‘senso’’) after the death of his nephew. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Temmu could be said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).
- Pre-Meiji chronology
- Prior to the 19th century, Otomo was understood to have been a mere interloper, a pretender, an anomaly; and therefore, if that commonly-accepted understanding were to have been valid, then it would have followed:
- In the 10th year of Tenji, in the 11th month (671): Emperor Tenji, in the 10th year of his reign (????10?), died; and despite any military confrontations which ensued, the brother of the dead sovereign would have received the succession (‘‘senso’’); and after a time, it would have been understood that Emperor Temmu rightfully acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).
As might be expected, Emperor Temmu was no less active than former-Emperor Tenji in improving the Taika military institutions. Temmu's reign brought many changes, such as: (1) a centralized war department was organized; (2) the defenses of the Inner Country near the Capital were strengthened; (3) forts and castles were built near Capital and in the western parts of Honshu-- and in Kyushu; (4) troops were reviewed; and all provincial governors were ordered to complete the collection of arms and to study tactics.
In 673 Temmu moved the capital back to Yamato province on the Kiymihara plain, naming his new capital Asuka. The Man'yoshu includes a poem written after the Jinshin conflict of 672 has ended:
Our Sovereign, a god,
Has made his Imperial City
Out of the stretch of swamps,
Where chestnut horses sank
To their bellies.
-- Otomo Miyuki
At Asuka, Emperor Temmu was enthroned. He elevated Unonosarara to be his empress. He reigned from this capital until his death in 686.
Politics
In Nihonshoki Temmu is described as a great innovator, but the neutrality of this description is doubtful, since the work was written under the control of his descendants. It seems clear, however, that Temmu strengthened the power of the emperor and appointed his sons to the highest offices of his government, reducing the traditional influence of powerful clans such as the Otomo and Soga. He renewed the system of kabane, the hereditary titles of duty and rank, but with alterations, including the abolition of some titles. Omi and Muraji, the highest kabane in the earlier period, were reduced in value in the new hierarchy, which consisted of eight kinds of kabane. Each clan received a new kabane according to its closeness to the imperial bloodline and its loyalty to Temmu.
Temmu attempted to keep a balance of power among his sons. Once he traveled to Yoshino together with his sons, and there had them swear to cooperate and not to make war on each other. This turned out to be ineffective: one of his sons, Prince Otsu, was later executed for treason after the death of Temmu.
Temmu's foreign policy favored the Korean kingdom Silla, which took over the entire Korean peninsula in 676. After the unification of Korea by Silla, Temmu decided to break diplomatic relations with the Tang dynasty of China, evidently in order to keep on good terms with Silla.
Temmu used religious structures to increase the authority of the imperial throne. During his reign there was increased emphasis on the tie between the imperial household and the Grand Shrine of Ise (dedicated to the ancestor goddess of the emperors, Amaterasu) by sending his daughter Princess Oku as the newly established Saio of the shrine, and several festivals were financed from the national budget. He also showed favor to Buddhism, and built several large temples and monasteries. On the other hand, all Buddhist priests, monks and nuns were controlled by the state, and no one was allowed to become a monk without the state's permission. This was aimed at preventing cults and stopping farmers from turning into priests.
Kugyo
Kugyo 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 Temmu's reign, this apex of the Daijo-kan included:
- Sadaijin, Soga no Akae no Omi
- Udaijin, Nakatomi no Kane no Muraji
- Naidaijin
Era of Temmu's reign
The years of Temmu's reign were marked by only one era name or nengo which was proclaimed in the final months of the emperor's life; and Shucho ended with Temmu's death.
Non-nengo period
The early years of Temmu's reign are not linked by scholars to any era or nengo. The Taika era innovation of naming time periods -- nengo -- was discontinued during these years, but it was reestablished briefly in 686. The use of nengo languished yet again after Temmu's death until Emperor Mommu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming the commencement of Taiho in 701.
In this context, Brown and Ishida's translation of Gukansho offers an explanation about the years of Empress Jito's reign which muddies a sense of easy clarity in the pre-Taiho time-frame:
"The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shucho [(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 Taika era [697], Empress Jito yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."
Wives and Children
Empress: Princess Uno-no-sarara(Empress Jito) (645-703)
Hi: Princess Ota (644-667), daughter of Emperor Tenji
Hi: Princess Oe (?-699)), daughter of Emperor Tenji
- Prince Naga (?-715)
- Prince Yuge (?-699)
Hi: Princess Niitabe (?-699), daughter of Emperor Tenji
Bunin: Fujiwara no Hikami-no-iratsume (?-682), daughter of Fujiwara no Kamatari
Bunin: Soga no Onu-no-iratsume (?-724), daughter of Soga no Akae
Bunin: Fujiwara no Ioe-no-iratsume, daughter of Fujiwara no Kamatari
Court lady: Nukata no Okimi
Court lady: Munakata no Amako-no-iratsume, daughter of Munakata-no-Kimi Tokuzen
Court lady: Shishihito no Kajihime-no-iratsume, daughter of Shishihito-no-Omi Omaro
See also
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