Empress Genshō (元正天皇
Genshō-tennō) (680 – May 22,
748-Asia:* January—An earthquake strikes the Middle East from northern Egypt to northwestern Mesopotamia, destroying many remnants of Byzantine culture.* The city of Baalbek is sacked.* The plague breaks out in Constantinople....
) was the
44th imperial ruler of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the sixth woman to ascend the
Chrysanthemum ThroneThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun on November 10, 1928...
. Her reign spanned the years from 715 through 724.
Before her ascension to the
Chrysanthemum ThroneThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun on November 10, 1928...
, her personal name (her
imina) was Hidaka
-hime.
Empress Genshō was an elder sister of
Emperor MommuEmperor Mommu was the 42nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.-Genealogy:...
and daughter of Prince Kusakabe and his wife and later Empress
Empress Gemmeiwas the 43rd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This sovereign is sometimes identified as Empress Genmyō. She was the fifth woman to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne...
, therefore a granddaughter of
Emperor Temmuwas the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686.-Genealogy:...
and
Empress Jitōwas the 41st imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the fourth woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. Her reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.-Genealogy:...
by her father and a granddaughter of
Emperor TenjiEmperor Tenji , also known as Emperor Tenchi was the 38th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession...
through her mother.
Her succession was mainly for the purpose to hold the throne until Prince Obito, the son of her deceased younger brother Mommu, later
Emperor ShōmuEmperor Shōmu was the 45th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years 724 through 749.-Genealogy:...
, would be mature enough ascend to the throne.
Obito was appointed to the crown prince in 714 by Empress Gemmei.
Empress Genshō (元正天皇
Genshō-tennō) (680 – May 22,
748-Asia:* January—An earthquake strikes the Middle East from northern Egypt to northwestern Mesopotamia, destroying many remnants of Byzantine culture.* The city of Baalbek is sacked.* The plague breaks out in Constantinople....
) was the
44th imperial ruler of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the sixth woman to ascend the
Chrysanthemum ThroneThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun on November 10, 1928...
. Her reign spanned the years from 715 through 724.
Genealogy
Before her ascension to the
Chrysanthemum ThroneThe Chrysanthemum Throne is the English term used to identify the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the raised thrones constructed in the Shishin-den for Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun on November 10, 1928...
, her personal name (her
imina) was Hidaka
-hime.
Empress Genshō was an elder sister of
Emperor MommuEmperor Mommu was the 42nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.-Genealogy:...
and daughter of Prince Kusakabe and his wife and later Empress
Empress Gemmeiwas the 43rd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This sovereign is sometimes identified as Empress Genmyō. She was the fifth woman to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne...
, therefore a granddaughter of
Emperor Temmuwas the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686.-Genealogy:...
and
Empress Jitōwas the 41st imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the fourth woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. Her reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.-Genealogy:...
by her father and a granddaughter of
Emperor TenjiEmperor Tenji , also known as Emperor Tenchi was the 38th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession...
through her mother.
Events of Genshō's life
Her succession was mainly for the purpose to hold the throne until Prince Obito, the son of her deceased younger brother Mommu, later
Emperor ShōmuEmperor Shōmu was the 45th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years 724 through 749.-Genealogy:...
, would be mature enough ascend to the throne.
Obito was appointed to the crown prince in 714 by Empress Gemmei. In the next year, 715, Empress Gemmei, then in her fifties, abdicated in favor of her daughter Gensho because of her age and the youth of Obito who was then 14 years old.
- Reiki
was a after Wadō and before Yōrō. This period spanned the years from 715 through 717. The reigning empress was .-Change of era:* 715 ; 715: The new era name was created to mark the beginning of the reign of Empress Genshō...
1, in the 9th month (715): In the 7th year of Gemmei-tennōs reign (元明天皇7年), the empress abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by her daughter, who held the throne in trust for her younger brother. Shortly thereafter, Empress Genshō is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).
Obito remained as the crown prince of the new empress.
Fujiwara no FuhitoFujiwara no Fuhito was a powerful member of the imperial court of Japan during the Asuka and Nara periods. Second son of Fujiwara no Kamatari , he had sons by two women, and those sons were the founders of the four principal lineages of the Fujiwara clan: the South, North, Ceremonial, and Capital...
, the most powerful courtier in Gemmei's court, remained so at her court until his death in 720. After his death, Prince
NagayaNagaya was a politician of the Nara period and an imperial prince of Japan, a son of Prince Takechi ....
, a grandson of Emperor Temmu and her cousin, seized power. This power shift was a background of later conflicts between Prince Nagaya and Fuhito's four sons in the reign of Shōmu.
Under her reign, the edition of Nihonshoki
, the first Japanese history book was finished in 720. Organisation of law system (the ritsuryois the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei"...
) was being continued under the initiatives of Fuhito until his death. Those laws and codes were edited and enacted by Fujiwara no Nakamaro706 - October 21, 764), later also given the name of by Emperor Kōnin, was an aristocrat and poet of Heian period in Japan. His father was Fujiwara no Muchimaro, founder of Nanke lineage of Fujiwara clan....
, a grandson of Fuhito, and published as Yoro ritsuryoThe was one iteration of several codes or governing rules compiled in early Nara period in Classical Japan. Major work on the Yōrō Code was completed in 718....
under the name of Fuhito. Taxation system which had been introduced by
Empress Jitōwas the 41st imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. She was the fourth woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. Her reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.-Genealogy:...
in the late of the 7th century, began to malfunction in those days. For compensation of decrease of tax revenue, under the initiative of Prince Nagaya, "Act of possession in three generations" was edicted in 723. Under this act, people were allowed to possess the field they cultivated newly in three generations in maximum. In the fourth generation, the right of possession would disappear and the field belong to the national government. This act was under the purpose to motivate new cultivation, but its effect continued about 20 years.
Empress Genshō reigned for 9 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. Empress Gemmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.
In 724, she abdicated in favor of her nephew, who would be known as Emperor Shōmu. Genshō lived for 25 years after she stepped down from the throne. She died at age 65.
She did not marry during her life and left no child. Genshō's Imperial misasagi
or tomb can be visited today in Narazaka-cho, Nara City.
Kugyō
Kugyō
(公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of JapanThe of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. He is also the highest authority of the Shinto religion...
in pre-MeijiThe , or Meiji era denotes the period in Japanese history during the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor . During this time, Japan began its modernization and rose to world power status...
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 Genshō's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan
included:
Daijō-daijin
(Chi-daijō-kanji
知太政官事), Toneri-shinnō
(Prince Toneri) (舎人親王). (9th son of Emperor Temmuwas the 40th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 672 until his death in 686.-Genealogy:...
) 720-735
SadaijinSadaijin , most commonly translated as "Minister of the Left", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the Sadaijin in the context of a central...
, Iso-no-Kami no Maro (石上麻呂). 708-717
UdaijinUdaijin , most commonly translated as the "Minister of the Right", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the Udaijin in the context of a central...
, Fujiwara no FuhitoFujiwara no Fuhito was a powerful member of the imperial court of Japan during the Asuka and Nara periods. Second son of Fujiwara no Kamatari , he had sons by two women, and those sons were the founders of the four principal lineages of the Fujiwara clan: the South, North, Ceremonial, and Capital...
(藤原不比等). 708-720
UdaijinUdaijin , most commonly translated as the "Minister of the Right", was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the initial appearance of the Udaijin in the context of a central...
, Prince Nagaya (長屋王). 721-724
Dainagon, often translated as "Great Councillor," was a government post of the Japanese ritsuryo governmental system, which was in place for much of the classical and feudal periods...
, Abe no Sukunamaro (阿倍宿奈麻呂). 718-720
Dainagon, often translated as "Great Councillor," was a government post of the Japanese ritsuryo governmental system, which was in place for much of the classical and feudal periods...
, Prince Nagaya (長屋王). 718-721
Dainagon, often translated as "Great Councillor," was a government post of the Japanese ritsuryo governmental system, which was in place for much of the classical and feudal periods...
, Tajihi no Ikemori (多治比池守). 721-730
Eras of Genshō's reign
The years of Genshō's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō
.
Reikiwas a after Wadō and before Yōrō. This period spanned the years from 715 through 717. The reigning empress was .-Change of era:* 715 ; 715: The new era name was created to mark the beginning of the reign of Empress Genshō...
(715-717)
YōrōYoro is the capital city of the Yoro department of Honduras....
(717-724)
Jinkiwas a after Yōrō and before Tenpyō. This period spanned the years from 724 through 729. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:* 724 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events...
(724-729)
See also
- Japanese empresses
In Japan, empress may refer to either or .- Empresses regnant :There were eight female imperial reigns in Japan's early history between 593 and 770, and two more in the early modern period...
- Emperor of Japan
The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. He is also the highest authority of the Shinto religion...
- List of Emperors of Japan
- Imperial cult
An Imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor, or a dynasty of emperors , are worshiped as messiahs, demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship," not in the modern pejorative sense...