31 May 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

Early Female Emperors in Japan “Empress Kōken”

Born into the aristocratic Fujiwara clan, this extraordinary woman first ascended to the throne as Empress Kōken and became the 46th ruler (749-758AD) of Japan. She was the daughter of Emperor Shōmu and Fujiwara no Asukabehime.

Because Emperor Shomu abdicated in her favor, she performs a ceremonial ritual dance in AD740 to demonstrate that she will succeed her father. On his deathbed, her father named a Crown Prince for her, but the vow to retain this status for the Crown Prince was broken within a year due to the meddling of Fujiwara no Nakamura.

She is known to have ruled with vigor and authority, eventually abdicating after being persuaded to do so by Fujiwara no Nakamura, allowing Emperor Junnin to ascend to the throne.

She is claimed to have been gravely ill prior to her abdication, but she encounters Buddhist Priest Dökyö, a medical authority at the time, who treats and heals her. Dökyö is then promoted by her.

Returning to the throne again as the 48th Emperor, renaming herself Empress Shōtoku and reigning from 764-770AD.

She appears to have grown tired of Emperor Junnin and the power behind him (Nakamurö) by 762AD. She enters court and issues an edict questioning the legality of Junnin’s claim to the throne, claiming that he is not in direct line of succession from Prince Kusakabe.

Emperor Shōmu
Emperor Shōmu. Wikipedia

As a result, as the ‘Great-Abdicated-Emperor,’ she declares her intention to reclaim the throne. Nakamarö, feeling threatened, steals the Privy Seal and appears to be prepared to replace Junnin with another candidate.

However, the Empress discovers the plot and has Nakamarö apprehended and exiled. She subsequently deposes Junnin in order to reclaim the throne as Empress Shōtoku.

Returning to the throne, she promotes and elevates Dökyö, even looking to prepare him to take the throne.

As a supporter of courtly imperial Buddhism, she assigned a large number of miniature wooden pagodas, each with a woodblock scroll bearing the protective Hyakumant Darani. She issued a proclamation declaring that her first responsibility as an ordained Buddhist was to serve Buddha, but that this would not interfere with her performance as the prime Shinto priestess, whose mission was to give gifts to the ancestral deities.

Empress Köken
Empress Köken

While nothing is known about Dökyö’s early life, he seemed to have been a presence at the Nara court by 761, and during that year supposedly treated Empress Shōtoku’s illness.

She was well-known for her unwavering faith in Dökyö after he cured her of her disease. She showered him with titles and appointments, and he was said to have serenaded her Buddhist scriptures in a sensuous, sonorous voice. She sought his advice on religious and secular subjects alike, but obvious favoritism resulted in armed civil strife. When she died (770), Dökyö was exiled to what is now Tochigi Prefecture.

Empress Shtoku and Dökyö’s story is a frequent one in the history of powerful women and Rasputin-like religious figures: a female sovereign or aristocrat falls in love with a younger, more attractive, and talented man, and their affair leads to the fall of their empire.

It is, however, a story of politics, power, and romance: a fascinating tennō (the term we now translate as “emperor,” tennō 天皇,)who allegedly asked her ladies-in-waiting why male emperors could take as many wives as they wished while complaining—with a certain monk in mind—how empresses could not marry.

References

Aoki, Michiko Y. 1991. “Jitō Tennō”, in Chieko Irie Mulhern, ed. 1991. Heroic with Grace: Legendary Women of Japan. New York and London: East Gate: 40–76.

Tsurumi, P. (1981) “Early Female Emperors” Historical Reflections Vol.8 No.1 pp.41-49.

Cover Photo: Wikipedia

Banner
Related Post

More than 50 pairs of tweezers found during an excavation of a 2,000-year-old Roman settlement – Romans to blame for no-body-hair trend

31 May 2023

31 May 2023

More than 50 pairs of tweezers were found during the major excavation in Wroxeter City, Shropshire, one of the largest...

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland unearth the oldest English coin ever found in Canada

14 November 2021

14 November 2021

Archaeologists in eastern Newfoundland have unearthed a rare two-penny piece minted between 1493 and 1499 more than 520 years ago....

Decapitated skeletons of Roman ‘criminals’ found on HS2 route

5 February 2022

5 February 2022

Archaeologists working with the HS2 project have discovered 425 bodies on the route of the new railway line – around...

Remains of 240 people found beneath Ocky White department store in Wales

13 October 2022

13 October 2022

Archaeologists found skeletal remains of over more than 240 people, from beneath a former department store in Pembrokeshire in Wales,...

Archaeologists in Derbyshire have unearthed a 9th century Anglo Saxon house

15 July 2021

15 July 2021

A nearly complete Anglo-Saxon house, considered to date from the early ninth century and might have been the abode of...

8000-year-old unique “fish-figure” small home tool found in Turkey

20 October 2021

20 October 2021

During this year’s excavations in the Yeşilova and Yassıtepe mounds in İzmir, a unique “fish-figure” small home tool was found....

1000-year-old Cats and Babies mummies of Turkey’s

30 March 2022

30 March 2022

Cat, baby, and adult mummies in Aksaray, which took its place in history as Cappadocia’s gateway to the west on...

1,500-year-old secret underground passage uncovered in Istanbul

15 May 2023

15 May 2023

During the ongoing excavations in the ruins of Saint Polyeuktos Church in Istanbul’s Saraçhane neighborhood, which was destroyed during the...

Earliest evidence for intestinal parasites in the UK came from Stonehenge

20 May 2022

20 May 2022

Researchers think they have discovered the earliest evidence for intestinal parasites in the UK. Ancient poop found at the site...

Archaeologists in Israel are restoring the largest Roman Basilica in the country

6 June 2021

6 June 2021

Archaeologists in Israel are trying to rebuild a 2,000-year-old Roman-era basilica that is thought to be the country’s biggest. A...

5000-year-old stoneware workshop found in Iran

24 January 2023

24 January 2023

Iranian archaeologists found the ruins of a stoneware workshop estimated to date back to the 3rd millennium BC, during their...

Paleontologists Unearth 139 Million-Year-Old Pregnant Dinosaur Fossil in Chile

10 May 2022

10 May 2022

Archeologists in Chile have unearthed the fossilized remains of a 13ft-long pregnant ichthyosaur from a melting glacier -marking the first...

The Catacombs of Commodilla in Rome will open to the public for the first time

21 September 2022

21 September 2022

The fourth-century Catacombs of Commodilla in Rome’s Garbatella district will reopen to the public soon after the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission...

Over 20 terracotta warriors have been discovered in the Terracotta Army pit in China

24 January 2022

24 January 2022

More than 20 Terracotta Warriors were unearthed from the Terracotta Army pit in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, according to...

Unique ancient Egyptian amulet seal discovered during archeological excavations in northern Turkey

11 November 2022

11 November 2022

During archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Amastris in the Amasra district of northern Turkey’s Bartın, an enchanted amulet...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *