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Empress Jitō
Empress of Japan

From Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
Reign Regent 686 - 689
690 - 697
Titles Empress Dowager Jitō (697 - 703)
Empress of Japan (686 - 697)
Princess Uno-Sarara
Born Taika 1 (645)
Died The 22nd Day of the 12th Month of Taihō 2 (January 13, 703)
Place of death Fujiwara-kyō, Japan
Buried Hinokuma-no-Ōuchi no Misasagi
Predecessor Emperor Temmu
Successor Emperor Mommu
Consort Emperor Temmu
Issue Prince Kusakabe
Father Emperor Tenji
Mother Soga no Ochi-no-iratsume


Empress Jitō (持統天皇 Jitō-tennō?) (645 – December 22, 702[1]) was the 41st imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. is a traditional style of compiling Japanese waka poetry where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology Events By Place Europe The Kingdom of Kent is attacked and conquered by West Saxons under Caedwalla. Events By Place Europe Battle of Coronate: The army of Cunincpert, king of the Lombards, defeats the followers of Events By Place Asia Wu Zetian 's Zhou Dynasty begins in China (she was China's first and only female emperor ruling on her own Events By Place Asia Emperor Mommu succeeds Empress Jitō on the throne of Japan Events By Place Asia Emperor Mommu succeeds Empress Jitō on the throne of Japan Events Births An Lushan, military leader during the Tang Dynasty (d Events By Place Europe The Kingdom of Kent is attacked and conquered by West Saxons under Caedwalla. Events By Place Asia Emperor Mommu succeeds Empress Jitō on the throne of Japan Events By Place Byzantine Empire The Byzantines recapture Alexandria from the Arabs Asia Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Events Births An Lushan, military leader during the Tang Dynasty (d Fujiwara-kyō (藤原京 in Japanese also Fujiwara no miyako) was the Imperial capital of Japan for sixteen years between 694 and 710 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. (c 631 - October 1 686) was the 40th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession Emperor Mommu (文武天皇 Monmu-tennō) (683-707 was the 42nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession (c 631 - October 1 686) was the 40th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession Prince Kusakabe (草壁皇子 Kusakabe no miko 662 - May 10, 689) was a Japanese imperial Crown prince from 681 until his death Emperor Tenji (天智天皇 Tenji-tennō) also known as Emperor Tenchi ( Tenchi-tennō) ( 626 - January 7, 672 (the 3rd Day of The of Japan is the country's Monarch. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. She was the fourth woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne. [2] Her reign spanned the years from 686 through 697. [3]

Contents

Genealogy

Empress Jitō was the daughter of Emperor Tenji. Emperor Tenji (天智天皇 Tenji-tennō) also known as Emperor Tenchi ( Tenchi-tennō) ( 626 - January 7, 672 (the 3rd Day of Her mother was Ochi-no-Iratsume, the daughter of Minister Ō-omi Soga no Yamada-no Ishikawa Maro. She was the wife of Emperor Temmu, who was Tenji's brother-- or in other words, she married her uncle, and she also succeeded him on the throne. [4]

Empress Jitō's given name was Unonosarara (鸕野讚良), or alternately Uno. [5]

Events of Jitō's life

Jitō took responsibility for court administration after the death of her husband, Emperor Temmu, who was also her uncle. (c 631 - October 1 686) was the 40th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession She acceded to the throne in 687 in order to ensure the eventual succession of her son, Kusakabe-shinnō. Events By Place Europe King Theuderic III of Neustria is defeated by Pepin of Herstal, Mayor of the Palace Throughout this period, Empress Jitō ruled from the Fujiwara Palace in Yamato. [4]

Prince Kusabake was named as crown prince to succeed Jitō, but he died at a young age. Kusabake's son, Karu-no-o, was then named as Jitō's successor. He eventually would become known as Emperor Mommu. Emperor Mommu (文武天皇 Monmu-tennō) (683-707 was the 42nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession [4]

Tomb of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō
Tomb of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō

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. [6] Empress Gemmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Genshō, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument. (661 &ndash December 29 721 was the 43rd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession Empress Genshō (元正天皇 Genshō-tennō) (680 &ndash May 22, 748) was the 44th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional

In 697, Jitō abdicated in Mommu's favor; and as a retired sovereign, she took the post-reign title daijō-tennō. Events By Place Asia Emperor Mommu succeeds Empress Jitō on the throne of Japan After this, her imperial successors who retired took the same title after abdication. [4]

Jitō continued to hold power as a cloistered ruler, which became a persistent trend in Japanese politics. The Insei system (院政 or cloistered rule, was a specific form of government in Japan, in which the Emperor abdicated but kept exerting power and influence

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. The of Japan is the country's Monarch. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July

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:

Man'yōshū poetry

The Man'yōshū includes a poem said to have been composed by Jitō

After the death of the Emperor Temmu[7]
Oh, the autumn foliage
Of the hill of Kamioka![8]
My good Lord and Sovereign
Would see it in the evening
And ask of it in the morning. The was the Department of State in Nara and Heian period Japan and briefly under the Meiji Constitution. The or Chancellor of the Realm was the head of the Daijō-kan, or Department of State in Heian Japan and briefly under the Sadaijin (左大臣 most commonly translated as "Minister of the Left" was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian Udaijin (右大臣 most commonly translated as the "Minister of the Right" was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and The, usually translated as Inner Minister -- also known as the -- was a significant post in the Imperial court as re-organized under the ''Taihō'' Code. is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's
On that very hill from afar
I gaze, wondering
If 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 robe
Are never for a moment dry.
Composed when the Empress climbed the Thunder Hill[9]
Lo, our great Soverign, a goddess,
Tarries on the Thunder
In the clouds of heaven![10]

Hyakunin Isshu poetry

One of the poems attributed to Empress Jitō was selected by Fujiwara no Teika for inclusion in the very popular anthology Hyakunin Isshu. Fujiwara no Teika (藤原定家 also known as Fujiwara no Sadaie or Sada-ie, (1162 &ndash September 26 1241 was a Japanese waka poet is a traditional style of compiling Japanese waka poetry where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology

Poem number 2[11]
The spring has passed
And the summer come again
For the silk-white robes
So they say, are spread to dry
On the "Mount of Heaven's Perfume
春過ぎて
夏来にけらし
白妙の
衣ほすてふ
天の香具山

Haru sugite
Natsu ki ni kerashi
Shirotae no

Koromo hosu cho
Ama no Kaguyama

Non-nengō period

Jitō's reign is not linked by scholars to any era or nengō. [3] 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. "[5]

References

  1. ^ Japanese dates correspond to the traditional lunisolar calendar used in Japan until 1873. A lunisolar calendar is a Calendar in many Cultures whose date indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar Year. December 22, 702 of the Japanese calendar corresponds to January 13, 703 of the Julian calendar. Since January 1, 1873, Japan has used the Gregorian calendar, with local names for the months and mostly fixed holidays Events 532 - Nika riots in Constantinople. 888 - Odo Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks Events Births An Lushan, military leader during the Tang Dynasty (d The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita
  2. ^ The two empresses who reigned before Jitō-tennō were: Suiko and Kōgyoku/Saimei; and those five women sovereigns whose reigns occurred after Jitō were (a) Gemmei, (b) Genshō, (c) Kōken/Shōtoku, (d) Meishō, and (e) Go-Sakuramachi.
  3. ^ a b Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, p. 59.
  4. ^ a b c d Varley, H. Paul. Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 137.
  5. ^ a b c Brown, D. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 270.
  6. ^ "Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl," Japan Times. March 27, 2007.
  7. ^ Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. 18. [This waka is here numbered 42; in the Kokka Taikan (1901), Book II, numbered 159. ]
  8. ^ Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. 18 n1. [This would be the so-called Thunder Hill in the village of Asuka near Nara. ]
  9. ^ Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. 47. [This waka is here numbered 118; in the Kokka Taikan (1901), Book III, numbered 235. ]
  10. ^ Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. 47 n4. [This poem is based on the idea that the Sovereigns are the offspring of Amaterasu-omikami, and that their proper sphere is heaven. There the Thunder Hill is regarded as the actual embodiment of Thunder. ]
  11. ^ University of Virginia, Hyakunin Isshu on-line


See also


Preceded by
Emperor Temmu		 Empress of Japan:
Jitō
686-697		 Succeeded by
Emperor Mommu


In Japan, Empress may refer to either or. Ruling Empresses There were eight female imperial reigns (six female emperors including two who reigned twice in (c 631 - October 1 686) was the 40th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession Emperor Mommu (文武天皇 Monmu-tennō) (683-707 was the 42nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession
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