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Taira no Tokuko (平徳子?) (1155–1213),[1] later known as Empress Dowager Kenrei (建礼門院, Kenreimon-In?), was the last Heike Imperial survivor from the modest vessel carrying the emperor in the great naval battle of Dan-no-ura. The was a major sea battle of the Genpei War, occurring at Dan-no-ura, in the Shimonoseki Strait off the southern tip of Honshū. [2]

Her life became a compelling narrative which survives as both history and as literature.

Contents

In history

Daughter of an emperor

Tokuko-hime became the adopted daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa (後白河天皇, Go-Shirakawa-tennō?), the 77th emperor of Japan who reigned from 1155 through 1158. Emperor Go-Shirakawa (後白河天皇 Go-Shirakawa-tennō) ( October 18, 1127 &ndash April 26, 1192 In 1171, when Tokuko was adopted at age 17, the former-Emperor had abdicated the throne and entered the Buddhist priesthood, taking the Buddhist name of Gyōshin. Twelve days later, Gyōshin's new daughter was further elevated in the role of consort of Emperor Takakura, age 11. [3]

Consort of an emperor

Tokuko-hime became the Empress consort (kugō) of Emperor Takakura (高倉天皇, Takakura-tennō?), the 80th emperor of Japan, whose reign spanned the years from 1168 through 1180. Emperor Takakura (高倉天皇 Takakura-tennō) ( September 23, 1161 &ndash January 30, 1181) was the 80th emperor 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. [4]

She was the second daughter of Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛), and thus she was her Emperor husband's first cousin (as his mother and Tokuko's mother were half-sisters). was a general of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first Samurai -dominated administrative government in the history of Japan.

Emperor Takakura abdicated on the 21st day of the 2nd month of 1180; and when his son was enthroned, the mother of the emperor (kōdai-kugō) received the name Kenrei-mon In. [5] In this period, the names of the several gates in the walls surrounding the Imperial grounds refer not only to the wall-openings themselves; these names were also used to refer indirectly to a nearby residence of an empress whose husband had abdicated, or as an indirect way of referring to an empress dowager herself.

the Kenrei-mon (建礼門), one of the entrance gates to Kyoto Gosho
the Kenrei-mon (建礼門), one of the entrance gates to Kyoto Gosho

For example, Empress Dowager Kenrei (建礼門院, Kenrei-mon-In?), whose official home, after the abdication and death of Emperor Takakura, was located near the Kenrei Gate.

Mother of an emperor

Kenrei-mon In was the mother of Imperial Prince Tokihito (言仁親王, Tokihito-shinnō?), who would later become Emperor Antoku (安徳天皇, Antoku-tennō?), the 81st Emperor of Japan. Emperor Antoku (安徳天皇 Antoku-tennō) ( December 22, 1178 &ndash April 24, 1185) was the 81st emperor The boy Emperor reigned from 1180 through 1185. [6]

Survivor of Dan-no-ura

Arguably, the most diffficult moments in Kenreimon-In's life occurred near the close of the battle of Dan-no-ura, which took place near the southern tip of Honshū at in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. or Honshu is the largest Island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. It is at the southwestern tip of Honshū, facing the Tsushima Strait and also Kitakyushu WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines--> is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū

The Taira were defeated decisively. Many of the Taira samurai threw themselves into the waves rather than live to see their clan's ultimate defeat at the hands of the Minamoto. Antoku's grandmother, Taira no Tokiko, the widow of Taira no Kiyomori, leapt into the water with the young emperor clasped firmly in her arms. [8]

Kenrei-mon In also tried to drown herself; but according to the conventionally accepted accounts, she was pulled out with a rake by her long hair. A rake ( Old English raca, cognate with Dutch raak, German Rechen, from a root meaning "to scrape together" [9]

Buddhist nun

This sometime daughter, wife, and mother of emperors became a recluse in her later years.

This once-pampered great lady is said to have composed this poem in her hermit's hut:

Did I ever dream
That I would behold the moon
Here on the mountain --
The moon that I used to view
In the sky o'er the palace?[14]

In literature

Many stories and works of art depict this period in Japanese history, and it is through these sources that the life of Tokuko-dono is best known. The Tale of the Heike (平家物語, Heike Monogatari?) is the most famous of the sources from which we learn about this historical character, although many kabuki and bunraku plays reproduce events of the war as well. The Tale of the Heike ( Heike monogatari, 平家物語 is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto Clans The Tale of the Heike ( Heike monogatari, 平家物語 is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto Clans is a form of traditional Japanese theatre. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate Make-up worn by some of its performers also known as Ningyō jōruri (ja 人形浄瑠璃 is a form of traditional Japanese Puppet theater founded in Osaka in 1684

The central theme of the Heike story -- and the mirrored theme of Taira no Tokuko's life story -- is a demonstration of the Buddhist law of impermanence. Impermanence ( Sanskrit: अनित्य anitya; Pāli: अनिच्चा anicca; Tibetan: མི་​རྟག་​པ་ The theme of impermanence (mujō) is captured in the opening passage:

祗園精舎の鐘の声、諸行無常の響きあり。娑羅双樹の花の色、盛者必衰の理をあらわす。
おごれる人も久しからず、唯春の夜の夢のごとし。たけき者も遂にはほろびぬ、偏に風の前の塵に同じ。[15]
The sound of the Gion Shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sāla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind. [16]

In this and other classic Japanese monogatari, the central figures are popularly well known, the major events are generally understood, and the stakes as they were understood at the time are conventionally accepted as elements in the foundation of Japanese culture. The accuracy of each of these historical records has become a compelling subject for further study; and some accounts have been shown to withstand close scrutiny, while other presumed “facts” have turned out to be inaccurate. [17]

References

  1. ^ Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 333.
  2. ^ Kitagawa, Hiroshi et al. (1975). The Tale of the Heike, pp. 652-678; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 211-212.
  3. ^ Titsingh, pp. 188-190; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 326-327; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. pp. 205-208.
  4. ^ Titsingh, pp. 195-200; Brown, pp. 330-333; Varley, pp. 212-214.
  5. ^ Brown, p. 331; Titsingh, p. 424; Kitagawa, p. 764.
  6. ^ Titsingh, pp. 200-207; Brown, pp. 333-334; Varley, pp. 214-215.
  7. ^ Kitagawa, Hiroshi et al. (1975). The Tale of the Heike, p. 787; Titsingh, pp. 211-212.
  8. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 676-677.
  9. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 678; Titsingh, p. 212.
  10. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 763-765.
  11. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 766-768, 787.
  12. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 769-779, 788.
  13. ^ Kitagawa, pp. 780-782, 788. [Although The Tale of the Heike gives 1192 as the year of Kenrei-mon In's death, the Gukanshō identifies 1213 as the year of her death -- cf. Brown, p. 333. ]
  14. ^ Kitagawa, p. 772
  15. ^ copied from The Tale of the Heike
  16. ^ McCullough, Helen. The Tale of the Heike ( Heike monogatari, 平家物語 is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto Clans (1988). The Tale of the Heike,.
  17. ^ Brown, pp. 385-386.

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