In the 8th century, a wealthy family, Fujiwara, obtained strong political power. In particular, Fuhito Fujiwara was the most prominent politician in those days. He was a son of Kamatari Fujiwara, who was a supreme adviser of the Tenji Emperor.
Fuhito made his daughter, Miyako, marry the Monmu Emperor in 697. And then their son, Prince Obito married Fuhito's other daughter, Komyoshi, in 716. Prince Obito became the Shomu Emperor in 724. By these political marriages, the Fujiwara family built a close relationship with the Imperial family and became very influential in politics.
In 720, Fuhito Fujiwara died.
When the Shomu Emperor came to the throne in 724, he was 23 years old. Since the Emperor was young, Nagaya-o held the real political power in the Court. Nagaya-o was a cousin-uncle of the Shomu Emperor and a grandson of the Tenmu Emperor. Nagaya-o was not only a member of the royal family but also a good politician. Therefore Nagaya-o was the toughest obstacle for the Fujiwara family, who wanted to have a preponderant influence on the Court.
Fuhito Fujiwara's four sons wanted their sister Komyoshi, a wife of the Shomu Emperor, to be elevated to Empress, but Nagaya-o strongly opposed it because only a member of the royal family could become empress in those days.
In 727, a prince was born between the Shomu Emperor and Komyoshi, his name was Motoi-o. He became the crown prince soon, because the Fujiwara family intensely promoted it. However, the prince died before he became 1 year old. It was a hard blow for the Fujiwara family, but they used the incident to ruin Nagaya-o. In 729, the Fujiwara family circulated a rumor that Nagaya-o killed the prince by curse. As a result, Nagaya-o was forced to commit suicide.
By having eliminated their opponent, the Fujiwara family could elevate Komyoshi to Empress in 729.
In 737, however, the four Fujiwara sons died of smallpox and the family's political influence temporarily declined. People rumored that Nagaya-o had become a vengeful ghost and killed them all.
Instead of the Fujiwara family, one of the members of royalty, Moroe Tachibana held the real political power and Kibi-no-makibi and Genbo, who used to be envoys to Tang China, obtained strong influence in the Court.
Later Han Dynasty perished in 220. After that the era of three kingdoms, Gi, Go, Shu, started.
According to the chapter on Japan in the Book of Gi, many battles between Japan's provinces occurred from the late 2nd century. Although Japanese people became tired of wars, the battles continued. Finally, many provinces cooperated and made Himiko a monarch. After that, the battles ceased and a united kingdom of 30 provinces centering around Yamataikoku was born.
Himiko sent an envoy to the
Emperor of Gi in 239 AD and she was given an honorific title; 親魏倭王 which means “King of Japan which is a friend of Gi”. She was also
given many precious bronze mirrors. It is said that Himiko was a gifted shaman;
therefore she governed Yamataikoku by that ability.
※ the Yayoi period ranged from around 400 B.C. to around 300 A.D.
1:the 5th century 1:the 6th century 1:the 7th century 1:the 8th century 1:the 9th century 2:the Asuka period 2:the Heian period 2:the Jomon period 2:the Kofun period 2:the Nara period 2:the Paleolithic period 2:the Yayoi period あ:agriculture あ:art あ:book あ:Buddhism あ:community あ:culture あ:earthenware あ:education あ:food あ:foreign diplomacy あ:houses あ:law あ:military service あ:person あ:politics あ:religion あ:social system あ:society あ:tax あ:tool あ:war 携帯・デジカメ 旅行・地域
Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Recent Comments