Emperor Seiwa
清和天皇
Emperor of Japan
ReignOctober 7, 858 – December 18, 876
CoronationDecember 15, 858
PredecessorMontoku
SuccessorYōzei
BornMay 10, 850
Heian Kyō (Kyōto)
DiedJanuary 7, 881(881-01-07) (aged 30)
Heian Kyō (Kyōto)
Burial
Minooyama no misasagi (水尾山陵) (Kyoto)
Issue
Among others...		Emperor Yōzei
Posthumous name
Tsuigō:
Emperor Seiwa (清和天皇)
HouseYamato
FatherEmperor Montoku
MotherFujiwara no Akirakeiko

Emperor Seiwa (清和天皇, Seiwa-tennō, May 10, 850 – January 7, 881) was the 56th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2]

Seiwa's reign spanned the years from 858 through 876.[3]

Traditional narrative

Seiwa was the fourth son of Emperor Montoku. His mother was Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Akirakeiko (明子), also called the Somedono empress (染殿后). Seiwa's mother was the daughter of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa (藤原良房), who was regent and great minister of the council of state.[4] He was the younger half-brother of Imperial Prince Koretaka (惟喬親王; 844–897)

Imina

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina)[5] was Korehito (惟仁),[6] the first member of the Imperial house to be personally named "-hito" 仁. One meaning of the character 仁 is the Confucian concept of ren. Later it has been a tradition to name the personal name of all male members of the Imperial family this way.

He was also known as emperor as Mizunoo-no-mikado[4] or Minoo-tei.[7]

Events of Seiwa's life

Originally under the guardianship of his maternal grandfather Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, he displaced Imperial Prince Koretaka (惟喬親王) as Crown Prince. Upon the death of his father in 858, Emperor Montoku, he became Emperor at the age of 9, but the real power was held by his grandfather, Yoshifusa.

Mausoleum

The actual site of Seiwa's grave is known.[1] The emperor is traditionally venerated at the misasagi memorial shrine in the Ukyō-ku ward of Kyoto. The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Seiwa's mausoleum. It is formally named the Minooyama no Misasagi (清和天皇陵) or Seiwa Tennō Ryō.[15][16] From the site of his tomb the Emperor Seiwa is sometimes referred to as the Emperor Mizunoo (水尾帝, Mizunoo-tei).[17] The kami of Emperor Seiwa is venerated at the Seiwatennō-sha near the mausoleum.[18][19]

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.[20]

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 Seiwa's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

Eras of Seiwa's reign

The years of Seiwa's reign are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.[6]

Consorts and children

Ancestry

[24]

Notes

Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom
  1. ^ a b Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 清和天皇 (56)
  2. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 66.
  3. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 115–121., p. 115, at Google Books; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, pp. 286–288; Varley, H. Paul. Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 166–17.
  4. ^ a b Varley, p. 166.
  5. ^ Brown, pp. 264; prior to Emperor Jomei, the personal names of the emperors (their imina) were very long and people did not generally use them. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.
  6. ^ a b c Titsingh, p. 115., p. 115, at Google Books
  7. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 8.
  8. ^ Brown, pp. 286; Varley, p. 44; a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami.
  9. ^ Titsingh, p. 115., p. 115, at Google Books; Brown, p. 286.
  10. ^ Titsingh, p. 116., p. 116, at Google Books
  11. ^ a b c d Brown, p. 288.
  12. ^ Titsingh, p. 122., p. 122, at Google Books
  13. ^ Titsingh, p. 122., p. 122, at Google Books; Varley, p. 44.
  14. ^ Brown, p. 289; Varley, p. 170.
  15. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 421.
  16. ^ "Seiwa Tennō Ryō (清和天皇陵)". Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  17. ^ "Seiwa Tennō". Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  18. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, p. 128.
  19. ^ "Seiwatennō-sha (清和天皇社)". Nihon Rekishi Chimei Taikei (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2012. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  20. ^ Furugosho: Kugyō of Seiwa-tennō
  21. ^ a b Titsingh, p. 119., p. 119, at Google Books
  22. ^ Brown, p. 287.
  23. ^ Brown, p. 287; Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Mototsune" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 206, p. 206, at Google Books.
  24. ^ "Genealogy". Reichsarchiv (in Japanese). 30 April 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2018.

References

See also

Regnal titles Preceded byEmperor Montoku Emperor of Japan:Seiwa 858–876 Succeeded byEmperor Yōzei
Categories