Cloistered rule (院政,insei; lit. "monastery administration") was a form of government inJapan during theHeian period. In this bifurcated system, anemperor abdicated, but retained power and influence. Those retired emperors who withdrew to live in monasteries (in) continued to act in ways intended to counterbalance the influence ofFujiwara regents and the warrior class.[1] Simultaneously, the titular emperor, the former emperor's chosen successor, fulfilled all the ceremonial roles and formal duties of the monarchy.
Retired emperors were calledDaijō Tennō orJōkō. A retired emperor who entered a Buddhist monastic community became aCloistered Emperor (Japanese 太上法皇 Daijō Hōō).
There were retired emperors, including cloistered emperors, both before and after the Heian period, but the notion of cloistered rule as a system usually refers to the practice put in place byEmperor Shirakawa in 1086[2] and followed by his successors until the rise of theKamakura shogunate in 1192.[1]
Theritsuryō allowed retired emperors to exert some limited powers, and there are early examples such asEmpress Jitō,Emperor Shōmu andEmperor Uda in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries respectively.
By the end of the 10th century, theHokke family of theFujiwara clan held political power in Japan through the office of theImperial Regent, and the emperor increasingly became little more than a figurehead. In 1068,Emperor Go-Sanjō became the first emperor in almost 200 years who was not related either by marriage or blood, or both, to the Hokke family. He exerted personal power while the Hokke family was dealing with internal conflicts betweenFujiwara no Yorimichi and his brotherFujiwara no Norimichi, and was in a position to issue several laws and regulations, most notably the EnkyūShōen Regulation Decree, thus weakening the regency. In 1072, however, he fell ill and abdicated in favor ofEmperor Shirakawa. He died the following year. Although he did not have time to exert power after his abdication, Sanjō had weakened the regency and paved the way for the practice of cloistered rule.
In 1086,Emperor Shirakawa in his turn abdicated in favor of his son,Emperor Horikawa, who was four years old at the time. Shirakawa's objective appeared to be the protection of his son from his younger brother (Horikawa's uncle), who presented a serious threat of becoming a pretender to the throne, but after his retirement Shirakawa exerted his personal power to set the cloistered rule system in motion.
Separate imperial courts (In no Chō (院庁) evolved around the retired emperors,[3] and their will was put into effect through offices known asInzen (院宣) andIn no Chō Kudashi Bumi (院庁下文). Cloistered emperors also had their own troops, theHokumen no Bushi (北面の武士). The creation of these military units led eventually to the rise to power of theTaira clan, who used their membership of these units to gather political and economic power to themselves.
The end of theHeian period was marked by a rapid succession of cloistered emperors, to the point that there were severalretired emperors living at the same time.[1] TheHōgen Rebellion, following the death of theEmperor Toba, was an example of direct opposition between an emperor and an emperor emeritus. Finally, the end of the reign ofEmperor Go-Shirakawa was marked by theGenpei War and the rise ofMinamoto no Yoritomo as the first Kamakurashōgun.
The succession of power in theInsei system was complex.[4]
| Emperor's Ordinal Number | Reign dates | Emperor of Japan | Senior Insei Emperor | Other Insei Emperors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | 1067—1072 | Emperor Go-Sanjō[4] | ||
| 72 | 1072—1073 | Emperor Shirakawa[1] | Go-Sanjō | |
| 1073—1086 | Shirakawa[4] | |||
| 73 | 1086—1107 | Emperor Horikawa[4] | Shirakawa | |
| 74 | 1107—1123 | Emperor Toba[1] | Shirakawa | |
| 75 | 1123—1129 | Emperor Sutoku[4] | Shirakawa | Toba |
| 1129—1141 | Sutoku[4] | Toba | ||
| 76 | 1141—1155 | Emperor Konoe[4] | Toba | Sutoku |
| 77 | 1155—1156 | Emperor Go-Shirakawa[1] | Toba | Sutoku |
| 1156—1158 | Go-Shirakawa[4] | Sutoku | ||
| 78 | 1158—1165 | Emperor Nijō[4] | Go-Shirakawa | |
| 79 | 1165—1168 | Emperor Rokujō[4] | Go-Shirakawa | |
| 80 | 1168—1180 | Emperor Takakura[4] | Go-Shirakawa | Rokujō (until 1176) |
| 81 | 1180—1185 | Emperor Antoku[4] | Go-Shirakawa | Takakura (until 1181) |
| 82 | 1184—1192 | Emperor Go-Toba[4] | Go-Shirakawa | |
| 1192—1198 | Go-Toba[4] |
The establishment of theKamakura shogunate is taken to mark the beginning of theKamakura period, but the Insei system was not immediately abandoned. Though the shogunate took over the police force and ruled eastern Japan, the authority of the emperors and retired emperors remained considerable. However, whenGo-Toba, a grandson of Go-Shirakawa, sought to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, his forces were defeated in theJōkyū War, and the shogunate then took steps to reduce the power (and the finances) of the retired emperors. Even after the Jōkyū War, the cloistered rule system continued to exist, at least formally, for another 200 years. There were movements to take authority back into the hands of the imperial court, such as theKenmu Restoration attempted byEmperor Go-Daigo, but in general a retired emperor presided as the head of the Kyoto court, with the approval of the shogunate.
There were also a few examples of retired emperors supervising their successors much later, during theEdo period. The last person to use the titleDaijō Hōō wasEmperor Reigen, in 1686.[5]
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