| Emperor Kanmu 桓武天皇 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portrait of Emperor Kanmu, 16th century | |||||
| Emperor of Japan | |||||
| Reign | 30 April 781 – 9 April 806 | ||||
| Enthronement | 10 May 781 | ||||
| Predecessor | Kōnin | ||||
| Successor | Heizei | ||||
| Born | Yamabe (山部) 4 February 736 | ||||
| Died | 9 April 806(806-04-09) (aged 70) | ||||
| Burial | Kashiwabara no misasagi (柏原陵) (Kyoto) | ||||
| Spouse | Fujiwara no Otomuro | ||||
| Issue among others... | |||||
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| House | Imperial House of Japan | ||||
| Father | Emperor Kōnin | ||||
| Mother | Takano no Niigasa | ||||
Emperor Kanmu (桓武天皇,Kammu-tennō; 735 – 9 April 806), orKammu, was the 50themperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditionalorder of succession.[2] Kammu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the scope of the emperor's powers reached its peak.[3] His reign saw the transition from theNara period to theHeian period.
Kammu's personal name (imina) was Yamabe (山部).[4] He was the eldest son of Prince Shirakabe (later known asEmperor Kōnin), and was born prior to Shirakabe's ascension to the throne.[5] According to theShoku Nihongi (続日本紀), Yamabe's mother, Yamato no Niigasa (later calledTakano no Niigasa), was a 10th generation descendant ofMuryeong of Baekje (462–523).[6]
After his father became emperor at the age of 61, Kammu's half-brother, Prince Osabe was appointed to the rank ofcrown prince. His mother wasPrincess Inoe, a daughter ofEmperor Shōmu; but instead of Osabe, it was Kammu who was later named to succeed their father. After Inoe and Prince Osabe were confined and then died in 775, Osabe's sister – Kammu's half-sisterPrincess Sakahito – became Kammu's wife.[7] Later, when he ascended to the throne in 781, Kammu appointed his young brother,Prince Sawara, whose mother was Takano no Niigasa, as crown prince. Hikami no Kawatsugu, a son ofEmperor Tenmu's grandson Prince Shioyaki and Shōmu's daughter Fuwa, attempted to carry out a coup d'état in 782, but it failed and Kawatsugu and his mother were sent into exile. In 785 Sawara was expelled and died in exile.
TheNara period saw the appointment of the firstshōgun,Ōtomo no Otomaro by Emperor Kammu in 794 CE. The shōgun in this time was not the type ofde factomilitary dictator of Japan as in later history but was appointed to pacify the northern borderlands. The full title "Sei-i Taishōgun" means "Barbarian-subduing Great General".[8] Emperor Kammu granted the second title of shōgun toSakanoue no Tamuramaro for subduing theEmishi in northernHonshu.[9]
Kammu had 16 empresses and consorts, and 32 imperial sons and daughters.[4] Among them, three sons would eventually ascend to the imperial throne:Emperor Heizei,Emperor Saga andEmperor Junna. Some of his descendants (known as theKammu Taira orKammu Heishi) took theTaira hereditary clan title, and in later generations became prominent warriors. Examples includeTaira no Masakado,Taira no Kiyomori, and (with a further surname expansion) theHōjō clan. Thewaka poetAriwara no Narihira was one of his grandsons.
Kammu is traditionally venerated at his tomb; theImperial Household Agency designatesKashiwabara no Misasagi (柏原陵, Kashiwabara Imperial Mausoleum), inFushimi-ku, Kyoto, as the location of Kammu'smausoleum.[1]
Kammu was an active emperor who attempted to consolidate government hierarchies and functions. Kammu appointedSakanoue no Tamuramaro (758–811) to lead a military expedition against theEmishi.[10]
The years of Kammu's reign are more specifically identified by more than oneera name (nengō).[19]
Earlier Imperial sponsorship ofBuddhism, beginning withPrince Shōtoku (574–622), had led to a general politicization of the clergy, along with an increase in intrigue and corruption. In 784 Kammu shifted his capital fromNara toNagaoka-kyō in a move that was said to be designed to encumber the powerful Nara Buddhist establishments out of state politics—while the capital moved, the major Buddhist temples, and their officials, stayed put.[25] Indeed, there was a steady stream of edicts issued from 771 right through the period of Kūkai's studies which, for instance, sought to limit the number of Buddhist priests, and the building of temples. However, the move was to prove disastrous and was followed by a series of natural disasters including the flooding of half the city. In 785 the principal architect of the new capital, and royal favourite,Fujiwara no Tanetsugu, was assassinated.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, Kammu's armies were pushing back the boundaries of his empire. This led to an uprising, and in 789 a substantial defeat for Kammu's troops. Also in 789 there was a severe drought and famine—the streets of the capital were clogged with the sick, and people avoiding beingdrafted into the military, or into forced labour. Many disguised themselves as Buddhist priests for the same reason. Consequently, in 792 Kammu abolished national conscription, replacing it with a system wherein each province formed a militia from the local gentry, however this system vitiated the authority of the Emperor and led to proliferation of private armies. Then in 794 Kammu suddenly shifted the capital again, this time to Heian-kyō, which is modern dayKyoto. The new capital was started early the previous year, but the change was abrupt and led to even more confusion amongst the populace.[citation needed] Kammu's rule witnessed the frontiers of Japan expanding into Izawa and Shiba, under the command of a preeminent commander, Tamura Maro.[26]
Politically Kammu shored up his rule by changing the syllabus of the university.Confucian ideology still provided theraison d'être for the Imperial government. In 784 Kammu authorised the teaching of a new course based on theSpring and Autumn Annals based on two newly imported commentaries:Kung-yang andKu-liang. These commentaries used political rhetoric to promote a state in which the Emperor, as "Son of Heaven," should extend his sphere of influence to barbarous lands, thereby gladdening the people. In 798 the two commentaries became required reading at the government university.[citation needed]
Emperor Kanmu was the first person to conceive theShinsen Shōjiroku, aJapanesegenealogical record in 799 to properly track the clans' then ambiguous lineages, but it was not able to be completed before his death in 806. The project was later carried over by his sons and was completed duringEmperor Saga's reign in 814.
Kammu also sponsored the travels of the monksSaichō andKūkai toChina, from where they returned to found the Japanese branches of, respectively,Tendai andShingon Buddhism.[citation needed][27]
He was specifically interested in Paekche (and to an extent,Goguryeo) as his mother was of Paekche descent.
Kammu's emphasis towards his foreign heritage became prominent as his mother was not of the Imperial line, but was in fact a royal consort to Emperor Kōnin on top of coming from aclan of Korean origin, which could have negatively affected his ascension as emperor and be deemed illegitimate by some.[28] To circumvent this, Kammu focused heavily on the mythological aspects of his mother's ancestor,Muryeong of Baekje and Muryeong's own ancestor,Dongmyeong of Goguryeo (Ko Chumong), emphasizing Chumong's heritage as a grandchild of the godHabaek and Kammu's own lineage that continued it claiming that he was part of the "heavenly lineage". He mentions this inShoku Nihongi when honoring his late mother.
『明年正月十四日辛亥。中納言正三位藤原朝臣小黒麻呂率誄人奉誄。上諡曰天高知日之子姫尊。壬午。葬於大枝山陵。皇太后姓和氏。諱新笠。贈正一位乙継之女也。母贈正一位大枝朝臣眞妹。后先出自百濟武寧王之子純陀太子。皇后容徳淑茂。夙著聲譽。天宗高紹天皇龍潜之日。娉而納焉。生今上。早良親王。能登内親王。寳龜年中。改姓爲高野朝臣。今上即位。尊爲皇太夫人。九年追上尊號。曰皇太后。其百濟遠祖都慕王者。河伯之女感日精而所生。皇太后即其後也。因以奉諡焉。』
"The empress dowager's clan (surname) wasYamato and her name wasNiigasa. Her majesty had astonishing looks that spoke of maturity that was quickly recognized. She was married toEmperor Kōnin before he was officially inaugurated when she had his son (Kammu/Yamabe). Her ancestor was the son of KingMuryeong of Baekje,Prince Junda. Theking of Baekje is said to be the descendant ofKing Dongmyeong who hatched from an egg when hismother, the daughter ofHabaek was touched by sunlight. The empress dowager, therefore I, am the direct descendant of them."
— Emperor Kanmu,Shoku Nihongi,Enryaku, 9th year, January 15th
In 790, Emperor Kanmu issued a rescript that treated theKudara no Konikishi clan (a fellow Japanese clan of Paekche descent) as "relatives by marriage".[29]
『百濟王等者朕之外戚也。』
"TheKudara no Konikishi clan are my relatives by marriage."
— Emperor Kanmu,Shoku Nihongi,Enryaku, 9th year, September 27th
It was related to the fact that the emperor's mother belonged to the Paekche-originatedYamato no Fuhito clan, who then claimed its roots in the Paekche royal family. In addition, according to theShoku Nihongi, Takano no Niigasa was a 10th-generation descendant of KingMuryeong of Baekje through his son PrinceJunda (Nihon Shoki, chapter 17), making Emperor Kammu an 11th-generation descendant of Muryeong through maternal lineage. The Kudara no Konikishi clan fell under the influence of the southern branch of theFujiwara clan after Kudara no Konikishi Myōshin had marriedFujiwara no Tsugutada around 754. Emperor Kanmu's rescript of 790 aimed to support Myōshin's appointment as lady-in-waiting (尚侍), the highest post among court ladies, due to her similar background with Kammu.[30]
A 14th century book called "Jinnō Shōtōki" byKitabatake Chikafusa states that a record that claimed of Japan's origin with Korea was lost during Kammu's time, which indicates that such intentions were highly regarded during Emperor Kanmu's reign up until the book's disappearance.
『昔「日本は三韓と同種也」と云事のありし、かの書をば、桓武の御代にやきすてられしなり。』
"Originally, it was recorded that "Japan and theThree Kingdoms of Korea are the same" but the book was lost during Emperor Kanmu's reign."
It can be deduced that Kammu advocated his Korean ancestry for both political and social reasons at the time, which was later officially recognized by the government coming from theEmperor of Japan.
Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of theEmperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras.[31]
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 Kammu's reign, this apex of theDaijō-kan included:
When the daughter of achūnagon became the favored consort of the Crown Prince Ate (later known as Heizei-tennō), her father's power and position in court was affected. Kammu disapproved ofFujiwara no Kusuko, daughter ofFujiwara no Tanetsugu; and Kammu had her removed from his son's household.[32]
Emperor Kammu's Imperial family included 36 children.[33]
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In 2001, Japan's emperorAkihito told reporters "I, on my part, feel a certain kinship with Korea", given the fact that it is recorded in theChronicles of Japan that the Emperor Kammu's mother was one of the descendant ofKing Muryong of Baekje (462–523). It was the first time that a Japanese emperor publicly referred to any Korean ancestry in the imperial line.[36] According to theShoku Nihongi, Emperor Kammu's mother,Takano no Niigasa (720–90), is a descendant ofPrince Junda, son of Muryeong, who died in Japan in 513 (Nihon Shoki, Chapter 17).
Kanmu's next consort was his half-sister Sakahito. She had been appointed high priestess of the Ise shrine in 772, but upon the death of her mother in 775, Sakahito returned to the capital and married Kanmu.
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| Preceded by | Emperor of Japan: Kanmu 781–806 | Succeeded by |
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