User talk:Bamse/Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion

ja:藤原仲麻呂の乱, Empress Kōken
 * maps: on this page,  on this page,,  on this page, ,


 * suzuka, fuwa, arachi (=sankan="three gates") were first three sekisho

Rise to power

 * second son of Fujiwara Muchimaro (who was founder of southern Fujiwara branch)
 * time in which tachibana and fujiwara families were struggling for influence at court
 * under shomu tachibana were ahead (tachibana moroe=kanzler des reichs); under koken more and more fujiwara ahead; koken gave particularly nakamaro lots of power
 * nakamaro profited from guenstlingswirtschaft of koken, but his position was him missgoennt even among fujiwara clan members, particularly by his brother Toyonari
 * appointed minister of the right on 19th day 2nd month 757
 * held positions of Supreme Military Official (shibinaishou; established during koken's reign and abandoned in 764 on death of Nakamaro), Vice Minister (jundaijin), Senior Commander of the Middle Bodyguards
 * title of minister of right was changed on 25th day 8th month 758 to Grand Guardian (taihou); and on same day name changed by imperial rescript to Emi Oshikatsu; and on same day 100 chou of land granted
 * Komyo provided power base for her nephew Fujiwara no Nakamaro
 * in 755 Nakamaro forced moroe to retire
 * steep career: court rank promotions: 4th senior lower (744), 4th senior upper (746), 3rd junior (748), 3rd senior (749), 2nd junior (750), 1st junior (760), 1st senior (762)
 * Nakamaro was grandson of Kamatari; he held rank of dainagon; he was a learned man and able administrator
 * Nakamaro (from southern F. house/nanke) had started to enjoy power in later years of shomu's reign through favour of his aunt consort-empress komyo
 * after junnin succeeded koken in 758, nakamaro totally dominated the court
 * appointment in 743 of Fujiwara no Nakamaro as consultant ; In 743, when the capital was moved from Kuni near the Tachibana power base to Shigaraki close to important Fujiwara holdings, Nakamaro was appointed to the Council of State, largely because he was backed by his powerful Fujiwara aunt, Empress Komyo
 * Nakamaro and his group were becoming stronger, mainly because of the power that Nakamaro held as head of the office (the Shibi chudai) that handled the principal empress's (Komyo's) affairs. This office, standing outside the bureaucratic structure defined in the Taiho administrative code, was staffed with high-ranking officials who performed increasingly important functions. Its name, similar to that of a Chinese office administering the affairs of state under Empress Wu at the turn of the eighth century, suggests that Komyo - who supported, and was being supported by, her ambitious nephew Nakamaro - was planning to rule Japan in the Empress Wu manner. Because Nakamaro, as head of this office, was taking responsibility for matters previously handled by the council and the council itself now included an increasingly large number of officials from the Fujiwara clan, Tachibana no Moroe's (minister of left until 756) influence was in decline.
 * N. (together in group with komyo) became leading rival of Moroe who was supported by retired empress genshou (d. 748)
 * in 755 Moroe criticized publicly (at drinking party) empress koken; nakamaro and followers made moroe to resign
 * in 756 shomu died; a crown prince not favored by fujiwara was appointed (in posthumous edict of emperor shomu); fujiwara clan retaliated: arrested two members of anti fujiwara group (on the charge that they had been disrespectful to the reigning empress)
 * in 757 moroe died, junnin (a nakamaro relative) was appointed as crown prince and Nakamaro was given another important extralegal ministerial position, that of shibi naisho
 * hin 757 moroe's eldest son tachibana naramaro assembled support for a coup (naramaro conspiracy) to replace empress koken and heir designate oi; but nakamaro learned about it and stamped out naramaro's opposition force; he had former crown prince funado executed and his own elder brother toyonari (minister of the right) send to exile in dazaifu
 * In 758 Nakamaro moved to colonize the territory of the Ezo people to the north by building frontier posts in Mutsu and Dewa and, at about that time, to work out a plan for conquering the kingdom of Silla; indicates strength of nakamaro regime
 * in infatuation for Nakamaro, koken bestowed on him titles and revenue
 * In 757 Kōken and her mother the Dowager Empress Kōmyō moved to the Tamura Mansion of Nakamaro with the rest of the court due to repairs at the Heijō Palace. Tachibana Naramaro (another cousin of Kōken) conspiracy was unmasked and ruthlessly suppressed during this time
 * In the fifth month of 757 Kōken appointed Nakamaro to an extracodal high office
 * 11th day 1st month 760: promoted from taihou to taishi

Koken

 * Koken was - like her mother Komyo - an independent and strong-willed woman who apparently identified herself with the autocratic Empress Wu (r. 691-705) of China.
 * but first reign of koken is characterised by rise of power of Nakamaro and Komyo influence who supported nakamaro
 * koken abdicated in favour of junnin perhaps because of experience of naramaro rebellion; but she kept regierungsgewalt
 * only after komyo's death in 760, koken played a decisive role in politics: destroyed nakamaro, exiled emperor junnin and promoted dokyo to highest position ever held by commoner
 * in 758 koken nominally abdicated in favour of Junnin but continued to discharge all functions of government
 * koken's early years were spent in the shadow of her father, the Retired Emperor, and his queen, Kōmyō, the evidence is that she was very much in control of court politics, fighting off challenges from her royal cousins Tachibana Naramaro and Fujiwara Nakamaro. During the brief interregnum of the unfortunate Junnin, whom she set up and then deposed (and who was not formally added to the list of monarchs by court historians until the nineteenth century), she continued to issue occasional re-scripts and may be seen as the power behind his titular throne

Conflict with Koken

 * apparently junnin (who had been supported by nakamaro and was completely under nakamaro's influence) did not like the relationship between dokyo and koken; koken allowed junnin to do only "ceremonial and small tasks, while she would handle the important business of the state, belohnungen und bestrafungen"; this beeintraechtigte auch nakamaro's interessen
 * nakamaro started rebellion to prevent that regierungsgewalt went into dokyo's hands
 * komyo's death in 760 and koken's decision in 762 to handle personally the really important affairs of state caused decline of nakamaro regime
 * Koken+dokyo vs Nakamaro and followers: group worshipping Buddha vs group who thinks that emperor should be highest priest of kami worship...; but rather incorrect theory
 * rather: two groups were divided over whether sovereign should have direct control over state affairs as in china or mainly function as high priest of kami worship as in pre temmu japan
 * Nakamaro's autority was heavily based on support by Komyo
 * by 758 when Koken yielded throne to Junnin, she had set her heart on becoming not only source of imperial authority (as retired empress) but also to exercise it; by 758 she had placed imperial guards (chūe-fu) under her command who had been under Nakamaro since 756
 * by 762 relations Nakamaro/Koken reached breaking point
 * reason for conflict not known, but it is assumed that it is connected with development of intimate relationship (Nihon Ryoiki: "the priest Dokyo and the retired empress shared the same pillow") between Koken and buddhist priest dokyo who in 4th month 762 healed the empress of some illness
 * 6th month 762 koken became irritated with junnin, moved from detached palace at hora to a buddhist temple in nara and issued edict: "henceforth the emperor will conduct minor affairs of state, but important matters of state, including the dispensation of swards and punishments, will be handled by me"
 * koken's decision to exercise authority nakamaro who had (together with komyo) supported enthronement of junnin
 * Nakamaro acted by: naming two of his sons (Kuzumaro and Asakari) to the council; giving two other sons military appointments, one in the capital (nara), the other in Echizen and Mino Provinces
 * Koken group acted by: appointing Fujiwara no Masaki (who was critical of nakamaro's policies) to middle counselor; bringin back Kibi no Makibi (who was involved in fujiwara hirotsugu rebellion) from exile in Kyushu and appointed supervisor of construction at todaiji
 * nakamaro's decline of fortunes was due to relation with Koken/Dokyo, but also due to the fact that fellow clansmen drifted towards koken/dokyo
 * as koken became a nun and transferred her affection to the priest dokyo, nakamaro startet revolt

Rebellion

 * preparation
 * in 764 Nakamaro planned coup d'etat to restore power and prestige
 * using authority of ministerial office he seized control of military affairs in the provinces near the capital, dispatched additional soldiers to regions under his control, and increased the size of the provincial militia.
 * in 764 Nakamaro attempted to remove Dokyo from power by force of arms but coup soon collapsed partially because of discord and envy within fujiwara family
 * when nakamaro took up arms in 764, he declared Shioyaki (elder brother of Funado, the crown prince killed under interrogation by Nakamaro only seven years earlier) as new emperor ((even giving him a name, Kinkō [current emperor])


 * plan leaked
 * plans were leaked and Koken and her group immediately took possession of the imperial seals and the post station bells (ekirei) needed to mobilize the troops.
 * verschwoerung nakamaro's wurde entdeckt and he and his sons were killed when fleeing to omi by his vetter fujiwara no kurajimaro
 * prince wake, a nephew of junnin, had revealed nakamaro's plot
 * yin yang master and astronomer, Ōtsu Ōura, had been consulted by Fujiwara Nakamaro for making sure that the cosmic coordinates were lined up propitiously for the timing and execution of his plot because omens were believed to inscribe the future in the present. However, he reported Nakamaro’s intentions and was handsomely rewarded with a promotion into the ranks of higher official-dom (rank four)


 * battle
 * her commander's forces clashed with Nakamaro's guards and, within seven days, seized and executed Nakamaro.
 * brief struggle; nakamaro fell in battle
 * nakamaro's head together with those of his wife and children and devote followers to the number of 34 was despatched to nara


 * The shinrei (spirit of the kami) are said on 764/1/7 to have protected the realm against Fujiwara Nakamaro’s rebellion.

Aftermath

 * In 764, a dramatic edict was issued at the Heijō Palace on the occasion of Fujiwara Nakamaro’s revolt (SN 4:43). This was a highly unusual circumstance; the titular Emperor Junnin was accused of complicity in the revolt and a messenger was sent from Retired Emperor Kōken to formally dethrone Junnin and announce that he was being exiled to the island of Awaji.
 * The Nihon kōki on 799/2/21 reports that 375 had received the death penalty in that rebellion, but that all sentences were converted into exile
 * retired empress koken was left in full charge of state affairs
 * soon after rebellion put down Koken had ...
 * Dokyo promoted from junior fifth to junior third rank and appointed minister prelate (daijin senshi)
 * Nakamaro's elder brother Toyonari (who had opposed Nakamaro), brought back from exile and appointed minister of right
 * emperor junnin removed from throne and exiled to island of Awaji
 * became empress for second time as empress shotoku


 * koken had aversion towards junnin (who had become emperor mainly through nakamaro's influence):
 * dowager empress (name given by herself) koken: In the very month following Nakamaro 's destruction, she charged that the Emperor was in collusion with the rebel; despatched a force of troops to surround the palace; dethroned Junnin; degraded him to the rank of a prince, and sent him and his mother into exile, where the conditions of confinement were made so intolerable that the ex-Emperor attempted to escape, was captured and killed.


 * in 765 koken and members of her court embarked on a royal progress through the adjacent provinces of Kawachi and Izumi to the province of Kii; bender suggests that this might have been a triumphal procession
 * as empress shotoku she...
 * added loyal people (who had supported her against nakamaro) such as clansmen, princes, Buddhist priests and aristocrats from provinces to the council
 * in 765 she restricted privately owned land, but this did not apply to Buddhist temples (pro temple policy...)
 * appointed Dokyo in 765 to prime minister prelate (daijōdaijin zenshi); in 766/10/20 to Buddhist King (Hō-ō) and in 767/3/20 increased his authority by creation of "Imperial Office for Buddhist King (Hō-ō Kyūshiki); titles comparable in Jap History only to Prince Shotoku's; rise purely due to favors received from empress shotoku not to support from buddhist priesthood; as indicated by offices Dokyo only had spiritual not political responsibilities
 * in 8th century only Nakamaro (in 761) and dokyo (in 765) had been appointed to daijōdaijin zenshi (which was more a title than an office)
 * on the third day of new year 768 dokyo received officials at his Hō-ō Kyūshiki in the manner of an emperor
 * in 769 a plot to make Dokyo Emperor (Dokyo incident) was blocked by the Fujiwara


 * In 770 Empress Shotoku ordered miniature wooden pagodas (hyakumantou) made - and darani placed in each one of them - for presentation to the major Buddhist temples in and around the capital. The purpose was to pacify the souls of those who had perished in the Fujiwara no Nakamaro uprising of 764. Several of the pagodas, measuring about nine inches high and three and a half inches across the base, are among the holdings of the Kyoto National Museum. The darani found in them were once thought to be the world's oldest extant printings
 * Empress Shotoku order the copying of the tripitaka following Nakamaro rebellion
 * the Fujiwara retained enough power to have Koken succeeded (after her childless death in 770) by a descendant of Emperor Tenji (not of Emperor Temmu): Prince Shirakabe/Emperor Konin; to send Dokyo into exile (in Shimotsuke Province), and to arrange the appointment of several Fujiwara leaders to ministerial posts: Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu (minister of center), fujiwara no momokawa (consultant)...
 * at beginning of 772 7 of 12 members of council of state were from Fujiwara family
 * fujiwara were eager to upset the tradition that Temmu's descendants alone should occupy the throne, for they were convinced that any Temmu emperor or empress would continue to favor direct imperial rule and oppose control by a nonimperial clan, particularly the Fujiwara.


 * per Zachert suggestion: abschreckende erfahrungen (politische unsicherheit, gefahr fuer thronfolge durch dokyo) of koken's rule resulted in her being the last female ruler in Japan for close to 1000 years