Cloistered rule
Cloistered rule (院政, insei, lit. "monastery administration") was a form of government in Japan during the Heian period. In this bifurcated system, an emperor 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 of Fujiwara 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 called Daijō Tennō or Jōkō. A retired emperor who entered a Buddhist monastic community became a Cloistered 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 by Emperor Shirakawa in 1086[2] and followed by his successors until the rise of the Kamakura shogunate in 1192.[1]
Background
The ritsuryō code allowed retired emperors to exert some limited powers, and there are early examples such as Empress Jitō, Emperor Shōmu and Emperor Uda in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries respectively.
By the end of the 10th century, the
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.
End of the Heian period
Separate imperial courts (In no Chō (院庁) evolved around the retired emperors,
The end of the
Table
The succession of power in the Insei 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] |
During the Shogunates
The establishment of the Kamakura shogunate is taken to mark the beginning of the Kamakura 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, when Go-Toba, a grandson of Go-Shirakawa, sought to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, his forces were defeated in the Jōkyū 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 the Kenmu Restoration attempted by Emperor 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 the Edo period. The last person to use the title Daijō Hōō was Emperor Reigen, in 1686.[5]
See also
- Retired Emperor (disambiguation)
- Cloistered Emperor
- Daijō Tennō
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Insei" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 391., p. 391, at Google Books
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 257-258.
- ^ Nussbaum, "In" at p. 385., p. 385, at Google Books
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sansom, George Bailey. (1958). History of Japan to 1334, p. 200.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Hō-ō" at p. 351., p. 351, at Google Books
References
- Hurst, G. Cameron. (1976). " Insei: Abdicated sovereigns in the Politics of late-Heian Japan 1086–1185.' New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231039321; OCLC 1584089
- Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge:
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
- ____________. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 182637732