Emperor Seimu (
Emperor Seimu | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Emperor of Japan | |||||
Reign | 131–190 (traditional)[1] | ||||
Predecessor | Keikō | ||||
Successor | Chūai | ||||
Born | Wakatarashi hiko ( 84[2] | ||||
Died | 190 (aged 107)[2][3][a] | ||||
Burial | Saki no Tatanami no misasagi ( | ||||
Spouse |
| ||||
Issue | Prince Wakanuke[b] | ||||
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House | Imperial House of Japan | ||||
Father | Emperor Keikō | ||||
Mother | Yasakairi-hime[5] | ||||
Religion | Shinto |
Seimu's reign is conventionally considered to have been from 131 to 190 AD. An issue ultimately occurred when his only son allegedly died at a young age.[8] Seimu appointed one of his nephews to be crown prince before his death in 190 AD, marking the first of later generations which would cede the throne to a non-direct successor. While the location of Seimu's grave (if any) is unknown, he is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto tomb. Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the title of "Emperor" and the name "Seimu" was used by later generations to describe this legendary Emperor. It has also been proposed that Seimu actually reigned much later than he is attested.
Legendary narrative
editThe Japanese have traditionally accepted this sovereign's historical existence, and a mausoleum (misasagi) for Seimu is currently maintained. The following information available is taken from the pseudo-historical Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, which are collectively known as Kiki (
The records state that Seimu had a wife named Oho-takara (
Known information
editEmperor Seimu is regarded by historians as a "legendary Emperor" as there is insufficient material available for further verification and study. His existence is open to debate given this lack of information.[11] If Seimu did exist, there is no evidence to suggest that the title tennō was used during the time period to which his reign has been assigned. It is much more likely that he was a chieftain, or local clan leader, and the polity he ruled would have only encompassed a small portion of modern-day Japan.[12] The name Seimu-tennō was more than likely assigned to him posthumously by later generations.[13] His name might have been regularized centuries after the lifetime ascribed to Seimu, possibly during the time in which legends about the origins of the imperial dynasty were compiled as the chronicles known today as the Kojiki.[12] There is a possibility that Seimu ruled during the first half of the 4th century when Japan became a unified state ruled from Yamato, making these accounts "not improbable".[14]
While the actual site of Seimu's grave is not known, the Emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) at Nara. The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Seimu's mausoleum, and is formally named Saki no Tatanami no misasagi.[6][15] Outside of the Kiki, the reign of Emperor Kinmei[c] (c. 509 – 571 AD) is the first for which contemporary historiography has been able to assign verifiable dates.[17] The conventionally accepted names and dates of the early Emperors were not confirmed as "traditional" though, until the reign of Emperor Kanmu[d] between 737 and 806 AD.[12]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Genealogy of the Emperors of Japan" (PDF). Kunaicho.go.jp. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d Kenneth Henshall (2013). Historical Dictionary of Japan to 1945. Scarecrow Press. p. 487. ISBN 9780810878723.
- ^ a b Kidder, Jonathan E. (2007). Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology. University of Hawaii Press. p. 227. ISBN 9780824830359. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ a b Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Volumes 9-10. Asiatic Society of Japan. 1881. pp. 226–227. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ a b Memoirs of the Research Department of the Tōyō Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issues 32-34. Tōyō Bunko. 1974. pp. 63–64. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ a b "
成 務 天皇 (13)". Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō) (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 July 2019. - ^ a b Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran (in French). Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. pp. 14, 34–36.
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Ponsonby Memorial Society. p. 34.
- ^ a b Martin, Peter (1997). The Chrysanthemum Throne: A History of the Emperors of Japan. University of Hawaii Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780824820299. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ a b c Brinkley, Frank; Kikuchi, Dairoku (1915). A History of the Japanese People: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. Encyclopaedia Britannica Company. pp. 87–88. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
emperor Seimu.
- ^ Kelly, Charles F. "Kofun Culture". t-net.ne.jp. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ a b c Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Volume 2. The Japan Society London. p. 109 & 214–216. ISBN 9780524053478.
- ^ Brinkley, Frank (1915). A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the end of the Meiji Era. Encyclopaedia Britannica Company. p. 21.
Posthumous names for the earthly Mikados were invented in the reign of Emperor Kanmu (782–805), i.e., after the date of the compilation of the Records and the Chronicles.
- ^ Kojiki. Princeton University Press. 2015. p. 90. ISBN 9781400878000. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1953). Studies in Shinto and Shrines. Ponsonby-Fane Society Publications. p. 419.
- ^ Brown, Delmer M.; Ishida, Ichirō (1979). A Translation and Study of the Gukanshō, an Interpretative History of Japan Written in 1219. University of California Press. pp. 248, 261–262. ISBN 9780520034600.
- ^ Hoye, Timothy. (1999). Japanese Politics: Fixed and Floating Worlds. Prentice Hall. p. 78. ISBN 9780132712897.
According to legend, the first Japanese Emperor was Jimmu. Along with the next 13 Emperors, Jimmu is not considered an actual, historical figure. Historically verifiable Emperors of Japan date from the early sixth century with Kimmei.
Further reading
edit- Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner. OCLC 448337491
- Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
- Chamberlain, Basil Hall. (1920). The Kojiki. Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on 12 April, 10 May, and 21 June 1882; reprinted May 1919. OCLC 1882339
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
- Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842