The Kudara no Konikishi clan (Japanese:
Kudara no Konikishi clan | |
---|---|
Parent house | Buyeo |
Titles | Various |
Founder | Zenkō |
Founding year | circa 691 |
Name
editKudara was an uji, or clan name, and represented its country of origin, Baekje. Konikishi or Kokishi, which literally means "king", was a special kabane that was given only to the former royal families of Baekje and Goguryeo: the Kudara, Shōna (
History
editThe founder Zenkō came from Baekje to Japan as a hostage along with his brother Hōshō in 643. Even though Japan sent Hōshō back to Korea for a failed campaign to revive Baekje, Zenkō remained in Japan. The former royal family members were treated as "barbarian guests" (
They were finally assimilated into Japanese bureaucracy in 691. They were given the name "Kudara no Konikishi" sometime afterward. The event has drawn scholarly attention, and a couple of theories have been proposed to explain the reason why they were given that peculiar name at that particular time. One theory associates the event with the enforcement of the Asuka Kiyomihara Code in 689, the law that entailed clarification of their legal status. However, while being subjects to the Japanese emperor, they still needed to represent the Baekje kingship by the special name. Japan applied to itself the Chinese ideology of emperorship that required "barbarian people" to long for the great virtue of the emperor. In so doing, Yamato Japan established for itself a system in which it, as a sponsor of the defunct kingdom of Baekje through its royal house, by extension rivalled Baekje's remaining traditional rival on the Korean Peninsula, Silla.[2][need quotation to verify]
In 790, Emperor Kanmu issued a rescript that treated the Kudara no Konikishi clan as "relatives by marriage." It was related to the fact that the emperor's mother, Takano no Niigasa, belonged to the Baekje-originated Yamato no Fuhito clan, who then claimed its roots in the Baekje royal family.[2] In addition, according to the Shoku Nihongi, Takano no Niigasa was a 10th-generation descendant of King Muryeong of Baekje through his son Prince Junda (Nihon Shoki, chapter 17), making Emperor Kammu an 11th-generation descendant of Muryeong through maternal lineage.
Another theory attempts to interpret the rise and the fall of the Kudara no Konikishi clan in the context of domestic politics, rather than political ideology. The clan fell under the influence of the southern branch of the Fujiwara clan after Kudara no Konikishi Myōshin had married Fujiwara no Tsugutada around 754. The emperor's rescript of 790 aimed to support Myōshin's appointment as lady-in-waiting (
Notable members
edit- Kudara no Konikishi Zenkō (
百済 王 禅 光 ) (617-700) - The founder of the clan - Kudara no Konikishi Shōsei (
百済 王 昌 成 ) (?-674) - son of the founder - Kudara no Konikishi Rōgu (
百済 王 朗 虞 ) (661-737) - Vice Governor of Settsu (摂津 亮 ) - Kudara no Konikishi Kyōfuku (
百済 王 敬 福 ) (697-766) - Lord of Justice (刑部 卿 ) - Kudara no Konikishi Shuntetsu (
百済 王 俊 哲 ) (740-795) - General of Peace Guard for Mutsu and Vice Delegate of Conquering East-Barbarian (陸奥 鎮守 将軍 征 夷 副使 ) - Kudara no Konikishi Bukyō (
百済 王 武 鏡 ) - Governor of Dewa (出羽守 )
Notes
edit- ^ Mase Tomohiro
間瀬 智広 (2005). ""Kudara no Konishiki" sei no seiritsu to Kudara no Konikishi shi no gakubu sōjō" 「百済 王 」姓 の成立 と百済 王 氏 の楽 舞 奏上 . Rekishi kenkyū歴史 研究 (in Japanese). 51: 89–110. - ^ a b Tanaka Fumio
田中 史生 (1997). "Kanmu chō no Kudara no Konikishi shi"桓武 朝 の百済 王 氏 . Nihon kodai kokka no minzoku shihai to toraijin日本 古代 国家 の民族 支配 と渡来 人 (in Japanese). pp. 72–109. - ^ Ōtsubo Hidetoshi
大坪 秀敏 (2008). Kudara no Konikishi shi to kodai Nihon百済 王 氏 と古代 日本 (in Japanese).
External links
edit- (in Japanese) Kudara no Konishiki Genealogy Tree (
百済 氏 祖 系 )
Warning: This page contains pieces of family trees which are not considered historical facts by historians.