Kōken

This article deals with the Tennō Kōken or Shōtoku . For the prince of the same name, see Shōtoku Taishi .

Kōken ( Japanese 孝 謙 天皇 Kōken-tennō ; * 718 ; † August 28, 770 ), also known as Princess Abe ( 阿 部 内 親王 , Abe-naishinnō ). As a Kōken, she was the 46th Tennō of Japan (749-758). She ruled again (764-770) as the 48th under the name Shōtoku ( 称 徳 天皇 ). Order name between reigns and posthumously : Takano Tennō.

She was the only daughter of Shōmu -tennō and his wife Fujiwara Komyoshi , the Kōmyō - kōgō ( 光明 皇后 ; 701-760).

Government: Kōken 749-758

She ruled as Kōken-tennō from 749 after she was appointed heir to the throne in Tempyō, at the age of 26, in the 10th year.

She deposed her Crown Prince Funado , who was still determined by Shōmu, a year after taking office (757/3). He then planned a rebellion with three other princes ( Shihoyaki , Kibumi , Asukabe ), in which the son of the " Chancellor on the left " Tachibana no Moroe , Naramaro , who died shortly before , was involved, and was then executed (757/7). These events led to the consolidation of the power of the Fujiwara at court.

After the dismissal of her “unworthy” son, she gave orders that a copy of the Ko-kiyo (catechism of filial duties) - presumably written by herself - must be available in every household.

In the following year 758, Kōken abdicated in favor of Prince Ōhi ( 大 炊 ), who now ascended the throne as Junnin . Kōken went to the Nara monastery Hokke-ji ( 法華寺 ; the former residence of her mother) as a Buddhist nun in 762 , but was still involved in government business from there. Her rival at the time was her maternal uncle, Fujiwara no Nakamaro .

Government: Shōtoku 764-770

When Kōken openly claimed the throne again (by the way, without giving up her Buddhist vow) by dethroning Junnin on the 9th day of the 10th month (November 7th) 764, it came to an open fight with Nakamaro, who was a rebellion instigated. Shōtoku was able to destroy Nakamaro and sent Junnin into exile in Awaji , where he died on November 10, 765.

Shōtoku remained single all her life. However, she fell in love with the director of the Dōkyō court temple . This, of comparatively low kabane , rose rapidly. He was appointed Hō-ō in the 10th month 765 . (This title was actually intended for abdicated Tennō who retired to a monastery, and is variously rendered as “Dharma King” or “a kind of Pope”.) Since 764 he was Grand Chancellor ( Daijō-daijin ). At the same time the Daisōzu (Grand Vicar), and "highest spiritual minister" ( 法 臣 , Hōshin ).

After this rebellion was put down, she had the Hyakumantō Darani ("1,000,000 pagodas and Dharani - [prayers]") printed 1,000,000 rolls of paper with Buddhist sayings ( dharani ) in 764, which were packed in as many wooden pagoda models and distributed throughout the country. The project was completed in 770 and the more than 1000 copies still in existence today are among the world's oldest surviving examples of wooden panel printing .

In 770 Dōkyō made the dramatic attempt to win the throne himself, but the resistance of courtiers (in the form of a saying by the state oracle) in leadership positions and the timely death of the Tennō led to his fall and exile. The incident gave rise to a strong reaction within the imperial family against Buddhist political influence, which then led to the relocation of the capital. Subsequently, women were excluded from the line of succession.

She died of smallpox in 770. After her death, Dōkyō was exiled.

literature

• Ross Bender: The Hachiman Cult and the Dokyo Incident . In: Monumenta Nipponica . Vol. 34, No. 2 , p. 125-153 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Kornicki: The Book in Japan. A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century (=  Handbuch der Orientalistik . Abt. 5: Japan. Volume 7 ). Brill, Leiden u. a. 1998, ISBN 90-04-10195-0 , pp. 114–116 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

predecessor	Office	successor
Shōmu Junnin	Tennō 749-758 764-770	Junnin Konin