Konoe Nobutada

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Konoe Nobutada ( Japanese 近衛 信 尹 ; * November 23, 1565 ( Japanese calendar : Eiroku 8/11/1) in Kyoto ; † December 25, 1614 ( Keichō 19/11/25)) was one of the "three famous calligraphers of the Kan'ei time ”and regent ( kampaku ) for the Japanese Tennō Go-Yōzei .

Youth and family

Konoe Nobutada was the son of the regent Konoe Sakihisa (1536-1612). His mother was Hōjuin (1532-1630), who, depending on the source, was a servant in the Konoe household or came from the Takeda clan . With his older brother Ichijōin Sonsei (1563-1616), since 1576/6/28 monk in the Kōfuku-ji of Nara , he remained closely connected throughout his life.

His birth name was Akimaru ( 明 丸 ), from 13 he was called Nobumoto ( 信 基 ), since 1582 Nobusuke ( 信 輔 ), at the age of 35 he received permission to use the name Nobutada , by which he is commonly known. For signing works of art he used Sugi ( 杉 ), Samboku ( 三 木 ) and more rarely Kain ( 可 因 ), Oka Sahyōe ( 岡 左 兵衛 ) or Inzōshu ( 因 蔵 主 ).

Nobutada's father Sakihisa resigned as kampaku in 1569/9 and left the capital. When he was seven years old, he lived with his family in Yao, Wake District (now: Yao (Osaka) ). Two years later he moved to Tamba Province . In 1575, the family stayed in Kyoto for three months in the summer, then traveled to Satsuma , where Sakihisa had the task of convincing the Shimazu to surrender.

career

In 1577/7/12 Nobumoto was declared of legal age, Oda Nobunaga led the gempuku ceremony. At the same time he was appointed to the third following court rank . As a 14-year-old he was actually awarded third place in 1578/16. On the second day of the eleventh month, the office of Gon-Chūnagon ( 権 中 納 言 ). 1580/2/9 the elevation to the following second rank followed, 11/3 the office of Naidaijin .

Nobutada became head of the family when his father fled the capital after Oda Nobunaga's suicide (1582/6/2) and entered the clergy. Towards the end of the year he was promoted to the real second rank, at the same time he changed his name to Nobusuke .

At the age of 21 he became " Chancellor on the Left " in 1585/3/10 and was thus higher than the "strong man" Toyotomi Hideyoshi . The latter only took over the office of regent later in the year (7/11), Nobosuke also received the following first rank. Nevertheless, he was of the opinion that the reign could not be exercised by "every runaway from the people ( bonge no ... )", but belonged to him. The family was given land worth 1,000 koku . Nobutada's sister Sakiko was adopted by Hideyoshi (1586/11/6), then Go-Yōzei's wife , shortly before he took office (1586/11/25).

When Nobusuke felt chest pain in 1590/3/1, he believed he was near death and made a will, addressed to Senshi - probably his wife. A period of several months followed, during which he acted irrationally and is described by his contemporaries as insane.

While the invasion of Korea was being prepared in 1592 , he gave up his court rank, then went to the camp against the wishes of the emperor, but was escorted back to Kyoto on Hideyoshi's orders (back 7/26). He did not give up his plan to go to war and traveled (12/14) to Kyushu only to be sent back again. A third attempt in the following year ended with the fact that he was exiled to Bōnotsu (now part of Kaseda ), as one of the reasons was this "behavior inappropriate for a courtier." During this time he referred to himself as Oka Sahyōe . Also in 1594 his newborn son died. Early next year he was allowed to go to Kagoshima , where he came into close contact with the Shimazu . His support saved this family in 1601 the daimyo status even though they had been on the losing side at Sekigahara . In return, he often received financial support.

In the spring of 1596 he returned to Kyoto, his main political opponent Toyotomi Hidetsugu was dead, his nephew, the future emperor Go-Mizunoo , had just been born. He opposed with others in 1598 against the plans of the Go-Yōzei in favor of his younger brother, Prince Hajijōnomiya Toshihito to resign.

As a result of the reorganization after the Battle of Sekigahara , Nobutada (he had used this name since 1599) was reinstated in his court rank and as Chancellor on the left (1601). Differences he had with Tokugawa Ieyasu were resolved through a clarifying conversation at the New Year's reception in 1603. When Tokugawa Hidetada was appointed Shogun in 1605/5/16, he was (7/23) Kampaku . In the following month the Tennō deigned to order him, so far without heirs, to adopt the fourth son ( Nobuhiro 7 years). The adoption and declaration of majority took place 8/26, also adopted Nobutada, the 10th son of the emperor Sonkakku Hoshinnō , later Kōfukuji Ichijōin . There is a lack of clarity about a (biological) child of Nobutada that is referred to as Tarō in his records .

In early 1606 he visited Yao to attend a banquet for Katagiri Katsumoto . His diary entries end around this time. On the eleventh day of the eleventh month, he resigned as regent. Immediately after the New Year he left the capital for two months, after his return he was obviously depressed and temporarily surrendered to alcohol. In terms of protocol, as a jugo , he was on a par with an empress. He was in close personal contact with the future Go-Mizunoo and played, in the background, a certain role at court until his death.

He wrote the work Go-Yōzei Tennō jōi shidai in 1610/10/30. His 77-year-old father Sakihisa died in 1612/5/8, on the third anniversary of his death the son visited the grave in Tofuku-ji . In the same year he traveled to Osaka. In the eleventh month of 1614 Nobutada died on the 25th day after falling ill in the summer.

Creating art

Nobutada devoted himself particularly to the calligraphy practiced in his family. In this field he made it to the championship, while he developed his own style. Many of his works - in the form of poems from anthologies - have been preserved as series on painted ( oshi-e ) room dividers ( byōbu ).

During his exile he also devoted himself to prayers to the deified Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), commonly known as Tenjin . Tenjin appears frequently as a motif in his later poems and paintings.

Remarks

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Konoe is the family name, Nobutada the first name.
  1. ↑ dates according to the Japanese calendar; Age ditto (i.e. 1 year old at birth)
  2. ↑ The other two were Hon'ami Kōsetsu and Shōkadō Shōjō .

Works and literature

  • Hashiba Hideyoshi kampaku senge shidai (circumstances of Hideyoshi taking office) in: Sammyakuin-ki , Tokyo 1975 (Zoku Guno Ruijū Kanseikai), p. 119ff
  • 1610: Go-Yōzei Tennō jōi shidai
  • Poems in: Shimpen kokka taikan, Tokyo 1982-3 (Kodakawa)
  • Lee Bruschke-Johnson: Dismissed as elegant fossils - Konoe Nobutada and the Role of Aristocrats in Early Modern Japan . Amsterdam 2004 (Hotei), ISBN 90-7482252-5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bruschke-Johnson (2004): Appendix 1, pp. 146-148
  2. ↑ Bruschke-Johnson (2004): Appendix 1, p. 148
  3. ↑ Lee Butler: Emperor and Aristocracy in Japan 1467-1680 . Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-674-00851-0 , pp. 150, 166f
  4. ↑ engl. Translation: Bruschke-Johnson (2004), Appendix 3
  5. ↑ References in detail: Lee Bruschke-Johnson (2004): Chapter 3; Appendix 5
  6. ↑ List of these works: Bruschke-Johnson, Lee (2004): Appendix 4
  7. ↑ References in detail: Bruschke-Johnson, Lee (2004): Appendix 5
personal data
SURNAME Konoe Nobutada
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 近衛 信 尹 (Japanese); Konoe Nobumoto (name from 1577 to 1582); 信 基 (name from 1577 to 1582, Japanese); Konoe Nobusuke (name from 1582 to 1599); 信 輔 (name from 1582 to 1599, Japanese); Oka Sahyōe (name around 1605); 岡 左 兵衛 (name around 1605, Japanese); Sammyakuin; Sanmyakuin; Konoyoe Nobutada (outdated transcription); Sugi (stage name); 杉 (stage name, Japanese); Samboku; Sanboku; 三 木 (Japanese); Cain; 可 因 (Japanese); Inzōshu; Inzoshu; 因 蔵 主 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese calligrapher and regent for Go-Yōzei
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1565
PLACE OF BIRTH Japan
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 1614