Kuni-kyō
Kuni-kyō ( Japanese 恭 仁 京 , literally: "Imperial residence city Kuni"), also Kuni no Miyako , was the capital of Japan between 741 and 744 .
The city was not completed because the capital was moved to Naniwa-kyō , in what is now Osaka , after four years . Later part of the palace was used as a provincial temple by Yamashiro ( 山城 国 分 寺 / 山 背 国 分 寺 , Yamashiro kokubunji ).
history
On January 6, 741 (traditional date: Tempyō 12/12/15) the Shōmu - Tennō on the riverbed of the Izumikawa (today: Kizugawa) near Kuni in Sōraku no kōri in the province of Yamashiro (today: city of Kizugawa in the prefecture of Kyoto ) the construction of a new capital with the Kuni Palace ( 恭 仁 宮 , Kuni-kyū or Kuni no miya ). The New Year was celebrated in the apparently already completed temporary residence of the emperor ( 内 裏 , Dairi ). Heijō-kyō thus lost its status as the capital after 30 years. In the 9th month the left and right districts were determined, a month later the great bridge over the Izumikawa was completed with Gyōki's help and in the 11th month the official name Yamato Kuni no Ōmiya ( 大 養 徳 恭 仁 大 宮 , dt Shrine / Palace of Yamato -Kuni ”).
One reason for the relocation could be the severe loss of power of the Fujiwara aristocratic family , beginning with the death of the four Fujiwara brothers in 737, and the subsequent rise of Tachibana no Moroe (737 Dainagon and 738 Udaijin ). In 740 the uprising of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu in Dazaifu was suppressed by the emperor, who then settled in Kuni-kyō in the southern part of the province of Yamashiro, a stronghold of Tachibana no Moroe.
From the Heijō Palace, key political buildings such as the audience hall ( 大 極 殿 , Daigokuden ) or the Chōdō-in ( wurden 堂 院 ) were dismantled for formal ceremonies and rebuilt in the Kuni Palace.
742 (Tempyō 14) the emperor gave the order for the construction of the Daibutsu of the Shigaraki shrine , and was between September 30th and October 6th (8 / 27-9 / 4) and even from 29-31. January 743 d. H. over the New Year (12/29 – Tempyō 15/1/2) outside of Kuni-kyō in Shigaraki. Shōmus priorities now seemed to be there and so on January 15, 744 (Tempyō 15/12/26) with the completion of the audience hall, the construction of the other palace buildings in favor of the Shigaraki shrine was canceled. Shigaraki was also in the province of ,mi , which was controlled by the Fujiwara and these were strengthened again in 743 with the election of Fujiwara no Nakamaros as adviser ( sangi ).
On February 18 (Tempyō 16 / leap month 1/1) Shōmu let his officials vote on whether Kuni-kyō should continue to remain the capital or be abandoned in favor of Naniwa . The result was virtually a tie. 10 days later there was an imperial visit to Naniwa, a member of which was the possible Crown Prince Asaka ( 安 積 親王 , Asaka-shinnō ). On the way he fell ill with beriberi and returned to Kuni-kyō where he died two days later. Since he was the only living son of Shōmu, Princess Abe was then the undisputed heir to the throne, who should succeed him in 749 as Kōken -Tennō. This is also to be seen as a setback for Tachibana no Moroe, since Prince Asaka was favored by him and Princess Abe's mother, the Empress Kōmyō , was a Fujiwara. On April 7th (2/20) of the following month the throne was transported to Naniwa. Eventually, however, Tempyō 17/1/1, d. H. on February 6, 745, the capital officially moved to Shigaraki and Kuni-kyō evacuated.
Yamashiro Provincial Temple
The decree for the establishment of the provincial temples was issued at the time of Kuni-kyō. It is not known when the construction of the provincial temple for the province of Yamashiro began. After Kuni-kyō was left, shortly thereafter in 746 (Tempyō 18) the palace grounds were used as a provincial temple for Yamashiro and a previously used one was therefore given up. The former audience hall of the palace became the main hall ( kondō ) of the new provincial temple. Shortly afterwards, the seven-story pagoda and the shrine for the patron god of the temple grounds ( 境内 鎭 守 社 , keidai chinjū yashiro ), the Goryū shrine ( 御 霊 神社 , Goryū-jinja ), were built.
The main hall had a size from west to east and north to south of 275 × 330 meters, and the entire palace area was 560 × 750 meters.
Excavation and historical site
On July 1, 1957, the site was named the Ruins of the Provincial Temple of Yamashiro Historical Site ( 史跡 山城 国 分 寺 跡 , Shiseki Yamashiro kokubunji ato ).
The investigation of the palace grounds took place from 1973, the excavations began from 1974, lasted until 1996 and were carried out under the direction of the school authorities of the Kyoto prefecture. In 1976 the main hall / audience hall was located under an earth elevation behind the Kuni elementary school.
On February 6, 2007, the site was renamed Historic Site Kuni Palace Ruins (Ruins of the Provincial Temple of Yamashiro) ( 史跡 恭 仁 宮 跡 (山城 国 分 寺 跡) , Shiseki Kuni-kyūseki (Yamashiro kokubunji ato) ).
During the excavations, the large foundation stones of the main hall / audience hall and the seven-story pagoda, which today form the visible part of the historical site, were exposed.
effect
Although Kuni-kyō was only briefly the capital, it had a great influence on Japanese cultural history. Shōmu issued here on March 15, 741 (Tempyō 13/2/24) the decree for the establishment of the provincial temples ( 国 分 寺 ・ 国文 尼 寺 建立 の 詔 , Kokubunji Kokubunniji konryū no mikotonori ) and on November 5, 743 (Tempyō 15/10/15 ) the decree for the establishment of the Vairocana Buddha ( 盧 舎 那 仏 造 顕 の 詔 , Rushanabutsu zōken no mikotonori ) of the Tōdai-ji , which was the main temple of all provincial temples.
annotation
- ↑ The transfer took place according to the Japanese calendar on Tempyō 12/12/15. Tempyō 12 normally corresponds to the year 740. The 15th day of the 12th month of this year is actually January 6th, 741 (see NengoCalc according to Reinhard Zöllner : Japanische Zeitrechnung . Iudicium Verlag, Munich 2003).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c 恭 仁 京 . Retrieved December 2, 2008 (Japanese).
- ^ A b c John Whitney Hall, Delmer M. Brown, Kozo Yamamura: The Cambridge History of Japan . Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-521-22352-0 , pp. 251-252 .
- ↑ a b c d e 史跡 恭 仁 宮 跡 （山城 国 分 寺 跡） . (No longer available online.) City of Kizugawa, formerly the original ; Retrieved December 2, 2008 (Japanese). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f 聖 武天皇 ・ 恭 仁 京 跡 . 邪 馬 台 国 大 研究 , Retrieved December 2, 2008 (Japanese).
- ↑ a b 恭 仁 京 ２ . Retrieved December 2, 2008 (Japanese).
Web links
Coordinates: 34 ° 45 ′ 56 ″ N , 135 ° 51 ′ 46 ″ E