Ōjin

Ōjin-tennō, drawing from 1908

Ōjin ( Japanese 応 神 天皇 , Ōjin-tennō ; * January 5, 200 ( traditionally : Chūai 9/12/14); † March 31, 310 (Ōjin 41/2/15)) was the 15th Tennō of Japan (270 -310) according to Nihonshoki and Kojiki . In the annals he is also referred to as Ho (mu / n) (d / t) awake no Mikoto ( 誉 田 別 尊 ). According to these history books, his father was Emperor Chūai, whose historical existence historians deny, and his mother Jingū .

Its own historical existence is also problematic. Some see him as the oldest historical person on the list of Japanese emperors, others see him as a mythical person. Those who consider it historical think that in truth it probably ruled in the early 5th century, not the late 3rd century as traditionally believed. The argument here is that the dates of the Japanese chronicles written in the 8th century were set too early by two full 60-year cycles .

He is also identified with the Japanese King San ( Chinese  讃 ) of the 5th century from the Chinese historical works Song Shu and Liang Shu .

The first mention of an imperial palace in Naniwa ( Osaka ) occurs during his reign; such a palace can only be documented under his son and successor.

With regard to his ancestry - based on Korean sources, which are just as unreliable as the Japanese empire histories - the assumption has been made that he was a king's son from Baekje . Jingū, his young mother, got rid of her husband, then went on a campaign through Korea to finally conquer the nearby country of Wa (Japan). So that the son - and future rulers - is not born too early, she is said to have delayed his birth by introducing stones until she had reached Wa , together with her loyal chancellor. According to Japanese sources, on the other hand, Jingū undertook a campaign against Korea from Japan and gave birth to him (Japanese umu ) on her return from Korea in Umi .

His spirit is considered to be manifest in the war god Hachiman , even though his reign was extremely peaceful. One of the largest keyhole-shaped Kofun burial mounds in Habikino ( Osaka Prefecture ) is the Ōjin-ryō ( 応 神 陵 ). This kofun has not yet been excavated.

literature

• Chizuko T. Allen: Empress Jingū: a shamaness ruler in early Japan. In: Japan Forum. Vol. 15, No. 1, 2003, ISSN  0955-5803 , pp. 81-98, doi: 10.1080 / 0955580032000077748 , (to the mother).
• Jon Carter Covell, Alan Covell: Japan's Hidden History. Korean Impact on Japanese Culture. Hollym International, Elisabeth NJ 1984, ISBN 0-930878-34-5 .
• Ferdinand Adalbert Junker von Langegg: Midzuho-gusa. = Ears of rice bringing blessings. National novel and accounts from Japan. 3 volumes. Breitkopf and Härtel, Leipzig 1880, (unreflected German rendering of the legendary Japanese sources).
• Boleslaw Szczesniak: Some Revisions of the Ancient Japanese Chronology Ojin Tenno Period. In: Monumenta Nipponica . Vol. 8, No. 1/2, 1952, pp. 1-14.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Yoshi S. Kuno: Japanese Expansion on the Asiatic Continent. A Study in the History of Japan with special Reference to her international Relations with China, Korea and Russia . Volume I. University of California Press, Berkeley 1937, p. 212–214 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ↑ Christopher Seeley: A History of Writing in Japan (=  Brill's Japanese Studies Library . Volume 3 ). EJ Brill, Leiden et al. 1990, ISBN 90-04-09081-9 , pp. 6 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
3. ↑ Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō , p. 255 f.
4. ↑ Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki , pp. 17, 103-110.

predecessor	Office	successor
Chuai	Tennō 270-310	Nintoku