Empress Meishō

Meishō
Empress of Japan
Reign	December 22, 1629 – November 14, 1643
Predecessor	Go-Mizunoo
Successor	Kōmyō
Born	January 9, 1624
Died	December 4, 1696 (aged 72)
Burial	Tsukinowa no misasagi (Kyoto)
Father	Emperor Go-Mizunoo
Mother	Tokugawa Masako

Empress Meishō (明正天皇, Meishō-tennō, January 9, 1624 – December 4, 1696) was the 109th Imperial ruler of Japan,^[1] according to the traditional order of succession.^[2] Her reign lasted from 1629 to 1643.^[3]

In the history of Japan, Meishō was the seventh of eight women to become empress regnant. The six who reigned before her were (a) Suiko, (b) Kōgyoku/Saimei, (c) Jitō, (d) Genmei, (e) Genshō, and (f) Kōken/Shōtoku. Her sole female successor was Go-Sakuramachi.

Genealogy

Before Meishō's accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne, her personal name (her imina) was Oki-ko (興子);^[4] and her pre-accession title was Onna-Ichi-no-miya (女一宮). She was the second daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Her mother was Tokugawa Masako, daughter of the second Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Hidetada and his wife Oeyo.^[5][6] Hidetada was the son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and his consort, Oai.^[7]

Meishō lived within the Inner Apartments of the Heian Palace, as opposed to the section reserved for the women of the Imperial Court. She had no children of her own. Her name was derived by combining the names of two previous empresses, Empress Genmei (707–715) and her daughter Empress Genshō (715–724).

Events of Meishō's life

Okiko-naishinnō became empress following the abdication of her father. The succession (senso) was considered to have been received by the new monarch; and shortly thereafter, Empress Meishō is said to have acceded (sokui).^[8][9] The events during her lifetime shed some light on her reign. The years of Meishō's reign correspond with the development and growth of the Tokugawa shogunate under the leadership of Tokugawa Iemitsu.

• January 9, 1624: The birth of an Imperial princess who will become known by the posthumous name of Empress Meishō.^[10]
• 1627 (Kan'ei 6): The "Purple Robe Incident" (紫衣事件, shi-e jiken): Emperor Go-Mizunoo was accused of having bestowed honorific purple garments to more than ten priests despite the shogun's edict which banned them for two years (probably in order to break the bond between the Emperor and religious circles). The shogunate intervened and invalidated the bestowal of the garments.
• December 22, 1629 (Kan'ei 6, 8th day of the 11th month): The emperor renounced the throne in favor of his daughter.^[11] The reign of the new empress was understood to have begun.^[10] She was aged 5; and she would grow to become the first woman to occupy the throne since Empress Shōtoku, the 48th sovereign who died in 770.^[2]
• 1632 (Kan'ei 9, 24th day of the 1st month): Former Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada died.^[11]
• 1633 (Kan'ei 10, 20th day of the 1st month): Earthquake in Odawara in Sagami province.^[11]
• 1634 (Kanei 11): Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu visited Miyako;^[11] and it is believed that Meishō's father actually ruled in her name until she abdicated in favor of her younger half-brother.^[2]
• 1635 (Kanei 12): An ambassador from King Injo of Korea is received in Miyako.^[11]
• 1637 (Kanei 14): A major Christian rebellion occurs in Arima and Shimabara; and shogunal forces are sent to quell the disturbance.^[11]
• 1638 (Kanei 15): The Arima and Shimabara revolt is crushed; and 37,000 of the rebels are killed. The Christian religion is extirpated in Japan.^[11]
• 1640 (Kanei 17): A Spanish ship from Macau brought a delegation of 61 people to Nagasaki. They arrived on July 6, 1640; and on August 9, all of them were decapitated and their heads were stuck on poles.^[11]
• 1641 (Kanei 18): Meishō's half brother, Prince Tsuguhito, was named Crown Prince.^[2]
• 1643 (Kanei 203): An ambassador from the King of Korea arrived in Japan.^[12]
• November 14, 1643 (Kanei 20', 29th day of the 9th month): In the 15th year of Meishō - tennō 's reign (明正天皇15年), the empress abdicated;^[10] and the succession (senso) was received by her brother.^[12]
• 1643 (Kanei 20, 23rd day of the 4th month): Emperor Go-Kōmyō is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui).^[12]

Empress Meishō reigned for fifteen years. Although there were seven other reigning empresses, their successors were most often selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline, which is why some conservative scholars argue that the women's reigns were temporary and that male-only succession tradition must be maintained in the 21st century.^[13] Empress Gemmei, who was followed on the throne by her daughter, Empress Gensho, remains the sole exception to this conventional argument.

• December 4, 1696: The former empress died at age 74.^[10]

The kami of this empress is venerated in the imperial mausoleum at Tsuki no wa no misasagi, which is located at Sennyū-ji in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Also enshrined is her father, Emperor Go-Mizunoo and her immediate Imperial successors – Go-Kōmyō, Go-Sai, Reigen, Higashiyama, Nakamikado, Sakuramachi, Momozono, Go-Sakuramachi and Go-Momozono.^[14]

Kugyō

Kugyō (公卿) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Meishō's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

• Sesshō, Ichijō Akiyoshi, 1629–1635
• Sesshō, Nijō Yasumichi, 1635–1647
• Sadaijin
• Udaijin
• Naidaijin
• Dainagon

Era of Meishō's reign

The years of Meishō's reign are encompassed within one era name or nengō.^[11]

• Kan'ei (1624–1644)

References

Sources

• Kobayashi, Sadayoshi; Makino, Noboru (1994). 西郷氏興亡全史 [Complete History of the Rise and Fall of the Saigo Clan] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Rekishi Chosakenkyu-jo. 
• Meyer, Eva-Maria (1999). Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867, Münster: LIT Verlag; ISBN 3-8258-3939-7/ISBN 978-3-8258-3939-0
  Japans Kaiserhof in der Edo-Zeit: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867; OCLC 42041594
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society; OCLC 194887
  The Imperial House of Japan; OCLC 194887
• Titsingh, Isaac (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran Annales des empereurs du Japon pp. 411–412, Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
• Varley, H. Paul (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns, New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4/ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5

See also

• Emperor of Japan
• List of Emperors of Japan
• Imperial cult
• Japanese empresses

Japanese monarchs
Italics mark imperial consort and regent Jingū, who is not traditionally listed. Years given as CE / AD
Legendary	Jimmu Suizei Annei Itoku Kōshō Kōan Kōrei Kōgen Kaika Sujin Suinin Keikō Seimu Chūai Jingū
Kofun	Ōjin Nintoku Richū Hanzei Ingyō Ankō Yūryaku Seinei Kenzō Ninken Buretsu Keitai Ankan Senka
Asuka	552–710 Kinmei Bidatsu Yōmei Sushun Suiko Jomei Kōgyoku Kōtoku Saimei Tenji Kōbun Tenmu Jitō Monmu Genmei
Nara	710–794 Genmei Genshō Shōmu Kōken Junnin Shōtoku Kōnin Kanmu
Heian	794–1185 Kanmu Heizei Saga Junna Ninmyō Montoku Seiwa Yōzei Kōkō Uda Daigo Suzaku Murakami Reizei En'yū Kazan Ichijō Sanjō Go-Ichijō Go-Suzaku Go-Reizei Go-Sanjō Shirakawa Horikawa Toba Sutoku Konoe Go-Shirakawa Nijō Rokujō Takakura Antoku Go-Toba
Kamakura	1185–1333 Tsuchimikado Juntoku Chūkyō Go-Horikawa Shijō Go-Saga Go-Fukakusa Kameyama Go-Uda Fushimi Go-Fushimi Go-Nijō Hanazono Go-Daigo
Northern Court	1333–1392 Kōgon Kōmyō Sukō Go-Kōgon Go-En'yū Go-Komatsu
Muromachi	1333–1573 Go-Murakami Chōkei Go-Kameyama Go-Komatsu Shōkō Go-Hanazono Go-Tsuchimikado Go-Kashiwabara Go-Nara Ōgimachi
Azuchi-Momoyama	1573–1603 Ōgimachi Go-Yōzei
Edo	1603–1868 Go-Yōzei Go-Mizunoo Meishō Go-Kōmyō Go-Sai Reigen Higashiyama Nakamikado Sakuramachi Momozono Go-Sakuramachi Go-Momozono Kōkaku Ninkō Kōmei Meiji
Empire of Japan	1868–1945 Meiji Taishō Shōwa
Postwar Japan	1945–present Shōwa Akihito
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