Emperor Yūryaku

Template:Infobox royalty

Template:Nihongo (417/18 – 479) was the 21st Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.<ref name="Titsingh">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="kunaicho">Template:Cite web</ref> According to the Kojiki, this Emperor is said to have ruled from the Thirteenth Day of the Eleventh Month of 456 (Heishin) until his death on the Seventh Day of the Eight Month of 479 (Kibi). He is the first archaeologically verifiable Japanese emperor.<ref name="Yuryakuex">Template:Cite book</ref>

Protohistoric narrative

The Japanese have traditionally accepted this sovereign's historical existence, and a mausoleum (misasagi) for Yūryaku is currently maintained. The following information available is taken from the pseudo-historical Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, which are collectively known as Template:Nihongo or Japanese chronicles. These chronicles include legends and myths, as well as potential historical facts that have since been exaggerated and/or distorted over time. It is recorded in the Kiki that Yūryaku was born to Template:Nihongo sometime in 417 or 418 AD, and was given the name Template:Nihongo.<ref name="Longford"/><ref name="Fane.M"/><ref name="Aston1">Template:Cite web</ref> As the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Ingyō he was never given the title of "Crown Prince" due to his two older living brothers.Template:Efn

Ascension

Ōhatsuse was thrown into a fit of rage when he learned that his brother Emperor Ankō was assassinated in 456 AD.<ref name="Aston1"/> He then immediately became suspicious of his two elder brothers as conspirers. Ōhatsuse's first action was to question Prince Shirahiko regarding what could have happened. Shirahiko allegedly knew Ōhatsuse was up to no good, so he sat silentlyTemplate:Efn which prompted Ōhatsuse to kill him both individually with a sword.<ref name="Aston1"/> He then turned his rage towards the boy assassin Template:Ill (Prince Mayowa), and his other brother Kurohiko by burning him to death.<ref name="Aston1"/> This just left Emperor Richū's eldest son Prince Ichinobe no Oshiwa in contention for the throne.

Ōhatsuse was resentful that Ankō had formally wished to transfer the kingdom to Ichinobe. Both the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki describe how Ōhatsuse took Prince Ichinobe and his younger brother Prince Mima out hunting and "treacherously" killed them.<ref name="Aston1"/><ref name="Kojikibrothers2">Template:Cite web</ref> The sons of Prince Ichinobe fled to Harima and went into hiding, later becoming Emperor Kenzō and Emperor Ninken. Ōhatsuse (later known as Emperor Yūryaku) was then enthroned sometime afterwards in November 456.<ref name="Aston1"/> The new emperor subsequently made Asakura no Miya at Sakurai, Nara the location of his imperial palace.<ref name="Brown"/><ref name="koch">Template:Cite book</ref> Emperor Richū's widow Kusaka no Hatabi no hime was appointed Empress with three concubines in March 457.<ref name="Aston1"/>

Reign

According to the Kiki, Emperor Yūryaku's reign was full of tyranny and cruelty. He allegedly ordered a girl to "have her four limbs stretched on a tree and be roasted to death" due to misplaced affection. Another account states that he killed one of his servants during a hunt because his servant did not understand how to cut up animal meat. Yūryaku also allegedly removed a high official to a distant post so he could help himself to the man's wife.<ref name="Brinkley">Template:Cite book</ref> The Emperor arbitrary and capriciously killed so many men and women that he was referred to as Emperor of Great Wickedness by the public.<ref name="Fane1"/><ref name="Brinkley"/> However, it is noted that Yūryaku improved his behavior after being admonished by the empress.<ref name="NIJL2024">Template:Cite web</ref> On a more positive side, Yūryaku greatly encouraged agriculture during his reign and had his consort plant mulberry trees and cultivate silkworms.<ref name="Fane1"/><ref name="Brinkley"/> The Emperor was also known as a poet, and someone who enjoyed arts and crafts as expert handicraftsmen were commissioned from Baekje (Korea).<ref name="Brinkley"/><ref name="EYPoet">Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai (1969). The Manyōshū, p. 317.</ref> While the Empress herself never bore Yūryaku any children, he had three sons and two daughters with his concubines.<ref name="Fane1"/><ref name="Aston1"/>

In the 22nd year of his reign (477 AD) Yūryaku moved a shrine dedicated to Toyouke-hime from Tanba to Ise (modern day Ise, Mie).<ref name="Fane1"/>Template:Efn This newly founded shrine named Template:Nihongo is now a part of the Ise Shrine complex. According to "Template:Nihongo" (written in 884 AD), the goddess Toyouke originally came from Tamba.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It records that Emperor Yūryaku was told by Amaterasu in his dream that she alone was not able to supply enough food, so that Yūryaku needed to bring Template:Nihongo, or the goddess of divine meals, from Hijino Manai in ancient Tanba Province.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Yūryaku appointed his son Template:Nihongo as heir apparent in 478 AD before dying in the following year.<ref name="Aston1"/> The Nihon Shoki mentions that Yūryaku lived to be 104, while the Kojiki gives his age as 124.<ref name="Brown"/><ref name="Kojikiage"/> His son Shiraka was later enthroned as Emperor Seinei in 480 AD.

Folklore

In Shinto folklore, events during Yūryaku's reign include meeting the Kami "Hitokotonushi" while hunting on Mount Katsuraki in 460 AD. The Kami appeared to him as a tall man whose face and demeanor resembled the Emperor's. After introductions Hitokotonushi joined Yūryaku as the two hunted deer until sunset. He then escorted the Emperor "as far as the waters of Kume."<ref name="AstonHito"">Template:Cite web</ref> Another encounter with a Kami occurred in 463 AD through an invitation to the thunder god of Template:Nihongo to the Imperial Palace.<ref name="AstonMimuro"">Template:Cite web</ref> The Emperor sent his royal messenger Chiisakobe no muraji Sugaru ,who carried a halberd with a red banner that symbolized his authority. Sugaru enlisted the help of priests to enshrine the kami into a portable carriage, to be brought in the Emperor's presence, as a great serpent.<ref name="AstonMimuro""/> Things took a turn for the worse as Yūryaku had neglected beforehand to practice proper ritual purification and religious abstinence. The thunder kami showed his displeasure through a thundering menacing appearance which caused the Emperor to flee into the interior of his palace.<ref name="AstonMimuro""/> The great serpent was returned to Mimuro, and the Emperor made many offerings to appease the angry deity.<ref name="AstonMimuro""/>Template:Efn

Historical assessment

Yūryaku is regarded by historians as a ruler during the 5th century whose existence is generally accepted as fact.<ref name="Yuryakuex"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Scholar Francis Brinkley lists Emperor Yūryaku under "Protohistoric sovereigns" where he remarks that while some historians have described him as an "austere" man, "few readers of his annals will be disposed to endure such a lenient verdict."<ref name="Brinkley"/> He also added that the year 475 AD marks the first "absolute agreement between the dates given in Japanese history and those given in Korean...."<ref name="Brinkley"/> This in turn has caused critics to admit the trustworthiness of Japanese history in the late 5th century.<ref name="Brinkley"/> Scottish Orientalist scholar and journalist James Murdoch regards Yūryaku as a "much maligned person who was a strong if somewhat ferocious ruler."<ref name="Fane1"/> British academic and author Richard Ponsonby-Fane noted that the Emperor is described as a "mighty hunter" as its recorded that the God "Hitokotonushi" accompanied him in the chase.<ref name="Fane1"/>

The Emperor's interest in poetry is amongst the more well-documented aspects of his character and reign. Poems attributed to him are included in the Man'yōshū, and a number of his verses are preserved in the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki.<ref name="EYPoet"/> Archaeological research has also confirmed that large keyhole-shaped tombs belonging to the chiefs of local ruling families disappeared from around the end of the 5th century when Yūryaku reigned.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A modern-day cognitive analysis "as deciphered in the Nihon shoki" was conducted in 2024 by the National Institute of Japanese Literature. In this analysis Emperor Yūryaku was included as an example of "impulsive murder and the tendency to become enraged." Factors such as "the disproportion between the triggering events", "the violence expressed by the emperor on such occasions (quite extreme in degree)", and the "frequent occurrence of such descriptions" were then considered for a conclusion. It is suggested that Emperor Yūryaku may have had an "intermittent explosive disorder, a type of Impulse-control disorder."<ref name="NIJL2024"/>

Outside of the Kiki, the reign of Emperor Kinmei Template:Efn (Template:Circa – 571 AD) is the first for which contemporary historiography has been able to assign verifiable dates.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The conventionally accepted names and dates of the early Emperors were not confirmed as "traditional" though, until the reign of Emperor Kanmu Template:Efn between 737 and 806 AD.<ref name="aston109 & 217-223"/>

Great King of Yamato

File:Inariyama sword.JPG

Inariyama Sword

During this moment in history, the calendar system of the Nihon Shoki changes from before and after Yūryaku's reign. As his name is mentioned at the beginning of the Man'yōshū and Nihon Ryōiki, this is seen as a historical turning point.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Previously the Japanese archipelago had been a confederation of powerful ruling families from various regions. This appeared to have changed with the appearance of Emperor Yuryaku as the autocratic rule of the Great King was established and a centralized system centered on the Great King began.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This is further supported by a major discovery that occurred in 1968 when the iron Inariyama burial-mound sword was extracted from a tomb. In 1978, X-ray analysis revealed a gold-inlaid inscription that comprises at least 115 Chinese characters. The given year on the sword is denoted as "xin-hai" ("Year of the Metal Pig") according to the Chinese sexagenary cycle, in which the name of the year is recycled every 60 years. While this year is generally regarded in Japan to correspond to 471 AD, at least one historian suggests that 531 is a more likely date.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The person buried in the tomb is given the name "Wowake", who was thought to be an influential warrior in the region. King Waka Takiru in the transcription is thought to be the same person as Ōhatsuse-wakatakeru-no-mikoto as mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, an alias of Emperor Yūryaku.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As each inscription contains the name of an official position, this suggests that a system similar to the Bemin was already in place.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> While the Eta Funayama Sword also apparently mentions the name "Waka Takiru", many characters on that sword are illegible possibly due to polishing by a Japanese sword sharpener at the end of the Taisho period.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> If Yūryaku's name can be corroborated to this sword then it can be interpreted that the power of the Great King had already extended from Kyushu to Togoku by the latter half of the 5th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

There is no evidence to suggest that the title tennō (meaning "emperor") was used during the time to which Yūryaku's reign has been assigned. Instead, his title could have possibly been Template:Nihongo, meaning "the great king who rules all under heaven", or Template:Nihongo2 "Great King of Yamato". The name Yūryaku-tennō was more than likely assigned to him posthumously by later generations.<ref name="name">Template:Cite book</ref> His name might have been regularized centuries after the lifetime ascribed to Yūryaku, possibly during the time in which legends about the origins of the imperial dynasty were compiled as the chronicles known today as the Kojiki.<ref name="aston109 & 217-223">Template:Cite book</ref>

King Bu

File:History of Korea-476.PNG

Goguryeo in 476 AD

It's theorized that Emperor Yūryaku may be synonymous with King Bu (武) as written in the Chinese records. According to the Book of Song, Bu dispatched envoys to Emperor Shun of Song (a Southern Chinese dynasty) in both 477 and 478 AD. The first envoy was to inform the Chinese emperor that King Kō (Emperor Ankō) had died, and his older brother had become king.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is written that he called himself "King of Wa", and the military commander of several different Kingdoms.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Its written that in the following year Emperor Shun appointed Bu the title of Grand Peacekeeper-General of the East. The full context of this latter passage describes how Bu's ancestors conquered countries, and expanded their power to the east and west. It describes how they crossed the sea to the north and reached the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Although the kings of Wa repeatedly requested that the Emperors of the Song dynasty recognize their military control over Baekje, their efforts were denied. The reason for this is thought to be that the Song dynasty placed importance on Baekje, which was located in a strategically important area. By not offering recognition the Song Emperors could put the Northern Wei in check, and avoid opposition from Goguryeo which was in conflict with Wa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Scholar Francis Brinkley notes that the power of the Koma clan (supported by the Liu Song dynasty) in Goguryeo increased steadily during this time. Brinkley suggests that Emperor Yūryaku's attempts to establish close relations with the Chinese Emperor seem to be from a desire to isolate Korea, which ended in failure.<ref name="Brinkley"/>

The other two recorded instances regarding King Bu are mentioned in the books of Qi, and Liang. As compared to the former mention in 478 AD, these are not considered to be reliable.<ref name="Kawachi">Template:Cite book</ref> Japanese historian Mori Kimiaki points out that both of these appointments coincide with the founding year of their respective dynasties. This is thought to be an administrative matter, and it is not clear whether King Bu (Yūryaku) himself requested it or not.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There is at least 1 theory that supports the envoy being sent to Southern Qi in 479 as being factual. This is solely based though, on the description in the title of Template:Nihongo included in Template:Nihongo.<ref name="Kawachi"/> The fourth and final appointment allegedly made by King Bu (Yūryaku) falls outside of his recorded lifetime. As the Kiki states that Emperor Yūryaku died in 479, the last given year of 502 AD would be implausible.

Gravesite

While the actual site of Yūryaku's grave is not known, this regent is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine (misasagi) in Habikino, Osaka. As designated by the Imperial Household Agency as Yūryaku's mausoleum, its formal name is Tajihi no Takawashi-no-hara no misasagi.<ref name="kunaicho"/> Aside from this shrine in Osaka, there is another burial site named Template:Nihongo where Yūryaku is a possible burial candidate. Those in doubt of this theory though, point to the construction style of the Kofun which may have begun several decades after Emperor Yūryaku's death. This has led some researchers to add Emperor Ankan as a burial candidate for the Kofun.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Yūryaku is also enshrined at the Imperial Palace along with other emperors and members of the Imperial Family at the Three Palace Sanctuaries. He is additionally deified at the Template:Nihongo in Gose, Nara.

Consorts and children

Spouse/Concubine

Position	Name	Father	Issue<ref name=descent/>
Empress (Kōgō)	Template:Nihongo	Emperor Nintoku	None
Consort (Hi)	Template:Nihongo<ref name="Aston2familyinfo"/>	Katsuragi no Tsubura no Ōmi	Template:Template:Nihongo Template:Template:Nihongo
Consort (Hi)	Template:Nihongo<ref name="Aston2familyinfo"/>	Kibi no Kamitsumichi no Ōmi<ref name="Aston2familyinfo"/>	Template:Template:Nihongo Template:Template:Nihongo
Consort (Hi)	Template:Nihongo<ref name="Aston2familyinfo"/>	Kasuga no Wani no Ōmi Fukame	Template:*Template:Nihongo

Issue

Status	Name<ref name=descent/>	Comments
Prince	Template:Nihongo	Shiraka became the next Emperor (Seinei).
Princess	Template:Nihongo	Also known as "Waka-tarashi-hime", she "attended to the sacrifices of the Great Deity of Ise" (Amaterasu).<ref name="Aston2familyinfo"/> Taku was also a Saiō princess and died sometime in 459 AD.
Prince	Template:Nihongo	Iwaki died sometime between 479 and 481 AD.
Prince	Template:Nihongo	Wakamiya died sometime in 479 AD.
Princess	Template:Nihongo	Ōiratsume was later married to Emperor Ninken.

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Nihon Shoki Online English Translations. Scroll 14 - Emperor Yuryaku

Template:S-start Template:S-reg Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-end

Template:Emperors of Japan

Template:Authority control