was the 45th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
Shōmu's reign spanned the years 724 through 749.
Traditional narrative
Before his ascension to the
Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (
imina) is not clearly known, but he was known as Oshi-hiraki Toyosakura-hiko-no-mikoto.
Shōmu was the son of Emperor Mommu and Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito.
Shōmu had four Empresses and six Imperial sons and daughters.
Events of Shōmu's reign
Shōmu was still a child at the time of his father's death; thus, Empresses Gemmei and Gensho occupied the throne before he acceded.
January 31, 724 (Jinki 1): The era name is changed to mark the accession of Emperor Shōmu.
Shōmu continued to reside in the Hezei Palace.
Shōmu is also known as the first emperor whose consort was not born into the imperial household. His consort Kōmyō was a non-royal Fujiwara commoner. A ritsuryo office was created for the queen-consort, the Kogogushiki; and this bureaucratic innovation continued into the Heian period.
724 (Jinki 1): Emperor Shōmu rises to throne.
743 (Tenpyō 15): The Emperor issues a rescript to build the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), later to be completed and placed in Tōdai-ji, Nara.
743 (Tenpyō 15): The law of Perpetual Ownership of Cultivated Lands (墾田永代私財法) issued
744 (
Tenpyō 16): In the Spring, the court was moved to
Naniwa-kyō which then became the new capital.
745 (Tenpyō 17): The Emperor declares by himself Shigaraki-kyō the capital
745 (Tenpyō 17): The capital returns to Heijō-kyō, construction of the Great Buddha resumes.
749 (
Tenpyō 21, 4th month): Shōme, accompanied by the empress, their children and all the great men and women of the court, went in procession to Todai-ji. The emperor stood before the statue of the Buddha and proclaimed himself to be a slave to the three precious precepts of the Buddhist religion, which are the Buddha, the Buddhist law, and the Buddhist church.
749 (
Tenpyō 21, 7th month): After a 25-year reign, Emperor Shōmu abdicates in favor of his daughter, Princess Takano-hime, who will become Empress Kōken. After his abdication, Shomu took the tonsure, thus becoming the first retired emperor to become a Buddhist priest.
Emperor Shōmu died at age 56. The tomb site can be visited today in Horenji-cho, Tenri City near Nara City. The Imperial tomb of Shōmu's consort, Empress Kōmyō, is located nearby.
Kugyō
is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the
Emperor of Japan in pre-
Meiji eras.
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 Shōmu's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:
Daijō-daijin (720-735), Toneri-shinnō (舎人親王) (9th son of Emperor Temmu).
Sadaijin (724-729), Nagaya-ō (長屋王) (son of Prince Takechi).
*
Jinki (724-729)
Tenpyō (729-749)
Tenpyō-kanpō (749)
Tenpyō-shōhō (749-757)
Consorts and Children
Empress: Fujiwara no Asukabe-hime (藤原安宿媛)(
Empress Kōmyō, 光明皇后) (701-760), daughter of
Fujiwara no Fuhito
Imperial Princess Abe (阿倍内親王) (Empress Kōken) (718-770)
Prince Motoi (基王) (727-728)
Bunin: Agatainukai no Hirotoji (県犬養広刀自) (?-762), daughter of Agatainukai no Morokoshi
Imperial Princess Inoe (井上内親王) (717-775), married to Prince Shirakabe(later Emperor Kōnin)
Imperial Princess Fuwa (不破内親王) (?-after 795), married to Prince Shioyaki (son of Prince Niitabe)
Imperial Prince Asaka (安積親王) (728-744)
Bunin: A daughter of Fujiwara no Muchimaro (?-748)
Bunin: A daughter of Fujiwara no Fusasaki (?-760)
Bunin: Tachibana-no-Hirooka no Konakachi (橘広岡古那可智) (?-759), daughter of Tachibana no Sai
See also
Emperor of Japan
List of Emperors of Japan
Imperial cult
Notes
— a stylized
chrysanthemum blossom]]
References
Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10-ISBN 0-520-03460-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
Piggott, Joan R. (19970. The Emergence of Japanese Kingship. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 10-ISBN0804728321/13-ISBN 9780804728324; OCLC 247691704
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-04940-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842
External links
Vairocana Buddha at the temple of Todaiji
Photographs of the mausolea of Empress Kōmyō and Emperor Shōmu
Category:Japanese emperors
Category:701 births
Category:756 deaths
Category:People of Asuka period Japan
Category:People of Nara period Japan
Category:8th-century monarchs in Asia
![Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Tōdai-ji?, Eastern Great Temple),[1] is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world,[2] houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana,[2] known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as](http://web.archive.org./web/20110501075720im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/1a/29/24aae31f08e58d5f728aa16267fc_grande.jpg "Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Tōdai-ji?, Eastern Great Temple),[1] is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world,[2] houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana,[2] known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as")
![Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Tōdai-ji?, Eastern Great Temple),[1] is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world,[2] houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana,[2] known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as](http://web.archive.org./web/20110501075720im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/1a/29/24aae31f08e58d5f728aa16267fc_thumb.jpg "Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Tōdai-ji?, Eastern Great Temple),[1] is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world,[2] houses the world's largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana,[2] known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as")
