Emperor Gensho

Japanese: 元正天皇 - げんしょうてんのう

Year of death: April 21, 748 (May 22, 748)
Year of birth: Tenmu 9 (680)
An empress in the early Nara period. She reigned from September 715 (Reiki 1) to February 724 (Jinki 1). Her name was Princess Hidaka. She was the eldest daughter of Emperor Tenmu's Crown Prince Prince Kusakabe and Emperor Genmei. In 714 (Wado 7), she was given the rank of second rank and was awarded a stipend of 1,000 households, and in January of the following year, she was promoted to first rank. In September, she ascended to the throne at the age of 36 after her mother abdicated. At the time, the future Emperor Shomu was 15 years old but was still considered a child, while Hidaka was a calm and thoughtful person who said she ascended to the throne to protect the country. During the first half of her reign, her mother and Fujiwara no Fuhito were in charge of government, and after their deaths, Prince Nagaya was in charge. As Ritsuryo rule got on track and its contradictions quickly became apparent, various policies were put in place, including the establishment of local administrative organizations such as the division of provinces and counties and the implementation of the hometown system, the strengthening of document administration such as censuses, measures to deal with vagrants and privately-ordained monks, the selection of the Yoro Code, the completion of the Nihon Shoki, and land-related policies such as the plan to cultivate one million cho of fertile land in 722 and the promulgation of the Sansei Isshin Law the following year. In 721, she abdicated to Shomu, becoming a retired emperor. In the summer of 723, she fell seriously ill but recovered. In 729, her younger sister, Princess Kibi, and her husband, Prince Nagaya, committed suicide after being falsely accused, and Komyo was enthroned as Empress, but her position in this and in the subsequent political changes is unclear. However, when Shomu abandoned Heijyo and moved the capital from one place to another following the Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion (740), there was a period when the location of imperial authority was divided between Shomu in Shigaraki, and Gensho and Tachibana Moroe in Naniwa, and in 742 Crown Prince Abe confirmed his position by dancing the Gosetsu dance in front of Gensho, so she maintained her position as the respected head of the imperial family. She fell ill at the end of 744 and died the following year. She was buried in Saho, the same place as her mother. Her name appears on a wooden tablet unearthed at the site of "Nagaya Okyu," and her connection to this mansion is of interest.

(Yukiko Nishino)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天平20.4.21(748.5.22)
生年：天武9(680)
奈良時代前期の女帝。在位は霊亀1(715)年9月から神亀1(724)年2月。名前は氷高皇女。天武天皇皇太子草壁皇子と元明天皇の長女。和銅7(714)年二品で食封1000戸を与えられ,翌8年1月一品。9月母の譲位を受け36歳で即位。このとき,のちの聖武天皇は15歳であるが未だ幼稚とされ,一方氷高は落ち着いた考え深い人柄であり,社稷保持のために即位するとしている。その治世前半は母上皇と藤原不比等,ふたりの死後は長屋王が政権を担当。律令支配が軌道にのりその矛盾が早くも表面化するなかで,国郡分割・郷里制施行など地方行政組織の整備,計帳他文書行政の充実,浮浪人・私度僧対策,養老律令選定,『日本書紀』の完成,さらに土地対策として養老6(722)年良田百万町歩開墾計画と翌年三世一身法発布などの政策が打ち出された。神亀1年聖武に譲位,太上天皇となる。3年夏大病となるが回復。天平1(729)年には妹吉備内親王とその夫長屋王が誣告により自殺し光明立后が実現するが,これに関して,またその後の政治の変動についても彼女の立場は不明である。しかし藤原広嗣の乱(740)を契機に聖武が平城をすて転々と遷都した際,一時紫香楽の聖武,難波の元正・橘諸兄と皇権の所在が分裂した時期があり,また天平15年には皇太子阿倍が元正の前で五節舞を舞うことでその地位を確かにするなど,天皇家の尊長としての立場を保っていた。19年暮れに発病,翌年死去。母と同じ佐保に埋葬される。「長屋王邱」跡から出土した木簡に彼女の名があり,この屋敷との関係が注目される。

(西野悠紀子)

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