Kenreimon-in Temple

Japanese: 建礼門院 - けんれいもんいん

Year of death: 12/13/1214 (1/25/1214)
Year of birth: 1155
A female emperor at the end of the Heian period. Empress of Emperor Takakura. Mother of Emperor Antoku. Her name was Tokuko. Daughter of the Grand Minister of State, Taira no Kiyomori, and Junior Second Rank, Taira no Tokiko. Her siblings with the same mother were Munemori, Tomomori, and Shigehira. As part of her father's expansion of political power and his imperial court policy, on December 26, 1171, she became Emperor Takakura's consort as the adopted son of Emperor Goshirakawa. On February 10 the following year, she became Empress. In 1178, a prince (Emperor Antoku) was born, and in the fourth year, when the prince ascended to the throne, she became the mother of the nation. On January 14 the following year, 1181, when Emperor Takakura died, her father Kiyomori planned to have Tokuko enter the Imperial Court of Emperor Goshirakawa, but was forced to give up after Tokuko's strong protests. On November 25, she was given the title of Empress. In July 1183, when Minamoto no Yoshinaka entered Kyoto, she supported Emperor Antoku as he marched westward with the Taira clan. On March 24, 1185, when her clan was annihilated at Dannoura, she was rescued and returned to Kyoto, where she shaved her head. She was given the posthumous Buddhist name Shinnyokaku. That autumn she moved to Jakkoin in Ohara, where she prayed for the salvation of her clan. The following year, Emperor Goshirakawa visited the Empress, and the story is recorded in the tale collection Kankyotomo (1222), but is more famous in the "Ohara Goko" chapter of the Tale of the Heike, in which the Empress travels through the six realms while living a life of many ups and downs. However, there are also variant versions of the Tale of the Heike that hint at incest, and along with the glory and downfall of a noble woman, there are also legends of a tainted saint. In the third year of Bun'ei, the Kamakura shogunate bestowed upon her the manors of Mai and Shimaya in Settsu Province, formerly the territory of Taira no Munemori. The year of the Empress's death is recorded in various ways in the Tale of the Heike and other records. Among them, one version of "The Tale of the Heike" summarizes the latter half of the Empress's life in the "Kanjo-maki" chapter, and concludes the whole series with her passing away, with the significance of the appeasement of her family. "Kenreimon-in Ukyo-no-dayu-shu" lovingly depicts the glories and sorrows of the Empress's life.

(Yoko Sakurai)

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

Japanese:

没年：建保1.12.13(1214.1.25)
生年：久寿2(1155)
平安末期の女院。高倉天皇の中宮。安徳天皇の母。名は徳子。太政大臣平清盛と従二位平時子の娘。同母兄弟に宗盛,知盛,重衡らがいる。父の政治権力の拡大,後宮政策の一環として承安1(1171)年12月26日,後白河法皇の猶子として高倉天皇の女御となる。翌年2月10日中宮。治承2(1178)年皇子(安徳天皇)誕生,4年皇子の即位により国母となる。翌養和1(1181)年1月14日高倉上皇崩御のとき,父清盛が徳子の後白河法皇入内を企むが,徳子の強い抗議にあって断念。11月25日院号宣下。寿永2(1183)年7月源義仲の入京,平家西走に安徳天皇を擁して従う。文治1(1185)年3月24日壇の浦での一門滅亡時に入水するが助けられて京都に戻り剃髪。法名真如覚。その秋に大原寂光院に移り,一門の菩提を祈る。翌年後白河法皇が女院を訪れるくだりは,説話集『閑居友』(1222)にも記事があるが『平家物語』「大原御幸」が有名で,女院は変転激しい人生を生きながら六道を経廻したと語る。が,近親相姦などを匂わせる『平家物語』の異本もあり,高貴な女性の栄光と転落とともに,汚れた聖女の伝承もまつわる。鎌倉幕府は文治3年,平宗盛旧領の摂津国真井・嶋屋両庄を贈った。女院の没年は『平家物語』や諸記録に様々に記される。なかでも一方系『平家物語』では「灌頂巻」として女院の後半生をまとめ,女院の往生をもって全巻の終焉として,一門鎮魂の意義をもたせている。『建礼門院右京大夫集』には女院の人生の栄華と悲哀が惻々と描かれる。

(櫻井陽子)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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