Empress Jingu

A legendary figure who appears in the Kojiki, Nihon shoki, Fudoki, and other texts. According to the Nihon shoki, she was the Empress of Emperor Chuai, and her name was Okinagatarashihime no Mikoto. Her father was Okinaga no Sukune no Okimi, the great-grandson of Emperor Kaika, and her mother was Katsuragi no Takanukahime. According to the Kojiki, her father was the great-great-grandson of Emperor Kaika, and her mother was the 5th-generation granddaughter of Ame no Hiboko, a prince of the Silla Kingdom. When Emperor Chuai came to Kashihinomiya in Tsukushi (Kashii Shrine, located in Kashii-cho, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City) to defeat the Kumaso, Amaterasu Omikami and the three Sumiyoshi gods possessed the Empress and gave her a prophecy, but Chuai did not believe it and died suddenly. Jingō then attacked Silla despite being in her last month of pregnancy, and after returning to Japan, she gave birth to the future Emperor Ojin at Umi in Tsukushi. She then returned to Yamato, put down a rebellion by the two kings Kagosaka and Oshikuma, and ruled the country for 69 years until Ojin ascended to the throne. The Chronicles contain many more articles relating to Japan and Korea, and some of them can be considered historical fact if the 120-year period of the Chinese zodiac is lowered. In addition, the Gishi and the Shinjo Kijuchu are quoted in four places, leaving no doubt that the editor identified Jingu with the Queen of Wa (Himiko).

This legend is thought to have been amalgamated from a tale of the invasion of the Korean Peninsula that had been passed down to the imperial court since ancient times, along with folk tales of Ohotarashihime based on beliefs in a mother and child goddess that were told in various regions, and legends of the ancient Okinaga clan who lived in Tsuzuki County, Kyoto Prefecture. It was then further embellished in the 7th and 8th centuries by the ideas of the ancient imperial system, before finally being established in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki.

[Yoshinobu Tsukaguchi]

"Research on the Legend of Empress Jingu" by Yoshinobu Tsukaguchi (1980, Sogensha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

記紀や『風土記(ふどき)』などにみえる伝承上の人物。『日本書紀』によると、仲哀(ちゅうあい)天皇の皇后で、名を気長足姫尊（息長足姫命）(おきながたらしひめのみこと)という。父は開化(かいか)天皇の曽孫(そうそん)、気長宿禰王(おきながのすくねのおおきみ)、母は葛城高顙媛(かずらきのたかぬかひめ)。『古事記』では、父は開化天皇の玄孫で、母は新羅(しらぎ)国の王子天之日矛(あめのひぼこ)の5世の孫にあたるという。仲哀天皇が熊襲(くまそ)を討つため筑紫(つくし)の橿日宮(かしひのみや)（香椎宮(かしいぐう)。福岡市東区香椎町に所在）にきたとき、天照大神(あまてらすおおみかみ)と住吉(すみよし)三神が皇后にのりうつって託宣を下したが、仲哀はこれを信じなかったために急死した。そこで神功は、臨月であったにもかかわらず新羅を討ち、帰国後、筑紫の宇美(うみ)で後の応神(おうじん)天皇を出産。さらに大和(やまと)に帰還して麛坂(かごさか)・忍熊(おしくま)2王の反乱を鎮定し、応神が即位するまで69年間も政治をとっていたという。『書紀』にはさらに多くの日朝関係記事が記され、なかには干支(かんし)二運（120年）を下げれば史実と考えられるものもある。また4か所にわたって『魏志(ぎし)』や『晋書(しんじょ)起居注』が引用され、編者が神功を倭(わ)の女王（卑弥呼(ひみこ)）に比定していたことは疑いない。

　この伝説は、古くから朝廷に伝えられていた朝鮮半島侵略の物語に、各地で語られていた母子神信仰に基づく民間伝承的なオホタラシヒメの伝承や、京都府綴喜(つづき)郡に居住した古代豪族息長(おきなが)氏の伝承などが加わり、さらに7～8世紀に古代天皇制の思想によって潤色を受け、最終的に記紀に定着したと考えられる。

［塚口義信］

『塚口義信著『神功皇后伝説の研究』（1980・創元社）』

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