Emperor Sutoku

Japanese: 崇徳天皇 - すとくてんのう

Year of death: 26th August 1164 (14th September 1164)
Year of birth: 28th May 1119 (7th July 1119)
An emperor in the late Heian period. His given name was Akihito. He was the first son of Emperor Toba. His mother was Taikenmon'in Shoshi. He ascended to the throne at the age of five in 1123 (Hoan 4), succeeding his father Emperor Toba. His accession was at the will of his great-grandfather, Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa, who was the cloistered ruler at the time, but there is also a popular theory that Emperor Sutoku was actually the son of Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa and his adopted son Shoshi, and that Retired Emperor Toba called Emperor Sutoku his "uncle and son" (Kojidan). At first, he was under the protection of the Cloistered Emperor, but when the Cloistered Emperor died in 1129 (Taichi 4) and Retired Emperor Toba began his cloistered rule, the situation changed drastically and became difficult, and in 1140 (Hōen 6), he came into conflict with the Retired Emperor over the appointment of Minamoto no Masasada to the post of Left General. In the following year, 1141, Emperor Toba, at his request, forced him to abdicate the throne to his half-brother Prince Tahihito (Emperor Konoe), son of Emperor Toba's favorite consort, Bifukumon'in. After the abdication, Emperor Toba came to be known as Shin'in, and the conflict between Emperor Konoe and the main Emperor Toba intensified. In the midst of this, Emperor Sutoku hoped that his son, Prince Shigehito, would ascend to the throne. However, his full brother, Prince Masahito (Emperor Goshirakawa), ended up ascending to the throne, and his son, Prince Morihito, was made crown prince, and his hope was dashed. Then, in the following year, 1156, Emperor Toba died, and together with Fujiwara no Yorinaga, the Minister of the Left, who was a regent and estranged from the political world at the time, he summoned Minamoto no Tameyoshi, Taira no Tadamasa, and others to raise an army (the Hogen Rebellion). However, he was defeated by the Emperor, and died in despair in his exile in Sanuki Province. For this reason, he came to be known as Sanuki-in, and the emperor's cremation place was made into a mountain tomb (Shiramine Mausoleum). Emperor Sutoku's life in exile appears in various collections of tales, and the Kikki also records that he wrote the Five Mahayana Sutras in his own blood. After his death, he was feared by the people as a vengeful spirit, and the rulers made efforts to appease him. In 1177, they bestowed upon him the posthumous name of Sutoku-in, and furthermore built Awata Palace on the site of the battlefield of the Hogen era. He excelled in waka poetry, and ordered the compilation of the Shika Wakashu, so he appears to have been a sensitive person who loved elegance from the start. <References> Yoshihiko Hashimoto, "Studies on Heian Aristocratic Society"

(Mamiko Kimura)

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

Japanese:

没年：長寛2.8.26(1164.9.14)
生年：元永2.5.28(1119.7.7)
平安後期の天皇。諱は顕仁。鳥羽天皇の第1皇子。母は待賢門院璋子。保安4(1123)年父鳥羽天皇の譲りを受けて5歳で践祚。この即位は当時院政主であった曾祖父白河法皇の意によるものであるが,崇徳天皇は実は白河法皇が自分の猶子である璋子に生ませた子で,鳥羽上皇は崇徳天皇のことを「叔父子」と呼んでいた,との巷説もある(『古事談』)。初め法皇の執政下でその庇護のもとにあったが,大治4(1129)年法皇が崩じて鳥羽上皇の院政が始まると情勢は一変して厳しくなり,保延6(1140)年源雅定左大将着任をめぐって上皇と対立。翌永治1(1141)年鳥羽上皇の意思によりその寵妃美福門院所生の異母弟体仁親王(近衛天皇)に皇位を譲らざるを得なくなった。譲位後は新院と呼ばれ本院鳥羽との対立が激化,そのようななかで近衛天皇が久寿2(1155)年に17歳で急逝すると,崇徳上皇はわが子重仁親王の即位に望みをかけた。が,結局同母弟の雅仁親王(後白河天皇)が即位し,その子守仁親王が立太子するにおよんでその願いも空しく破れた。次いで翌保元1(1156)年鳥羽法皇の死去を機に,当時摂関家で政界から疎外されていた左大臣藤原頼長と共に源為義,平忠正らを召集して挙兵するに至った(保元の乱)。しかし天皇側に敗れ,配所讃岐国にて失意のうちに崩じた。ために世に讃岐院と呼ばれ,また天皇の火葬所が山陵とされた(白峯陵)。崇徳上皇の配所での生活は様々な説話集にみえるが,『吉記』にも「五部大乗経」を血書した由が記されている。死後怨霊として世人に恐れられ,為政者はその慰撫に努めた。すなわち治承1(1177)年崇徳院の諡号を贈り,さらに保元の戦場跡には粟田宮を建立した。和歌に秀で,『詞花和歌集』編纂を命じており,もとより風雅を愛する繊細な人物であったように思われる。<参考文献>橋本義彦『平安貴族社会の研究』

(木村真美子)

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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