Hayanari Tachibana

Japanese: 橘逸勢 - たちばなのはやなり

Year of death: 8/13/842 (9/20/842)
Year of birth: Unknown. An official in the early Heian period. Son of Nyu-in. Grandson of Naramaro. In 804, he went to China as a student with Saicho and Kukai, and was called Tachibana Shusai for his talent, but he also seems to have had a rebellious personality. After returning to Japan with Kukai two years later, he was promoted to the rank of Junior Fifth Rank, but did not attend service due to old age and illness, but it is hard to imagine that he was old enough to be ill. In July 842, in the so-called Jowa Incident, in which the Crown Prince Tsunesada was brought into the eastern provinces, he was considered a ringleader along with Ban Takemine (at the time the governor of Tajima), but the truth of the incident is unknown. He was given the surname of a non-human and was exiled to Izu Province, when he died of illness at Itatsuki Station in Totomi Province (Mikkabi Town, Shizuoka Prefecture). The daughter, who followed her father despite being stopped by the escorting officials, became a nun, took the name Myo-oki, and buried her father there and held a memorial service for him. Tachibana Shrine, now located on the Hime-kaido (a side road of the Tokaido), is said to be the shrine where she did this. In May 850, when Tachibana Kachiko died, she was immediately posthumously awarded the rank of Junior Fifth Rank (three years later, Junior Fourth Rank), and was allowed to return to her hometown for burial, implying Kachiko's involvement in the incident and Ise's innocence. This is why she came to be feared as a vengeful spirit after the incident, and at the Goryoe ceremony at Shinsen-en in May 863, she was the subject of appeasement along with Prince Sawara and others. According to the "Tachibana Ise's Biography," there was a shrine for Ise to the west of the site of his mansion (Kyomatsuden) in Sakyo, but now he is enshrined as one of the "Eight Places of Spirits" at Kami and Shimogoryo Shrines (Kamigyo Ward and Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City). He was a calligrapher known as one of the Three Great Calligraphers along with Emperor Saga and Kukai, and is said to have written many of the plaques on the gates of the Heian Palace.

(Takinami Sadako)

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

Japanese:

没年：承和9.8.13(842.9.20)
生年：生年不詳
平安前期の官人。入居の子。奈良麻呂の孫。延暦23(804)年,最澄,空海らと共に留学生として入唐,その才能からかの地で橘秀才と称されたが,その分狷介な性格の持主であったようだ。2年後空海と共に帰国したあと従五位下に叙されたものの,老病を理由に出仕しなかったが,老病というほどの年齢であったとは思えない。承和9(842)年7月,皇太子恒貞親王を擁して東国入りを謀ったいわゆる承和の変では,伴健岑と共に首謀者とされたが(時に但馬権守),事件の真相は不詳。非人の姓を与えられて伊豆国への配流の途中,遠江国板築駅(静岡県三カ日町)で病没した。護送の役人に制止されながらも父のあとを追っていた娘は出家して妙沖と号し,父をその地に葬って供養したという。いま姫街道(東海道の脇街道)にある橘神社がそれと伝える。嘉祥3(850)年5月,橘嘉智子が没するとただちに正五位下を追贈され(3年後,従四位下),本郷への帰葬が許されており,嘉智子のこの事件へのかかわりや逸勢の無実が暗示されている。事件後怨霊として恐れられるようになったのもそれで,貞観5(863)年5月の神泉苑御霊会では早良親王らと共に慰撫の対象とされた。『橘逸勢伝』によれば,左京にあった邸宅(蛟松殿)跡の西に逸勢社があったというが,いまは「八所御霊」のひとつとして上,下御霊神社(京都市上京区,中京区)に祭られている。嵯峨天皇,空海と共に三筆と呼ばれた能書家で,平安宮門の扁額の多くを書いたと伝える。

(瀧浪貞子)

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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