Takako Fujiwara - Fujiwara no Koushi

Japanese: 藤原高子 - ふじわらのこうし

Year of death: Enki 10.3.24 (910.5.6)
Year of birth: Jowa 9 (842)
She was the consort of Emperor Seiwa in the early Heian period. She was the mother of Emperor Yozei. Her father was Fujiwara no Nagayoshi, and her mother was Fujiwara no Masatsugu's daughter Otoharu. She was also known as "Takai-ko". She is famous for being recorded in the "Tales of Ise" and "Tales of Yamato" as Ariwara no Narihira's lover. She is said to have lived in Higashigojo-dai (Sakyo Gojo 4bo). In 859, the first year of the Jogan era, she became a Gosetsu dancer at the Daijosai ceremony following Emperor Seiwa's accession to the throne, with the assumption that she would marry the emperor. At the time, her father had already passed away, and her uncle Yoshifusa supported her brother Mototsune and Takako. Yoshifusa's only daughter, Akiko, was the consort of the former emperor Montoku, and Takako seems to have been his trump card after that, but as the daughter of an aristocrat, it could be said that Takako herself had the same dream. In 859, she became the consort of Emperor Seiwa, nine years younger than Akiko, and in 860, she gave birth to Prince Sadaaki (Emperor Yozei), in 861, Prince Sadayasu, and later Princess Atsuko. Prince Sadaakira became the Crown Prince when he was only one year old, and when he ascended to the throne in 877, she became the Crown Princess (later the Empress Dowager). The following year, she built Toko-ji Temple in Atago District, Yamashiro Province (Higashitenno-cho Okazaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City). When Yozei abdicated in 878, she moved to Nijo-in (Nijo 2nd palace, Sakyo) and was called the Empress of Nijo. She was later stripped of her title of Empress Dowager in 897 for having an affair with Zensuke, a monk of Toko-ji Temple, but the background to this was circumstances surrounding the Imperial throne. She was decoyed in 943. She excelled in poetry and was at the center of the poetry circle of the imperial harem, and her poems are included in the Kokinshu. Narihira was also a regular at her salon. Furthermore, folding screens decorated with Yamato-e paintings and waka poetry were hung in Takako's mansion, which is said to have contributed to the development of her style. <References> Tsunoda Fumiei, Images of the Court

(Kyoko Kojima)

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

Japanese:

没年：延喜10.3.24(910.5.6)
生年：承和9(842)
平安前期,清和天皇の女御。陽成天皇の母。父は藤原長良,母は藤原総継の娘乙春。「たかいこ」とも。在原業平の恋人として『伊勢物語』『大和物語』に記され,有名。東五条第(左京五条四坊)に住んでいたといわれる。貞観1(859)年,清和天皇即位に伴う大嘗祭で,天皇との結婚を前提とした五節舞姫となる。当時父はすでに亡く,叔父良房が兄基経と高子の後ろ盾となっていた。良房のひとり娘明子は前天皇文徳の女御となっており,高子はその後の切り札とみえるが,貴族の娘として高子自身も見る夢は同じだったといえるかもしれない。同8年,明子所生で9歳年下の清和の女御となり,同10年に貞明親王(陽成天皇),同12年貞保親王,のち敦子内親王を出産。貞明親王が満1歳で正式に皇太子となり,元慶1(877)年即位したのに伴い皇太夫人(のち皇太后)となる。翌年山城国愛宕郡(京都市左京区岡崎東天王町)に東光寺を建立。同8年に陽成が退位すると二条院(左京二条二坊)に移転し,二条の后と呼ばれた。のち東光寺僧善祐と密通したとして,寛平9(897)年皇太后の号を廃されるが,その背景には皇位を巡る事情があった。天慶6(943)年復号。歌に優れ後宮歌壇の中心となり,作歌は古今集にとられている。業平もそのサロンの常連のひとりであった。また高子の屋敷では屏風に大和絵や和歌がかかれ,作風の発展に寄与したとされている。<参考文献>角田文衛『王朝の映像』

(児島恭子)

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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