Fujiwara no Nakamaro - Fujiwara no Nakamaro

Japanese: 藤原仲麻呂 - ふじわらのなかまろ

Year of death: Tempyo Hoji 8.9.18 (764.10.17)
Year of birth: Keiun 3 (706)
A politician of the Nara period. The second son of Takechimaro. His mother was the daughter of Abe no Ason. He was born intelligent, avid reader, and well versed in arimandō. He was born as a chamberlain in 725, and in 734, he was promoted from Junior Sixth Rank to Junior Fifth Rank. In 735, his father and uncles died one after another due to the ravages of smallpox, and Nakamaro rose through the ranks at an exceptionally rapid pace until he was promoted to Junior Second Rank in 750. During this time, he served as Minister of Civil Affairs, Minister of Ceremonies, Councilor and Tosando Pacifier, and in 749, when Empress Kōken ascended to the throne, he became Dainagon. He also served as Chu-e Taisho (Commander of the Middle Guard), and held all the major government affairs by himself, so the other nobles were jealous of his power, as recorded in the Shoku Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan Continued). He also served as the head of the Shiwei Chudai (Shiwei Law), which was established by developing and reorganizing the Imperial Household Office of Empress Komyo (Nakamaro's aunt), and opposed the power of the Left Minister Tachibana Moroe and others who were based in the Dajokan organization. It is also worth noting that he made both material and spiritual contributions to the construction of Todaiji Temple, and on the day of the grand ceremony for the consecration of the Great Buddha in 752 (Tenpyo Shoho 4), Empress Koken stopped by Nakamaro's private residence, Tamuradai, in Sakyo Shijo 2bo, on her way home, and thereafter made it her residence for a while. When Retired Emperor Shomu died in May of the 8th year of Tenpyo Shoho, the following year he deposed Crown Prince Doso-o and supported Oino-o, who was residing in Tamuradai, as Crown Prince. At the same time, he raised the authority of the Shiwei Law to the equivalent of a minister and changed its name to Shiwei Nai-sho, thereby gaining supreme military power. Shortly before this, Moroe had died, and his eldest son Naramaro, along with other former clan members such as Otomo, Saeki, and Tajihi, who hated Nakamaro's tyranny, planned a rebellion, but it was put down before it could begin, and Nakamaro's dictatorial rule was finally established. In August of the following year, 758, Oino-o ascended to the throne and became Emperor Junnin, and Nakamaro's puppet government was born. Nakamaro became Taibo (Minister of the Right), changed his name to Emi no Oshikatsu, and was granted a concession of 3,000 households and 100 cho of concession fields, as well as the right to mint coins and collect donations, and was allowed to use the Emi family seal instead of the Dajokan seal. In the fourth year of the same year, he was promoted to the highest rank of Juichii Taishi (Grand Minister of State). However, after this period, his political career would rapidly decline. After the death of Empress Komyo, Emperor Junnin, Nakamaro, and the Retired Empress Koken became estranged, and discord between them surfaced over the treatment of Dokyo. This eventually developed into a split in the imperial power. The worsening economic situation also contributed to Nakamaro's government being driven into a corner. In an attempt to turn the situation around, in September of the same year, Nakamaro attempted to gather his own troops and stage a rebellion using his extraordinary power as commander-in-chief of the three districts of Kinai, Omi, Tanba, Harima, etc., but the plan was discovered in advance and ended in failure. Driven out of the capital, Nakamaro moved from place to place in Omi (Shiga Prefecture) and Echizen (Fukui Prefecture), and was finally captured in Onie, Katsuno, west of Lake Omi (Takashima Town, Shiga Prefecture), and was beheaded along with his family and associates (Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion). The characteristic of Nakamaro's government was that he attempted to complete the Ritsuryo system by thoroughly imitating the Tang system, such as by adopting the Chinese style of official titles and selecting Chinese style posthumous names for successive emperors. It is believed that the implementation of the Yoro Code instead of the Taiho Code was based on the same intention.

(Kano Hisashi)

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

Japanese:

没年：天平宝字8.9.18(764.10.17)
生年：慶雲3(706)
奈良時代の政治家。武智麻呂の第2子。母は安倍朝臣氏の娘。生来聡敏で,また読書家でもあり,算道にも精通していたという。神亀2(725)年内舎人として出身し,天平6(734)年正六位下から従五位下に進んだ。同9年,天然痘の猛威により父や叔父たちが相次いで死亡するということもあり,仲麻呂は天平勝宝2(750)年従二位に昇進するまで異例の早さで出世をとげる。この間,民部卿,式部卿,参議兼東山道鎮撫使などを歴任し,天平勝宝1(749)年孝謙天皇の即位とともに大納言となった。さらには中衛大将も兼ね,枢機のまつりごとをひとりで握るので,他の貴族たちは皆その勢を妬んだと『続日本紀』は記している。光明皇后(仲麻呂の叔母に当たる)の皇后宮職を発展改組して設けた紫微中台の長官(紫微令)にもなって,太政官組織に拠る左大臣橘諸兄らの勢力と対抗した。また東大寺の造営に物心両面で尽力したことも特記すべきで,天平勝宝4(752)年大仏開眼の盛儀が行われた日,孝謙天皇は左京四条二坊の仲麻呂の私邸田村第に帰途立ち寄り,以後しばらくここを御在所としたほどである。天平勝宝8年5月,聖武太上天皇が没すると,翌年には皇太子道祖王を廃して,田村第に住まわせていた大炊王を擁立して皇太子とした。同時に紫微令の権限を大臣相当の地位に引き上げて名称も紫微内相に改め,これによって軍事大権を握った。この少し前に諸兄が死没しており,仲麻呂の専横を憎む諸兄の長子奈良麻呂や大伴,佐伯,多治比らの旧氏族たちは,反乱を計画したが未然に鎮圧され,いよいよ仲麻呂の独裁政治は確立した。翌天平宝字2(758)年8月,大炊王は即位して淳仁天皇となり,仲麻呂の傀儡政権が誕生した。仲麻呂は太保(右大臣)となり,名前も恵美押勝と改め,功封3000戸,功田100町のほか,鋳銭や出挙の権利も許され,恵美家印を太政官印にかえて用いることを認められた。同4年には従一位太師(太政大臣)という極位極官に昇った。しかしこの時期を頂点にしてその政治生命は急速に凋落の運命をたどることになる。光明皇太后が没すると淳仁天皇・仲麻呂と孝謙上皇の間は疎遠となり,道鏡の処遇をめぐって両者の不和は表面化した。やがてこれは皇権の分裂に発展することになった。経済情勢の悪化も手伝い仲麻呂政権は非勢に追いこまれていく。その事態を挽回すべく,同8年9月,都督四畿内三関近江丹波播磨等兵事使という非常の権力手段を使って手兵を集めて反乱を企てようとしたが,計画は事前に発覚して失敗に終わった。都から追われた仲麻呂は近江(滋賀県),越前(福井県)を転々とし,最後に近江湖西の勝野の鬼江(滋賀県高島町)で捕らえられ,一族党類と共に斬首された(藤原仲麻呂の乱)。仲麻呂政治の特徴は,官号の唐風化や歴代天皇の漢風諡号の選進など,唐制の徹底した模倣により律令体制の完成を期そうとしたところにあり,大宝律令にかわって養老律令を施行したのも,同様な意図によるものと思われる。<参考文献>岸俊男『藤原仲麻呂』

(狩野久)

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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