Fujiwara no Yorimichi - Detour to Fujiwara

Japanese: 藤原頼通 - ふじわらのよりみち

Year of death: Shoho 1.2.2 (1074.3.2)
Year of birth: March 1, 992
A nobleman in the mid-Heian period. His childhood name was Tazuru. His Buddhist name was Jakkaku. He was known as Ujidono and Uji Daishogoku. He was the eldest son of Fujiwara no Michinaga and the daughter of the Minister of the Left, Minamoto no Masanobu, Michiko. At the age of 13, he was chosen as a Kasuga Festival Envoy (an envoy sent by the Imperial Court to the great festival of Kasuga Shrine in Nara, the Fujiwara clan's clan shrine). His father Michinaga recorded this fondly in his diary. In 1017, at the age of 26, he was handed over the regentship of Emperor Go-Ichijo by his father Michinaga. From then on, he held the position of regent for half a century, during the reigns of Emperors Go-Suzaku and Go-Reizei (whose mothers were all sisters of Yorimichi). This was not due to Yorimichi's ability, but due to the success of Michinaga's meticulous marriage strategy as the in-laws (grandfather of the emperors) of each emperor. Yorimichi and his wife (Takahime, daughter of Imperial Prince Kohira) had no children, and when Yorimichi was perplexed by the suggestion that he take a second wife, Michinaga rebuked him, saying, "It is foolish for a man to have only one wife. You should think about having children." These words sum up Michinaga's view of marriage and the political strategies he executed based on it. Michinaga became a monk in 1019, but during his lifetime, real power was with Michinaga, and Yorimichi, who was handsome and had a gentle personality, was sometimes reprimanded. The only thing worth noting about Yorimichi's politics is the reorganization of his estates. He ran Takayoin on a site of about 4 hectares in Kyoto, and a horse race was held there in the autumn of 1024 (Manju 1) (Komakei Gyoko Emaki). In 1052, when it is believed that he entered the Latter Days of the Law due to his Latter Days of the Law ideology, he converted a villa in Uji given to him by Michinaga into a temple and named it Byodo-in Temple. Yorimichi married two daughters into his court, but they gave birth to no sons, so in 1068 he handed over the position of regent to his younger brother, Norimichi. In the same year, he also lost his weakened status as a maternal relative with the accession of Emperor Gosanjo. In his later years, he retired to Byodo-in Temple, and became a monk in 1072.

(Oboriya Hisashi)

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

Japanese:

没年：承保1.2.2(1074.3.2)
生年：正暦3.1(992)
平安中期の公卿。幼名は田鶴。法号は寂覚。宇治殿,宇治大相国と号す。藤原道長と左大臣源雅信の娘倫子の嫡男。13歳で春日祭使(藤原氏の氏社奈良の春日社の大祭に朝廷から派遣される使者)に選ばれた。その様子を父道長は愛情をもって日記に書きとめている。寛仁1(1017)年,26歳で後一条天皇の摂政を父道長から譲られた。以降,後朱雀,後冷泉両天皇(その母はすべて頼通の姉妹)が在位した半世紀のあいだ摂関の地位にあった。それは頼通の力量によるものでなく,各天皇の外戚(外祖父)として手抜かりなく打った道長の婚姻策が成功したからである。頼通と妻(具平親王の娘隆姫)との間には子がなく,ふたり目の妻をすすめられて困惑する頼通を,道長は「男たるもの,妻ひとりだけとは馬鹿げている。子どもをもうけることを考えるべきだ」といってたしなめた。この言葉に道長の結婚観とそれを基本にすえて実行した政略が集約されている。道長は寛仁3(1019)年に出家したが,その在世中,実権は道長にあり,美貌で温和な性格の頼通はときとして,譴責されることもあった。頼通の政治でみるべきものとしては,荘園整理ぐらいである。京内の約4haにおよぶ敷地に高陽院を経営し,万寿1(1024)年の秋,ここで催された競馬は有名である(『駒競行幸絵巻』)。末法思想により末法に入ったとされる永承7(1052)年道長から伝えられた宇治の別荘を寺院に改め平等院と名づけた。頼通が入内させたふたりの娘に皇子の誕生がなく,治暦4(1068)年弟教通に関白を譲った。同年,後三条天皇の即位により弱まっていた外戚の地位も失われた。晩年は平等院に隠棲,延久4(1072)年出家。

(朧谷寿)

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

<<: Yoshie Fujiwara

>>: Fujiwara no Yorinari - Fujiwara no Yorinari