King Yamashiro no Oe - King Yamashiro

Japanese: 山背大兄王 - やましろのおおえのおう

Year of death: 2.11 (643)
Year of birth: Unknown
A member of the royal family in the first half of the 7th century. Son of Prince Shotoku (Prince Umayado). Also written as Yamashiro no Oe no O, Yamajiri no O, Shiri no O, Yamashiro no O, or Kamimiya no O. His mother was Soga no Umako's daughter, Tojiko no Otome. His wife was his half-sister, Princess Tachime (Princess Kamimiya no Omomehime). He was the older brother of Zaio, Hioki no O, and Kataoka no O. He was born at Okamoto no Miya (later Hokkiji Temple) and is believed to have lived at Ikaruga no Miya (Ikaruga Town, Nara Prefecture) after his father's death. In 628, after the death of Empress Suiko, he competed with Prince Tamura (later Emperor Jomei), son of Prince Ousakahikohito no Oe (Emperor Bidatsu's son), for the throne of the next emperor. His uncle, Soga no Emishi, supported Prince Tamura in accordance with the Emperor's will, while Sakaibe no Marise supported Prince Yamashiro no Oe, dividing the opinions of the ministers. The king repeatedly argued to Emishi that Prince Tamura had no right to succeed to the throne according to the Emperor's will, but his argument was not accepted. Marise was angry at his nephew Emishi's attitude, and went to Ikaruga and lived in the palace of King Totsuka (King Totsuka Naka). Emishi asked the king to hand over Marise, so the king remonstrated with him, but then King Totsuka died suddenly of illness, and with nowhere to go, Marise was attacked and killed by the Emishi army. In the end, Prince Tamura ascended to the throne in January of the first year of the Jomei era (629), with the support of Emishi and the ministers. They continued to have a say as influential members of the royal family, and according to the Wakokuden section of the Old Book of Tang, the Tang envoy Takahito, who came to Japan in the 5th year of the reign of Emperor Jomei, fought with the "prince" over "rituals," and it is thought that this "prince" was King Yamashiro no Oe. In the 2nd year of the reign of Emperor Kogyoku (643), Emishi's son Iruka plotted to depose King Kamimiya and others and install Emperor Jomei's son, Otomo no Oe, and attacked the king and others at Ikaruga. The king's servant Mitsunari and several dozens of his attendants fought against the forces of Emishi's Kose Tokuta and Haji Sabara no Muraji, and the king threw the bones of his horse into his bedroom and fled to Mt. Ikoma with his wife and children. At that time, Miwa Fumiya no Kimi advised the king to ride horse from Fukakusa Tonokura (Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City) to the eastern provinces and raise an army centered on the king's private subjects (the Chibube of Kamimiya), which would allow him to win the battle. However, the king did not want to burden the people, so his family followed him back to Ikaruga Temple and committed suicide. According to the Engishiki, his grave is located at "Kitaoka Tomb, Heguri County." The inscription on the roof of the Hokkiji Tower states that as Prince Shotoku was on his deathbed, he gave imperial decree to "Prince Yamashiro Oe" to turn Okamoto Palace into a temple and to donate rice fields from the provinces of Owa and Omi. In recent years, the characters for "shirikan" (assistant official) have been discovered on the pedestal of the Shaka Triad at Horyu-ji Temple, and some believe this may be an organization related to Prince Yamashiro Oe.

(Atsushi Nito)

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

Japanese:

没年：皇極2.11(643)
生年：生年不詳
7世紀前半の王族。聖徳太子(厩戸皇子)の子。山代大兄王,山尻王,尻大王,山代兄王,上宮王とも書く。母は蘇我馬子の娘刀自古郎女。妻は異母妹の舂米女王(上宮大娘姫王)。財王,日置王,片岡女王の兄。岡本宮(のちの法起寺)で生まれ,父の死後は斑鳩宮(奈良県斑鳩町)に居住したと推定される。推古36(628)年,推古天皇の死後,押坂彦人大兄皇子(敏達天皇の皇子)の子田村皇子(のちの舒明天皇)と次期大王位を争った。叔父の蘇我蝦夷は天皇の遺言に従って田村皇子を,境部摩理勢は山背大兄王をそれぞれ推し,群臣らの意見も二分した。王は天皇の遺言によって,田村皇子には王位継承の理由がないことを蝦夷にたびたび主張したが認められなかった。摩理勢は甥の蝦夷の態度に怒り,斑鳩に赴き,泊瀬王(泊瀬仲王)の宮に居住した。蝦夷が王に摩理勢を差し出すように求めたので,王は摩理勢を諭し,さらに泊瀬王が病により急死し,行く所を失った摩理勢は,蝦夷の軍勢に攻め殺された。結局,舒明1(629)年1月,蝦夷と群臣の推戴により田村皇子が即位した。以後も有力な王族として発言権を有し,『旧唐書』倭国伝によれば,舒明5年に来日した唐使高表仁は「王子」と「礼」を争ったとあり,山背大兄王がこの「王子」であるとも考えられる。皇極2(643)年,蝦夷の子入鹿は上宮王らを廃して,舒明天皇の子である古人大兄を立てようと謀り,王らを斑鳩に襲った。王の奴三成や数十の舎人らは蝦夷の派遣した巨勢徳太や土師娑婆連らの軍勢と戦い,王は馬の骨を寝殿に投げ置き,妃や子弟らと共に生駒山へ逃れた。そのとき三輪文屋君は王に深草屯倉(京都市伏見区)から馬で東国に至り,王の私有民(上宮の乳部)を中心に軍勢をおこせば戦いに勝てると進言した。しかし王は万民の煩労を望まず,一族は王に従って斑鳩寺に戻り自殺した。墓所は,『延喜式』によれば「平群郡北岡墓」とする。「法起寺塔露盤銘」には,聖徳太子が死に臨んで「山代兄王」に勅し,岡本宮を寺とし,大倭国と近江国の田を施入させたとある。近年,法隆寺の釈迦三尊像の台座部材に「尻官」の文字が発見され,山背大兄王に関係する組織との見方もある。

(仁藤敦史)

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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