Cloistered Emperor
A cloistered emperor (太上法皇, daijō hōō, also pronounced dajō hōō) was a Japanese emperor who abdicated and entered the Buddhist monastic community by receiving the Pravrajya rite. The term can also be shortened to Hōō (法皇, lit. "Dharma emperor").
Cloistered emperors sometimes acted as Daijō Tennō (retired emperors), therefore maintaining effective power. This title was first assumed by Emperor Shōmu and was later used by many other emperors who "took the tonsure", signifying a decision to become a Buddhist monk.[1]
List of retired emperors who became monks
Name as Emperor | Acceded | Abdicated | Took Buddhist vows | Died | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shōmu | 724 | 749 | 749 | 756 |
|
Heizei | 806 | 809 | 810 | 824 | |
Seiwa | 858 | 876 | 878 | 881 |
|
Yōzei | 876 | 884 | 949 | 949 | |
Uda | 887 | 897 | 900 | 931 | Uda entered the Buddhist priesthood at age 34 in 900. Having founded the temple at Ninna-ji, Uda made it his new home after his abdication. His Buddhist name was Kongō Kaku. He was sometimes called "the Cloistered Emperor of Teiji(亭子の帝)," because the name of the Buddhist hall where he resided after becoming a priest was called Teijiin. |
Daigo | 897 | 930 | 930 | 930 |
|
Suzaku | 930 | 946 | 952 | 952 | |
En'yū | 969 | 984 | 985 | 991 |
|
Kazan | 984 | 986 | 986 | 1008 |
|
Ichijō | 986 | 1011 | 1011 | 1011 |
|
Sanjō | 1011 | 1016 | 1017 | 1017 |
|
Go-Suzaku | 1036 | 1045 | 1045 | 1045 | |
Go-Sanjō | 1068 | 1073 | 1073 | 1073 |
|
Shirakawa | 1073 | 1087 | 1096 | 1129 |
|
Toba | 1107 | 1123 | 1141 | 1156 |
|
Go-Shirakawa | 1155 | 1158 | 1169 | 1192 |
|
Kameyama | 1259 | 1274 | 1289 | 1305 | |
Go-Uda | 1274 | 1287 | 1307 | 1324 | |
Fushimi | 1287 | 1298 | 1313 | 1317 | |
Hanazono | 1308 | 1318 | 1335 | 1348 |
|
Kōmyō (North) | 1336 | 1348 | 1355 | 1380 |
|
Go-Mizunoo | 1611 | 1629 | 1651 | 1680 | Called "Enjō Dōkaku Hōō" |
Reigen | 1663 | 1687 | 1713 | 1732 |
|
Edo period
The last cloistered emperor was Emperor Reigen, in the Edo period.
See also
Notes
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto, p. 27.
- Siyun-zai_Rin-siyo 1834, p. 73.
- Siyun-zai_Rin-siyo 1834, p. 41.
- Varley, p. 143.
- Siyun-zai Rin-siyo 1834, p. 143.
- Ponsonby-Fane, p. 318.
- Siyun-zai Rin-siyo 1834, p. 134.
- Varley, p. 181.
- Siyun-zai Rin-siyo 1834, p. 162.
- Siyun-zai Rin-siyo 1834, p. 176.
- Kitagawa, Hiroshi, et al., eds. (1975). The Tale of the Heike, pp. 129–130.
- Siyun-zai Rin-siyo 1834, p. 185.
References
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 36644
- _____________. (1963). Vicissitudes of Shinto. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 36655
- Siyun-zai Rin-siyo (1834). Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon [Annals of the Emperors of Japan] (in French). Paris: Parbury, Allen, and Company.
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