Emperor Sujin: Difference between revisions

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{{Nihongo|'''Emperor Sujin'''|崇神天皇|Sujin-tennō}}, also known as {{Nihongo||御眞木入日子印恵命|''Mimakiirihikoinie no Mikoto''}} in the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}}, and {{Nihongo||御間城入彦五十瓊殖天皇|''Mimakiiribikoinie no Sumeramikoto''}} or {{Nihongo||御肇國天皇|''Hatsukunishirasu Sumeramikoto''}} in the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} was the tenth [[Emperor of Japan]].<ref name="kunaicho">{{cite web|url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/guide/010/index.html|title=崇神天皇 (10)|work=[[Imperial Household Agency]] (Kunaichō)|language=ja|access-date=May 16, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Brown1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4f5FrmIJKIC&q=Emperor+Sujin|title=A Translation and Study of the Gukanshō, an Interpretative History of Japan Written in 1219|author=[[Delmer Brown|Brown, Delmer M.]] and Ichirō Ishida|publisher=University of California Press|year=1979|page=248 & 253|isbn=9780520034600}}</ref> While Sujin is the first emperor whose existence historians widely accept, he is still referred to as a "legendary emperor" due to a lack of information available and because dates for his reign vary.<ref name="yoshida">{{cite web|author=Yoshida, Reiji | url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/03/27/reference/life-in-the-cloudy-imperial-fishbowl/#.UhYzedK-2uI |title=Life in the Cloudy Imperial Fishbowl |publisher=The Japan Times |date= March 27, 2007 | access-date=22 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727134306if_/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/03/27/reference/life-in-the-cloudy-imperial-fishbowl/#.Xx7aCmj7SUk |archive-date=27 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Henshall |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tmYYAgAAQBAJ&q=Emperor+Jimmu |title=Historical Dictionary of Japan to 1945 |date=2013-11-07 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7872-3 |pages=100 |language=en}}</ref> Both the {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}}, and the {{Lang|ja-latn|Nihon Shoki}} (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Sujin's alleged lifetime. This legendary narrative tells how he set up a new shrine outside of the Imperial palace to enshrine [[Amaterasu]]. He is also credited with initiating the worship of [[Ōmononushi]] (equated with the deity of [[Mount Miwa]]), and expanding his empire by sending generals to four regions of Japan in what became known as the legend of ''Shidō shogun''.

The ''Kiki'' records that [[Infection|pestilence]] struck during the 5th year of Sujin's rule, killing half the Japanese population. The following year peasants abandoned their fields and rebellion became rampant.<ref name="Ujiya 121"/><ref name="aston150–164"/> To help relieve the suffering of his people, the Emperor turned his attention towards the gods. At the time, both the sun goddess [[Amaterasu]] and the god {{Nihongo|[[Yamato Okunitama|Yamato-no-Okunitama]]|倭大国魂神}}  were enshrined at the Imperial Residence. Sujin became overwhelmed with having to cohabit with these two powerful deities and set up separate enshrinements to house them. Amaterasu was moved to {{Nihongo|Kasanui village|笠縫邑}} in [[Yamato Province]] (Nara), where a [[Himorogi]] altar was built out of solid stone.<ref name="Ujiya 121"/><ref name="aston150–164"/> Sujin placed his daughter {{Nihongo|{{Ill|Toyosukiiri-hime|ja|豊鍬入姫命}}|豊鍬入姫命}} in charge of the new shrine, and she would become the first [[Saiō]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=8608 | title=Encyclopedia of Shinto詳細 }}</ref> [[Yamato Okunitama|Yamato-no-Okunitama]] (the other god) was entrusted to another daughter named {{Ill|Nunaki-iri-hime|lt=Nunakiirihime|ja|渟名城入姫命}}, but her health began to fail shortly afterward. It is recorded that Nunakiiri-hime became [[emaciated]] after losing all of her hair, which rendered her unable to perform her duties.<ref name="Ujiya 121"/><ref name="aston150–164"/> These events still did not alleviate the ongoing plague sweeping the empire, so Sujin decreed a [[divination]] to be performed sometime during the 7th year of his reign. The divination involved him making a trip to the plain of Kami-asaji or {{Nihongo|Kamu-asaji-ga-hara|神浅茅原}}, and invoking the [[Yaoyorozu no Kami|eight hundred myriad deities]].

Sujin's aunt {{Nihongo|[[Princess_Yamato_Totohi_Momoso|Yamatototohimomoso-hime]]|倭迹迹日百襲媛命}} (daughter of 7th Emperor [[Emperor Kōrei]]) acted as a ''[[miko]]'', and was possessed by a god who identified himself as [[Ōmononushi]]. This god claimed responsibility for the plague, announcing that it would not stop until he was venerated. Although the Emperor propitiated to the god, the effects were not immediate. Sujin was later given guidance in the form of a dream to seek out a man named {{Nihongo|{{ill|Ōtataneko|ja|大田田根子命}}|太田田根子}} and appoint him as head priest. When he was found and installed, the pestilence eventually subsided, allowing five cereal crops to ripen.<ref name="aston150–164"/> Out of an abundance of caution, the Emperor also appointed {{Nihongo|Ikagashikoo|伊香色雄}} as {{Nihongo|''kami-no-mono-akatsu-hito''|神班物者}}, or one who sorts the offerings to the gods. To this day the [[Miwa clan|Miwa sect]] of the [[Kamo clan]] claim to be descents from {{ill|Ōtataneko|ja|大田田根子命}}, while Ikagashikoo was a claimed ancestor of the now extinct [[Mononobe clan]].<ref name="Ujiya 121"/><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj072.htm|title=''[SECT. LXV.—EMPEROR SŪ-JIN (PART III: STORY OF OHO-TATA-NE-KO'S BIRTH)]'' (''The Kojiki'')|author=Chamberlain, Basil|publisher=Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on April 12, May 10, and June 21, 1882, reprinted in 1919|page=219|author-link=Basil Chamberlain|quote=His Augustness Oho-tata-ne-ko&nbsp;... was the ancestor of the Dukes of Miwa and of the Dukes of Kamo.}}</ref>

In his 10th year of rule, Sujin instituted four of his Generals to the ''Four Cardinal Quarters'' in what would be known as the ''Shidō shogun''. These areas (west, north/northwest, northeast, and east) were all centered around the capital in [[Yamato Province]]. Sujin instructed his generals (shogun) to quell those who would not submit to their rule.<ref name="Ujiya 121"/><ref name="aston150–164"/><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/kj073.htm|title=''[SECT. LXVI.—EMPEROR SŪ-JIN (PART IV.—WAR WITH KING TAKE-HANI-YASU).]'' (''The Kojiki'')|author=Chamberlain, Basil|publisher=Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on April 12, May 10, and June 21, 1882, reprinted in 1919|page=220|author-link=Basil Chamberlain}}</ref> One of the four shoguns who had been sent to the northern region was named {{Nihongo|Ōhiko|大彦}}, who was also [[Emperor Kōgen]]'s first son. One day a certain maiden approached Ōhiko and sang him a cryptic song, only to disappear afterwards. Sujin's aunt {{Nihongo|[[Princess_Yamato_Totohi_Momoso|Yamatototohimomoso-hime]]|倭迹迹日百襲媛命}}, who was skilled at clairvoyance, interpreted this to mean that Take-hani-yasu-hiko (Ōhiko's [[Emperor Kōgen#Consorts and children|half brother]]) was plotting an [[Rebellion|insurrection]]. [[Princess_Yamato_Totohi_Momoso|Yamatototohimomoso-hime]] pieced it together from overhearing news that Take-hani-yasu-hiko's wife (Ata-bime) came to {{Nihongo|Mount Amanokaguya|天香久山}}, and took a clump of earth in the corner of her [[neckerchief]].{{efn|Mount Amanokaguya is located in [[Kashihara, Nara]].}}

*{{Nihongo|{{ill |Prince Toyokiirihiko |ja|豊城入彦命|vertical-align=sup}}|豊城入彦命}}{{efn|The kami of Suijin's son, Toyoki-iri-hiko no mikoto, is venerated at Futarayama jinja in Utsunomiya, Shimotsuke Province.}} ancestor of Keno Clan (毛野君)

*{{Nihongo|{{Ill|Toyosukiiri-hime|lt=Princess Toyosukiiri-hime|ja|豊鍬入姫命}}|[[:ja:豊鍬入姫命|豊鍬入姫命]]}}, first [[Saiō]]

*{{Nihongo|{{Ill|Nunaki-iri-hime|lt=Princess Nunakiirihime|ja|渟名城入姫命}}|[[:ja:渟名城入媛命|渟名城入媛命]]}}