Fujiwara no Kiyoko

In this Japanese name, the surname is Fujiwara.
Fujiwara no Kiyoko
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure1130–1141
Empress dowager of Japan
Tenure1142–1150
Born1122
Died1182
SpouseEmperor Sutoku
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherFujiwara no Tadamichi

Fujiwara no Kiyoko (藤原 聖子; 1122–1182),[1] later Kōkamon'in (皇嘉門院), was an Empress consort of Japan as the consort of Emperor Sutoku.[2]

Biography

Her father the former regent Fujiwara Tadamichi, who had ruled during Emperor Sutoku's childhood, and her mother was Fujiwara Muneko.[3][4][5]

Kōkamonin had no children. She is known today for the cleverness of her strategies to ensure she controlled her own fortune and estates, despite the difficulty of doing so as woman (particularly a childless woman).[6][7] Her brother acted as custodian, yet she retained power. With her wealth, she supported various religious projects, such as sponsoring Buddhist buildings, as well as paying for memorial services for her father.[6]

Her husband, Emperor Sutoku, was forced to abdicate the throne and retire, living as a retired emperor.[8] After the Hogen rebellion, in 1156, Sutoku was exiled; Kōkamon'in chose to remain in Jyoti and she was ordained as a Buddhist nun, receiving the Dharma name Seijōe (清浄恵).[5] In 1164 she renewed her ordination and received the name Rengaku (蓮覚).[9]

Her brother, Fujiwara no Kanezane, was a well-known statesman and author, who built religious halls in her honour.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Thumas, Jonathan (November 2022). "Buried Scripture and the Interpretation of Ritual". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 32 (4): 585–599. doi:10.1017/S0959774322000038. ISSN 0959-7743. S2CID 247030731.
  2. ^ Shinkokinshū (2 vols): New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern. BRILL. 2015-02-24. ISBN 978-90-04-28829-4.
  3. ^ Goodwin, Janet R.; Piggott, Joan R. (2018-07-31). Land, Power, and the Sacred: The Estate System in Medieval Japan. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-7546-6.
  4. ^ Proceedings of the Association for Japanese Literary Studies: PAJLS. AJLS. 2000.
  5. ^ a b Gunji, Naoko (2022-12-28). Amidaji: Emperor Antoku's Mortuary Temple and its Culture. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-52296-1.
  6. ^ a b Kawai, Sachiko (2021-02-27), "The Busy Religious Life of Nyoin: Funding Buddhist Rituals and Coordinating Pilgrimages", Uncertain Powers, Harvard University Asia Center, pp. 46–69, ISBN 978-1-68417-635-9, retrieved 2024-02-08
  7. ^ Kawai, Sachiko (2021-02-27), "Sen'yōmon-in's Final Years and the Transfer of Her Estates", Uncertain Powers, Harvard University Asia Center, pp. 206–237, ISBN 978-1-68417-635-9, retrieved 2024-02-08
  8. ^ Hubbard, Ben (2014-06-02). The Samurai: Swords, Shoguns and Seppuku. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5725-0.
  9. ^ "皇嘉門院". コトバンク (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  10. ^ Ruch, Barbara (2002). Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan. ISBN 978-1-929280-15-5.
Japanese royalty
Preceded by Empress consort of Japan
1130–1141 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Fujiwara no Ishi
(granted title posthumously)
 Empress dowager of Japan
1142–1150 		Succeeded by


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