K?ken-Sh?toku (718–770)

Japanese empress who ascended the throne twice and played a significant role in popularizing Buddhism, which flourished as the national religion for centuries. Name variations: (first reign) Empress K?ken or Koken; (second reign) Empress Sh?toku or Shotoku. Pronunciation: KOE-ken SHOW-toe-ku. Reigned from 749 to 758 and from 764 to 770. Born in 718 in Nara, Japan; died in 770 in Nara, Japan; daughter of Emperor Shomu and Empress Komyo; never married; no children.

The daughter and sole surviving child of Emperor Shomu and Empress Komyo , K?ken was one of only eight empresses of Japan to have been officially designated as heir apparent. K?ken was initially educated by her mother, until Kibi no Makibi, a brilliant scholar of institutional government, was appointed in 740 to teach K?ken the Chinese classics and train her in statecraft. In 749, Emperor Shomu abdicated in the midst of political controversies surrounding his project to construct Todaiji (Eastern Great Temple), and, within it, the huge statue of the Sun Buddha. It appeared to be a propitious time for rule by a woman, who could serve as the traditional female role of a spiritual medium to mollify the conflicting Shint? and Buddhist factions. Indeed, not long after her accession, K?ken received a divine message from a Shint? deity that it was his will that the Buddhist statue and temple be erected. This divine blessing made possible the completion of the project. Like her father, K?ken abdicated the throne to become more actively involved in propagating Buddhism, which she did by encouraging the casting of many Buddhist statues and the printing of Buddhist sutras for distribution throughout the country. She therefore played a significant role in the popularization of Buddhism outside the capital.

Following her abdication, K?ken created friction among the counselors at court, however, by declaring that, as a former empress, she would continue to make decisions regarding war, awards for meritorious service, and the punishment of criminals. She exacerbated tensions by seeking the counsel of a Buddhist priest, D?kyo, whom, it was said, she would have married if that had been permitted of a retired empress. Opponents mounted armies to defeat her but her forces triumphed, and she returned to the throne for a second reign, as the Empress Sh?toku.

During her second reign, she consolidated the power of the throne and punished her opponents by prohibiting unauthorized persons from reclaiming land for private profit and officials from bearing arms. Involvement with the Buddhist priest D?kyo, including a plan to name him as her successor, resulted in continued dissension. Seeking to evade the turmoil of the capital, K?ken-Sh?toku had a palace built in D?kyo's hometown in the provinces, where she lived with him for a time. "A male sovereign can marry at will," she supposedly said, "taking as many consorts as he wishes to have. Why is it that I, alone, because I am a woman and sovereign, cannot marry at all?" Upon her return to the capital, she fell ill and died in 770. Defamed for having been influenced by a male advisor, K?ken-Sh?toku became the ostensible reason why women were not permitted for centuries thereafter to rule as Japanese sovereigns.

sources:

Aoki, Michiko Y. "Jit? Tenn?: The Female Sovereign," in Heroic With Grace: Legendary Women of Japan. Chieko Mulhern, ed. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1991, pp. 40–76.

Linda L. Johnson , Professor of History, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota