Insei
Insei (院政), also known as "cloistered rule," is an ancient Japanese term which means a special form of Imperial government.
In the Insei system, the monarch abdicated or retired and a new emperor was named; however, the old emperor held on to significant power and influence in the court and in the nation.[1] The emperors who withdrew from public life did not give up any of their many powers.[2] In practice, the retired emperor only gave up the time-consuming burden of his ceremonial roles and formal duties.
There were emperors who abdicated before and after the Heian period; however, the term Insei is most often used to mean the kind of Imperial system put in place by Emperor Shirakawa in 1086.[3] This system was very important in the years before the rise of the Kamakura shogunate in 1192.[2]
Heian period
[change | change source]The succession of power in the Insei system was complex.[4]
| Insei System of Imperial Rule | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor's Ordinal Number |
Reign dates | Emperor of Japan | Senior Insei Emperor |
Other Insei Emperors |
| 71 | 1067—1072 | Emperor Go-Sanjō[4] | ||
| 72 | 1072—1073 | Emperor Shirakawa[2] | Go-Sanjō | |
| 1072—1073 | Shirakawa[4] | |||
| 73 | 1086—1107 | Emperor Horikawa[4] | Shirakawa | |
| 74 | 1107—1123 | Emperor Toba[2] | Shirakawa | |
| 75 | 1123—1129 | Emperor Sutoku[4] | Shirakawa | Toba |
| 1129—1141 | Sutoku[4] | Toba | ||
| 76 | 1141—1155 | Emperor Konoe[4] | Toba | Sutoku |
| 77 | 1155—1156 | Emperor Go-Shirakawa[2] | Toba | Sutoku |
| 1156—1158 | Go-Shirakawa[4] | Sutoku | ||
| 78 | 1158—1165 | Emperor Nijō[4] | Go-Shirakawa | |
| 79 | 1165—1168 | Emperor Rokujō[4] | Go-Shirakawa | |
| 80 | 1168—1180 | Emperor Takakura[4] | Go-Shirakawa | Rokujō (until 1176) |
| 81 | 1180—1185 | Emperor Antoku[4] | Go-Shirakawa | Takakura (until 1181) |
| 82 | 1184—1192 | Emperor Go-Toba[4] | Go-Shirakawa | |
| 1192—1198 | Go-Toba[4] | |||
Edo period
[change | change source]The last retired emperor with an Insei title was Emperor Reigen in the Edo period.[5]
Notes
[change | change source]- ↑ Former emperors are called Daijō Tennō or Jōkō. Those former emperors who lived in a Buddhist temple or monastery were called Daijō Hōō (太上法皇).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Insei" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 391.
- ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 257-258.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Sansom, George Bailey. (1958). History of Japan to 1334, p. 200.
- ↑ Nussbaum, "Hō-ō" at p. 351.