The image that comes to mind in the Heian period is
- Glamorous times in aristocratic society
- Age of national culture
- Peaceful times without battle
At the end of the Heian period, there are conflicts such as the Genpei War, but in general, many people have the above image.
Compared to the samurai government, there were not many fierce armed conflicts, but there was a fierce battle for power during the Heian period.
Mr. Fujiwara was the one who won this power struggle and was at the top of aristocratic politics. The Heian period is customs politics and cloister rule, but if you follow Mr. Fujiwara's seizure of power, you will naturally see customs politics.
How did Mr. Fujiwara, who had power during the Heian period, seize power?
What is Mr. Fujiwara?
Before writing the customs politics, let's confirm what Mr. Fujiwara is.
It was Nakatomi (Fujiwara) Kamatari who was first allowed to call himself Fujiwara. is. Taika Reform that triggered Japan to become a Ritsuryo nation So, Middle and Big Brother Prince (Emperor Tenji) That person who caused the coup with.
" Fujiwara " was given in recognition of the achievements of Nakatomi Kamatari. "is. This Kamatari created the opportunity for Fujiwara to advance into central politics.
Before Mr. Fujiwara seized power
In the early Heian period, Emperor Kanmu and Emperor Saga Was so powerful that nobles would not be strongly involved in national affairs . was. In such a situation, the Fujiwara Kita family * will strengthen its strong ties with the Emperor family.
* The Fujiwara Kita family is one of the four Fujiwara families founded by four sons, such as Fujiwara no Fuhito, the second son of Fujiwara no Kamatari.
The Fujiwara Kita family's Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu Has gained the trust of Emperor Saga and is an aide (secretary) of the emperor Kurodo Will fulfill the inauguration of. Also, affinity with the Emperor I have also succeeded in becoming.
This affinity is the heart of customs politics.
Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu's son, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa When it comes to the generation of, it causes a number of political changes and strikes a seizure of power.
842:Exclusion of Mr. Ban and Mr. Tachibana due to the change of Jōwa *
Over the succession to the throne after the death of Emperor Emeritus Saga, both Kenji Ban and Tachibana no Hayanari were exiled for plotting a rebellion against Prince Tsunesada.
* Exclusion means to dismiss.
866 Exclusion of Mr. Ban and Mr. Ki due to the change of Otenmon
Yoshifusa Fujiwara who dealt with the incident in which Otenmon Heiangu was set on fire. Mr. Ban, Mr. Ki who were in political conflict Exclusion .. After the incident, Emperor Seiwa formal regent of Yoshifusa will do.
As a result, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa became the first regent of a human vassal . have become.
887-888:Exclusion of Mr. Tachibana due to Ako's dispute
Emperor Uda Tachibana no Hiromi and Fujiwara no Mototsune Conflict. There were two princes between Hiromi's daughter and Emperor Uda. Mototsune made a difficult habit of the wording of the imperial rescript drafted by Hiromi, and settled by letting his daughter enter. This was the moment when Fujiwara's power was announced and the emperor was proved to be a de facto decoration.
901:Exclusion of Sugawara no Michizane due to the change of Masayasu
Emperor Uda and Emperor Daigo Sugawara no Michizane , who has a great deal of trust and has reached the right minister. Relocated to Dazaifu by the plot of Fujiwara no Tokihira Will be done.
969:The change of Anwa ... Excluding Takaakira Minamoto
Exclusion case last by Mr. Fujiwara is. Tamehira-shinno, the son-in-law of Genko Akira, is Emperor Reizei . Since he was a strong candidate for the Crown Prince, he will support Mr. Fujiwara's younger brother. In order to defeat Komei, he succeeds with rumors that he is suspected of rebellion.
As mentioned above, it causes a number of exclusion cases and falls into the other party. It seems that the power struggle at that time was not an armed conflict, but a strategy of defeating the opponent with all the conspiracy.
For that reason, Mr. Fujiwara took the position of regent and Kampaku from the middle of the 9th century and took the lead in politics.
Mechanism of customs politics
The dizzying power struggle was not only outside but also within the Fujiwara Seki family. However, in the era of Fujiwara no Michinaga, that also converged and Mr. Fujiwara reached its heyday.
Fujiwara no Michinaga succeeded in making four daughters one after another empress and empress by making the most of his close relationship with the emperor. To do.
In this era, wives received the patronage of her father even after marriage And the child had a habit of being educated by her maternal grandfather. Therefore, even when the child became the emperor, he was able to exert a strong influence as a father of raising.
As such a maternal consort kin, approach the emperor and gain power That consort kin policy Is called.
Michinaga Child Ryodo Also, as an apprentice to his father, he maintained his absolute power for 50 years as a parent and child.
Here Regent and Kampaku I will touch on a little about.
Regent / Kampaku is the Council of Lords And the role of communication between the emperor Is responsible for.
- Regent ... Acting for the Emperor's childhood
- Kampaku ... Assisting political affairs as a guardian after the emperor's adulthood
- Kugyō meeting ... Policy meeting to decide the direction of politics
As a mechanism, the policy decided at the Duke's meeting is transmitted to the emperor In the meantime, the regent and Kampaku will be the contact points.
For example, in the case of a young emperor, it is not possible to make a decision when the policy is communicated, so the regent will make the decision as a result. Even in the case of Kampaku, if Mr. Fujiwara, who is Kampaku, was a consort kin of the emperor, it is considered that the actual decision-making power was on the Kampaku side.
Well, even the emperor can't go against it if his grandfather or father tells him, in this era ...
The reason why Fujiwara no Michinaga did not become Kampaku
Regent and Kampaku I mentioned, but in fact Fujiwara no Michinaga [ Kampaku ] Did not become.
Regent and Kampaku were special jobs that were not stipulated in the decree system. Although he has a high status and can be involved in policy making, it was not specifically accompanied by the provisions of the decree system.
Kampaku is a Kugyō meeting I just told the emperor what I had decided in, but I couldn't attend the policy-making meeting itself.
When that happens, Michinaga is the Minister of the Left with aristocratic personnel rights . I thought it would be better to stay.
At that time, the Minister of the Left was vacant, so the Minister of the Left and the Minister of the Right were in effect in charge of politics, but the Minister of the Left is in a higher position than the Minister of the Right.
In terms of title, Kampaku and regent are closer to the emperor However, I thought that the Minister of the Left and Daijo-daijin would have been easier to move if they had substantial power. In addition, Michinaga said, [ Preview ], And I also had the right to read the texts dedicated to the emperor and the texts issued by the emperor in advance.
Finally
As mentioned above, Fujiwara no Michinaga is unnamed and innocent than famous innocent . I was choosing a job.
After the politics of Fujiwara no Michinaga and Yorimichi's father and son continued for 50 years, the customs politics gradually began to fade.
In 1068, Emperor Go-Sanjo took the throne, and the emperor without a father of Mr. Fujiwara was born for the first time in 170 years. After having a feud with the Fujiwara Kita family since the time of the crown prince, Emperor Sanjo will implement a policy to take away the momentum of the regents.
I wrote the details in this article. ↓ ↓
After that, there was a battle for succession within Mr. Fujiwara, and with the birth of Kampaku with the young emeritus, the emeritus became an assistant and power concentrated on the emeritus. As a result, the customs politics will decline and shift to the cloister rule.