was the 67th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

Sanjō's reign spanned the years from 1011 through 1016.

Biography

Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina) was Iyasada-shinnō. He was also known as Sukesada-shinnō, and as Okisada-shinnō (居貞親王).

Iyasada was the second son of Emperor Reizei. Ieyasada's mother was Fujiwara no Chōshi (藤原超子) (?-982), who was the daughter of the sesshō, Fujiwara no Kaneie. Chōshi was posthumously elevated to the rank of empress mother (Zō-Kōtaigō, 贈皇太后).

In ancient Japan, there were four noble clans, the Gempeitōkitsu (源平藤橘). One of these clans, the Minamoto clan (源氏) are also known as Genji, and of these, the Sanjō Genji (三条源氏) are descended from the 67th emperor Sanjō.

Events of Sanjō's life

After his mother died when he was seven, his maternal grandfather Fujiwara no Kaneie raised him at Kaneie's mansion.

  • August 23, 986 (Kanna 2, 16th day of the 7th month)<!-- NengoCalc 寛和二年七月十六日 -->: Iyasada-shinnō was appointed as heir and crown prince at age 11.
  • July 16, 1011 (Kankō 8, 13th day of the 6th month)<!-- 寛弘八年六月十三日 -->: In the 25th year of Emperor Ichijō's reign (一条天皇二十五年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (senso) was received by his cousin. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Sanjō is said to have acceded to the throne (sokui) at age 36.
  • August 29, 1011 (Kankō 8, 22nd day of the 6th month)<!-- 寛和二年七月二十二日 -->: Daijō-tennō Emperor Ichijō died at the age of 32.
  • August 30, 1011 (Kankō 8, 23rd day of the 8th month)<!-- 寛和二年七月二十三日 -->: Fujiwara Michinaga is granted the extraordinary privilege of travelling to and from the court by ox-drawn cart.
  • 1011 (Kankō 8): Prince Atsunari, the second son of former-Emperor Ichijo, is proclaimed Crown Prince. Sanjō's eldest son, Prince Atsuakira, had been the officially designated heir; but pressure from Michinaga forced the young prince abandon his position.

Kaneie died in the early part of Ichijō's reign. His three uncles, sons of Kaneie, made their daughters consorts of Ichijo and each aimed to seize power as the grandfather of a future emperor. These courtiers therefore sought to exclude Okisada from the Imperial succession, though each of them married their daughter to him. Later Ichijō had two sons by Fujiwara no Shōshi, the daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and Michinaga expected his grandson to ascend to the throne as soon as possible. Michinaga became the kampaku (regent) of Japan during the reign of Ichijō and expected to hold this position in Sanjō's government as well.

  • 1012 (Chōwa 1): The era name was changed to mark Emperor Sanjō's accession; and in the 8th month, he married a daughter of kampaku Michinaga.
  • March 10, 1016 (Chōwa 5, 29th day of the 1st month)<!-- 長和五年一月二十九日 -->: In the 6th year of Emperor Sanjō's reign (三条天皇6年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his cousin. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Go-Ichijō is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’') at age 9.
  • May 21, 1017 (Chōwa 6, 23rd day of the 4th month)<!-- 長和六年四月二十三日 -->: The era name was changed to Kannin to mark the beginning of Emperor Go-Ichijō's reign.
  • May 27, 1017 (Kannin 1, 29th day of the 4th month)<!-- 寛仁一年四月二十九日 -->: Sanjō entered the Buddhist priesthood.

Michinaga gifted Atsuakira a status equal to the retired emperor, with the title of Ko-ichijo-in. Although no son of Sanjō ascended to the throne, a future emperor (Emperor Go-Sanjō) was child of Princess Teishi, Sanjō's daughter, and thus his blood remained in the imperial bloodline.

Kugyō

is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. Even during those years in which the court's actual influence outside the palace walls was minimal, the hierarchic organization persisted.

In general, this elite group included only three to four men at a time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Sanjō's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included:

  • Sesshō, Fujiwara no Michinaga (藤原道長), 1016–1017.

|1= 1. Emperor Sanjō

|2= 2. Emperor Reizei (950-1011)

|3= 3. Fujiwara no Chōshi (954-982)

|4= 4. Emperor Murakami (926-967)

|5= 5. Fujiwara no Anshi (927-964)

|6= 6. Fujiwara no Kaneie (929-990)

|7= 7. Fujiwara no Tokihime (d. 980)

|8= 8. Emperor Daigo (885-930)

|9= 9. Fujiwara no Onshi (885-954)

|10=10.Fujiwara no Morosuke (909-960) (=12)

|11=11.Fujiwara no Seishi (d. 943) (=13)

|12=12.Fujiwara no Morosuke (909-960) (=10)

|13=13.Fujiwara no Seishi (d. 943) (=11)

|14=14.Fujiwara no Nakamasa

|15=15. Tachibana no Iwako

Notes

thumb|right|120px|[[Imperial Seal of Japan|Japanese Imperial kamon — a stylized chrysanthemum blossom]]

References

  • Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ; OCLC 251325323
  • Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
  • Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
  • Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ; OCLC 59145842

See also

  • Emperor of Japan
  • List of Emperors of Japan
  • Imperial cult
  • Emperor Go-Sanjō