Matrilineal Emperors existed: New Insights from Ancient Historians #2

 I'm sharing two historian's books published this year which are deeply related to ongoing discussion on Japanese imperial succession.

Their argument can be summarized as follows.

-In ancient Japan, female kings and female lineage kings both existed until around 500 AD. --The idea of a single male line of succession for all time is a creation of the "Kiki”.

-There was a mixture of male and female lineages at that time.

-Until a certain point in time, hereditary succession was not emphasized, and a well-liked elder in the tribe became the king.

-Female emperors played an important political role rather than being only a successor.

The two books are as follows (unfortunately, both are in Japanese only):

『女系天皇――天皇系譜の源流』工藤隆

"Emperor of Female Lineage: Origin of the Emperor's Genealogy" by Takashi Kudo

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4022951052　

 

『女帝の古代王権史』義江明子

"History of the Female Emperor’s Ancient Kingship" by Akiko Yoshie

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4480073817

In the previous article, I discussed the former book. 

Now let's move on to the latter book, ""History of the Female Emperor's Ancient Kingship" by Akiko Yoshie.

In fact, Kudo's previous book also has some quotations from Yoshie's past books, so there is quite a bit of overlap between their arguments. Yoshie's book is characterized by her view that the role of the female emperor was not that of only a successor 中継ぎas traditionally said.

Akiko Yoshie, born in 1948, is a professor emeritus at Teikyo University. In 2018, she was awarded the Kadokawa Gennyoshi Prize for her book "The Female Emperors of Ancient Japan.

The current emperor of Japan is believed to be the 126th generation, counting from the first emperor, Jimmu. However, according to this book, the number and names of the successive emperors since Jimmu were actually determined in 1926 after deliberations by the government of the time. During the deliberation process, the traditional female emperors, Empress Jingu神功皇后 and Emperor Iitoyo飯豊天皇, were excluded from the "female emperor" category. As a result, there are now eight female emperors in the history of Japan, ten generations in total.

Historically speaking, the number of female emperors is concentrated at six in eight generations from the end of the 6th century to the late 8th century. [...] The number of male emperors during the same period is almost the same, which means that the ratio of male and female emperors is 50-50. In other words, in ancient times, the existence of women was universal rather than exceptional.

According to Yoshie, ancient Japan was not a patrilineal society like China, but was characterized by bilineal kinship and the principle of elders.

 

 In a society based on bilinear kinship, paternal or maternal affiliation is fluid, and both paternal and maternal lineages are important factors in determining the social and political status of the child. [...] These societies are spreading from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Rim, and the Japanese archipelago is a part of it. [...]

In the late 7th and early 8th centuries, Japan adopted China's systematic code, the Ritsuryo, as the framework for its state. The legal system that had been developed over many years in a society with patrilineal and male lineage succession was grafted into a society with a completely different kinship principle. [...] This would eventually lead to the demise of the ancient female emperors.

It was the male and female elders who became the leaders in the bicameral society, according to Yoshie.

 

It has been shown that the great kings/emperors of the 6th and 7th centuries, both male and female, ascended to the throne at almost 40 years of age or older. Direct patrilineal succession inevitably leads to accession at an early age, but the 6th and 7th centuries were not a society in which such succession took place. Under the immature state system, the personal leadership of a mature and experienced king was an essential requirement for ruling. 

In the case of Emperor Keitai, for example, the "vassals" i.e. powerful clans, chose Keitai from among several candidates and requested him to ascend to the throne by offering him the king's sign (regalia). The king was "chosen" by the chiefs who made up the coalition.

Yoshie dismisses as a thing of the past the conventional theory that the role of the female emperors is that of a "successor" who has no real authority.

 

The "middle successor" theory was born in the Meiji era (1868-1912), when the male line of succession to the throne was legislated, and was established as an academic theory in the 1960s. [...] Today, however, it is almost universally accepted in academic circles that the establishment of hereditary kingship itself dates from the first half of the 6th century, from the time of the Keitai to the Kinmei. [...].

Even a careful reading of the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) will clearly show that Suiko demonstrated her superior leadership ability and gained the support of powerful families to ascend to the throne. In recent years, we have begun to learn more about other female emperors and how they ruled during their reigns. In the past, it was believed that the female emperors were "provisional accessions" and that the crown prince and ministers were responsible for the actual politics. Now, however, the situation has changed from that time.

These are the quotes from Yoshie's book.

How do you feel about this, wise readers? With such clear findings from historical studies, we can see that "the succession of the male line in a single line of descent" is nothing but an illusion.

I hope that the ongoing advisory panel of the government will incorporate these modern findings and sincerely discuss what is truly Japanese tradition.