Got a quiz question for ya.
In early Japan, when an emperor died, who was next in line to the throne?
If you guessed the emperor’s eldest son, good guess,
but it’s wrong.
Your punishment?
You have to write “I love this video” in the comments.
Sorry, I didn’t make the rules.
Upon an emperor’s death, it was not automatic that the throne passed to his eldest son.
Japan did not have any official rules of succession until the modern age.
The emperor was free to name a crown prince, an heir, who ascended after the emperor died.
And he could pick among any member of the Imperial Family,
his son, grandson, brother, whoever.
Having no well-defined rules caused all kinds of shenanigans when an emperor died.
If they had an official rule that the emperor’s eldest son succeeded him, then it would’ve
been clear.
Of course you would’ve still had the occasional murder of the eldest son by his brothers,
that’s a given.
But in Japan’s case, the field of candidates was wider, allowing for more power struggles.
The Japanese recognized this problem, of course, but instead of creating an official line of
succession and be done with it, different eras dealt with the issue in different ways.
The Nara Period was ruled by what some historians have called the Tenmu Dynasty, when the descendants
of Emperor Tenmu sat the throne.
The Tenmu Dynasty had their own solutions to the succession problem, which we’ll cover
another time.
Right now, let’s talk about what the Japanese did before.
Prior to Emperor Tenmu’s reign, they reduced the number of possible candidates for crown
prince.
Fewer candidates, fewer power struggles.
How did they do this?
By keeping the bloodline pure.
Yes, it involved incest.
It was simple, just knock up your half sister.
Don’t quote that out of context in the comments, you bastards.
I know what you guys write, I see you.
If you don’t know the difference between step siblings and half siblings, it’s easy.
Step siblings, not related.
Half siblings, related.
Step siblings share no biological parents.
Half siblings share one biological parent.
And I hope there’s never a time in your life when this little piece of knowledge becomes
significant.
For further clarification on step siblings and half siblings, see the internet.
So the system they had before Tenmu was something called “double royalty,” and it worked
like this.
I hope you’re watching the screen.
And sober.
If not, just give up now.
So let’s say you have Emperor Bob...bunaga.
One of the perks of being emperor was that they had a bunch of consorts, or concubines.
Exactly like being a YouTuber.
But they usually had one main consort.
She was the most important because her son became the crown prince, the next emperor.
We’ll call him Jon...mu.
Now Emperor Jonmu also needed a main consort.
Question is, how did he choose who got the position?
Well, this was how influential clans got their feet in the door of the Imperial House.
Through schemings and dealings, and the occasional murder, a strong clan leader would offer his
daughter as consort to Emperor Bobunaga.
Yeah, I know, the women’s rights movement was still in its infancy at this point.
The daughter of THIS union, Emperor Jonmu’s half sister as you can see, became Jonmu’s
main consort.
Their son became the next emperor, Emperor Max...amune.
This is called double royalty because Emperor Maxamune had royal blood from both parents.
Remember that this system was not law or anything, so there were deviations, but it became the
norm.
It protected the Imperial Family from outside influence because the consort from an outsider
clan could not give birth to a future emperor.
At the most, she could only give birth to the next emperor’s main consort.
When the Soga clan dominated the Japanese court in the Asuka Period, they did it within
this system.
Their daughters were consorts to many emperors.
These unions could not result in future emperors, but they persisted.
They just kept marrying into the Imperial Family, keeping their influence fresh.
Women were invaluable to the top clans.
Being consorts to the emperor meant they pierced his inner circle.
They became the eyes and ears, and mouths, for their clans.
Now were there problems with this system?
Sure, like when the main consort did not produce a son, or the emperor died before producing
a son.
That meant the field of candidates opened up and people getting whacked.
When Tenmu became emperor, this model was chucked out the window.
Tenmu seized the throne through the Jinshin War, a civil war between Tenmu and Prince
Otomo.
Tenmu was the brother of the previous emperor, Emperor Tenji, so he obviously didn’t fit
the double-royal son model.
Although, Prince Otomo didn’t fit the model either.
He was Tenji’s son, but his mother was not Tenji’s main consort.
In any case, after Tenmu took power, the Fujiwara clan decided they didn’t like the system.
They were an up-and-coming clan, but they wanted to be an already-arrived clan, and
some nonsense tradition to protect the Imperial House and prevent wars and disorder
wasn't gonna stop them.
Hey guys, thanks for watching.
Shoutout to two new patrons this week, Sam Fieldman,
helloooo Mr. Fieldman,
and Jenova_83,
we got ourselves a Final Fantasy fan here.
And then, we gained a third emperor this week, Yakaru Dezaki!
Thank you sooo much, you are so generous.
Looks like now we have a ruling triumvirate here, hopefully they rule peacefully and don’t
backstab each other.
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below and consider donating a few bucks.
Much love, guys.
Now go out there and spread the knowledge.