Fujiwara Michinaga

Japanese regent (1016-1017)

• Born: 966
• Birthplace: Kyoto, Japan
• Died: January 3, 1028
• Place of death: Kyoto, Japan

The greatest statesman of the Heian period, Fujiwara Michinaga maintained absolute control of the throne and court for thirty years and brought the Fujiwara family to the height of its power. He epitomizes Japanese leadership during the formative period of Japanese cultural development.

Early Life

Fujiwara Michinaga (few-jee-wah-rah mee-chee-nah-gah) was born into the powerful Fujiwara family, the fifth son of Fujiwara Kaneie, who served as great minister of the right from 978 to 986 and as regent from 986 until his death in 990. The Fujiwara family had provided the principal support system for the imperial family since 645 and, by the end of the eighth century, had succeeded to the highest posts and greatest power in the imperial court. Beginning with Kaneie, who consolidated the family’s power, a Fujiwara would occupy the regency for generations. The regency was important, for it preserved the imperial house and protected the throne. Although their power might have been overwhelming, the Fujiwara leaders were sensible enough to recognize that the prestige of their clan derived not only from their own talents but also from their blood connection with the reigning house. Both factors tended to perpetuate the monarchy, despite its impotence.

Although few details are known about Michinaga’s early life, it is not surprising that at the age of fourteen, in 980, Michinaga received the office of lesser commander of the imperial guards of the left. This office carried with it junior fifth rank, lower grade, which was a relatively high distinction for a man of Michinaga’s age. It was natural for him to rise rapidly in rank, and at the age of twenty-one, in 987, he became acting middle counselor and minister of the left. Then, in 992, he was named master of the empress’s household, with junior second rank. It is clear that nothing was left to chance in his education and training, for he excelled, standing head and shoulders above others at court, particularly in Chinese studies, calligraphy, poetry, archery, and horsemanship.

Michinaga had two older brothers, Fujiwara Michitaka and Fujiwara Michikane, in line ahead of him for higher positions, and other relatives also competed with him for higher posts at court; thus, Michinaga was not expected to rise much further in the hierarchy of the court administration.

Michinaga was a handsome man, distinctive in his words and actions. People of his time commented on his vigor, boldness, and resourcefulness. According to tradition, he stalked his rival, Fujiwara Korechika, beating him in an archery contest and embarrassing him when he was dawdling by the carriage of the retired empress Akiko (Michinaga’s sister). Reportedly, Michinaga had his horsemen whip his horses into some tents that Korechika had erected during a court festival.

When Kaneie died in 990, Michitaka succeeded him as regent. He became seriously ill in 995 and, before dying, handed over the regency to his brother, Michikane, who died seven days later. Michinaga then became head of the Fujiwara family and was appointed both minister of the right and examiner of imperial documents, an honorary title of great prestige. By 996, Michinaga enjoyed uncontested political dominance.

Life’s Work

Michinaga seems to have given Japan a strict and able administration, exercising the powers of regent without assuming the post that his father and brothers held. He felt no need to take the highest rank, although any office in the land would have been his for the asking. He helped to establish a precedent in this regard, for the most powerful rulers in later Japanese history not only allowed sovereignty to remain with the emperor but also were themselves content to occupy relatively modest posts in the hierarchy. Before becoming a monk, Michinaga finally served as regent for two years, from 1016 to 1017, when his grandson became emperor. Entry into the religious life, however, did not mean the end of his political career. By giving up his official posts and having his son, Yorimichi, appointed regent (1017-1068), Michinaga was, in fact, able to devote even more of his energy to the exercise of power during the last ten years of his life.

Although Michinaga was the leading statesman of the Heian period (794-1185), not much more is known about the man than the emperors he was supposed to serve. There is no extant portrait of Michinaga, and the personal touches in contemporary records are not sufficient to produce any well-rounded picture. This is not because he had a self-effacing nature. Indeed, modesty was not one of his virtues. Michinaga had won the endemic struggle for power within the Fujiwara family a contest between individuals, not a clash about issues. What concerned a member of the ruling aristocracy was the acquisition of a supreme office for himself and his immediate kin. Having acquired such an office and its many delightful trappings, one tended to hold it against all comers. What determined appointments was the support given to the leader who eventually won the power struggle, not administrative ability. Because none of the Fujiwara leaders can be identified with any concrete policy or constructive public service, these statesmen do not emerge as distinct individuals. (This is true even of those who were most prominent during the period, such as Michinaga.) They are usually differentiated in terms of their relative strength of ambition and skill at political intrigue.

Michinaga, however, was a man of remarkable and exceptional gifts who thought and acted with a thoroughness on a generous scale and a focus on the reality of power. Control of three major power groups formed the basis of the political stability that Michinaga maintained to the end of his life. He continued his family’s policy of extensive intermarriage with the imperial house. He was generous toward his allies and his rivals, a policy that gained for him widespread support among court officials. He allied himself with the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto family to maintain law and order in the capital region and expand the landholdings and wealth of the Fujiwara throughout the country.

In establishing his position, Michinaga was greatly helped by having among his fourteen children several outstandingly intelligent and attractive daughters, and he used them to forge the strongest possible link with the imperial family. Four of his daughters were married to emperors. His daughter Akiko, at the age of eleven, in 999, was married to the reigning emperor, Ichijō (r. 986-1011). She soon became the emperor’s favorite, and together they had two sons. Although Emperor Sanjō (r. 1011-1016), who was the son of Emperor Reizei (r. 967-969), succeeded Ichijō when he died in 1011, Akiko’s two children followed him as the emperors Go-Ichijō (r. 1016-1036) and Go-Suzaku (r. 1036-1045).

Such was the pressure on the emperors to marry Fujiwara women selected for them by Michinaga that Sanjō married Michinaga’s second daughter, Go-Ichijō married the third (who was his aunt), and Go-Suzaku married the fourth (also his aunt). Michinaga’s last daughter was given to a son of Sanjō, the heir presumptive (who was already married), to cover all possible situations. Clearly, Michinaga was unscrupulous in working for the interests of his own family.

Having a deep understanding of human nature, Michinaga knew how to use friends and win over enemies, and that gave him clout with court officials, who recognized that he had a firm hold on his own temper. Michinaga liked to do things on a large scale and lavished untold sums on building shrines and chapels and on Buddhist services in which thousands of monks took part. The building and dedication of the Hōjōji, a Pure Land (Jōdo) sect temple, was a brilliant display of Michinaga’s wealth and power. The Heian aristocracy was much addicted to color and pageantry and benefited from Michinaga’s efforts to infuse the yearly round of ceremonies with the beauty and elegance that were so important in almost every part of their lives. He also accumulated great wealth by acquiring manorial rights over land commended to him for protection and substantially rewarding those courtiers who were involved in the process.

At the same time, Michinaga could see that Fujiwara private interests were not consistent with a just administration of the affairs of the countryside and that the provincial gentry were growing more conscious of their own strength. Being aware of changes taking place in the country, he foresaw the rise of the military families. Early in his career, he made up his mind to cultivate some of the leading warriors, whom he could then trust to support him in case of need. He chose certain members of the Minamoto clan whose talents impressed him. It was their presence in the background that enabled him to defeat or intimidate his rivals. Moreover, since the metropolitan police force was incapable of preserving peace, these warriors could be relied on by Michinaga when he needed them to bring order and security to the capital. For their part, the warriors, working with Michinaga, were able to expand their own tax-free estates while at the same time aiding Michinaga in increasing Fujiwara landholdings throughout the country.

Meanwhile, in the capital, where the Fujiwara were dictators of taste and fashion, there flourished a society dedicated to elegant pursuits and happily insulated from the shocks of common life. It was a society devoted to the pursuit of beauty to a degree rarely paralleled in the history of civilization. Michinaga was a patron of architecture, painting, sculpture, music, and literature, and his influence on the development of Japanese culture has been marked.

Significance

The formula for greatness gleaned from Michinaga’s life might be summarized thus: Be born to a powerful family and have a handsome and personable appearance, a flair for spectacular actions, talents highly regarded by the society of the day, a certain ruthlessness, and a liberal sprinkling of good fortune. As priest, administrator, poet, and connoisseur of the good life, Michinaga carried the Fujiwara family to its highest point. A patron of arts and letters, Michinaga encouraged the preservation of history, literature, and the Japanese spirit from the distant past to the present. More has been written on him, both fact and fiction, than on any other figure in Japanese history. In an age when provincial warlords’ influence was rapidly growing and the Fujiwara power base began to wane, Michinaga was able not only to hold subversive forces in check but also to carry the Fujiwaras to heights of power and glory by sheer political virtuosity.

Major Fujiwara Regents, 866-1184

Reign

• Regent (position)

866-872

• Fujiwara Yoshifusa (sessho)

872-884

• Fujiwara Mototsune (sessho)

884-891

• Fujiwara Mototsune (kampaku)

930-941

• Fujiwara Tadahira (sessho)

941-949

• Fujiwara Tadahira (kampaku)

967-969

• Fujiwara Saneyori (kampaku)

969-970

• Fujiwara Saneyori (sessho)

970-972

• Fujiwara Koretada (sessho)

973-977

• Fujiwara Kamemichi (kampaku)

977-986

• Fujiwara Yoritada (kampaku)

986-990

• Fujiwara Kaneie (sessho)

990

• Fujiwara Kaneie (kampaku)

990-993

• Fujiwara Michitaka (sessho)

993-995

• Fujiwara Michitaka (kampaku)

995

• Fujiwara Michikane (kampaku)

996-1017

• Fujiwara Michinaga (kampaku)

1016-1017

• Fujiwara Michinaga (sessho)

1017-1020

• Fujiwara Yorimichi (sessho)

1020-1068

• Fujiwara Yorimichi (kampaku)

1068-1075

• Fujiwara Norimichi (kampaku)

1075-1087

• Fujiwara Morozane (kampaku)

1087-1091

• Fujiwara Morozane (sessho)

1091-1094

• Fujiwara Morozane (kampaku)

1094-1099

• Fujiwara Moromichi (kampaku)

1106-1107

• Fujiwara Tadazane (kampaku)

1107-1114

• Fujiwara Tadazane (sessho)

1114-1121

• Fujiwara Tadazane (kampaku)

1121-1123

• Fujiwara Tadamichi (kampaku)

1123-1129

• Fujiwara Tadamichi (sessho)

1129-1142

• Fujiwara Tadamichi (kampaku)

1142-1151

• Fujiwara Tadamichi (sessho)

1151-1158

• Fujiwara Tadamichi (kampaku)

1158-1165

• Fujiwara Motozane (kampaku)

1165-1166

• Fujiwara Motozane (sessho)

1166-1173

• Fujiwara Motofusa (sessho)

1173-1179

• Fujiwara Motofusa (kampaku)

1184

• Fujiwara Moroie (sessho)

Note: Some Fujiwara were regents more than once or for more than one emperor. The position of sessho indicates regency for an underage emperor, that of kampaku, regency for an adult emperor.

Bibliography

Morris, Ivan. The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan. 1964. Reprint. New York: Kodansha International, 1994. Indispensable for understanding the life of the Heian period. Contains much information on the Fujiwara family and Michinaga in particular.

Okagami, the Great Mirror: Fujiwara Michinaga and His Times. Translated by Helen Craig McCullough. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980. A translation of the eleventh century classic by an unknown author, which covers Japanese history from 850 to 1025 and contains biographical information on Fujiwara.

Omori, Annie S., and Koichi Doi. Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920. Contains three diaries of this period, one of which, Murasaki Shikibu’s diary (Murasaki Shikibu nikki), provides insight into the character of Michinaga.

Sansom, George. A History of Japan to 1334. Vol. 1. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1958. This highly respected source contains a section on the Fujiwara, and Michinaga in particular.

A Tale of Flowering Fortunes: Annals of Japanese Aristocratic Life in the Heian Period. 2 vols. Translated by William McCullough and Helen Craig McCullough. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1980. Marvelous translation of the Eiga monogatari (c. 1092; known by other scholars as Tales of Glory). Two-thirds of the work written by a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Akiko is a glorification of Fujiwara Michinaga and has constantly been referred to by all scholars working in the field.

Yamagiwa, Joseph K., trans. The Okagami: A Japanese Historical Tale. Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1966. Written in the eleventh century, the work of an unknown hand, it covers Japanese history from 850 to 1025. Appendix 1 is a constructed biography of Michinaga, pieced together from various sections throughout the text. Contains an excellent genealogical chart of the Fujiwara and imperial families.