Prince Shotoku (574-622 A.D.)

Prince Shotoku is one of the important people in early Japanese history.

According to a history book in a school.....

Prince Shotoku was a prince in ancient Japan. His real name was "Umayato" which means "door of stable." He was given that name because his mother, Empress Anahobeno-hashinohito, gave birth to him in front of the stable door, thus, his name. He was an intelligent person since he was child. He could listen to what ten people were saying, all speaking at once.

Prince Shotoku's Great Uncle Umako Soga was devoted to Paekche (Kudara) Buddhism. Therefore, it is believed that Prince Umayato was influenced by his Great Uncle and started to learn about Buddhism. However, Prince Umayato was devoted to Koguryo (Koukuri) Buddhism. According to researchers, he learned about Buddhism under two Buddhist priests from Koguryo and Paekche.

Sushun, who was the Uncle of Umayato and a brother of Emperor Youmei and Suiko, took over the throne after Emperor Youmei passed away. Since he did not like Umako's despotic behavior, he was assassinated by Umako, who was his uncle. Prince Umayato's aunt became Empress Suiko in 592 A.D. after a competition for the throne between the Soga family and the Mononobe family was settled.

Umayato started to work as a regent and conduct the affairs of state under Empress Suiko. His Great Uncle was Umako Soga, a minister of state. Umako was also Empress Suiko's uncle. Prince Umayato got married to Tojikono-iturame, who was the daughter of Umako. (**In this period, men tended to have more than one wife.**) She gave birth to a son whose name was Prince Yamashiro. However, in 643 A.D., Yamashiro was killed by Iruka Soga, who was a cousin of Yamashiro and a grandson of Umako. An assassination of relatives for the throne was not a rare occurrence in this period.

Prince Shotoku sent the first envoy to Sui Dynasty in China, he established an official rank and a constitution and spread Buddhism. He built two famous temples in Japan, the Shitenno-ji in 593 A.D. and Horyu-ji in 607 A.D. He achieved many things before his death from illness in 622 A.D.

(He was born of emperor Youmei and one of his wive's, Empress Anahobe-hashinohito. He had 4 brothers and one sister. Since successive emperors could have more than one wife in ancient times, the oldest brother of Prince Umayato had a different mother. However, his younger brothers and sister had a different father, who was the oldest brother of Prince Umayato.)

The official rank was established based on the Chinese and Korean official rank system. The official rank was composed by 12 ranks. Because of the official rank, people not from powerful families could get a high official rank based on allegiance to the country, a talent, and a distinguished service. Also, the official rank was for a generation; therefore, other people also had a chance to get a higher official rank. However, it was not applied to a royal family, the Soga, and local powerful families. Those families maintained a higher official rank.

The constitution in this period was not like the constitution of present-day Japan. The constitution of the Asuka Period was comprised of 17 articles. The articles outlined acceptable behavior of the people. For example, Article 2 said "worship Buddhism", Article 14 said "Not to be filled with envy at a person's envy" etc. Ideas from Confucianism and Buddhism were combined into the constitution.

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