Fujiwara no Korechika

Who They Were

Fujiwara no Korechika (藤原伊周, ふじわらの これちか) was a court noble of the Heian period, born in 974 and dead on 14 February 1010. He was the second son of Fujiwara no Michitaka, one of the most powerful men at the imperial court, and of Takashina no Takako, who was also known as Kō-no-Naishi (高内侍). His family line is called the Hokke, and more narrowly the Naka-Kampaku-ke (中関白家), the "house of the middle regent" — the branch of the Fujiwara founded by his father.

His world was the Heian court, an aristocratic society in which real power flowed not from the throne but from the office of regent. Korechika's sister Teishi was married to Emperor Ichijō, which placed the family at the very centre of politics. He was a kugyō (公卿), a term for the small circle of nobles who held the highest court ranks and offices. He is also remembered by two alternative names, Gidō-sanshi (儀同三司) and Sochi no Naidaijin (帥内大臣).

Life and Career

Korechika was born in 974, in the first year of the Ten'en era (天延). His father Michitaka dominated the court as regent, and the family's position seemed secure. When Michitaka died, Korechika expected to inherit that dominance. He aimed to become regent for his young brother-in-law, Emperor Ichijō, and to hold the position that his father had held.

Standing in his way was his uncle, Fujiwara no Michinaga. The two men fought a long contest for control of the court, and Korechika's ambitions ultimately came to nothing. The struggle ran on until the unexpected death of Empress Teishi, after which Michinaga's daughter Shoshi became Ichijō's sole empress. With that, Michinaga's grip on the court was complete.

In Chōtoku 2 (長徳2年), that is 996, Korechika and his younger brother Takaie were exiled to Dazaifu, the government headquarters on Kyushu. The charges against Korechika were serious: he was accused of shooting an arrow at the Retired Emperor Kazan, and of performing an esoteric Shingon rite called the Daigensuihō (大元帥法), a ritual reserved for the emperor alone. He was pardoned a year later. He went on to hold the office of Jun-Daijin (准大臣), associate minister.

Why They Matter

Korechika is the man Michinaga beat. The contest between them decided which branch of the Fujiwara family would control the court for a generation, and it ended in Michinaga's favour. Once Teishi was dead and Shoshi was Emperor Ichijō's only empress, there was no rival centre of power left. Michinaga's authority rested on his daughter's position, and Korechika's claim rested on his sister's — and his sister was gone.

The charges of 996 also show how politics and religion were fused at the Heian court. Shooting an arrow at a retired emperor was an act of lèse-majesté; performing the Daigensuihō, a Shingon ritual meant for the emperor's protection, was a claim to imperial prerogative. Exile to Dazaifu was the standard punishment for a noble who had overreached, and Korechika's return a year later shows that the sentence was political rather than permanent.

His career is a compact illustration of how Heian power worked: marriage into the imperial family, the office of regent, and the favour of the emperor were the levers of government, and losing them meant losing everything.

The Name in Japanese

The name is written 藤原伊周. It is read ふじわらの これちか in kana, and romanised as Fujiwara no Korechika. The particle の (no) links the family name to the personal name.

藤 — read fuji here. It is the character for wisteria, the climbing plant. The Fujiwara took their name from the place where the family's ancestor was said to have been granted land, and the wisteria became their emblem.

原 — read hara here. It means field, plain, or wilderness. Together, 藤原 (Fujiwara) is a surname, not a description of a person.

伊 — read kore here. This character is used mainly in names. Its older sense is this or that one, and it appears in the name of Ise, the province and shrine.

周 — read chika here. It means circumference, around, or to go around. In names it is read in several ways, and here it supplies the chika of Korechika.

The reading of the personal name is therefore Kore (伊) plus chika (周). The family name comes first, as is normal in Japanese, followed by the particle の and the given name. In Heian usage, nobles were often referred to by an office or a residence rather than by their personal name, which is why Korechika also appears in the records as Gidō-sanshi and Sochi no Naidaijin.

Legacy

Korechika's descendants carried the family name forward. His children included Fujiwara no Michimasa, Fujiwara no Akichō, Fujiwara no Shūko, Fujiwara no Tadamasa, Kodama Koreyuki, and an eldest daughter. His wives included Ise no Taifu, a daughter of Minamoto no Shigemitsu, and Shinden no Ue.

His death on 14 February 1010 closed a life that had begun in 974 and had been spent almost entirely in the high politics of the Heian court. The Naka-Kampaku-ke, the branch his father had founded, did not recover the dominance it had briefly held. Michinaga's line, by contrast, went on to shape the regency for the rest of the Heian period.