was a Japanese history book written in the early

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, narrating events in chronological order. The ''Rokudai'', meaning six generations, refers to the six reigns of Emperors Takakura,

Antoku was the 81st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1180 through 1185. His death marked the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the Kamakura period. During this time, the Im ...

Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; ...

, Tsuchimikado,

Juntoku (22 October 1197 – 7 October 1242) was the 84th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1210 through 1221, a part of Japan's Kamakura period, Kamakura Period. Genealogy Before his a ...

, and

Go-Horikawa (22 March 1212 – 31 August 1234) was the 86th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1221 through 1232. This 13th-century sovereign was named after the 11th-century Emperor Horika ...

. The ''Rokudai'' was written between the fifth month of 1223 and the end of 1224, beginning with the 1156

Hōgen rebellion The was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about Japanese Imperial succession. The dispute was also about the degree of control exercised by the Fujiwara clan who had become hereditary Imperial regents during the Heian p ...

and ends with a description of the punishments meted out to those involved in the

Jōkyū War , also known as the Jōkyū Disturbance or the Jōkyū Rebellion, was fought in Japan between the forces of Retired Emperor Go-Toba and those of the Hōjō clan, regents of the Kamakura shogunate, whom the retired emperor was trying to overthro ...

. Hirota, Akiko (1989). Ex-Emperor Go-Toba: A study in personality, politics and poetry (PhD thesis). University of California Los Angeles.

Minamoto no Mitsuyuki Minamoto no Mitsuyuki (源光行 1163–1244) was an author, as well as governor in Kawachi province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was ...

was long considered to be the author; recently, historians have argued that Fujiwara no Tadataka, who was retired at the time the book was written, is a more likely candidate. The book contends that

Emperor Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; ...

lost the

because of his

immorality Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to ...

, casting him as a villain, and that the event therefore does not necessarily challenge the authority of the emperor and his court. This viewpoint, which was convenient for both the imperial court and the newly formed

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Yori ...

, had profound influence in later relations between the ''

kuge The was a Japanese Aristocracy (class), aristocratic Social class, class that dominated the Japanese Imperial Court in Kyoto. The ''kuge'' were important from the establishment of Kyoto as the capital during the Heian period in the late 8th ce ...

'' aristocratic class and that of

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

References

External links

* Japanese books 13th-century history books Books about Japan Early Middle Japanese texts Kamakura-period history books {{japan-hist-book-stub

See also

References

External links