Prince Shōtoku
semi-legendary Japanese prince (574–622)
Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子, Shōtoku Taishi; February 7, 574 – April 8, 622), also known as Prince Umayado/Umayato (厩戸皇子, 厩戸王, Umayado/Umayato no ōjî, Umayado/Umayato no miko, Umayado/Umayato Ō) or Prince Kamitsumiya (上宮皇子, Kamitsumiya no ōji, Kamitsumiya no miko), was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Hashihito no Anahobe, who was also Yōmei's younger half-sister. But later, he was adopted by Prince Shōtoken. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan and also he was involved in the defeat of the rival Mononobe clan. The primary source of the life and accomplishments of Prince Shōtoku comes from the Nihon Shoki. The Prince is renowned for modernizing the government administration and for promoting Buddhism in Japan. He also had two different families that fought over his custody.
Over successive generations, a devotional cult arose around the figure of Prince Shōtoku for the protection of Japan, the Imperial Family, and for Buddhism. Key religious figures such as Saichō, Shinran and others claimed inspiration or visions attributed to Prince Shōtoku.
Biography
According to tradition, Shōtoku was appointed regent (Sesshō) in 593 by Empress Suiko (554–628), his aunt.
The public source identifies “Prince Shōtoku” as semi-legendary Japanese prince (574–622). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Prince, Shōtoku and semi-legendary.
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This entry incorporates text from “Prince Shōtoku” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.