著者

仁藤 敦史

出版者

国立歴史民俗博物館

雑誌

国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 (ISSN:02867400)

巻号頁・発行日

no.50, pp.p3-22, 1993-02

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皇子宮とは、古代において大王宮以外に営まれた王族の宮のうち皇子が居住主体である宮を示す。本稿では、この皇子宮の経営主にはどのような王族が、どのような条件でなり得たのかを考察の目的とした。その結果、皇子宮の経営主体は大兄制と密接な関係にあるが、必ずしも大兄に限定されないことが確認できた。皇子宮の経営は、王位継承資格を有する王族内の有力者が担当し、とりわけ同母兄弟中の長子である大兄が経営主体になることが多かったが、それ以外にも、庶弟のなかで人格資質において卓越した人物が特に「皇弟(スメイロド)」と称されて、その経営権が承認されていた。穴穂部皇子・泊瀬仲王・軽皇子・大海人皇子・弓削皇子などがその実例と考えられる。「皇弟」は天皇の弟を示すという通説的解釈が存在するが、実際の用例を検討するならば、通説のように同母兄が大王位にある場合に用いられる例は意外に少なく、穴穂部皇子や弓削皇子など大兄以外の有力な皇子に対する称号として用いられるのが一般的であった。「皇弟(スメイロド)」の用字が天皇号の使用以前に遡れないとするならば、本来的には「大兄」の称号に対応して「大弟(オホイロド)」と称されていたことが推定される。ただし、大王と同じ世代のイロド皇子がすべて「皇弟」と称されたわけではないことに留意すべきであり、大兄でなくても、人格・資質において卓越した皇子が第二子以下に存在した場合に限り、こうした称号が補完的に用いられたと考えられる。「大兄の原理」のみにより王位継承は決定されるわけではなく、「皇弟の原理」とでも称すべき異母兄弟間の継承や人格・資質をも問題にする副次的・補完的な継承原理は「大兄の時代」とされる継体朝以降も底流として存在したことが推測されるのである。The term, "Prince's Palace" is used to mean a royal palace which is the main residence of a prince and run separate to the imperial palace, in ancient times. This paper aims to examine what kind of royal person was able to become the head of a prince's palace, and under what conditions.As a result, it was confirmed that the head of a prince's palace was not necessarily limited to the eldest brother, though there was a close connection with the eldest-prince system. An influential member of royalty with the right of succession to the throne was in charge of the management of the prince's palace. The eldest prince, that is the eldest of brothers born from the same mother, became the head in most cases. However, the right to manage the palace was often authorized to a brother born from a different mother, but gifted with excellent character and talent. Such a brother was given the special title of "Imperial Brother (Sumeirodo)". Princes Anahobe-no-miko, Hatsuse-no-Naka-no-ō, Karu-no-miko, Ōama-no-miko, and Yuge-no-miko are considered to be examples of such princes. There exists a conventional understanding that "Sumeirodo" meant a brother of the Emperor. However, an examination of examples of usage shows that there were in fact few Imperial Brothers whose brother born from the same mother was on the throne, as the conventional theory supposes. The term was generally used as a title for influential princes, such as Anahobe-no-miko and Yuge-no-miko, who were not the eldest of brothers. If we assume that the usage of "Sumeirodo" cannot date back to before the use of the title of "Tennō" (Emperor), it may be supposed that these princes were originally called "Ōirodo", as opposed to the title of "eldest brother".However, we should note the fact that not all Irodo princes of the same generation as the Emperor were called "Sumeirodo". It may be considered that only when there was a prince of outstanding character and talent among the second and subsequent brothers, the title of "Sumeirodo" was used supplementary. The succession to the throne was not determined only by the "principle of the eldest brother". It is supposed that there underlay a secondary and supplementary principle of succession, which may be called the "principle of Sumeirodo". It allowed for the possibility of succession from among brothers born from different mothers and took into account the character and talent of the successor, even after the Keitai era, which is regarded as the "age of the eldest brother".