The Cloistered and Retired Emperor
Retired emperors were figures who abdicated from their position as emperor and left the position to younger members of the imperial line. These retired emperors would either remain close to the throne where they could exert their influence, or they would move to temples or monastic communities, where they became known as cloistered emperors. This movement meant that retired emperors did not just hold power at court; it also limited how much control any one courtly faction could hold. Rather, they held influence both within temples and over successive emperors, and it was the form of this influence that changed.
The retired emperor’s political power existed primarily through their ability to control the imperial line, and therefore the direction of succession, and beyond that to influence the decisions the successive emperor made. Control of the imperial succession also meant control of the flow of polical power (1). Tensions between imperial lineages were thus reflected in the familial authority that the retired emperor could exert; when multiple retired emperors existed, they would compete on the basis of seniority and familial links to the current emperor, in efforts to maintain their own position of influence behind the throne. In each case, the retired emperor’s authority was limited by the power that the current emperor held, and would rise and fall in tandem with it.
The retired emperor’s authority and influence within temples was formed from rituals. Rituals like the coronation abhiseka introduced for Emperor Gosanjō’s coronation were secret in nature and in transmission; knowledge of these rituals was carefully controlled, with only select temple initiates and the emperors, both current and retired, aware of its form. Performing these rituals improved status within both the court and the temples and elevated the recipient so that they were considered a master of that ritual subject (2). Just as the emperor was able to direct the flow of power through regulations and decrees, so too was the retired emperor’s status bolstered by the observation of ritual through their reign.
This elevated status let retired emperors establish themselves within monastic communities. The cloisters that formed around them were able to bypass temple hierarchy while still gaining influence within temples, and retired emperors in particular were able to finance the creation of new monastic sites. As with other elements of the Insei system, the retired emperors' authority was thus twofold and intertwined with the background processes of ritual
1. Mikael S. Adolphson, “Myōun and the Heike: Monastic Influence in Twelfth-Century Japan.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 47-2 (2020): 192.
2. Fabio Rambelli and Or Porath, “General Introduction: Rituals of Initiation and Consecration (kanjō) in Premodern Japan,” in Rituals of Initiation and Consecration in Premodern Japan, ed. Fabio Rambelli and Or Porath (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2022), 2.