Talk:Empress Kōken

Relations with Tang China

Could more be added to this article about this emperor's relations with Tang China (and Emperor Xuanzong of Tang)? 173.89.236.187 (talk) 17:05, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Empress Kōken. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120207003146/http://narashikanko.jp/english/aria_map/map_pdf/302.pdf to http://narashikanko.jp/english/aria_map/map_pdf/302.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 17:42, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Request to Editors

Please, can you somehow expand on part of her main biography? I have added as much verified information as I could to the part of her short biography, but, unfortunately, I do not have more extensive reliable information backed up by sources. Please, if any editor has such, let them write part of her Basic Biography, as it is too scarce. Super20020917 (talk) 12:11, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

GA review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Empress Kōken/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Generalissima (talk · contribs) 06:46, 8 June 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: Reverosie (talk · contribs) 17:08, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Hello! I'll be your GA reviewer. I've always been interested in medieval history, but medieval Japan is relatively new to me (though, I have researched the sengoku jidai). From my first reading of the article, I have very high hopes for this review!

Here's my initial review:

1. Is it well written?

   A. The prose is clear and concise, and the spelling and grammar are correct:

   B. It complies with the manual of style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation:

2. Is it verifiable with no original research, as shown by a source spot-check?

   A. It contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline:

   B. Reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose):

   C. It contains no original research:

   D. It contains no copyright violations nor plagiarism:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. It addresses the main aspects of the topic:

   B. It stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style):

4. Is it neutral?

   It represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each: (I need to do a more in-depth reading of the article before scoring this)

5. Is it stable?

   It does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute:

6. Is it illustrated, if possible, by images?

   A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content:

   B. Images are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions:

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

I'll move to the spot check now

Spot check (notice)

@Generalissima: There is an immediate code red:

Reference 50: Page 264 of Bender (1979) does not exist; the source ends on page 153. Since this article has various high-quality sources that match with what is written (and because another source has a frequently cited page 264), I will not quick-fail you on the suspicion that this is an innocent mistake.

However, I cannot go on with the review until this is addressed, and if it is not addressed within three to four days, I may have to quick fail you.

• @Reverosie: Oops, my bad - fixed. Generalissima (talk) (it/she) 03:18, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Thank you very much! I'll proceed with the review later today when I'm able to. 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 13:40, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

I'll be continuing with the review now, sorry it took me so long! 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 16:35, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Actual spot check

I'll be moving to the real spot check now.

Source 1: Bender (1979)

Reference 50 (Revised)

Article says that Dōkyō is promoted as "buddhist king" and "prince of the law", which is directly mentioned in the source. Pass

The PhD thesis is also accurate to the article. The spot check is done.

Review formatting

The rest of the review will be formatted like this:

I'll be abbreviating the paragraph and sentence I'm referring to in my suggestions to P and S. For example, paragraph 2, sentence 3 would be P2S3. The paragraph counter also resets with each new section.

I'll be adding more sections as I go instead of posting my entire review at once

Please use the  Done template or strikethrough to indicate that a problem has been fixed, and add any comments/questions after the points that you have. If you don't agree with one of my suggestions, please tell me, and we can discuss it. Some comments will be marked as "suggestions"; these are recommendations, not requirements, and you don't have to take them! 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 16:47, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Infobox

No suggestions for the infobox

Lead

• Suggestion: P1S3: She became Empress Regent in 749, after her father retired to become a Buddhist monk. Although it is a bit obvious, I'd suggest re-structuring this to emphasize that Kōken was specifically the regent for her father.
  • Glad you caught that - I meant the opposite, Empress Regnant. Generalissima (talk) (it/she) 05:39, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
• P1S5: Her father died in 756, and named a cousin unrelated to the Fujiwara, as her heir; There shouldn't be a comma after Fujiwara here
• P3S2: She oversaw land reform which placed limits on land ownership for all except Buddhist temples—alienating aristocrats and courtisans, ordered the foundation of a new capital, placed monastic officials on the Council of State for the first time, and ordered the construction of one million miniature stupas housing printed prayers to be distributed to major temples around Nara. This sentence is extremely long. It either needs to be shortened or split into more than one monolithic sentence.

Early life and background

No suggestions for the first part of this section. Well done!

Crown princess

• P1S6: Abe recounted how "my mother revealed that the royal stem line [of Prince Kusakabe] would end. To prevent that, it was necessary that I succeed, even though a woman." I'd suggest rephrasing the quotation to: Abe recounted how her "mother revealed that..." instead.
• P2S1: Abe was educated by the Chinese-educated scholar Kibi no Makibi, who taught her how to read Chinese classics such as the Book of Rites and the Book of Han I'd suggest rephrasing this to something a bit like "Abe was educated by Kibi no Makibi, who was educated in China and taught her how to read Chinese classics..."

First reign

• P1S1: At the beginning of her reign, Empress Kōken faced considerable political opposition from the Daijō-kan, the Council of State, with only three members of the fifteen-member council members of the Fujiwara clan This is phrased very awkwardly. Do you mean that just three members of the Fujiwara clan were in the Daijō-kan? Rephrasing for clarification is needed.
• P4S1: Prince Funado (one of Emperor Tenmu's grandsons) to be Kōken's heir. I'd suggest saying "to become Kōken's heir" instead
• P4S2: Funado was not related to the Fujiwara, outraging their supporters, while the declaration of an heir I'd suggest saying "and the declaration of an heir..." instead

Naramaro conspiracy and resignation

• P1S5: Some princes reduced to the status of commoners before their executions. I'd suggest saying "Some princes were reduced..." instead
• P1S7: The fate of Naramaro himself is unknown, but his family avoided the extermination prescribed for the family of those convicted of high treason. This should say "families of those" instead of "family of those"
• P2S2: This miraculous sign prompted to issue an edict five days later, proclaiming the beginning of a new era, I'd suggest saying "prompted Kōken" to specify

Interregnum

• P3S1: In the sixth month of 762, soon after her return to Nara, Kōken issued an edict reproaching Junnin as disloyal and failing to uphold filial piety. A bit of context on how Kōken immediately returned to politics despite becoming a nun would be nice to have here.
• Suggestion: P3S2: "for government, the sitting monarch will handle small matters. Matters of importance—punishments and rewards—will be mine to command." Perhaps using the block quote template here could be nice. It would look like this:

She transferred much of the emperor's power to herself, stating,

"for government, the sitting monarch will handle small matters. Matters of importance—punishments and rewards—will be mine to command."

Although she was emulating the authority...

Whether or not you include this is up to you

• P3S3: Although she was emulating the authority previously held by her mother Kōmyō, the edict granted her powers unprecedented for a Daijō Tennō; she may have been inspired by Ruizong of Tang, who had passed the throne to his heir Xuanzong, while reserving power over the most important matters for himself. This sentence is very long. I'd suggest replacing the semicolon with a period

Nakamaro's rebellion

Immediately, the "see also" header should say "main article" instead

• P1S4: taking with him the seals and bells This should say "taking with them", since Nakamaro was not alone

Second reign

• Suggestion: General: I'd suggest mentioning Prince Shōtoku somewhere in regards to Kōken/Shōtoku's new name
  • Added a footnote. -G
• Suggestion: As this section is very long, I'd suggest dedicating a subsection to the paragraphs solely about her religious reforms. As you are far more knowledgeable about this topic than I am, I'll leave it up to you how you'd like to do this (if you would like to do it at all).
• P1S1: that her father Emperor Shōmu had Should say "Her father, Emperor Shōmu..."
• P2S2: She organized a number of reforms favoring Buddhist temples; she restricted the amount of land aristocrats and non-Buddhist institutions could privately own, and established separate lines of command for secular and Buddhist affairs, organized under distinct and parallel hierarchies of ministers and advisors. This sentence is too long
• Shōtoku's edict: While it is in a block quote, the edict should be in quotation marks
• Suggestion: P5S2: a temple of the deity Hachiman I'd suggest specifying that Hachiman is a shinto deity (According to Hachiman's page, this is just before he was syncretised into Buddhism by the following events, so I think it makes sense, but I'll leave it up to you)
  • Bender specifically describes elements of Buddhist worship here, so I think it's fair to call him Shinto-Buddhist; added. -G
• Suggestion: P5S5: changing both of their names to derogatory puns Do we know what these puns are? I'd suggest adding them (perhaps in a footnote)

Death and legacy

• P1S3: (a great-grandson of Emperor Tenji and husband to one of Shōtoku's half-sisters) I'd suggest mentioning that this half-sister of Shōtoku's is Princess Inoe
• P2S2: that two more empresses regnant (Meishō and Go-Sakuramachi) reigned. This should say regnants
  • I don't think so actually, see Category:Empresses regnant

Overall

@Generalissima: I always lay down my procedures of passing and failing here, but since you've completed most of the review already, they don't matter very much.

In short: If you address all of my suggestions within three to four days from now, I will quick pass the article. If not, I will put the article on hold for as long as you need, but ideally not over three weeks.

However, if you stop working on the review for an extended period of time and do not give me a reason as to why, I may have to fail you (though, as established above, this is practically guaranteed not to happen)

This article was incredibly fun to review. Good luck! 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 22:01, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

• @Reverosie: Responded! Thank you. Generalissima (talk) (it/she) 04:55, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

  Wonderful! I'll do one more brief reading of the article before passing it. Excellent work! 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 04:59, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

  I've passed the article 🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 05:03, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by History6042 talk 01:42, 23 June 2025 (UTC)

(

• Comment or view
• Article history

)

• ... that after resigning the throne in favor of a relative, the Japanese Empress Kōken shaved her head, became a Buddhist nun, and forced her way back into power?

• Source: Piggott, Joan (2003). "The Last Classical Female Sovereign: Kōken-Shōtoku Tennō". In Ko, Dorothy; Haboush, JaHyun Kim; Piggott, Joan R. (eds.). Women and Confucian Cultures in Premodern China, Korea, and Japan. University of California Press ISBN 9780520927827. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1pp3b9. Pages 56 to 60.

• Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Class War

Improved to Good Article status by Generalissima (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 116 past nominations.

Generalissima (talk) (it/she) 23:58, 20 June 2025 (UTC).

• Article is recently a GA, nice work btw Laura! Hook is properly cited, article meets all criteria. All good. Arconning (talk) 13:46, 21 June 2025 (UTC)

DYK hook and lede

'that after resigning the throne in favor of a relative, the Japanese Empress Kōken shaved her head, became a Buddhist nun, and forced her way back into power'

Both the hook and the lede highlight the fact that she 'shaved her head' as something separate from 'became a Buddhist nun', which seems pointless, when one was just a customary formal expression of the other and, thus, its automatic result. Noting it separately would seem to imply that it was some kind of fashion choice or a form of self-expression. 78.154.15.163 (talk) 02:25, 27 June 2025 (UTC)