| Research Abstract |
Before the Ritsuryo Law System was introduced in the 7th century, every residence of the royal family members- the Emperor (or Okimi), Empresses (Kisaki), Princes (Miko) and Princesses (Himemiko)-was called a Miya. Accordingly, there used to be a considerable number of Miyas in and around Asuka. The female servants in residence at Miyas were called "Kunin" Iiteirally meaning "a Miya person" -and closely related with Miyas. However, when the honorific title "Okimi" was changed into "Tenno" at the end of the 7th century, the word Miya began to be applied only to the residences of Tenno (Emperor), Kogo (Mother of the Crown Prince) and Kotaishi (Crown Prince). As the number of Miyas decreased ; the range of people entitled as Kunin narrowed. But then, the start of the Ritsuryo System brought about an addition to the rank of nobility to be served by Kunins : the Daijo Tenno (ex-Emneror). Originally the Daijo Tenno and the reigning Tenno shared the inner palace (Dairi), but in the mid-8th ce
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ntury, the reigning Tenno and the Daijo Tenno started to live senarately inside Kuni Palace. Until the latter half of the Nara Period, a Tenno and Daijo Tenno lived in two different Miyas inside the Palace. When Heijo Daijo Tenno planned to transfer the capital at the beginning of the 9th century, the construction of a new Miya and even a new metropolis independent of the reigning Tenno's capital city was intended. Actually, the plan was never put into practice : the Daijo Tenno was held in subjection to the reigning Tenno, if only ritually ; the residence of the Daijo Tenno ceased to be called a Miya. Meanwhile, it had been customary since the end of the 6th century for Kisakis to live separately from their Okimi. This custom survived until the middle of the Nara Period, even after Okimi was renamed Tenno. However, when Tenchi Tenno's rather than Tenmu Tenno's lineage became the legitimate imperial lineage at the end of the Nara Period, Tenno's legal wife Kogo quit her independent Miya and started to live with Tenno inside the Dairi. In time, other Kisakis followed suit, Eventually, Kokyu (the Imperial seraglio, literlly" the Miya in the back") was established inside the Dairi as a living space that Kisakis and Kunins shared. In the reign of Saga Tenno, the Kokyu was organized with Kisakis and Kunins who served the Tenno, with the Kogo heading the list. This is the way the Kokyu came to be, and the vicissitude of the concept of the Kokyu reflects the change in the status differences between men and women of nobility at the watershed period between the late Nara and early Heian Periods, when aristocratic Janan was turning from a matrilineal (or sexually equal) into a rcatriarchal society, and accordingly the political and social standing of women was on the decline. Less
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