The traditional biography of Fujiwara Nakamaro: formation of the rebel image in the context of historical narrative

Abstract

The article is based upon the analysis of the traditional biography describing the life of Fujiwara-no Asomi Nakamaro, one of the most influential politicians of the Nara period (710-794). The biography is a part of the official historical chronicle “Shoku nihongi” (797). Nakamaro, in contrast to the most of the other heroes of the chronicle, described as a rebel who tried to usurp the imperial government and disrupted its monopoly on violence. The attempt is made to trace the specific points of the formation of the image of a rebel, so as the functioning of this biography in the text of “Shoku nihongi” and in the context of the concept of historical memory in Ancient Japan.