The legends also say that he died at 126 years old, so as you can see, we can't trust that date.

傳說中還說他死於 12 6歲，所以你可以看到，我們不能相信那個日期。

The first Emperor we can historically verify was Emperor Kinmei, whose reign started in 539 AD, more than a thousand years after the mythical date.

我們可以在歷史上證實的第一位皇帝是金明天皇，他的統治始於公元 539 年，比神話中的日期晚了一千多年。

That means the Japanese Imperial House, the Yamato Family, is about 1,500 years old.

這意味著日本皇室大和家族大約有 1,500 年的歷史。

Still the longest surviving continuous monarchy in the world⏤the longest we can verify, at least.

仍然是世界上存續時間最長的君主制國家，至少是我們能核實的最長時間。

So, the question is: How did it survive so long?

所以問題是：它是如何存活這麼久的？

After all, China has a much longer history, and Chinese dynasties collapsed all the time.

畢竟，中國的歷史要長得多，而中國的各個朝代一直在崩潰。

What made Japan different?

是什麼讓日本不同？

The most common answer I've found is, "Oh, the Emperor is just a figurehead, so the powerful people thought, 'We may as well let them sit on the throne, what's the harm?'"

我發現最常見的答案是：「哦，皇帝只是一個人物，所以強大的人們想：『我們不妨讓他坐上王位，能有什麼壞處呢？』」

And, yes, that's part of the answer, but it's not the entire answer.

是的，這是答案的一部分，但不是全部答案。

Sure, for most of Japanese history, the Emperor had little power, and it was the shogun or regents or clans that ruled.

當然，在日本多數歷史中，天皇沒有什麼權力，統治的是幕府將軍或攝政者或部族。

But that wasn't always the case.

但情況並不總是如此。

For example, in the Heian Period, the Emperor had fairly significant power,

例如，在平安時代，天皇擁有相當大的權力，

and the conflict in the Imperial Court was about who got to enact laws in the Emperor's stead and who can put their people on the throne.

而在朝廷中的衝突在於誰能代替皇帝制定法律、誰可以把他們的人放在王位上。

Another example, during the Kenmu Restoration, an Emperor ousted the ruling shogun to briefly restore a civilian government.

另一個例子是建武維新期間，一位天皇趕走了執政的幕府將軍以短暫恢復一個平民政府。

Even if the Emperor held no power at all, you could easily imagine some narcissistic Caesar-type character overthrowing the Emperor to found a new dynasty with actual power.

即使皇帝完全不掌握任何權力，你也可以很容易地想象會有自戀的凱撒式人物推翻皇帝，建立了一個擁有實權的新王朝。

But this didn't happen.

但這並沒有發生。

Many times, you had powerful clans placing someone friendly on the throne instead of their own leader.

許多時候，會有強大的部族將友好的人放在王位上，而不是自己的領導人。

So, the Emperor having little power is not the whole story.

所以，皇帝沒有什麼權力並不是全部。

The missing part?

缺少的部分？

Religion.

宗教。

Japanese emperors all claim to be directly descended from the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, the most important kami in the Shinto religion.

日本的皇帝都宣稱自己是太陽女神天照的直接後裔，太陽神是神道教中最重要的神靈。

The legendary Emperor Jimmu was said to be the great-grandson of the Sun Goddess.

傳說中的神武天皇據說是太陽女神的曾孫子。

This idea took root in the public consciousness and became the basis for the Emperor's political legitimacy up until the 1950s.

這一思想在公眾意識中紮根，並成為皇帝的政治基礎，直到 1950 年代。

You were a legitimate emperor only if you came from the same bloodline as the Sun Goddess.

只有當你來自與太陽女神相同的血脈時，才是一個合法的帝王。

If not for this idea, the Yamato Imperial House probably would have ended long ago, replaced by another, more powerful government.

如果沒有這個想法，大和皇室可能早就結束，被另一個更強大的政府所取代。

The Japanese found ways to work around their pesky Emperor.

日本人找到了繞過他們惹人厭天皇的方法。

The Heian court had the position of regent, an official who ruled and made decisions on a young emperor's behalf until the emperor came of age.

平安朝廷設有攝政王一職，這是一個統治和決策的官員，一個直到年輕皇帝成年前都做為其代表。

Makes sense.

有道理。

But then, when it came time to give power back, regents started saying, "Uh, no. Nah, nah, nah, nah."

但當到了歸還權力的時候，執政者開始說：「呃，不。不、不、不、不。"

This became common practice⏤those exact words.

這些文字變成了常態。

Regents and retired emperors realized that religion actually made it hard for the Emperor to rule.

攝政王和退休的皇帝們意識到，宗教實際上使皇帝很難以統治。

You see, the position of Emperor was both religious and political.

是這樣的，皇帝的地位具宗教性以及政治性。

The Emperor had to participate in all kinds of rituals and ceremonies, they had to travel to all these different temples.

皇帝不得不參加各種儀式和典禮、不得不旅行到所有不同的寺廟。

They barely had any time to make political decisions, to the point where Emperors started to retire early so they could finally get some work done from behind the scenes.

他們幾乎沒有時間做出政治決定，以致皇帝們開始提前退休，才終於可以從幕後完成一些工作。

In the Sengoku Period, the Imperial Court's economic and political power were at their lowest.

在戰國時期，朝廷的經濟和政治權力都到了最低谷。

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose to power, could he have eliminated the Emperor forever and started his own line?

當豐臣秀吉上臺後，他是否可以永遠消滅天皇並開始自己的血脈？

Perhaps.

也許。

It's hard to say whether people would have stood for it.

很難說人們是否會支持他。

He might have thought this, too, and decided against it.

他可能也這樣想過，但決定不這樣做。

Toyotomi Hideyoshi came from peasant blood, not nobility.

豐臣秀吉來自農民的血統，而不是貴族。

He wanted the Emperor's blessing, which brought authority and respect.

他希望得到皇帝的祝福，這能帶來權威和尊重。

So, he gave the Emperor back some power in return for the Emperor's support.

所以他把一些權力還給了皇帝，以換取其支持。

You see how the Japanese bent over backwards to keep the Imperial Family?

看到日本人是如何彎下腰來保住皇室的？

It was fine because the elites already set a long precedent for ruling from the outside.

這還好，因為精英們已經開創了從外部進行統治的長期先例。

The people needed the Emperor to have legitimate blood, and the respect of the Emperor was too great to risk messing with.

人民需要皇帝擁有合法的血統，而對皇帝的尊重大到不能冒險亂來。

Hey, you.

嘿，大家。

So, I did something different with today's video⏤less art, if you noticed.

那麼，我對今天的影片做了不同的處理，如果你注意到的話，少了一些藝術。

I explain why in the description; let me know if you agree or not.

我在描述欄中解釋了原因，請跟我說你是否同意。

Thanks for watching!

謝謝各位觀看！