DOKYO

Dokyo: translation

(d.722)

   A Buddhist monk of the mid-Nara period, notorious in Shinto history for having almost usurped the imperial throne by winning the confidence of the empress Koken (Empress Shotoku). He proclaimed himself dajo-daijin zenshi (prime minister priest) in 764 and then ho-o (dharma-king, pope) in 766. He claimed the endorsement of the oracle of Usa Hachiman. The courtier Wake no Kiyomaro who was dispatched to Usa by the empress to confirm the oracle was punished by exile when he returned to say that Hachiman had not sanctioned Dokyo's actions. However, when the empress died in 770 Dokyo was himself exiled and Wake no Kiyomaru returned to court.