Background
Tennō Saga was born on 10 October 786. He was the second son of Emperor Kammu. In 809 his elder brother, Emperor Heizei, abdicated because of illness and turned the throne over to him, making him the fifty-second ruler of Japan.
嵯峨天皇
Tennō Saga was born on 10 October 786. He was the second son of Emperor Kammu. In 809 his elder brother, Emperor Heizei, abdicated because of illness and turned the throne over to him, making him the fifty-second ruler of Japan.
A year after he became an Enperor, the so-called Fujiwara no Kusuko revolt broke out, an abortive attempt by Fujiwara no Kusuko and her brother to restore Emperor Heizei to the throne, but order was restored by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro and his associates. This same year the emperor set up the Kurododokoro, an office directly under the supervision of the ruler designed to handle confidential documents and other matters of state, and assigned Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu and Rose no Notari to head it. In 823 he abdicated, making way for Emperor Junna.
The emperor took an active part in cultural as well as political matters, working enthusiastically to introduce elements of Chinese culture to Japan.
On his order the Ryounshu was compiled, the first collection of kanshi, or poems written in Chinese by Japanese, to be compiled on imperial command, and he also directed the compilation of legal codes and works of history.
He was an outstanding calligrapher, along with Kukai and Tachibana no Haya- nari comprising the so-called Sampitsu, or Three Masters of Calligraphy, of the time.
