Chrysanthemum Throne - Rhetorical Usage

Rhetorical Usage

This flexible English term is also a rhetorical trope. Depending on context, the Chrysanthemum Throne can be construed as a metonymy, which is a rhetorical device for an allusion relying on proximity or correspondence, as for example referring to actions of the Emperor or as "actions of the Chrysanthemum Throne." The Chrysanthemum throne is also understood as a synecdoche, which is related to metonymy and metaphor in suggesting a play on words by identifying a closely related conceptualization, e.g.,

• referring to a part with the name of the whole, such as "Chrysanthemum Throne" for the mystic process of transferring Imperial authority -- as in:

December 18, 876 (Jōgan 18, on the 29th day of the 11th month): In the 18th year of Emperor Seiwa's reign (清和天皇18年), he ceded the Chrysanthemum Throne to his son, which meant that the young child received the succession (‘‘senso’’). Shortly thereafter, Emperor Yōzei is said to have formally acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).

• referring to the whole with the name of a part, such as "Chrysanthemum Throne" for the serial symbols and ceremonies of enthronement -- as in:

January 20, 877 (Gangyō 1, on the 3rd day of the 1st month) Yōzei was formally installed on the Chrysanthemum Throne; and the beginning of a new nengō was proclaimed.

• referring to the general with the specific, such as "Chrysanthemum Throne" for Emperorship or senso -- as in:

Before Emperor Yōzei ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina) was Sadakira Shinnō (貞明親王).

• referring to the specific with the general, such as "Chrysanthemum Throne" for the short reign of Emperor Yōzei or equally as well for the ambit of the Imperial system.

During the State Visit in 2007 of the Emperor and Empress of Japan to the United Kingdom, the Times reported that "last night’s dinner was as informal as it could get when the House of Windsor entertains the Chrysanthemum Throne."