SHOTOKU TAISHI (574–622), or Prince Shotoku, was a member of the Japanese imperial family during the sixth and seventh centuries CE.
Shotoku was born in 574 (572 or 573 according to some scholars) as the second son of Prince Tachibana no Toyohi, who ascended the throne as Emperor Yomei in 585.
Shotoku came to be regarded as an incarnation of Kannon, the god or goddess of mercy (Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit) on the basis of this story.
Shotoku was also a prolific author, by which he influenced ideas about ethics, the system of government, and how history was recorded.
Shotoku was born into the powerful Soga family, the second son of the short-reigned emperor Yomei.
Shotoku reorganized the court system using the Chinese model and instituted a system of ranks, which were identifiable by the color of the headgear associated with it.
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