Temmu (period)

The years of Emperor Temmu's reign or the "Temmu" ( _ja. 天武) period should not be misunderstood as a Japanese era name (年号, "nengō", lit. year name). The nengō system which was introduced in reign of Emperor Kotoku was abandoned at the end of his reign, and the era name was not updated for a quite some time. ::"For further discussion, see ."

During the years after Emperor Kōtoku, the reigning sovereigns was initially Saimei"-tennō" (斉明天皇), then Tenji"-tennō" (天智天皇), then Kōbun"-tennō" (弘文天皇), and then Temmu"-tennō" (天武天皇). [Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du Japon," pp. 30-58.] The first year of Emperor Temmu's rule (天武天皇元年; 673) could be arguably abbreviated as "the first year of Temmu" (天武元年; 673), but this is nowhere understood as a true nengō. The reigns of Japanese emperors and empresses are not nengō, nor were the two considered to be the same until Meiji came on the scene.

References to the emperors who ruled during this period are properly written as, for example, :*"the 3rd year of Temmu" (天武天皇３年), and :*not "Temmu 3" (天武３年).Nengō were abolished during the interregnum years between Hakuchi and Shuchō, and again between Shuchō and Taihō.

:*The commonly accepted pre-Tahiō nengō are::*Taika: 645.6.19–650.2.15:*Hakuchi: 650.2.15–654.10.?:**GAP/interregnum:*Shuchō: 686.7.20–686.9.?:**GAP/interregnum:*Taihō: 701.3.21–704.5.10

Non"-nengō" period

* "1st year of Temmu's reign" (天武天皇元年; 673): A new period is marked by the beginning of the reign of Emperor Temmu, but the end of the previous nengō Hakuchi 6 (654) does not imply the commencement of a new nengō in the succeeding reigns.

Events of Temmu period

* "1st year of Temmu's reign" (673): Emperor Tenji dies; and his son, Ō-ama-shinnō (later to become Emperor Temmu), declines to receive the succession (‘‘senso’’). Shortly thereafter, his older brother, Ōtomo (posthumously known as Emperor Kōbun after 1870), formally accedes to the throne (‘‘sokui’’). [Varley, H. Paul. (1980). "Jinnō Shōtōki," p. 44. [A distinct act of "senso" is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have "senso" and "sokui" in the same year until the reign of Go-Murakami.] ] Anticipating trouble will foment around his brother, Emperor Kōbun leads an army against his brother. The forces defending against Kōbun's attack are ultimately successful, and belatedly, the son whom Emperor Tenji had designated heir accepts "senso" and "sokui." [Titsingh, p.58.] Some sources describe Temmu as an usurper, but however he may have been described in his day or ours, his eventual accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne is undisputed.

References

Notes

Further reading

* Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). "Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida." Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō (1652)] . "Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran --"Two digitized examples of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006." Click here to read the original text in French.]
* Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [Kitabatake Chitafusa, 1359] , "Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley)." New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4

External links

* National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]