- Tenpyō-kanpō
* nihongo|"Tenpyō-kanpō"|天平感宝 was a nihongo|Japanese era name|年号,|"nengō",|lit. "
year name" after "Tenpyō " and before "Tenpyō-shōhō ." This period spanned mere months in749 . The reigning emperor was nihongo|Shōmu"-tennō"|聖武天皇. [Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). "Annales des empereurs du Japon," p. 73.]Change of era
*;
749 : The new era name "Tenpyō-kanpō" is not found in some chronologies because its duration was so limited -- a period of four months during the last year of Shōmu's reign. The previous era ended and this new one commenced in "Tenpyō" 21, on the 14th day of the 4th month of 749.Brown, p. 274.] At some point shortly thereafter, the emperor determined to abdicate. Shōmu became the first emperor who renounced his throne to take the tonsure as a Buddhist monk. His wife, Empress Kōmyō, followed her husband's example by entering holy orders as well. [Varley, Paul. (1980). "Jinnō Shōtōki," p. 143.] Shōmu's reign and this era ended simultaneously. Also at this same time, the former-Emperor Shōmu began a new phase of his life and Shōmu's daughter began her reign.Events of the "Tenpyō-kanpō" era
* "Tenpyō 21", on the 14th day of the 4th month (
749 ): The new "Tenpyō-kanpō" era begins. [Brown, Delmer. (1979). "Gokanshō," p. 274.]
* "Tenpyō-kanpō 1", on the 2nd day of the 7th month (749 ): In the 25th year of Shōmu"-tennō"'s reign (聖武天皇25年), the emperor abdicated; and the succession (‘‘senso’’) was received by his daughter. Shortly thereafter, Empress Kōken is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’). [Brown, pp. 274; Varley, 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.] ]
* "Tenpyō-kanpō 1", on the 2nd day of the 7th month (749 ): To mark Empress Kōken is enthronment, the truncated "Tenpyō-kanpō" era is superseded by the new "Tenpyō-Shōhō" era. [see above] ]References
* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). [
Jien , 1221] , "Gukanshō (The Future and the Past, a translation and study of the Gukanshō, an interpretative history of Japan written in 1219)." 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 Society of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran ... Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]
* Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [Kitabatake Chikafusa , 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 0-231-04940-4External links
* National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
