The Tenji period is a brief span of years during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

of Japanese history. The Tenji period describes a span of years which were considered to have begun in the 1322nd year of the imperial dynasty.Murray, , citing William Bramsen. (1880). ; compare, the Japanese

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

website explains tha
"Japan organized its first calendar in the 12th year of Suiko (604)"
which was a pre-''nengō'' time frame. The timespan is the same as the reign of

Emperor Tenji , known first as and later as until his accession, was the 38th emperor of Japan who reigned from 668 to 671. He was the son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku (Empress Saimei), and his children included Empress Jitō, Empress Genmei, an ...

, which is traditionally considered to have been from 662 through 672.

Periodization

The adoption of the

Sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the gānzhī (干支) or stems-and-branches, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus amounting to a total of sixty years every cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...

calendar (''Jikkan Jūnishi'') in Japan is attributed to

Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō''): She introduced Buddhism in Japan and built many Buddhist temples, but she held the balance between Buddhism and Shintoism. Under her rule, Japan ...

in 604; and this Chinese calendar continued in use throughout the Tenji period. In 645, the system of was introduced. However, after the reign of Emperor Kotoku, this method of segmenting was temporarily abandoned or allowed to lapse. This interval continued during the Tenji period. Neither the years of Emperor Tenji's reign nor the Tenji period are included in the list ''nengō'' for this explicit duration of

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, which comes after Hakuchi and before Suchō. In the post-Taika or pre-Taihō chronology, the first year of Emperor Tenji's reign (天智天皇元年 or 天智天皇1年) is also construed as the first year of the Tenji period (天智1年).Tsuchihashi, Paul. (1952)
''Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872,'' p. 16

Non-nengō period

Non-nengō periods in the pre-Taihō calendar were published in 1880 by William Bramsen. These were refined in 1952 by Paul Tuschihashi in ''Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872.'' The pre-Tahiō calendar included two non-nengō gaps or intervals in the chronological series: :* Taika, August 645–February 650.Nussbaum, "''Taika''" at :* Hakuchi, February 650–December 654.Nussbaum, "''Hakuchi''" at . :**Non-nengō dating systems :* Shuchō, July–September 686.Nussbaum, "''Shuchō''" at . :**Non-nengō dating systems :* Taihō, March 701–May 704.Nussbaum, "''Taihō''" at . Nengō were not promulgated (or were allowed to lapse) during the gap years between Hakuchi and Shuchō, and in another gap between Shuchō and Taihō.

Events of the Tenji period

* 662 (''Tenji 1''): Empress Saimei dies; and her nephew delays receiving the succession (''senso''). Only years later does Emperor Tenji formally accede to the throne (''sokui'').Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''Jinnō Shōtōki'', p. 44; a distinct act of ''senso'' is unrecognized prior to

; and all sovereigns except

Jitō were medieval territory stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi shogunates. Appointed by the shōgun, ''jitō'' managed manors, including national holdings governed by the '' kokushi'' or provincial governor. There were als ...

, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have ''senso'' and ''sokui'' in the same year until the reign of

Emperor Go-Murakami (1328 – March 29, 1368) was the 97th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and a member of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period of rival courts. He reigned from September 18, 1339, until March 29, 13 ...

. * 662 (''Tenji 1''): A new chronological time frame is marked by the beginning of the reign of Emperor Tenji * 667 (''Tenji 6''): Six years after the death of

Empress Saimei The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, her mausoleum was reconstructed. Naka no Ōe''-shinnō'' had not yet been proclaimed as Emperor Tenji, which meant that he had not yet begun to create an official court around himself. In this year, he did at last establish his court at

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

-no-Miya in the

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

, where his enthronement was belatedly scheduled for the springtime of the following year.Titsingh, p. 54; Brown, p. 268. * 668 (''Tenji 7''): Emperor Tenji is formally enthroned.

Notes

References

* Bramsen, William. (1880). ''Japanese Chronological Tables: Showing the Date, According to the Julian or Gregorian Calendar, of the First Day of Each Japanese Month, from Tai-kwa 1st year to Mei-ji 6th year (645 AD to 1873 AD): with an Introductory Essay on Japanese Chronology and Calendars.'' Tokyo: Seishi Bunsha
OCLC 35728014
* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979)
''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past.''
Berkeley: University of California Press.
OCLC 251325323
* Murray, David. (1894). ''The Story of Japan.'' New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons
OCLC 1016340
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Odai Ichiran Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in t ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon.''
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Tsuchihashi, Paul Yashita, S.J. (1952). . Tokyo: Sophia University
OCLC 001291275
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa.'' New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

.
OCLC 6042764
* Zöllner, Reinhard. (2003). ''Japanische Zeitrechnung: ein Handbuch'' Munich: Iudicium Verlag.
OCLC 249297777

External links