Tenpyō

Tenpyō (天平, Tenpyō^?) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) after Jinki and before Tenpyō-kanpō. This period spanned the years from 729 through 749. The reigning emperor was Shōmu-tennō (聖武天皇).^[1]

Change of Era

• Tenpyō gannen (天平元年; 729): The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Jinki 6, on the 5th day of the 8th month of 729.^[2].

Events of the Tenpyō Era

• Tenpyō 12 740: The capital is moved to Kuni-kyō^[3]
• Tenpyō 13 (741): The Emperor calls for nationwide establishment of provincial temples. Provincial temples ("kokubunji") and provincial nunneries ("kokubunniji") were established throughout the country. ^[4] The more formal name for these "kokubunji" was "konkomyo-shitenno-gokoku no tera" (meaning "temples for the protection of the cournty by the four guardian deities of the golden light"). The more formal name for these "bokubunniji" was "hokke-metuzai no tera" (meaing "nunneries for eliminating sin by means of the Lotus Sutra").^[5]
• Tenpyō 15 (743): The Emperor issues a rescript to build the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), later to be completed and placed in Tōdai-ji, Nara.^[6]
• Tenpyō 15 (743): The law of Perpetual Ownership of Cultivated Lands (墾田永代私財法) issued
• Tenpyō 16 (744): Naniwa-kyō announced as capital.^[7]
• Tenpyō 17 (745): The Emperor declares by himself Shigaraki-kyō the capital ^[8]
• Tenpyō 17 (745): The capital returns to Heijō-kyō, construction of the Great Buddha resumes.<ref.>where is citation?<./ref>
• Tenpyō 20 (749): After a 25-year reign, Emperor Shōmu abdicates in favor of his daughter, Takano-hime, who will become Empress Kōken.^[9] After his abdication, Shomu took the tonsure, thus becoming the first retired emperor to become a Buddhist priest.^[10] Empress Komyo, following her husband’s example, also took holy vows in becoming a Buddhist nun.^[11]
• 752: The Eye-opening Ceremony celebrating the completion of the Great Buddha is held at Tōdai-ji

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, ed. (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.--Two copies 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 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 0-231-04940-4

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

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