Tengen (era)

Tengen (天元) was a Japanese era (年号, nengō, "year name") after Jōgen and before Eikan. This period spanned the years from November 978 through April 983.[1] The reigning emperor was En'yū-tennō (円融天皇).[2]

Change of era

• February 20, 978 Tengen gannen (天元元年): The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Jōgen 3, on the 15th day of the 4th month of 976.[3]

Events of the Tengen era

• 978 (Tengen 1, 8th month): The emperor allowed the daughter of Fujiwara no Kaneie to be introduced into his household; and shortly thereafter, they had a son.[4]
• 978 (Tengen 1, 10th month): Fujiwara no Yoritada was elevated to the position of Daijō-daijin; Minamoto no Masanobu was made Sadaijin; and, Fujiwara no Kaneie was made Udaijin.[4]

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Tengen" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 958, p. 958, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived 2012-05-24 at Archive.today.
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 144–148; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 299–300; Varely, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 191–192.
3. Brown, p. 300.
4. Titisingh, p. 146.

References

• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0; OCLC 251325323
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231049405; OCLC 6042764

External links

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

Preceded by Jōgen	Era or nengō Tengen 978–983	Succeeded by Eikan