Tenmei

Tenmei (天明てんめい) was a Japanese era name (年号ねんごう, nengō, lit. year name), also known as Temmei, after An'ei and before Kansei. This period started in April 1781 and ended in January 1789.^[1] During this time, the emperor was Kōkaku-tennō (光ひかり格かく天皇てんのう).^[2]

The nengō Tenmei means "Heavenly Radiance".^[3] The kanji means "dawn" or "daybreak".^[4]

Events of the Tenmei era

Map of Japan during the Tenmei era

1782 (Tenmei 2): Great Tenmei Famine began.^[1]
1782 (Tenmei 2): The emperor received a written study of silver currency in China and Japan. The work was made by Minamoto no Masatsuna.^[5]
1783 (Tenmei 3): Mount Asama (浅間あさま山さん,, Asama-yama) erupted in Shinano Province and loss of life was estimated at 20,000+.^[6]
1783 (Tenmei 3): Famine was worse; food reserves used up^[7]
1784 (Tenmei 4): Nationwide events honored Kōbō-Daishi who was the founder of Shingon Buddhism. Kōbō-Daishi died 950 years earlier.^[5]
1784 (Tenmei 4): The son of Tanuma Okitsugu was assassinated in Edo Castle.^[8]
17 September 1786 (Tenmei 6, 25th day of the 8th month): Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu died and was buried in Edo.
1787 (Tenmei 7): Tokugawa Ienari became the 11th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.^[9]
1787 (Tenmei 7): Matsudaira Sadanobu becomes the shogunate's senior official (rōjū).^[10]
1787 (Tenmei 7): Kutsuki Masatsuna published Seiyō senpu (Notes on Western Coinage).^[11]
1788 (Tenmei 7): Riots in rice shops in Edo and Osaka.
1788 (Tenmei 8): Great Fire of Kyoto; the Imperial Palace was destroyed.^[12]

Related pages

Edo period

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 956. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
↑ Screech, Timon (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760-1829. Reaktion Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-86189-064-1.
↑ Spahn, Mark; Hadamitzky, Wolfgang; Fujie-Winter, Kimiko (1996). 漢字かんじ熟語じゅくご字典じてん. Tuttle Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-8048-2058-5.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Klaproth, Julius von (1834). Nipon o dai itsi ran: ou Annales des empereurs du Japon. Oriental Translation Fund. p. 420.
↑ Screech, (2006), Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, pp. 146-148; Hall, John Whitney. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, p. 122.
↑ Hall, Tanuma Okitsugu, p. 170.
↑ Screech, pp. 148-151, 163-170, 248.
↑ Hall, John W.; Hall, John Whitney; Brown, Delmer M.; Jansen, Marius B.; McCullough, William H.; Kanai, Madoka; Shively, Donald H.; Yamamura, Kozo; Duus, Peter (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-521-22355-3.
↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 617. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
↑ Screech, (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760-1829, pp. 123, 125; See -- online image of 2 adjacent pages from library collection of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Kyoto Junior College of Foreign Languages
↑ Ropke, Ian Martin (1999). Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto. Scarecrow Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8108-3622-8.

Other websites

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

Tenmei	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
	1781	1782	1783	1784	1785	1786	1787	1788

Preceded by:
An'ei

Era or nengō:
Tenmei

Succeeded by:
Kansei

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[Nussbaum_2002_956-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 956. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.

[2] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.

[3] Screech, Timon (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760-1829. Reaktion Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-86189-064-1.

[4] Spahn, Mark; Hadamitzky, Wolfgang; Fujie-Winter, Kimiko (1996). 漢字かんじ熟語じゅくご字典じてん. Tuttle Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-8048-2058-5.

[titsingh420-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Klaproth, Julius von (1834). Nipon o dai itsi ran: ou Annales des empereurs du Japon. Oriental Translation Fund. p. 420.

[6] Screech, (2006), Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, pp. 146-148; Hall, John Whitney. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, p. 122.

[7] Hall, Tanuma Okitsugu, p. 170.

[8] Screech, pp. 148-151, 163-170, 248.

[9] Hall, John W.; Hall, John Whitney; Brown, Delmer M.; Jansen, Marius B.; McCullough, William H.; Kanai, Madoka; Shively, Donald H.; Yamamura, Kozo; Duus, Peter (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-521-22355-3.

[10] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 617. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.

[11] Screech, (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760-1829, pp. 123, 125; See -- online image of 2 adjacent pages from library collection of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Kyoto Junior College of Foreign Languages

[12] Ropke, Ian Martin (1999). Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto. Scarecrow Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-8108-3622-8.

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