The Temmu period is a chronological timeframe during the Asuka period of Japanese history. The Temmu period describes a span of years which were considered to have begun in the 1333rd year of the imperial dynasty.
This periodization is congruent with the reign of Emperor Tenmu, which is traditionally considered to have been from 673 through 686.
Periodization
The adoption of the Sexagenary cycle calendar (Jikkan JÃ
«nishi) in Japan is attributed to Empress Suiko in 604; and this Chinese calendar continued in use throughout the Tenmu period.
In 645, the system of was introduced. However, after the reign of Emperor KÃ
Âtoku, this method of segmenting time was temporarily abandoned or allowed to lapse. This interval continues during the Tenmu period.
Neither Emperor Tenmu's reign nor the Tenmu periodization are included in the list of nengÃ
 for this explicit duration of time. The was an unofficial nengÃ
 during the reign of Emperor Temmu after Hakuchi and before SuchÃ
Â. The duration of this discrete non-nengÃ
 timespan lasted for 15 years.
In the post-Taika or pre-TaihÃ
 chronology, the first year of Emperor Tenmu's reign (å¹´å·天çÂÂÃ¥Â
Âå¹´ or å¹´å·天çÂÂ1å¹´) is also construed as the first year of the Temmu period (å¹´å·1å¹´).
Non-nengÃ
 period
Non-nengÃ
 periods in the pre-TaihÃ
 calendar were published in 1880 by William Bramsen. These were refined in 1952 by Paul Tsuchihashi in Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872.
The pre-TahiÃ
 calendar included two non-nengÃ
 gaps or intervals in the chronological series:
*Taika, August 645–February 650.
*Hakuchi, February 650–December 654.
**Non-nengÃ
 dating systems
*ShuchÃ
Â, July–September 686.
**Non-nengÃ
 dating systems
*TaihÃ
Â, March 701–May 704.
NengÃ
 were not promulgated (or were allowed to lapse) during the gap years between Hakuchi and ShuchÃ
Â, and in another gap between ShuchÃ
 and TaihÃ
Â.
Events of Temmu period
- 673 (KÃ
Âbun 2): Emperor Tenji dies; and his son, Ã
Â-ama-shinnÃ
 (later to become Emperor Tenmu), declines to receive the succession (senso). Shortly thereafter, his older brother, Ã
Âtomo (posthumously known as Emperor KÃ
Âbun after 1870), formally accedes to the throne (sokui). Anticipating trouble will foment around his brother, Emperor KÃ
Âbun leads an army against his brother. The forces defending against KÃ
Âbun's attack are ultimately successful, and belatedly, the son whom Emperor Tenji had designated heir accepts senso and sokui.
- 673 (Temmu 1): A new period is marked by the beginning of the reign of Emperor Temmu
- 674 (Temmu 2): Ambassadors of Tane no kuni were received in the Japanese court.
- 680 (Temmu 8): Yakushi-ji was founded in the Hakuhou period
See also
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 to 1873): with an Introductory Essay on Japanese Chronology and Calendars. Tokyo: Seishi Bunsha. OCLC 35728014
- Brown, Delmer M. and IchirÃ
 Ishida, eds. (1979). GukanshÃ
Â: 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. ; OCLC 58053128
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ã
Âdai Ichiran; 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: JinnÃ
 ShÃ
ÂtÃ
Âki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ; OCLC 6042764
- Zöllner, Reinhard. (2003). Japanische Zeitrechnung: ein Handbuch Munich: Iudicium Verlag. ; OCLC 249297777
External links