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.[1]
This periodization is congruent with the reign of Emperor Tenmu, which is traditionally considered to have been from 673 through 686.[2]
Periodization
The adoption of the Sexagenary cycle calendar (Jikkan Jūnishi) in Japan is attributed to Empress Suiko in 604;[3] and this Chinese calendar continued in use throughout the Tenmu period.
In 645, the system of Japanese era names (年号,, nengō,, "year name") was introduced.[4] However, after the reign of Emperor Kōtoku, 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 nengō for this explicit duration of time. The Hakuhō period (白鳳時代, hakuhō jidai, lit. "white phoenix") was an unofficial nengō during the reign of Emperor Temmu[5] after Hakuchi[6] and before Suchō.[7] The duration of this discrete non-nengō timespan lasted for 15 years.[5]
In the post-Taika or pre-Taihō chronology, the first year of Emperor Tenmu's reign (年号天皇元年 or 年号天皇1年) is also construed as the first year of the Temmu period (年号1年).[8]
Non-nengō period
Non-nengō periods in the pre-Taihō calendar were published in 1880 by William Bramsen.[1] These were refined in 1952 by Paul Tsuchihashi in Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872.[8]
The pre-Tahiō calendar included two non-nengō gaps or intervals in the chronological series:
673 (Kōbun 2): Emperor Tenji dies; and his son, Ō-ama-shinnō (later to become Emperor Tenmu), declines to receive the succession (senso). Shortly thereafter, his older brother, Ōtomo (posthumously known as Emperor Kōbun after 1870[27]), formally accedes to the throne (sokui).[28] Anticipating trouble will foment around his brother, Emperor Kōbun leads an army against his brother. The forces defending against Kōbun's attack are ultimately successful, and belatedly, the son whom Emperor Tenji had designated heir accepts senso and sokui.[29]
673 (Temmu 1): A new period is marked by the beginning of the reign of Emperor Temmu[30]
674 (Temmu 2): Ambassadors of Tane no kuni were received in the Japanese court.[31]
680 (Temmu 8): Yakushi-ji was founded in the Hakuhou period[32]
^Murray, p. 402, p. 402, at Google Books; the system of counting from year-periods (nengō) do not ordinarily overlap with the reigns of the early monarchs; and generally, a new one was chosen whenever it was deemed necessary to commemorate an auspicious or ward off a malign event.
^Shinengō used prior to the reestablishment of the nengō system in 701 are usually called itsunengō (逸年号). A list of shinengō and more information can be seen in the Japanese Wikipedia page ja:私年号.
^NengoCalc (645) 大化 Taika, online conversion of Japanese dates into their Western equivalents; calculation is based on tables from Tsuchihashi and Zöllner.
^Brown, Delmer M. et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 268 n39., p. 268, at Google Books; post-Meiji historians identify the reign of Emperor Kōbun between the reigns of Emperor Tenji and Emperor Temmu, but pre-Meiji historians did not construe Prince Ōtomo in the traditional order of succession; compare Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, p. 52; and see Imperial Household Agency (Kunaichō): 天智天皇 (38)
^Murray, p. 402, p. 402, at Google Books; Sujaku is also known as an Itsunengō (逸年号)
^Murray, p. 402, p. 402, at Google Books; Hakuhō, also known as Itsunengō; compare Nussbaum, "Hakuhō" at p. 280, p. 280, at Google Books; Hakuhou jidai, JAANUS (Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System), 2001; retrieved 16 September 2009.
^ abBrown, p. 270, p. 270, at Google Books; excerpt, "The eras that fell in this reign were: (1) the remaining seven years of Shuchō [(686+7=692?)]; and (2) Taika, which was four years long [695-698]. (The first year of this era was kinoto-hitsuji [695].) ...In the third year of the Taka era [697], Empress Jitō yielded the throne to the Crown Prince."
^Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 44; a distinct act of senso is unrecognized prior to Emperor Tenji; and all sovereigns except Jitō, Yōzei, Go-Toba, and Fushimi have senso and sokui in the same year until the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami
^Beillevaire, Patrick. (2000). Ryūkyū Studies to 1854: Western Encounter, Vol. 1, p. 272, p. 272, at Google Books; excerpt, "Im dritten Jahre der Regierung des Mikado Ten mu (674) kamen auch Gesandte von Tane no kuni au den japanischen Hof. Jakusima und das heutige Tanegasima waren die nördlichsten der mehrgenannten Südseeinseln...."; compare NengoCalc Temmu 2 (天武二年)
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