Keiun

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Keiun (Japanese: 慶雲) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) after Taihō and before Wadō. This period spanned the years from 704 through 708. The reigning emperor and empress were Mommu-tennō (文武天皇) and Gemmei-tennō (元明天皇).

1 Change of Era
2 Events of the Keiun Era
3 References
- 3.1 Notes
- 3.2 Further reading

[edit] Change of Era

Keiun gannen (慶雲元年) or Keiun 1 (704): The new era name Keiun (meaning "_____") was created because _____. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Taihō 5.

[edit] Events of the Keiun Era

Keiun 4, on the 15th day of the 6th month (707): Genmei is enthroned at the age of 48.^[1]
Keiun 4 (707): Deposits of copper was reported to have been found in Musashi province in the region which includes modern day Tokyo.^[2]
Keiun 5 (708):, The era name was about to be changed to mark the accession of Empress Gemmei; but the choice of Wadō as the new nengō for this new reign became a way to mark the welcome discovery of copper in the Chichibu District of what is now Saitama Prefecture.^[3]The Japanese word for copper is dō (銅); and since this was indigenous copper, the "wa" (the ancient Chinese term for Japan) could be combined with the "dō" (copper) to create a new composite term -- "wadō" -- meaning "Japanese copper."

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ Brown, p. 271.
^ Titsingh, p. 63.
^ Titsingh, p. 63.

[edit] Further reading

Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). Gukanshō; "The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō,' an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo (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 digitized examples 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 Chitafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki; "A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: 'Jinnō Shōtōki' of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley. New York: Columbia University Press.