is a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, literally "years name") for the years between the An'ei Era and before the Kansei Era, from April 1781 through January 1789. The reigning emperor was .

Change of era

  • 1781 : The new era name of Tenmei (meaning "dawn") was created to mark the enthronement of Emperor Kōkaku. The previous era ended and the new one commenced on the second day of the fourth month in what had been An'ei 11.

As is customary for choosing nengō, the name was selected from a passage in a historical Chinese text. In this case, the text was Classic of History (書経) (also quoted in The Great Learning (大學)), more specifically from the first of the King Tai Jia (大甲) chapters. It says: "先王顧諟天之明命..." meaning "The former king kept his eye continually on the bright requirements of Heaven, [and...]." This is continued with a description of reverence, virtue, and prosperity for the lands. From this, the two characters 天 and 明 were selected.

Events of the Tenmei Era

  • 1782 (Tenmei 2): The Tenmei famine is said to have begun.
  • 1782 (Tenmei 2): An analysis of silver currency in China and Japan was presented to the Emperor by Minamoto no Masatsuna.
  • 1783 (Tenmei 3): erupted in Shinano province, only 80 miles northwest of Edo, with a loss of life estimated at more than 20,000 (Tenmei eruption). [Today, Asama-yama's location is better described as on the border between Gunma Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture]. Japanologist Isaac Titsingh's published account of the Asama-yama eruption became the first of its kind in the West (1820). The volcano's devastation makes the Great Tenmei Famine even worse. Much of the agriculture of Shinano Province and Kōzuke Province remained unproductive or under-producing for the next four or five years.
  • 1783 (Tenmei 3): Famine was exacerbated, according to 20th-century studies, because after eight years of near- or actual famine, neither the authorities nor the people had any reserves left to meet further drought and crop failures during the Great Tenmei Famine.
  • 1784 (Tenmei 4): Country-wide celebrations took place in honor of Kōbō-Daishi, founder of Shingon Buddhism, who had died 950 years earlier.
  • September 17, 1786 (Tenmei 6, 25th day of the eighth month)<!-- NengoCalc 天明六年九月八日 -->: Shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu died and was buried in Edo.
  • 1787 (Tenmei 7): Tokugawa Ienari became the 11th Shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate.
  • 1787 (Tenmei 7): Kutsuki Masatsuna published Seiyō Senpu (Notes on Western Coinage), with plates showing European and colonial currency.
  • 1787 (Tenmei 7): Riots broke out in rice shops in Edo and Osaka.
  • 1788 (Tenmei 8): Great Fire of Kyoto. A fire began in the city at three o'clock in the morning of March 6 (Tenmei 8, 29th day of the first month)<!-- NengoCalc 天明八年一月二十九日 -->, and continued to burn uncontrolled until March 8 (first day of the second month).<!-- NengoCalc 天明八年二月一日 --> Embers smoldered until they were extinguished by heavy rain on March 11 (fourth day of the second month)<!-- NengoCalc 天明八年二月四日 -->. The Emperor and his court fled the fire, and the Imperial Palace was destroyed. No other rebuilding was permitted until a new palace was completed. This fire was considered to be a major event. The opperhoofd of the VOC 'in Dejima noted in his official record book that "people are considering it to be a great and extraordinary heavenly portent".

Notes

References

  • Hall, John Whitney. (1988). Early Modern Japan (The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 4). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ; OCLC 489633115
  • __________. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. OCLC 445621
  • Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 48943301
  • Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ; OCLC 65177072
  • __________. (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829. London : Reaktion. ; OCLC 42699671
  • 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.
  • National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
  • National Archives of Japan: Hinozenshu sanbutsu zuko, scroll showing illustrated inventory of industries in Karatsu Domain, Tenmei 4 (1784)
  • Toyohara Chikanobu, Mirror of the Ages (Jidai Kagami): Tenmei no koro.