Enchō

Enchō (延長, Enchō^?) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,^?, lit. "year name") after Engi and before Jōhei. This period spanned the years from 923 through 931. The reigning emperors were Emperor Daigo-tennō (醍醐天皇, Emperor Daigo-tennō^?) and Emperor Suzaku-tennō (朱雀天皇, Emperor Suzaku-tennō^?).^[1]

[edit] Change of era

Enchō gannen (延長元年, Enchō gannen^?); 923: The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Engi 23, on the 11th day of the intercalary 4th month of 923.^[2]

Enchō 7, in the 8th month (929): Floods devastated the country and many perished.^[3]
Enchō 8, 26th day of the 6th month (930): A huge black storm cloud traveled from the slopes of Mt. Atago to Heian-kyo accompanied by frightful thunder. Lightning struck the Imperial Palace. Both Senior Counselor Fuijwara-no Kiyotsura (also known as Miyoshi no Kiyoyuki) and Middle Controller of the Right Taira-no Mareyo and many other subaltern officers were killed and their bodies were consumed in the subsequent fires. The deaths were construed as an act of revenge by the unsettled spirit of the late Sugawara Michizane.^[4]
Enchō 8, on the 22th day of the 9th month (930): In the 34th year of Daigo-tennō's reign (醍醐天皇34年), the emperor fell ill; and, fearing that he might not survive, Daigo abdicated. At this point, the succession (‘‘senso’’) was said to have been received by a his son. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Suzaku is said to have acceded to the throne (‘‘sokui’’).^[5]
Enchō 8, 29th day of the 9th month (930): Emperor Daigo entered the Buddhist priesthood in the very early morning hours. As a monk, he took the Buddhist name Hō-kongō; and shortly thereafter, this humble monk died at the age of 46.^[6] This monk was buried in the precincts of Daigo-ji, which is why the former-emperor's posthumous name became Daigo-tennō.^[3]

^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 129-134; Brown, Delmer et al. (1979). Gukanshō, p. 291-293; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, p. 179-181.
^ Brown, p. 292; Varley, p. 179.
^ ^a ^b Titsingh, p. 134.
^ Titsingh, p. 134; Brown, p. 293; Varley, p. 179-181.
^ Brown, p. 293; Varley, p. 44.
^ Titsingh, p. 134; Brown, p. 292.

Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). [ Jien, c. 1220], 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. ISBN 0-520-03460-0
Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 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 Society of Great Britain and Ireland.... Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)
Varley, H. Paul , ed. (1980). [ Kitabatake Chikafusa, 1359], Jinnō Shōtōki ("A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa" translated by H. Paul Varley). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04940-4