was a of the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...
, after the ''
Jōō'' era and before ''
Manji'' era. This era's period spanned the years from April 1655 to July 1658.
The reigning emperor was .
[Titsingh, ]
Change of era
* 1655 : The era name was changed to mark the enthronement of
Emperor Go-Sai
, also known as , was the 111th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 後西天皇 (111)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', pp. 116.
Go-Sai ...
. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in ''Jōō'' 4, on the 13th day of the 4th month.
The source of the new era name was:
* From the ''
Book of Han
The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...
'': "With the Nine Chapters of the Great Law, the five eras will be known" (大法九章、而五紀明歴法)
* From the ''
Book of the Later Han'': "The
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
began the passing of time, so that is why the character 歴
assing of timeand 暦
hythmic cycleare used together" (黄帝造歴、歴与暦同作)
Events of the ''Meireki'' era
* 1655 (''Meireki 1''): The new ambassador of Korea, arrived in Japan.
* 1655 (''Meireki 1''): The ex-Emperor went for the first time to
Shugakuin Rikyū.
[Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). ''Kyoto: the Old Capital, 794-1869'', p. 318.]
* March 2–3, 1657 (''Meireki 3, 18th-19th days of the 1st month''): The city of
Edo was devastated by the
Great Fire of Meireki.
Notes
References
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
.
OCLC 48943301*
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794–1869''. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.
*
Screech, Timon. (2006)
''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822.''London:
RoutledgeCurzon.
OCLC 65177072*
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
External links
*
National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar
-- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection* National Archives of Japa
...Click link for map of Edo before disastrous fire in 3rd year of ''Meiwa'' (1657)* National Archives of Japa
...Click link for photograph of Ryogoku bridge (1875), first built over Sumida River after Meireki fire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meireki
Japanese eras
1650s in Japan