The Kōbun period is a

chronological Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...

timeframe during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

of Japanese history. The Kōbun period describes a span of years which were considered to have begun in the 1332nd year of the imperial dynasty.Murray, , citing William Bramsen. (1880). ; compare, the Japanese

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to ...

website explains tha
"Japan organized its first calendar in the 12th year of Suiko (604)"
which was a pre-''nengō'' time frame. This

periodization In historiography, periodization is the process or study of categorizing the past into discrete, quantified, and named blocks of time for the purpose of study or analysis.Adam Rabinowitz.It's about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancie ...

is consistent with the short reign of

Emperor Kōbun was the 39th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 弘文天皇 (39)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Kōbun's reign lasted onl ...

, which is traditionally considered to have been from 672 through 673.

Periodization

The adoption of the

Sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the gānzhī (干支) or stems-and-branches, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus amounting to a total of sixty years every cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...

calendar (''Jikkan Jūnishi'') in Japan is attributed to

Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō''): She introduced Buddhism in Japan and built many Buddhist temples, but she held the balance between Buddhism and Shintoism. Under her rule, Japan ...

in 604; and this Chinese calendar continued in use throughout the Kōbun period. In 645, the system of was introduced. However, after the reign of Emperor Kotoku, this method of segmenting

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

was temporarily abandoned or allowed to lapse. This interval continued during the Kōbun period. Neither Emperor Kōbun's reign nor the Kōbun periodization are included in the list of ''nengō'' for this explicit duration of

. The was an unofficial ''nengō'' during the reign of Emperor Kōbun after '' Hakuchi'' and before '' Suchō.'' The duration of this discrete non-''nengō'' timespan lasted for about two years. In the post-Taika or pre-Taihō chronology, the first year of Emperor Kōbun's reign (弘文天皇元年 or 弘文天皇1年) is also construed as the first year of the Kōbun period (弘文1年).Tsuchihashi, Paul. (1952)
''Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872,'' p. 16

Non-nengō period

Non-nengō periods in the pre-Taihō calendar were published in 1880 by William Bramsen. These were refined in 1952 by

Paul Tsuchihashi was a Japanese Roman Catholic priest, mathematician, astronomer, Sinologist, lexicographer, academic and administrator."98-Year-Old Jesuit Priest, Born a Samurai Warrior, Dies at Tokyo University," Father Paul is known for having developed exten ...

in ''Japanese Chronological Tables from 601 to 1872''. The pre-Tahiō calendar included two non-nengō gaps or intervals in the chronological series: :* Taika, August 645–February 650.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Taika''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
:* Hakuchi, February 650–December 654.Nussbaum, "''Hakuchi''" at . :**Non-nengō dating systems :* Shuchō, July–September 686.Nussbaum, "''Shuchō''" at . :**Non-nengō dating systems :* Taihō, March 701–May 704.Nussbaum, "''Taihō''" at . Nengō were not promulgated (or were allowed to lapse) during the gap years between Hakuchi and Shuchō, and in another gap between Shuchō and Taihō.

Events of the Kōbun period

* 672 (''Kōbun 1''): Emperor Tenji dies; and his son, Prince Ō-ama (later to become Emperor Tenmu), declines to receive the succession (''senso''). Shortly thereafter, his older brother, Ō-tomo (posthumously known as Emperor Kōbun after 1870), formally accedes to the throne (''sokui''). * 672 (''Kōbun 1''): A new period is marked by the beginning of the reign of Emperor Kōbun; but this posthoumus name was created retroactively in 1870, and Meiji scholars did not determine retroactively that a new nengō should have commenced with the beginning of Kōbun's accession.Brown,

Notes

References

* 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
* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979)
''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past''.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
OCLC 251325323
* Murray, David. (1894). ''The Story of Japan''. New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons
OCLC 1016340
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia''.
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan''.
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''

Nihon Ōdai Ichiran , ', is a 17th-century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings. According to the 1871 edition of the ''American Cyclopaedia'', the 1834 French translation of ...

''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Tsuchihashi, Paul Yashita, S.J. (1952). . Tokyo: Sophia University
OCLC 001291275
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa''. New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

.
OCLC 6042764
* Zöllner, Reinhard. (2003). ''Japanische Zeitrechnung: ein Handbuch''. Munich: Iudicium Verlag.
OCLC 249297777

External links