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Tenpyō-kanpō

Japanese era from April 749 to July 749

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 29, 2024
Entity authorityQ1373199 ↗
Source-derived summary

Tenpyō-kanpō (天平感宝) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō; "year name") after Tenpyō and before Tenpyō-shōhō. This period spanned mere months, April through July 749. The reigning emperor was Shōmu-tennō (聖武天皇).

Change of era

749 Tenpyō-kanpō gannen (天平感宝元年): The new era name Tenpyō-kanpō is not found in some chronologies because its duration was so limited—a period of four months during the last year of Shōmu's reign. The previous era ended and this new one commenced in Tenpyō 21, on the 14th day of the 4th month of 749. At some point shortly thereafter, the emperor determined to abdicate. Shōmu became the first emperor who renounced his throne to take the tonsure as a Buddhist monk. His wife, Empress Kōmyō, followed her husband's example by entering holy orders as well. Shōmu's reign and this era ended simultaneously. Also at this same time, the former-Emperor Shōmu began a new phase of his life and Shōmu's daughter began her reign.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Tenpyō-kanpō” is japanese era from April 749 to July 749. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Tenpyō-kanpō, Japanese and April, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 157-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Tenpyō-kanpō, Japanese and April is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “japanese era from April 749 to July 749” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 29, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q1373199. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Tenpyō-kanpō”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Tenpyō-kanpō primary sources, Tenpyō-kanpō archive and Tenpyō-kanpō research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Tenpyō-kanpō” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.