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Tenpyō (天平) was aJapanese era name (年号,nengō, "year name") afterJinki and beforeTenpyō-kanpō. This period spanned the years from August 729 through April 749.^[1] The reigning emperor wasShōmu-tennō (聖武天皇).^[2]

• 729Tenpyō gannen (天平元年): The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced inJinki 6, on the 5th day of the 8th month of 729.^[3]

• 740 (Tenpyō 12, 8th month): In the court ofEmperor Shōmu inNara,Kibi no Makibi andGenbō conspire to discreditFujiwara no Hirotsugu, who isDazai shoni inKyushu.^[4]
• 740 (Tenpyō 12, 9th month):Hirotsugu revolts in reaction to the growing influence of Genbō and others.^[4]
• 740 (Tenpyō 12, 9th month): Under the command ofŌno no Azumabito, an army of 17,000 is sent to Kyushu to stop the potential disturbance.^[4]
• 740 (Tenpyō 12, 10th month): Hirotsugu is decisively beaten in battle; and he is beheaded inHizen Province.^[4]
• 740 (Tenpyō 12):The capital is moved toKuni-kyō.^[5]
• 741 (Tenpyō 13): The Emperor calls for nationwide establishment ofprovincial temples. Provincial temples ("kokubunji") and provincial nunneries ("kokubunniji") were established throughout the country.^[6] The more formal name for these"kokubunji" was"konkomyo-shitenno-gokoku no tera" (meaning "temples for the protection of the country by the four guardian deities of the golden light"). The more formal name for these"bokubunniji" was"hokke-metuzai no tera" (meaning "nunneries for eliminating sin by means of the Lotus Sutra").^[6]
• 743 (Tenpyō 15): The Emperor issues a rescript to build theDaibutsu (Great Buddha), later to be completed and placed inTōdai-ji,Nara.^[7]
• 743 (Tenpyō 15): The law of Perpetual Ownership of Cultivated Lands (墾田永代私財法) issued
• 744 (Tenpyō 16):Naniwa-kyō announced as capital.^[4]
• 745 (Tenpyō 17): The capital returns toHeijō-kyō (Nara), construction of the Great Buddha resumes.^[8]
• 749 (Tenpyō 20): After a 25-year reign, Emperor Shōmu abdicates in favor of his daughter, Takano-hime, who will become Empress Kōken. After his abdication, Shomu took the tonsure, thus becoming the first retired emperor to become a Buddhist priest. Empress Kōmyō, following her husband's example, also took holy vows in becoming a Buddhist nun.^[9]

• Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979).Gukanshō: The Future and the Past. Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0;OCLC 251325323
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005).Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge:Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5;OCLC 58053128
• 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
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980).A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York:Columbia University Press.ISBN 9780231049405;OCLC 6042764

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar"-- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

• Japanese eras
• 720s in Japan
• 730s in Japan
• 740s in Japan
• 729
• 749
• 8th-century neologisms

• Webarchive template archiveis links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text