Keian

For the Zen Buddhist monk, see Keian Genju (1427-1508).

Keian (慶安) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō,, lit. "year name") after Shōhō and before Jōō. This period spanned the years from February 1648 through September 1652.^[1] The reigning emperor was Go-Kōmyō-tennō (後光明天皇).^[2]

Change of era

• 1648 Keian gannen (慶安元年): The new era name was created in response to criticism that Shōhō was too closely related to Shōbō (焼亡, meaning "death by burning"). The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Shōhō 5, on the 5th day of the 2nd month.

The new era name was drawn from the Chinese classic, The I Ching: "At the end happiness, joy of quiet righteousness, answer the world unlimited" (乃終有慶、安貞之吉、応地無疆):

Events of the Keian era

• April 1, 1649 (Keian 2, 20th day of the 2nd month): There was a major earthquake in Edo.^[2]
• 1651 (Keian 4): Keian Uprising. Plans by well-organized ronin to attack several Tokugawa strongholds simultaneously were timely discovered. The attempt plan to overthrow the Edo Bakufu by Marubashi Chuya and Yui Shōsetsu was thwarted.^[3]
• 1652 (Keian 5, 5th month): Nihon Ōdai Ichiran is first published in Kyoto under the patronage of the tairō Sakai Tadakatsu, daimyo of the Obama Domain of Wakasa Province.^[4]

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Keian" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 503; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 412.
3. Screech, T. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shogans: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, pp. 85-89.
4. Titsingh, p. 412; n.b., the first copy of this rare book was brought from Japan to Europe by Isaac Titsingh in 1796. Titsingh translated the text from Japanese and Chinese; and his work was then supplemented for posthumous publication by Julius Klaproth. The initial Japanese authorship is confirmed; the precise nengō-dating is confirmed in the same passage -- see Titsingh, p. 406.

References

• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
• Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 978-0-203-09985-8; OCLC 65177072
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai 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