Kemmu

Kemmu (建武) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) of the Northern Court during the Nanboku-chō period after Shōkyō and before Ryakuō.^[1] This period started in January 1334 and ended in August 1338 in the Northern Court,^[2] but it lasted until only February 1336 in the Southern Court.^[3] The pretender in Kyoto was Emperor Kōmyō (光明天皇, Kōmyō-tennō).^[4] Kōmyō's Southern Court rival in Yoshino during this time was Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇, Go-Diago-tennō).^[5]

Events of the Kemmu era

In 1333-1336, the Kemmu Restoration was an attempt by Emperor Go-Daigo to restore Imperial authority after the fall of the Kamakura shogunate. The failure of this effort led to the creation of two rival Imperial courts.^[2]

• 1334 (Kemmu 1): Emperor Go-Daigo caused Kemmu nenchū gyōji to be written. This was a book which described the ceremonies of the court; and its purpose was to aid the process of reviving ancient court etiquette.^[2]
• 25 October 1334 (Kemmu 1, 27th day of the 9th month): Emperor Go-Daigo made an Imperial progress to Kamo-jinja. No other emperor would visit Kamo's shrines until April 29, 1863 (Bunkyu 3, 11th day of the 3rd month), when Emperor Komei made an Imperial progress to Kamo.^[6]
• 1336 (Kemmu 3): An anonymous author published Kemmu nenkan ki, which was a chronicle of the Kemmu era. The text is a source of information about laws, government, bureaucrats, and arable lands and estates given by the emperor to the nobility or to religious institutions (shōen).^[2]
• 1336 (Kemmu 3): Ashikaga Takauji issued a new legal code with 17 articles (Kemmu-shikimoku).^[7]
• 17 May 1336 (Kemmu 3, 6th day of the 4th month): Former-Emperor Go-Fushimi died.^[8]

Southern Court nengō

The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Shōkei 1 as time was reckoned in the Northern Court in Kyoto; and the era began in Genkō 4, as time was ordered in the Southern Court in Yoshino.

Related pages

• Muromachi period