The Bizen Kokubun-ji ( 備前国分寺 ) was a Buddhist temple located in what is now the city of Akaiwa, Okayama , Japan. It was one of the provincial temples per the system established by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794) for the purpose of promoting Buddhism as the national religion of Japan and standardising imperial rule over the provinces. The temple no longer exists, but the temple grounds were designated as a National Historic Site in 1975.
16-485: The Shoku Nihongi records that in 741 AD, as the country recovered from a major smallpox epidemic , Emperor Shōmu ordered that a state-subsidized monastery and nunnery be established in every province for the promotion of Buddhism and to enhance political unification per the new ritsuryō system. These were the kokubunji ( 国分寺 ) . The temples were constructed per a more-or-less standardized template, and were each to be staffed by twenty clerics who would pray for
32-479: A non-fiction book on Japanese history is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Emperor Monmu Emperor Monmu ( 文武天皇 , Monmu- tennō , 683–707) was the 42nd emperor of Japan , according to the traditional order of succession . Monmu's reign spanned the years from 697 through 707. Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne , his personal name ( imina )
48-616: A time. These were hereditary courtiers whose experience and background would have brought them to the pinnacle of a life's career. During Monmu's reign, this apex of the Daijō-kan included: Conventional modern scholarship seems to have determined that the years of Monmu's reign are encompassed within more than one era name or nengō . The initial years of Monmu's reign are not linked by scholars to any era or nengō . The Taika era innovation of naming time periods – nengō – languished until Monmu reasserted an imperial right by proclaiming
64-523: Is presumed that the pagoda and perhaps even the Main Hall were also lost around this time. Archaeological evidence suggests that a new Main Hall was constructed in the northeastern corner of the original Lecture Hall site in the early Kamakura period . A seven-story stone pagoda that is believed to have been built in the early Kamakura period still stands on the site of the original Nara-period pagoda. By
80-533: Is the second of the Six National Histories , coming directly after the Nihon Shoki and followed by Nihon Kōki . Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as the primary editors. It is one of the most important primary historical sources for information about Japan's Nara period . The work covers the 95-year period from the beginning of Emperor Monmu 's reign in 697 until
96-497: Is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine ( misasagi ) at Nara. The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Monmu's mausoleum . It is formally named Hinokuma no Ako no oka no e no misasagi . Kugyō ( 公卿 ) is a collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre- Meiji eras. In general, this elite group included only three to four men at
112-468: Is uncertain, but it believed to have been built around the time of the imperial edict for the construction of the kokubunji temples in 741. Its name appears in the early Heian period Engishiki records, and it is believed that renovations were made in the 10th century, but that the Lecture Hall and northern portion of the cloister was destroyed by a fire around the mid- to late-12th century. It
128-528: The Edo Period , the site had disappeared under paddy fields , and a nearby temple called Enjū-ji claimed to be the successor of the Bizen Kokubun-ji. It connection with the ancient kokubunji , if any is unknown. A large number of roof tiles from various eras, and shards of Nara Sancai pottery have been excavated from the site. The site is now an archaeological park , where visitors can see
144-510: The 10th year of Emperor Kanmu 's reign in 791, spanning nine imperial reigns. It was completed in 797 AD. The text is forty volumes in length. It is primarily written in kanbun , a Japanese form of Classical Chinese , as was normal for formal Japanese texts at the time. However, a number of senmyō ( 宣命 ) or "imperial edicts" contained within the text are written in a script known as "senmyō-gaki", which preserves particles and verb endings phonographically. This article about
160-420: The ancient San'yōdō highway runs through the southern part of the temple grounds. Currently, Kokubunji Hachimangū Shrine is located in the center of the western portion of the former temple grounds. The temple's location was confirmed by an archaeological excavation in 1974, when the site was slated for development as a housing estate. Further excavation were conducted in the year 2003. During these excavations,
176-566: The commencement of Taihō in 701. In this context, Brown and Ishida's translation of Gukanshō offers an explanation about the years of Empress Jitō's reign which muddies a sense of easy clarity in the pre-Taiho time-frame: Bunin : Fujiwara no Miyako (藤原宮子, d. 754), Fujiwara no Fuhito ’s daughter Hin : Ki no Kamado-no-iratsume (紀竃門娘) Hin : Ishikawa no Tone-no-iratsume (石川刀子娘) Unless otherwise noted (as BC), years are in CE / AD Imperial Consort and Regent Empress Jingū
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#1732766234378192-749: The foundations of the Nara-period buildings. Nearby are the Bizen Kokubun Nunnery ruins (which are not part of the National Historic Site) and the Ryōgūzan Kofun , which has a separate National Historic Site designation. The site of the Bizen kokufu is located about 6.5 kilometers southwest. Shoku Nihongi The Shoku Nihongi ( 続日本紀 ) is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it
208-508: The foundations of the South gate, Middle gate, Kondō , Lecture Hall, and priest's quarters were found to be aligned in a straight line from south to north within a 175 meters (east-to-west) by 190 meters (north-to-south) walled compound. The South gate and the Middle gate were situated very close to each other, which is an unusual layout of the temple. The actual foundation date for this temple
224-581: The state's protection. The associated provincial nunneries ( kokubunniji ) were on a smaller scale, each housing ten nuns to pray for the atonement of sins. This system declined when the capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto in 794 AD. The Bizen Kokubun-ji temple site is located in the Umaya neighborhood of the city Akaiwa, on an alluvial fan between the Yoshii River and the Asahi River. The route of
240-435: Was Karu -shinnō . He was a grandson of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō . He was the second son of Prince Kusakabe. Monmu's mother was Princess Abe, a daughter of Emperor Tenji . Monmu's mother would later accede to the throne herself, and she would be known as Empress Genmei. Karu -shinnō was only six years old when his father, Crown Prince Kusakabe , died. Emperor Monmu ruled until his death in 707, at which point he
256-408: Was succeeded by his mother, Empress Genmei , who was also his first cousin once removed and his first cousin twice removed. He left a young son by Fujiwara no Miyako, a daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito : Obito no miko (Prince Obito), who eventually became Emperor Shōmu . Emperor Monmu's reign lasted 10 years. He died at the age of 25. The actual site of Monmu's grave is known. This emperor
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