Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenman Tenjin (845-903 CE), was a scholar, poet, and high-level administrator in the Japanese court during the Heian Period. Badly treated and exiled, he would gain a spectacular revenge on his political rivals from beyond the grave when he was deified following a series of disasters thought to be a product of Tenjin's anger. He became the patron god of scholarship and education, and a shrine was built in his honour at Kyoto, the then capital.
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Definition
Timeline
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845 - 903Life of the deified scholar and court official Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin.
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877Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) becomes a professor of Chinese literature.
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886 - 891Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is the regional governor of Sanuki, Japan.
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893Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is appointed a court councillor.
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899Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is made Minister of the Right. The Fujiwara leader Tokihira is made Minister of the Left.
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901Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is exiled to Dazaifu, Kyushu.
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903Death in exile of Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin).
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947The Tenmangu Kitano shrine is founded in honour of Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin.
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987Sugawara no Michizane is officially deified and given the title Tenjin.
