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.
More about: TenjinDefinition
Timeline
-
845 - 903Life of the deified scholar and court official Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin.
-
877Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) becomes a professor of Chinese literature.
-
886 - 891Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is the regional governor of Sanuki, Japan.
-
893Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is appointed a court councillor.
-
899Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is made Minister of the Right. The Fujiwara leader Tokihira is made Minister of the Left.
-
901Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin) is exiled to Dazaifu, Kyushu.
-
903Death in exile of Sugawara no Michizane (Tenjin).
-
947The Tenmangu Kitano shrine is founded in honour of Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin.
-
987Sugawara no Michizane is officially deified and given the title Tenjin.
