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Tenjin | |
---|---|
Academics, scholarship, learning | |
Other names | Tenjinsama Sugawara no Michizane |
Affiliation | Shinto |
Animals | Bull |
Age | 58 (845 - 903 AD) |
Tree | Ume |
Gender | Male |
Region | Fukuoka |
Ethnic group | Japanese |
In the Shinto religion of Japan, Tenjin (天神), also called Tenman Daijizai Tenjin (天満大自在天神), is the patron kami (deity) of academics, scholarship, of learning, and of the intelligentsia.
Tenjin is the deification of Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), the famous scholar, poet and politician of the Heian period.
Ten (天) means sky or heaven, and jin (神) means god or deity. The original meaning of Tenjin, sky deity, is almost the same as that of Raijin (a god of thunder).