Chinese era name

For a list, see List of Chinese era names.
Chinese era name
Traditional Chinese年號
Simplified Chinese年号
Hanyu Pinyinniánhào
Literal meaningyear name
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinniánhào
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationnìhn houh
Jyutpingnin4 hou6

Chinese era names, also known as reign mottos, were titles used by various Chinese dynasties and regimes in Imperial China for the purpose of year identification and numbering. The first monarch to adopt era names was the Emperor Wu of Han in 140 BCE,[1][2] and this system remained the official method of year identification and numbering until the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912 CE, when the era name system was superseded by the Republic of China calendar. Other polities in the Sinosphere—Korea, Vietnam and Japan—also adopted the concept of era name as a result of Chinese politico-cultural influence.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ Lü, Zongli (2003). Power of the words: Chen prophecy in Chinese politics, AD 265-618. Peter Lang. ISBN 9783906769561.
  2. ^ a b Sogner, Sølvi (2001). Making Sense of Global History: The 19th International Congress of the Historical Sciences, Oslo 2000, Commemorative Volume. Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 9788215001067.
  3. ^ Jølstad, Anders; Lunde, Marianne (2000). International Congress of Historical Sciences. Vol. 19. University of Oslo. ISBN 9788299561419. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Ancient tradition carries forward with Japan's new era". Retrieved 29 December 2019.