October 09, 2014

Poseidon of the East (40-41)


The nengou system (年号), called kokureki (国歴) in the novel, resets to year 1 upon the accession of a new emperor. In the past, an emperor could designate a new nengou whenever the fancy struck him, which Shouryuu seems fond of doing.

Taika (大化) and Hakuchi (白雉) are the earliest recorded nengou in Japanese history, marking the reign of Emperor Kotoku (645-654). Daigen (大元) is also the name of the Great Yuan Empire, founded by Kublai Khan after he conquered China in 1271.

Japanese of Shouryuu's time would have been quite familiar with Kublai Khan, thanks to his two failed invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281, ultimately foiled each time by the "Divine Wind" or Kamikaze.

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Comments
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
10/09/2014 9:37 AM   
Thank you so much for your hard work translating the whole novel (and others in the series). A wonderful ending to a wonderful story!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
10/09/2014 4:36 PM   
Thank you so much for your wonderful translations!
It sure would be nice if there is a some sort of a side story about all the hijinks the emperor and kirin of En are doing visiting every kingdom. XD
# posted by Anonymous Lims
10/16/2014 12:44 PM   
Great end to a great book! Thanks a million for translating the novel especially since the English release is impossible to find now.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
11/27/2014 8:42 PM   
you are a geniuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus!!!! thank you very much for letting me pass a beautifull time reading this book!!! it's amazingg!!!!
thank ou very very muuuuchhh!!!!