East Asia · Sui, Tang and the khaganates
Heian Japan
794–1185
The Heian period (794–1185) began with the move of the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyoto). It was the classical age of Japanese court culture: the Fujiwara clan dominated through regency (sesshō/kampaku) and marriage politics; kana script enabled a flowering of vernacular literature (Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book).
- Existed
- 794–1185
- Shown on the map
- AD 793–1187
- Peak area
- 245k km²
- Region
- East Asia
Overview
The Heian period (794–1185) began with the move of the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyoto). It was the classical age of Japanese court culture: the Fujiwara clan dominated through regency (sesshō/kampaku) and marriage politics; kana script enabled a flowering of vernacular literature (Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book). Provincial militarization gave rise to the samurai; the Genpei War (1180–1185) between Taira and Minamoto ended the period and inaugurated warrior rule.
Common questions
- What was Heian Japan?
- The Heian period (794–1185) began with the move of the capital to Heian-kyō (Kyoto). It was the classical age of Japanese court culture: the Fujiwara clan dominated through regency (sesshō/kampaku) and marriage politics; kana script enabled a flowering of vernacular literature (Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book).
- When did Heian Japan exist?
- Heian Japan existed 794–1185. On this map it is drawn AD 793–1187.
- How large was Heian Japan?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Heian Japan covered about 245,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, chinaknowledge.de, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and university sources, and the academic works it lists. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Heian period en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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