Sugawara Michizane (redirected from Sugawara no Michizane)

Sugawara Michizane

(born 845, Japan—died March 26, 903, Dazaifu) Japanese scholar of Chinese literature during the Heian period, later deified as Tenjin, patron of scholarship and literature. He was given important government posts by the emperor Uda, who saw him as a counterbalance to the powerful Fujiwara family. When Uda's son took the throne, Michizane's fortunes were reversed, and he was sent into exile when the new emperor was persuaded that Michizane was plotting against him. Following his death in exile, calamities in the capital were attributed to his vengeful spirit, and he was posthumously reinstated. At shrines dedicated to Tenjin, schoolchildren often buy amulets for good luck on school entrance exams.