Yōrō

Overview

Yōrō (養老) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō; "year name") that followed Reiki and preceded Jinki. The era spanned from November 717 through February 724. The reigning empress during this period was Genshō-tennō (元正天皇).

The Yōrō era falls within the Nara period (710–794), a time when the imperial court was established at Heijō-kyō, the capital that is now the city of Nara. This was a period of intense state-building, with the court consolidating its administrative and legal structures under the ritsuryō system of penal and civil codes.

What Defined the Era

The Yōrō era is most closely associated with the compilation of the Yōrō ritsuryō, a comprehensive set of penal and administrative codes that would remain the foundation of Japanese law for centuries. The project began under the direction of Fujiwara no Fuhito, a powerful court noble who had already overseen the earlier Taihō codes of 701. Fuhito died in 720, but the work continued under his sons, and the completed codes were promulgated in 757, well after the era name itself had ended.

The era also saw the continuation of official histories commissioned by the court. The Nihon Shoki, one of Japan's oldest chronicles, was completed in 720, during the Yōrō period. This work, written in classical Chinese, presented the mythological origins of the imperial line and the early reigns of the emperors, serving as a legitimising document for the ruling house.

The court under Empress Genshō pursued an active policy of provincial governance. Edicts issued during the era sought to encourage agriculture, regulate land ownership, and address the practical needs of local administration. The era name itself, which translates roughly to "nourishing the aged," reflects a stated concern for elderly subjects, and contemporary edicts included provisions for their welfare.

Key Events

In 717, the era opened with the court continuing its consolidation of the ritsuryō system. Fujiwara no Fuhito, already the most influential figure at court, was tasked with revising the existing legal codes, a project that would eventually produce the Yōrō ritsuryō.

In 720, the Nihon Shoki was presented to the throne. This thirty-volume chronicle, compiled by a committee of court scholars, traced the imperial lineage from the age of the gods through the reign of Empress Jitō in the late seventh century. Its completion marked a major milestone in the court's efforts to codify its own history.

Also in 720, Fujiwara no Fuhito died. His death removed the dominant political figure of the era, but his sons—Muchimaro, Fusasaki, Umakai, and Maro—inherited his influence and continued his legal project. The four brothers would go on to establish the four main branches of the Fujiwara clan.

In 721, a major edict addressed the treatment of the elderly, granting them exemptions from certain taxes and labour obligations. This measure aligned directly with the meaning of the era name and demonstrated the court's willingness to use the nengō system to frame its policies.

In 724, Empress Genshō abdicated in favour of her nephew, who became Emperor Shōmu. The change of reign prompted the adoption of a new era name, Jinki, bringing the Yōrō era to a close in February of that year.

The Name in Japanese

The era name is written 養老 in Japanese. Its kana reading is ようろう, and its romaji is Yōrō.

The name is composed of two kanji:

• 養 (よう, yō) — meaning "to nourish," "to foster," or "to support." This character carries the sense of raising or caring for something, whether a child, an animal, or a person in need. It appears in words like 養う (やしなう, yashinau, "to support" or "to bring up") and 栄養 (えいよう, eiyō, "nutrition").

• 老 (ろう, rō) — meaning "old age" or "the aged." This character refers to elderly people and the process of ageing. It appears in words like 老人 (ろうじん, rōjin, "old person") and 老化 (ろうか, rōka, "ageing").

Together, 養老 conveys the idea of caring for the elderly, a theme that the court explicitly invoked in its edicts during this period. The name was chosen to signal a benevolent, paternalistic government concerned with the welfare of its oldest subjects.

The reading ようろう is a compound of the on'yomi, or Sino-Japanese readings, of both characters. This is standard for era names, which were almost always drawn from classical Chinese texts and pronounced using the Japanese approximations of Chinese pronunciations. The name itself is believed to derive from a passage in a Chinese classic, though the specific source is not recorded in the surviving historical materials.

How the Era Name Works

The Japanese era name system, known as nengō (年号), was adopted from Chinese practice. Each era name served as a way of marking time, with years counted from the start of the era. The first year of an era was called the first year of that era, and subsequent years were numbered accordingly.

Era names were not tied to the reign of a single monarch in the way that regnal years often were in other traditions. A new era could be proclaimed for a variety of reasons: the accession of a new emperor, the beginning of a new sexagenary cycle, or the occurrence of auspicious or inauspicious omens. In practice, however, a change of emperor almost always prompted a new era name, as happened in 724 when Empress Genshō abdicated.

The choice of an era name was a serious matter. Court scholars would propose names drawn from classical Chinese texts, and the emperor would select one. The name was intended to express a hope or aspiration for the coming years—peace, prosperity, virtue, or, in the case of Yōrō, the benevolent care of the aged. The characters chosen were expected to be auspicious and to carry positive connotations.

The Yōrō era is notable for having given its name to the Yōrō ritsuryō, the legal codes compiled during this period. This practice—naming a law code after the era in which it was drafted—became common, and the Yōrō codes are among the most famous examples. The codes themselves outlived the era by centuries, remaining the nominal basis of Japanese law until the late Heian period, even as the era name that gave them their title passed into history in 724.