Heian

American  

[hey-ahn] / ˈheɪˈɑn /

adjective

1. of or relating to the period in Japan, a.d. 794–1185, characterized by the modification and naturalization of ideas and institutions that were earlier introduced from China.

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Etymology

Origin of Heian

1890–95; < Japanese heian, earlier feian < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese píngān peace

Example Sentences

One day last month, it took Hiroshi Ban six hours — twice as long as usual — to visit Kyoto’s Heian Jingu shrine.

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2024

According to W magazine, the hime cut can be traced to the Heian Period in Japan, beginning around the ninth century.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2022

Now it was insipid and muddy to her tongue, like the pools of the temples of Heian Kyō when the Office of Gardens and Ponds had them drained for cleaning.

From The Guardian • Nov. 27, 2019

At that point, she could not have realized that beneath the novel’s meticulously layered depictions of court life in Heian Japan is a revenge plot worthy of Balzac.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 19, 2019

THE epochs of Japanese history from the eighth century until the fall of the Ashikaga shogunate are generally divided into the Nara, the Heian, the Kamakura, the Muromachi, and the Higashi-yama.

From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)