Nara Period – Kodansha Enc.

(On-line)

(710–794; Nara jidai). The period during which the seat of government was at Heijokyo (now
the city of Nara) in Yamato (now Nara Prefecture). Strictly speaking, the Nara period began
in 710, when the imperial capital was moved from Fujiwarakyo, and ended in 784 with the
transfer of the capital to Nagaokakyo, excluding temporary removals to Kuni no Miya,
Naniwakyo, and Shigaraki no Miya. Dates for the period are usually given as 710–794,
however, to include the 10 years during which the capital was in Nagaoka. The period was
characterized by the full implementation of the ritsuryo system of government; the
establishment of Buddhism as the religion of the court and, by extension, of the state; and new
heights in intellectual and cultural achievement, as exemplified in the building of the Great
Hall of the temple Todaiji. Early in the period the central administration was able to exercise
close control over the country, but during the middle of the period a power struggle broke out
among the court nobility. Modifications in the land tenure system, and the absconding from
state lands of peasants overburdened by taxes, contributed to the breakdown of central
authority.

Political Developments—The political history of the Nara period may be seen as a series of
struggles for power that pitted the Fujiwara family against factions composed of, among
others, members of the Tachibana and Otomo families in association with disaffected
members of the imperial family. The leader of the government at the beginning of the Nara
period was Fujiwara no Fuhito. His daughter Kyushi was a consort of Emperor Mommu (r
697–707), and Fuhito succeeded in establishing her son Obito as crown prince. He further
arranged for another daughter, Asukabehime (see Komyo, Empress), to become Prince
Obito's consort, thus assuring the continuing influence of the Fujiwara family.

However, when Fuhito died in 720 the political situation underwent drastic change, and the
princess Toneri Shinno and Nagaya no O formed a faction to oppose the Fujiwara
ascendancy. After Prince Obito began his reign as Emperor Shomu (r 724–749), a crisis
developed over recognition of Asukabehime as Shomu's empress. Nagaya no O was forced to
commit suicide (see Nagaya no O, Rebellion of), and Asukabehime became Empress Komyo.
Fuhito's sons, Muchimaro, Fusasaki, Umakai, and Maro, took control of the government, and
it appeared that the era of a Fujiwara dispensation had begun. In 737, however, Fuhito's four
sons died in a smallpox epidemic.

The center of power now shifted to Tachibana no Moroe and Prince Suzuka no O (brother of
Nagaya no O), who were advised by the priest Gembo and Kibi no Makibi, former members
of an embassy to China. They attempted to reform the administration by disbanding the
provincial militia (the kondei system) and reducing the number of district officials (gunji), but
turmoil in the provinces weakened their position. See Fujiwara no Hirotsugu, Rebellion of.

Emperor Shomu was deeply disturbed by this course of events, and, in the hope that the
powers of Buddha would bring an end to epidemic disease and social ills, in 741 he ordered
the construction of temples and nunneries (kokubunji) in every province. This undertaking
was completed only after many years. In 743 he also ordered the construction of a gigantic
statue of the Buddha Vairocana so that the blessings of the Buddha would extend over the
entire country. Completed in 752 at enormous expense, it was known as the Great Buddha
(daibutsu) of Todaiji.
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Emperor Shomu abdicated in 749 and was replaced by his daughter Empress Koken (r 749–
758). An office (Shibichudai) was established for the empress dowager Komyo, and Fujiwara
no Nakamaro appeared in the political arena as administrator of her palace affairs. Nakamaro
disposed of his principal rival, Tachibana no Moroe, in 756 on a charge of sedition. Emperor
Shomu's zeal in spreading Buddhism had imposed an intolerable burden on the peasantry,
and, under the pretext of ameliorating their lot, Moroe's son Naramaro attempted a coup in
757. Nakamaro foiled the coup, but, realizing that the plot had profited from peasant distress,
he immediately reduced by half the most burdensome of the taxes, the zoyo (see yoeki), which
called for 60 days of labor each year. He also commuted the interest on all debts accumulated
through the previous year. In 758 Nakamaro dispatched officials (momikushi) throughout the
country to listen to the peasants' grievances and to give relief to the indigent. Within
officialdom he encouraged the observance of filial piety and renamed official ranks and
ministries in the Chinese manner. He publicly commended his grandfather Fuhito for his work
in drawing up the Taiho Code (701) and the Yoro Code (718), and he belatedly enforced the
latter in 757. The government, which had been dominated by Buddhism, now took on a more
Confucian aspect.

However, the former reigning empress Koken, who by 762 had gained ascendancy over her
successor, Emperor Junnin (r 757–764), was displeased with the new measures; she dismissed
Nakamaro and instead relied heavily on the priest Dokyo, who she believed had cured her of
an illness. In 764 Nakamaro instigated a rebellion but was captured and killed. Dokyo was
elevated to the rank of dajo daijin zenji (priestly grand minister of state) and given the title of
hoo (priestly retired sovereign). With the appointment of his fellow monks as religious
councillors (hosangi), court politics was monopolized by the Buddhist clergy. Previous
policies were reversed and Buddhism once again became supreme. Finally, on the basis of an
oracle he claimed to have received at the Usa Hachiman Shrine, Dokyo tried to have himself
enthroned. He was thwarted by Fujiwara no Momokawa, Wake no Kiyomaro, and others. The
empress Shotoku (the name taken by Empress Koken when she reascended the throne in 764)
died without issue in 770, and Dokyo was banished.

After the death of Shotoku, Fujiwara no Momokawa and his followers successfully countered
the attempts of Kibi no Makibi to enthrone the grandson of Emperor Temmu (r 672–686) and
installed instead the grandson of Emperor Tenji (r 661–672), 62-year-old Prince Shirakabe.
As Emperor Konin (r 770–781), he was the last sovereign whose reign fell completely within
the Nara period. His rule was distinguished by efforts to reduce national expenditures, to
discipline officials and monks, and to rebuild farming villages. Government offices founded
for the construction of religious edifices were reduced in size or abolished altogether.
Sinecures established outside the ritsuryo administrative framework to provide income for
officials were eliminated. In 780 the staffs of all government offices were reduced, and men
conscripted from the provinces to work in the bureaucracy were allowed to return home. In
order to encourage the return of dispossessed peasants who had left their homes to escape
debts, a limit was set on the interest on borrowed seed rice (suiko). Tax payments to the
national coffers continued to decrease, however, and the decay of the central government's
authority was felt as far away as northeastern Japan, where the Ezo tribes rose in rebellion.
The rebellion spread to other areas and posed a grave problem for years afterward. In 781
Emperor Konin's crown prince acceded to the throne as Emperor Kammu (r 781–806), and it
was he who was instrumental in moving the capital to Heiankyo in 794.
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Society and Economy—The social structure in the Nara period conformed to the ritsuryo
system, as set forth in the Taiho Code. The central government was headed by the Dajokan
(Grand Council of State), which presided over eight ministries, and the country was divided
into provinces (kuni or koku), which in turn were divided into districts (gun), villages (go),
and hamlets (ri). An early-Nara-period document lists 67 provinces, comprising 555 districts,
4,012 villages, and 12,036 hamlets. The provinces were administered by governors (kokushi),
who were sent out from the capital. All the people were considered the emperor's subjects and
were expected to obey officials who acted in his name. See also kokugun system; gori system.

All rice land was declared public domain. Under the handen shuju system the land was
redistributed every six years to all males and females over six years of age (five in Western
reckoning). Men received 2 tan (1 tan = 0.12 hectare or 0.3 acre), women two-thirds that
amount. In order to ensure proper allocation of rice land, the census register was updated
every six years. The authority of the imperial court at the time extended as far south as the
islands off the coast of Kyushu and as far north as Akitajo in what is now Akita Prefecture.
The population within this area is estimated to have been about 5 to 6 million and the acreage
of rice land about 601,000 cho (721,200 hectares or 1.8 million acres; 1 cho = 10 tan); it is
clear that even after taking into consideration the ratio of men to women, there was not
enough arable land. Judging from historical materials, however, the handen system and the
census registration seem to have been implemented throughout the country with little
resistance. Holders of allotted rice land (kubunden) were liable to corvée (zoyo), a rice tax
(so), and a handicraft or local products tax (cho). There was also a handicraft or local products
tax (yo) in lieu of labor (see so, yo, and cho). To strengthen administrative and military
communications with the provinces and to facilitate the payment of taxes, the government
established a network of post stations (ekisei) on the public roads connecting the capital and
provincial seats of government. The rice and produce taxes that had hitherto been paid to local
chieftains were now sent directly to the central government.

A faithful imitation of the Chinese system of government was bound to have negative side
effects, for it was unsuited to Japan's agricultural reality. According to a document of 730, in
the province of Awa (now part of Chiba Prefecture) 412 out of 414 households were listed as
being at the bare subsistence level. The figures for Echizen Province (now part of Fukui
Prefecture) in that year tell the same story: of 1,019 households, 996 were found to be poverty
stricken. The tax burden fell most heavily on the peasants, and the number of those who
absconded increased at an alarming rate.

At the same time, as a means of increasing revenue, there was a demand for an expansion of
acreage under cultivation through the reclamation of land. This plan was to be implemented
chiefly by provincial governors and district officials and would require a large-scale
mobilization of peasant labor. Since the early 8th century, however, members of the royal
family, the aristocracy, the great temples, local magnates, and, to a lesser extent, the peasants
themselves had set about gaining control of uncultivated lands. It is believed that a large
number of vagrant peasants supplied the labor for these private endeavors. The reclaimed
lands were not subject to taxation under the handen system, but, as there was no clear title
attaching to them, there were cases of reclaimed land being summarily placed by governors in
the handen pool of rice lands.
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In 723 the government issued the Sanze Isshin no Ho, a law declaring that reclaimed lands
could be held in private hands for up to three generations, but that thenceforth they must be
given over to the handen system. This law proved to be ineffective, however, and in 743,
through the Konden Eisei Shizai Ho, the government permitted the privatization of reclaimed
lands in perpetuity. As a consequence the aristocracy, the great temples, and local magnates
naturally redoubled their efforts to reclaim land. Although the reclaimed lands were, in fact,
subject to taxation, their loss to the public domain had grievous effects upon the handen
system. Furthermore, the influence of members of the central power structure acting as private
citizens was brought to bear upon the provincial populace through the medium of lands
subject to reclamation. The fact that a large number of peasants were thus organized outside
of the ritsuryo system into a labor force to develop land was a decisive factor in the evolution
of society during and after the Nara period, for it created the basis for the formation of
privately owned estates (shoen).

Diplomacy—Embassies to Tang (T'ang; 618–907) China, which had been interrupted for
some 30 years after the defeat of Japan by the combined armies of China and the Korean state
Silla (J: Shiragi) in the Battle of Hakusukinoe, were revived in 702, the year in which the
Taiho Code came into effect. During the Nara period eight embassies, six of which actually
reached the continent, were commissioned. The purpose of sending embassies to China was,
first, to profit from trade and absorb the culture, knowledge, and methods of an advanced
society. Second, through the establishment of diplomatic relations the Japanese court hoped to
gain a closer relationship with China than that enjoyed by other nations. Among students who
accompanied these embassies, each of which numbered as many as 500 to 600 men, were
Kibi no Makibi and the priest Gembo. Gembo returned with over 5,000 sutras, while Kibi no
Makibi, who had studied Confucianism, military science, and ceremonial rites in China, set up
an educational program for future government officials.

On their homeward journeys from China the missions were joined by numerous non-Japanese,
and these men too had great influence upon the politics and culture of the time. Notable
among them was the Chinese monk Ganjin, transmitter of the teachings of the Ritsu sect, who
established the Ordination Hall (Kaidan'in) at the temple Todaiji and founded the temple
Toshodaiji. There were also members of embassies who, because of their talents and facility
with the Chinese language, were retained by the Tang court to serve as administrators. Among
these was Abe no Nakamaro. See also Sui and Tang (T'ang) China, embassies to.

Relations with Silla were not so felicitous. The Japanese insisted that Silla was a subject
nation and referred to its embassies as tribute missions. However Silla, which had unified the
Korean peninsula in the late 7th century, demanded that its dealings with Japan be conducted
on a basis of equality. In 753, at a banquet held by the Tang imperial court, the embassies of
Japan and Silla argued over which should sit closest to the representatives of the host nation.
Relations deteriorated, and Fujiwara no Nakamaro urged that a punitive force be dispatched to
the peninsula. Before the plan was carried out, Nakamaro was removed from his position of
power, but relations with Silla remained troubled throughout the Nara period.

In 727 an embassy from Bohai (Po-hai), a nation situated north of the Korean peninsula,
arrived in Japan. Bohai's diplomatic relations with both Silla and China were unstable, and it
was anxious to form an alliance with Japan. Japan reciprocated Bohai's visit the following
year and, treating it as a tributary nation, permitted it a lucrative trade. For the Japanese,
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Bohai was a convenient window through which to follow events on the continent. It was in
this way that Japan learned of the An Lushan (An Lu-shan) Rebellion (755) in China. More
than 30 missions were exchanged by the two nations before Bohai lost its sovereignty in the
10th century.

Culture—The ripening of Tempyo culture, so termed after the era name (nengo) for the years
729–749, owed much to the resumption of relations with Tang China. Visitors came to Japan
from as far away as Central and West Asia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India,
contributing to the culture's vigor and diversity.

As receptive as Japan was to foreign influence, however, the culture of the period remained
uniquely Japanese. The process of domestication of foreign influences is readily apparent in
the development of a native writing system, for until Chinese characters were imported Japan
had no letters of its own. The Nihon shoki (720, Chronicles of Japan) was actually written in
Chinese (kambun), whereas the Kojiki (712, Record of Ancient Matters) and the poetic
anthology Man'yoshu (mid-8th century) employed various devices, among them the use of
Chinese characters to represent similar-sounding Japanese syllables, to enable a concatenation
of Chinese characters to be read in Japanese. This development was the result of a
phenomenal increase in the production of manuscripts and books in Chinese during the 8th
century. Contributing to this growth were the flourishing of Buddhism, which was
accompanied by the copying of sutras and the writing of exegetic works, and the activities of
the ritsuryo state itself, which relied chiefly on the use of Chinese characters to transmit
information.

Influenced by the import of foreign cultural artifacts and the growth of Buddhism, an
aristocratic culture flourished, characterized by impressive developments in the fine arts.
Emperor Shomu was the great patron of Tempyo culture, and objects made for his personal
use, such as goblets, musical instruments, and other items, compose the heart of the collection
of treasures at Shosoin. Employing materials gathered throughout Asia and applying
technology that often required specialization of labor, a large number of these treasures were
fabricated in Japan by immigrant artisans and by craftsmen assembled under the
administration of the ritsuryo system. For the construction of each temple a special
government bureau, such as the Zo-Todaiji-Shi (Bureau for the Erection of Todaiji), was
formed in order to direct the huge labor required.

The Nara period marked the culmination, largely through state sponsorships, of the first great
flowering of Japanese literature and the fine arts, supplying the foundation upon which the
pervasive domestication of continental culture was achieved in the Heian period (794–1185).