THE NARA EPOCH
THE FORTY-THIRD SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS GEMMYO (A.D. 708-715)
THE Empress Gemmyo, fourth daughter of the Emperor Tenchi and consort
of Prince Kusakabe, was the mother of the Emperor Mommu, whose
accession had been the occasion of the first formal declaration of
the right of primogeniture (vide Chapter XV). Mommu, dying, willed
that the throne should be occupied by his mother in trust for his
infant son--afterwards Emperor Shomu.
REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL TO NARA
In ancient times it was customary to change the locality of the
Imperial capital with each change of sovereign. This custom, dictated
by the Shinto conception of impurity attaching to sickness and death,
exercised a baleful influence on architectural development, and
constituted a heavy burden upon the people, whose forced labour was
largely requisitioned for the building of the new palace. Kotoku,
when he promulgated his system of centralized administration,
conceived the idea of a fixed capital and selected Naniwa. But the
Emperor Tenchi moved to Omi, Temmu to Asuka (in Yamato) and the
Empress Jito to Fujiwara (in Yamato). Mommu remained at the latter
place until the closing year (707) of his reign, when, finding the
site inconvenient, he gave orders for the selection of another. But
his death interrupted the project, and it was not until the second
year of the Empress Gemmyo's reign that the Court finally removed to
Nara, where it remained for seventy-five years, throughout the reigns
of seven sovereigns. Nara, in the province of Yamato, lies nearly due
south of Kyoto at a distance of twenty-six miles from the latter.
History does not say why it was selected, nor have any details of its
plan been transmitted. To-day it is celebrated for scenic beauties--a
spacious park with noble trees and softly contoured hills, sloping
down to a fair expanse of lake, and enshrining in their dales ancient
temples, wherein are preserved many fine specimens of Japanese art,
glyptic and pictorial, of the seventh and eighth centuries. Nothing
remains of the palace where the Court resided throughout a cycle and
a half, nearly twelve hundred years ago, but one building, a
storehouse called Shoso-in, survives in its primitive form and
constitutes a landmark in the annals of Japanese civilization, for it
contains specimens of all the articles that were in daily use by the
sovereigns of the Nara epoch.
JAPANESE COINS
There is obscurity about the production of the precious metals in old
Japan. That gold, silver, and copper were known and used is certain,
for in the dolmens,--which ceased to be built from about the close of
the sixth century (A.D.)--copper ear-rings plated with gold are
found, and gold-copper images of Buddha were made in the reign of the
Empress Suiko (605), while history says that silver was discovered in
the island of Tsushima in the second year of the Emperor Temmu's
reign (674). From the same island, gold also is recorded to have come
in 701, but in the case of the yellow and the white metal alike, the
supply obtained was insignificant, and indeed modern historians are
disposed to doubt whether the alleged Tsushima gold was not in
reality brought from Korea via that island. On the whole, the
evidence tends to show that, during the first seven centuries of the
Christian era, Japan relied on Korea mainly, and on China partially,
for her supply of the precious metals. Yet neither gold, silver, nor
copper coins seem to have been in anything like general use until the
Wado era (708-715).
Coined money had already been a feature of Chinese civilization since
the fourth century before Christ, and when Japan began to take models
from her great neighbour during the Sui and Tang dynasties, she
cannot have failed to appreciate the advantages of artificial media
of exchange. The annals allege that in A.D. 677 the first mint was
established, and that in 683 an ordinance prescribed that the silver
coins struck there should be superseded by copper. But this rule did
not remain long in force, nor have there survived any coins, whether
of silver or of copper, certainly identifiable as antecedent to the
Wado era. It was in the year of the Empress Gemmyo's accession (708)
that deposits of copper were found in the Chichibu district of
Musashi province, and the event seemed sufficiently important to call
for a change of year-name to Wado (refined copper). Thenceforth,
coins of copper--or more correctly, bronze--were regularly minted and
gradually took the place of rice or cotton cloth as units of value.
It would seem that, from the close of the seventh century, a wave of
mining industry swept over Japan. Silver was procured from the
provinces of Iyo and Kii; copper from Inaba and Suo, and tin from
Ise, Tamba, and Iyo. All this happened between the years 690 and 708,
but the discovery of copper in the latter year in Chichibu was on
comparatively the largest scale, and may be said to have given the
first really substantial impetus to coining. For some unrecorded
reason silver pieces were struck first and were followed by copper a
few months later. Both were of precisely the same form--round with a
square hole in the middle to facilitate threading on a string--both
were of the same denomination (one won), and both bore the same
superscription (Wado Kaiho, or "opening treasure of refined copper"),
the shape, the denomination, and the legend being taken from a coin
of the Tang dynasty struck eighty-eight years previously. It was
ordered that in using these pieces silver should be paid in the case
of sums of or above four mon, and copper in the case of sums of or
below three won, the value of the silver coin being four times that
of the copper. But the silver tokens soon ceased to be current and
copper mainly occupied the field, a position which it held for 250
years, from 708 to 958. During that interval, twelve forms of sen*
were struck. They deteriorated steadily in quality, owing to growing
scarcity of the supply of copper; and, partly to compensate for the
increased cost of the metal, partly to minister to official greed,
the new issues were declared, on several occasions, to have a value
ten times as great as their immediate predecessors. Concerning that
value, the annals state that in 711 the purchasing power of the mon
(i.e., of the one-sen token) was sixty go of rice, and as the daily
ration for a full-grown man is five go, it follows that one sen
originally sufficed for twelve days' sustenance.**
*The ideograph sen signified originally a "fountain," and its
employment to designate a coin seems to have been suggested by an
idea analogous to that underlying the English word "currency."
**"At the present time the wages of a carpenter are almost a yen a
day. Now the yen is equal to 1000 mon of the smaller sen and to 500
mon of the larger ones, so that he could have provided himself with
rice, if we count only 500 mon to the yen, for sixteen years on the
wages which he receives for one day's labour in 1900." (Munro's Coins
of Japan.)
Much difficulty was experienced in weaning the people from their old
custom of barter and inducing them to use coins. The Government seems
to have recognized that there could not be any effective spirit of
economy so long as perishable goods represented the standard of
value, and in order to popularize the use of the new tokens as well
as to encourage thrift, it was decreed that grades of rank would be
bestowed upon men who had saved certain sums in coin. At that time
(711), official salaries had already been fixed in terms of the Wado
sen. The highest received thirty pieces of cloth, one hundred hanks
of silk and two thousand mon, while in the case of an eighth-class
official the corresponding figures were one piece of cloth and twenty
mon.* The edict for promoting economy embodied a schedule according
to which, broadly speaking, two steps of executive rank could be
gained by amassing twenty thousand mon and one step by saving five
thousand.
*These figures sound ludicrously small if translated into present-day
money, for 1000 mon go to the yen, and the latter being the
equivalent of two shillings, 20 mon represents less then a
half-penny. But of course the true calculation is that 20 mon
represented 240 days' rations of rice in the Wado schedule of values.
Observing that the fundamental principle of a sound token of exchange
was wholly disregarded in these Wado sen, since their intrinsic value
bore no appreciable ratio to their purchasing power, and considering
also the crudeness of their manufacture, it is not surprising to find
that within a few months of their appearance they were extensively
forged. What is much more notable is that the Wado sen remained in
circulation for fifty years. The extraordinary ratio, however, by
which copper and silver were linked together originally, namely, 4 to
1, did not survive; in 721 it was changed to 25 to 10, and in the
following year to 50 to 10. Altogether, as was not unnatural, the
early treatment of this coinage question by Japanese statesmen showed
no trace of scientific perception. The practice, pursued almost
invariably, of multiplying by ten the purchasing power of each new
issue of sen, proved, of course, enormously profitable to the
issuers, but could not fail to distress the people and to render
unpopular such arbitrarily varying tokens.
The Government spared no effort to correct the latter result, and
some of the devices employed were genuinely progressive. In that
epoch travellers had to carry their own provisions, and not
uncommonly the supply ran short before they reached their
destination, the result sometimes being death from starvation on the
roadside. It was therefore ordered that in every district (korf) a
certain portion of rice should be stored at a convenient place for
sale to wayfarers, and these were advised to provide themselves with
a few sen before setting out. It is evident that, since one of the
Wado coins sufficed to buy rice for twelve days' rations, a traveller
was not obliged to burden himself with many of these tokens. Wealthy
persons in the provinces were also admonished to set up roadside
shops for the sale of rice, and anyone who thus disposed of one
hundred koku in a year was to be reported to the Court for special
reward. Moreover, no district governor (gunryo), however competent,
was counted eligible for promotion unless he had saved six thousand
sen, and it was enacted that all taxes might be paid in copper coin.
In spite of all this, however, the use of metallic media was limited
for a long time to the upper classes and to the inhabitants of the
five home provinces. Elsewhere the old habit of barter continued.
THE FORTY-FOURTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS GENSHO (A.D. 715-723)
In the year 715, the Empress Gemmyo, after a reign of seven years,
abdicated in favour of her daughter, Gensho. This is the only
instance in Japanese history of an Empress succeeding an Empress.
HISTORICAL COMPILATION
The reigns of these two Empresses are memorable for the compilation
of the two oldest Japanese histories which have been handed down to
the present epoch, the Kojiki and the Nihongi; but as the
circumstances in which these works, as well as the Fudoki (Records of
Natural Features), were written have been sufficiently described
already (vide Chapter I), it remains only to refer to a custom
inaugurated by Gemmyo in the year (721) after the compilation of the
Nihongi, the custom of summoning to Court learned men (hakase) and
requiring them to deliver lectures on that work. Subsequent
generations of sovereigns followed this example, and to this day one
of the features of the New Year's observances is a historical
discourse in the palace. The writing of history became thenceforth an
imperially patronized occupation. Six works, covering the period from
697 to 887, appeared in succession and were known through all ages as
the Six National Histories. It is noticeable that in the compilation
of all these a leading part was taken by one or another of the great
Fujiwara ministers, and that the fifth numbered among its authors the
illustrious Sugawara Michizane.
THE FORTY-FIFTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR SHOMU (A.D. 724-748)
When the Emperor Mommu died (707), his son, the Prince Imperial, was
too young to succeed. Therefore the sceptre came into the hands of
Mommu's mother, who, after a reign of seven years, abdicated in
favour of her daughter, the Empress Gensho, and, eight years later,
the latter in turn abdicated in favour of her nephew, Shomu, who had
now reached man's estate. Shomu's mother, Higami, was a daughter of
Fujiwara Fuhito, and as the Fujiwara family did not belong to the
Kwobetsu class, she had not attained the rank of Empress, but had
remained simply Mommu's consort (fujiri). Her son, the Emperor Shomu,
married another daughter of the same Fujiwara Fuhito by a different
mother; that is to say, he took for consort his own mother's
half-sister, Asuka. This lady, Asuka, laboured under the same
disadvantage of lineage and could not properly be recognized as
Empress. It is necessary to note these details for they constitute
the preface to a remarkable page of Japanese history. Of Fujiwara
Fuhito's two daughters, one, Higami, was the mother of the reigning
Emperor, Shomu, and the other, Asuka, was his consort. The blood
relationship of the Fujiwara family to the Court could scarcely have
been more marked, but its public recognition was impeded by the
defect in the family's lineage.
THE FUJIWARA CONSPIRACY
Immediately after Shomu's accession, his mother, Higami, received the
title of Kwo-taifujin (Imperial Great Lady). But the ambition of her
family was to have her named Kwo-taiko (Empress Dowager). The Emperor
also desired to raise his consort, Asuka, to the position of Empress.
Consulting his ministers on the subject, he encountered opposition
from Prince Nagaya, minister of the Left. This prince, a
great-grandson of the Emperor Temmu, enjoyed high reputation as a
scholar, was looked up to as a statesman of great wisdom, and
possessed much influence owing to his exalted official position. He
urged that neither precedent nor law sanctioned nomination of a lady
of the Shimbetsu class to the rank of Empress. The Daiho code was
indeed very explicit on the subject. In China, whither the drafters
of the code went for models, no restrictions were imposed on a
sovereign's choice of wife. But the Japanese legislators clearly
enacted that an Empress must be taken from among Imperial princesses.
Prince Nagaya, in his position as minister of the Left, opposed any
departure from that law and thus thwarted the designs of the
Fujiwara.
The lady Asuka bore a son to the Emperor three years after his
accession. His Majesty was profoundly pleased. He caused a general
amnesty to be proclaimed, presented gratuities to officials, and
granted gifts to all children born on the same day. When only two
months old, the child was created Prince Imperial, but in his
eleventh month he fell ill. Buddhist images were cast; Buddhist
Sutras were copied; offerings were made to the Kami, and an amnesty
was proclaimed. Nothing availed. The child died, and the Emperor was
distraught with grief. In this incident the partisans of the Fujiwara
saw their opportunity. They caused it to be laid to Prince Nagaya's
charge that he had compassed the death of the infant prince by charms
and incantations. Two of the Fujiwara nobles were appointed to
investigate the accusation, and they condemned the prince to die by
his own hand. He committed suicide, and his wife and children died
with him. The travesty of justice was carefully acted throughout. A
proclamation was issued promising capital punishment to any one, of
whatever rank or position, who compassed the death or injury of
another by spells or incantations, and, six months later, the lady
Asuka was formally proclaimed Empress.
In one respect the Fujiwara conspirators showed themselves clumsy.
The rescript justified Asuka's elevation by reference to the case of
Iwa, a daughter of the Takenouchi, whom the Emperor Nintoku had made
his Empress. But the Takenouchi family belonged to the Kwobetsu
class, and the publication of a special edict in justification could
be read as self-condemnation only. Nevertheless, the Fujiwara had
compassed their purpose. Thenceforth they wielded the power of the
State through the agency of their daughters. They furnished Empresses
and consorts to the reigning sovereigns, and took their own wives
from the Minamoto family, itself of Imperial lineage. To such an
extent was the former practice followed that on two occasions three
Fujiwara ladies served simultaneously in the palace. This happened
when Go-Reizei (1222-1232) had a Fujiwara Empress, Kwanko, and two
Fujiwara consorts, Fumi and Hiro. At one moment it had seemed as
though fate would interfere to thwart these astute plans. An epidemic
of small-pox, originating (735) in Kyushu, spread over the whole
country, and carried off the four sons of Fuhito--Muchimaro,
Fusazaki, Umakai, and Maro--leaving the family's fortunes in the
hands of juniors, who occupied only minor official positions. But the
Fujiwara genius rose superior to all vicissitudes. The elevation of
the lady Asuka to be Empress Komyo marks an epoch in Japanese
history.
COMMUNICATIONS WITH CHINA
In spite of the length and perils of a voyage from Japan to China in
the seventh and eighth centuries--one embassy which sailed from
Naniwa in the late summer of 659 did not reach China for 107
days--the journey was frequently made by Japanese students of
religion and literature, just as the Chinese, on their side,
travelled often to India in search of Buddhist enlightenment. This
access to the refinement and civilization of the Tang Court
contributed largely to Japan's progress, both material and moral, and
is frankly acknowledged by her historians as a main factor in her
advance. When Shomu reigned at Nara, the Court in Changan had entered
the phase of luxury and epicurism which usually preludes the ruin of
a State. Famous literati thronged its portals; great poets and
painters enjoyed its patronage, and annalists descanted on its
magnificence. Some of the works of these famous men were carried to
Japan and remained with her as models and treasures. She herself
showed that she had competence to win some laurels even amid such a
galaxy. In the year 716, Nakamaro, a member of the great Abe family,
accompanied the Japanese ambassador to Tang and remained in China
until his death in 770. He was known in China as Chao Heng, and the
great poet, Li Pai, composed a poem in his memory, while the Tang
sovereign conferred on him the posthumous title of "viceroy of
Luchou." Not less celebrated was Makibi,* who went to China at the
same time as Nakamaro, and after twenty years' close study of
Confucius, returned in 735, having earned such a reputation for
profound knowledge of history, the five classics, jurisprudence,
mathematics, philosophy, calendar making, and other sciences that the
Chinese parted with him reluctantly. In Japan he was raised to the
high rank of asomi, and ultimately became minister of the Right
during the reign of Shotoku.
*Generally spoken of as "Kibi no Mabi," and credited by tradition
with the invention of the katakana syllabary.
Such incidents speak eloquently of the respect paid in Japan to
mental attainments and of the enlightened hospitality of China. In
the realm of Buddhism perhaps even more than in that of secular
science, this close intercourse made its influence felt. Priests went
from Japan to study in China, and priests came from China to preach
in Japan. During the Nara era, three of these men attained to special
eminence. They were Doji, Gembo, and Kanshin. Doji was the great
propagandist of the Sanron sect, whose tenets he had studied in China
for sixteen years (701-717). From plans prepared by him and taken
from the monastery of Hsi-ming in China, the temple Daian-ji was
built under the auspices of the Emperor Shomu, and having been richly
endowed, was placed in Doji's charge as lord-abbot. Gembo, during a
sojourn of two years at the Tang Court, studied the tenets of the
Hosso sect, which, like the Sanron, constituted one of the five sects
originally introduced into Japan. Returning in 736, he presented to
the Emperor Shomu five thousand volumes of the Sutras, together with
a number of Buddhist images, and he was appointed abbot of the
celebrated temple, Kofuku-ji. The third of the above three religious
celebrities was a Chinese missionary named Kanshin. He went to Japan
accompanied by fourteen priests, three nuns, and twenty-four laymen,
and the mission carried with it many Buddhist relics, images, and
Sutras. Summoned to Nara in 754, he was treated with profound
reverence, and on a platform specially erected before the temple
Todai-ji, where stood the colossal image of Buddha--to be presently
spoken of--the sovereign and many illustrious personages performed
the most solemn rite of Buddhism under the ministration of Kanshin.
He established a further claim on the gratitude of the Empress by
curing her of an obstinate malady, and her Majesty would fain have
raised him to the highest rank (dai-sojo) of the Buddhist priesthood.
But he declined the honour. Subsequently, the former palace of Prince
Nittabe was given to him as a residence and he built there the temple
of Shodai-ji, which still exists.
RELIGION AND POLITICS
The great Confucianist, Makibi, and the Buddhist prelate, Gembo, met
with misfortune and became the victims of an unjust accusation
because they attempted to assert the Imperial authority as superior
to the growing influence of the Fujiwara. Makibi held the post of
chamberlain of the Empress' household, and Gembo officiated at the
"Interior monastery" (Nai-dojo) where the members of the Imperial
family worshipped Buddha. The Emperor's mother, Higami, who on her
son's accession had received the title of "Imperial Great Lady" (vide
sup.), fell into a state of melancholia and invited Gembo to
prescribe for her, which he did successfully. Thus, his influence in
the palace became very great, and was augmented by the piety of the
Empress, who frequently listened to discourses by the learned
prelate. Makibi naturally worked in union with Gembo in consideration
of their similar antecedents. Fujiwara Hirotsugu was then governor of
Yamato. Witnessing this state of affairs with uneasiness, he
impeached Gembo. But the Emperor credited the priest's assertions,
and removed Hirotsugu to the remote post of Dazai-fu in Chikuzen.
There he raised the standard of revolt and was with some difficulty
captured and executed. The Fujiwara did not tamely endure this check.
They exerted their influence to procure the removal of Makibi and
Gembo from the capital, both being sent to Tsukushi (Kyushu), Makibi
in the capacity of governor, and Gembo to build the temple
Kwannon-ji. Gembo died a year later, and it was commonly reported
that the spirit of Hirotsugu had compassed his destruction, while
more than one book, professing to be historical, alleged that his
prime offence was immoral relations with the "Imperial Great Lady,"
who was then some sixty years of age! There can be little doubt that
the two illustrious scholars suffered for their fame rather than for
their faults, and that their chief offences were overshadowing renown
and independence of Fujiwara patronage.
BUDDHISM IN THE NARA EPOCH
From what has been related above of the priests Kanshin and Gembo, it
will have been observed that the Emperor Shomu was an earnest
disciple of Buddhism. The heritage of administrative reforms
bequeathed to him by Tenchi and Temmu should have engrossed his
attention, but he subserved everything to religion, and thus the
great national work, begun in the Daika era and carried nearly to
completion in the Daiho, suffered its first check. Some annalists
have pleaded in Shomu's behalf that he trusted religious influence to
consolidate the system introduced by his predecessors. However that
may be, history records as the most memorable event of his reign his
abdication of the throne in order to enter religion, thus
inaugurating a practice which was followed by several subsequent
sovereigns and which materially helped the Fujiwara family to usurp
the reality of administrative power. Shomu, on receiving the tonsure,
changed his name to Shoman, and thenceforth took no part in secular
affairs.
In all this, however, his procedure marked a climax rather than a
departure. In fact, never did any foreign creed receive a warmer
welcome than that accorded to Buddhism by the Japanese after its
first struggle for tolerance. Emperor after Emperor worshipped the
Buddha. Even Tenchi, who profoundly admired the Confucian philosophy
and whose experience of the Soga nobles' treason might well have
prejudiced him against the faith they championed; and even Temmu,
whose ideals took the forms of frugality and militarism, were lavish
in their offerings at Buddhist ceremonials. The Emperor Mommu enacted
a law for the better control of priests and nuns, yet he erected the
temple Kwannon-ji. The great Fujiwara statesmen, as Kamatari, Fuhito,
and the rest, though they belonged to a family (the Nakatomi) closely
associated with Shinto worship, were reverent followers of the Indian
faith. Kamatari approved of his eldest son, Joye, entering the
priesthood, and sent him to China to study the Sutras. He also gave
up his residence at Yamashina for conversion into a monastery.
Fujiwara Fuhito built the Kofuku-ji, and his son, Muchimaro, when
governor of Omi, repaired temples in the provinces, protected their
domains, and erected the Jingu-ji.
That among the occupants of the throne during 165 years, from 593 to
758, no less than seven were females could not but contribute to the
spread of a religion which owed so much to spectacular effect. Every
one of these sovereigns lent earnest aid to the propagation of
Buddhism, and the tendency of the age culminated in the fanaticism of
Shomu, re-enforced as it was by the devotion of his consort, Komyo.
Tradition has woven into a beautiful legend the nation's impression
of this lady's piety. In an access of humility she vowed to wash the
bodies of a thousand beggars. Nine hundred and ninety-nine had been
completed when the last presented himself in the form of a loathsome
leper. Without a sign of repugnance the Empress continued her task,
and no sooner was the ablution concluded than the mendicant ascended
heavenwards, a glory of light radiating from his body. It is also
told of her that, having received in a dream a miniature golden image
of the goddess of Mercy (Kwannon) holding a baby in her arms, she
conceived a daughter who ultimately reigned as the Empress Koken.*
*The resemblance between the legend and the Buddhist account of the
Incarnation is plain. It has to be remembered that Nestorians had
carried Christianity to the Tang Court long before the days of Komyo.
In spite, however, of all this zeal for Buddhism, the nation did not
entirely abandon its traditional faith. The original cult had been
ancestor worship. Each great family had its uji no Kami, to whom it
made offerings and presented supplications. These deities were now
supplemented, not supplanted. They were grafted upon a Buddhist stem,
and shrines of the uji no Kami became uji-tera, or "uji temples."*
Thenceforth the temple (tera) took precedence of the shrine
(yashiro). When spoken of together they became ji-sha. This was the
beginning of Ryobu Shinto, or mixed Shinto, which found full
expression when Buddhist teachers, obedient to a spirit of toleration
born of their belief in the doctrines of metempsychosis and universal
perfectibility, asserted the creed that the Shinto Kami were avatars
(incarnations) of the numerous Buddhas.
*Thus, Kofukuji, built by Kamatari and Fuhito was called O-Nakatomi
no uji-tera; Onjo-ji, erected by Otomo Suguri, was known as Otomo no
uji-tera, and so forth.
The Nara epoch has not bequeathed to posterity many relics of the
great religious edifices that came into existence under Imperial
patronage during its seventy-five years. Built almost wholly of wood,
these temples were gradually destroyed by fire. One object, however,
defied the agent of destruction. It is a bronze Buddha of huge
proportions, known now to all the world as the "Nara Daibutsu." On
the fifteenth day of the tenth month of the fifteenth year of
Tembyo--7th of November, 743--the Emperor Shomu proclaimed his
intention of undertaking this work. The rescript making the
announcement is extant. It sets out by declaring that "through the
influence and authority of Buddha the country enjoys tranquillity,"
and while warning the provincial and district governors against in
any way constraining the people to take part in the project, it
promises that every contributor shall be welcome, even though he
bring no more than a twig to feed the furnace or a handful of clay
for the mould. The actual work of casting began in 747 and was
completed in three years, after seven failures. The image was not
cast in its entirety; it was built up with bronze plates soldered
together. A sitting presentment of the Buddha, it had a height of
fifty-three and a half feet and the face was sixteen feet long, while
on either side was an attendant bosatsu standing thirty feet high.
For the image, 986,030,000 lbs. of copper were needed, and on the
gilding of its surface 870 lbs. of refined gold were used.
These figures represented a vast fortune in the eighth century.
Indeed it seemed likely that a sufficiency of gold would not be
procurable, but fortunately in the year 749 the yellow metal was
found in the province of Mutsu, and people regarded the timely
discovery as a special dispensation of Buddha. The great hall in
which the image stood had a height of 120 feet and a width of 290
feet from east to west, and beside it two pagodas rose to a height of
230 feet each. Throughout the ten years occupied in the task of
collecting materials and casting this Daibutsu, the Emperor solemnly
worshipped Rushana Buddha three times daily, and on its completion he
took the tonsure. It was not until the year 752, however, that the
final ceremony of unveiling took place technically called "opening
the eyes" (kaigan). On that occasion the Empress Koken, attended by
all the great civil and military dignitaries, held a magnificent
fete, and in the following year the temple--Todai-ji--was endowed
with the taxes of five thousand households and the revenue from
twenty-five thousand acres of rice-fields.
PROVINCIAL TEMPLES
While all this religious fervour was finding costly expression among
the aristocrats in Nara, the propagandists and patrons of Buddhism
did not neglect the masses. In the year 741, provincial temples were
officially declared essential to the State's well-being. These
edifices had their origin at an earlier date. During the reign of
Temmu (673-686) an Imperial rescript ordered that throughout the
whole country every household should provide itself with a Buddhist
shrine and place therein a sacred image. When the pious Empress Jito
occupied the throne (690-696), the first proselytizing mission was
despatched to the Ezo, among whom many converts were won; and, later
in the same reign, another rescript directed that a certain
Sutra--the Konkwo myo-kyo, or Sutra of Golden Effulgence--should be
read during the first month of every year in each province, the fees
of the officiating priests and other expenses being defrayed out of
the local official exchequers.
ENGRAVING: PAGODA OF YAKUSHI-JI, NARA
During Mommu's time (697-707), Buddhist hierarchs (kokushi) were
appointed to the provinces. Their chief functions were to expound the
Sutra and to offer prayers. The devout Shomu not only distributed
numerous copies of the Sutras, but also carried his zeal to the
length of commanding that every province should erect a sixteen-foot
image of Shaka with attendant bosatsu (Bodhisattva), and, a few years
later, he issued another command that each province must provide
itself with a pagoda seven storeys high. By this last rescript the
provincial temples (kokubun-ji) were called into official existence,
and presently their number was increased to two in each province, one
for priests and one for nuns. The kokushi attached to these temples
laboured in the cause of propagandism and religious education side by
side with the provincial pundits (kunihakase), whose duty was to
instruct the people in law and literature; but it is on record that
the results of the former's labours were much more conspicuous than
those of the latter.
GYOGI
It is said to have been mainly at the instance of the Empress Komyo
that the great image of Todai-ji was constructed and the provincial
temples were established. But undoubtedly the original impulse came
from a priest, Gyogi. He was one of those men who seem to have been
specially designed by fate for the work they undertake. Gyogi, said
to have been of Korean extraction, had no learning like that which
won respect for Kanshin and Gembo. But he was amply gifted with the
personal magnetism which has always distinguished notably successful
propagandists of religion. Wherever he preached and prayed, thousands
of priests and laymen flocked to hear him, and so supreme was his
influence that under his direction the people gladly undertook
extensive works of bridge building and road making. Like Shotoku
Taishi, his name is associated by tradition with achievements not
properly assignable to him, as the invention of the potter's
wheel--though it had been in use for centuries before his time--and
the production of various works of art which can scarcely have
occupied the attention of a religious zealot. By order of the Empress
Gensho, Gyogi was thrown into prison for a time, such a disturbing
effect did his propagandism produce on men's pursuit of ordinary
bread winning; but he soon emerged from durance and was taken into
reverent favour by the Emperor Shomu, who attached four hundred
priests as his disciples and conferred on him the titles of Dai-Sojo
(Great Hierarch) and Dai-Bosatsu (Great Bodhisattva).
The enigma of the people's patience under the stupendous burdens
imposed on them by the fanatic piety of Shomu and his consort, Komyo,
finds a solution in the co-operation of Gyogi, whose speech and
presence exercised more influence than a hundred Imperial edicts. It
is recorded that, by way of corollary to the task of reconciling the
nation to the Nara Court's pious extravagance, Gyogi compassed the
erection of no less than forty-nine temples. But perhaps the most
memorable event in his career was the part he took in reconciling the
indigenous faith and the imported. However fervent Shomu's belief in
Buddhism, the country he ruled was the country of the Kami, and on
descent from the Kami his own title to the throne rested. Thus,
qualms of conscience may well have visited him when he remembered the
comparatively neglected shrine of the Sun goddess at Ise. Gyogi
undertook to consult the will of the goddess, and carried back a
revelation which he interpreted in the sense that Amaterasu should be
regarded as an incarnation of the Buddha. The Emperor then despatched
to Ise a minister of State who obtained an oracle capable of similar
interpretation, and, on the night after receipt of this utterance,
the goddess, appearing to his Majesty in a vision, told him that the
sun was Birushana (Vairotchana Tathagata); or Dainishi (Great Sun)
Nyorai.
Thus was originated a theory which enabled Buddhism and Shinto to
walk hand in hand for a thousand years, the theory that the Shinto
Kami are avatars of the Buddha. Some historians contend that this
idea must have been evolved and accepted before the maturity of the
project for casting the colossal image at Nara, and that the credit
probably belongs to Gembo; others attribute it to the immortal priest
Kukai (Kobo Daishi), who is said to have elaborated the doctrine in
the early years of the ninth century. Both seem wrong.
SUPERSTITIONS
Side by side with the vigorous Buddhism of the Nara epoch, strange
superstitions obtained currency and credence. Two may be mentioned as
illustrating the mood of the age. One related to an ascetic, En no
Ubasoku, who was worshipped by the people of Kinai under the name of
En no Gyoja (En the anchorite). He lived in a cave on Katsuragi Mount
for forty years, wore garments made of wistaria bark, and ate only
pine leaves steeped in spring water. During the night he compelled
demons to draw water and gather firewood, and during the day he rode
upon clouds of five colours. The Kami Hitokotonushi, having been
threatened by him for neglecting his orders, inspired a man to accuse
him of treasonable designs, and the Emperor Mommu sent soldiers to
arrest him. But as he was able to evade them by recourse to his art
of flying, they apprehended his mother in his stead, whereupon he at
once gave himself up. In consideration of his filial piety his
punishment was commuted to exile on an island off the Izu coast, and
in deference to the Imperial orders he remained there quietly
throughout the day, but devoted the night to flying to the summit of
Mount Fuji or gliding over the sea. This En no Gyoja was the founder
of a sect of priests calling themselves Yamabushi.
The second superstition relates to one of the genii named Kume. By
the practice of asceticism he obtained supernatural power, and while
riding one day upon a cloud, he passed above a beautiful girl washing
clothes in a river, and became so enamoured of her that he lost his
superhuman capacities and fell at her feet. She became his wife.
Years afterwards it chanced that he was called out for forced labour,
and, being taunted by the officials as a pseudo-genius, he fasted and
prayed for seven days and seven nights. On the eighth morning a
thunder-storm visited the scene, and after it, a quantity of heavy
timber was found to have been moved, without any human effort, from
the forest to the site of the projected building. The Emperor,
hearing of this, granted him forty-five acres, on which he built the
temple of Kume-dera.
Such tales found credence in the Nara epoch, and indeed all through
the annals of early Japan there runs a well-marked thread of
superstition which owed something of its obtrusiveness to intercourse
with Korea and China, whence came professors of the arts of
invisibility and magic. A thunder deity making his occasional abode
in lofty trees is gravely spoken of in the context of a campaign, and
if at one moment a river is inhabited by a semi-human monster, at
another a fish formed like a child is caught in the sea. There is, of
course, an herb of longevity--"a plant resembling coral in shape,
with clustering leaves and branches; some red, others purple, others
black, others golden coloured, and some changing their colours in the
four seasons." In the reign of the Empress Kogyoku, witches and
wizards betray the people into all sorts of extravagances; and a
Korean acolyte has for friend a tiger which teaches him all manner of
wonderful arts, among others that of healing any disease with a magic
needle. Later on, these and cognate creations of credulity take their
appropriate places in the realm of folk-lore, but they rank with
sober history in the ancient annals. In this respect Japan did not
differ from other early peoples.
THE FORTY-SIXTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS KOKEN (A.D. 749-758)
In July, 749, the Emperor Shomu abdicated in favour of his daughter,
Princess Abe, known in history as Koken. Her mother was the
celebrated Princess Asuka, who, in spite of the Shimbetsu lineage of
her Fujiwara family, had been made Shomu's Empress, and whose name
had been changed to Komyo (Refulgence) in token of her illustrious
piety. The daughter inherited all the mother's romance, but in her
case it often degenerated into a passion more elementary than
religious ecstasy. Shomu, having no son, made his daughter heir to
the throne. Japanese history furnished no precedent for such a step.
The custom had always been that a reign ceased on the death of a
sovereign unless the Crown Prince had not yet reached maturity, in
which event his mother, or some other nearly related princess,
occupied the throne until he came of age and then surrendered the
reigns of government to his hands. Such had been the practice in the
case of the Empresses Jito, Gemmyo, and Gensho. Shomu, however, not
only bequeathed the throne to a princess, but while himself still in
the prime of life, abdicated in her favour.
Thereafter, at the recognized instance of the all-powerful Fujiwara
family, Emperors often surrendered the sceptre to their heirs,
themselves retiring into religious life with the secular title of
Da-joko (Great ex-Emperor) and the ecclesiastical designation of Ho-o
(pontiff). Shomu was the originator of this practice, but the annals
are silent as to the motive that inspired him. It will be presently
seen that under the skilful manipulation of the Fujiwara nobles, this
device of abdication became a potent aid to their usurpation of
administrative power, and from that point of view the obvious
inference is that Shomu's unprecedented step was taken at their
suggestion. But the Buddhist propagandists, also, were profoundly
interested. That the sovereign himself should take the tonsure could
not fail to confer marked prestige on the Church. It is probable,
therefore, that Shomu was swayed by both influences--that of the
Buddhists, who worked frankly in the cause of their creed, and that
of the Fujiwara, who desired to see a lady of their own lineage upon
the throne.
KOKEN AND NAKAMARO
The fanaticism of the Emperor Shomu and his consort, Komyo, bore
fruit during the reign of Koken. In the third year after Shomu's
abdication, a decree was issued prohibiting the taking of life in any
form. This imposed upon the State the responsibility of making
donations of rice to support the fishermen, whose source of
livelihood was cut off by the decree. Further, at the ceremony of
opening the public worship of the great image of Buddha, the Empress
in person led the vast procession of military, civil, and religious
dignitaries to the temple Todai-ji. It was a fete of unparalleled
dimensions. All officials of the fifth grade and upwards wore full
uniform, and all of lesser grades wore robes of the colour
appropriate to their rank. Ten thousand Buddhist priests officiated,
and the Imperial musicians were re-enforced by those from all the
temples throughout the home provinces. Buddhism in Japan had never
previously received such splendid homage.
In the evening, the Empress visited the residence of the grand
councillor, Fujiwara no Nakamaro. Fourteen hundred years had elapsed,
according to Japanese history, since the first of the Yamato
sovereigns set up his Court, and never had the Imperial house
incurred such disgrace as now befell it. Fujiwara no Nakamaro was a
grandson of the great Kamatari. He held the rank of dainagon and was
at once a learned man and an able administrator. From the time of
that visit to the Tamura-no-tei (Tamura mansion), as his residence
was called, the Empress repaired thither frequently, and finally made
it a detached palace under the name of Tamura-no-miya. Those that
tried to put an end to the liaison were themselves driven from
office, and Nakamaro's influence became daily stronger.
THE FORTY-SEVENTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR JUNNIN (758-764 A.D.)
In August, 758, the Empress, after a reign of four years, nominally
abdicated in favour of the Crown Prince, Junnin, but continued to
discharge all the functions of government herself. Her infatuation
for Nakamaro seemed to increase daily. She bestowed on him titles of
admiration and endearment under the guise of homonymous ideographs,
and she also bestowed on him in perpetuity the revenue from 3000
households and 250 acres of land. But Koken's caprice took a new
turn. She became a nun and transferred her affection to a priest,
Yuge no Dokyo. Nakamaro did not tamely endure to be thus discarded.
He raised the standard of revolt and found that the nun could be as
relentless as the Empress had been gracious. The rebellion--known by
irony of fate as that of Oshikatsu (the Conqueror), which was one of
the names bestowed on him by Koken in the season of her
favour--proved a brief struggle. Nakamaro fell in battle and his
head, together with those of his wife, his children, and his devoted
followers to the number of thirty-four, was despatched to Nara. The
tumult had a more serious sequel. It was mainly through Nakamaro's
influence that Junnin had been crowned six years previously, and his
Majesty naturally made no secret of his aversion for the new
favourite. The Dowager Empress--so Koken had called herself--did not
hesitate a moment. In the very month following Nakamaro's
destruction, she charged that the Emperor was in collusion with the
rebel; despatched a force of troops to surround the palace; dethroned
Junnin; degraded him to the rank of a prince, and sent him and his
mother into exile, where the conditions of confinement were made so
intolerable that the ex-Emperor attempted to escape, was captured and
killed.
ENGRAVING: THE KASUGA JINJA SHRINE AT KARA
THE FORTY-EIGHTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS SHOTOKU (765-770 A.D.)
The nun Koken now abandoned the veil and re-ascended the throne under
the name of Shotoku. Her affection for Dokyo had been augmented by
his constant ministrations during her illness while on a visit to the
"detatched palace" at Omi, and she conferred on him a priestly title
which made him rank equally with the prime minister. All the civil
and military magnates had to pay homage to him at the festival of the
New Year in his exalted capacity. Yet her Majesty was not satisfied.
Another step of promotion was possible. In the year after her second
ascent of the throne she named him Ho-o (pontiff), a title never
previously borne by any save her father, the ex-Emperor Shomu. Dokyo
rose fully to the level of the occasion. He modelled his life in
every respect on that of a sovereign and assumed complete control of
the administration of the empire. He not only fared sumptuously but
also built many temples, and as the Empress was not less extravagant,
the burden of taxation became painfully heavy. But the priestly
favourite, who seems to have now conceived the ambition of ascending
the throne, abated nothing of his pomp. Whether at his instigation or
because his favour had become of paramount importance to all men of
ambition, Asomaro, governor of the Dazai-fu, informed the Empress
that, according to an oracle delivered by the god of War (Hachiman)
at Usa, the nation would enjoy tranquillity and prosperity if Dokyo
were its ruler.
The Empress had profound reverence for Hachiman, as, indeed, was well
known to Asomaro and to Dokyo. Yet she hesitated to take this extreme
step without fuller assurance. She ordered Wake no Kiyomaro to
proceed to Usa and consult the deity once more. Kiyomaro was a
fearless patriot. That Shotoku's choice fell on him at this juncture
might well have been regarded by his countrymen as an intervention of
heaven. Before setting out he had unequivocal evidence of what was to
be expected at Dokyo's hands by the bearer of a favourable revelation
from Hachiman. Yet the answer carried back by him from the Usa shrine
was explicitly fatal to Dokyo's hope. "Since the establishment of the
State the distinction of sovereign and subject has been observed.
There is no instance of a subject becoming sovereign. The successor
of the throne must be of the Imperial family and a usurper is to be
rejected." Dokyo's wrath was extreme. He ordered that Kiyomaro's name
should be changed to Kegaremaro, which was equivalent to substituting
"foul" for "fair;" he banished him to Osumi in the extreme south of
Kyushu, and he sent emissaries whose attempt to assassinate him was
balked by a thunder-storm. But before he could bring any fresh design
to maturity, the Empress died. Dokyo and Asomaro were banished, and
Kiyomaro was recalled from exile.
Historians have been much perplexed to account for the strangely
apathetic demeanour of the high dignitaries of State in the presence
of such disgraceful doings as those of the Empress and her favourite.
They specially blame Kibi no Makibi, the great scholar. He had
recovered from his temporary eclipse in connexion with the revolt of
Fujiwara Hirotsugu, and he held the office of minister of the Right
during a great part of Koken's reign. Yet it is not on record that he
offered any remonstrance. The same criticism, however, seems to apply
with not less justice to his immediate predecessors in the post of
ministers of the Right, Tachibana no Moroe and Fujiwara no Toyonari;
to the minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Nagate; to the second
councillor, Fujiwara no Matate, and to the privy councillors,
Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu, Fujiwara no Momokawa, and Fujiwara no Uwona.
It was with the Fujiwara families that the responsibility rested
chiefly, and the general conduct of the Fujiwara at that period of
history forbids us to construe their apparent indifference in a
wholly bad sense. Probably the simplest explanation is the true one:
Koken herself was a Fujiwara.
STATE OF THE PROVINCES
In the days of Shomu and Koken administrative abuses were not limited
to the capital, they extended to the provinces also. Among the Daika
and Daiho laws, the first that proved to be a failure was that
relating to provincial governors. At the outset men of ability were
chosen for these important posts, and their term of service was
limited to four years. Soon, however, they began to petition for
reappointment, and under the sway of the Empress Koken a via media
was found by extending the period of office to six years. Moreover,
whereas at first a newly appointed governor was supposed to live in
the official residence of his predecessor, it quickly became the
custom to build a new mansion for the incoming dignitary and leave
the outgoing undisturbed.
What that involved is plain when we observe that such edifices were
all constructed by forced labour. These governors usually possessed
large domains, acquired during their period of office. The Court
endeavoured to check them by despatching inspectors (ansatsu-shi) to
examine and report on current conditions; but that device availed
little. Moreover, the provincial governors exercised the power of
appointing and dismissing the district governors (gunshi) in their
provinces, although this evil system had been prohibited in the time
of Gemmyo. In connexion, too, with the rice collected for public
purposes, there were abuses. This rice, so long as it lay in the
official storehouses, represented so much idle capital. The
provincial governors utilized it by lending the grain to the farmers
in the spring, partly for seed purposes and partly for food, on
condition that it should be paid back in the autumn with fifty per
cent, increment. Subsequently this exorbitant figure was reduced to
thirty per cent. But the result was ruin for many farmers. They had
to hand over their fields and houses or sell themselves into bondage.
Thus, outlaws, living by plunder, became a common feature of the
time, and there arose a need for guards more capable than those
supplied by the system of partial conscription. Hence, in the reign
of Shomu, the sons and brothers of district governors (gunshi)
proficient in archery and equestrianism were summoned from Omi, Ise,
Mino, and Echizen, and to them was assigned the duty of guarding the
public storehouses in the provinces. At the same time many men of
prominence and influence began to organize guards for their private
protection. This was contrary to law, but the condition of the time
seemed to warrant it, and the authorities were powerless to prevent
it. The ultimate supremacy of the military class had its origin in
these circumstances. The Government itself was constrained to
organize special corps for dealing with the brigands and pirates who
infested the country and the coasts.
It has been well said by a Japanese historian that the fortunes of
the Yamato were at their zenith during the reigns of the three
Emperors Jimmu, Temmu, and Mommu. From the beginning of the eighth
century they began to decline. For that decline, Buddhism was largely
responsible. Buddhism gave to Japan a noble creed in the place of a
colourless cult; gave to her art and refinement, but gave to her also
something like financial ruin. The Indian faith spread with wonderful
rapidity among all classes and betrayed them into fanatical
extravagance. Anyone who did not erect or contribute largely to the
erection of a temple or a pagoda was not admitted to the ranks of
humanity. Men readily sacrificed their estates to form temple domains
or to purchase serfs (tera-yakko) to till them. The sublimity of
these edifices; the solemn grandeur of the images enshrined there;
the dazzling and exquisite art lavished on their decoration; the
strange splendour of the whole display might well suggest to the
Japanese the work of some supernatural agencies.
In the Nara epoch, the Government spent fully one-half of its total
income on works of piety. No country except in time of war ever
devoted so much to unproductive expenditures. The enormous quantities
of copper used for casting images not only exhausted the produce of
the mines but also made large inroads upon the currency, hundreds of
thousands of cash being thrown into the melting-pot. In 760 it was
found that the volume of privately coined cash exceeded one-half of
the State income, and under pretext that to suspend the circulation
of such a quantity would embarrass the people, the Government struck
a new coin--the mannen tsuho--which, while not differing appreciably
from the old cash in intrinsic value, was arbitrarily invested with
ten times the latter's purchasing power. The profit to the treasury
was enormous; the disturbance of values and the dislocation of trade
were proportionately great. Twelve years later (772), another
rescript ordered that the new coin should circulate at par with the
old. Such unstable legislation implies a very crude conception of
financial requirements.
RECLAIMED UPLANDS
It has been shown that the Daika reforms regarded all "wet fields" as
the property of the Crown, while imposing no restriction on the
ownership of uplands, these being counted as belonging to their
reclaimers. Thus, large estates began to fall into private
possession; conspicuously in the case of provincial and district
governors, who were in a position to employ forced labour, and who
frequently abused their powers in defiance of the Daika code and
decrees, where it was enacted that all profits from reclaimed lands
must be shared with the farmers.* So flagrant did these practices
become that, in 767, reclamation was declared to constitute
thereafter no title of ownership. Apparently, however, this veto
proved unpractical, for five years later (772), it was rescinded, the
only condition now attached being that the farmers must not be
distressed. Yet again, in 784, another change of policy has to be
recorded. A decree declared that governors must confine their
agricultural enterprise to public lands, on penalty of being punished
criminally. If the language of this decree be read literally, a very
evil state of affairs would seem to have existed, for the governors
are denounced as wholly indifferent to public rights or interests,
and as neglecting no means of exploiting the farmers. Finally, in
806, the pursuit of productive enterprise by governors in the
provinces was once more sanctioned.
*The term "farmers," as used in the times now under consideration,
must not be interpreted strictly in the modern sense of the word. It
meant, rather, the untitled and the unofficial classes in the
provinces.
Thus, between 650 and 806, no less than five radical changes of
policy are recorded. It resulted that this vascillating legislation
received very little practical attention. Great landed estates
(shoen) accumulated in private hands throughout the empire, some
owned by nobles, some by temples; and in order to protect their
titles against the interference of the Central Government, the
holders of these estates formed alliances with the great Court nobles
in the capital, so that, in the course of time, a large part of the
land throughout the provinces fell under the control of a few
dominant families.
In the capital (Nara), on the other hand, the enormous sums
squandered upon the building of temples, the casting or carving of
images, and the performance of costly religious ceremonials gradually
produced such a state of impecuniosity that, in 775, a decree was
issued ordering that twenty-five per cent, of the revenues of the
public lands (kugaideri) should be appropriated to increase the
emoluments of the metropolitan officials. This decree spoke of the
latter officials as not having sufficient to stave off cold or
hunger, whereas their provincial confreres were living in opulence,
and added that even men of high rank were not ashamed to apply for
removal to provincial posts. As illustrating the straits to which the
metropolitans were reduced and the price they had to pay for relief,
it is instructive to examine a note found among the contents of the
Shoso-in at Nara.
STATEMENT OF MON (COPPER CASH) LENT
Total, 1700 Mon. Monthly interest, 15 per hundred.
Debtors Sums lent Amounts to be returned
Tata no Mushimaro 500 mon 605 mon, on the 6th of the 11th month;
namely, original debt, 500 mon, and
interest for 1 month and 12 days, 105 mon
Ayabe no Samimaro 700 mon 840 mon, on the 6th of the 11th month;
namely, original debt, 700 mon, and
interest for 1 month and 10 days, 140 mon
Kiyono no Hitotari 500 mon 605 mon, on the 6th of the 11th month;
namely, original debt, 500 mon, and
interest for 1 month and 12 days, 105 mon
The above to be paid back when the debtors receive their salaries.
Dated the 22nd of the 9th month of the 4th year of the Hoki era.
(October 13, 773.)
Another note shows a loan of 1000 mon carrying interest at the rate
of 130 mon monthly. The price of accommodation being so onerous, it
is not difficult to infer the costliness of the necessaries of life.
When the Daika reforms were undertaken, the metropolitan magnates
looked down upon their provincial brethren as an inferior order of
beings, but in the closing days of the Nara epoch the situations were
reversed, and the ultimate transfer of administrative power from the
Court to the provincials began to be foreshadowed.
THE FUJIWARA FAMILY
The religious fanaticism of the Emperor Shomu and his consort, Komyo,
brought disorder into the affairs of the Imperial Court, and gave
rise to an abuse not previously recorded, namely, favouritism with
its natural outcome, treasonable ambition. It began to be doubtful
whether the personal administration of the sovereign might not be
productive of danger to the State. Thus, patriotic politicians
conceived a desire not to transfer the sceptre to outside hands but
to find among the scions of the Imperial family some one competent to
save the situation, even though the selection involved violation of
the principle of primogeniture. The death of the Empress Shotoku
without issue and the consequent extinction of the Emperor Temmu's
line furnished an opportunity to these loyal statesmen, and they
availed themselves of it to set Konin upon the throne, as will be
presently described.
In this crisis of the empire's fortunes, the Fujiwara family acted a
leading part. Fuhito, son of the illustrious Kamatari, having
assisted in the compilation of the Daika code and laws, and having
served throughout four reigns--Jito, Mommu, Gemmyo, and Gensho--died
at sixty-two in the post of minister of the Right, and left four
sons, Muchimaro, Fusazaki, Umakai, and Maro. These, establishing
themselves independently, founded the "four houses" of the Fujiwara.
Muchimaro's home, being in the south (nan) of the capital, was called
Nan-ke; Fusazaki's, being in the north (hoku), was termed Hoku-ke;
Umakai's was spoken of as Shiki-ke, since he presided over the
Department of Ceremonies (Shiki), and Maro's went by the name of
Kyo-ke, this term also having reference to his office. The
descendants of the four houses are shown in the following table:
/
/ | Toyonari--Tsugunawa
| Muchimaro < Nakamaro (Emi no Oshikatsu)
| (Nan-ke) | Otomaro--Korekimi
| \
|
| / /
| | Nagate | Nagayoshi (Mototsune)
| Fusazaki < Matate--Uchimaro--Fuyutsugu < adopted
| (Hoku-ke) | Kiyokawa | Yoshifusa--Mototsune-+
| \ \ |
| |
| / |
| | Hirotsugu |
| Umakai < Yoshitsugu--Tanetsugu-- / Nakanari |
| (Shiki-ke) | --Kiyonari \ Kusuko |
| | Momokawa--Otsugu |
Kamatari- | \ |
Fuhito < |
| +-----------------------------------------------------+
| Maro |
| (Kyo-ke) | Tokihira /
| Miyako | Nakahira / | Koretada
| (Consort | | Saneyori | Kanemichi
| of Mommu) | Tadahira < Morosuke-- < Kaneiye ----+
| | | Morotada | Tamemitsu |
| \ \ | Kinsuye |
| \ |
| Asuka |
| (Empress |
| of Shomu) |
\ |
|
+----------------------------------------------------+
|
| / Korechika
| Michitaka <
| \ Takaiye
| Michikane
| / Yorimichi--Morozane--Moromichi -------+
| Michinaga < |
\ \ Norimichi |
|
|
+----------------------------------------------------+
|
| / Tadamichi
| Tadazane <
| \ Yorinaga
\
It has already been related how the four heads of these families all
died in one year (736) during an epidemic of small-pox, but it may be
doubted whether this apparent calamity did not ultimately prove
fortunate, for had these men lived, they would have occupied
commanding positions during the scandalous reign of the Empress Koken
(afterwards Shotoku), and might have supported the ruinous disloyalty
of Nakamaro or the impetuous patriotism of Hirotsugu. However that
may be, the Fujiwara subsequently took the lead in contriving the
selection and enthronement of a monarch competent to stem the evil
tendency of the time, and when the story of the Fujiwara usurpations
comes to be written, we should always remember that it had a long
preface of loyal service, a preface extending to four generations.
THE FORTY-NINTH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR KONIN (A.D. 770-781)
When the Empress Shotoku died, no successor had been designated, and
it seemed not unlikely that the country would be thrown into a state
of civil war. The ablest among the princes of the blood was
Shirakabe, grandson of the Emperor Tenchi. He was in his sixty-second
year, had held the post of nagon, and unquestionably possessed
erudition and administrative competence. Fujiwara Momokawa warmly
espoused his cause, but for unrecorded reason Kibi no Makibi offered
opposition. Makibi being then minister of the Right and Momokawa only
a councillor, the former's views must have prevailed had not Momokawa
enlisted the aid of his brother, Yoshitsugu, and of his cousin,
Fujiwara Nagate, minister of the Left. By their united efforts Prince
Shirakabe was proclaimed and became the Emperor Konin, his youngest
son, Osabe, being appointed Prince Imperial.
Konin justified the zeal of his supporters, but his benevolent and
upright reign has been sullied by historical romanticists, who
represent him as party to an unnatural intrigue based on the alleged
licentiousness and shamelessness of his consort, Princess Inokami, a
lady then in her fifty-sixth year with a hitherto blameless record.
Much space has been given to this strange tale by certain annalists,
but its only apparent basis of fact would seem to be that Momokawa,
wishing to secure the succession to Prince Yamabe--afterwards Emperor
Kwammu--compassed the deaths of the Empress Inokami and her son,
Osabe, the heir apparent. They were probably poisoned on the same
day, and stories injurious to the lady's reputation--stories going so
far as to accuse her of attempting the life of the Emperor by
incantation--were circulated in justification of the murder. Certain
it is, however, that to Momokawa's exertions the Emperor Kwammu owed
his accession, as had his father, Konin. Kwammu, known in his days of
priesthood as Yamabe, was Konin's eldest son, and would have been
named Prince Imperial on his father's ascent of the throne had not
his mother, Takano, been deficient in qualifications of lineage. He
had held the posts of president of the University and minister of the
Central Department, and his career, alike in office and on the
throne, bore witness to the wisdom of his supporters.