Best books online Library

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.