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Japan KOFUN AND ASUKA PERIODS, CA. A.D. 250-710
The Kofun period (ca. A.D. 250-ca. 600) takes its name,
which
means old tomb (kofun) from the culture's rich
funerary
rituals and distinctive earthen mounds. The mounds
contained large
stone burial chambers, many of which were shaped like
keyholes and
some of which were surrounded by moats. By the late Kofun
period,
the distinctive burial chambers, originally used by the
ruling
elite, also were built for commoners.
During the Kofun period, a highly aristocratic society
with
militaristic rulers developed. Its horse-riding warriors
wore
armor, carried swords and other weapons, and used advanced
military
methods like those of Northeast Asia. Evidence of these
advances is
seen in funerary figures (called haniwa; literally,
clay
rings), found in thousands of kofun scattered
throughout
Japan. The most important of the haniwa were found
in
southern Honshu--especially the Kinai Region around
Nara--and
northern Kyushu. Haniwa grave offerings were made
in
numerous forms, such as horses, chickens, birds, fans,
fish,
houses, weapons, shields, sunshades, pillows, and male and
female
humans. Another funerary piece, the magatama,
became one of
the symbols of the power of the imperial house.
The Kofun period was a critical stage in Japan's
evolution
toward a more cohesive and recognized state. This society
was most
developed in the Kinai Region and the easternmost part of
the
Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), and its armies established a
foothold on
the southern tip of Korea. Japan's rulers of the time even
petitioned the Chinese court for confirmation of royal
titles; the
Chinese, in turn, recognized Japanese military control
over parts
of the Korean Peninsula.
The Yamato polity, which emerged by the late fifth
century, was
distinguished by powerful great clans or extended
families,
including their dependents. Each clan was headed by a
patriarch who
performed sacred rites to the clan's kami to ensure
the
long-term welfare of the clan. Clan members were the
aristocracy,
and the kingly line that controlled the Yamato court was
at its
pinnacle.
More exchange occurred between Japan and the continent
of Asia
late in the Kofun period. Buddhism was introduced from
Korea,
probably in A.D. 538, exposing Japan to a new body of
religious
doctrine. The Soga, a Japanese court family that rose to
prominence
with the accession of the Emperor Kimmei about A.D. 531,
favored
the adoption of Buddhism and of governmental and cultural
models
based on Chinese Confucianism. But some at the Yamato
court--such
as the Nakatomi family, which was responsible for
performing Shinto
rituals at court, and the Mononobe, a military clan--were
set on
maintaining their prerogatives and resisted the alien
religious
influence of Buddhism. The Soga introduced Chinese-modeled
fiscal
policies, established the first national treasury, and
considered
the Korean Peninsula a trade route rather than an object
of
territorial expansion. Acrimony continued between the Soga
and the
Nakatomi and Mononobe clans for more than a century,
during which
the Soga temporarily emerged ascendant.
The Kofun period is seen as ending by around A.D. 600,
when the
use of elaborate kofun by the Yamato and other
elite fell
out of use because of prevailing new Buddhist beliefs,
which put
greater emphasis on the transience of human life.
Commoners and the
elite in outlying regions, however, continued to use
kofun
until the late seventh century, and simpler but
distinctive tombs
continued in use throughout the following period.
The Yamato state evolved still further during the Asuka
period,
which is named after the Asuka region, south of modern
Nara, the
site of numerous temporary imperial capitals established
during the
period. The Asuka period is known for its significant
artistic,
social, and political transformations, which had their
origins in
the late Kofun period.
The Yamato court, concentrated in the Asuka region,
exercised
power over clans in Kyushu and Honshu, bestowing titles,
some
hereditary, on clan chieftains. The Yamato name became
synonymous
with all of Japan as the Yamato rulers suppressed the
clans and
acquired agricultural lands. Based on Chinese models
(including the
adoption of the Chinese written language), they developed
a central
administration and an imperial court attended by
subordinate clan
chieftains but with no permanent capital. By the
mid-seventh
century, the agricultural lands had grown to a substantial
public
domain, subject to central policy. The basic
administrative unit
was the county, and society was organized into occupation
groups.
Most people were farmers; other were fishers, weavers,
potters,
artisans, armorers, and ritual specialists.
The Soga had intermarried with the imperial family, and
by A.D.
587 Soga Umako, the Soga chieftain, was powerful enough to
install
his nephew as emperor and later to assassinate him and
replace him
with the Empress Suiko (r. A.D. 593-628). Suiko, the first
of eight
sovereign empresses, was merely a figurehead for Umako and
Prince
Regent Shotoku Taishi (A.D. 574-622). Shotoku, recognized
as a
great intellectual of this period of reform, was a devout
Buddhist,
well read in Chinese literature. He was influenced by
Confucian
principles, including the Mandate of Heaven, which
suggested that
the sovereign ruled at the will of a supreme force. Under
Shotoku's
direction, Confucian models of rank and etiquette were
adopted, and
his Seventeen Article Constitution (Kenpo
jushichiju)
prescribed ways to bring harmony to a society chaotic in
Confucian
terms. In addition, Shotoku adopted the Chinese calendar,
developed
a system of highways, built numerous Buddhist temples, had
court
chronicles compiled, sent students to China to study
Buddhism and
Confucianism, and established formal diplomatic relations
with
China.
Numerous official missions of envoys, priests, and
students
were sent to China in the seventh century. Some remained
twenty
years or more; many of those who returned became prominent
reformers. In a move greatly resented by the Chinese,
Shotoku
sought equality with the Chinese emperor by sending
official
correspondence addressed "From the Son of Heaven in the
Land of the
Rising Sun to the Son of Heaven of the Land of the Setting
Sun."
Shotoku's bold step set a precedent: Japan never again
accepted a
subordinate status in its relations with China. Although
the
missions continued the transformation of Japan through
Chinese
influences, the Korean influence on Japan declined despite
the
close connections that had existed during the early Kofun
period.
About twenty years after the deaths of Shotoku (in A.D.
622),
Soga Umako (in A.D. 626), and Empress Suiko (in A.D. 628),
court
intrigues over succession and the threat of a Chinese
invasion led
to a palace coup against the Soga oppression in A.D. 645.
The
revolt was led by Prince Naka and Nakatomi Kamatari, who
seized
control of the court from the Soga family and introduced
the Taika
Reform.
Although it did not constitute a legal code, the Taika
Reform
(Taika means great change) mandated a series of reforms
that
established the ritsuryo system of social, fiscal,
and
administrative mechanisms of the seventh to tenth
centuries.
Ritsu was a code of penal laws, while ry
was an
administrative code. Combined, the two terms came to
describe a
system of patrimonial rule based on an elaborate legal
code that
emerged from the Taika Reform.
The Taika Reform, influenced by Chinese practices,
started with
land redistribution, aimed at ending the existing
landholding
system of the great clans and their control over domains
and
occupational groups. What were once called "private lands
and
private people" became "public lands and public people,"
as the
court now sought to assert its control over all of Japan
and to
make the people direct subjects of the throne. Land was no
longer
hereditary but reverted to the state at the death of the
owner.
Taxes were levied on harvests and on silk, cotton, cloth,
thread,
and other products. A corvée (labor) tax was established
for
military conscription and building public works. The
hereditary
titles of clan chieftains were abolished, and three
ministries were
established to advise the throne (the minister of the
left, the
minister of the right, and the minister of the center, or
the
chancellor). The country was divided into provinces headed
by
governors appointed by the court, and the provinces were
further
divided into districts and villages.
Naka assumed the position of minister of the center,
and
Kamatari was granted a new family name--Fujiwara--in
recognition of
his great service to the imperial family. Fujiwara
Kamatari became
the first in a long line of court aristocrats. Another,
long-
lasting change was the use of the name
Nihon (see Glossary), or
sometimes Dai Nippon (Great Japan) in diplomatic documents
and
chronicles. Following the reigns of Naka's uncle and
mother, Naka
assumed the throne as Emperor Tenji in 662, taking the
additional
title tenno (heavenly sovereign). This new title
was
intended to improve the Yamato clan's image and to
emphasize the
divine origins of the imperial family in the hope of
keeping it
above political frays, such as those precipitated by the
Soga clan.
Within the imperial family, however, power struggles
continued as
the emperor's brother and son vied for the throne. The
brother, who
later reigned as Emperor Temmu, consolidated Tenji's
reforms and
state power in the imperial court.
The ritsuryo system was codified in several
stages. The
mi Code, named after the provincial site of Emperor
Tenji's court,
was completed in about A.D. 668. Further codification took
place
with the promulgation by Empress Jito in 689 of the
Asuka-
Kiyomihara Code, named for the location of the late
Emperor Temmu's
court. The ritsuryo system was further consolidated
and
codified in 701 under the Taiho Ritsuryo (Great Treasure
Code or
Taiho Code), which, except for a few modifications and
being
relegated to primarily ceremonial functions, remained in
force
until 1868. The Taiho Code provided for Confucian-model
penal
provisions (light rather than harsh punishments) and
Chinese-style
central administration through the Department of Rites,
which was
devoted to Shinto and court rituals, and the Department of
State,
with its eight ministries (for central administration,
ceremonies,
civil affairs, the imperial household, justice, military
affairs,
people's affairs, and the treasury). A Chinese-style civil
service
examination system based on the Confucian classics was
also
adopted. Tradition circumvented the system, however, as
aristocratic birth continued to be the main qualification
for
higher position. The Taiho Code did not address the
selection of
the sovereign. Several empresses reigned from the fifth to
the
eighth centuries, but after 770 succession was restricted
to males,
usually from father to son, although sometimes from ruler
to
brother or uncle.
Data as of January 1994
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