A History of the Japanese People. Kikuchi Dairoku
first, that his domains as Prince Imperial had been in Ise and Mino; the second, that since in the eastern provinces the Daika reforms had been first put into operation, in the eastern provinces, also, conservatism might be expected to rebel with least reluctance.
The struggle that ensued was the fiercest Japan had witnessed since the foundation of the empire. For twenty days there was almost continuous fighting. The prince's first measure was to block the passes on the eastward high-roads, so that the Omi forces could not reach him till he was fully ready to receive them. Thousands flocked to his standard, and he was soon able to assume the offensive. On the other hand, those whom the Omi Court summoned to arms declined for the most part to respond. The nation evidently regarded Prince Oama as the champion of the old against the new. The crowning contest took place at the Long Bridge of Seta, which spans the waters of Lake Biwa at the place where they narrow to form the Seta River. Deserted by men who had sworn to support him, his army shattered, and he himself a fugitive, the Emperor fled to Yamazaki and there committed suicide. His principal instigator, muraji of the Nakatomi and minister of the Right, with eight other high officials, suffered the extreme penalty; Akae, omi of the Soga and minister of the Left, had to go into exile, but the rest of Kobun's followers were pardoned. Not because of its magnitude alone but because its sequel was the dethronement and suicide of a legitimate Emperor, this struggle presents a shocking aspect to Japanese eyes. It is known in history as the "Jinshin disturbance," so called after the cyclical designation of the year (672) when it occurred.
THE FORTIETH SOVEREIGN, THE EMPEROR TEMMU (A.D. 673–686)
Prince Oama succeeded to the throne and is known in history as the fortieth Sovereign, Temmu. During the fourteen years of his reign he completed the administrative systems of the Daika era, and asserted the dignity and authority of the Court to an unprecedented degree. Among the men who espoused his cause in the Jinshin struggle there are found many names of aristocrats who boasted high titles and owned hereditary estates. Whatever hopes these conservatives entertained of a reversion to the old-time-order of things, they were signally disappointed. The Daika reformers had invariably contrived that conciliation should march hand in hand with innovation. Temmu relied on coercion. He himself administered State affairs with little recourse to ministerial aid but always with military assistance in the background. He was especially careful not to sow the seeds of the abuses which his immediate predecessors had worked to eradicate. Thus, while he did not fail to recognize the services of those that had stood by him in the Jinshin tumult, he studiously refrained from rewarding them with official posts, and confined himself to bestowing titles of a purely personal character together with posthumous rank in special cases.
It has been shown that in the so-called "code" of Shotoku Taishi prominent attention was directed to the obligations of decorum. This principle received much elaboration in Temmu's reign. A law, comprising no less than ninety-two articles, was enacted for guidance in Court ceremonials, the demeanour and salutation of each grade of officials being explicitly set forth. It is worthy of note that a veto was imposed on the former custom of kneeling to make obeisance and advancing or retreating in the presence of a superior on the knees and hands; all salutations were ordered to be made standing. Further, the clear differentiation of official functions, which had been commenced under the sway of Tenchi, was completed in this reign.
But, though relying on military force in the last resort, Temmu did not neglect appeals to religion and devices to win popularity. On the one hand, we find him establishing a War-Office (Heisei-kan) and making it second in grade and importance to the Privy Council (Dajo-kwan) alone; on the other, he is seen endowing shrines, erecting temples, and organizing religious fetes on a sumptuous scale. If, again, all persons in official position were required to support armed men; if the provincials were ordered to practise military exercises, and if arms were distributed to the people in the home provinces (Kinai), at the same time taxes were freely remitted, and amnesties were readily granted. Further, if much attention was paid to archery, and if drastic measures were adopted to crush the partisans of the Omi Court who still occasionally raised the standard of revolt, the sovereign devoted not less care to the discharge of the administrative functions, and his legislation extended even to the realm of fishery, where stake-nets and other methods of an injurious nature were strictly interdicted. The eating of flesh was prohibited, but whether this veto was issued in deference to Buddhism or from motives of economy, there is no evidence to show.
One very noteworthy feature of Temmu's administration was that he never appointed to posts in the Government men who did not give promise of competence. All those who possessed a claim on his gratitude were nominated chamberlains (toneri), and having been thus brought under observation, were subsequently entrusted with official functions commensurate with their proved ability. The same plan was pursued in the case of females. With regard to the titles conferred by this sovereign in recognition of meritorious services, they were designed to replace the old-time kabane (or sei), in that whereas the kabane had always been hereditary, and was generally associated with an office, the new sei was obtained by special grant, and, though it thereafter became hereditary, it was never an indication of office bearing. Eight of these new titles were instituted by Temmu, namely, mahito, asomi, sukune, imiki, michi-no-shi, omi, muraji, and inagi, and their nearest English equivalents are, perhaps, duke, marquis, count, lord, viscount, baron, and baronet. It is unnecessary to give any etymological analysis of these terms; their order alone is important. But two points have to be noted. The first is that the title imiki was generally that chosen for bestowal on naturalized foreigners; the second, that a conspicuously low place in the list is given to the revered old titles, ami and muraji. This latter feature is significant. The new peerage was, in fact, designed not only to supplant, but also to discredit, the old.
Thus, in the first place, the system was abolished under which all uji having the title of omi were controlled by the o-omi, and all having the title of muraji by the o-muraji; and in the second, though the above eight sei were established, not every uji was necessarily granted a title. Only the most important received that distinction, and even these found themselves relegated to a comparatively low place on the list. All the rest, however, were permitted to use their old, but now depreciated kabane, and no change was made in the traditional custom of entrusting the management of each uji's affairs to its own Kami. But, in order to guard against the abuses of the hereditary right, an uji no Kami ceased in certain cases to succeed by birthright and became elective, the election requiring Imperial endorsement.
The effect of these measures was almost revolutionary. They changed the whole fabric of the Japanese polity. But in spite of all Temmu's precautions to accomplish the centralization of power, success was menaced by a factor which could scarcely have been controlled. The arable lands in the home provinces at that time probably did not exceed 130,000 acres, and the food stuffs produced cannot have sufficed for more than a million persons. As for the forests, their capacities were ill developed, and thus it fell out that the sustenance fiefs granted to omi and muraji of the lower grades did not exceed a few acres. Gradually, as families multiplied, the conditions of life became too straightened in such circumstances, and relief began to be sought in provincial appointments, which furnished opportunities for getting possession of land. It was in this way that local magnates had their origin and the seeds of genuine feudalism were sown. Another direction in which success fell short of purpose was in the matter of the hereditary guilds (be). The Daika reforms had aimed at converting everyone in the empire into a veritable unit of the nation, not a mere member of an uji or a tomobe. But it proved impossible to carry out this system in the case of the tomobe (called also kakibe), or labouring element of the uji, and the yakabe, or domestic servants of a family. To these their old status had to be left.
THE FORTY-FIRST SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS JITO (A.D. 690–697)
The Emperor Temmu died in 686, and the throne remained nominally unoccupied until 690. A similar interregnum had separated the accession of Tenchi from the death of his predecessor, the Empress Saimei, and both events were due to a cognate cause. Tenchi did not wish that his reforms should be directly associated with the Throne until their success was assured; Temmu desired that the additions made by him to the Daika system should be consolidated by the genius of his wife before the sceptre passed finally into the hands of his son. Jito had stood by her husband's side when,