Japan. Various
changed the appearance of the capital. The art of pottery made a great advance, as did the blacksmith's craft of forging swords and other articles of iron. Nor were medicine and the calendar neglected, while the new art of carving and decorating as well as drawing the image of Buddha, gave a powerful impetus to painting and sculpture. The collective influence of all these and other new changes upon the life of the people, nearer the center of the government at least, must have been very great. With the development of the art of weaving, apparel was improved by the addition of silk garments; as agriculture progressed, rice and other cereals furnished agreeable aliment; the influence of Buddhism gradually produced a distaste for animal food. The introduction of the science of architecture soon effected a marked change in the dimensions and decoration of dwelling-houses. Transmission of intelligence was facilitated by the imported art of writing, the moral, intellectual, and political thinking of the ruling classes began to take a more or less definite shape from the coming of the Chinese classics, while Buddhism spread over the nation a charm which was at once captivating and ennobling. A new era of history had begun.
We shall now turn our attention to the remarkable political evolution which followed and was in fact to a large extent occasioned by the introduction of Buddhism. In the earliest days of the empire, administrative posts were transmitted by heredity from generation to generation. It thus resulted that family names were derived from official titles, as, for example, the official title for persons performing religious rites was Nakatomi or Imbe, which titles became family names of holders of that office. Similarly Ōtomo and Mononobe were family names of officials having control of troops or direction of military affairs. Among commoners, also, there were many who performed certain kinds of work for the government, the art of which they bequeathed to their children by heredity. Each occupation of this description was organized into a guild, and each guild was under the control of a headman who belonged to some influential family. Not only were public offices and private guilds similarly organized by the principle of heredity, but also there was no rigid line drawn between the public property and the personal possession of a nobleman. The higher one's position among the aristocracy, the more exalted was his office and the more plenteous his treasury. Under these circumstances, it is not strange that the administration of the state gradually fell under the control of the heads of a few powerful clans. Originally, during the reign of the first emperor, the Nakatomi and Imbe families discharged religious functions, and the Ōtomo, Kume, and Mononobe families performed military duties. The influence of these families was then about equal. But subsequent events resulted in the decline of the Kume, while the Ōtomo were in the main intrusted with the control of Korean affairs. Domestic administration remained chiefly in the hands of the Mononobe and the new family of Soga, descendants of Takenouchi, the tactful minister of the Empress Jingō. The Mononobe stood at the head of all the noble families bearing the honorary title of Muraji, and the Soga, of those likewise designated as Omi. It was inevitable that the mutual jealousy of the two leading houses should bring them to a clash of interests, while the introduction of Buddhism had the effect of greatly accentuating their hostility. It will be remembered that the Mononobe family adhered steadily to conservative principles and opposed the spread of Buddhism, which the Soga, on the contrary, zealously upheld. So long, however, as both families bowed implicitly to the imperial commands, their dispute did not attain serious proportions. But when, in the reign of Yōmei, not only was the empress dowager a daughter of the Soga family, but also the emperor himself inclined to the worship of Buddha, the final struggle between the two families could no longer be deferred.
On the death of the emperor, Mononobe Moriya sought to secure the succession for a brother of the deceased sovereign, as against another prince, son of the empress dowager. His plot was discovered, and he was defeated and killed. The Mononobe being thus overthrown, the supremacy rested with Umako, the head of the Soga, and the throne was occupied by his own prince. But the prince could not long bear the arbitrary conduct of Umako, who then caused him to be assassinated. The empress dowager, a daughter of the Soga, despite the presence of direct successors in the male line, ascended the throne under the title of the Empress Suiko. This was the first instance of the scepter being held by a female. On the death of Umako, his son, Emishi, succeeded him, and wielded even larger influence than his father. Emishi crushed an opposition offered by his own uncle, and placed in succession to the empress a prince of his choice, and under the latter's rule as Emperor Shōmei, Emishi behaved as he pleased. After Shōmei's death, his consort ascended the throne under the name of Kōkyoku. Emishi's son, Iruka, who now discharged the administrative functions, exercised even greater power than his father. He also designed to obtain the throne for Prince Furuhito, a relative of his family. But an obstacle existed in the person of Prince Yamashiro, whose goodness and discretion had won popular respect. Steps were taken to have this prince assassinated, and otherwise Iruka showed himself so arbitrary and unscrupulous that there appeared to be danger of his compassing the destruction of the lineal successors to the throne and usurping the sovereignty himself. Thereupon Nakatomi Kamatari, a loyal subject, conferred with Prince Nakano-ōye, son of the Emperor Shōmei, as to the expediency of making away with Iruka. This plot culminated in the killing of Iruka in the throne room on a day when Korean ambassadors were received at the court. Iruka's father, Emishi, was also killed, and with them the glory of the Soga vanished.
Thus ended the interesting period of history in which active relations, first with Korea, and then with China, began to produce in Japan a direct, profound effect upon her society and politics. Agents of the advanced civilization were liberally introduced, and, in the midst of this process, a grave crisis which was about to overcome the central institutions of the state system was averted only by an anomalous act of a few patriots. It was these latter who inaugurated in the next period the grand work of reconstructing the entire system of government and administration after the pattern of Chinese institutions. The continental civilization in all its refinement was then even more eagerly studied around the capital than before, while the country at large, under the unforeseen effects of these artificial reforms, passed gradually into a still later period of her history. Before taking up the story of the reform period, we as usual subjoin a table of the sovereigns of the period which has been under review in this chapter.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SOVEREIGNS.
14. Emperor Chūai, 192–270 AD (including the 69 years of the
regency of Empress Jingō-kōgō).
|
15. Emperor Ojin, 270–313.
|
16. Emperor Nintoku, 313–400.
|
17. Emperor Richû,--18. Emperor Hanshō,--19. Emperor Inkyō,
400–405. 405–411. 411–453.
| |
| +----------------+
| |
Prince Ichinobe Oshiiwa. 20. Emperor Ankō,--21. Emperor Yūryaku,
| 453–456. 456–480.
| |
| 22. Emperor Seinei.
23. Emperor Kensō,--24. Emperor Ninken, 488–499. 480–485.
485–488. |
25. Emperor Buretsu, 499–507.
(Emperor Ojin.)
|
(Emperor Nintoku.)--Prince Wakamikenofutamata.
|
Prince Ōhito.
|
Prince Hikouishi.
|
26. Emperor Keitai, 507–534.
|
+---------------+
|
27. Emperor Ankan,--28. Emperor Senkwa,--29. Emperor Kimmei, 540–572.
534–536. 536–540. |
+----------------------------------------+
|
30. Emperor Bidatsu,--31. Emperor Yōmei,--32. Emperor Susun,--33. Empress
572–586. 586–588. 588–591. Suiko,