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The Asuka period (飛鳥時代, asuka jidai), lasting from 538 to 710, was a period in the history of Japan during which the capital was located in Asuka, on the plains near Nara. It lasted from the middle of the 6th century to the beginning of the 8th century, although it could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Asuka period is also distinguished by the change in the name of the country from Wa (倭) to Nippon (日本).
The Yamato state evolved much during the Asuka period, which is named after the Asuka region, near the center of the modern Nara Prefecture, the site of numerous temporary imperial capitals established during the period. The arrival of Buddhism marked a change in Japanese society and it affected the Yamato government as well. The Asuka period is also known for its significant artistic, social, and political transformations, which had their origins in the late Kofun period.
Artistically, the period can be further divided into two periods, the Asuka period (upto Taika Reform), where early Buddhist culture imports and infuences are seen from Northern Wei and Baekje, and Hakuhō period (after Taika Reform), in which more Sui and Tang influences appears.
Naming
The term "Asuka period" was first used to describe a period in the history of Japanese fine-arts and architecture. It was proposed by fine-arts scholars Sekino Tadasu (関野貞, Sekino Tadasu) and Okakura Kakuzo (岡倉覚三, Okakura Kakuzo) around 1900. Sekino dated the Asuka period as ending with the Taika Reform of 646. Okakura, however, saw it as ending with the transfer of the capital to the Heijō Palace (平城京) of Nara. Although historians generally use Okakura's dating, many historians of art and architecture prefer Sekino's dating, and use the term "Hakuhō period (白鳳時代, hakuhō jidai)" to refer to the successive period.
The Yamato state
The Yamato polity, which had emerged by the late 5th century, was distinguished by powerful great clans or extended families, including their dependents. Each clan was headed by a patriarch who performed sacred rites for the clan's kami (神) 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. The local chieftainship of Yamato arose to become the Imperial dynasty from the beginnings of Asuka period, at latest.
The actual start of Yamato rule is disputed. Its paramountcy in Japan presumably starts only in the end of Kofun period or with the advent of Asuka period.
The Asuka period, as a sub-division of the Yamato period (大和時代, Yamato-jidai), is the first period of Japanese history when the Japanese imperial court ruled relatively uncontested from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province.
The Yamato court, concentrated in the Asuka region, exercised power over clans in Kyūshū and Honshū, 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 of the Gokishichidō (五畿七道) system 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 Yamato court had ties to the Gaya confederacy of the Korean peninsula, called Mimana (任那) in Japanese. There is archaeological evidence from the Kofun tombs, which show similarities in form, art, and clothing of the depicted nobles. A second source is the Nihon Shoki. For a time, many Japanese historians claimed Gaya to be a colony of the Yamato state, a theory that is now widely rejected. More likely all these Korean and Japanese states were tributaries to the Chinese Sui and T'ang dynasties to some extent.
The Soga clan and Shōtoku Taishi
The Soga clan (蘇我氏, Soga-shi) intermarried with the imperial family, and by 587 Soga no 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. 593-628). Suiko, the first of eight sovereign empresses, was merely a figurehead for Umako and Prince Regent Shōtoku Taishi (聖徳太子) (574-622). Shōtoku, recognized as a great intellectual of this period of reform, was a devout Buddhist, and 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 Shōtoku's direction, Confucian models of rank and etiquette were adopted, and his Seventeen-article constitution (憲法十七条, Kenpō jushichijō) prescribed ways to bring harmony to a society chaotic in Confucian terms. In addition, Shōtoku adopted the Chinese calendar, developed a system of trade roads (the aforementioned Gokishichidō), built numerous Buddhist temples, had court chronicles compiled, sent students to China to study Buddhism and Confucianism, and sent Ono no Imoko (小野妹子, Ono-no-Imoko)to China as an emissary (遣隋使, Kenzuishi).
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. The sending of such scholars for learning Chinese political systems showed significant change from envoys in the Kofun period, in which kings sent envoys for approval of their domains.
Another change from the Five kings of Wa (倭の五王, Wa no Go-ō) of 5th century was the respect and recognition the Yamato state of Asuka period asked for from China. In a move greatly resented by the Chinese, Shōtoku 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." Some would argue that Shōtoku's bold step set a precedent: Japan never again accepted a subordinate status in its relations with China. However, the historical record contains other relevant facts which dispute the claim (see Sinocentrism). As a result, Japan at this period was a state which received no title from Chinese dynasties while they did send tributes (有貢無封 yūkō-mufū). From the Chinese point of view, the class or position of Japan was demoted from previous centuries in which the kings received titles. On the other hand, Japan loosened political relationships with China and consequently established extraordinary cultural and intellectual relationships.
Taika Reform and ritsuryo system
Taika Reform
About twenty years after the deaths of Shōtoku Taishi (in 622), Soga no Umako (in 626), and Empress Suiko (in 628), court intrigues over succession led to a palace coup in 645 against the Soga clan's monopolized control of the government. The revolt was led by Prince Naka no Ōe (中大兄皇子, Naka no Ōe no Ōji) and Nakatomi no Kamatari (中臣鎌足) (Fujiwara no Kamatari), who seized control of the court from the Soga family and introduced the Taika Reform (大化の改新, Taika no Kaishin). The Japanese era corresponding to the years 645-649 was thus named Taika (大化), referring to the Reform, and meaning "great change." The revolt leading to the Taika Reform is commonly called the Isshi Incident (乙巳の変, Isshi no hen), referring to the Chinese zodiac year in which the coup took place, 645.
Although it did not constitute a legal code, the Taika Reform mandated a series of reforms that established the ritsuryō (律令) system of social, fiscal, and administrative mechanisms of the seventh to tenth centuries. Ritsu (律) was a code of penal laws, while ryō (令) 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" (公地公民, Kōchi-kōmin), 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 (左大臣, Sa-daijin)
- the Minister of the Right (右大臣, U-daijin)
- the Chancellor of the Realm (太政大臣, Daijō-daijin)
The country was divided into provinces headed by governors appointed by the court, and the provinces were further divided into districts and villages.
Naka no Ōe assumed the title of Crown Prince, and Kamatari was granted a new family name—Fujiwara (藤原)—in recognition of his great service to the imperial family. Fujiwara no Kamatari (藤原鎌足) became the first in a long line of court aristocrats. Another, long-lasting change was the use of the name Nihon (日本), or sometimes Dai Nippon (Great Japan) in diplomatic documents and chronicles. In 662, following the reigns of Naka no Ōe's uncle and mother, Naka no Ōe assumed the throne as Emperor Tenji (天智天皇, Tenji Tennō), taking the additional title Emperor of Japan (天皇, Tennō) (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.
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.
Ritsuryo system
The ritsuryō system was codified in several stages. The Ōmi Code (近江令), named after the provincial site of Emperor Tenji's court, was completed in about 668. Further codification took place with the promulgation by Empress Jito in 689 of the Asuka Kiyomihara Code (飛鳥浄御原令), named for the location of the late Emperor Temmu's court. The ritsuryō system was further consolidated and codified in 701 under the Taihō Code (大宝律令, Taihō Ritsuryō), which, except for a few modifications and being relegated to primarily ceremonial functions, remained in force until 1868. Though Ritsu of the code was adopted from the Chinese system, Ryō was arranged in a local style. Some scholars argues that the it was to certain extent based on Chinese models.
The Taihō Code provided for Confucian-model penal provisions (light rather than harsh punishments) and Chinese-style central administration through the Jingi-kan (神祇官) (Department of Rites), which was devoted to Shinto and court rituals, and the Daijō-kan (太政官) (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). Although the Chinese-style civil service examination system was not adopted, the college office (大学寮, Daigaku-Ryō) was founded for training future bureaucrats based on the Confucian classics. Tradition circumvented the system, however, as aristocratic birth continued to be the main qualification for higher position, and titles were soon hereditary again. The Taihō Code did not address the selection of the sovereign. Fujiwara Fuhito (藤原不比等), son of Nakatomi no Kamatari, was among those who produced the Taihō Ritsuryō.
According to history book Shoku Nihongi (續日本紀), two of the 19 members of the committee drafting the Taiho Code were Chinese priests (Shoku-Shugen and Satsu-Koukaku). Chinese priests took an active part as a linguistic specialist, and received the reward of two times from the Empress Jito.
Exchange with the Asian continent
Since the 7th century, the Yamato government sent envoys directly to the Chinese court, from which it obtained a great wealth of philosophical and social structure. In addition to ethics of government, it also adopted the Chinese calendar and many of China's religious practices, including Confucianism and Taoism. Prince Shotoku prescribed a new constitution for Japan based on the Chinese model.
Japan had been very positive in the Kofun period, towards the introduction of Chinese culture and immigration of population. However, the Asuka period shows a marked change in the attitude: Japan started to be a national state with its own population and culture. It focused on assimilating earlier waves of immigrants into a single people.
Torai-jin
Chinese and Korean immigrants who became naturalized in ancient Japan were called torai-jin (渡来人). They introduced many aspects of their language, culture, and traditions to their adoptive country. Japan gave preferential treatment to these torai-jin because the Yamato Court valued their knowledge and culture.
According to the record of Shinsen-shōjiroku (新撰姓氏録), an aristocratic list of names that the Yamato Imperial Court officially compiled in 815, one-third of the noble families on the list had their origins in China or Korea. 163 of the 1182 listed were from China, and more than 240 were from the Korean peninsula (104 form Baekje, 41 from Goguryeo, and 9 from Silla).
Buddhism and the Confucianism had a huge influence on Japanese philosophy. Japan also absorbed many other elements of Chinese technology and culture, including the writing system, architecture, and methods of producing steel. In addition, many Chinese scholars (続守言 , 薩弘恪) were on committees that drew up legal codes, thus having a strong influence on the emerging Japanese legal system.
However, these immigrants are generally treated as lower class in Kabane systems which classifies the various clan members of the court. They are generally ranked as "Atai", "Miyatsuko", or "Fubito", while members of ruling clans such as Soga, Mononobe, and Nakatomi are ranked as "Omi" or "Muraji".
Immigrants from China
An example of a typical descendant clan is the Yamatonoaya clan (東漢氏), which is descended from Emperor Ling of Han. This clan's leader was Achi-no-Omi (阿智使主). He introduced many elements of Chinese culture to Japan. According to the Nihongi, during Emperor Kimmei's reign the Hata clan (秦氏), descendants of Qin Shi Huang, introduced sericulture (silk production). The Kawachino-Fumi clan (西文氏), descendants of Gaozu of Han, introduced Chinese writing to the Yamato court, according to the Shinsen-shōjiroku. The Takamoku clan is a descendant of Cao Pi. Takamuko no Kuromaro (高向玄理) was a central member of the committee which wrote the Taika Reform. Tori Busshi (止利仏師), also from China, was one of the most active artists in the Asuka period.
Immigrants from Korea
In 660, one of the three kingdoms of Korea, Baekje, fell to Silla and T'ang China. Subsequently, quite a large number of refugees from Baekje migrated to Japan. The Yamato Imperial Court accepted the royal family and the refugees of Baekje. The royal family of Baekje received the name "Kudara no Konikishi" (百済王, lit. kings of Baekje) from the emperor. The number and cultural impact of the refugees during this period was downplayed during the occupation of Korea in the earlier part of the twentieth century for political reasons. Most Japanese historians now agree that, in addition to strong influences from China, immigration from Baekje also contributed heavily to cultural development during the subsequent Nara period.
Introduction of Buddhism
The introduction of Buddhism (仏教, Bukkyō) to Japan is attributed to the Baekje king Seong in 538, exposing Japan to a new body of religious doctrine. The Soga clan, a Japanese court family that rose to prominence with the ascension of the Emperor Kimmei about 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 kingdoms of Korea as trade partners rather than as objects 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. In the Taika Reform, the Funeral Simplification Edict was proclaimed, and building of large kofun (tumuli) was banned. The edict also regulated size and shape of kofun by classes. As a result, later kofun, though much smaller, were distinguished by elaborate frescoes. Paintings and decorations of those kofun indicate the spread of Taoism and Buddhism in this period. The Takamatsuzuka Kofun and Kitora Kofun are the most famous for their wall paintings.
With the dawn of the Asuka period the use of elaborate kofun tombs by the imperial family 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.
Foreign relations
From 600 to 659, Japan sent seven emissaries to T'ang China. But for the next 32 years, during a period when Japan was formulating its laws based on Chinese texts, none were sent. Though Japan cut off diplomatic relations with China, Japan sent 11 emissaries to Silla, and Silla is also recorded in Nihon Shoki as sending embassies to Japan 17 times during the reigns of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jitō. The ruling classes of Yamato and Baekje were on amicable terms, and Yamato deployed its navy to aid Baekje, in 660-663, against an invasion by Silla and T'ang China (see battle of Baekgang).
As an alternative to journeying to China, many priests from the Three Kingdoms of Korea were sent to Japan. As a result, Korean priests had a great effect upon the development of Japanese Buddhism and other elements of Japanese culture. This also created the incidental effect of Japanese military support for Baekje. Some of the more significant priests who came from Korea were Eji, Ekan, Eso, and Kanroku. Eji, who came from Goguryeo was a tutor to Prince Shotoku, and counseled him politically.
Influence of Taoism
Taoism was also introduced during the Asuka period. In the mid-7th century, Empress Saimei built a Taoist temple at Mt. Tōnomine (多武峯談山). Many stone turtles (亀石, kameishi), a form common among Taoist sites, have been discovered in Asuka and are assumed to have been created during Saimei's reign. The octagonal shape of monarchs' tombs of this age and the celestial maps drawn in Kitora and Takamatsuzuka also reflect the Taoist cosmology. Tennō (Emperor), the new title of the Japanese monarch in this period, could also be argued to derive from the name of the supreme God of Taoism, Tenko-Taitei(天皇大帝), the God of Polaris.
Taoist belief was eventually amalgamated with Shintō and Buddhism to establish new styles of rituals. Onmyōdō, a sort of Japanese geomancy and cosmology, is one of the fruits of those religious mixtures. While the Asuka period started with conflict of religious belief between clans, later in the period, the imported religions became syncetized with Japan's native folk beliefs.
Art and architecture
Early Buddhist architecture in Japan was so similar to temples on the mainland that, because of the lag of development from the mainland to the archipelago, surviving buildings provide scholars with examples of how Chinese and Korean architecture of the same era looked. Korean architecture of the time was a stylistic link between classical Chinese architecture and later Japanese buildings. The construction of the original and reconstructed Hōryū-ji Temple was also strongly influenced by Culture of silk road. For instance, the pillar in Hōryū-ji is similar to the pillar of Parthenon of ancient Greece. After the tower in India (Stupa) had been converted by architectural technology of China, it became a five-storied pagoda (五重の塔) in Japan.
The unusual lateral orientation of the main hall and pagoda of Hōryū-ji is, however, not found in sites in China or Korea. The arrangement of buildings within the precinct of Horyu-ji is similar to the buddhist temple style of Buyeo, Horyu-ji style is called "Shitenouji-Garan (四天王寺伽藍)" or "Wakakusa-Garan(若草伽藍)". .
Goguryeo paintings in tombs had important influences in Japan. Decorated tombs and painted tumuli which date from the fifth century and later found in Japan are generally accepted as Korean exports to Japan. The Takamatsuzuka tomb even features paintings of women in distinctive clothes also seen in Goguryeo wall painting.
Tori Style
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The earliest Japanese Buddhist art is known as Tori Style, a term which is often used interchangeably with the Asuka period itself. The term derives from the style and influence of sculptor Kuratsukuri Tori, grandson of Chinese immigrant Shiba Tatto. Tori style shows strong influence of the Chinese Northern Wei style. Some of the characteristics of the style include marked, almond-shaped eyes, and symmetrically arranged folds in the clothing. The most striking and distinguishing feature of these sculptures is an expression of the smile that is called Archaic smile. Asuka Daibutsu, the Shaka triad produced by Kuratsukuri Tori for the Hōryū-ji, is one of the best Buddha arts of that time.
Hakuhō culture
The second stage of Buddhist art, coming after the Tori style, is known as Hakuhō culture(白鳳文化) and is generally dated from the Taika Reform (646) until the moving of the capital to Nara in 710. During the latter half of the 8th century, a large number of songs and poems were composed and performed by various ranked people from warriors to the Emperor. The earliest collection of these poems is known as Man'yōshū. It includes works by several remarkable poets such as Nukatano Okimi (額田王) and Kakinomoto Hitomaro (柿本人麻呂). Waka, which literally means Japanese song, also emerged as a new form of poetry at this time. It was conceived as a term to distinguish native styles from those imported from China; within the umbrella of waka poetry, one of the more popular forms is known as tanka. It consists of a total of 31 syllables divided over five lines, in the syllabic pattern 5/7/5/7/7.
Events
- 538: The Korean kingdom of Baekje dispatches a delegation to introduce Buddhism to the Japanese emperor.
- 593: Prince Shotoku is assigned as regent of Empress Suiko and promotes Buddhism with Soga clan.
- 600: Yamato state sends the first official Japanese mission to China since 478.
- 604: Prince Shotoku issues a Chinese-style constitution (Seventeen-article constitution), based on Confucian principles, which de facto inaugurated the Japanese Empire.
- 607: Prince Shotoku builds the Buddhist temple Hōryūji in Ikaruga.
- 645: Soga no Iruka and his father Emishi are killed in the Isshi Incident. Emperor Kotoku ascends to the throne and strengthens imperial power over aristocratic clans (see Taika Reform), turning their states into provinces.
- 663: Japanese navy was defeated by Silla-Tang allies in Battle of Baekgang, failing to restore Baekje.
- 670: First Family registry (Kōgo-Nenjaku) was compiled.
- 672: Prince Ōama, later Emperor Temmu usurped the throne by winning the civil war (Jinshin no Ran) against Emperor Kobun.
- 689: Asuka Kiyomihara Code was proclaimed.
- 701: Taihō code was proclaimed.
References
- Japan
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ""Shinsen-shōjiroku" shizoku ichiran 『新撰姓氏録』氏族一覧". transcribed by Kazuhide Kitagawa. Retrieved 2006-10-16.
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This period is part of the Yamato period of Japanese History.
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