japan :: essays research papers

In the year 710, the first permanent Nipponese capital was naturalised in Nara, a city modelled after the Chinese capital. Large Buddhist monasteries were built in the new capital. The monasteries quickly gained such strong political influence that, in order to protect the put down of the emperor and central government, the capital was moved to Nagaoka in 784, and finally to Heian (Kyoto) in 794 where it should remain for over one thousand years. One characteristic of the Nara and Heian periods is a gradual decline of Chinese influence, which, nevertheless, remained strong. Many of the imported ideas were gradually "Japanized". In order to meet particular Japanese needs, several governmental offices were established in addition to the government system, which was copied after the Chinese model, for example. In the liberal arts too, native Japanese movements became increasingly popular. The development of the Kana syllables made the creation of positive Japanese literatu re possible. Several new Buddhist sects that were imported from china during the Heian period, were also "Japanized". Among the worst failures of the Taika reforms were the land and taxation reforms High taxes resulted in the scantiness of many farmers who then had to sell their properties and became tenants of larger landowners. Furthermore, many aristocrats and the Buddhist monasteries succeeded in achieving tax immunity. As a result, the state income decreased, and over the centuries, the political designer steadily shifted from the central government to the large independent landowners. The Fujiwara family controlled the political fit of the Heian period over several centuries through strategic intermarriages with the imperial family and by occupying all the important political offices in Kyoto and the major provinces. The baron of the kinsperson reached its peak with Fujiwara Michinaga in the year 1016. After Michinaga, however, the ability of the Fujiwara leaders began to decline, and worldly concern order could not be maintained. Many landowners hired samurai for the protection of their properties. That is how the host class became more and more influential, especially in Eastern Japan. The Fujiwara success came to an end in 1068 when the new emperor Go-Sanjo was determined to loom the rural by himself, and the Fujiwara failed to control him. In the year 1086 Go-Sanjo abdicated but continued to rule from behind the political stage. This new form of government was called Insei government. Insei emperors exerted political power from 1086 until 1156 when Taira Kiyomori became the new leader of Japan.