The were a set of doctrines established by

Emperor Kōtoku was the 36th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 孝徳天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional List of emperors of Japan, order of succession. The years of his reign lasted from Asuka period, 645 through 654. Tradi ...

(孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half ...

and the defeat of the

Soga clan The was one of the most powerful aristocratic kin groups Uji (clan), (''uji'') of the Asuka period of the early Japanese state—the Yamato period, Yamato polity—and played a major role in the spread of Buddhism in Japan. Through the 5th and ...

(蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The reforms also artistically marked the end of the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

and the beginning of the Hakuhō period. Crown Prince Naka no Ōe (the future Emperor Tenji),

Nakatomi no Kamatari , also known as , was a Japanese politician and aristocrat who, together with Prince Naka no Ōe (later Emperor Tenji), carried out the Taika Reform. He was the founder of the Fujiwara clan, the most powerful aristocratic family in Japan durin ...

, and Emperor Kōtoku jointly embarked on the details of the Reforms. Emperor Kōtoku then announced the era of " Taika" (大化), or "Great Reform". The Reform began with

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

, based on

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

ideas and philosophies from

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, but the true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn seemingly everything from the

Chinese writing system Written Chinese is a writing system that uses Chinese characters and other symbols to represent the Chinese languages. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an alphabet or syllabograms in a syllabary. Rathe ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, to even dietary habits at this time. Even today, the impact of the reforms can still be seen in contemporary Japanese cultural life.

Background

After the regency of

Shōtoku Taishi Shōtoku may refer to: * Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Has ...

ended, the

, from which Shōtoku's ancestry was derived, took hegemony of the Yamato court. The clan was opposed to Shōtoku's son Yamashiro Ōe and killed him in 643. Under the reign of

Empress Kōgyoku , also known as , was the 35th and 37th monarch of Japan,Kunaichō 斉明天皇 (37)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Both her reigns were within the Asuka period. Kōgyoku's reign spanned the years from 642 to 645. Her r ...

the Soga clan head,

Soga no Iruka (died July 10, 645) was the son of Soga no Emishi, a statesman in the Asuka Period of Japan. He was assassinated at court in a coup d'état involving Nakatomi no Kamatari and Prince Naka-no-Ōe (see: Isshi Incident), who accused him of tryi ...

, was virtually an almighty leader of the court. Those who were against Soga's dictatorship included the emperor's brother Karu, the emperor's son, Prince Naka no Ōe, along with his friend

, and his son-in-law Soga no Ishikawamaro (Iruka's cousin). They ended Iruka's regime by a coup d'état in 645 (''

Isshi Incident The was a successful plot by Nakatomi no Kamatari ( Fujiwara no Kamatari), Prince Naka no Ōe and others who conspired to eliminate the main branch of the Soga clan, beginning with the assassination of Soga no Iruka. It takes its name from th ...

''). As Kōgyoku renounced her throne, Karu ascended to be

. The new emperor, together with the Imperial Prince Naka no Ōe, issued a series of reform measures that culminated in the Taika Reform Edicts in 646. At this time, two scholars, Takamuko no Kuromaro and priest Min (who had both accompanied Ono no Imoko in travels to Sui China, where they stayed for more than a decade), were assigned to the position of '' Kuni no Hakase'' (国博士; National doctorate). They were likely to take a major part in compiling these edicts which in essence founded the Japanese imperial system and government. The ruler according to these edicts was no longer a clan leader but

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

(in Japanese, '' Tennō''), who exercised absolute authority. The reform was much inspired by the Japanese missions to China in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and sought to emulate China's system of centralized imperial control and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

.Hane, Mikiso; Perez, Louis G. (2014). Premodern Japan: a Historical Survey. (Second edition ed.). Boulder, CO. .

Reform

From today's vantage point, the Taika Reform is seen as a coherent system in which a great many inherently dissonant factors have been harmonized, but the changes unfolded in a series of successive steps over the course of many years. The major objective was to reassert imperial authority through reorganizing the government, including abolishing the ''

kabane were Japanese hereditary noble titles. Their use traces back to ancient times when they began to be used as titles signifying a family's political and social status. History At first, the ''kabane'' were administered by individual clans, but ...

'' hereditary title system previously in place. A major reform on the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

include the Taihō (Great Law) Code written in 702, consisting of criminal and administrative laws modeled after Tang China, leading to the ''

ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

'' system. New offices created include that of the ''Daijō daijin'' (chancellor), who presided over the Dajōkan (Grand Council of State), which included the Minister of the Left, the Minister of the Right, eight central government ministries, and a prestigious Ministry of Deities. Locally, the country was reorganized into 66 imperial provinces and 592 counties, with appointed governors. Subjects were to be surveyed, land was to be nationalized and redistributed, and private weapons were to be stored in government armories. A land tax, military service and labor obligations were instituted on subjects. A permanent capital was also established in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

, emulating the grid system of

's capital

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

. An exam system was also established, although unlike in China, it was open only to those from noble families. The role of women became much more restricted in Japan, especially in official domains, in emulation of China. The Reform Edicts severely curtailed the independence of regional officials and constituted the imperial court as a place of appeal and complaint about the people. In addition, the last edicts attempted to end certain social practices, in order to bring Japanese society more in line with Chinese social practices. A legal code was enacted, with a reformed bureaucracy and law. Nonetheless, powerful clans continue to exercise power in the imperial court and in regional governments. It would take centuries for the conceptual idea of the Chinese-style emperor to take root in Japan.Batten, Bruce. "Foreign Threat and Domestic Reform: The Emergence of the Ritsuryo State," Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Summer, 1986), pp. 199-219. Chinese civilization, including its art, philosophy, literature and architecture, would become much more entrenched in Japan compared to China's system of government.

Background

Reform

See also

References

Further reading