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 order of succession. The years of his reign lasted from 645 through 654. Traditional narrative Before Kōtoku's ascen ...

(孝徳天皇 ''Kōtoku tennō'') in the year 645. They were written shortly after the death of Prince Shōtoku and the defeat of the Soga clan (蘇我氏 ''Soga no uji''), uniting

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. 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 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after ...

and the beginning of the Hakuhō period. Crown Prince Naka no Ōe (the future Emperor Tenji), Nakatomi no Kamatari, 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 is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultura ...

, based on

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

ideas and philosophies from Tang China, 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,

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 prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, 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 constructing buildings ...

, 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 Tenchi ended, the Soga clan, 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 the Soga clan head, Soga no Iruka, 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 Nakatomi no Kamatari, 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''). 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 was a Japanese scholar and diplomat of the Asuka period. The Takamuko clan are descended from Cao Pi. Karumauro traveled to China with Ono no Imoko as ''kenzuishi'' representing Empress Suiko in 608.Nussbaum, "Kentōshi" at He remained in China ...

and priest Min (who had both accompanied

Ono no Imoko was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century, during the Asuka period. Ono was appointed by Empress Suiko as an official envoy ( Kenzuishi) to the Sui court in 607 (Imperial embassies to China), and he delivere ...

in travels to

Sui China The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

, 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 An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

(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. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

.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'' hereditary title system previously in place. A major reform on the law 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 law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki' ...

'' 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 An imperial province was a Roman province during the Principate where the Roman Emperor had the sole right to appoint the governor (''legatus Augusti pro praetore''). These provinces were often the strategically located border provinces. The pr ...

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 federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

, emulating the grid system of Tang China's capital Xi'an. 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