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Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
. It was the official
capital of Japan The capital of Japan is Tokyo."About Japan"
The Government of Japan. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, moving the Imperial Court there from nearby Nagaoka-kyō at the recommendation of his advisor Wake no Kiyomaro and marking the beginning of the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
of Japanese history. According to modern scholarship, the city is thought to have been modelled after the
urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
for the
Tang dynasty 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 ...
Chinese capital of
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
(modern-day
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 ...
). It remained the chief political center until 1185, when the samurai Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan in the
Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...
, moving administration of national affairs to
Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
and establishing the Kamakura shogunate. Though political power would be wielded by the samurai class over the course of three different shogunates, Heian-kyō remained the site of the Imperial Court and seat of Imperial power, and was thus the official capital.


Description

Heian-kyō was built in what is now the central part of Kyoto city covering an area spanning the and of Yamashiro Province. The city boundaries formed a rectangle measuring 4.5 km from east to west and 5.2 km from north to south. The city layout followed Heijō-kyō (Japan's capital during the
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...
) with the Imperial palace, Daidairi, placed in the center of the northern city limits and the Suzaku Avenue (Suzaku-ōji), the main thoroughfare extending from the palace down through the center of the city, dividing it into the Right ( Ukyō) and Left Capitals ( Sakyō) (the eastern side being the Left and the western side being the Right from the emperor's viewpoint.) The design followed Sui and Tang dynasty Changan with the exception that Heian-kyō had no city walls. It is thought that the site for the city was selected according to the principles of based on Chinese
Feng shui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...
and relating to the Four Symbols of Chinese astrology. The boundaries of Heian-kyō were smaller than those of modern Kyoto, with at the northern limit corresponding to present-day , between and , Kyūjō-ōji in the south corresponding to slightly to the south of the present-day JR Kyōto Station and Higashi-kyōgoku-ōji in the east corresponding to present-day Teramachi Street (Teramachi-dōri). The location of Nishi-kyōgoku-ōji at the western limit is estimated as a line running north to south from Hanazono Station on the JR
San'in Main Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing Kyot ...
to Nishi-Kyōgoku Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line. The layout of Heian-kyō was plotted in accordance with the principles of
geomancy Geomancy, a compound of Greek roots denoting "earth divination", was originally used to mean methods of divination that interpret geographic features, markings on the ground, or the patterns formed by soil, rock (geology), rocks, or sand. Its d ...
as a square city. was the basic unit of measurement. 40 sq. jō made a . The city was further divided by major streets called and minor streets called . Four lines of chō running east to west (excepting the first 2 rows in the north) were together called a and four lines of chō running from north to south were called a The Cho which shared the same Jo and Bo were each given a number from 1 to 16. In this way addresses could be identified as follows: "Right Capital, Jō Five, Bō Two, Chō Fourteen" . The width of even the minor streets was 4 Jō and for the major streets over 8 Jō . Almost all of the streets in present-day Kyoto have become considerably narrower. Suzaku-ōji for example was 28 Jō wide. In addition a river ran alongside and .


History

In 784 AD emperor Kammu constructed Nagaoka-kyō, moving the capital from Heijō-kyō. It is thought that he wished to build a new, Emperor Tenji faction capital far from Yamato Province which was the power base for the temples and aristocrats who supported the
Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...
faction. However, only 9 years later in January 793 AD, Emperor Kammu assembled his retainers and announced another relocation of the capital (for the reason see the entry on Nagaoka-kyō.) The location for the new capital was to be Kadono located between two rivers in the north of Yamashiro, ten kilometers to the northeast of Nagaoka-kyō. It is said that the Emperor Kammu had previously looked out on Kadono from the Shōgun Tsuka in Higashiyama Ward of Kyoto City, deciding then that it was a suitable location for the capital. Emperor Kammu's words are recorded in the '' Nihon Kiryaku'' as follows: "Kadono has beautiful mountains and rivers as well as good transport links by sea and land making it convenient for people to assemble there from all four corners of the country." It is thought that the construction of Heian-kyō began from the palace, with the construction of the remainder of the city following afterwards. As a display of the emperor's authority the Daigokuden (main building of the palace) was constructed at the far north of the central thoroughfare, Suzaku-oji, making the building visible from anywhere in the city. Ports such as Yodonotsu and were set up along the river next to the city. These ports acted as a transit base for collecting in goods from all over the country and for forwarding them on to the city. The goods which arrived in Heian-kyō reached the people by way of one of the two large markets (the East market and the West market.) This arrangement provided a stable supply of food and goods which encouraged population growth. Measures were also taken to guard against the flooding which had plagued the residents of Nagaoka-kyō. Although there was no natural river in the center of Heian-kyō, two artificial canals (the present day Horikawa and Nishi Horikawa) were dug whose water level could be adjusted, simultaneously securing a supply of water and guarding against flooding. Similar to the previous capital of Nagaoka-kyō, the construction of Buddhist temples in Heian-kyō was formally forbidden, with the sole exception of the East and West temples, with the thought that their power might protect the city from natural disaster and disease, and priests such as
Kūkai , born posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the Vajrayana, esoteric Shingon Buddhism, Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) und ...
were welcomed, being able men, well versed in Buddhist scripture and with no interest in political power. On 22 October 794 AD, Emperor Kammu arrived at the new city and on 8 November proclaimed, "I hereby name this city Heian-kyō." On 8 November, he changed the second
kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...
character of Yamashiro from ("back") to ("castle") because the capital looked like a naturally formed "mountain castle" surrounded by the Eastern (Higashiyama), Northern (Kitayama), and Western (Nishiyama) mountains. A movement in favor of returning the capital to Heijō-kyō arose in 810 AD, during a standoff over the emperor's succession. However,
Emperor Saga was the 52nd emperor of Japan, Emperor Saga, Saganoyamanoe Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign lasted from 809 to 823. Traditional narrative Saga was the second son of ...
thought that keeping the capital in Heian-kyō would be best for the stability of the country and resisted this movement, naming Heian-kyō . The land of the Right Capital overlapped the wetlands formed by the Katsura River and even by the 9th century little progress had been made in developing the area. By the 10th century when 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 was almost at an end, the district had become so dilapidated that it began to be used as farmland, something which had previously been forbidden within the city limits. With the exception of an area in the north of the Right Capital near to the palace, the residential areas which housed the aristocracy were all situated in the Left Capital, with the highest echelon of aristocrats such as the
Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...
gathering in the northernmost part of the district. The poor of Heian-kyō began to set up home by the Kamo River, beyond the eastern limits of the city, and on the eastern banks of the river temples and country homes sprung up. So started a tendency for the city to extend out to the east. In 980 AD, at the southern tip of Suzaku-oji the Rajōmon (the grandest of the two city gates) collapsed never to be rebuilt. In this way the original borders of Heian-kyō extended out to the east, forming the streets of first medieval and then modern-day Kyoto. With the advent of the Kanto centered
Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
and Edo shogunates, Heian-kyō began to lose its significance as a seat of power. The greatest decline was during the
Muromachi The , also known as the , is a division of History of Japan, Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially establ ...
and Sengoku periods when almost half the city was burnt to the ground during the Ōnin war. After this Heian-kyō separated into upper ( Kamigyō) and lower ( Shimogyō) cities each becoming places of little note. However, the two were to be reunited into one city during the Azuchi–Momoyama period following the ascension of
Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...
. During the Meiji Revolution, Edo was re-christened Tokyo (becoming the new capital of Japan). Although Heian-kyō lost its status as capital city, it became a backup capital while the emperor was away in Tokyo. Since that time the emperor has not returned to Kyoto. However, at the direction of the Emperor Meiji, the imperial residences have been preserved and the —a special throne whose location traditionally marked the seat of the emperor—remains at the palace in Kyoto.


Schematic diagram of Heian-kyō

The green areas in the diagram are markets, temples and a garden. There were two large markets, West Market and East Market , facing the seventh street, Shichijō-ōji . Tō-ji and Sai-ji were Buddhist temples built on the southern edge of the capital. An imperial garden called Shinsenen was adjacent to the Daidairi. Note that there were more paths cut short by residences straddling multiple blocks. In English (major streets and palace only): *Note: "" erroneously listed twice in the diagram.


Gates

The gates of the Daidairi are marked in Japanese Kanji in the above grid, below are the romanization of said gate names alongside the kanji:


Map

Below is a 1696 map of Kyoto, known a
Genroku 9 Kyoto Daizu ()
held by th


See also

* Heian Palace * Chiteiki, a mid-Heian period text describing social issues within the capital * Timeline of Kyoto *'' Cosmology of Kyoto'', a visual novel interactive computer game for Windows 3.1 set in 900 AD Heian-kyō


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heian-kyo 794 establishments 8th-century establishments in Japan Former capitals of Japan History of Kyoto Planned capitals Populated places established in the 8th century History of Kyoto Prefecture Emperor Kanmu Heian period