Emperor Kammu › Todaiji » Ancient origins
Articles and Definitions › Contents
- Emperor Kammu › Who Was
- Todaiji › Ancient History
Ancient civilizations › Historical and archaeological sites
Emperor Kammu › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Emperor Kammu (aka Kanmu) reigned in ancient Japan from 781 to 806 CE and is most noted for relocating the capital to Heiankyo (Kyoto) in 794 CE. Kammu was one of the most powerful emperors Japan had seen or would ever see, and his reign witnessed a restructuring of the royal household and government, reducing the state's costs and making it better able to manage the country and fight corruption.
CROWN PRINCE
Kammu was born in 737 CE, his father was Emperor Konin (r. 770-781 CE) and his mother a Korean commoner. Initially removed from the line of succession, a common practice in the large families of emperors, he was later reinstated thanks to his supporters in the powerful Fujiwara clan which dominated most of the important positions of government and the imperial court. In 773 CE Kammu was officially selected as his father's successor, no doubt helped by his influential uncle Fujiwara no Momokawa. In 781 CE Emperor Konin abdicated, and his son Kammu was made emperor. Kammu, as was the tradition, gave his reign an era name or nengo. His choice was Enryaku, meaning 'prolonged succession,' which would prove apt for his 25-year reign.
FROM NARA TO HEIANKYO
During the Nara Period (710-794 CE) the Japanese imperial court was beset by internal conflicts motivated by the aristocracy battling each other for favours and positions, and an excessive influence on policy from the Buddhist sects whose temples were dotted around the capital. There was also a failed plot to seize power in 782 CE by descendants of Emperor Temmu, who had been displaced when Konin had taken the throne.
KAMMU WAS ABLE TO SWEEP AWAY THE CLUTTER OF PREVIOUS REGIMES & SET HIMSELF UP AS THE ALL-POWERFUL SOVEREIGN SURROUNDED BY SUPPORTERS WHO OWED THEIR POSITION DIRECTLY TO HIM.
Eventually, the situation resulted in Emperor Kammu moving the capital from Nara to Nagaokakyo on the Yodo River in 784 CE. The new site did not last long, though, after the assassination in the palace of one of Kammu's chief advisors (Fujiwara no Tanetsugu), the untimely death of one of Kammu's wives and a son, a severe flood and an epidemic, which all gave Nagaokakyo an air of bad luck. Indeed, the ringleader of the assassination plot, Prince Sawara, Kammu's younger brother, was exiled, but he died of self-inflicted starvation and it was thought that his bad spirit or kami was responsible for the disasters. It was, thus, decided to relocate again, this time to Heiankyo in 794 CE. This move marked the beginning of the Heian Period which would last into the 12th century CE, and Heiankyo, or Kyoto as it became known, would remain the capital of Japan for another thousand years.
Heiankyo, meaning 'the capital of peace and tranquillity,' was laid out on a regular grid plan along Chinese models. The aristocracy had fine palaces with their own carefully landscaped gardens and a large pleasure park was built south of the royal palace (Daidairi). No Buddhist temples were permitted in the central part of the city and no clergy were permitted to relocate from Nara, although, Kammu did permit the construction of two temples either side of the city's Rashomon gate: the Sai-ji (West Temple ) and To-ji (East Temple). The latter was expanded by the famous monk and founder of Shingon BuddhismKukai in 823 CE and was given its splendid pagoda, Japan's largest, in 826 CE. Kammu did not neglect the Shinto religioneither and built the important Hirano Jinja shrine in 794 CE. The capital, with its wide avenues and artisan quarters for artists, metalworkers and potters, became one of the great cities of East Asia.
Model of Kyoto
GOVERNMENT
Emperor Kammu continued to apply Chinese principles to government, especially Confucianism and Taoist interpretation of omens. However, he did prune the state administration which had become unwieldy and too costly. The number of civil servants was curtailed and some ministries suppressed. Kammu also formed a small body of counsellors to act as an advisory body, the household treasury office ( kurando - dokoro ). In these reforms, Kammu was aided by the fortunate timing that saw most of the old powerful clan leaders pass away and their successors struggle to find the resources to relocate twice to the new capitals.
The bloated royal court was similarly trimmed in 805 CE in a process known as 'dynastic shedding' with over 100 princes and princesses reduced from royal to noble status and given clan names such as Minamoto, Taira and Ariwara. At the same time loyal followers were given generous land grants or key government positions (many were simply left vacant too) so that the emperor was able to sweep away the clutter of previous regimes and set himself up as the supreme and all-powerful sovereign surrounded by his supporters who owed their position and status directly to him.
KAMMU WAS HIMSELF A FOLLOWER OF BUDDHISM & HIS POLICIES WERE AIMED AT CLEANING UP THE RELIGION RATHER THAN REPRESSING IT.
Another important policy change instigated by Kammu was the ending of conscription of peasants into the militia of the provinces. Farmers had not proved to be very effective warriors, and when not involved in actual combat, they had been abused by local commanders who pressed them into labour service for their own ends. The state now paid professional warriors, but their necessity was rare, being employed only in occasional expeditions against pirates and in border skirmishes with the Emishi tribes in the north of Japan. The Emishi had finally been subdued after decades of indecisive battles following major expeditions in 794 CE and 801 CE led by the two seii taishogun Otomo no Otomaro and Sakanoue no Tamuramaro respectively. In the latter campaign, a fort was built at Isawa to ensure there were no further hostilities.
Pagoda, To-ji Temple
One consequence of the policy to end conscription was that large estate owners began to form their own private armies of samurai to protect their interests, and these would eventually give certain clans such as the Taira and Minamoto the means to try and grab political power for themselves. To fill the gap left by the downgrading of the army the police force was given greater powers, which included a judicial function, and a small force of armed youths ( kondei ) was created to guard government property in the provinces.
Attempts were made to reduce corruption in the provinces where administrators were left to their own devices to extract taxes in kind. A body was established called the kageyushi which helped ensure tax records were maintained and an audit made whenever there was a transfer of governor. Still, the long-term effect of having local strongmen backed by their own private army and syphoning off state taxes was a gradual reduction in the economic power of the central government. By the end of the Heian Period in the 12th century CE, these warlords would seize political power for themselves and keep it for six centuries.
DEATH & DEIFICATION
Kammu died in 806 CE, and he was succeeded by his sons Emperor Heizei (r. 806-809 CE), Emperor Saga (r. 809-823 CE), and Emperor Junna (823-833 CE). Despite this dynastic continuity Kammu's reign was a watershed for Japanese government, and his successors would have to battle with powerful clans who sought to ever reduce the power of the emperor, as the historian WHMcCullough summarises,
Kammu was the last of a line of puissant, capital-building monarchs who were able to mobilize the entire country's wealth and military power for national or dynastic purposes. After him, the limelight of central political history shifted steadily and rapidly away from the person of the sovereign toward erstwhile holders of nominally subordinate court posts…[by 850 CE] the Fujiwara clan was well on its way to complete domination of both the emperor and the organs of his statutory government. (Whitney Hall, 25)
Emperor Kammu was enshrined as the deity or kami spirit of the Heian Jingu shrine in Kyoto, founded in 1895 CE on the 1,100th anniversary of the city's foundation as the capital of Japan.
This article was made possible with generous support from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
Todaiji › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
Todaiji is an ancient temple complex in Nara, Japan. Founded in 738 CE and officially opened in 752 CE when Nara was the capital, the temple is the headquarters of the Buddhist Kegon sect. The temple has a 500-ton sculpture of the Buddha, best known in Japan as the Nara Daibutsu, which is the largest bronze statue in the world, housed in the largest wooden building in the world. Todaiji is also home to thousands of precious art objects and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
DAIBUTSUDEN
The Buddhist temple of Todaiji in Nara was originally commissioned by Emperor Shomu (r. 724-749 CE) but was not actually opened until 752 CE. The complex would not be entirely finished until 798 CE. It stood to the east of the imperial palace, hence its name 'Great Eastern Temple'. The purpose of the Todaiji was to act as the headquarters of a nationwide network of temples and become the Buddhist protector of the state. It, thus, became, too, a centre of learning and study with a college and libraries where sutras were translated. In addition, and typical of the synergy between Buddhism and the native Shintoreligion in ancient Japan, the shrine at Usa sent an image of Hachiman, Shinto god of war and culture, with great ceremony to Todaiji so that the god's spirit of kami could become the protector of the new sacred site.
SUCH WAS THE SCALE OF THE BUILDINGS THAT THE PROJECT ALMOST BANKRUPTED THE JAPANESE STATE.
The Todaiji complex once covered 16 blocks of the city but was partially destroyed in a fire during the Genpei War (1180-1185 CE). The destruction was deliberate and carried out by the Taira clan as retaliation for the temple's monks interfering in politics and materially supporting their great rivals the Minamoto clan. Fortunately, it was restored to its former glory in 1195 CE by the victorious Minamoto, albeit on a slightly smaller scale than the original. Such was the size of the buildings that the project, along with the building of other lavish temple sites across the country, almost bankrupted the Japanese state.
The star building is the Great Buddha Hall or Daibutsuden. The current version of the Great Hall, which dates to the Edo Period (1603-1867 CE) following an earthquake in 1709 CE, is an impressive 57 metres (187 ft) long and 48 metres (157 ft) high making it the largest wooden building in the world. The original Great Hall was even grander, around one-third bigger, although the height was the same. The present roof has 110,000 15-kg tiles and a gold kite's tail ( shibi ) at either end of the ridge-pole.
Buddha, Todaiji
THE BUDDHA STATUE
The Daibutsuden has to be big because it contains a 15-metre (49 ft) high cast bronze statue of a seated Buddha, the largest such statue in the world and weighing in at around 500 tons. It is a representation of Dainichi Nyorai (aka Birushana, Roshana Butsu or Vairocana), most important deity of the Kegon sect, with his right hand raised in the gesture of teaching. The sculpture was made on the wishes of Emperor Shomu who wanted to reverse the effects of the devastating outbreak of smallpox which had hit in 737 CE. Such a gesture would also be a useful shove up the path towards enlightenment, and so Shomu made the following declaration to his people:
…We wish to make the utmost use of the nation's resources of metal in the casting of this image, and also to level off the high hill on which the great edifice is to be raised, so that the entire land may be joined with Us in the fellowship of Buddhism and enjoy in common the advantages which this undertaking affords to the attainment of Buddhahood.It is We who posses the wealth of the land; it is We who posses all power in the land. With this wealth and power at Our command, We have resolved to create this venerable object of worship. The task would appear to be an easy one, and yet a lack of sufficient forethought on Our part might result in the people's being put to great trouble in vain, for the Buddha's heart would never be touched if, in the process, calumny and bitterness were provoked which led unwittingly to crime and sin.Therefore all who join in the fellowship of this undertaking must be sincerely pious in order to obtain its great blessings, and they must daily pay homage to Lochana Buddha, so that with constant devotion each may proceed to the creation of Lochana Buddha. If there are some desirous of helping in the construction of this image, though they have no more to offer than a twig or handful of dirt, they should be permitted to do so. The provincial and county authorities are not to disturb and harass the people by making arbitrary demands on them in the name of this project. This is to be proclaimed far and wide so that all may understand Our intentions in the matter. (Mason 47-48)
The audacious scale of the sculpture is best indicated by the measurement of some of its parts: the ears are 2.5 metres (8 ft) long, and the eyes are 1 metre (3 ft) wide. The Buddha's hair is rendered using 966 bronze spheres. The figure was originally covered in gold - then recently discovered in the Mutsu province - and must have been an awe-inspiring site to the faithful when it was unveiled in a ceremony attended by 10,000 people, including the entire imperial court, foreign dignitaries and monks from China and India.
Kokuzo Bosatsu, Todaiji
Due to significant fire and earthquake damage over the centuries, the great Buddha statue has been partially restored several times. The most serious damage was the loss of the head during an earthquake in 855 CE, but the legs and lotus petal base are entirely original. On either side of the Buddha stand large gilded statues of bodhisattvas. On the right is the figure of Kokuzo Bosatsu, the patron deity of memory and wisdom, which dates to 1709 CE.
OTHER BUILDINGS
Other buildings at Todaiji include the Nandaimon (Great South Gate), rebuilt in 1195 CE, with its two 8-metre high (26 ft) figures of Nio guardians. Carved in wood, they were added in 1203 CE and are typical of Heian Period sculpture. There is the Shoro (Belfry), which has the second largest bell in Japan, the Nigatsudo (Second Month Hall), and the Hokke-do (Third Month Hall or Lotus Hall), which still has original portions dating to the 8th century CE. Inside the Hokke-do are many fine Buddhist statues, the most famous being a 3.6-metre tall (12 ft) representation of an eight-armed Buddha with a large black pearl set in his forehead to represent the all-seeing third eye.
Bronze Lantern, Todaiji
The Shoso-in (Treasury) contains over 9,000 sacred art objects, relics, furniture, ceramics, glassware, textiles, masks, mirrors, musical instruments, and weapons. Many come from India and China and include gifts given to the temple by emperors and empresses. There were also two 100-metre (328 ft) tall pagodas, and it was said that only the pyramids of Egypt were taller.Unfortunately, both were destroyed by an earthquake and never rebuilt. A large bronze octagonal lantern is still standing in the centre of the wide pathway between the Daibutsuden and Chumon Gate and dates to the founding of the temple. Behind the Daibutsuden is the Mirror Pond or Kagami-ike which offers the picturesque reflections of graceful architecture seen so often at Japanese temple sites.
[sasakawa]
LICENSE:
Article based on information obtained from these sources:with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia
Content is available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. CC-BY-NC-SA License