paign, and finally restored peace to his kingdom. Keiko, brave and victorious as he was, is a minor figure in history compared with one of his eighty children, the famous Prince Yamato Dake, whose courage and nobility of character have justly made him one of the great heroes of Japan. . . . [He is said to have overcome the Kumoso, a race of savages who inhabited western Kyushu. Chuai, the son of Yamato Dake, came to the throne in 130 A.D., but] all the glory of his reign is associated with his courageous and far-seeing wife, the famous Empress Jingo ('Merit of the Gods'). [It is she who is credited with having built a fleet of ships with which she set sail for Korea.] The fleet of the Empress Jingo landed in the Kingdom of Shiragi [in Korea]. The King of Shiragi was surprised, for he governed a kingdom that paid far more attention to the arts than to matters of warfare. Seeing that resistance was useless, he prostrated himself before the Empress, who . . . made the defeated monarch swear that 'until the sun rose in the west and set in the east, until streams flowed towards their source, until pebbles from the river-bed ascended to the sky and became stars,' he should maintain his allegiance to Japan. . . . The Japanese to-day regard the conquest of Korea, . . . by the Empress Jingo as a historical event. Dr. Aston, however, dismisses the whole story as a myth, based upon two historical facts that have been highly coloured and much distorted. The Chinese are silent in regard to the matter. They refer, however, to a female sovereign who sent an embassy to the Court of China in the hope of obtaining permission from the ruler of north-western Korea to travel across his territory. . . . Whether the conquest of Korea was won without a blow, or whether, as seems more probable, several invasions took place at a later date is not of prime importance. The real victory won by Japan was not so much of arms as the winning of knowledge. Korea was like a moon that borrowed her light from the blazing sun of China, and Korea's borrowed light shone into Japan with very widespread and beneficial. results. It was in A.D. 284 that Ajiki, the King of Kudara's ambassador, came to the Japanese Court to pay his usual tribute, bringing with him Chinese literature, while in the following year the same king sent Wani, a Chinese scholar, who presented the Emperor of Japan with the Analects of Confucius and the Thousand Character Essay." -F. H. Davis, Japan, pp. 30-33, 36-37, 42, 45-46. 550-708. Asuka period. - Introduction of Buddhism.-Taikwa era.-"About the middle of the sixth century [A.D.] Japan entered upon a new era, known as the Asuka Period (550-700), which is the era of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan. It was in the year 552, during the reign of the Emperor Kimmei (540-571), that an envoy came from Kudara, one of the Korean provinces, with an image of Buddha and books explaining Buddhist doctrine. He also stated that all people from India to Korea were followers of Buddhism, which excelled all other religions."E. W. Clement, Short history of Japan, p. 20.See also above: Religions.-The emperor took counsel with his ministers, Monobe-no-Okoshi and Nakotomi Kumako, who opposed Buddhism and Soga-no-Iname, who was inclined to encourage the introduction of the new religion. And after he had carefully considered their words the emperor said: "Let it (the image) be given to Soga, who has shown his willingness to take it, and as an experiment, make him worship it.'. [Soga accepted the charge but a pestilence which ravaged the country was looked upon as a punishment

JAPAN, 550-708

for forsaking the ancient faith. The temple of Buddha was burned, and his image thrown into a canal; but was rescued by Soga, and a new temple built. Thus the worship of Buddha began in old Japan.] The Emperor Kimmei died in 571 and was succeeded by Bidatsu (572-585). During his reign the guardianship of the sacred image [of Buddha] was under the protection of Soga no Umako, the son of Soga no Iname. He was no less zealous than his father had been, and was diligent in his efforts to propagate Buddhism in Japan."-F. H. Davis, Japan, pp. 68-69.-The introduction of Buddhism accentuated an already strong rivalry between the Noriya and Soga families, in which the Soga were triumphant, and during the greater part of this period the Soga clansmen were the virtual rulers of Japan. They acted in some sort as foreign ministers, and were actually responsible for the strong foothold gained by Buddhism. Their power continued to increase through the reigns of Yomei (585-588), Sujun (588-592), and the famous successor of Sujun. "The Empress Suiko (593-628), with whose name and fame must be associated her nephew and prime minister, Umayado [or Mumayado], best known by his posthumous title, Prince Shotoku. . . . This was the time of the beginnings of Japanese painting. This art was borrowed from China; the first teachers were Buddhist priests from Korea in the sixth century; and the first school of painting in Japan is, therefore, called a Buddhist school. According to Asakawa, with the reign of Suiko began 'the conscious adoption of Chinese political doctrines and institutions.' This included, for instance, the lunar calendar (602), a code of court etiquette, the exchange of envoys, 'the commencement of [formal] intercourse with China.' E. W. Clement, Short history of Japan, pp. 21-22. -"Prince Mumayado . . . or Shotoku Taishi [593622], has been described as the 'Constantine of Japanese Buddhism.' . . . He was famous as a general, statesman, and Buddhist propagandist. . . His foreign policy was particularly successful, for his embassies to Shiragi [in Korea] in 597 and 600 resulted in tribute being sent to Japan. With this Korean success, obtained by diplomacy and not at the point of the sword, he claimed for Japan an equal dignity with the great Chinese Empire. . . . Shotoku Taishi framed the first code of laws based upon Chinese philosophy, and these laws still bear fruit in Japan to-day. The code was known as the Constitution of the Seventeen Articles, and was issued in 604. The Articles are briefly as follows: Art. I. A plea for concord. Art. II. The acceptance of Buddhism. Art. III. The dignity of the Emperor. Art. IV. The duties of rulers and magistrates. Art. V. Bribery and corruption. Art. VI. Lying and flattery. Arts. VII., VIII. The evils of hereditary office. Art. IX. The result of those evils. Arts. X.-XIV. The responsibility of hereditary holders of office. Art. XV. The significance of sages and saints. Art. XVI. The exercise of patience and self-control. Art. XVII. 'Never act on your own private initiative or authority; and never take any step of importance without consultation. In a doubtful case, consult the more.'"-F. H. Davis, Japan, pp. 71-72.-"In A.D. 603, the first attempt to create orders of nobility for the nobles, already numerously existing, was made by the Empress Suiko. Twelve orders were instituted, with symbolic names, after the Chinese custom-such as Virtue, Humanity, Propriety, etc.-distinguished by the colors of the caps worn. [Later on] in 649, this system was changed for that having nine ranks, with two divisions. In each of the last six were

two subdivisions, thus in reality making thirty grades.... Of the eight departments, that of War ultimately became the most important. A special department was necessary to attend to the public manners and forms of society, etiquette being more than morals, and equal to literary education. The foreign relations of the empire were then of so little importance that they were assigned to a bureau of the above department. The treasury consisted of imperial storehouses and granaries, as money was not then in general use. Rice was the standard of value, and all taxes were paid in the grain. The introduction of these

MILITARY OFFICIAL IN COURT DRESS

Buddhism], at this time were still the high priests of the Shinto religion. They by no means confined their attention to religious matters, for they sought to control the succession to the throne. Their power grew rapidly, and eventually they went so far as to call their children Princes and Princesses, and their houses palaces. The Soga family, as we have seen, was mainly responsible for the spread of Buddhism in Japan. It was a rival family the Nakatomi were determined to crush, and they were later successful in killing the father and son of the Soga house. In 645 the Empress abdicated, and her younger brother, Kotoku, reigned in her stead for nine years. He was responsible for many excellent reforms, and during his reign 'registers of population were prepared.'"-F. H. Davis, Japan, P. 79.-The full result of Shotoku's reforms appeared in this reign in what is known as "the Taikwa Reformation, which takes its name from the Taikwa Era, which covered the first few years (645-649) of the reign of the Emperor Kotoku (645-654). The name 'Taikwa Reform' belongs really to a series of changes extending over a period of more than half a century (645-700); but it is often, for convenience, called the Reform of 645,' and has been denominated 'a great turningpoint' in the history of Japan. Taken with the Restoration of 1868, 'it forms one of the greatest crises of the national career of the Japanese people'; or, if the rise of Japanese feudalism is added, it is one of 'three great historical incidents.' This reform was, according to Asakawa, 'Chinese in its organization of the state, and Japanese in its theory of sovereignty'; for the emperor became the actual ruler, so that this is the great 'imperialistic' era. Murdoch characterizes this reform as follows: 'The Yamato sovereign was no longer to be merely the head of the chief clan in Japan, with a feeble control over the other great clan chieftains, and with no direct control over the dependents of these. Henceforth he was really to be the Emperor of Japan. Every rood of the soil was theoretically supposed to have been surrendered to him,-that is to say, the theory of eminent domain was now effectually established. The land thus surrendered was then distributed to the subjects of the Emperor in approximately equal portions. The holders of these portions were subject to the national burden of taxation.'"E. W. Clement, Short history of Japan, pp. 22, 23.

ALSO IN: F. Brinkley, Japan, its history, arts and literature, v. 1, pp. 89-102.-K. Asakawa, Early institutional life of Japan, pp. 141-148.-A. K. Reischauer, Studies in Japanese Buddhism, pp. 8385.-D. Murray, Japan, PP. 107-114.

These great changes were heralded by the annihilation of the Soga, who for so long had dominated the government. (See below: 645-833.) "The destruction of the Soga clan in 645 was perhaps the occasion rather than the cause of a reform that gave Nippon a definitely organized government, and enabled the men of that age to lay the solid foundations of empire. With the aid of the political thought of China and its living model of order and power before their eyes, the Yamato men first reconstructed the Throne and Government, and then began the work of unifying all the tribes. In a word, their task was the making of a new nation. They thrust out the fiction of a patriarchal clan, in which public and private were hardly distinguishable terms, and in which the Mikado was so politically weak, and they built up a most powerful centralized bureaucracy, above which the Mikado was set as theoretically omnipotent. They were not able so to build and guard as to keep Court and Government

orders of nobility and departments of state from China brought about the change from the species of feudalism hitherto existing to centralized monarchy, the rise of the noble families, and the fixing of official castes composed, not, as in most ancient countries, of the priestly and warrior classes, but, as in China, of the civilian and military. . . . A division of all the able-bodied males into three classes was now made, one of which was to consist of regular soldiers permanently in service. This was the 'military class,' from which the legions kept as garrisons in the remote provinces were recruited."-W. E. Griffis, Mikado's empire, v. 1, pp. 103-104.-"The Emperor Jomei (629641) [who followed the Empress Suiko] was succeeded by the Empress Kokyoku (642-645). The Nakatomi [of the same family as the opposer of

In

separate, but they drew a sharp line between what was public and what was private. Then, with the dogmas and sanctions of religion and a mighty army of soldiers kept in activity both near and far, they built up the structure of a State based on the idea of conquest. In this new State there was a tremendous gulf fixed between the Throne and the People, the bureaucrats having virtually the real power. Swift was the movement. More rapidly even than in the last half of the nineteenth century did this evolution proceed. methods of thought, style, writing, and costumes, China's models were followed in every department of life. In the sudden creation of a new sentiment, Chinese political fashions seemed only logical and reasonable. A triple premiership [Daijodaijin (prime minister), Sa-daijin (minister of the left), U-daijin (minister of the right)], after the Chinese pattern; the marking of chronology and the adoption of a State calendar-sure and supreme test of sovereignty in eastern Asia; the naming the first of the Year Periods; the organization and protection of the Buddhist hierarchy, the fixing of the status of free subjects and slaves, the establishment of arsenals, the regulation of taxation and land allotment, the reform of popular customs as to marriage, burial, etc., the ordination of orders, ranks, caps, and the costumes of nobles, the making of a census; the organization of a five-house system in the villages, and finally the creation of eight departments of Government, Imperial Household, rites and offices, nobles, interior, war, justice, treasury, all within five years or so, shows the rapidity of reform." -W. E. Griffis, Japanese nation in evolution, pp. 146-147.-On the death of Kotoku in 645, Kokyoku re-assumed the imperial dignity, and was succeeded by her son the Emperor Tenchi or Tenji (668-671), who however had been regent during the three previous reigns. "A long series of changes [begun as we have seen by Prince Shotoku] were crowned by an edict unprecedented in Japan. The sovereign addressed himself direct to the people, and employed language evidently an echo of Prince Shotoku's constitution. Its gist was that since the faculty of self-government must be acquired before attempting to govern others, and since obedience could be obtained only by one worthy to command, the sovereign pledged himself to behave in strict conformity with the principles of imperialism, relying on the aid of heaven and the support of the people. Tenchi, who issued this edict, may be called the father of constitutional monarchism in Japan."-F. Brinkley, Japan, v. 1, pp. 101-102. "The Emperor Tenchi has been described as one of the most enlightened sovereigns that ever sat upon the throne of Japan.' He is particularly memorable in connection with the favour be bestowed upon the Nakatomi family. The head of the family at that time was Kamatari [Kamako], and the Emperor conferred upon him the cap of 'Great Woven Stuff,' the official cap denoting the title of Daijin, or Private Minister. In the Nihongi we read: 'He also granted him a surname, and made him the House of Fujiwara.' Fujiwara means wistaria-field, and the crest of this illustrious family is the wistaria flower. Kamatari, unlike many of his descendants, did not abuse the royal favour he received. On the contrary, he had the interest of the people at heart, lightened taxation, reduced forced labour, and was responsible for many reforms. If the Emperor Tenchi showered favours upon the Fujiwara family, he was no less prodigal in extending a warm welcome to Korean refugees. These Koreans founded a district of their own, and their colonization, particu

JAPAN, 645-833

his

larly in regard to art and culture, exercised a most beneficial influence."-F. H. Davis, Japan, PP. 79-80.-Tenchi's immediate successors are of slight importance. With Mommu, the fourth in succession, however, the case is different, and these two important reigns-that of Tenchi and that of Mommu, and their result may be discussed together. "Mommu (697-708), inaugurated reign by a . . . rescript, [similar to that of Tenchi] promising, with the help of his ancestors and the gods, to promote the welfare of his people. The interval of forty years separating Tenchi's accession [668] and Mommu's death . . . [708] may be regarded as the only period, in all the long history of Japan prior to modern times, when the sovereign was not divided from the people by nobles who usurped his authority. Mommu endeavoured to invest the issue of his edict with great pomp and ceremony, but of an essentially democratic character. The princes of the blood, the great nobles, and the chief officials were all required to attend, and the people were invited en masse. Then a crier read the edict aloud in four parts, and at the end of each part all present, high and low alike, were invited to signify their assent. This remarkable chapter of Japanese history may be broadly described as a political revolution resulting from the introduction of Chinese civilisation through the medium of Buddhist priests, just as a similar revolution in recent times resulted from the introduction of Western civilisation through the medium of gunboats. . . . Tenchi and Mommu modelled their administration on the lines indicated in the 'Golden Mirror' of Tatsong, and the grand capital established at Nara in the beginning of the eighth century was an imitation of the Tang metropolis at Hsian. . . . Such a thing as a school did not exist until the time of the Emperor Tenchi . . . when the first institution of the kind was opened in the capital, to be followed, ten years later, by a university and by a few provincial seminaries. The curriculum of this university represents the ideal of literary attainment in its era. There were 'four paths' of essential learning-the Chinese classics, biographies, law and mathematics. Caligraphy and music were taught independently. . . . [The country gained at once by the introduction of the higher civilization. In the era prior to the change, the lower orders were in a state of abject slavery. The patricians held the mere touch of a plebian to be defilement. The laws of marriage were extremely lax. The custom of sending members of the family and retainers of a dead chieftain to follow him to the grave was on the increase.] All these abuses were strictly interdicted in the reformation foreshadowed by Prince Shotoku's adoption of Buddhism and Con fucianism, and embodied in a series of legislative measures during the period 645 to 708. The nation suddenly sprang to a greatly higher level of civilisation. . . . It may be noted incidentally that the growth of wealth resulting from this influx of material civilisation gave additional emphasis to the superiority of the Chinese, for they had to be placed at the head of the various bureaux of the Treasury, there being no Japanese competent to discharge such duties. Commerce also felt the expansive impulse. Men travelled from province to province selling goods; foreign vessels frequented the ports; a collector of customs and a superintendent of trade were appointed, and an officially recognised system of weights and measures was introduced."-F. Brinkley, Japan, v. 1, pp. 101-103, 127, 105-106.

645-833.-Fujiwara period to the reign of Nimmyo.-Abdications.-Nara epoch.-Nihongi,

-Ainu wars.-Chinese influence.-End of imperial power.-Kebüishi, or police force.-Agriculture. Two outstanding factors profoundly influence the history of Japan, and ultimately produced its peculiar feudal system and the dual form of government both of which were still in existence when the modern nations of the world were admitted to the empire. The first of these factors was the practice of abdication by the emperors, the second the power of the great noble families, and especially of some one of these families, which usurped the imperial authority and carried on the government in the emperor's name. The practice of abdication came into vogue "in the seventh century together with Buddhism, whose doctrines led men to retire from worldly cares and pleasures into solitude and contemplation. But it was made use of by unscrupulous ministers, who placed infant puppets on the throne, and caused them to abdicate on attaining to maturity. Thus it was a common thing during the Middle Ages for three Mikados to be alive at the same time,-a boy on the throne, his father or brother who had abdicated, and his grandfather or other relative who had abdicated also. . . . Beginning with Gemmyo Tenno in A.D. 715, a long series of them abdicated the throne in order to spend the remainder of their lives in pious seclusion."-B. H. Chamberlain, Things Japanese, pp. 13, 32.-As stated above, however, even before this time, the power of the emperor had been overshadowed by the ascendancy of the Soga, whose overthrow cleared the way for the rise of the Fujiwara. "The ancestor of this family, Nakatomi-no-Muraji, was fabled to have come down from the celestial plains to the island of Kyushu. The family therefore ranks with that of the emperor as the oldest and most honored in the empire. From the time of its establishment down to the present it has enjoyed many honors and privileges, and has played a very distinguished part in the history of the country. This family first became prominent during the reign of the Emperor Kotoku. The Soga family from the times of the first introduction of Buddhism had grown to be most powerful and influential in the empire. Umako had held the position of daijin and his son Yemishi became daijin after his father's death. Yemishi presumed upon his promotion to this high office and put on the airs of hereditary rank. He built castles for himself and son and organized guards for their defence. His son Iruka became daijin after his father's death and conducted himself with even greater arrogance. At last his conduct became intolerable and he was assassinated A.D. 645. The chief actor in this plot was Nakatomi-no-Kamatari, who was at this time on intimate terms with the prince who afterwards became the Emperor Tenji." -D. Murray, Japan, p. 120.-Tenchi and his successors apparently carried on the administration unhampered; although the Fujiwara had already begun to acquire power, and in fact, the Fujiwara period is generally spoken of as commencing with the fall of the Soga, and therefore contemporary with Tenchi and Mommu. This is somewhat puzzling to the reader, because this period also includes the Nara or Heijan period. "The restoration of the administrative power to the Emperor in the middle of the seventh century, which was marked by the great legislative measures already spoken of and by the re-modelling of the government on Chinese bureaucratic lines, prefaced a period generally known as the 'Nara, or Heijo, epoch' (709-784), because the town of Nara, then chosen as the imperial capital, had the distinction of being the first city to hold that rank inde

pendently of changes of sovereign. Hitherto it had been the custom for the Emperor and the heir apparent to reside in different places, and of course there grew up about the palace of the prince material interests and moral associations opposed to a change of habitation. Hence on his accession to the throne, he usually transferred the capital of the empire from the place occupied by his predecessor to the site of his own palace... The only limit set to all these shiftings... [was] that the five adjacent provinces occupying the waist of the main island, and known as 'Gokinai,' were regarded as possessing some prescriptive title to contain the seat of government, Yamato being especially honoured in that respect. . . . As civilisation progressed, as the population grew, as the business of administration became more complicated, as increasing intercourse with China furnished new standards for measuring the interval between ruler and ruled, and, above all, as class distinctions acquired emphasis, the character of the palace assumed magnificence proportionate to the imperial ceremonies and national receptions that had to be held there. By the beginning of the eighth century, this development had reached a stage which necessitated a permanent capital, and Nara, thenceforth called Heijo (the castle of peace), was chosen."-F. Brinkley, Japan, v. 1, Pp. 131-133.-This step was taken in 710 during the reign of the Empress Gemmyo (708-715). "Nara,

remained the permanent capital for nearly the whole of the eighth century. The city was more or less a replica of the Chinese capital of Hsian. With its seven great Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and palace, its wealth of cherry and plum and gigantic cryptomeria trees, its range of hills rising from a lovely and fertile plain gave Nara a splendour that has never been surpassed."—F. H. Davis, Japan, p. 81.-Gemmyo's reign is also famous for the completion of the chronicle known as the Nihongi, which is based on tradition. The Emperor Temmu, predecessor of Gemmyo, had directed the records to be carefully examined, compiled and committed to Hiyeda no Are, who, by means of his marvelous memory was able to dictate them to the scribes who wrote them down, in the form in which they still exist. In the reign of this empress, copper was discovered, and copper coins were minted to take the place of Chinese and Korean money, which had hitherto been in use. The Emishi, or Ainu, who were then a strong and warlike though barbarous people, had not then been subdued and "in the northern part of the Main island continued to give much trouble to the government. During the reign of the Emperor Shomu (A.D. 724-756) Fujiwara-no-Umakai was sent against these restless neighbors and succeeded in reducing them to subjection, which lasted longer than usual. A fort was built to keep them in subjection, called the castle of Taga."-D. Murray, Japan, pp 123, 124.-"The Nara epoch owes its prominent place in history chiefly to the extraordinary zeal shown by the Court and the great nobies in promoting the spread of Buddhism. During the seventy-five years comprised in the epoch, no less than seven of the grandest temples ever seen in Japan were erected; a multitude of idols were cast, among them a gigantic Daibutsu; colossal bells were founded, and all the best artists and artisans of the time devoted their services to these costly works. The mania reached its zenith in the reign of the Emperor Shomu (724-749), whose religious zeal was supplemented by a love of pomp that led him to lavish great sums on rich costumes, expensive sports, and handsome edifices, and by superstition so profound that

whenever any natural calamity or abnormal phenomenon occurred, he caused religious services to be performed at heavy cost. In addition to the large demands of the central treasury, salaries and emoluments for the leading officials were assessed on a liberal scale; the Prime Minister's pay being equal to the earning capacities of three thousand families, that of the second Minister to the earnings of two thousand families, and so on in a descending rate. The agricultural classes, who were the chief tax-payers, began to show themselves unequal to this strain. It was also appreciated that the theory of State ownership of land, applied according to the provisions of the Taikwa and Taiho legislation, produced a demoralising effect upon the farmer, since he did not care to improve land which might be transferred to some one else in six years, and was at best secure for only one generation. The Government, therefore, began to recognise the principle of private ownership, and also to lend to agriculturists in spring such funds or articles as were required for the cultivation of their farms. In fact, the policy pursued by the State was a curious mixture of desire to reform and inability to retrench. Resolute efforts were made, for example, to improve means of communication by constructing roads and organising post-stations; but, at the same time, officially guarded fences and barriers were established at commanding points, the necessity of fixing the tax-payer immovably in one place being considered more important than the expediency of bringing new markets within reach of his produce. . . . It was an era of refined, effeminate amusements. Wrestling had now become the pursuit of professionals. Aristocrats engaged in no rougher pastime than archery, polo, a species of football, hawking and hunting."F. Brinkley, Japan, v. 1, pp. 134-135, 155.-"In A.D. 794 during the reign of the Emperor Kwammu (A.D. 782-806) the capital was removed to Kyoto on the banks of the Kamogawa. The situation and the environs are lovely, and justify the affectionate reverence with which it has ever been regarded. Here were built the palaces and offices for the emperor and his court. It was officially called Miyako, that is, residence of the sovereign. It continued to be occupied as the capital until A.D. 1868, when the court was moved to Tokyo. At this time the name of the city was changed to Saikyo, which means western capital, in distinction from Tokyo, which means eastern capital." -D. Murray, Japan, p. 123.-The Fujiwara were already paramount in the state when Kwammu began to reign, and both he and his father Konin owed their elevation to the throne to their influence. The direct line from Temmu had died with the Empress Kohen who ruled, or rather misruled, from 749 to 770. On her death, a civil war seemed to threaten; but three of the heads of the Fujiwara family threw themselves on the side of Shirakabe (afterwards known as Konin) grandson of Tenchi and one of the claimants, and thus saved the situation.

The Fujiwara also upheld the claims to the succession of Yamabe, eldest son of Konin, a learned man who had been president of the university and minister of the central department. The choice of these two men left no doubt of the wisdom of the Fujiwara, and enhanced the power and reputation which they already possessed. The reigns of Konin and Kwammu were disturbed by a revolt of the Yemishi or Ainu. In 774 they again broke out. In 780 they seized and burned Tajo castle. In 789 the Japanese army under Kosami was badly defeated; but in 794 the

JAPAN, 645-833

Japanese retrieved themselves under Tamuramaro, a gifted commander who also put down two smaller insurrections in 801 and 804. "A collateral result of these disturbances was to discredit the great Court nobles-the Otomo, the Tachibana, the Ki, and the Fujiwara-as leaders of armies, and to lay the foundation of the military houses (buke) which were destined to become feudal rulers of Japan in after ages. Ki no Hirozumi, Ki no Kosami, Otomo Yakamochi, Fujiwara Umakai, and Fujiwara Tsugunawa having all failed, the Court was compelled to have recourse to the representatives of a Chinese immigrant family, the Saka-no-ye. By those who trace the finger of fate in earthly happenings, it has been called a dispensation that, at this particular juncture, a descendant of Achi no Omi should have been a warrior with a height of six feet nine inches, eyes of a falcon, a beard sike plaited gold-wire, a frown that terrified wild animals, and a smile that attracted children. For such is the traditional description of Tamuramaro. Another incidental issue of the situation was that conspicuous credit for fighting qualities attached to the troops specially organized in the Bando (Kwanto) provinces with the sons and younger brothers of local officials. These became the nucleus of a military class which ultimately monopolized the profession of arms."— F. Brinkley, History of the Japanese people, p. 223-"The boundary of the province of Mutsu, the region facing the Pacific, was pushed northward into the middle of the present province of Rikuchu [by Tamuramaro]. Enterprising Japanese settled in those lands or travelled to and fro in quest of trade. The Ainu, however, was not completely subjugated, nor was he easily driven away out of the main island. Beyond Shirakawa, the place which had for a long time been considered the northernmost limit of civilised Japan, numerous hordes of half-domesticated Ainu continued to reside as before. As the result of the constant contact with the Japanese, they were slowly influenced by the civilisation which the latter had already acquired. They could consolidate their forces under the leadership of some valiant chiefs, and frequently dared to rise against oppressive governors sent from Kyoto. In short, they proved to be intractable as ever, so that more than three centuries were still necessary to put their land in the same status as the ordinary Japanese province. The interminable wars and skirmishes waged thenceforth between the two races were one of the principal causes of the financial embarrassment of the government at Kyoto, and finally undermined its power."-K. Hara, Introduction to the history of Japan, pp. 147-148.-During this period Chinese learning and literature had a strong influence upon Japan, which produced a lasting effect. "The fact that the metropolis at Changan was taken for model in building Kyoto prepares us to find that intercourse with the Middle Kingdom was frequent and intimate. But although China under the Tang dynasty in the ninth century presented many industrial, artistic, and social features of an inspiring and attractive nature, her administrative methods had begun to fall into disorder, which discredited them in Japanese eyes. We find, therefore, that although renowned religionists went from Japan during the reign of Kwammu and familiarized themselves thoroughly with the Tang civilization, they did not, on their return, attempt to popularize the political system of China, but praised only her art, her literature, and certain forms and conceptions of Buddhism which they found at Changan. The most celebrated of these religionists were Saicho and Kukai-immortalized