Heian Period of Japan

         After the Nara period had ended in Japan there was a lot of changes. The first change was that there was a new capital in Japan. This capital would be located in Heian-kyo, known as Kyoto today. Another change that would take place would be Japan ending relations with China. There was a long period of peace and strength in politics that would last from 794 until 1185. There were a few influential groups in Japan, one of the most influential being the Fujiwara Clan. The Fujiwaras were successful in prevailing the royal family by having the females of their clan to emperors and ruling on the behalf of the offspring of the unions when the offspring assumed the throne. The Fujiwaras also prevailed in culture. The members of the Fujiwara Clan encouraged sophistication, as well as sensitivity, in all activities performed, including both visual and literary arts, as well as religion. One of the Fujiwaras, Murasaki Shikibu, wrote The Tale of Genji, which is a very important book to the Japanese culture.

            The Nara period lasted 84 years and was right before the Heian period. During the Nara period, Japan had an obsession with China and held strong relations with China. In 756, Emperor Shōmu died leaving his unmarried daughter Empress Kōken in control of the state he ruled. Four years later, the Manyōshȗ (a compilation of 4000 poems) was published. During 764, Empress Kōken had Emperor Junnin disposed and exiled. Later on, Empress Kōken would have Emporer Junnin strangled. After disposing and exiling Emperor Junnin, Empress Kōken would resume her role as Empress Shōtoku, while maintaining her status as a nun. Twenty-nine years later, during 793, there was a decision to move the capital again to Heian-kyo (10 miles away from Nagaoka). This was decided because of a death, several major calamities, superstitious beliefs about placing the capital in Nagaoka.

            During the Heian period, one of the most prominent clans was the Fujiwara clan. The Fujiwaras kept a close relationship with the royal family by having their daughters marry emperors so the grandsons and nephews could become emperors. The male adults of the Fujiwara clan would act as regents for the child emperors and later created the role of kampaku (chancellor) which is basically being regent for the adult emperor. During the 12^th century the family’s power waned and soon eliminated after Michinga (who married three daughters to emperors and a fourth daughter to an heir apparent.).

            There were a few reasons that Japan decided to terminate relations with China during the Heian period. One of the most important reasons Japan terminated relations was because of the Tang Dynasty declining. The reason for the decline was because during the mid-eighth century there were internal rebellions which caused a downward trend which the Tang Dynasty could never recover from. “In 894 the Japanese suspended official missions to the Tang. Although Buddhist scholars and merchants continued to move back and forth between China and Japan, no official government missions would occur for 500 years.” (colorado.edu, n.d.). Another reason for the termination of relations between Japan and China was because of Emperor Kammu  creating the Kurōdo-dokoro (Bureau of Archivists) and the Kebiishi-chō (Imperial Police). Other than Emperor Kammu creating the Kurōdo-dokoro and the Kebiishi-chō, he had government officials gradually stop conducting the census and redistributing land. The Emperor also changed the structure of his army. During the seventh century, leaders of Japan created a conscript army, made up of peasants designed to suppress rebellion, as well as defend against a possible invasion from the mainland, to strengthen central government. Within the next century, the army of peasant foot soldiers were proving to be impractical since the fear of invasion went away.

            With a lot of different countries in the past, religion made up a lot of the culture of a country. A lot of European countries believed in Christianity, the Middle East believed in Islam, and Asia believed in Buddhism (as well as Shintoism). During the Heian period of Japan, religion changed in important ways. Buddhism during the Nara period reflected a lot on Chinese traditions and would cater to the elites. During the early ninth century, two Japanese monks, Saichō and Kūkai, returned from studying in China. Saichō and Kūkai brought new texts and practices from their study in China. A short time later, Saichō and Kūkai formed two different Buddhist sects.

Sanzen-in Temple for the Tendai Sect of Buddhism. Built in 985 by Tendai Priest Genshin

These two sects would be known as Tendai (formed by Saichō) and Shingon (formed by Kūkai). When there was support from Emperor Kammu, each sect were given a major religious temple. The Tendai and Shingon temples allowed people to study for short periods of times and would offer services for a tithe. Saichō had an emphasis on the Lotus Sutra being the most important thing for a spiritual path and was rather opinionated. Saichō insisted that Buddhist traditions that didn’t recognize the predominance of the Lotus Sutra were mediocre. However, Kūkai had different opinions.

Toji Temple of Heian period Japan.

      Kūkai believed that any person could achieve wisdom if they studied with him. Kūkai accentuated the importance of arcane rituals and the direct conveyance of secret teachings from master to disciple rather than particular texts. “Those rituals included special meditative hand positions (mudras), paintings (mandalas), and mantras (chants).” (colorado.edu, n.d.). Another difference between Kūkai and Saichō, was that Kūkai enjoyed having positive relations with the Nara sects. The reason for having positive relations with the Nara sects of Buddhism was that Kūkai believed that all aspects of Buddhism traditions had something positive to offer for Japan. Something else that Kūkai believed in was helping others and was adept at various things, including engineering.

      Earlier in the essay, the Fujiwara Clan was discussed. Other than their interest in marrying their daughters to emperors, they had a major interest in the arts. Because of their major interest in the arts, art was a very important part of the Heian period culture. Some of the arts of the Heian period dealt with calligraphy, poetry, stories, and painting. These art styles would be known as kana script, waka poetry, monogatari, and yamato-e.

Other than Kūkai being a monk, he would do calligraphy. Kūkai would write with a few different styles of calligraphy. There’s a traditional style of calligraphy called fushinjou and then there’s a flying white style known as hihakutai. Hihakutai style calligraphy would use a technique of dry strokes with quick movements of fude. Kūkai would use fushinjou style to write letters to Saichō. Kūkai, Emperor Saga, and courtier Tachibana no Hayanari were known as the Three Great Fude (also known as the Sanpitsu). The Sanpitsu’s calligraphy styles would end up becoming a foundation for the Japanese culture in the next era.

Naishinnou Ganmon was written by Tachibana no Hayanari. This is an example of kana script.

     During the Heian period, kana scripts would emerge as a major calligraphy style. Female writers around the circle of the imperial court would become very successful with the kana script. There were essays, as well as literaries, written about the alluring lives of imperial lords. Those essays and literaries would become very popular among the imperial nobles. While the culture with the kana scripts developed, there was a need for a special kind of fude (a fude is the pen that was used to write calligraphy) needed.

During the early tenth century, waka began its rise to eminence with the royal command to compose the first waka compilation called Kokin Wakashû (Collection of Early and Modern Japanese Poetry) during 905. Within the Kokinshû there were a variety of rhetorical devices, themes, and imagery that was associated with the seasons that would become norm for conventional poetry. Another thing that the Kokinshû had was the balancing of concerns for the precepts of the kokoro (heart) and kotoba (mind). “In the kana preface for the Kokinshû, the chief compiler Ki no Tsurayuki set the standard of excellence upheld for centuries through twenty subsequent anthologies.” (simplyhaiku.com, 2006). While Chinese poetry (kanshi) received sponsorship from the royal court, waka survived the dark ages of native verse in the intimate mode of love poetry. The standard for waka poetry were the associations of love, spring, and autumn. Spring was associated with the early stages of love, since spring was known as the season of new beginnings. The last phase of love was affiliated with autumn because autumn was considered the season of trite and the onset of winter and blight in nature.

      During the years 794 through 1573, works of fiction were created by the women at court in Japan. These works of fiction were known as monogatari.  There were many subgenres of monogatari known as uta monogatari (poem tales), gunki monogatari (military tales), rekishi monogatari (historical tales), and setsuwa monogatari (didactic tales). The ise monogatari (composed during 980) embodied uta monogatari. The ise monogatari contained a total of 143 episodes, with each episode containing one or more poems as well as prose description of the matters of composition. Murasaki Shikibu’s masterpiece Genji Monogatari (composed during 1010) exemplified tsukuri monogatari (courtly romance). Gunki monogatari developed during the end of the 12th century when the militaristic samurai would come to power (meaning women would lose favor). One of the most famous gunki monogatari tales was called the Heike Monogatari, which described the warfare between two clans.

     A genre of painting that developed during the Heian period of Japan was called yamato-e. Yamato-e translates to “Japanese painting” in Japanese. It was meant to characterize paintings concerned with subject matter of Japan from those featuring themes sent from China, known as kara-e. The different subject of yamato-e could be tales from Japanese literature and Japanese history and motifs associated with the four seasons of Japan. You could tell a painting was yamato-e if the painting used bright, thick pigments, large clouds that abstruse and break down space, and if a technique called fukinuki yatai was used. Fukinuki yatai means “blown off roof” meaning that the roof of a building would be taken off to provide as a canvas for a yamato-e painting. There are only a few yamato-e paintings left over from the Heian period because a lot of the paintings were created on folding screens and folding panels, which got lost or destroyed over time. Yamato-e influenced different genres of Japanese painting during the Edo period (Rinpa style and ukiyo-e woodblock prints). Yamato-e has endured as an extraordinary style of art in Japan, because each generation is drawn in by the attraction of a golden age of the culture of Japan.

The Fujiwara Clan was one of the most influential clans of Japan. However, two other clans were also very important to the Heian period of Japan. These two clans were known as the Genji (Minamoto) Clan and the Heike (Taira) Clan. The Genjis and the Heikes were very important at the end of the Heian period because they played power games to establish political superiority. Because of the central government having a lack of potent military power, whoever wanted to keep their land would have to keep the land by their own responsibility. So it was natural that local leaders would have to arm by themselves. The Genjis and the Heikes were a couple of local leaders who were successful in establishing military power.

     The Genjis refined their military power in the eastern region and the frontier of the northeast. The central government ordered the clans in the east region to fight with the north, so the Genjis cooperated with a few other clans and won a few battles (including the final victory). In the end, the central government didn’t pay enough war rewards to those that fought in the east, so the Genjis ended up splitting their rewards with the clans that helped out, which made the Genjis famous.

     The Heike clan became famous by gaining political power from fighting in a few wars. During the first couple wars the Genji clan lost many members that were important to their clan, whereas the Heike clan lost a couple of their lesser members. Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the leader of the Genji clan, thought that it was a trap set by the Heikes. Minamoto no Yoshitomo collaborated with some of the Fujiwaras and had a war based on revenge, which resulted in a loss. In this war, Minamoto no Yoshitomo lost his life and Yoshimoto’s sons were sent away to different places in Japan. One of the sons (Minamoto no Yoritomo) was sent to Izu, where he would form the Kamakura Bakufu (Samuri government). The youngest son of Yoshimoto (Minamoto no Yoshitsune) was sent to the Kurama-dera temple where he would become a Buddhist priest. Eventually, Yoshitsune escaped to the northeast where he would grow up as a skilled military leader under the patronage of a local leader at Hiraizumi.

     During the early 11th century, The Tale of Genji was written by Murasaki Shikabu. Murasaki Shikabu was a Japanese Noblewoman. The novel deals with the son of an Emperor of Japan, his love life, and the imposts of elegant society at the time. The Tale of Genji was known as the world’s first novel to be considered a classic. The novel was meant to be read by the women of the yokiboto (aristocracy) in Japan, and possesses many traits you will find in novels today. There is debate going on about the novel, where some people believe that Murasaki Shikabu didn’t finish the novel and that her daughter Daini no Sanmi completed it for her mother. The people that believe the daughter finished it, have evidence of rare continuity errors and that The Tale of Genji ends abruptly in mid-sentence. The novel was written in Hiragana script, which was considered a feminine script at the time.

     After the Heian period was the Kamakura period. The transition of periods was caused by the Fujiwara girls being unable to produce sons during the mid-eleventh century. When a wife of an Emperor was unable to produce sons to carry on the family line, an emperor who wasn’t relatives with the Fujiwaras could come into power. The new emperor was able to weaken the Fujiwara’s hold on power. When the son of the newest emperor, became emperor, he was able to weaken the line even further by relinquishing his authoritative position to his own son, but was able to retain power by being a retired emperor and head of the imperial clan.

     Three retired emperors were able to keep the power out of the Fujiwara line from 1087 until the end of the Heian period. During 1156 there was a dispute between the emperor and the retired emperor over succession, which led to both parties calling upon warriors to settle the conflict. Three years later, Taira no Kiyomori was the pre-eminent warrior leader. Taira no Kiyomori won by defeating the adult leaders of the rival warrior clan (the Minamoto) and sending the young boys of the clan into exile. Amid the 1160s and 1170s Taira no Kiyomori gradually rose his status in the capital. In the year 1167, Taira no Kiyomori was appointed to grand minister and four years later, Taira no Kiyomori had one of his daughters marry the imperial prince. Taira no Kiyomori was able to someday get his grandson to become emperor, which seemed to secure his ability to stay in power

However, there was another imperial prince who was upset that he was being passed over. This imperial prince issued a call-to-arms, where all of his loyal warriors were to rise up and try to overthrow Taira no Kiyomori. One of the Minamoto boys joined forces with the Taira clan and fought a series of battles that lasted five years, which would be known as the Genpei War (1180-1185). Yoritomo would eventually become leader taking the title called Shogun in the year 1192. Kyoto’s imperial court maintained authority over the civilian affairs, but shared military power with a new government in the city of Kamakura, which would mean the end of the Heian period.

The Heian Period was a very elegent period, which remained peaceful for the majority of it’s era. There was a change in government, where there wasn’t ties with the Tang Dynasty of China. Adjustments in religion where two new Buddhist sects were created. Modifications in the line of power, which would be protected for the majority of 391 years. New art forms, as well as literary forms were created. The final important part of the Heian period was the creation of The Tale of Genji, which would become one of the most important literary works created today.

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