Tag: Yamato Period

Ritsuryo – Empire & Reform.

“The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” – Oscar Wilde

By the mid-6th century, the Yamato state had undergone a period of extensive centralisation, and although they didn’t rule the entirety of what we now call Japan, they came to control the largest state the land had yet seen.

The Yamato State at its greatest extent.
_{^{By Samhanin – Own work, source: Yamato ja.png, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121731575}}

We briefly discussed the emergence of monarchy last time, but to recap, during the early Yayoi Period, settlements became larger and more sophisticated, leading to the rise of formal power structures. Chinese sources from the time also make mention of specific Kings and Queens from the lands of “Wa” (their name for Japan).

Traditional Japanese historiography tells us that the first ‘Emperor’ of Japan was Jimmu, who is supposed to have ruled from 660-585 BC. Jimmu was the great-great-grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu and lived for about 126 years, which isn’t all that impressive if you consider his divine origins.

Most scholars agree that Jimmu and the following 28 Emperors were legendary figures. However, there is evidence to suggest that the 21st Yuryaku (r. 456-479) really existed, though it isn’t until Emperor Kinmei, who took the throne in 540, that we have a ruler who is considered genuinely historical.

The other issue is that we shouldn’t really call these early rulers ‘Emperor’ at all. The title Tenno (literally meaning Heavenly Sovereign) wasn’t used until the 7th century when it was also applied retroactively. Before that, the rulers of the Yamato state were referred to as Okimi (translated as Great King).

Heavenly Origins

So why the change? Well, like almost everything else at that time, it was because of China. Since around 1000 BC, the Chinese Emperor was referred to as the Son of Heaven, and each Dynasty drew legitimacy by having the Mandate of Heaven. Even though Chinese Dynasties rose and fell all the time, each new ruler would take the title of Son of Heaven and claim the mandate for himself.

The early Yamato rulers saw this and thought they’d get in on the act. After all, if claiming divine origins worked for China, why not for Japan? So, the Great King became the Heavenly Sovereign. The difference (which will become important later) was that the newly dubbed “Emperor” of Yamato didn’t rule by Divine Mandate; he was said to be a literal son of heaven, descended from Amaterasu, with his rule legitimised by his divine bloodline.

As settlements grew and powerful families emerged, they would join together with others (willingly or not), leading to proto-states that centred around one or a small number of powerful local families, which would, in turn, be absorbed or conquered by more powerful neighbours.

While the exact details of this process of conquest and consolidation aren’t entirely clear, later (often legendary) sources make reference to military campaigns uniting the lands around modern-day Nara, which would become the centre of the later Yamato state.

Emperor Jimmu casts down his enemies with his legendary bow, and bird companion (the three-legged Yatagarasu).

Although these sources (the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki) aren’t reliable histories in the academic sense, they do suggest a cultural memory of war and conquest, which means it isn’t too much of a stretch to imagine that the original rulers were highly successful militarily.

Game of Thrones

The rule of Emperor Kinmei (the first historical Emperor) coincided with the arrival and gradual spread of Buddhism in Japan. Now, we’ll discuss the ‘Buddhaisation’ of Japan at a later date, but the short version is that Buddhism is said to have officially arrived in Japan in 552 when the King of Baekje (a Korean kingdom) sent a statue of the Buddha to the Yamato Court.

Other sources say that Buddhism actually arrived in Japan in 538, but either way, this new religion caused a deep rift to form between the two most powerful families at court, the Soga and the Mononobe.

The Soga were supporters of Buddhism, and they had the advantage at court. The Emperor had two Soga wives, and his father-in-law, Soga no Iname, was the first Omi, a title which suggests power second only to the King (Okimi). However, when Emperor Kinmei died, his non-Soga son, Bidatsu, was selected to succeed him. Bidatsu’s rule would be marked by the ongoing conflict around Buddhism, as the Soga were violently opposed by the Mononobe, advocates of Japan’s traditional religion (Shinto).

Bidatsu died in 585 (maybe of Smallpox), and another power struggle broke out. The Soga, now led by Imane’s son, Umako, were victorious, and their candidate was enthroned as Emperor Yomei.

That might have been the end of it, but Yomei ruled for less than two years, and upon his death, both sides went at it again. The resulting conflict took place in early July 587, and the Mononobe were initially successful, driving the Soga back in a series of minor battles until they were caught in the area around Mt Shigi.

At this point, the leader of the Soga forces, Prince Shotoku, is supposed to have promised to build a temple on the site of the battle if they were victorious. This apparently did it, and the Soga turned things around, defeating the Mononobe. The resulting defeat led to the deaths of most of the Mononobe leadership, and their power at court was broken.

Prince Shotoku kills the leader of the Mononobe (Mononobe no Moriya) at the Battle of Mt Shigi.

The Soga spent the next 60 years effectively unchallenged as the power behind the throne. They controlled the court through political acumen and intimidation and secured their influence over the Throne by ensuring the reigning monarch was either a member of the Soga Clan or a descendant of one.

It’s tough at the top, though, and Soga dominance generated deep resentment amongst the other noble clans, and members of the Imperial Family itself. In July 645, a conspiracy, set into motion by Prince Naka no Oe (later Emperor Tenji) and Nakatomi no Kamatari (the founder of the Fujiwara Clan, who will become really important later), ended with the assassination of Soga no Iruka, and the suicide of his father, Soga no Emishi. The so-called Isshi Incident (named for the year it happened) broke the power of the Soga and led to the re-establishment of royal power.

The Isshi incident. Prince Naka no Oe lops off Soga no Iruka’s head. The Empress Kogyoku can be seen fleeing the scene on the top left. She would abdicate shortly afterwards, and can you blame her?

Imperial Reform

In the immediate aftermath of the Isshi Incident, Empress Kogyoku abdicated, and Emperor Kotoku (not her son) ascended the throne on the insistence of the conspirators. Kotoku and his supporters set about reforming the royal government with the intention of centralising and enhancing the power of the throne.

Given that China had been the source of culture and religion, it is perhaps no surprise to find out that reformers looked there for inspiration; in fact, most of the new systems put in place in Japan at that time were direct copies of those already in use in China.

Now, when we speak of ‘reform,’ we should remember that we’re not talking about a single reform but actually a series of laws, proclamations, and modifications over many years, leading to the system of administration known as Ritsuryo.

Ritsuryo as a term is made up of two words, Ritsu, meaning a criminal code, and Ryo, meaning an administrative one, and there was no single Ritsuryo ‘Code’. Rather, the system was defined by a series of law codes issued between 669 and 757, which followed on from and built on each other over time.

The actual law codes unfortunately no longer exist (and they’d likely make for fairly dull reading besides), so below is a broad summary of what the reforms actually were.

Land Reform

As we mentioned earlier, the power of the nobility came from their control of fortified settlements and the lands that surrounded them. So, how do you deal with that? Simple, take control of all the land. Some of the earliest reforms dealt with land reform, dividing Japan into provinces, and organising surveys (supposed to take place every six years) for the purposes of taxation and conscription.

Land was also nationalised, but before you get the idea that this was some egalitarian attempt at land redistribution, ‘nationalised’ in this context means ‘belongs to the King’. It was the Court that decided who got what land, and each province was ruled by a governor appointed by and answerable only to the King.

Taxation and Conscription (for both labour and military service) were formalised based on the Chinese model, with everyone expected to either pay their share or serve their time in the army or on royal construction projects.

The royal capital was established at Nara, and a new city, based on the Chinese capital at Xian, was built (previously, the capital had been wherever the King was.)

The provinces of Yamato Japan. The areas in northern Japan and Hokkaido remained outside their control for now.

New Government

As for the word ‘King’, from now on, the King would be an Emperor, and the previous system of government was now to be based on the Chinese model, too, with some notable exceptions.

Firstly, there was the division of government into different departments. The two major offices were the Jingi-kan, which was responsible for religious matters, and the Daijo-kan, which was further subdivided into eight departments that dealt with actually running the state.

There was also the establishment of a formal system of ranks for the nobility. Divided into nine ranks, which were then subdivided into four (with the exception of the top three, which only had two sub-divisions). Each rank carried an increased prestige and a larger salary, another novelty which was supposed to tie the nobility closer to the throne, as it was the monarch who now dispensed wealth and title.

Although practically a direct copy of Chinese law, there were exceptions or adaptations to Ritsuryo. There were two that would prove to be significant in the long term. First, as we mentioned earlier, the newly dubbed Emperor did not hold the Mandate of Heaven as his Chinese counterpart did. Instead, he was the literal son of heaven, a status that could not be transferred or lost. This had the convenient side effect of meaning that a Japanese Emperor could not be overthrown and replaced by a ‘new’ dynasty.

Secondly, the Imperial Rank system in China was (at least in theory) based on merit, with the famous Imperial Examinations ensuring that only the best and brightest could gain prestigious positions. The Japanese, however, limited access to formal rank to offspring of noble families, ensuring that the same clans would, over time, come to dominate certain departments of the government and eventually, the throne itself.

Law & Order

As the reforms sought to centralise control of land and title, so to did they seek to impose rigid control on wider Yamato society. The new provinces were now to be overseen by governors appointed by the court, taking the application of law out of the hands of powerful local families (at least in theory.) The new Imperial Court also reserved the right of appeal for itself; now (also in theory), anyone could petition the Emperor about injustice in their local area.

Along with the ‘nationalisation’ of land, the common people, too, became the direct subjects of the Emperor. Whilst technically removing them from the local dominance of the nobility, the system was no liberation of the people.

On the one hand, the land reform directly benefited common people, as every citizen was now entitled to a certain amount of land, which they could own for their lifetime, and would be taxed according to crop yield. However, upon their death, the land would return to the ownership of the state and couldn’t be passed on to children. Additionally, women were only entitled to 2/3 the land of men.

There was also the matter of the caste system. Everyone was divided into one of two castes, the Ryomin or the Senmin. Each caste was further divided (four for Ryomin, Five for Senmin), and there were clear distinctions. Ryomin were made up of the ruling class, the wealthy, and those involved in court functions. The Senmin, very broadly, were subservient to the Ryomin, with the bottom two levels, the Kunuhi and Shinuhi being slaves. It was perhaps slightly better to be a Kunuhi since they were slaves at court instead of out in the countryside, but I imagine the distinction was pretty meaningless to the slaves themselves.

There was some mobility within the caste system, with slaves being able to earn freedom and Ryomin being reduced to Senmin status for certain crimes, but overall, it was a fairly rigid system, at least at first.

On the subject of crime, the reforms established a five-tier system of punishment, with caning being the most minor, escalating to execution (either by hanging or beheading) for serious crimes, and speaking of really serious crimes, the reform took the Ten Abominations of the Chinese legal code and reduced them to eight.

So, while things like Rebellion, Murder, and a lack of filial piety (respect for your parents) could get you beheaded, the Japanese dropped the rules about familiar discord and, for some reason, incest.

Trouble ahead.

The reforms were intended to centralise and formalise Imperial rule in Japan on the same basis as the Chinese system, and in the short term, it was pretty successful. Land distribution meant a steady tax base, and conscription meant that military power was focused in the hands of the Emperor rather than regional strongmen.

But the reforms had unwittingly sowed the seeds of the eventual downfall of Imperial authority. By concentrating political power in the hands of the nobility rather than a merit-based bureaucracy, powerful families would come to dominate the levers of power and the Emperor himself.

Land reform, too, would backfire. Initially, citizens were forbidden from bringing new land into cultivation, but as the population expanded, the agricultural base failed to keep up. Changes were made, and the people were permitted to claim new land for themselves as long as they cultivated it themselves.

Although a well-meanimg attempt to grow the food supply, what actually happened was powerful local families, with resources and manpower, snapped up the good land, and when the law was changed to allow for land to be inherited by three generations (and eventually without limit) the seeds were literally sown for a powerful, land-based aristocracy, far from, and no longer under the control of the Imperial Court.

Ooooh, foreshadowing…

Sources

_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taika_Reform
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emperors_of_Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jimmu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yatagarasu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asuka_period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isshi_incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Kinmei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soga_no_Iname
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soga%E2%80%93Mononobe_conflict
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Bidatsu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Y%C5%8Dmei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taih%C5%8D_Code
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritsury%C5%8D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Divinities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daij%C5%8D-kan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Japan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_castes_under_the_Ritsury%C5%8D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritsury%C5%8D}}

June 13, 2025
Yamato – So it Begins.

The Wa dwell on mountainous islands southeast of Han [Korea] in the middle of the ocean, forming more than one hundred communities. From the time of the overthrow of Chaoxian [northern Korea] by Emperor Wu (BC 140–87), nearly thirty of these communities have held intercourse with the Han [dynasty] court by envoys or scribes. Each community has its king, whose office is hereditary. The King of Great Wa [Yamato] resides in the country of Yamadai.

_{^{Goodrich, Carrington C, ed. (1951). Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories: Later Han Through Ming Dynasties. Translated by Tsunoda, Ryusaku. South Pasadena: PD and Ione Perkins.}} _{^{Taken from Wikipedia.}}

At the back end of the Yayoi Period (c. 300 BC to 300 AD), the first petty kingdoms began to emerge. These communities initially started out based on agriculture and shared culture (cemeteries and other ritual sites, for example), but by the late Yayoi period, we begin to see evidence of defences being constructed.

The reconstructed defences at Yoshinogari. Evidence of the changing situation in the Late Yayoi Period.
_{^{By Flamebroil at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4443146}}

Now, it may seem obvious, but you don’t need defences unless you think someone is going to attack you, and you can’t typically organise coordinated attacks against defended places without someone calling the shots.

So now, the age-old question, which came first, the Kings or the Wars? Humans have never needed much of an excuse to start killing each other, and evidence for violent deaths reaches back to the Jomon period.

Violence, however, is not the same thing as war. The marshalling of resources, and the building of defences require organisation, and organisation in those days meant monarchy.

These days, we tend to associate Monarchs with pomp and ceremony but usually (at least in Europe) very little actual power. In the ancient world, however, you didn’t get to be King or Queen without power, and that power usually came from one of two places.

Either you were the biggest and the strongest, and you simply killed anyone who got in your way, or you relied on more spiritual power, either magic or religion.

Now, the late Yayoi people didn’t have writing, so we don’t know very much about how they saw themselves, but the Chinese sources suggest that monarchy and magic were tightly linked.

When speaking of Himiko, the legendary Queen of Yamatai, the sources speak of a Queen who:

occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the people. Though mature in age, she remained unmarried. She had a younger brother who assisted her in ruling the country. After she became the ruler, there were few who saw her. She had one thousand women as attendants, but only one man. He served her food and drink and acted as a medium of communication. She resided in a palace surrounded by towers and stockades, with armed guards in a state of constant vigilance.

_{^{Goodrich, Carrington C, ed. (1951). Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories: Later Han Through Ming Dynasties. Translated by Tsunoda, Ryusaku. South Pasadena: PD and Ione Perkins. Taken from Wikipedia.}}

If we ignore the trope of any woman in power obviously being a witch, this source tells us that Himiko was viewed as being a user of magic who remained aloof from her people, surrounded by towers, stockades, and armed guards. It is often difficult to separate fact from fiction when it comes to such ancient sources, but the mention of elaborate defences tallies with the archaeological evidence.

Even if Himiko herself is mythical, the fact that Late Yayoi settlements were being defended by armed guards seems to support the idea that Japan was becoming a more centralised but also more violent place.

Monumental Tombs

Another example of centralisation is the emergence of monumental tombs called Kofun. Like the Pyramids of Egypt, Kofun started out as burial chambers of important, presumably royal figures, and they represent significant investments of time and resources.

The Daisenryo Kofun in Sakai. The largest kofun, it is believed to be the burial place of the semi-legendary Emperor Nintoku, who is said to have died in 399 AD. ^{_{By Copyright © National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=120737378}}

Kofun can be found across Japan (about 160,000 of them!) with the densest concentration being in modern day Hyogo Prefecture. While these tombs vary widely in their construction the basic idea remains the same, a tomb, grave goods (often looted, unfortunately) and a mound.

Burial mounds aren’t unique to Japan, but it is a general rule that the more elaborate the grave, the more resources the one who built it has. Now, this sounds obvious: rich people are rich, but being able to marshall sufficient manpower at a time when communication relied entirely on word of mouth demonstrates just how wealthy these kingdoms were becoming.

It is also important to note that they only started as tombs for important figures. By the later Yamato Period, there is evidence of (admittedly smaller) Kofun being built for relatively low status people, suggesting that wealth and resources had ceased to be the sole domain of monarchs.

It was modern-day Nara Prefecture, however, where the most powerful and longest-lasting Kingdom got its start.

Modern Nara Prefecture, centre of the Yamato Kingdom.

Difficult beginnings

The actual rise of the Yamato Kingdom is obscure (sorry, I know this keeps happening.) Since we rely almost entirely on Chinese sources to tell us what was going on in the earlier parts of this era, it is perhaps telling that they have relatively little to say about the origins of Yamato.

Although we don’t know for certain, it is suggested by some that this period was one of violence as rival kingdoms sought to assert dominance over their neighbours. Whilst we may never know for sure, by the early 5th Century, the Yamato Kingdom had risen to dominate most of central Japan.

Although the first power to dominate a significant part of Japan, the Yamato didn’t have it all their own way. On Kyushu, the Azumi and Hayato peoples were in control. The Azumi were apparently peerless seafarers and seem to have served as the first naval force of the Yamato. The Hayato, though also listed as loyal to the Yamato, were apparently a more tempestuous people, and there are records of several rebellions/wars between the Yamato and Hayato, with the Hayato eventually being subjugated and their population scattered throughout Japan.

These people may have been related to or be the basis for the mythical Kumaso. Also, natives of Kyushu, the Kumaso, are supposed to have been implacable and dangerous foes of the Yamato, described as ‘bear-like’ (the word ‘Kuma’ means bear in Japanese) and monstrous. The story goes that the Kumaso were eventually defeated by the legendary Yamato Takeru, who killed their last leader by disguising himself as a woman at a feast, which is quite a way to go about it.

Yamato Takeru ruins the last Kumaso leader’s dinner.

Chinese Influence

The Yamato State was heavily influenced by contemporary Chinese culture. This arrived in Japan through trade, cultural exchange, and waves of immigrants. For much of pre-modern history, China was viewed as the centre of the world, especially in Asia, and during these formative years, the Yamato people looked to China as the source of culture and learning.

Japan maintained direct maritime links with the Chinese Song Dynasty (possibly facilitated by the aforementioned Azumi), but also had close ties to the Kingdoms of Korea. Some sources even go so far as to suggest that hundreds of the noble families of this period actually originated in Korea. In fact, it is speculated (somewhat controversially) that, if the genealogy of the Imperial Family can be believed, they are of Korean origin as well.

How much we can believe ancient, often conflicting sources is a matter of debate, but we know for certain that Chinese and Korean culture was hugely influential in early Japan. Grave goods uncovered in Kofun show either direct Chinese and Korean origin or are heavily inspired by the same.

We also know that the early Yamato Kingdom based itself politically on China. It is known that early Yamato rulers petitioned the Chinese Emperors for royal titles, and the Chinese seem to have been happy to oblige.

In turn, the Yamato Kings bestowed titles of nobility on their subjects, including those in Kyushu, far from the centre of Yamato Power.

These clans varied in power, but drew legitimacy from the King. Each clan seems to have been ruled by a patriarch, who was responsible for keeping the Clan in line, but also took on a religious role, making sure the Gods (or Kami) of their Clan were kept happy. This is the role of the King in miniature and shows how formalised Yamato society had become. The King was at the top, responsible for the well being of the nation, and he would intercede with the Gods on the Kingdoms behalf.

Other Chinese innovations taken to by the Japanese were Buddhism (which I know is actually from India, but it arrived in Japan in its Chinese form) and, much to the lamentation of anyone who has ever tried to study Japanese, a written language, the origins of Kanji, Chinese written characters adapted to Japanese speech.

We’re actually going to continue this look at the deeper impact of Chinese culture next time, as the introduction of new religious and political ideas led to the Taika Reforms, which really deserves its own post.

Sources
_{^{https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0028}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himiko}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_period}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azumi_people}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_Kingship}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayato_people}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumaso}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_kings_of_Wa}}
_{^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asuka_period}}

June 11, 2025