Key Terms

• shōen 荘園
  • honke 本家
  • ryōke 領主
  • shōkan 荘官
  • myōshu 名主
  • genin 下人
• kokugaryō 国衙領
• matrilocal marraige
• sesshō 摂政 (first Fujiwara 858)
• kanpaku 関白 (est. 884)
• Fujiwara no Michinaga 藤原道長
• Taira no Masakado 平将門
• Taira/Heike/Heishi 平家・平氏 and Minamoto/Genji 源・源氏

The move to Heian

• Dōkyō 道鏡 incident of 770
• Cures Empress Kōken 孝謙天皇 in 761 (Kōken 718 –770, r. 749-758, 764-770)   
• She gives him titles normally reserved for emperors, e.g. hōō 法王　(767)
• 768 — oracle declares that Dōkyō should be made emperor, opponents are sent into internal exile
• 770 — after death of Kōken, Fujiwara reassert power and banish Dōkyō
• lingering death taboos
  • the captial is intially moved to Nagaoka, near Heian, but the architect of the new city dies during project
  • tradition of avoiding contamination asserts itself

The new capital city

• Heian, like Nara, Kyoto was built on Chinese models
• a careful symmetric grid with uniform city block
• it is large (about three miles on a side) -- 1200 city blocks -- population reached 100,000 in the 800s

Areas of decline/adaptation of the ritsurōyō

• Land redistribution
  • the kubunden system is expensive to administer and tax burden is heavy
    • solution is exemptions -- called shōen -- first offerred in 742
    • shōen are initially exempted only from the kubunden system, NOT from taxation or other government burdens
    • BUT these limited exemptions prove hard to control
    • by late 1100s shoen are 50% to 75% of land is shoen
  • HOW did shōen secure these immunities and what are implications?
  • Structure of shōen control
    • honke -- guarantor of shōen rights in the capital -- a family or patron powerful enough to guarantee the immunities of the shoen
    • ryōke -- holder of shōen rights
    • shōkan -- administrator, the local level is a manager who can guarantee tax returns or tribute from the land
    • myōshū -- peasant cultivators
    • genin -- low-status cultivators
• System of offices and the sesshō/kanpaku system
  • the ritsuryō system of ranks and offices becomes enmeshed with aristocratic familial ties
  • this is TO SOME DEGREE part of the ritsuryō system -- remember, the prime minister (or grand minister) initially had to be an imperial crown prince
  • BUT powerful families also map themselves onto new hierarchy -- try to monopolize key offices
  • weak emperors allow Fujiwara to assert control through marriage politics and regencies
    • sesshō -- regent to a child emperor
    • kanpaku -- regent to an adult emperor
  • Fujiwara control of this sesshō/kanpaku system begin in 858 when Fujiwara no Yoshifusa puts his nine year old grandson on the throne (Emp Seiwa) and became sesshō
  • YOSHIFUSA WAS THE FIRST REGENT NOT OF IMPERIAL LINEAGE
  • apex of system -- Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1028) -- said to be the model for Genji in the Tale of Genji
    • had massive private landholdings ( shōen)
    • powerful family network
      • uncle of two emperors
      • grandfather of three emperors
      • father of four empresses
    • regent for his child nephew, emperor Go-Ichijō
    • finally, Grand Minister of State 1017
    • set up his sons and relatives as ministers and regents
    • retired from public life in 1019 to established monastery, BUT effectively ruled Japan through his sons until his death in 1028
  • under this system the private, family organization of the great houses become extremely important
  • orders from the Fujiwara house office (mandokoro) have the force of law
  • NB — Perez and Hane textbook compares this to Hata and Yamato uji in the 4th and 5th C and Soga ("uterine politics") in 6th and 7th
• Military changes in Heian period
  • decreasing need for infantry
    • T'ang dynasty weakens in 700s, collapses in 901
    • fighting against Ainu is largely accomplished by mid-800s: see map
  • problems with maintaining infantry
    • cost
    • poor quality -- cannot use best weapons ōyumi
  • new problems -- banditry
  • solutions
    • the state abandons national army, turns to regionally conscripted infantry as early as 792
    • turns to "contract constabularies" to handle banditry -- these are hired and managed by provincial governors
  • problems suggested by solutions: PRIVATIZATION OF TAXES, POLITICAL OFFICE AND MILITARY POWER

Trouble in the countryside

• Taira no Masakado 平将門
  • in the 930s he fought a long struggle with in Shimōsa province, kills his relative (dept gov of Hitachi) in 935
  • in 939 he attacks provincial government headquarters in Hitachi (had been supposedly appealing)
  • rather than backdown, he declares himself emperor
  • he rapidly seizes control over eight provinces in Kantō area
  • government uses new to defeat him (prominent use of oryōshi/contract constables)
  • he is defeat within a year by his cousin, Taira Sadamori
• Fujiwara no Sumitomo 藤原純友
  • held post of provincial secretary, sent out to pacify pirates (based in Shikoku/Inland Sea)
  • but defected to organize pirates
  • he fleet reaches more than one thousand ships
  • he is defeated in 941

Struggles within the Court

• Sugawara no Michizane