14. Emperor Chūai, 192-270 A. D. (including the 69 years of the
regency of Empress Jingō-kōgō).
|
15. Emperor Ojin, 270-313.
|
16. Emperor Nintoku, 313-400.
|
17. Emperor Richû,--18. Emperor Hanshō,--19. Emperor Inkyō,
400-405. 405-411. 411-453.
| |
| +----------------+
| |
Prince Ichinobe Oshiiwa. 20. Emperor Ankō,--21. Emperor Yūryaku,
| 453-456. 456-480.
| |
| 22. Emperor Seinei.
23. Emperor Kensō,--24. Emperor Ninken, 488-499. 480-485.
485-488. |
25. Emperor Buretsu, 499-507.
(Emperor Ojin.)
|
(Emperor Nintoku.)--Prince Wakamikenofutamata.
|
Prince Ōhito.
|
Prince Hikouishi.
|
26. Emperor Keitai, 507-534.
|
+---------------+
|
27. Emperor Ankan,--28. Emperor Senkwa,--29. Emperor Kimmei, 540-572.
534-536. 536-540. |
+----------------------------------------+
|
30. Emperor Bidatsu,--31. Emperor Yōmei,--32. Emperor Susun,--33. Empress
572-586. 586-588. 588-591. Suiko,
| 591-629.
|
Prince Oshisakahiko-nushibito.
|
+----------+
|
34. Emperor Shōmei, 629-642.--Prince Chinu.
|
35. Empress Kōkyoku, 642-645.
Chapter IV
THE TAIKWA REFORM. 645-708 A. D.
It was in the year 645 A. D. that a small league of supporters of the imperial institutions, under the leadership of two true statesmen, Prince Naka-no-ōye and Nakatomi-no-Kamatari, overthrew the disloyal family of Soga. For the first time in Japanese history, the Chinese system of year-periods was adopted, and the name Taikwa ("Great Change") was applied to the period which began with this year. No more appropriate name could be invented, for the reforms henceforth introduced, known in history as the Taikwa reformation, were of such a sweeping character as to transform within a few years all the fundamental institutions of the central and local administration. The model of the changes was found in the system of politics and society of China, which had lately come under the sway of the dynasty of T'ang, the centralized government and refined civilization of which had excited emulation in the minds of the Japanese reformers. The memorable year 645 A. D. thus marks the beginning of the exhaustive reformation which was completed only after fifty-six years, extending over the reigns of six sovereigns, for it was not till 701 that the celebrated Taihō code of laws brought the work of state reorganization to a close.
It would hardly be necessary for us to study the reforms in detail, which brought profound changes upon nearly all the features of national life. The central institution of the new state may be said to be the land system. Formerly, noble families abused the influence of their position and extended their territorial estates so greatly that the commoner was in a state of perpetual eviction. Between the rich and the poor had grown a widening gap. Now the reformers, after their Chinese model, boldly confiscated to the state all the landed estates of private individuals, which they then allotted equally among all the people above the age of six at the rate of two tan for a male and one and one-third tan for a female (a chō, or 10 tan, at the time being approximately equal to two acres), subject to a redistribution at every sixth year. Naturally neither the periodical redistribution nor the system of equal allotment itself could be long maintained, but the notion that the ownership of land was ultimately vested in the state was not abandoned until the present reign, when the people of all classes were at last allowed to own land.
The economic and financial unit of the nation being thus defined, it was also provided that a national census should be returned at a fixed period. New taxes were of three kinds, the principal one, called so, being levied upon land. The method of its assessment was to fix the annual produce of two tan of rice land at 100 sheaves, 8 of which—4 large and 4 small—were taken as tax, or, roughly, five per cent. of the gross produce. Of the other two kinds of taxes one was called yō and the other chō. The former may be regarded as a species of corvée. After a man attained the age of twenty-one he was required to perform ten days' public work annually, which service, however, he was at liberty to commute for one piece of cloth (nuno). The chō was levied on silk, fish, cloth, and generally speaking on objects produced or obtained in considerable quantities. The proceeds of the rice-tax were applied to defray the expenses of local administration, while the outlay of the central government was met by the proceeds of the two other taxes, yō and chō.
As regards local administration, the old names of local divisions, kuni (provinces) and kōri (districts), were retained, while towns, sato, were organized generally by grouping together fifty houses under a town-head. Along the principal roads relays of post horses were maintained for public service, and every person traveling in the interior was required by law to carry a hand-bell and a document similar to a passport. At important places guard-houses were established, with duly appointed lookouts and garrisons for preserving order. Government business was transacted in the provinces under the control of officials collectively called kokushi, and in the districts under that of gunshi. The former set of officers were appointed by the central government from among the nobler families, while the latter seem to have been largely supplied by the descendants of old local magnates. In those days the empire comprised 58 kuni, over 500 kōri, and about 13,000 sato, but subsequent changes resulted in 66 kuni and more than 700 kōri, which numbers continued till the beginning of the present reign.
Finally, as to the central government, its ultimate control was vested in the hands of three principal officials, namely, the ministers of the left, of the right, and of the interior; but this organization subsequently underwent considerable modification. The eight departments of administration were Department of Records (Nakatsukasa), Department of Ceremonies (Shikibu), Department of Administration (Jibu), Department of Home Affairs (Mimbu), Department of Military Affairs (Hyōbu), Department of Justice (Kyōbu), Department of Finance (Ōkura), and Department of the Imperial Household (Kunai). Each was comprised of three bureaus, between which the functions of the department were distributed. Over and above the eight departments stood the two highest offices, grand council (Daijō-kwan) and religious rites (Jingi-kwan).