Asuka period (538–710)
The Asuka period began as early as 538 AD with the introduction of the Buddhist religion from the Korean kingdom of Baekje.[33] Since then, Buddhism has coexisted with Japan’s native Shinto religion, in what is today known as Shinbutsu-shūgō.[34] The period draws its name from the de facto imperial capital, Asuka, in the Kinai region.[35]
The Buddhist Soga clan took over the government in the 580s and controlled Japan from behind the scenes for nearly sixty years.[36] Prince Shōtoku, an advocate of Buddhism and of the Soga cause, who was of partial Soga descent, served as regent and de facto leader of Japan from 594 to 622. Shōtoku authored the Seventeen-article constitution, a Confucian-inspired code of conduct for officials and citizens, and attempted to introduce a merit-based civil service called the Cap and Rank System.[37] In 607, Shōtoku offered a subtle insult to China by opening his letter with the phrase, “The ruler of the land of the rising sun addresses the ruler of the land of the setting sun” as seen in the kanji characters for Japan (Nippon).[38] Through his influence, or very probably through the efforts of the Korean missionaries, the devastating war between the Japanese and Koreans was ended.[39] By 670, a variant of this expression, Nihon, established itself as the official name of the nation, which has persisted to this day.[40]
In 645, the Soga clan were overthrown in a coup launched by Prince Naka no Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari, the founder of the Fujiwara clan.[41] Their government devised and implemented the far-reaching Taika Reforms. The Reform began with land reform, based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from China. It nationalized all land in Japan, to be distributed equally among cultivators, and ordered the compilation of a household registry as the basis for a new system of taxation.[42] The true aim of the reforms was to bring about greater centralization and to enhance the power of the imperial court, which was also based on the governmental structure of China. Envoys and students were dispatched to China to learn about Chinese writing, politics, art, and religion. After the reforms, the Jinshin War of 672, a bloody conflict between Prince Ōama and his nephew Prince Ōtomo, two rivals to the throne, became a major catalyst for further administrative reforms.[41] These reforms culminated with the promulgation of the Taihō Code, which consolidated existing statutes and established the structure of the central government and its subordinate local governments.[43] These legal reforms created the ritsuryō state, a system of Chinese-style centralized government that remained in place for half a millennium.[41]
The Taika Reform in the mid-7th century marked an important step in Japan’s process of political centralization and achieved some progress. However, the greatest catalyst for accelerating centralization was the devastating defeat by the Chinese Tang dynasty in the Battle of Baekgang in the latter half of the 7th century. In response, domestic powers reached a consensus to advance the construction of a national system, leading to a rapid consolidation of centralized power.[44]
The art of the Asuka period embodies the themes of Buddhist art.[45] One of the most famous works is the Buddhist temple of Hōryū-ji, commissioned by Prince Shōtoku and completed in 607 AD. It is now the oldest wooden structure in the world.[46]
