Editing Heian period (section)

===Fujiwara regency===
[[File:Byodo-in Uji01pbs2640.jpg|thumb|[[Byōdō-in]] ("Phoenix Hall"), built in the 11th century ([[Uji]], [[Kyoto]])]]

When Emperor Kammu moved the capital to Heian-kyō ([[Kyoto]]), which remained the imperial capital for the next 1,000 years, he did so not only to strengthen imperial authority but also to improve his seat of government geopolitically. Nara was abandoned after only 70 years in part due to the ascendancy of [[Dōkyō]] and the encroaching secular power of the Buddhist institutions there.<ref>Hurst 2007 p. 32</ref> Kyoto had good river access to the sea and could be reached by land routes from the eastern provinces. The early Heian period (784–967) continued Nara culture; the Heian capital was patterned on the [[China|Chinese]] [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] capital at [[Chang'an]],<ref>Takei and Keane 2001 p. 10.</ref> as was Nara, but on a larger scale than Nara. Kammu endeavored to improve the Tang-style administrative system which was in use.<ref>Hurst 2007 p. 34.</ref> Known as the ''[[Ritsuryō]] Code'', this system attempted to recreate the Tang legal system in Japan, despite the "tremendous differences in the levels of development between the two countries".<ref>Hurst 2007 p. 35.</ref> Despite the decline of the [[Taika Reform|Taika]]–[[Taihō Code|Taihō]] reforms, the imperial government was vigorous during the early Heian period. Kammu's avoidance of drastic reform decreased the intensity of political struggles, and he became recognized as one of Japan's most forceful emperors.

Although Kammu had abandoned universal conscription in 792, he still waged major military offensives to subjugate the [[Emishi]], possible descendants of the displaced [[Jōmon]], living in northern and eastern Japan. After making temporary gains in 794, in 797, Kammu appointed a new commander, [[Sakanoue no Tamuramaro]], under the title ''Seii Taishōgun'' ("Barbarian-subduing generalissimo"). By 801, the ''[[shōgun]]'' had defeated the Emishi and had extended the imperial domains to the eastern end of [[Honshū]]. Imperial control over the provinces was tenuous at best, however. In the 9th and 10th centuries, much authority was lost to the great families, who disregarded the Chinese-style land and tax systems imposed by the government in Kyoto. Stability came to Japan, but, even though succession was ensured for the imperial family through heredity, power again concentrated in the hands of one noble family, the Fujiwara.

[[File:Genji emaki TAKEKAWA.jpg|thumb|Section of a handscroll depicting a scene from the "Bamboo River" chapter of the ''[[Tale of Genji]]'', {{Circa|1130}}]]
Following Kammu's death in 806 and a succession struggle among his sons, two new offices were established in an effort to adjust the [[Taika Reform|Taika]]–[[Taihō Code|Taihō]] administrative structure. Through the new Emperor's Private Office, the emperor could issue administrative edicts more directly and with more self-assurance than before. The new Metropolitan Police Board replaced the largely ceremonial imperial guard units. While these two offices strengthened the emperor's position temporarily, soon they and other Chinese-style structures were bypassed in the developing state. In 838 the end of the imperial-sanctioned missions to [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] China, which had begun in 630, marked the effective end of Chinese influence.<ref>Meyer p. 44.</ref> Tang China was in a state of decline, and Chinese Buddhists were severely persecuted, undermining Japanese respect for Chinese institutions. Japan began to turn inward.

As the [[Soga clan]] had taken control of the throne in the sixth century, the Fujiwara by the 9th century had intermarried with the [[Imperial Household of Japan|imperial family]], and one of their members was the first head of the Emperor's Private Office. Another Fujiwara became regent, [[Sesshō and Kampaku|Sesshō]] for his grandson, then a minor emperor and yet another was appointed [[Sesshō and Kampaku|Kampaku]]. Toward the end of the 9th century, several emperors tried but failed, to check the Fujiwara. For a time, however, during the reign of [[Emperor Daigo]] (897–930), the Fujiwara regency was suspended as he ruled directly.

Nevertheless, the Fujiwara were not demoted by Daigo but actually became stronger during his reign. Central control of Japan had continued to decline, and the Fujiwara, along with other great families and religious foundations, acquired ever larger ''[[shōen]]'' and greater wealth during the early 10th century. By the early Heian period, the ''shōen'' had obtained legal status, and the large religious establishments sought clear titles in perpetuity, waiver of taxes, and immunity from government inspection of the ''shōen'' they held. Those people who worked the land found it advantageous to transfer title to ''shōen'' holders in return for a share of the harvest. People and lands were increasingly beyond central control and taxation, a ''de facto'' return to conditions before the [[Taika Reform]].

[[File: Fujiwara Michinaga.jpg|thumb|Drawing of [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]], by [[Kikuchi Yōsai]]]]
[[File:HEIKE Lotus Sutra Prologue.JPG|thumb|Illustrated section of the [[Lotus Sutra]], from the ''Heike Nōkyō'' collection of texts, 1167]]
Within decades of Daigo's death, the Fujiwara had absolute control over the court. By the year 1000, [[Fujiwara no Michinaga]] was able to enthrone and dethrone emperors at will. Little authority was left for traditional institutions, and government affairs were handled through the Fujiwara clan's private administration. The Fujiwara had become what historian George B. Sansom has called "hereditary dictators".

Despite their usurpation of imperial authority, the Fujiwara presided over a period of cultural and artistic flowering at the imperial court and among the aristocracy. There was great interest in graceful poetry and [[vernacular literature]]. Two types of phonetic Japanese script: [[katakana]], a simplified script that was developed by using parts of Chinese characters, was abbreviated to [[hiragana]], a cursive syllabary with a distinct writing method that was uniquely Japanese. Hiragana gave written expression to the spoken word and, with it, to the rise in Japan's famous vernacular literature, much of it written by court women who had not been trained in Chinese as had their male counterparts. Three late-10th and early-11th century women presented their views of life and romance at the Heian court in ''[[Kagerō Nikki]]'' by "the mother of [[Michitsuna no Haha|Fujiwara Michitsuna]]", ''[[The Pillow Book]]'' by [[Sei Shōnagon]] and ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' by [[Murasaki Shikibu]]. Indigenous art also flourished under the Fujiwara after centuries of imitating Chinese forms. Vividly colored [[yamato-e]], Japanese style paintings of court life and stories about temples and shrines became common in the mid-to-late Heian period, setting patterns for Japanese art to this day.

As culture flourished, so did decentralization. Whereas the first phase of ''shōen'' development in the early Heian period had seen the opening of new lands and the granting of the use of lands to aristocrats and religious institutions, the second phase saw the growth of patrimonial "house governments", as in the old clan system. In fact, the form of the old clan system had remained largely intact within the great old centralized government. New institutions were now needed in the face of social, economic, and political changes. The [[Taihō Code]] lapsed, its institutions relegated to ceremonial functions. Family administrations now became public institutions. As the most powerful family, the Fujiwara governed Japan and determined the general affairs of state, such as succession to the throne. Family and state affairs were thoroughly intermixed, a pattern followed among other families, monasteries, and even the imperial family. Land management became the primary occupation of the aristocracy, not so much because direct control by the imperial family or central government had declined but more from strong family solidarity and a lack of a sense of Japan as a single nation.