Buddhism Enters Japan
Buddhism is said to have been introduced to Japan from Korea in 552 AD. At first it was probably regarded as a form of magic. It likely deeply impressed the Japanese because of the sophisticated art, philosophy and writings associated with it.
Despite this recognition that China was culturally advanced over Japan, it is around this time that Japan began to express some independence.
Buddhism’s appearance led to disputes among the people around the court. The group in charge of Shinto ceremony felt threatened with displacement.
Another group saw affiliation with Buddhism as a means to promoting their power. After a couple of failures, Buddhism was accepted in the court.
In the mid-sixth century Japan was divided into territories ruled by aristocratic clans called uji. One of these uji was the ruling clan. Others vied for influence and control.
The major figure of this time was Prince Shotoku who became crown prince and regent for the empress. He supported the Buddhist faction and also studied Confucianism.
In 604 Shotoku produced the 17 Article Constitution. It is a collection of maxims based in Confucian ideals of human relations and social organization. The emphasis is on obeying one’s superior (the Emperor), decorous behavior by everybody, moral behavior, dedication to duty etc.; however, it also advocates public control as opposed to private, central opposed to local control, and forced labor for the state.
At this time there many factions competing for influence. As the powerful uji resisted central control, the constitution did not have much real effect, but did serve as a kind of model.
A new group came to power in court and introduced the Taira Reform in 645. This was a system of land distribution that was modeled on T’ang China under which all land was to belong to the emperor. Land would be distributed to the farmers to work until they died when it would revert to the emperor. Put simply, it didn’t work. Aristocratic families, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines accumulated private estates.
The introduction of Buddhism proceeded with temples being built and a priesthood forming. The first temples were built in the late 6th century. The oldest surviving temple is Horyuji Temple near Nara built in 607.
The first permanent capital was built at Nara in 710.
Buddhism was viewed as the religion protecting the state and major temples were built there. A national religious center was established at the Todaiji Temple. The size of the main image (53 ft. high, completed 749) and the main building reflect the grandeur of this project. The image required about one million pounds of metal and is the largest bronze image in Japan. The temple built to hold it is 284 feet long, 166 feet wide and 152 feet high and is the largest wooden building in the world.
The copying of holy texts (sutra) was an important part of religious observance. This made the mastery of reading and writing essential. The Japanese had no written language. The sutras they received were brought to Japan mostly by Korean and Chinese monks and scholars and were in Chinese. The sutras were not translated into the Japanese language. The Japanese studied Chinese and wrote and read the sutras in this language which also became the official language of the court.
The fine statues of Buddhist deities played an important part making clear the superiority of the culture associated with the religion and also in making an impression on the illiterate who were unable to read the holy tracts.
From the time of the introduction of Buddhism in 552 many important statues and works of art were made in Japan or imported. It is believed that most, if not all, of these works were either made in Japan or brought to Japan from Korea
In 794 the capital was moved to Heian-kyo (present-day Kyoto). The usual reason given is that Buddhism was exercising too much influence in the court. Other reasons are said to be that Nara had grown too small, and that Kyoto offered freer access to the rest of Japan and allowed the court to control areas to the east and west.
Although Chinese could be used for Buddhist sutras and official documents, there was a need to express Japanese in writing.
The Record of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) was written mainly in Chinese, but certain things such as names, words for customs or items not found in China, and the recording of poetry, required Japanese.
A system of using Chinese characters to spell out Japanese words phonetically was invented. This system was greatly elaborated and supplemented in the first collection of Japanese poetry, Collection for Ten Thousand Generations (Manyoshu), around 759.
1. Maintaining the character’s meaning but reading it with Japanese pronunciation.
2. As phonetic symbols to transcribe syllable by syllable without regard for meaning.
3. As rebus symbols.
The Manyoshu contains about 4,500 poems which cover 6th to early 8th century.
A variety of forms – it is particularly noted for its “long verse.” Subject matter is also much more varied and more direct in expression than later collections, perhaps because the writers seem to have come from various levels of society.
The Manyoshu is regarded by some scholars as the greatest collection of Japanese poetry. It is usually praised for its makoto or sincerity. The quality of makoto has remained a major Japanese value.
Later almost all major collections of poetry were compiled under imperial command. These collections became almost exclusively short poems and refined subject matter. The inability to read the Manyoshu’s difficult writing system and the fact that all artistic activity considered worthy now centered on the court led to loss of interest in the older work, its varied subject matter and different poetic forms.
The nature of the Japanese language seems to rule against long poetry. Limit of five vowels makes rhyming a drawback rather than an asset and limited stress patterns make for sameness of speech pattern in lengthy poems.