Tag: taika reforms

Problems under Taika reforms

to know what are Taika reforms read my last post.

Taika Reforms

In Taika reforms the official posts were given only to men but they were not completely based on just their abilities and education but also on their social standing. High level positions were still reserved for the men belonging to the esteemed families. There were government colleges but they were only meant for the kids with a good family lineage and were not open to all. But then also even if a person had got the necessary education they were only entitled to high government positions by their family background. Higher the background, higher the position. The positions of the people at the higher ranks were inherited by their children. Thus these families never lost their status even after the implementation of the Taika reforms.

The main objective of bringing the Taika reforms was to restate the imperial authority by reorganizing the government and abolishing the title system called Kabane, which was being followed. The capital was set in Nara and land tax, military service and labor compulsions were introduced on the subjects, and also all the private weaponry was taken in the imperial armory. Even an exam system was established but unlike in China, the exam system was only meant for the noble families in Japan.

These reforms did mean the non- existence of women in the government offices. Before these reforms were implemented women used to work in the imperial courts, basically, as managers. Now the women were more restricted and much more in official platforms in japan just like in China.

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In the Taika reforms only men were allowed to serve in the government as women were considered to be very emotional and not able to be practical when need be. The women could still very well inherit the property but they could not anymore increase their estate by the way of political authority as they were completely removed from possessing any political position.

Many social practices were ended to bring the Japanese society more closely to the Chinese practices. But still the powerful clans enjoyed their authority in the imperial court as well as the regional governments.

In the start of the 8th century, the officials that were seated at the higher ranks of bureaucracy were no more than 125 men. These were the men that had the highest offices as were positioned as the governors of the major provinces. At the top most level there were at least ten court aristocrats who were the key decision makers. They were considered to be politically, socially, and culturally the most elite of all. This led to the widening of gap between the common people and the aristocrats and it was further increased as the aristocrats were not willing to leave the capital and serve in the countryside.

The Taika reforms shortened the independence of the local officials and placed the power in the hands of the imperial court which ultimately became the place for the place of appeal or complaint for the people.

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Why were they rejected

The Taika reforms were introduced in Japan because the Han and the T’ang dynasties in China both used these reforms and were extremely successful, but unfortunately these reforms were rejected by the Buddhist monks and even the aristocrats because they wanted to brace Japan’s own culture and not become like the Chinese and follow their ideologies and cultural tradition. The Taika reforms were meant to be better adjusted to the Japanese political system but it did not please the aristocrats that were already inside the system. There was confrontation from the Japanese aristocrats as well as the Buddhist monks, they were against the Taika reforms. Rather than the imperial court the regional lords had more power. The aristocrats and the Buddhist monks slowly started to gain a lot of support from the Japanese people and were then able to prohibit the Taika reforms that were implemented. Hence the Taika reforms failed to influence the people of japan and Japanese society. Japan shifted from the imperial system to a regionalized government.

Source: Mikiso Hane

Taika Reforms

The introduction of Taika reforms in japan

The Taika reforms were brought by emperor Kotoku in 645. They were a set of doctrines written after death of Prince Shotoku, and they united Japan.

Emperor Kotoku was the 36th emperor of japan and his ruled from 645 to 654, until his death in 654. He enacted the Taika reforms and the Hasshou kyakkan during his reign as an emperor.

Before the Taika era began, japan was under the Soga clan which united the nation and they also dominated to court for 50 years.

The characteristic features of taika reforms

The T’ang dynasty’s political model and practices were implemented but not in their complete entirety, but with changes to suit the Japanese society. The first step taken towards the implementations of the reforms was to establish the ultimate supremacy of the imperial court. Then the reorganization of the central government took place along with the abolishment of the offices of Omi and Muraji and in their place the minister of right, left and center took charge. The minister of the center was the most important and the personal advisor of the emperor.

Taika reforms were a set of political and social innovations that were implemented after the defeat of the Soga clan. They were an imitation of the Chinese system of a centralized government. The Chinese tradition of naming the eras of an emperor’s reign was being followed by emperor Kotoku and so he, for his reign took the name “Taika” meaning “Great Reform” as the name of the era in which he reigned. More specifically, his rule is identified into more than one era, namely, ‘Taika’ from 645 to 650 and ‘Hakuchi’ from 650 to 655.

Japan imitated the centralized government system of political development from the Chinese T’ang Dynasty, and these reforms were a bit more practical in Japan than in China because Japan was a small island country but China was very big in size and different tribal and ethenic groups also posed as serious problem for the Chinese government to implement them. Plus quarrelsome neighbors also made it difficult for the Chinese government to retain proper and strict order in the country.

The Taika reforms were based on the ideas of Confucianism and on the political philosophies that came from China.

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According to the Taika reforms the ruler was now the emperor and not just a clan leader, who exercised absolute authority.

The Taika reforms firstly abolished any private ownership of land and established a feudal system. That is all of the land belonged to the emperor ultimately although the lords could exercise some power in their respective land, but still all the land was under the emperor who enjoyed absolute authority.

Secondly, the freedom of the regional officials was reduced and a centralized administration was established which was run by educated bureaucrats. The new military organizations and administrations that were answerable to the emperor were established in capital as well as all the provinces.

Thirdly, the construction of a road network began, even a survey was conducted regarding the population density and about the use of land and productivity of the land for fair distribution of the land. The main idea about the redistribution of land was to cut short the land holdings of the clan leaders, to shrink the number of people under them so as to reduce their power and authority. Because of this the land and the clan heads were now under the direct control of the imperial government.

But this idea of fully nationalizing the land was not completely implemented as some important clansmen were given some freedom to hold certain amount of land as per their ranks. And as a special advantage to the aristocrats some estates were made tax- free.

The land that was nationalized was redistributed among the people. Everyone was given smaller allotments of the land except the salves that were given nothing. But the imperial family and the nobles were given huge land holdings; from 16 to 160 acres depending upon the rank and the positions held by them. Every 6 years the redistribution of land took place.

Lastly, the fair redistribution of land lead to a new and equitable system of taxation according to the reform. A tax of 2- 3 percent on the harvest was levied. The burden of the land tax was fairly lesser but the burden of other forms of taxation was nearly exhausting for the people. Each person had to perform unpaid labor as a form of tax for the use of land. The labor performed by the people was to be minimum for 10 days but it could be extended to forty more days. But if the person was not able to perform labor he had to pay the taxes in the form of produce. All the male had to provide gods such as silk and hemp fabrics as a part of taxation. The estates under the monasteries and shrines were however exempted from paying any taxes. The authority to levy taxes lied in the hands of the provincial governors. But the term of the provincial governors on the office was only up to 6 years unlike that of the county heads who had lifetime tenures and after then their sons used to inherit the authority.

Finally, students were also sent to china to learn everything about their culture. From their reading and writing system to the eating habits of the people. The students learned about the Chinese literature, the religion followed, as well as the architecture. The impact of these Chinese social practices can still be seen in Japanese culture till date.

There was also a military code as well. About one- third of all the males, ranging from 20 years old to 60 years old were required to serve in the army, and the person who will be enlisted in the army was selected by the respective families for a period of one to three years.

The nation was again organized into 66 imperial provinces and 592 counties and these counties were further broken down into townships having 50 households in each township. Governors were appointed to and they were given the task of enquiring and preparing the data about all the land holdings and which clan was the land under, who held the ownership of the land.

But this did not mean the end of authority of the clan heads in any way. The clan heads were appointed as the governors of the provinces.

Source: Mikiso Hane