Nara period
Nippon Wakoku Nippon (日本) Wa-koku (和国) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 710–794 | |||||||||
Gokishichidō system showing ancient regions and provinces during the Nara period after the introduction of the Yōrō Code (720) | |||||||||
| Capital | Heijō-kyō (710–740; 745–784) Kuni-kyō (740–744) Naniwa-kyō (744–745) Shigarakinomiya (745) Nagaoka-kyō (784–794) | ||||||||
| Official languages | Japanese | ||||||||
| Common languages | Old Japanese | ||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism Shinto | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal monarchy | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 710–721 | Genmei | ||||||||
• 781–794 | Emperor Kanmu | ||||||||
| Daijō-daijin | |||||||||
• 760-764 | Fujiwara no Nakamaro | ||||||||
• 765-766 | Dōkyō | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established at Nara | 710 | ||||||||
• Japanese smallpox epidemic | 735–737 | ||||||||
• Fujiwara no Hirotsugu rebellion | 740 | ||||||||
• Kuni-kyō, Naniwa-kyō, and Shigarakinomiya as capital | 740–745 | ||||||||
• Yōrō Code promulgated | 757 | ||||||||
• Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion | 764 | ||||||||
• Capital moved to Nagaoka-kyō | 784 | ||||||||
• Capital moved to Heian-kyō | 794 | ||||||||
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| Part of a series on the |
| History of Japan |
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The Nara period (奈良時代, Nara jidai; Japanese pronunciation: [na.ɾa (d)ʑiꜜ.dai][1]) of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794.[2] Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kanmu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784, before moving to Heian-kyō, modern Kyoto, a decade later in 794.
Japanese society during this period was predominantly agricultural and centered on village life. Most of the villagers followed Shintō, a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits named kami.
The capital at Nara was modeled after Chang'an, the capital city of the Tang dynasty.[3] In many other ways, the Japanese upper classes patterned themselves after the Chinese, including adopting the Chinese writing system, Chinese fashion, and a Chinese version of Buddhism.
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, ed. (5 September 2019). 大辞林 (in Japanese) (4th ed.). Sanseidō.
- ^ Dolan, Ronald E. and Worden, Robert L., ed. (1994) "Nara and Heian Periods, A.D. 710–1185" Japan: A Country Study. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division.
- ^ Ellington, Lucien (2009). Japan. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-59884-162-6.