Episode 29: Japan – Japan: Nara and the Great Eastern Temple

Foundations of Eastern Civilization

Dr Craig Benjamin (2013)

Film Review

During the Nara Era, which began when the capitol moved to Heijo (currently Nara), Japanese rulers assumed the title emperor (Tenno) and the first unified Tang-style state appeared on the Japanese archipelago.

Laid out in a grid like pattern like Changa’an,* Nara had a population of roughly 100,000 (out of six million total population on the archipelago. The Nara Era was a 90-year period of extensive Japanese contact with the outside world, followed by 1,000 years of virtual isolation. It was also characterized by periodic famines, a smallpox epidemic between 735-37 AD and frequent battles over succession.

Constructed around 759 AD, the Shosoin (royal treasure house) was connected to the royal palace and still stands today. It housed Silk Road treasures from as far away as India, Persia and Greece.

Although Buddhism continued to be Japan’s official state religion, Shintoism (a blend of ancestor and nature spirit worship which emerged 400 years earlier) was still wildly practiced. The Todaiji or Great Eastern temple was also adjacent to the palace and housed the largest bronze statue in the world (to that date).* Although the temple’s wooden structure had to be rebuilt when destroyed by fire, the giant bronze Buddha remains undamaged. During the Nara period, candidates sought government permission to enter the priesthood, and new laws regulated the behaviors of priests, nuns and monks

Government sponsorship also supported beautiful Buddhist-themed art, much of it produced by resident Chinese and Korean artists. This includes 1000 ancient texts of Japanese history and Buddhist poetry.

In 794 the emperor Kanmu moved the capitol from Nara to Nagaoku (modern day Kyoto) to escape interference from powerful Buddhist priests and nobles. It would remain the seat of Japanese government until the 19th century.

*See Tang: Capitol of Two Million

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/5808608/5808667