Emperor Shômu (r. 724-749) ordered the construction of a great Buddhist statue in 735.
 Gold was discovered in 747.  The Buddhist statue, when completed in 749, was gilt with gold.
Wooden structure built to house the statue at Tôdaiji Temple.  This is the largest wooden building in the world.

Eye-Opening Ceremony for the Statue was held in 752.  An Indian cleric painted the eye in on this statue
that had been designed/cast by Korean artisans.  Among the 10,000 or so clerics who attended the ceremony were many Chinese, Indians, and Koreans.  Truly an International Event!
At the ceremony, Shômu, who had abdicated in 749, declared himself a subject of the Buddha.

Empress Shôtoku (r. 749-758) Shômu’s daughter.  Became involved with Priest Dôkyô and brought about
the end of the Nara era.  From this time forth, women were no longer allowed to take the throne.

Emperor Kammu (r. 781-806) responsible for moving capital from Nara.  A relatively “strong” emperor,
he moves the capital first to Nagaoka and later to present-day Kyoto.  At the time, the capital was
known as Heian-kyô. (See Morton, p. 33)

Tendai & Shingon—two esoteric Buddhist sects.

Saichô (767-822)  Founded Enrakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei.  Followed the teachings of Tendai.  Central to
these teachings was the Lotus Sutra.

Kûkai (774-835) Founded the monastery on Mt. Kôya which became the stronghold of the Shingon (True
Words) sect.  (See Morton, pp. 36-37)

Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) Prominent scholar of Chinese learning.  Slated to lead the next mission
to China in 894.  He declined the invitation due to fears that the Fujiwara family would destroy his own family in his absence.  Thus the missions to China, which had begun in 600 were discontinued and Japan entered into a period of relative isolation.  This period allowed for the development of the classical Japanese arts.
Michizane, unable to escape the machinations of the Fujiwara family, was exiled to Kyushu where he died a bitter death.  It was believed that his spirit remained behind in anger and wrought havoc in the capital.  In order to placate his spirit, he was enshrined as a deity—Kitano Tenjin.  He is known as the God of Learning and the God of Calligraphy.

Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027)  Regent.  The most powerful man in Heian Japan.  He consolidated
his power through “marriage politics.”  He married his daughters/aunts/nieces, etc. to sons of the
imperial family.  The offspring of these unions were easily manipulated by Michinaga.  It was
under his “reign” that the great works The Pillow Book and The Tale of Genji were written.

Kana—the Japanese syllabary.  Kûkai is credited with creating kana based on his studies of Sanskrit.  At
the time, Japanese language had 8 vowels and 13 consonants for a combined total of 88 sounds.
There are two syllabaries: hiragana (plain style) and katakana (box style).  With kana Japanese
were able to liberate themselves from Chinese and develop their own writing styles, poems, etc.

For more information on these historical eras, click here.

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