History - Kyoto - page 342

ESTABLISHMENT OF HEIAN-KY Ō
The Kyoto basin was first settled in the 7th century when the region was known as
Yamashiro-no-kuni. The original inhabitants were immigrants from Korea, the Hata clan,
who established Koryū-ji ( CLICK HERE ) in 603 as their family temple in what is today the
Uzumasa District. A major reason Emperor Kammu proclaimed Heian-kyō the new capital
of Japan was his realisation that the city lay within a strategic natural fortress created by the
rivers and mountains which surround it on three sides, fulfilling the geomantic require-
ments derived from proto-feng shui.
As with the previous capital in Nara, the city was laid out in accordance with Chinese
geomancy in a grid pattern adopted from the Tang dynasty capital, Chang'an (present-day
Xi'an). The rectangle-shaped precincts were established west of where the Kamo-gawa
flows. Originally measuring 4.5km east to west and 5.3km north to south, the city was
about one-third the size of its Chinese prototype. Running through the centre was Suzaku-
ōji, an 85m-wide, willow-lined thoroughfare dividing the eastern (Sakyō-ku) part of the
city from the west (Ukyō-ku). The northern tip of the promenade was the site of the ornate
Imperial Palace and to the far south stood the 23m-high, two-storey Rajō Gate, over 35m
wide and 10m deep. However, to avoid a repeat of the power struggle between the imperial
court and Buddhist clergy, only two temples, the West Temple and the East Temple (Tō-ji;
CLICK HERE ), were built within the city limits.
Literally, capital of peace (hei) and tranquillity (an), the ensuing Heian period
(794-1185) effectively lived up to its name. Over four centuries the city went beyond its
post as a political hub to become the country's commercial and cultural centre. Towards the
end of the 9th century, contact with China became increasingly sporadic, providing an op-
portunity for Japan to cultivate an independent heritage. This produced a great flowering in
literature, the arts and religious thinking, as the Japanese adapted ideas and institutions im-
ported from China.
The development of hiragana (Japanese characters), whose invention is attributed to the
Buddhist priest Kūkai in the 9th century, led to a popular literary trend best recalled by
Murasaki Shikibu's legendary saga Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji). This period in
Kyoto's history conjures up romantic visions of riverside moon-gazing parties where liter-
ati drew calligraphy and composed poetry while the aristocracy frolicked in their self-im-
posed seclusion.
The Tale of Genji , written by the court-lady Murasaki Shikibu around 1004, is widely believed
to be the world's first novel.