mated, the ashes being buried by the wayside and a mark set
up. Precise rules as to inheritance were laid down. A mother and a
step-mother ranked equally with the eldest son for that purpose, each
receiving two parts; younger sons received one part, and concubines
and female children received one-half of a part. There were also
strict rules as to the measure of relief from taxation granted in the
event of crop-failure.

IMPORTANCE OF DAIHO LAWS

What has been set down above constitutes only a petty fraction of the
Daiho legislation, but it will suffice to furnish an idea of Japanese
civilization in the eighth century of the Christian era a
civilization which shared with that of China the credit of being the
most advanced in the world at that time.

ENGRAVING: HATSUNE-NO-TANA (A Gold-lacquered Stand or Cabinet)

ENGRAVING: STATUES OF SHAKA AND TWO BOSATSUS IN THE KONDO OF THE
HORYU-JI

CHAPTER XVII

THE NARA EPOCH

THE FORTY-THIRD SOVEREIGN, THE EMPRESS GEMMYO (A.D. 708-715)

THE Empress Gemmyo, fourth daughter of the Emperor Tenchi and consort
of Prince Kusakabe, was the mother of the Emperor Mommu, whose
accession had been the occasion of the first formal declaration of
the right of primogeniture (vide Chapter XV). Mommu, dying, willed
that the throne should be occupied by his mother in trust for his
infant son--afterwards Emperor Shomu.

REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL TO NARA

In ancient times it was customary to change the locality of the
Imperial capital with each change of sovereign. This custom, dictated
by the Shinto conception of impurity attaching to sickness and death,
exercised a baleful influence on architectural development, and
constituted a heavy burden upon the people, whose forced labour was
largely requisitioned for the building of the new palace. Kotoku,
when he promulgated his system of centralized administration,
conceived the idea of a fixed capital and selected Naniwa. But the
Emperor Tenchi moved to Omi, Temmu to Asuka (in Yamato) and the
Empress Jito to Fujiwara (in Yamato). Mommu remained at the latter
place until the closing year (707) of his reign, when, finding the
site inconvenient, he gave orders for the selection of another. But
his death interrupted the project, and it was not until the second
year of the Empress Gemmyo's reign that the Court finally removed to
Nara, where it remained for seventy-five years, throughout the reigns
of seven sovereigns. Nara, in the province of Ya