service invoking the wrath
of heaven on the State. In an age of profound superstition such
action threw the Court into consternation, and infinite pains were
taken to persuade Shinto officials of an independent shrine to carry
the divine car back to Hiei-zan.

Instances of such turbulence were not infrequent, and they account in
part for the reckless prodigality shown by Shirakawa in building and
furnishing temples. The cenobites did not confine themselves to
demonstrations at the palace; they had their own quarrels also.
Kofuku-ji's hand was against Kimbusen and Todai-ji, and not a few
priests doffed the stole and cassock to engage in temporary
brigandage. The great Taira leader, Tadamori, and his son,
Kiyomori--one of the most prominent figures on the stage of medieval
Japan--dealt strongly with the Shinto communities at Hiyoshi and
Gion, and drove the Kofuku-ji priests out of the streets of Kyoto,
the result being that this great military family became an object of
execration at Kofuku-ji and Enryaku-ji alike. With difficulty the
Court kept peace between them. It is related of Shirakawa Ho-o that
the three things which he declared to defy his control were the
waters of the Kamo River, the fall of the dice, and the yama-hoshi.

ENGRAVING: PLAYING BATTLEDORE AND SHUTTLECOCK (From a painting)

CHAPTER XXIII

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE HEIAN EPOCH

GENERAL SUMMARY

THE period we are considering is a long one which owes its unity to
the sole fact that the capitol was at Kyoto. It is, therefore, unsafe
to generalize on its manners and customs. But we may say with a
degree of accuracy that the epoch was marked by an increasing luxury
and artificiality, due largely to the adoption of Chinese customs.
The capital city was built on a Chinese pattern and the salient
characteristics of the Court during the period named from the new
capital are on the Chinese pattern too. The Chinese idea of a civil
service in which worth was tested by examinations was carried to a
pedantic extreme both in administration and in society. In these
examinations the important paper was in Chinese prose composition,
which was much as if Latin prose were the main subject to prove the
fitness of a candidate for an English or American administrative
post! And the tests of social standing and the means of gaining fame
at Court were skill in verse-writing, in music and dancing, in
calligraphy and other forms of drawing, and in taste in landsca