Taihō Code

[2] The work was begun at the request of Emperor Monmu and, like many other developments in the country at the time, it was largely an adaptation of the governmental system of China's Tang dynasty.

The Code was revised during the Nara period to accommodate certain Japanese traditions and practical necessities of administration.

Second, the Japanese rejected the Chinese concept of the "Mandate of Heaven," asserting that the Emperor's power comes from his imperial descent, not from his righteousness or fairness as a ruler.

The Jingi-kan was the higher branch, taking precedence over the Daijō-kan and handled all spiritual, religious, or ritualistic matters.

Within the districts' further subdivisions, local organization varied greatly, but often resembled the arrangement of a township of fifty or so homes led by a headman.

[5] Current understanding of the conditions which preceded the Taihō reforms remains replete with unanswerable questions, but there is much which can be inferred—for example: Any examinations of the earliest known texts become exercises in historiography—for example: Although essential as a starting point, any list of serial events will reveal only part of the unfolding story - for example: