D. Taranczewski
elites, especially the gunji class. Education was in the hands of “provincial teachers” (kuni- hakase)
sent down from the capital. Students with excellent performance had the chance of being sent to the
capital to continue their studies in the daigakuryō, with a chance for advancement in rank and office.
A medical officer (i- hakase) was responsible for the organization of medical care. The rest of the
buildings consisted of houses for service workers of various kinds, workshops, manufactories, and
shelters for statutory workers. A market was opened for exchanging goods of local and external
origin. The provincial administration played an important role in the transfer of technical know-
ledge from the center, especially on agriculture, water management, and hydraulic engineering.^14
The mediating tradition of Buddhism as a universal religious system had proved its capability
for spiritual and intellectual unification during the process of concentration of power within the
central elite since the early seventh century, as highlighted by Shōtoku Taishi’s “17 articles
constitution” of 604. With its rich intercultural philosophical and political experience, Buddhism
served well during the ritsuryō era to integrate local cults and strengthen ties between central and
regional elites, even on an intellectual and spiritual level.
Buddhist temples had already been built occasionally in remote regions, but in 749, Emperor
Shōmu (r. 724–749) ordered the implementation of a system of province temples (kokubunji), one
for monks and another for nuns (kokubunniji) in every province. Tōdaiji, in the capital, was turned
into the provincial temple for Yamato, and functioned as the spiritual center of the system.
Monks were sent in rotation from the center to the provinces, in order to teach nuns and monks
there and to initiate novices. The provincial temples and their staff were maintained and strictly
controlled by the central administration, especially as a career in a temple promised a decent
living without financial burdens.
Unlike the province temples central province shrines (known as sōja, ichinomiya, and other
designations) were not institutionalized until the late eleventh century, an era noteworthy for
increasing autonomy of the provinces and the emergence of the warrior class. Such shrines may
be seen in a tradition of local cults as the spiritual nuclei of local autonomy in contrary to central-
ized Buddhism.^15
Sites for provincial offices were selected on the basis of convenience for traffic. When rivers or
the sea were nearby, landing places were installed for ships transporting heavy goods. Like the
pearls of a necklace, all kokufu were connected to the capital by public highways called ekiro
(“horse- stable roads”), organizing the regular transport of taxes, the exchange of information,
and the travels of officers and statute workers. About every thirty ri (sixteen kilometers; a day’s
trip with heavy luggage) travel stations called “horse stables” (umaya or eki) were built with
hostels for traveling officers and horses (up to twenty) for relay. At the landing places, boats were
held ready. The main means of transport by land were statute workers and horses.^16
From the late ninth century onward, groups of private horse- lenders (shūba no tō) began to
play an important role in highway transport. Some of these groups are reported to have expanded
their business activities to ambushing tax transports.^17 Personnel of the stations and some current
expenses had to be paid by the rent from special rice fields (ekiden “station fields”). All other costs
of traffic infrastructure such as streets, bridges, and stations had to be borne by the province
administration.
Seven major highways connected all the provinces to the capital. All provinces adjacent to the
same highway were considered part of one great region or circuit (dō).^18 Thus, the imperium was
perceived as a well- arranged whole, aiming at a cultural and political center. The provinces were
divided into four categories, based on the distance to the capital: “central- and-near,” “middle,”
“far,” and “peripheral.” The latter, including Dewa and Mutsu in the northeast of Honshū, and
the island provinces of Iki, Oki, and Tsushima in the far west, were simultaneously designated as
border- strongholds (hen’yō).^19