The traveller in Japan, familiar with the ancient poetry of
the Many[=o]-shu, finds no fewer than fifty-eight sites[34] as the early
homes of the Japanese monarchy. Once occupying the proud position of
imperial capitals, they are now for the most part mere hamlets,
oftentimes mere names, with no visible indication of former human
habitation; while the old rivers or streams once gay with barges filled
with silken-robed lords and ladies, have dried up to mere washerwomen's
runnels. For the first time after the building of this Buddhist
monastery, the capital remained permanent, Nara being the imperial
residence during seventy-five years. Then beautiful Ki[=o]to was chosen,
and remained the residence of successive generations of emperors until
1868. In A.D. 735, we read of the Kegon sect. Two years later a large
monastery, with a seven-storied pagoda alongside of it, was ordered to
be built in every province. These, with the temples and their
surroundings, and with the wayside shrines beginning to spring up like
exotic flowers, made a striking alteration in the landscape of Japan.
The Buddhist scriptures were numerously copied and circulated among the
learned class, yet neither now nor ever, except here and there in
fragments, were they found among the people.
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