The Taihō Code of 701, the great law code on the Chinese model, placed the Jingikan, the Council of Kami Affairs, at the head of the state, ranked in protocol above the Council of State itself. The Jingikan governed the court's rites, the great festivals, and the official shrines, and the code fixed the calendar of offerings by which the emperor served the kami on the realm's behalf. Kami worship thereby became an organ of the Japanese state at the moment the state itself was codified.
Tagged: Jinja Shinto Shinto
The Event
- Date
- 701 (exact)
- Era
- Ancient Kami Worship; Standard periodization of Shinto history
- Location
- Fujiwara-kyō, the imperial capital; today Nara, Japan
- Traditions
- Shinto
- Streams
- Jinja Shinto
- Key figures
- Emperor Monmu
- Key texts
- Taihō Code
Primary Sources
- The Taihō Code (701).
Secondary Sources
- Hardacre, Helen. Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press, 2017.
- Breen, John, and Mark Teeuwen. A New History of Shinto. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Provenance: HIST-0903; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-28.
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