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During the Nara era (710-794 A.D.), Chinese culture continued to influence Japan. Chinese became the language of business and government. A new religion, Confucianism, was introduced from China. The Japanese built a new imperial capital in Heijokyo (present-day Nara). This was Japan’s first permanent capital, and the Japanese modeled it after the Chinese capital. Nara soon became a powerful city with nearly 200,000 people, many of whom worked in government. The new government produced coins and collected taxes from farmers. In time, the imperial government tightened its grip on the people. This led to warfare as various members of the imperial family and other leading families fought for power and influence. Other problems arose as farmers could not pay their taxes and began to lose their lands. This caused a shortage of tax money, which caused the government to reduce its military strength. Decreased military strength, in turn, led to the formation of local armies.All of these factors led to a decline of Nara’s imperial rule.
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