Home Region:  Northeast Asia (East Asia)

Heian

794 CE 1185 CE
EQ 2020  jp_heian / JpHeian
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[continuity; Kansai - Nara Period] [continuity]   Update here

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  General Description  
The Heian period (794-1185 CE) began when the Emperor Kammu (r. 781-806 CE) moved the capital from Nara to Heian (Kyoto) in 794 CE. The imperial court maintained centralized control over the main islands of Japan and was the centre of a vast, highly bureaucratic administration system. [1] [2] The period’s peak can be considered to run from 794 to 930 CE, a phase of prosperity and cultural and artistic florescence. [3] However, the imperial court’s isolation from the realities of government, elaborate internal power dynamics and court intrigues eventually weakened the central government and contributed to the rise of the provincial warrior class. [4] The period ends with the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate.
Population and political organization
Beginning in the proceeding Nara period, the imperial court had based its bureaucratic system on that of the ’statutory’ (ritsuryō) regime of the Chinese T’ang court. The Nara style of administration continued to be implemented by the Heian emperors until the 850s CE. While the government still maintained ’the conception and rhetoric of Confucian government’, its functions were carried out by other means, with increased competition for offices, and, due to the dominance of the Fujiwara family, an increasingly narrow focus on factional concerns. [5] [6] Although knowledge of Chinese culture had been considered the mark of a cultured individual for much of the Heian period, by its end a distinctly Japanese cultural identity had started to emerge. [7]
Over the course of the Heian period, the imperial family and nobility became increasingly divorced from the realities of government, preoccupying themselves with ’dilettantish pastimes’ and matters of protocol above matters of state. While this led to a florescence of the arts and the refinement of etiquette, it also indirectly allowed the provincial warrior class to increase their power because the day-to-day tasks of governance in the provinces were left to them. [8] Another factor in the rise and consolidation of power by the warrior class at the expense of the nobility was the changing patterns of land ownership. By the late 10th century CE, with the end of public land allotment, private land ownership had proliferated, much of which was exempt from taxation, significantly affecting the revenue of the government. The nobles’ presence at court meant that vast private land holdings were controlled by estate managers on behalf of absentee landlords - further weakening the centralized government and contributing to the emergence of feudalism in Japan. [9] [10] The personal power of the emperors also waned throughout the period, with the rising prominence of imperial regents, consolidating the power of the Fujiwara family, and the early abdication of emperors in attempts to form a ’cloister government’ to counter the Fujiwara regents’ control of young puppet rulers. [4]
The institution of a standing army of professional warriors contributed to the rise of a class of militarized landed gentry in the provinces. This in turn laid the foundation for the rise of the shogunate, the military government which would dominate Japan until the 1800s, leaving the emperor as little more than a figurehead. [11]
The polity population ranged from roughly four million in 800 CE to five or six million by 1100 CE. [12] [13] Kyoto became the largest settlement, with an estimated population of 200,000 from 800 to 925 CE; 175,000 in the 11th century; and 150,000 by 1150 CE. [14]

[1]: (Deal 2005, 89) William E. Deal. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[2]: (Mason 2011, 67) Richard H. P. Mason. 2011. A History of Japan. Revised ed. New York: Tuttle Publishing.

[3]: (Shively and McCullough 2008, 1-2) Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[4]: (Henshall 2012, 29-30) Kenneth Henshall. 2012. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. 3rd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[5]: (Shively and McCullough 2008, 342-43) Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[6]: (Mason 2011, 64) Richard H. P. Mason. 2011. A History of Japan. Revised ed. New York: Tuttle Publishing.

[7]: (Henshall 2012, 30) Kenneth Henshall. 2012. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. 3rd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[8]: (Henshall 2012, 28-29) Kenneth Henshall. 2012. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. 3rd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[9]: (Mason 2011, 76) Richard H. P. Mason. 2011. A History of Japan. Revised ed. New York: Tuttle Publishing.

[10]: (Henshall 2012, 29) Kenneth Henshall. 2012. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. 3rd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[11]: (Lorge 2011, 47) P. A. Lorge. 2008. The Asian Military Revolution: From Gunpowder to the Bomb. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[12]: (Farris 2006, 9) William Wayne Farris. 2006. Japan’s Medieval Population: Famine, Fertility, and Warfare in a Transformative Age. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

[13]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 181) Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. London: Penguin Books.

[14]: (Chandler 1987) Tertius Chandler. 1987. Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.

Economy Variables (Luxury Goods) Coding in Progress.
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Heian (jp_heian) was in:
 (794 CE 1184 CE) Kansai
Home NGA: Kansai

General Variables
Identity and Location Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Utm Zone 53 S 794 CE  1185 CE
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Original Name Kansai - Heian Period 794 CE  1185 CE
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Capital 794 CE  1185 CE
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Temporal Bounds Heian (jp_heian)
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Peak Years
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Duration
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Political and Cultural Relations Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Suprapolity Relations 794 CE  1185 CE
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Supracultural Entity 794 CE  1185 CE
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Succeeding Entity 794 CE  1185 CE
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Scale of Supracultural Interaction 794 CE  1185 CE
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Relationship to Preceding Entity continuity 794 CE  1185 CE
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Preceding Entity
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Degree of Centralization 794 CE  1185 CE
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Language Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Linguistic Family Japonic 794 CE  1185 CE
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Language 794 CE  1185 CE
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Language 794 CE  1185 CE
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Religion Heian (jp_heian)
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Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Population of the Largest Settlement 800 CE 925 CE
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Population of the Largest Settlement 1000 CE 1100 CE
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Population of the Largest Settlement 1150 CE
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Polity Territory 794 CE  1185 CE
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Polity Population 800 CE
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Polity Population 900 CE
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Polity Population 1000 CE
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Polity Population 1100 CE
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Hierarchical Complexity Heian (jp_heian)
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Settlement Hierarchy 794 CE  1185 CE
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Religious Level 794 CE  1185 CE
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Military Level 794 CE  1185 CE
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Administrative Level 794 CE  1185 CE
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Professions Heian (jp_heian)
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Professional Soldier 794 CE  1185 CE
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Professional Priesthood 794 CE  1185 CE
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Professional Military Officer 794 CE  1185 CE
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Bureaucracy Characteristics Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Government Building 794 CE  1185 CE
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Merit Promotion 794 CE  1185 CE
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Full Time Bureaucrat 794 CE  1185 CE
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Examination System 794 CE  1185 CE
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Law Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Professional Lawyer 794 CE  1185 CE
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Judge 794 CE  1185 CE
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794 CE  1185 CE
Court 794 CE  1185 CE
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Specialized Buildings: polity owned Heian (jp_heian)
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Market 794 CE  1185 CE
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Irrigation System 794 CE  1185 CE
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Food Storage Site 794 CE  1185 CE
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Drinking Water Supply System 794 CE  1185 CE
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Transport Infrastructure Heian (jp_heian)
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Road 794 CE  1185 CE
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Port 794 CE  1185 CE
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Canal 794 CE  1185 CE
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Bridge 794 CE  1185 CE
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Special-purpose Sites Heian (jp_heian)
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Mines or Quarry 794 CE  1185 CE
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Information / Writing System Heian (jp_heian)
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Written Record 794 CE  1185 CE
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Script 794 CE  1185 CE
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Phonetic Alphabetic Writing 794 CE  1185 CE
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Nonwritten Record 794 CE  1185 CE
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Non Phonetic Writing 794 CE  1185 CE
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Mnemonic Device Unknown 794 CE  1185 CE
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Information / Kinds of Written Documents Heian (jp_heian)
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Scientific Literature 794 CE  1185 CE
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Sacred Text 794 CE  1185 CE
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Religious Literature 794 CE  1185 CE
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Practical Literature 794 CE  1185 CE
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Philosophy 794 CE  1185 CE
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Lists Tables and Classification 794 CE  1185 CE
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History 794 CE  1185 CE
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Fiction 794 CE  1185 CE
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Calendar 794 CE  1185 CE
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Information / Money Heian (jp_heian)
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Token 794 CE  1185 CE
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Precious Metal 794 CE  1185 CE
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Paper Currency 794 CE  1185 CE
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Indigenous Coin 794 CE  1185 CE
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Foreign Coin 794 CE  1185 CE
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Article 794 CE  1185 CE
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Information / Postal System Heian (jp_heian)
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Postal Station 794 CE  1185 CE
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General Postal Service Absent 794 CE  1185 CE
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Courier 794 CE  1185 CE
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Information / Measurement System Heian (jp_heian)
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Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wooden Palisade 794 CE  1185 CE
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Stone Walls Non Mortared 794 CE  1185 CE
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Stone Walls Mortared 794 CE  1185 CE
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Settlements in a Defensive Position 794 CE  1185 CE
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Modern Fortification 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moat 794 CE  1185 CE
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Fortified Camp Unknown Suspected 794 CE  1185 CE
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Earth Rampart 794 CE  1185 CE
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Ditch 794 CE  1185 CE
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Complex Fortification 794 CE  1185 CE
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Long Wall unknown Suspected 794 CE  1185 CE
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Military use of Metals Heian (jp_heian)
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Steel 794 CE  1185 CE
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Iron 794 CE  1185 CE
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Copper 794 CE  1185 CE
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Bronze 794 CE  1185 CE
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Projectiles Heian (jp_heian)
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Tension Siege Engine 794 CE  1185 CE
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Sling Siege Engine 794 CE  1185 CE
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Sling 794 CE  1185 CE
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Self Bow 794 CE  1185 CE
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Javelin 794 CE  1185 CE
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Handheld Firearm 794 CE  1185 CE
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Gunpowder Siege Artillery 794 CE  1185 CE
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Crossbow 794 CE  1185 CE
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Composite Bow 794 CE  1185 CE
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Atlatl 794 CE  1185 CE
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Handheld weapons Heian (jp_heian)
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War Club 794 CE  1185 CE
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Sword 794 CE  1185 CE
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Spear 794 CE  1185 CE
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Polearm 794 CE  1185 CE
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Dagger 794 CE  1185 CE
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Battle Axe Unknown Suspected 794 CE  1185 CE
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Animals used in warfare Heian (jp_heian)
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Horse 794 CE  1185 CE
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Elephant 794 CE  1185 CE
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Donkey 794 CE  1185 CE
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Dog 794 CE  1185 CE
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Camel 794 CE  1185 CE
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Armor Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Wood Bark Etc Unknown Suspected 794 CE  1185 CE
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Shield 794 CE  1185 CE
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Scaled Armor 794 CE  1185 CE
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Plate Armor 794 CE  1185 CE
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Plate Armor 794 CE  1185 CE
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Limb Protection 794 CE  1185 CE
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Leather Cloth 794 CE  1185 CE
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Laminar Armor 794 CE  1185 CE
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Helmet 794 CE  1185 CE
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Chainmail 794 CE  1185 CE
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Breastplate 794 CE  1185 CE
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Naval technology Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Specialized Military Vessel Unknown Suspected 794 CE  1185 CE
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Small Vessels Canoes Etc Present 794 CE  1185 CE
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Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service Unknown Suspected 794 CE  1185 CE
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Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables
Moralizing Supernatural Punishment and Reward Heian (jp_heian)
Variable Coded Value / Certainty Tags Year(s) See More
Moralizing Enforcement is Broad 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Supernatural Concern is Primary 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Agentic 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement in This Life 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Supernatural Punishment And Reward 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Commoners 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Targeted 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement in Afterlife 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Religion Adopted by Elites 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement of Rulers 794 CE  1185 CE
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Moralizing Enforcement is Certain 794 CE  1185 CE
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Human Sacrifice Heian (jp_heian)
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Instability Data
Power Transitions