mal occasions.For Buddhists as well as everybody else, direct contact with china dwindledthough it never lapsed. This was an extraordinary change from the time when JapaneseBuddhism had been little more than a branch of mainland mature, and took on adistinctively Japanese or national character. Religion, like politics and literature, wasincreasingly domesticated.This meant that Heian Buddhism conformed to the prevailing pattern of groupprivilege and local independence within a broad framework of national unity. The sectswere deeply involved in the development of Shoen, and, as elements in the metropolitanelite; they ranked with the great aristocratic families. Like the latter, they remainedseparate and to some extent competing units, deriving their ultimate authority from closeassociation with the court. At the same time, they gained greatly from the weakening ofcentralized government, which enabled them to amass huge incomes from shiki rights, andto enjoy a large measure of political independence.However, Buddhism did not just passively accommodate itself to prevailingsecular trends; it was a positive influence in its own right. Japanese politics under theFujiwara and cloistered emperors were remarkably free from bloodshed and cruelty, andthis was at least partly due to Buddhist emphasis on the sanctity of life. During the Heianperiod Buddhism also ceased to be an exclusively aristocratic religion. Spreading amongthe common people, it carried with it - as always - arts, crafts and opportunities forlearning. So, in the long run, Heian Buddhism helped enormously to close the greattechnological and cultural gap that had divided the provinces from the court since the daysof the Taika Reform.Buddhism in any form had always been a missionary religion. MahayanaBuddhism was not only anxiously to make converts, but was eager to absorb localreligions. In Heian times, Shinto shrines throughout the country were taken over byBuddhist pri...
