the throne the representative of a family having such a cause of
umbrage against the Fujiwara.

At the same time, it is only just to note that he found ready
coadjutors among the jealous schoolmen of the time. Rival colleges,
rival academies, and rival literati quarrelled with all the rancour
of medieval Europe. The great luminaries of the era were Sugawara
Michizane, Ki no Haseo, Koze no Fumio, Miyoshi Kiyotsura, and
Tachibana Hiromi. There was little mutual recognition of talent.
Kiyotsura abused Haseo as a pundit inferior to any of his
predecessors. Michizane ridiculed Fumio's panegyric of Kiyotsura, The
pupils of these men endorsed their teachers' verdicts. Ajnong them
all, Tachibana Hiromi occupied the most important position until the
day of his downfall. He practically managed the affairs of the Court
under Yozei, Koko, and Uda. Fujiwara Sukeyo, a greatly inferior
scholar, served as his subordinate, and was the willing tool in
contriving his degradation. It did not cause the Fujiwara any serious
concern that in compassing the ruin of Hiromi, they effectually
alienated the sympathies of the sovereign.

CESSATION OF EMBASSIES TO CHINA

It may be supposed that in an era when Chinese literati attracted so
much attention, visits to the Middle Kingdom were frequent. But from
the closing years of the eighth century, the great Tang dynasty began
to fall into disorder, and the embassies sent from Japan reported a
discouraging state of affairs. The last of these embassies
(kento-shi) was in the year 838. It had long ceased to take the
overland route via Liaoyang; the envoys' vessels were obliged to go
by long sea, and the dangers were so great that to be named for this
duty was regarded with consternation. In Uda's reign a project was
formed to appoint Sugawara Michizane as kento-shi, and Ki no Haseo as
his lieutenant. There is reason to think that this suggestion came
from Michizane's enemies who wished to remove him from a scene where
his presence threatened to become embarrassing. The course Michizane
adopted at this crisis showed moral courage, whatever may be thought
of its expediency. He memorialized the Throne in the sense that the
dangers of the journey were not compensated by its results. The
memorial was approved. Since the days of the Empress Suiko, when the
first kento-shi was despatched by Prince Shotoku, 294 years had
elapsed, and by some critics the abandonment of the custom has been
condemned. But it is