The Asuka period (飛鳥時代 - lit. "period of flying bird"?), 538 to 710, is when the proto-Japanese Yamato polity gradually became a clearly centralized state, defining and applying a code of governing laws, such as the Taika Reform and Taihō Codes.[19] The introduction of Buddhism led to the discontinuing of the practice of large kofun.
Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 538 by Baekje, to which Japan provided military support, [20] and it was promoted by the ruling class. Prince Shotoku devoted his efforts to the spread of Buddhism and Chinese culture in Japan. He is credited with bringing relative peace to Japan through the proclamation of the Jūshichijō kenpō (十七条憲法), often referred to in Japan as the Seventeen-article constitution, a Confucian style document that focused on the kinds of morals and virtues that were to be expected of government officials and the emperor"s subjects.
In a letter brought to the Emperor of China by an emissary from Japan in 607 stated that the Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises (Japan) sends a letter to the Emperor of the land where Sun sets (China),[21] thereby implying an equal footing with China which angered the Chinese emperor.[22]
Starting with the Taika Reform Edicts of 645, Japanese intensified the adoption of Chinese cultural practices and reorganized the government and the penal code in accordance with the Chinese administrative structure (Ritsuryo) of the time. This paved the way for the influential Confucian philosophy in Japan until the 19th century.[citation needed] This period also saw the first uses of the word Nihon (日本) as a name for the emerging state.