In 604 a new seventeen-point "constitution" was introduced, a guide that was modeled on Chinese practice. The document included reverence for Confucianism and Buddhism, for the sovereiggn of Japan, and, on a more mundane level, asserted the government's monopoly over the collection of taxes. The World's History, Third Edition, Volume I: Prehistory to 1500, Howard Spodek
The method of organization of the Imperial Court, a significant element of ancient Chinese culture, was adopted by the Japanese. The Japanese Imperial Court as well as its bureaucracy, including titles, ranks and functions, soon came to be modeled after Confucian principles. City-planning is also an aspect of Chinese culture borrowed by the Japanese. Kyoto and Nara, capital cities constructed along these lines, are examples. Several localities around these old capital cities reveal a system of fields and irrigation systems divided into even rectangles based on the ancient Chinese model of city planning. The use of a road system to hasten communication and control rebelling localities are also important features of this system of planning.
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