HEIAN PERIOD: AD 794-1185 "Following the political and social problems of the preceding Nara period (710-794), Emperor Kammu (reigned 781-806) named his new capital Heianky? (now Kyoto), heian meaning 'peace and tranquility'. The Heian period did see the flowering of courtly culture, centred on the emperor and nobility, in particular the powerful Fujiwara family, but it ended with the establishment of a military dictatorship. With the decline of the Tang...