Another family which attained prominence was the Sugawara. It originated in the province of Kawachi. The most noted representative of this family was Sugawara Michizané, who was first conspicuous as the teacher of the young prince who afterward became the Emperor Uda (A.D. 888-898). He was a brilliant scholar in Chinese, which was then the learned language of the East. Even down to modern times his family has been devoted to learning. The Sugawara(109) and Ōye families both had adopted literature as their hereditary profession, and the government made them an allowance for the expenses(110) of those who might be pursuing their studies in the national university. The influence of Michizané over the emperor was marked and salutary. Under his wise tutelage Uda showed so much independence that the Fujiwara _Kwambaku_ found means to lead him to abdicate in favor of his son, who became the sixtieth emperor, and is known under the historic name of Daigo. Michizané became the counsellor and was created _nai-daijin_ under the new emperor, who at the time of his accession was only fourteen years old. But the _Kwambaku_ Tokihira determined to free himself from the adverse influence of this wise and honest counsellor. So he had him sent in a kind of honorable banishment to Dazaifu, the seat of the vice-royalty of the island of Kyūshū. It is said that he died here in A.D. 903. There was a great re-action in regard to him after his death, and he was canonized under the name of Tenjin(111) (Heavenly god), and is held sacred as the patron saint of men of letters and of students. The twenty-fifth day of each month is kept as a holiday in schools, sacred to Tenjin-Sama, and the twenty-fifth of June as an annual _matsuri_. [Illustration] Michizane. But the families which finally displaced the Fujiwara from their position of supremacy were what were technically called the military families. The separation of officers into civil and military was made under the reforms introduced from China. The Fujiwara in the main restricted themselves to civil duties. Wherever it was necessary to send military expeditions against the barbarians of the north, or rebels in Kyūshū, or into the disaffected districts of Korea, commanders were selected from families devoted to military service. The Taira family was of this class. Hei is the Chinese equivalent of the Japanese name Taira, and is more often used in the literature of the times. The Taira family sprang from the Emperor Kwammu (A.D. 782-806) through one of his concubines. The great-grandson of Kwammu, Takamochi, received permission to adopt the name of Taira, and thus became the founder of the family. They were the military vassals of the crown for many generations.