1 Catalogs 
      of temples and temple properties compiled from the year 783 by various state-sponsored 
      temples, on the orders of the Imperial Court. The shizaichou included 
      lists of the temple estates, statues, sutras, the history of a temple, as 
      well as the number of monks. 
       
      2 The published records of a temple's property. During the Ritsuryou 
      律令 period which began in the 7c. peaked in the 8c and declined gradually 
      thereafter, there were a complex series of bureaucratic heirarchies designed 
      to render total political and economic power to the the central authorities 
      under the emperor. Shizaichou are a manifestation of this meticulous 
      bureaucratic control in that all kanji 官寺 and Jougakuji 定額寺 that 
      is official and government controlled temples were required to list and submit 
      their inventories. All property , images , sutras and the origins of the 
      foundation must be included. These records declined along with the Ritsuryou 
      system and were no longer kept by the mid Heian period.  |