What was the immediate impact of the imperial move to Heian?
a. Shintoism was formally suppressed following the marriage of the Empress Koken to a former monk.
b. The scholar-gentry was able to assert itself through the state's acceptance of a formal examination system modeled on the Chinese bureaucracy.
c. Buddhism ceased to play a major role in Japanese society.
d. The aristocracy was restored to counterbalance the power of the Buddhist monasteries and took over most of the positions in the central government.
e. The aristocrats gave up positions in the central government under pressure from the Buddhists.
Answer: D