Japan under the shogun

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Transcript Japan under the shogun

Chapter 13

 P. 283  A shogun was a military leader in Japan  A ronin was a warrior who had no leader   Honour was the most important thing to a warrior – imp. enough to give your life for This is best shown in the story of the “47 Ronin ”

Power and Control

 “to understand the story of the 47 ronin is to understand Japan”  This story takes place during the “Edo” or “Tokugawa” time period in Japan  “Edo” was present-day Tokyo

 Before this time, the Japanese people were constantly fighting  The “nobles” were known as daimyo  “Tokugawa” is a title given to the leaders, just like the words “King” or “Lord”

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 1603: Ieyasu defeated a rival daimyo in a great battle  The Emperor made him a shogun, and gave him tremendous power  His goal was to keep his power by creating a stable gov’t  He spread the land and power to lords around Japan; this helped control the other daimyo

Change:

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Hostages: Daimyo were forced to live in Edo every second year, without their family. They were held as a kind of “hostage” in case their family planned an uprising Shared power: there was a federal gov’t called the “Shogunate,” and many local ones run by daimyo

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Strict Laws : the daimyo’s clothes, marriages, and money was controlled; they were forced to pay for things like building roads -other laws: p. 286 *all of these laws were meant to take away some of the power from the daimyos, so that they could not revolt

Feudalism, again...

 The feudal hierarchy was based on land: lords became rich from the work of peasants  The goal of a hierarchy is always

control

 Each class was hereditary through families by birth – passed on

The Samurai

 Well-respected  Lived with their shogun (leader)  Only they were allowed to have swords  There were ranks of samurai – the lowest were “ronin” who had no masters  Weren’t allowed to trade or sell – lived simple lives

 Page 290: The Way of the Warrior  Seppuku – a ritual suicide performed by samurai

Peasants

 Mostly farmers  Were worked extremely hard  Laws controlled everything they did  No tobacco, no wine, needed permission to travel

Artisans

 Artists and craftspeople  Son`s were forced to take after their fathers  Made paper, porcelains, containers, clocks, pans, etc.

 Had a lower status than an peasant

Merchants

 Bought and sold from artisans and farmers  Shipped food and materials  A lot like bankers  Bottom of the social order  Gov`t spies reported a merchant who showed off wealth, or criticized the gov`t

Women

 Performed duties depending on what class they were born into  Women living in the country had more freedom  Worked in the home, and also did labour  Considered ``lower`` than men  Not allowed to own property

Outcasts

 Shunned by most of society because of their work, which usually involved death Ex: Leather tanners, butchers, people who deal with dead bodies  Could not live in society, change jobs, enter homes, or be in the city after 8pm  Example: the Ainu people

Honour & Duty

 Social control – rules and customs meant to control people’s behaviour; aims to maintain order  Teaching of Confucius taught society class distinctions

Confucius

 Chinese scholar  Taught morals – how to live “right”  Teachings brought to Japan by Buddhist monks  Taught that everyone had a role in society  Everyone accepts this = peace people rebel = chaos

 Encouraged people to be modest, and work/study hard  Rules for proper behaviour and compassion  Golden rule: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”  Taught about 5 basic relationships (p.296)

 Filial piety parents – faithfulness and devotion to  p. 297 – Social Uniformity  p. 298 – Edo values in modern Japan

Group responsibility & Shame

 Samurai were masters of the lower classes  They divided the people up into “families” called

goningumi

 People were expected to help each other.

 Each person is responsible for the group’s behaviour  If one person disobeyed, the group was punished

First Contact with the West

 Portuguese were one of the first countries to travel far by ocean  1543: a Portuguese trading ship was wrecked off the coast of Japan  They soon found out their cultures were very different  The Japanese called them the “Southern Barbarians”

New Beliefs

  Francis Xavier (a priest) soon arrived to convert the Japanese to Christianity More missionaries soon followed  1.

Both religions were somewhat similar: Both had ethical codes – rules about “right” and “wrong” behaviour Ex: stealing and murder are wrong

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But they were also quite different: The Christian idea of one god was quite different than the Japanese beliefs Japanese = loyal to leaders Christian = loyal to God