Transcript Intro to Medieval Japan

Intro to Medieval Japan
The return of the Warriors
Periods in Japanese History
• Jomon (chord pattern) 4000 BC • Yayoi 200 AD – Uji tribal system
• Kofun tumuli symbolic of hierarchy/wealth
• Yamato family emerged from an uji cluster
• Imperial Japan 6th c. AD
– Yamato family adopting infrastructure of
Chinese civilization
Jomon (neolithic)
• Jomon gradually overtaken by Yayoi culture
Yayoi culture
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Kofun tumuli
Korean connection?
Wheel-made pottery; bronze and iron
Irrigated rice cultivation
Han dynasty coins and mirrors
Adoption of Chinese civilization
• Soga and Yamato “uji”
families
• Prince Shotoku and the
17-article “Constitution”
• Kojiki/Nihongi
• Amaterasu (Sun Goddess),
Susano-o (Storm God) and
the imperial regalia or
three sacred treasures:
curved jewels; mirror;
sword
Heijo, Heian Japan
Chinese model, Japanese practice
• Chapt. 14. “Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi,” or
“Channel Bouys, Miotsukushi
Role of the supernatural; “kata” in practice
Legends of Kitano Shrine handscroll
Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Shrine (Kitano Tenjin Engi), Kamakura period (1185–1333), 13th
century: www.metmuseum.org
Fujiwara and “retired Emperors”
• Fujiwara Yorimichi (990-1074), last great Fujiwara regent,
founder of Byodoin “Phoenix Hall” temple
• Rise of Taira Kiyomori (1118-81) in service to the retired
Emperor
Shogunates in Japanese History
• Kamakura 1185-1331
• Ashikaga 1333-1587 (1480s Onin War)
• “Sengoku” or “Warring States” 16th c.
– Oda Nobunaga
– Toyotomi Hideyoshi
– Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Tokugawa 1600-1868
Kamakura: Rise of Warrior
government and the “dual polity”
Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace,
from the Illustrated Scrolls of the
Events of the Heiji Era (Heiji
monogatari emaki)Japanese,
Kamakura period, second half of
the 13th
centuryJapanHandscroll; ink and
color on paperClassification:
Paintings Accession number:
11.4000 Fenollosa-Weld
Collection, 1911. Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston
• Taira Kiyomori and the crisis in Heian control
• Minamoto league under Minamoto Yoritomo
• “Tale of Heike” and the “Battle of Dan-no-ura”
Heike crab
“Natural” selection in the hundreds of years
since the Battle of Dan-no-ura!
Yoshitsune and Benkei
• Yoshitsune, younger
brother of Yoritomo.
– Master swordsman
– Master strategist
• Eliminated by Yoritomo
Ushiwaka and BenkeiJapanese, Meiji era,
1871Watanabe Seitei, Japanese, 1852ﾐ
1918JapanHanging scroll: ink, color and gold
on silkClassification: Paintings Catalogue:
KJM2-Modern-074 Accession number: 11.8561
Kikuchi Yosai, Japanese, 1788–1878
Benkei and Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Benkei to Yoshitsune
Hanging scroll
Japanese
Meiji era, 1876
Japan
Hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
136.0 x 56.4
KJM2-Modern-070
Buddhism
• Origins in “India”
– Tibetan Buddhism (hindu elements, Tibetan “demon” worship)
– Theravada “doctrine of the Elders” (“Hinayana”)
• Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia
– Hinayana “Greater Vehicle”
Mahayana Buddhism
• “absolute” and “relative” truth
• Three buddhas
– “Historical” Sakyamuni
– “Cosmic Buddha”
– Bodhisattva--pantheon of Buddhist deities
• Amitabha; O-mi-t’o Fu; Amida butsu
• Avalokitesvara; Kuanyin; Kannon
• Seeking enlightenment…or salvation
Buddhism in Japan
• Shingon (True Word) or tantric Buddhism
• Tendai Buddhism--source of many sects
• Nenbutsu and “Pure Land Buddhism”
– “Namu Amida butsu”
• Zen (Chinese Ch’an) practice
• Nichiren--Japan-centered
Amida Buddhism
He never fails
To reach the Lotus Land of Bliss
Who calls,
If only once,
The name of Amida.
--Kuya
Nichiren Buddhism
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Nichiren shonin Writing an Incantation on the Waves* period. Tempo era (1830ﾐ
1844)Unmounted; ink on paperImage: 27.7 x 39.2 cm (10 7/8 x 15 7/16
in.)KJM2-Ukiyo-396Museum of Fine Arts, BostonWilliam Sturgis Bigelow
Collection11.9363
Zen Buddhism
• Sound of one hand clapping?
• Warrior patronage
• Influence on the arts
– Gardens
– Tea Ceremony
– Sumie ink paintings
Image sources
• Where not listed, images are taken from
Artstor, mostly from the Huntington
Collection
• Other sites:
– www.metmuseum.org