Transcript Document
Chapter 13 The Spread of Chinese Civilization: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam B U D D H I S M Shinto The indigenous Japanese Shinto view of the natural and the supernatural remained central to Japanese cultural development. Japanese believed in the kami, nature spirits, of Japan •Taika (645-710) •Nara (710-784) •Heian (794-857) Taika Reforms The central purpose of the Taika reforms was to remake the Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor. “Son of Heaven” was added to the Japan’s rulers name The imperial administration was revamped along Chinese lines to create a Chinese style bureaucracy. Peasant conscript army Nara 710-784 Japanese Peasants •In the 8th century the imperial family moved from •Nara to Heian, later called Kyoto. Failure of the Taiku Reforms The empress Koken at Nara Heian Era (hey-on) The power of the aristocratic families to build up rural estates was fully restored Emperor gave up scheme to build a peasant conscript army Local militias were established in the rural areas. Court Life A closed world of luxury and strict codes of polite behavior Pursuit of beauty and social interaction The Tale of Genji- Lady Murasaki- the first novel in any language The role of women at the court at Heian to be as poised and cultured as men Played a creative role in Japanese productionswriting poems, playing the flute or stringed instruments, and in court intrigue. Lady Murasaaki 973-1025 Fujiwara Family *** The first novel in any language Tale of Genji The Fujiwara Family While the emperor and his court were admiring the plum blossoms, the Fujiwara shaped imperial policy They increased the number of peasants under their control as they competed in this with the Buddhist. The Decline of the Fujiwara Family Heian Japan was the high point of Japanese aristocratic culture, a golden age of peace and harmony. The Rise of the Provincial Warrior elites during the tenth century The Bushi were the warrior leaders in the tenth century in Japan who controlled provincial areas and ruled from small fortresses in the countryside. Bushi Fortresses The Samurai • Mounted troops who owed loyalty to the bushi. • Devoted their lives to hunting, riding, archery practice and other activities that sharpened their martial skills. • Until the 12th century, main weapon was the longbow and carried straight swords The Samurai, Heroic Warfare • From the 12th century on, Samurai relied on superbly forged curved steel swords • Battles increasingly hinged upon duels of great champions Seppuku From the 12th century onward, Japan was moving toward a feudal order that was remarkably similar to that developing in western Europe during this same postclassical period. The Peasantry • The rise of the Samurai frustrated all hopes of creating a free peasantry. • In the next centuries the Japanese peasants were reduced to serfs. Pure Land Sect The Era of Warlords: the11th & 12th centuries • Armed bands roamed the countryside and the streets of the capital • Rampant crime & civil strife • From the 12th century onward, Japanese history dominated by civil wars • Chinese influence declined • Artisan class, • despite strife, produced sublime creations in ceramics, landscape architecture, and religious poetry Break with China • The emperor no longer held to the pretense of a “Mandate from Heaven” • The bureaucracy and centralized power and the emergence of a scholar-gentry did not materialize. • Buddhism became a distinctly Japanese religion. • By 838 Japan discontinued its embassies to the Tang Court • Merchants still made the trip to China Bakufu • Between 1180 and 1185 the struggle between the two major provincial families, the Taira and the Minamoto, were decided in the Gempei Wars. • Bakufu (military government at Kamakura) • In 1185 the Minamoto defeated the Taira and established the bakufu or military government • The feudal age begins in 1185 with the victory of the Minamoto Similarities Differences Japan Europe System was grounded in political values that embraced all participants System was grounded in political values that embraced all participants The idea of mutual ties and obligations was strong with rituals and institutions that expressed them. The idea of mutual ties and obligations was strong with rituals and institutions that expressed them. Feudalism was highly militaristic, with values such as physical courage, personal or family alliances loyalty, ritualized combat and contempt for nonwarriors. Feudalism was highly militaristic, with values such as physical courage, personal or family alliances loyalty, ritualized combat and contempt for non-warriors. Feudalistic ties relied on group and individual loyalties. Feudalistic ties were sealed by negotiated contracts, with explicit assurances of the advantages of the arrangement. Legacy was group consciousness which in collective decision making teams were eventually linked to the state. Legacy was the reliance on parliamentary institutions in which participants could discuss and defend legal interests against the central monarch. Kamakura • The emperor and his court were preserved • Real power rested with the Minamoto and their samurai retainers. • Yoritomo was the leader of the victorous Minamoto Shogun • The title given to the military leader of the bakufu at Kamakura The Hojo Family • The Death of Yoritomo The Hojo Family • manipulated the Minamoto shoguns • The Minamoto shoguns claimed to rule in the name of the emperor at Kyoto Ashikaga Shogunate • Ashikaga Takuaji led a revolt of the bushi that overthrow the Kamakura regime and established the Ashikaga Shogunate, 13361573 • Flight of the emperor to Yoshino Civil War • Full-scale civil war raged from 1467 to 1477. • Koyoto was reduced to rubble • Japan was divided into nearly three hundred little kingdoms, whose warloards were called Daimyos rather than bushi. Toward Barbarism? Military Division and Social Change • In the 15th and 16th centuries the chivalrous qualities of the bushi deteriorated • Despite chaos and suffering of peasant there was economic and cultural growth • New crops-soybeans Zen Buddhism Influence of Zen Buddhism Zen sensibilities are prominent in the splendid architectural Women in daimyo, warrior elite families • By the 14th and 15th centuries, the trend in daimyo families was toward primogeniture • Women of the elite classes who no longer shared in the division of the family estate. o Women became defenseless appendages of warrior husbands • Japanese women of all classes lost the role of celebrant in religious ceremonies Japan Differences Europe Feudalistic ties relied on group and individual loyalties. Feudalistic ties were sealed by negotiated contracts, with explicit assurances of the advantages of the arrangement. Legacy was group consciousness which in collective decision making teams were eventually linked to the state. Legacy was the reliance on parliamentary institutions in which participants could discuss and defend legal interests against the central monarch. Japan Similarities Europe System was grounded in political values that embraced all participants System was grounded in political values that embraced all participants The idea of mutual ties and obligations was strong with rituals and institutions that expressed them. The idea of mutual ties and obligations was strong with rituals and institutions that expressed them. Feudalism was highly militaristic, with values such as physical courage, personal or family alliances loyalty, ritualized combat and contempt for nonwarriors. Feudalism was highly militaristic, with values such as physical courage, personal or family alliances loyalty, ritualized combat and contempt for nonwarriors.