Japan: Early Days to Feudalism WHAP/Napp

Japan: Early Days to Feudalism WHAP/Napp

“Japan’s earliest history, like Korea’s, comes from Chinese records. In the mid-600s the rulers based at Yamato, on the central plain of Honshu island, implemented the Taika reforms, giving the Yamato regime the key features of Tang government, which they knew of through embassies to Chang’an: a legal code, an official variety of Confucianism, and an official reverence for Buddhism. Within a century a centralized government with a complex system of law had emerged, as attested by a massive history in the Confucian style.

Japanese admiration of Chinese culture did not extend to everything, however. The Confucian Mandate of Heaven, which justified dynastic changes, played no role in legitimating Japanese government. The tenno – often called ‘emperor’ in English – belonged to a family believed to have ruled Japan since the beginning of known history. The dynasty never changed. The royal family endured because the emperors seldom wielded political power. A prime minister and the leaders of the native religion, in later times called Shinto, the ‘way of the gods,’ exercised real control.

In 794 the central government moved to Kyoto, usually called by its ancient name, Heian. Legally centralized government lasted there until 1185, though power became decentralized toward the end. Members of the Fujiwara family –an ancient family of priests, bureaucrats, and warriors – controlled power and protected the emperor. The Fujiwara nobles entrusted responsibility for local government, policing, and tax collection to their warriors. By the middle 1100s the nobility had lost control, and civil war between rival warrior clans engulfed the capital.

Like other East Asian states influenced by Confucianism, the elite families of Fujiwara Japan did not encourage education for women. However, this did not prevent the exceptional woman from having a strong cultural impact. The hero of the celebrated Japanese novel The Tale of Genji, written around the year 1000 by the noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, remarks: ‘Women should have a general knowledge of several subjects, but it gives a bad impression if they show themselves to be attached to a particular branch of learning.’ Fujiwara noblewomen lived in near-total isolation, generally spending their time on cultural pursuits and the study of Buddhism. Loneliness produced literature.

Military values acquired increasing importance during the period 1156–1185, when warfare between rival clans culminated in the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.”

~ The Earth and Its Peoples

1. Consists of four main islands (archipelago) off coast of mainland Asia

1. Mountainous but not separating cities rather less arable land
2. Lack of natural resources but reliance on seas: fishing

1. First important ruling family emerged in fifth century; only dynasty

1. Reforms enacted after his death as the Taika Reforms (645 C.E.)
2. But largely rejected civil service examination and mandate of heaven

1. Birth and social class were more important than merit

1. In 794, capital moved to from Nara to Heian (Kyoto)
2. Emperor remained a figurehead, but real power had shifted to Fujiwara
3. Experienced a golden age: Lady Murasaki (Tale of Genji) – first novel
4. By 12th century, fighting among noble families led to feudalism

1. Residence in Kamakura (Kamakura Shogunate)
2. Feudal hierarchy: shogun, daimyo (landlords), samurai, peasants
3. Merchants were seen as an unpleasant – a disreputable sector

1. Ronin were samurai without masters: considered a dishonor

1. Hard to control, defiance weakened bakufu (military government)

1. Samurai followed a code of conduct known as Bushido which was similar to chivalry in Medieval Europe (loyalty, honor, and courage)

1. Failure to meet obligations: expected to commit suicide

1. Held in low esteem/few rights unlike Europe where adored for beauty

1. The Kamakura shoguns jolted by General Ashikaga who overran Kamakura: shoguns moved back to Heian-Kyo but let rest of the country go its own way

1. In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu established Tokugawa Shogunate
2. Strict and rigid government that ruled Japan until 1868
3. By 1635, a National Seclusion Act prohibited Japanese from traveling abroad, and prohibited most foreigners from visiting Japan

Comparative Essay Practice:

Analyze methods of political rule in feudal Japan and feudal Europe.

Thesis: ______

Paragraph:

______

In Depth: Comparing Feudalisms

“Fully developed feudal systems developed during the postclassical age in Japan and western Europe. They did so when it was not possible to sustain more centralized political forms. Many other societies had similar problems, but they did not develop feudalism. The Japanese and western European feudal systems were set in political values that joined together most of the system’s participants. They included the concept of mutual ties and obligations and embraced elite militaristic values. There were differences between the two approaches to feudalism. Western Europe stressed contractual ideas, while the Japanese relied on group and individual bonds. The shared feudal past may have assisted their successful industrial development and shaped their capacity for running capitalist economies. It may also have contributed to their tendencies for imperialist expansion, frequent resort to war, and the rise of militarist regimes.” ~ World Civilizations

The following terms, people, and events are important to your understanding of the lesson.

Bakufu Shoguns Minamoto

Fujiwara Ashikaga Shogunate Kamakura Shogunate

Daimyo kami Tribute system

Samurai seppuku Taika reforms

Heian Nara Tale of Genji

Bushido Zen monasteries Tokugawa Shogunate

The Tokugawa government suppressed Christianity in Japan because

(A) Christian insistence on observing the Sabbath undermined the economy.

(B) Government officials feared that Christianity would lead to Chinese dominance.

(C) Christian missionaries were converting to Buddhism in large numbers.

(D) Shoguns feared that Christian daimyo would forge alliances with Europeans that could threaten the bakufu.

(E) All these answers are correct.