Japan: From Earliest Days to Feudal Japan

WHAP/Napp

Cues: / Notes:
  1. Geography
  1. Consists of four main ______(archipelago) off the coast of mainland Asia
  1. Relatively ______for thousands of years
  2. Diffusion, particularly from China, but relatively limited
a)Writing, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc. – Selective ______
  1. Mountainous but not separating cities rather less arable land
  1. Yamato Clan
  1. Little is known of early cultures in Japan prior to 400 C.E
  2. The first important ruling family was the Yamato clan, who emerged as leaders in the fifth centuryfirst and the ______dynasty to rule it
  1. Shinto
  1. Means “the way of the gods”earliest religionJapanese ______worshipped the kami, which refers to nature and all of the forces of nature, both seen and unseen
  2. The Yamato clan claimed that the emperor was a direct descendent of the sun goddess, one of the main forces in the ______religion
  1. Influence of China
  1. In 522, Buddhist missionaries went to Japan and brought with them Chinese culture but ______did not replace Shintoaccepted both
  2. Prince Shotokuborrowed bureaucratic and legal reforms, which were modeled on the successes of the T’ang Dynasty in China (7th Century)
  3. These reforms were enacted after his death as the Taika Reforms (645 C.E.)
  4. In the eighth century, when the Japanese built their new capital, they modeled it on the T’ang capital
  5. However, the Japanese largely rejected Confucianism, as well as the idea of the civil service ______
  6. In Japan, ______wasn’t nearly as important as birthThe noble classes were hereditary, not earned
  7. Birth and social class that were more important in Japan than _____
  8. Even at the height of T’ang influence, Japanese selectively borrowed Chinese cultural ideas and objects while still retaining a unique identity
  1. Fujiwara
  1. In 794, capital was moved to Heian, and new era of Japanese history beganChinese influence abated and power of aristocracy______
B. Important family, the Fujiwara, intermarried over several generations with the emperor’s family and soon ran the affairs of the country
C. Emperor remained as a figurehead, but ____ power had shifted to Fujiwara
D. Under the Fujiwara, Japanese society experienced somewhat of a golden age, especially in terms of literatureLady Murasaki – Tale of Genji
Summaries:
Cues: / E. But by the twelfth century, power in Japan spread among a larger and larger pool of noble familiessoon fightingfeudalism ______
VI. Feudalism in Japan
  1. In 1192, Yoritomo Minamoto was given the title of chief general, or shogun, by the emperorreal poweremperor was a ______
  2. Title of shogun-permanent title that could be passed on in Minamoto family
  3. Residence in Kamakura, a town just south of modern TokyoKamakura Shogunatesamurai became a special class of people
  4. Feudal hierarchyshogun, daimyo (landlords), samurai, ______
  5. Like European feudalism, hierarchy bound together in land-for-loyalty
  6. Merchants were probably seen as an unpleasant necessity by the samurai classdealt in commerce - a disreputable sector in most ______societies
  7. Merchants did not fit neatly into the feudal hierarchy, which was based on land-ownership and locations but merchants grew rich and samurai _____
  8. Ronin were samurai without mastersdishonorimplied failure
  9. Ronin were a paradox in terms of the ______system, much as the merchants were - being masterless wanderersdid not fit in hierarchy
  10. Ronin-hard to control, defiance could weaken bakufu (military government)
  11. Samurai followed a strict code of conduct known as the Code of ______ similar to chivalry in Medieval Europeloyalty, honor, courage
  12. Samurai failed to meet his obligations expected to commit suicide
VII. Women in Feudal Japan
  1. Unlike under European feudalism, women in Japan were not held in high esteemIn Europe, noblewomen had few rights but adored for ______
B. In contrast, Japanese women lost any freedom they had during the Fujiwara period and were forced to live harsher, more demeaning lives
C. Only men ______, adultery was defined as a wife sleeping with another man
D. Still, wife's lot was better than that of a ______, same loyalty but like servant
E. In the event of a samurai's death, the woman expected to commit ojigi, a form of Sepuku ritual suicide for woman, thrust a knife through her throat
F. The Mongols tried to conquer Japan twice but failedTyphoon destroyed _____
VIII. The Ashikaga Shoguns
  1. The Kamakura shoguns jolted by General Ashikaga who overran Kamakurashoguns moved back to Heian-Kyobut content to govern the region about the capitalLet rest of the country go its _____ way
IX. Tokugawa Shogunate
  1. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa Shogunate
  2. Strict and ______government that ruled Japan until 1868
  3. Shogun further consolidated power at the expense of the ______
  4. Four classes (warrior, farmer, artisan, and merchant)-movement forbidden
  5. Tokugawa moved the capital to Edo (modern-day Tokyo) – was marked by a reversal in attitudes towards ______influences
  6. By 1635, a National Seclusion Policy prohibited Japanese from traveling abroad, and ______most foreigners from visiting Japan (limited relations were kept with China, Korea, and the Netherlands

Summaries:

Questions:

  • Discuss Japan’s geographic factors and the impact of these factors.
  • Discuss the importance of the Yamato clan.
  • Explain the impact of various belief systems on Japanese culture.
  • How did the Japanese engage in selective borrowing from China?
  • How and why did the emperor begin to lose power?
  • Discuss Kamakura Shogunate.
  • Discuss the Ashikaga Shoguns and the Tokugawa Shoguns.

  1. Under the shogunates of Japan
(A)Real power still rested with the emperor
(B)Power rested with Buddhist monks
(C)The emperor’s power was largely symbolic
(D)The shoguns were the religious priests
(E)None of the above
  1. Where in the world did the literary form of the novel emerge?
(A)United States
(B)Japan
(C)France
(D)England
(E)India
  1. Despite extensive modeling of the Chinese imperial system, how did Japanese civilization hew to established tradition in the postclassical era?
(A)Aristocrats doubled as military officers.
(B)Strict codes of behavior governed noble classes in court life at the imperial center.
(C)Examination systems were not a part of the selection process for the imperial elite.
(D)Poetry was a highly valued art form among the elite.
(E)A capital city served as the nerve center of the empire. /
  1. Which contemporary society most closely mirrored feudal Japanese patterns of decentralized rule, an economy based on agricultural peasant labor, and emergence of the warrior elite following a distinct code of honor?
(A)Polynesian
(B)Inca
(C)Western European
(D)Russian
(E)Islamic
  1. The isolationism of the Tokugawa government included
(A)Forbidding Japanese from going abroad
(B)Forbidding Chinese and Dutch merchants from trading at Nagasaki
(C)Forbidding scholars of neo-Confucianism from teaching in Japan
(D)Banning all foreign religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism
(E)All of the above
  1. The status of which of the following was in jeopardy in Japan by 1750?
(A)The shogun
(B)The emperor
(C)Samurai
(D)Merchants
(E)Daimyo

Excerpt frominternational.ucla.edu

The feudal period in Japan lasted for 700 years. During this time Japan was ruled by warrior aristocrats under a feudal system very similar to that in Europe. But European feudalism ended with the Renaissance, while that of Japan stretched for another 300 years until 1868. By then, the West had gone through both the French and American Revolutions, and was well into the Industrial Revolution. In Japan, however, the long feudal period was by no means the “dark ages” as in Europe. In Japan, culture and education thrived, although they were firmly subordinated to the martial arts and to a political structure in which loyalty to one’s “daimyo,” or feudal lord, was the ultimate virtue and obligation.

The decline of power of the Emperor in Japan occurred in the late 12th century, when court rivals sought to reinforce their position by calling in help from two outside military houses which successively seized the real power from the Emperor. This period is written about in many tales of romantic and gallant feats of valor. (The Tale of Genji is an example.) In 1192, the chief military Minato clan, Yoritomo, received the title of Seii-tai-shogun, which means “barbarian-subduing generalissimo.” The Shogun became the real ruler of Japan, while the Emperor was only a figurehead-valued as the ultimate source of legitimacy, but became almost powerless.

Japanese feudalism was based on fiefs given to noble warriors for their performance of military duties for the lord. With the rise of feudalism came the development of “bushido” or the “Way of the Warrior.” Bushido was similar to the code of chivalry in medieval Europe. This bushido demanded that the Samurai warrior die fighting rather than surrender, because “death is lighter than a feather, but duty is weightier than a mountain.” Rather than surrender or accept disgrace, a Samurai was expected to commit suicide by seppuku, also known as hara-kiri.

A Samurai’s two outstanding virtues were an indifference to suffering or even death and a great capacity for unswerving personal loyalty.

The new warrior state was soon put to an epic test as Japan faced the only serious external threat in its history until 1945. The great Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan, whose absolute rule extended 5,000 miles from distant Kiev to the ports of Korea, mounted two powerful invasions of Japan. An initial invasion was beaten off in 1274, but he returned seven years later with the greatest armada the world would see until World War II: 4,000 ships carrying an army of 150,000 men. They secured a beachhead on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, where Japan’s warriors fought the invaders desperately for 53 days of almost uninterrupted battle, until a sudden typhoon nearly destroyed the Mongol fleet. Feeling this was divine intervention, the samurai wiped out the invading force. In Japanese history, this timely typhoon is called a “kamikaze” or “divine wind”-a name which was to become familiar six centuries later to the U.S. Navy.

Whatever the shortcoming of feudalism, there is little doubt that without the martial arts of the samurai, Japan would probably have lost to the massive Mongol invasion.

Thesis Statement: Comparative:Feudalism – Western Europe/Japan

______