Medieval Japan Notes!!!
Name: ______Period: _____
Section One: Geography and Early Japan
1. The first people in Japan were called the ______.
2. In early Japanese villages, ______, or extended families, ran things.
3. They believed that each clan chief was descended by ______, or nature spirits. All things in nature made them up.
4. These beliefs would someday become part of the religion of ______. Its kind of like what the ancient Africans believed, but with differences!
5. Japanese gods are called ______-kami!
6. The biggest clan in the earliest days was the ______clan. According to their legends, they believed they were descended from the god of the sun! They were the first emperors of Japan!
7. The Japanese didn’t have their own form of writing. They picked up a form of writing from the countries of ______and ______.
8. Japanese writing is made up of hundreds of ______that stand for different things.
9. A big fan of Chinese ideas was ______. He wanted to bring all the Chinese ideas in that he could!
10. He was a ______, or a person who rules a country for someone who is unable to rule alone. (in this case, his aunt, who was empress!)
11. Prince Shotoku even brought the religion of ______to Japan.
Section Two: Art and Culture in Heian
1. HEIAN is the now the modern day city of ______in Japan. The Japanese moved their capital there in 794 AD!
2. The ______, or wealthy landowners, followed their rulers there, and sponsored much art!
3. A ______is a group of nobles who live together in one place and give advice to the Emperor.
4. Describe some of the art forms that came out of Heian at this time:
5. One of the most famous writers of the Heian times was ______, a woman who wrote history’s first full-length novel!
6. She wrote the ______, sort of like the first real “romance novel.”
7. Draw a quick sketch of what Japanese architecture looked like!:
8. A fancy type of handwriting called ______was used as an art form, mixing it with paintings!
9. A type of dancing and acting that used elaborate masks by actors. It is called ______.
10. ______said that for people to find wisdom, they should practice self-discipline and meditation, or quiet thinking. The Japanese built beautiful rock-gardens to help them do this.
11. One form of writing was a kind of poetry called a ______. It has a certain amount of syllables in it and usually talks about nature.
Section 3: Growth of a Military Society
1. Large landowners were called ______, or lords. They ruled their own areas of land.
2. To protect their land, they hired professional warriors called ______.
3. The word “samurai” comes from the Japanese word for ______.
4. A ______is someone who looks like they are ruling, even though they really don’t! Someone else rules behind the scenes and uses that person to rule.
5. A ______is a general who ruled Japan in the Emperor’s name. (The emperor was a FIGUREHEAD!
6. Draw the social pyramid of medieval Japan:
7. The samurai code of rules and how to behave was called the ______. It means “WAY OF THE WARRIOR!”
8. Samurai would commit ritual suicide if they were dishonorable or were defeated in combat. This is called ______.
9. A ______is a samurai with NO Daimyo, or master!
10. The most famous samurai of all-time was called ______.
11. In the 1500’s, new leaders rose up and wanted to unite Japan! The most powerful lord was a man named ______.
12. After ______died, another shogun will take over and unite Japan under one empire! That man’s name was ______, and he formed the ______.
13. Just like China did, Japan would turn away from the rest of the world. They preferred to be alone and by themselves in the world, trading with no one. This behavior is called ______.