Emergence of Japan
By: Ellison and LeAndra Dave
Geography Sets Japan Apart
- Japan is located on an chain of islands
- Four-Fifths of the land is too mountainous to farm
- Japanese isolated themselves from foreign influences
- Seas served as trade routes
- Japan lies in the Ring of Fire
Early Traditions
- Early Japanese society was divided into clans (uji)
- Some clan leaders were women and enjoyed a respected position
- Early Japanese clans honored Kami ( or superior powers)
- Korean artisans and metalworkers brought sophisticated skills and technology
Japan looks to China
- Chinese visitors spent a year negotiating, trading,and studying
- In 710 Japanese empire built a new capital(Nara)
- Japanese wrote in Japanese , cooked Chinese dishes, and used/participated in Chinese pottery, tea drinking,gardens, music and dance
- Japanese kept some Chinese ways but discarded others (selective borrowing)
The Heian Period
- Blending of Cultures from 794 to 1185
- Elegant and Sophisticated culture
- Heian women produced the most important works of Japanese literature
- The best know hand writer was Murasaki Shikibu who made The Tale of Genji(the world's first full length novel)
- Heian poems and romances had a sense of sadness
Warriors Establish Feudalism
- Japan established Feudalism
- The shogun distributed land to vassal lords who in turn supported him with their armies
- Daimyo granted land to samurai
- The samurai developed their own code of values called bushido
- some noblewomen in Japanese feudal society trained in the military arts
- peasants made up 75% of the population
- The cultivated rice and other crops and also served as foot soldiers
- Merchants had the lowest ranks and artisans provided weapons for the samurai
The Tokugawas Unite Japan
- The Tokugawa shoguns maintained the outward forms of feudal society and imposed central government control on Japan
- Created a unified orderly society
- Had a centralized feudalism
- A daimyo's family had to remain in Edo full time
- Shogun also forbid daimyo to repair their castles or marry without permission
- Food surplus supported rapid population growth
- Trade flourished within Japan
- Japanese Merchants gained influence by lending money to daimyo and samurai
Zen Buddhism Shapes Culture
- Zen emphasized self reliance, meditation, and devotion to duty
- Zen Buddhists believed that people could seek enlightenment through medication and precise performance
- Zen reverence for nature influenced the development of fine landscape paintings
Artistic Traditions Change
- Urban Cultures emphasized luxuries and pleasures
- Towns gave rise to a new form of drama: Kabuki
- Japanese paintings often reflected the influence of Chinese landscape paintings
- Urban culture produced colorful woodblock prints to satisfy middle-class tastes
Summary:
- Japan Gets isolated by geography
- Japanese visitors selectively borrow Chinese Culture
- Japan Establishes Feudalism