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Kristin SzaboJAPN305PAINTER5-18-11

Cultural Diffusion

The diffusion of the foundations of Chinese culture that came to make up

Japan is an example of what defines Japanese culture today. It is important to

assess where the Japanese culture originates as the Japanese would like to

retain they are a uniquely homogenous society today. Throughout history Japan

has borrowed from many cultures, mainly China and has also tried to maintain its

own cultural identity. This paper seeks to establish historically in the most

accurate way possible where, when, and why Japan was affected and made

such decisions concerning its culture and society.

Even before significant cultural relations with China, Japan (known before

centralization as Wa), had a long history of culture and had established its own

society. While Japan had had influences from immigrants in the earlier centuries

from the mainland Asia, Japan for the most part developed on its own. Japan

was a decentralized country of clans; each clan was distinct in that they

worshiped their own deity, whom the warrior aristocracy claimed descent from.

The clans even had their own caste system and there was a small minority of

slaves possibly that of immigrants from the mainland. The people at the time had

developed metallurgy and pottery. The people of Yayoi and the Kofun period had

also created ways using tattoos and makeup to separate the elite from the

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peasantry. Women shared a similar role to men; the society at the time was

thought to be more matriarchal. The people who lived in Japan did not have to

wander in search of food and thus the clans had developed to stay stationary

because they could live off fishing and farming. This development probably gave

women more power as they were not restricted to gathering food, bearing and

taking care of children all the time. Many clans were led or advised by Shaman,

and many of the Shamans had been women. Some of the most famous

Shamans were the famous Queen Himiko and the Empress Jingu, who both may

have existed around the 3rd to 4th century, and may or may have not been the

same person.

Shintoism, the religion unique to Japan was founded and developed

sometime during the 3rd century in the late Yayoi period to early Kofun period

and served as an explanation for the mysteries of life, nature and how people

came to be. Shintoism is unique in that practitioners believe that there is energy

or “soul” to everything in existence, especially nature. Inside plants, animals,

trees, rocks, for instance, live the spirits of gods called kami who the people

worship and fear. Shintoism is one of the reasons Japan began to centralize and

unite. One of the clans, the Yamato clan was an influential clan who had settled

in Ise, claimed that their leader was descended from the Sun Goddess

Amaterasu. The Yamato clan would become the ancestral line to Emperors of

Japan.

By 522 C.E. Shintoism was firmly established in Japan. In 553 C.E.,

emissaries from Baekje i brought Buddhism in the form of a bronze statue of

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Buddha and sacred texts of Buddha’s teachings to the emperor of Japan as gifts.

Baekje was one of the three warring Kingdoms of modern day north and South

Korea, they had a long standing relationship with Japan. Japan had become a

tributary state to China sometime early on in its history (and had continued a

relationship through trade and immigrants), the Wei Zhi, a historical chronicle in

China describes a tributary relationship with Japan. It goes into great detail about

Wa, Japan’s name at the time and Queen Himiko, a great shaman leader in

Japan during the 3rd century. Japan did not record its history until the Kojiki and

Nihon Shoki, neither of which was completed until around the 8th century. China

and Korea had been recording its relations with Japan long before however much

of the history was debated and some of it was left out in the Nihon Shoki. Notably

Queen Himiko was thought to be a myth or politics wrote her out historically.

Japan had great interest in measuring up to China by 553 C.E. when the

emissaries from Baekje brought Buddhism to the country. The leaders of Japan

wanted to create a stronger more centralized nation because they were awed by

the power and bureaucracy of Han China whom they had interactions with

throughout the centuries as they had always been the “eastern barbarians”. In

592 C.E., Prince Shoutoku Taishi as regent declared Buddhism a state religion

and the people who were firmly rooted in Shintoism were forced to syncretize the

two religions if they were to accept them.

With the introduction of Buddhism followed the cultural diffusion of China.

Buddhism although originally from India had many followers and a history in

China. Religious texts in Chinese were imported to Japan as well as many

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literature and legal texts. It is generally agreed that in this point in history Japan

had no written language. This prompted the country to borrow and modify the

Chinese characters so in attempt to understand the texts. So in 405 C.E. the

Japanese court officially adopted the Chinese writing system. Not only did

having a writing system allow them to understand and study Chinese religion,

history, literature and so on; it also allowed Japan to eventually develop a more

centralized political system under the Japanese emperor.

Japan not only adopted Buddhism as a philosophy and religion it also took

on Confucian ideals that influenced the country for many centuries. Buddhism

and Confucianism are important aspects of the Chinese culture. “As a systematic

belief system, Buddhism forced the local Japanese religions, [Shintoism] which

were less coherent systems, to define themselves in relation to Buddhism.

Confucianism, a systematic religious belief system, had a lot to say about

governance and society and proved attractive for the Japanese.” (Perez, 1998)

Confucianism came along with Buddhism in the first of the Chinese

influence into Japan between the 6th and 9th centuries. Buddhism however was

much more dominant and took hold on the people and the imperial court.

Though, Confucianism survived as a philosophy into the late 19th century and

remains even so today as an important impact on Japanese thought and values.

This much is evident in everyday thought, whether or not Confucianism is the

main perpetrator there is reason enough to believe that is one of the main

reasons that the Japanese society shifted from a matriarchal society to a

patriarchal society.

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Buddhism became so prominent in Japan that the

monks held power over the public officials and the

Emperor. Nara the capital as the time had been the center

of Buddhism; even today remnants of that effect can be

seen in temples like Todaiji that still stand. In the 8th century, 794 CE, the

Emperor made the decision to move the capital to what is now known as Kyoto in

order to move the seat of government away from the Buddhist priests influence in

affairs of government. The capital at the time was named Heian-kyo.

Interestingly, both Kyoto and Nara were both constructed after Chinese city

planning models. For instance, the cities were divided up to be very geometric

and the fields and irrigation systems where they did their agriculture were also

very geometric.

The Japanese Imperial Court adopted not only things like architecture,

(especially in Kyoto and Nara), and city-planning, the court also borrowed

Chinese models of bureaucracy, for instance titles, ranks and functions,

especially modeled after Confucian principles as that became a part of Japanese

society and thought. The creation and use of a road system, what was known as

the nakasendo which was created to

accelerate communication, connect cities

and control rebelling localities was also a

significant feature of this borrowed

planning.

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Emperor Koutoku, the successor to Prince Shoutoku who declared Buddhism as

a state religion in 592, himself implemented what is known as the Taika Reforms

in 646. The Japanese government was to be reorganized on the model of T’Ang

government. This Taika Reforms included land reforms which were to bring

about greater centralization of the country and more power to the imperial court.

It was during these reforms especially that Emperor Koutoku sent envoys and

missionaries to China to learn everything about the culture Japan could borrow

and assimilate.

The Heian period (794 to 1185) in Japan is thought to be the height of

Chinese cultural influences as well as the spread of Buddhist and Confucian

values. It is also the period of time Japan ended ties as a Tributary state with

T’Ang China in the 800’s; however Japan continued to send people on missions

and to trade with China.

Writing was initially a technical process and not used for prose or

mandates. In the 9th century, a monk by the name of

Kuukai, is credited with having created modern day

kana, two of the written alphabets (hiragana and

katakana), used to convey Japanese sounds.

Originally the Japanese language in written form was

modeled after Chinese and adopted to fit the Japanese speaking language. The

Japanese written language looked very much like Chinese in that it consisted of

kanji, the complex characters that represented ideas entirely. However, Kuukai

felt that the Japanese language was not suited for such a convoluted style and

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took parts from the characters (known as manyougana), that would become part

of the Japanese sounds system of kana.

It eventually evolved so that people would write about court life and

people would write, read and create Japanese poetry waka and tanka. The

Japanese had begun by studying the literature of the Chinese and the Chinese

style poetry and then made it their own. Murasaki Shikibu (approx.. 973-

1014/1025) and Sei Shonagon (966-1017) are some of the court ladies noted in

Heian for writing using the new kana and promoting writing for Japanese.

Murasaki is credited with writing one of the oldest novels in the world, “The Tale

of Genji”, which is about the son of an Emperor who is reduced to commoner

status and about his often romantic adventures and life during the Heian period.

Sei Shonagon wrote, “The Pillow Book”, which is a collection of musings,

happenings at court, and poetry during the Heian period. One of the most famous

poetry compilations to come from Classical Japan that was compiled sometime

around the Heian period was the Manyoushuu. This compilation consisted of

Japanese tanka that was more Japanese stylistically than it was modeled after

Chinese literature and poetry. The poetry was also written by many people of all

walks of life over hundreds of years and reflected more Shinto teachings in the

writing overall. The influence of Confucianism and the Chinese aesthetic in the

early literature, especially in the Manyoushuu is especially evident in these early

written works.

In the Heian period, the Japanese also began turning away from Chinese

ideals and started trying to maintain more of Japanese feel this is evident when

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people began creating Japanese poetry, literature and art. However when Japan

became an isolationist state in the Tokugawa period, Tokugawa threw out all of

the outside influences, (like missionaries), and effectively banned any outside

influences from coming in. It was during this period many things that are

inherently a Japanese creation took place because no outside influences were

taking place. It is during this period that the inception of many of the things one

thinks of when one thinks of Japan came about. For instance, the use of the

geisha, kabuki, Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints), and haiku are entirely

Japanese creation and are not influenced by any outside inspirations. Although

ikebana, tea ceremony, and forms of painting and sculpture are Japanese and

were developed throughout the Tokugawa period, they were influenced by things

like Buddhism.

Currently Japan does not seem to like China or Korea really, although

interestingly recently they seem to like their pop stars. Japan seems to seem

China especially as a form of economic competition than as a country to emulate.

Japan might not openly acknowledge that in the end, China, Korea and Japan

are really related and connected- however that does not change the countries

sense of pride. But it likes America! Ever since the Meiji period when it started

opening up to the world Japan has been westernizing itself while still retaining

some of its traditional values. This is evident in the clothing, abuse of the English

language, and so on. However Japan has had a recent interesting history with

Nationalism.

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Ever since Japan reopened its doors to the world in Meiji, Japan found it

had much to compete with if it was to catch up with the world. The leaders of

Japan tried to promote the idea of a national united Japan to its people, also in

order to appear a strong equal nation with the world. In the Taisho period Japan

became more fervent with the desire concerning Nationalism because of the

world and its imperialists. Japan sought to expand its land and failed. Everything

after that leading up to World War II was a fascist reasoning to support warfare,

imperialism, and industrialism. With that sort of thought, the country built up this

sort of mindset that it indeed deserved what it sought because it was different or

better than all the rest. And the reason it lasted so long was because the people

really believed for the most part and followed in those ideals. Thus nowadays

Japan is rebooting in light of those nationalistic thoughts as well as dealing with

an ever-changing world. Japan also has to deal with a contradictory, long history

that seeks to adopt and adapt from many cultures and religions.

Japan while a very unique country with a long history has adopted and

adapted much from the Chinese culture. Even before it was a tributary state to

China it was a unique culture that was filled with clans and unique deities.

However, much of modern Japan’s foundation is most certainly because of what

it borrowed from China whether it worked or not. Much of that influence is still

seen in its own developed way today. Japan while it acknowledges those

connections and origins would assert that something or someone Japanese

would mean that there is much cultural exclusivity to be had with that. However, it

should probably be understood that Japan has indeed had much foreign

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guidance in the formation of the culture that is known today.

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Maya Stolzenberg.

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i Sometimes romanized Paekje