Chapter 13

P. 283 A shogun was a military leader in Japan A ronin was a warrior who had no leader

Honour was the most important thing to a warrior – imp. enough to give your life for

This is best shown in the story of the “47 Ronin”

Power and Control

“to understand the story of the 47 ronin is to understand Japan”

This story takes place during the “Edo” or “Tokugawa” time period in Japan

“Edo” was present-day Tokyo

Before this time, the Japanese people were constantly fighting

The “nobles” were known as daimyo

“Tokugawa” is a title given to the leaders, just like the words “King” or “Lord”

Tokugawa Ieyasu

1603: Ieyasu defeated a rival daimyo in a great battle

The Emperor made him a shogun, and gave him tremendous power

His goal was to keep his power by creating a stable gov’t

He spread the land and power to lords around Japan; this helped control the other daimyo

Change:

1. Hostages: Daimyo were forced to live in Edo every second year, without their family. They were held as a kind of “hostage” in case their family planned an uprising

2. Shared power: there was a federal gov’t called the “Shogunate,” and many local ones run by daimyo

3. Strict Laws: the daimyo’s clothes, marriages, and money was controlled; they were forced to pay for things like building roads

-other laws: p. 286

*all of these laws were meant to take away some of the power from the daimyos, so that they could not revolt

Feudalism, again...

The feudal hierarchy was based on land: lords became rich from the work of peasants

The goal of a hierarchy is always control Each class was hereditary – passed on

through families by birth

The Samurai

Well-respected Lived with their shogun (leader) Only they were allowed to have swords There were ranks of samurai – the

lowest were “ronin” who had no masters Weren’t allowed to trade or sell – lived

simple lives

Page 290: The Way of the Warrior Seppuku – a ritual suicide performed by

samurai

Peasants

Mostly farmers Were worked extremely hard Laws controlled everything they did No tobacco, no wine, needed

permission to travel

Artisans

Artists and craftspeople Son`s were forced to take after their

fathers Made paper, porcelains, containers,

clocks, pans, etc. Had a lower status than an peasant

Merchants

Bought and sold from artisans and farmers

Shipped food and materials A lot like bankers Bottom of the social order Gov`t spies reported a merchant who

showed off wealth, or criticized the gov`t

Women

Performed duties depending on what class they were born into

Women living in the country had more freedom

Worked in the home, and also did labour Considered ``lower`` than men Not allowed to own property

Outcasts

Shunned by most of society because of their work, which usually involved death

Ex: Leather tanners, butchers, people who deal with dead bodies

Could not live in society, change jobs, enter homes, or be in the city after 8pm

Example: the Ainu people

Honour & Duty

Social control – rules and customs meant to control people’s behaviour; aims to maintain order

Teaching of Confucius taught society class distinctions

Confucius

Chinese scholar Taught morals – how to live “right” Teachings brought to Japan by Buddhist

monks Taught that everyone had a role in

society Everyone accepts this = peace

people rebel = chaos

Encouraged people to be modest, and work/study hard

Rules for proper behaviour and compassion

Golden rule: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”

Taught about 5 basic relationships (p.296)

Filial piety – faithfulness and devotion to parents

p. 297 – Social Uniformity

p. 298 – Edo values in modern Japan

Group responsibility & Shame Samurai were masters of the lower classes They divided the people up into “families”

called goningumi People were expected to help each other. Each person is responsible for the group’s

behaviour If one person disobeyed, the group was

punished

First Contact with the West Portuguese were one of the first

countries to travel far by ocean 1543: a Portuguese trading ship was

wrecked off the coast of Japan They soon found out their cultures were

very different The Japanese called them the

“Southern Barbarians”

New Beliefs

Francis Xavier (a priest) soon arrived to convert the Japanese to Christianity

More missionaries soon followed

Both religions were somewhat similar:

1. Both had ethical codes – rules about “right” and “wrong” behaviour

Ex: stealing and murder are wrong

But they were also quite different:

1. The Christian idea of one god was quite different than the Japanese beliefs

2. Japanese = loyal to leaders

Christian = loyal to God