JAPAN, KOREA, AND VIETNAM

The Spread of Chinese Civilization

Early Japan

Three important periods

Taika Period (645-710): Emperor admires all things Chinese

Nara Period (710-794): Heavy Buddhist influence in court

Heian Period (794-857): Emperor becomes a mere figurehead

Religion in Japan

Native religion: Shinto “The way of the gods” Worshiped kami: nature and its seen and unseen

forces Encourages obedience and proper behavior First important Japanese clan—Yamato—claimed

direct descent from the Shinto sun goddess (thus had a “Mandate from Heaven” to rule)

522 C.E. Buddhist missionaries arrive from China. Chinese influence will remain strong into the 9th

century. Buddhism coexisted with Shintoism—one could

practice both.

Taika Period: Apex of Chinese Influence in Japan

Success of Tang Dynasty inspired Japanese leaders646 C.E.—Taika Reforms

Attempt to reorganize Japanese government according to Chinese administrative styles

Calls for a central bureaucracy and a peasant conscript armyAristocrats and Buddhists resist Taika Reforms

Chinese-style bureaucracy relies on a scholar-gentry Confucianist scholar-gentry not embraced Birth more important than education Buddhism had been reworked (Zen) and, blended with

Shintoism, had become Japanese. Backlash against foreign influences.

Enter the Fujiwara

Emperor flees to Heian (Kyoto), 794 C.E. Buddhist power in court too strong

One particular monk tried to marry Empress Koken and claim the throne for himself!

Peasant support for Buddhism doomed the Emperor’s peasant-conscript army. Aristocrats force the emperor to restore their power.

They will dominate the central government, not the emperor and bureaucracy.

Block any social mobility; rank solely by birth As powerful landlords, they form rural militias.

Emperor reduced to a figurehead. Fujiwara clan intermarries with the emperor’s family and pretty much takes

over control of political affairs. Enacts Taiho Code (701-704): new laws based on Confucian system of strict

obedience to authority. (They borrowed what they could use while maintaining their established identity and way of life)

A Golden Age

The Imperial Court has no political power, so it focuses on culture at the Heian Court. Strict behavioral codes Palace and garden life

Pursuit of aesthetic enjoyment Avoidance of distasteful elements of life.

Poetry and literature admired Simpler script adapted from Chinese improved expression One thing about the Japanese: They maintained that they were the

greatest race on earth but were more than willing to borrow from others when it made them stronger.

Women were as cultured as men, even involved in palace intrigues and power struggles. Got it? A brief period of improvement for women! (Well, the wealthy/high-born ones, at least) Lady Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji depicts courtly life. (1st novel ever)

Feudal Japan

No powerful emperor, so power dispersed. By 12th century intermarriage had created a large pool

of noble families. 1192 C.E., Yoritomo Minamota given title of Shogun

(chief general) Aristocrats’ estates and Buddhist monasteries were

large and not completely unlike independent states. As Aristocrats vied against each other for power in the

vicinity of the capital, provincial land lords carved out little kingdoms of their own.

The Provincial Warrior Elite

Bushi—warrior leaders; governed and taxed for themselves, not the court.

Samurai—mounted soldiers loyal to local lords, not the emperor or aristocrats. Devoted lives to hunting and training. Often hired to protect the emperor and keep the peace in the

capital. Switched from longbows to curved steel swords in 12th

century Battles often hinged on duels of champions Lived according to a strict warrior code (Code of Bushido)

that included seppuku Peasants forced to feed Samurai

Ode of Yakomachi (8th century C.E.)

Note how the extract below describes the final sacrifice of a Samurai warrior for his lord.

Our ancestors have served the Sovereign and we too will serve him.

Leaving our bodies sodden on the high seas or rotting in the grass of the wild moor, we gladly die for our Liege Lord.

Our ancient name will be kept spotless With catalpa bow in hand and sword and dirk on thigh.

At dawn and even we stand to guard our Sovereign’s Gates.

Order of Real Power During the Feudal Age

Shogun: military ruler of JapanDaimyo: like European lords; part warrior,

part nobleSamurai: professional warriors who served to

protect their emperor and daimyo

Notice that the Emperor and regular folk don’t make the list!

Social Classes in Feudal Japan

Emperor: The center of loyalty for all Japanese even though the shogun ruled in his name

ShogunDaimyoSamuraiPeasants: farmers who were required to give a part of their crop

to their daimyo (like serfs)Artisans and craftsmen: their status was low but their work was

valuedMerchants: despised as unproductive money-grubbers, but could

become wealthy—and if they married into respected samurai families, could get some prestige

Outcasts: beggars, executioners, or hide-tanners (like Hindu untouchables)

Alike Different

Political structure Mutual ties and

obligations Land-for-loyalty

Social structureHonor code

Legal arrangement contract in Europe group identity and

loyalty in JapanTreatment of

women Chivalry in Europe Lost freedoms of

Fujiwara period in Japan

Compare and Contrast: Feudalism in Europe and Japan

Feudalism Means Civil Wars

From 12th century to early 17th century.Taira v. Minamoto (mid-12th century)

Gempei Wars, 1180-1185: destruction of TairaMinamoto establish a military government: bakufu,

under the Kamakura shoguns New ruler, Yoritomo, fears being betrayed: kills or exiles key

allies, even family. When he died, successors unable to check rising bushi lords.

The warrior family Hojo seize real power in the Kamakura shogunate, but leave Minamoto family in nominal charge.

Ashikaga Shogunate

Minamoto family grows and branches out.Ashikaga Takuaji, head of one of the branches, leads a bushi

revolt to overthrow the Kamakura and establish his own shogunate.

Emperor refuses to recognize Ashikaga, is forced from Kyoto into the mountains.

For most of the 1300s, the exiled emperors ally with several warlords to challenge the Ashikaga.

Ashikaga Shogunate rules from 1336-1572, but last hundred years was pretty shaky.

Onin War (1467-1477) between Ashikaga factions destroys central authority.

Japan divided into 300 kingdoms ruled by daimyo.

Life Under the Daimyo

Fortresses important (duh) Less “honorable”

Spies, sabotage, banditry, assassinations… Changing role for women

Until the 11th century, marriage patterns had been woman-centered: a husband either joined the family of his wife or lived seperatly from her and visited on certain nights.

Buddhist and Confucianist ideas slowly changed women’s status. Women barred from becoming government officials Share of land distributed by the government was set at 2/3 that of men. But on rare occasions women could rise to the top: Empresses Suiko (593-628) and

Shotuku (764-770). By the end of the 12th century, status and position declined.

Danger of warfare made it practical for only one person to inherit the family’s property, and that became the eldest or most able son.

Women lose property rights and become dependent upon men. Growth of towns and cities means more brothels and prostitution.

Onna Daiguku “Great Learning for Women”

A woman has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her lord and must serve him with all worship and reverence, not despising or thinking lightly of him. The great life-long duty of a woman is obedience. In her dealings with her husband both the expression of her countenance and the style of her address should be courteous, humble and conciliatory, never peevish and intractable, never rude and arrogant—that should be a woman’s first and chiefest care.

Note to self: Mrs. Crossen would NOT appreciate a copy of Onna Daiguku

Sinification in Korea

Trade between Koreans and Chinese as early as 4th century B.C.E.

109 B.C.E. Han conquer Korea, Chinese colonize the peninsula.

Buddhism spreadsAdoption of Chinese writing, learning, art, and

manufactured items (e.g. porcelain)Confucianism respected (but no scholar gentry)Although Buddhism appealed to common folk,

other forms of Sinification affected only the elite

Alike Different

Facilitated by Buddhism Declined to create a Chinese-

style state No power to a scholar gentry:

birth and family connections most important for government position

Most Sinification influenced only the elite

Korea touches China and had been conquered by it in the Han and Tang Eras. Japan is an island and was never conquered by the Chinese nor did it pay any tribute.

Longer period of contact

Sinification in Korea v. Sinification in Japan

Sinification in Vietnam

By the time the Chinese first encountered the Viets, the Viets had established their own distinctive culture. Spoken language not related to Chinese Villages autonomous Nuclear family (rather than extended family) Women had more freedom and influences

Han conquest brought changes Chinese administrators Chinese schools taught Chinese script and Confucian classics Exams required for administrative posts Chinese agricultural techniques improved food supply Government and military modeled off of Chinese

Resistance Aristocrats vie for influence over the peasantry. Tran sisters oppose male-dominated Confucian codes. Independence by 939 C.E.

Alike Different

Spoken language not related to Chinese

Although Vietnam borders southern China, like Japan it was far from the centers of Chinese power.

Village autonomy: no centralized state

Buddhism

Like Korea, Vietnam had been conquered by Chinese.

Viets adapted exams for administrative posts

Viets used Chinese military organization

Sinification in Vietnam v. Sinification in Japan

Wrap Up

Unlike China’s other nomadic neighbors, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were based on sedentary agriculture.

Chinese civilization influenced Japan, Korea, and Vietnam Writing, bureaucratic organization, Buddhism, art Each responded differently to elements of Sinification Except for Buddhism, Sinification was mostly for the elite Nearness to Chinese power centers a factor Japanese isolation allowed them to develop separate political

patternsChina, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were all preoccupied

with interaction within the east Asia, so they had limited awareness of larger world currents when compared with the global awareness in other major civilizations