Transcript History 103: World History I

History 381: Early Japan &
Korea
Early, Classical, and Medieval
Japan and Korea
Japan
•
•
•
Geographical
insularity and
cultural identity
Geography: the sea
and soil and the
development of
agriculture
Modern Japan;
beginnings of
society, Yayoi
culture

Ties with Korea and Tomb Builders
• Late Yayoi culture and its connections to Korea; Chinese
accounts of early Japan
• Mythical Histories
• The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters); the Nihongi
(History of Japan); the creation myths: Izanagi and
Izanami, Amaterasu; Ninigi; the three imperial regalia;
Jimmu and Yamato; Himiko the priestess; the Ainu
minority and intermarriage; iron tools; continued early
connections with Korea
• The Uji
• Uji (tribal clans); the Yamato state and consolidation of
the uji system; the religious and political role of
leadership; Japanese animism and nature’s kami
(divine spirit); Shinto
The Link with China
• The introduction of
Buddhism from Korea
• The adoption of the Tang
China model in Japan
• Soga patronage and Prince
Shotoku; the Seventeen
Article Constitution and
hierarchical status;
embassies to China

Taika, Nara, and Heian
• Rebellion and the rise of the Fujiwara clan; the pro-China
Taika Reforms
• Implementation of the Chinese sociopolitical system;
centralization; the move to Nara (710)
• Nara the city; the dominant role of Buddhism; the move to
Heian (794); the divine nature of the Japanese emperor and
his role in politics; court efforts to replicate Tang China
culture
• Hereditary aristocracy and rural administration; the
expansion of state control; Japan’s general poverty and
barter economy; rejection of China’s exam system and its
meritocratic (status based on merit) institutions
Chinese and Buddhist Art
• Hereditary aristocracy and the heavy influx of
Buddhist art; the Japanization of styles; Horyuji;
Todaiji
Buddhism and Literacy
•The impact of Buddhism on Japanese culture:
cremation, vegetarianism; religious beliefs
•Shinto and Buddhism; Buddhist sects: Shingon and
Tendai; the adoption of China’s writing system in
Japan
•The stimulation of education; the Kojiki, Nihongi,
and Fudoki
•the decline of the Tang China model; reassertions of
indigenous Japanese culture; the concentration of
land in private estates

The Shoen System
• The rise of shoen (private estates)
• Court protection of shoen interests
• Dominance of the shoen and the decline of central
authority; the failing political power of the emperor
Heian Culture
Economic and cultural
development; the shoen
and development of the
outer regions; the
application of the Chinese
model to the outer
regions; self-cultivation
and refinement: clothing;
The Pillow Book (Sei
Shōnagon)
Heian Culture
Murasaki Shikibu
(Lady Murasaki)
Background;
talents, education;
The Tale of
Genji—a literary
masterpiece
Art and Gardens
• Japanese-styled art: painting, architecture; gardens
as microcosms of the natural world; the connections
between Japanese gardens and those of China
Kana and Monastic Armies
• The use of kana (phonetic symbols) and Chinese
characters; Pure Land Buddhism; monastic and shoen
armies and warfare; the rise of the samurai class
Pressures on the Environment
• Population figures; the spread of cultivation; city-building
and demands for wood; deforestation; wood shortages and
traditional Japanese architecture and homes; shipbuilding and
sculpture; ecology
The Kamakura
Period
The Minamoto;
samurai and
feudalism; the shogun
and feudal lords; the
failed Mongol
invasions; the decline
of the Kamakura; GoDaigo; the role of
women

Ashikaga Japan
• Political weakness and the loss of central control; piracy;
political unrest; a time of cultural blossoming: Zen
Buddhism, architecture, painting, literature, the tea
ceremony, Noh drama; civil war

Maritime Contacts Between Medieval Japan and the
Continent
• During Ashikaga era Japan infamous for piracy until
Ashikaga shoguns establish tributary relations with the
Ming; Ashikaga shoguns work to curtail piracy and
increase official trade with China and Korea (Yi Dynasty);
by mid-sixteenth century trade falls into disorder and
inland sea daimyo restart sponsored piracy.
Korea
• The Siberian origins of the Korean people; Chinese
influence; the Han occupation and Chinese culture; Korean
independence
Paekche, Silla, and Koguryo
• Selective adoption of the Chinese model of
civilization; Korea’s hereditary aristocracy; the rise
and splendor of Silla; han’gul
• Koryo; the Chinese model and Chinese art; civil
war; the Mongol conquest
• The Yi Dynasty
Yi Korea
•Adoption of the Confucian system; the yangban
elites; distinct Korean culture; printing; perfection of
han’gul; bureaucratic factionalism; Hideyoshi’s
invasion; political decline and economic development