Transcript 5.3 Chapter Lecture Notes

5.3 Notes: LIFE IN MEDIEVAL JAPAN
I. JAPANESE RELIGION AND CULTURE
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Chinese culture greatly influenced Japan. Many
Japanese artists, scribes, traders, and diplomats
visited China.
Japanese practiced both Shinto and Buddhism.
Shinto was about daily life, and Buddhism prepared
people for the afterlife. “You live a Shintoist and
die a Buddhist.”
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Pure Land Buddhism stressed a happy life
after death and Lord Amida, the Buddha of
love and mercy, created a paradise above the
clouds.
Zen Buddhism taught that people could find
inner peace through self-control and a simple
way of life. It focuses on meditation and
martial arts.
Which sect do you think the Samurai class followed and why?
What other religions have developed many sects?
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Japanese art and architecture reveals a love of
beauty and simplicity. Wooden items coated in
lacquer (shiny coating), landscape paintings,
calligraphy, origami and tea ceremonies.
ORIGAMI ART
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Shinto shrines followed Japanese styles and were
very simple and built near nature. Buddhist
temples followed Chinese styles and were richly
decorated.
The Japanese adopted the Chinese writing style
using characters. But, they added symbols that
stood for sounds. They practiced calligraphy.
8. The Japanese wrote poems (tanka and haiku),
stories, and plays. The Tale of Genji, a novel
written by Murasaki Shikibu, was about a
Japanese prince and upper class life in AD 1000.
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II. ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
Once the shoguns took power, very few people benefited
while the emperor, the nobles, and the top military
officials got rich. Women lost freedom under the
shoguns.
2. Most people remained poor peasants who farmed daimyo
estates and artisans who made goods.
3. Advances in irrigation improved farming and lives got
better. Artisans began producing more products such as
textiles, paper, and metal goods. The economy and trade
grew. Artisans and merchants formed guilds to protect
their profits.
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