Transcript Life in Medieval Japan

Life in Medieval Japan
Daily Lesson and Discussion Notes: 5-3
Objectives:
 Discuss how religion shaped
Japanese culture
 Describe how Japanese men
prospered while women lived
restricted lives
Objective 1:
 Discuss how religion shaped
Japanese culture
I. Japanese Religion and Culture
(pages 310-312)
A. During
the Middle
Ages,
Japanese
people
practiced
both Shinto
and
Buddhism.
B. By the time it reached Japan, Buddhism had
divided into different sects, or smaller religious
groups.
C. Pure Land
Buddhism was a
sect of Mahayana
Buddhism. Its
message is about
a happy life after
death.
D. Zen Buddhism is another important sect of
Buddhism brought to Japan from China. Zen teaches
that people can find inner peace through self-control
and a simple way of life. Martial arts and meditation
are practiced in Zen Buddhism.
E. Japanese art
reveals the people’s
love of beauty and
simplicity. Art in
the Middle Ages
included wooden
items coated in
lacquer, landscape
paintings, folded
paper called
origami, and tea
ceremonies.
F. Japanese buildings were influenced by Chinese or
Japanese styles. Shinto shrines followed the Japanese
style; Buddhist temples followed the Chinese style.
G. The Japanese borrowed and adapted the Chinese
style of writing using characters. Calligraphy, the art
of writing beautifully, was important in Japan.
H. The
tanka is
Japan’s
oldest
form of
poetry.
I. Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of
Genji, the story of a Japanese prince.
J. Noh plays
taught Buddhist
ideas and were
performed on a
bare stage by
actors in robes and
masks.
Objective 1: Discuss how religion
shaped Japanese culture
 In medieval Japan, several forms of
Buddhism, along with Shinto, were
practiced. These religions affected
Japanese art, architecture, novels,
and plays.
Objective 2:
 Describe how Japanese men
prospered while women lived
restricted lives
II. Economy and Society
(pages 314-315)
A. Very few people
benefited from Japan’s
wealth under the
shoguns. Most people
in Japan remained
poor.
B. Japanese farmers worked hard to grow rice,
wheat, millet, and barley. In the 1100s, advances
in irrigation and crops allowed them to grow
more food and their lives improved.
C. Artisans made weapons, armor, and tools for
merchants to sell. As trade increased, artisans began
making pottery, paper, textiles, and lacquered items.
D. Kyoto, the capital of Japan, was a major center
of production and trade. Many guilds, or groups,
of artisans and merchants were located there.
E. Japanese extended families included grandparents,
parents, and children, with a man heading the
family. Women were expected to obey their father,
their husband, and their sons.
Japanese courtiers
 Heian nobles at
the Kyoto court
led a life focused
on beauty and
manners, guided
by an intense
courtly code
called “miyabi.”
Miyabi stressed appearance,
restraint, and decorum.

It was thought
horribly rude to
laugh with one’s
mouth open.
While eating,
court nobles never
touched food with
their hands and
avoided ever
letting another
diner see their
mouths.
Perfume
 Men made their
own perfume,
and the famous
nobles were
known by their
individual
scents.
Peer Pressure
 Rules of clothing
were so closely
followed that a
woman would be
shamed and
ostracized if one of
the 12 layers of
thin silk gowns she
wore had a sleeve 1
inch longer than
the customary
length.
The perfect face
 Round and white
with a tiny mouth
was the ideal.
 Both sexes applied
liberal amounts of
white powder to
their faces.
 Women used
lipstick in an
attempt to make
their mouths look
smaller.
Black teeth were “in”
 All women and many
men blackened their
teeth with an iron
substance.
 Women shaved their
eyebrows and painted
two small black
artificial eyebrows
high on their
foreheads.
Men wore pointy beards on the tips of
their chin, and sometimes mustaches
Hair styles
 Women grew
their hair as long
as possible, with
the ideal being
to have locks
that were longer
than the person
was tall.
No “Sleeping Beauty”
 People were advised
to sleep only at night
so no one would see
them asleep because
they were believed to
be uglier when lying
down.
Heian calligraphy
 Sometimes
letters would be
returned unread
if the paper had
been folded
improperly or if
the handwriting
was considered
unrefined.
Pastimes at court
 “go” board game
 Kick ball (a.k.a. hackey sack)
Landscape painting was popular
 Influenced by
Chinese culture
 Memorization of
Chinese poetry
 Writing poetry was
a favorite form of
writing (especially
about the fragile
beauty in nature).
F. Despite their lack of freedom, some women
made important contributions to Japanese culture.
During the time of Shotoku, wealthy women could
be rulers and own property, but women lost these
freedoms after the samurai and daimyo took
control.
G. Marriages were
arranged by parents, but
in farming families
women had more
control over whom they
married.
Objective 2: Describe how Japanese
men prospered while women lived
restricted lives
 During the time of the shoguns,
Japan’s economy grew stronger. In
the family, women lost some of their
freedoms as Japan became a warrior
society.