Transcript Japan and Southeast Asia

Japan and Southeast Asia
SSWH0.
Time and Geography
Very Early Japan
• Japanese are a very homogenous people;
this played a major role in its history
• Unsure where first settlers came from
• By first millennium BCE, Jomon people
were living on the islands
RELIGIOUS
Buddhism and Shinto
• Buddhism
– Zen and Nichiren sects developed after arriving from
Korea
– Buddhism gave religion broader, nobler intellectual
content
– Zen emphasized meditation techniques
• Shinto, “The Way of the Gods”
– Close to Chinese Daoism
– Combination of animism, worship of great deities
– Optimistic, guilt-free world view with no theology,
sacred book, or concept of heaven and hell
Early Government and
Administration
• Beginning of organized large-scale government
in Yamato period
• Yamato clan claimed descent from Sun
Goddess, founded imperial family
• Buddhism became religion of upper class
Mahayana Buddhism
officially introduced to
Japan in 538
POLITICAL
Early Government and
Administration
• 17-point Constitution written in
604, stated what a government
and loyal citizenry ought to do
• Used Chinese government
model with village as
foundation unit
• Japanese were confident to
pick and choose what they
would adopt
Shotoku Taishi, the leader
responsible for the 17-point
constitution
Nara and Heian periods
710-1185
• First capital built at Nara
• Buddhism began steady transformation to popular
religion
• Imperial court moved to Kyoto in 794
• Contacts with China, Korea strictly limited
Nara and Heian periods
710-1185
• Government became struggle
between all-powerful emperor and
decentralized feudal lords
– Emperors reduced to ceremonial
figures
– Fujiwara clan became power behind
the throne
• Shogunate – true head of
government was shogun (military
commander)
• Warriors (bushi, or samurai) rose
in power, with their code of
conduct (bushido)
Shogunate
Kamakura Period
1185-1333
• Complete domination by samurai and their
overlords
• Shoen: parcels of productive land, villages
– Exempt from central government taxation
– Shiki: privately-held rights to their use and income
– Not unusual for shoen to have 3-5 lords
Kamakura Period
1185-1333
• Bakufu: military government under shogun
– Shogun was independent true ruler of Japan
– Bakufu able to defeat Mongol invasion attempts
AESTHETIC
Arts and Culture in Medieval Japan
• Japanese and Chinese languages are radically
different
• First Japanese books
– Chronicles of Japan
– Records of Ancient Matters
• World’s first novel. Tale of Genji
– Tells great deal about aristocracy
– Genji and Pillow Book were Japanese books, no
foreign models
– Both books written by women
Arts and Culture in Medieval Japan
• Poetry was special strength
• Japanese painting
– Great sense of design, draftsmanship
– Nature scenes, lively portraiture
• Great attention to cultivation of beauty; life was to be
enjoyed
Japanese painting
RELIGIOUS
Arts and Culture in Medieval Japan
• Buddhist evolution
– Buddhist sects emphasized
salvation through faith alone
– Zen Buddhism insisted on
meditation alone to purify the
mind
• Became most influential of all
Buddhist worship forms
• Underlay Japanese
interpretation of beauty, truth
Zen Buddhist monk meditating
POLITICAL
Ashikaga Shogunate
1336-1573
• Ashikaga clan were shoguns, ruling daimyo (local
nobles)
• Culmination of Japanese feudalism, period of bloody
wars
• Contacts with China
– Especially close in trade
– Japanese pirates, smugglers also active
• Korea
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Mediated China-Japan trade
Had fallen into Chinese control, but with autonomy
Government was feudal division of king, local lords
Conquered by Mongols
Early Southeast Asian States
• Enormous and varied area
– Burma, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and
Philippine Islands
– History of independent political organization until modern times when
they became European colonies (except Thailand)
– Mainland Southeast Asians descended from Turco-Mongolian
language group
– Islanders descended from Austronesian languages
– Racial diversity
– Chinese influence based on military, diplomacy
– India’s influence through trade, culture, philosophy
Early Southeast Asian States
• Funan and Champa
– Funan, Mekong River delta, conquered by Khmers
– Champa, central Vietnam
– Both kingdoms strongly influenced by Hindu Indians
Kampuchea and Sri Vijaya
• Kampuchea
– Khmers were politically dominant group
– Kampuchea was greatest of ancient mainland
kingdoms
– Wealth based on wet-rice agriculture
– Taxation to build Angkor Wat temple may have
contributed to its decline
Flag-map of Democratic
Kampuchea
Kampuchea and Sri Vijaya
• Sri Vijaya
– Controlled much of insular
region
– Focused on controlling
Malacca Straits trade route
– Indian conquest brought
organization, expansion
Majapahit
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Only indigenous empire to unify all of Indonesia
Trading, commercial venture
Last great Hindu kingdom in southeast Asia
Failed when aggressive Islam arrived
Burma and Thailand
• Burma
– Burmese kingdom centered on religious shrines at
Pagan
– Governing class adopted Hinayana Buddhism
– Empire destroyed by Mongols
• Thailand
– Government centered at Ayuthaya
– Mongols allowed Thais to be tributaries rather than
conquering them
– Chakri Dynasty created most stable, administratively
advanced state in southeast Asia
Vietnam
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Often-rebellious subjects of China
Han ruler made Nam viet into a Chinese province
Next 1000 years, imperial appointees governed it
Mahayana Buddhism became dominant faith
Had only southeast Asian writing based on Chinese
Independent state in 939, paying tribute to China
Even Mongols were repelled
Maintained resistance against new Chinese
invasions
Discussion Questions
1.
2.
Japan from the Nara Period until the 19th century was
ruled as a shogunate, with a figurehead emperor.
Where else have you studied a system where true
power was in military hands? What was different
about the Japanese experience? Can you think of any
modern nations that still have a royal family which has
little except ceremonial position?
You have already studied about China, where a huge
empire was formed, and you’ve read about several
other large empires. Yet, Southeast Asia never
solidified into a single unit. Why do you think that
never happened? Is there anything in Southeast Asian
history or culture which prevented such unification?