Transcript Early Japanese

Early Japanese
• Early Japanese lived in small farming
villages and were ruled by powerful clans.
– Clan = extended families or groups of families
related by blood or marriage
Early Japanese
• Clans often fought over land.
– Why don’t you think they just didn’t share the
land?
Early Japanese
• Powerful clans built up armies to conquer
other clans.
– Later, these trained fighters would develop
into samurai.
• The Yamato clan was one of the more
powerful.
• They claimed to be descendents of the
goddess of the sun.
Early Settlers
• The leaders of the
Yamato clan began
calling themselves
emperor.
• Japan’s first
emperors came from
the Yamato clan.
• Today, Emperor
Akihito is a
descendent of the
Yamato clan.
Prince Shotoku’s Influence
• Between 593-621 A.D., Prince Shotoku sent
Japanese scholars to visit and learn from
the Chinese and Koreans.
• What are some examples of ideas that
Japanese borrowed from China and Korea?
Prince Shotoku’s Reforms (573-621)
• Borrowed Ideas from China
(about 600 A.D.)
• Created a constitution or plan
of government.
– all power to the emperor
– emperor appoints all officials
– clan leaders opposed this idea
because it weakened their
power
Borrowing from China
• Prince Shotoku sent officials to China to
learn about Buddhism, art, medicine,
writing, and philosophy.
• Began constructing cities like those in
China (in a grid fashion)
Borrowing from China
• Prince Shotoku ordered Buddhist temples
and monasteries to be built
– Horyuji Temple is the world’s oldest surviving
wooden building
Borrowing from China
• Japanese scholars brought back ideas of
Confucianism from China.
• Confucian ideas include:
– fathers should rule their families
– wives should obey their husbands
– children should obey their parents
– younger brothers should obey their older
brothers
Do you agree with these teachings?
Borrowing from China
• Language – Japanese writing was strongly
influenced by the Chinese
• Today, they still share many of the same
characters but many have different
meanings.
Kanji
Japan Learns from
China and Korea
• Introduced farming – growing rice in rice
paddies
• Made pottery from a potter’s wheel
• Early Japanese settlers were skilled metal
craftsmen
• axes, knives, hoes from iron
• swords, spears, and bells from bronze