Transcript The Spread of Chinese Civilization

The Spread of Chinese
Civilization
JAPAN, KOREA, AND VIETNAM
Early Japan
 Three important periods
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Taika Period (645-710): Emperor admires all things Chinese
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Nara Period (710-794): Heavy Buddhist influence in court
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Heian Period (794-857): Emperor becomes a mere figurehead
Religion in Japan
 Native religion: Shinto “The way of the gods”
 Worshiped kami: nature and its seen and unseen forces
 Encourages obedience and proper behavior
 First important Japanese clan—Yamato—claimed direct
descent from the Shinto sun goddess (thus had a “Mandate
from Heaven” to rule)
 522 C.E. Buddhist missionaries arrive from China.
 Chinese influence will remain strong into the 9th century.
 Buddhism coexisted with Shintoism—one could practice both.
Taika Period: Apex of Chinese Influence in Japan
 Success of Tang Dynasty inspired Japanese leaders
 646 C.E.—Taika Reforms
 Attempt to reorganize Japanese government according to
Chinese administrative styles
 Calls for a central bureaucracy and a peasant conscript army
 Aristocrats and Buddhists resist Taika Reforms
 Chinese-style bureaucracy relies on a scholar-gentry
 Confucianist scholar-gentry not embraced
 Birth more important than education
 Buddhism had been reworked (Zen) and, blended with
Shintoism, had become Japanese.
 Backlash against foreign influences.
Enter the Fujiwara
 Emperor flees to Heian (Kyoto), 794 C.E.
 Buddhist power in court too strong
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Aristocrats force the emperor to restore their power.
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One particular monk tried to marry Empress Koken and claim the throne for
himself!
Peasant support for Buddhism doomed the Emperor’s peasant-conscript
army.
They will dominate the central government, not the emperor and bureaucracy.
Block any social mobility; rank solely by birth
As powerful landlords, they form rural militias.
Emperor reduced to a figurehead.
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Fujiwara clan intermarries with the emperor’s family and pretty much takes
over control of political affairs.
Enacts Taiho Code (701-704): new laws based on Confucian system of strict
obedience to authority. (They borrowed what they could use while maintaining
their established identity and way of life)
A Golden Age
 The Imperial Court has no political power, so it focuses
on culture at the Heian Court.
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Strict behavioral codes
Palace and garden life
Pursuit of aesthetic enjoyment
 Avoidance of distasteful elements of life.
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Poetry and literature admired
Simpler script adapted from Chinese improved expression
 One thing about the Japanese: They maintained that they were the
greatest race on earth but were more than willing to borrow from
others when it made them stronger.
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Women were as cultured as men, even involved in palace intrigues
and power struggles. Got it? A brief period of improvement for
women! (Well, the wealthy/high-born ones, at least)
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Lady Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji depicts courtly life. (1st novel ever)
Feudal Japan
 No powerful emperor, so power dispersed.
 By 12th century intermarriage had created a large pool of noble
families.
 1192 C.E., Yoritomo Minamota given title of Shogun (chief
general)
 Aristocrats’ estates and Buddhist monasteries were large and
not completely unlike independent states.
 As Aristocrats vied against each other for power in the vicinity
of the capital, provincial land lords carved out little kingdoms
of their own.
The Provincial Warrior Elite
 Bushi—warrior leaders; governed and taxed for
themselves, not the court.
 Samurai—mounted soldiers loyal to local lords, not
the emperor or aristocrats.
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Devoted lives to hunting and training.
Often hired to protect the emperor and keep the peace in the
capital.
Switched from longbows to curved steel swords in 12th century
Battles often hinged on duels of champions
Lived according to a strict warrior code (Code of Bushido) that
included seppuku
Peasants forced to feed Samurai
Ode of Yakomachi (8th century C.E.)
Note how the extract below describes the final sacrifice of a Samurai warrior for his lord.
Our ancestors have served the Sovereign and we too will
serve him.
Leaving our bodies sodden on the high seas or rotting in the
grass of the wild moor, we gladly die for our Liege Lord.
Our ancient name will be kept spotless With catalpa bow in
hand and sword and dirk on thigh.
At dawn and even we stand to guard our Sovereign’s Gates.
Order of Real Power During the Feudal Age
 Shogun: military ruler of Japan
 Daimyo: like European lords; part warrior, part
noble
 Samurai: professional warriors who served to protect
their emperor and daimyo
 Notice that the Emperor and regular folk don’t make
the list!
Social Classes in Feudal Japan
 Emperor: The center of loyalty for all Japanese even though
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the shogun ruled in his name
Shogun
Daimyo
Samurai
Peasants: farmers who were required to give a part of their
crop to their daimyo (like serfs)
Artisans and craftsmen: their status was low but their work
was valued
Merchants: despised as unproductive money-grubbers, but
could become wealthy—and if they married into respected
samurai families, could get some prestige
Outcasts: beggars, executioners, or hide-tanners (like Hindu
untouchables)
Compare and Contrast:
Feudalism in Europe and Japan
Alike
Different
 Political structure
 Mutual ties and
obligations
 Land-for-loyalty
 Legal arrangement
 contract in Europe
 group identity and loyalty
in Japan
 Social structure
 Treatment of women
 Chivalry in Europe
 Lost freedoms of Fujiwara
period in Japan
 Honor code
Feudalism Means Civil Wars
 From 12th century to early 17th century.
 Taira v. Minamoto (mid-12th century)
 Gempei Wars, 1180-1185: destruction of Taira
 Minamoto establish a military government: bakufu,
under the Kamakura shoguns
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New ruler, Yoritomo, fears being betrayed: kills or exiles key
allies, even family.
When he died, successors unable to check rising bushi lords.
 The warrior family Hojo seize real power in the
Kamakura shogunate, but leave Minamoto family in
nominal charge.
Ashikaga Shogunate
 Minamoto family grows and branches out.
 Ashikaga Takuaji, head of one of the branches, leads a
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bushi revolt to overthrow the Kamakura and establish his
own shogunate.
Emperor refuses to recognize Ashikaga, is forced from
Kyoto into the mountains.
For most of the 1300s, the exiled emperors ally with
several warlords to challenge the Ashikaga.
Ashikaga Shogunate rules from 1336-1572, but last
hundred years was pretty shaky.
Onin War (1467-1477) between Ashikaga factions
destroys central authority.
Japan divided into 300 kingdoms ruled by daimyo.
Life Under the Daimyo
 Fortresses important (duh)
 Less “honorable”
 Spies, sabotage, banditry, assassinations…
 Changing role for women
 Until the 11th century, marriage patterns had been woman-centered: a husband
either joined the family of his wife or lived separately from her and visited on
certain nights.
 Buddhist and Confucianist ideas slowly changed women’s status.
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Women barred from becoming government officials
Share of land distributed by the government was set at 2/3 that of men.
But on rare occasions women could rise to the top: Empresses Suiko (593-628) and
Shotuku (764-770).
By the end of the 12th century, status and position declined.
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Danger of warfare made it practical for only one person to inherit the family’s
property, and that became the eldest or most able son.
Women lose property rights and become dependent upon men.
Growth of towns and cities means more brothels and prostitution.
Onna Daiguku “Great Learning for Women”
 A woman has no particular lord. She must look to
her husband as her lord and must serve him with all
worship and reverence, not despising or thinking
lightly of him. The great life-long duty of a woman
is obedience. In her dealings with her husband both
the expression of her countenance and the style of
her address should be courteous, humble and
conciliatory, never peevish and intractable, never
rude and arrogant—that should be a woman’s first
and chiefest care.
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Note to self: Mrs. Crossen would NOT appreciate a copy of Onna Daiguku
Sinification in Korea
 Trade between Koreans and Chinese as early as 4th
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century B.C.E.
109 B.C.E. Han conquer Korea, Chinese colonize the
peninsula.
Buddhism spreads
Adoption of Chinese writing, learning, art, and
manufactured items (e.g. porcelain)
Confucianism respected (but no scholar gentry)
Although Buddhism appealed to common folk, other
forms of Sinification affected only the elite
Sinification in Korea v. Sinification in Japan
Alike
Different
 Facilitated by Buddhism
 Korea touches China and had been
 Declined to create a Chinese-style
conquered by it in the Han and
Tang Eras. Japan is an island and
was never conquered by the
Chinese nor did it pay any tribute.
 Longer period of contact
state
 No power to a scholar gentry: birth
and family connections most
important for government position
 Most Sinification influenced only
the elite
Sinification in Vietnam
 By the time the Chinese first encountered the Viets, the Viets had
established their own distinctive culture.
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Spoken language not related to Chinese
Villages autonomous
Nuclear family (rather than extended family)
Women had more freedom and influences
 Han conquest brought changes
 Chinese administrators
 Chinese schools taught Chinese script and Confucian classics
 Exams required for administrative posts
 Chinese agricultural techniques improved food supply
 Government and military modeled off of Chinese
 Resistance
 Aristocrats vie for influence over the peasantry.
 Tran sisters oppose male-dominated Confucian codes.
 Independence by 939 C.E.
Sinification in Vietnam v. Sinification in Japan
Alike
Different
 Spoken language not related to
 Like Korea, Vietnam had been
Chinese
 Although Vietnam borders
southern China, like Japan it was
far from the centers of Chinese
power.
 Village autonomy: no centralized
state
 Buddhism
conquered by Chinese.
 Viets adapted exams for
administrative posts
 Viets used Chinese military
organization
Wrap Up
 Unlike China’s other nomadic neighbors, Japan, Korea,
and Vietnam were based on sedentary agriculture.
 Chinese civilization influenced Japan, Korea, and
Vietnam
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Writing, bureaucratic organization, Buddhism, art
Each responded differently to elements of Sinification
Except for Buddhism, Sinification was mostly for the elite
Nearness to Chinese power centers a factor
Japanese isolation allowed them to develop separate political
patterns
 China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam were all preoccupied
with interaction within the east Asia, so they had limited
awareness of larger world currents when compared with
the global awareness in other major civilizations