Melinda Varner
Boulder NCTA presentations, July 2, 2009
Medieval Japan
1)
The Genpei war (1180-1185) and rise of warrior rule
a) Minamoto Yoritomo and the Kamakura bakufu (1192-1333)
i) The position of shōgun & changing imperial roles
(1) The samurai 侍
ii) Hōjō regency: “Nun shōgun” Hōjō Masako (1156-1225)
b) Go-Daigo and the Kemmu Restoration, 1333-1336
c) Founding of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi era (1336-1573)
i) Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358)
ii) Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408)
iii) The Onin War (1467-1477)
Notes:
2)
Muromachi Japan: the age of the daimyō
a) Feudal governance
i) Shugo  shugo daimyōdaimyō
ii) Castle towns (jōkamachi 城下町)
iii) bu/bun values
(1) bu 武 military skills, the role of the warrior
(2) bun 文 arts and letters, the value of cultural attainments
b) Sengoku Japan, the “era of the country at war”
i) Japan’s three unifiers
(1) Oda Nobunaga
(a) Nobunaga and poetry (supplemental reading, “The
Warlord and Poetry”)
(2) Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(a) Hideyoshi, Sen no Rikyū and tea
(3) Tokugawa Ieyasu
Notes:
TIMELINE
1180-1185 Genpei war between
the Taira (Heike) and the
Minamoto (Genji).
1192-1333 Kamakura bakufu
(established by Minamoto
Yoritomo, later run by Hōjō
family)
1333-1336 Kemmu Restoration
Ashikaga shogunate (bakufu)
established by Ashikaga Takauji
1336-1573 Muromachi period
1467-1477 Onin War marks
the beginning of Japan’s so-called
“era of the country at war”
(sengoku jidai), 1466-1573
1573-1582 Period of unification
led by Oda Nobunaga
1582 Nobunaga assassinated
by Akechi Mitsuhide
1582-1598 Nobunaga’s
unification is completed by his
former retainer Toyotomi
Hideyoshi
Hideyoshi dies leaving only
one male heir, who is still a child
1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats
the last of the Toyotomi clan
supporters at the Battle of
Sekigahara and establishes the
Tokugawa shogunate, 1600-1868.
TERMS & KEY POINTS
3)
Notes:
Buddhist impacts upon medieval culture
i) Mappō 末法: The latter days of the (Buddhist) law
ii) Renga 連歌 linked verse
iii) Monochromatic ink painting and calligraphy
(1) Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga (mid 12th-13th centuries)
(2) Sesshū Tōyō (1420-1506)
iv) Nō 能 theater
(1) Tale of the Heike and the nō play “Atsumori”
(a) Atsumori (shite) and Naozane (waki)
bakufu (幕府、literally “tent
government”), shogunate. The
shogun's officials were collectively
known as the bakufu -- those who
carried out the actual duties of
administration while the imperial
court retained only nominal
authority.
Samurai: 侍 Warrior retainers in
service to a daimyō
Shugo: a title, commonly
translated as "governor," given to
regional officials in feudal Japan
Daimyō: 大名 literally “great
names” – regional warlords who
held regional authority
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