1. Notebook Entry: Feudal Japan
2. Japan = ri ben = Origin
______________
of the Sun
Being an island meant
isolation (safety)
___________________
EQ: How does feudal Japan fit into
our model for traditional society?
lack of farmland
and a_______________
Agriculture, Subsistence, Social Hierarchy, Warfare,
Rural, Decentralized Power, Religion, Emphasis on Family
and resources
_____________.
By the end of class our objectives are to:
- describe Japan’s location and early history
- summarize the feudal period in Japan
Tonight’s Homework: p. 312 (18)
Traditional Society Expository Essay: Thursday
Belief System
Japan is made
up of _______
4,000
islands.
Shinto
Archipelago –
group of islands
– Respect nature and
worship ancestors
– kami – divine spirits
Cultural Borrowing
Origin Myth – descended from Amaterasu, the sun goddess
What did the Japanese borrow from Chinese Culture?
Red
Sun
White
Ground
•
•
•
•
Buddhism
System of writing
Landscape painting
Everyday life
– Cooking
– Gardening
– Drinking tea
– Hairdressing
1
Sei Shōnagon
The Pillow Book
I greatly enjoy [conversing with] someone who is
pleased with himself and who has a self-confident
look, especially if he is a man. It is amusing to
observe him as he alertly waits for my next
repartee; but it is also interesting if he tries
to put me off my guard by adopting an air of calm
indifference as if there were not a thought in his
head.
I realize that it is very sinful of me, but I
cannot help being pleased when someone I dislike
has a bad experience.
Entering the Empress’s room and finding that
ladies-in-waiting are crowded around her in a
tight group, I go next to a pillar which is some
distance from where she is sitting. What a
delight it is when Her Majesty summons me to her
side so that all the others have to make way!
Emperor
Shogun
Daimyos
Samurai
Ronin
A figurehead – the religious leader, but little
political power
Military leader of the most powerful of the
Emperor's clans – actual political ruler
Ran estates according to the shogun's rules –
swords were their most valuable possessions
Professional warriors
Wandering samurai who had no daimyos –worked
as body guards for rich merchants or as paid
soldiers during civil war
Peasants 90% of the population – produced the food for all
other classes – paid taxes to the in the form of rice
and work
Artisans Craftspeople who made a variety of wood and
metal products
Merchants Sold goods made by others
Rise of Feudalism:
• Mid-11th century - power of the central
government began to slip
• Large landowners set up private armies
–Farmers and small landowners
traded parts of their land to strong
warlords in exchange for protection
–With more land, the lords gained
more power
2
Samurai Warrior
Consider OPVL
“one who serves”
Bushido
Make a list of what
the author believes
his son should and
should not do
“the way of the warrior”
-code of behavior
-reckless courage
-reverence for gods
-fairness
-generosity toward those
weaker than himself
-dying an honorable death
was judged more
important than living a
long life
The Kamakura Shogunate:
• Late 1100s: Japan’s two most powerful clans fought
for power
– 30 years of war - Minamoto family emerged
victorious
• 1192: Yoritomo named shogun
“supreme general of the emperor’s army”
– Powers of a military dictator
• The 1200s: Kamakura shogunate
– Turned back naval invasions sent by Kublai Khan
– Victory drained the treasury
– Samurai angry the government failed to pay them
• Samurai attached themselves closely to local lords
3