The Decline of Chinese Influence
and Rise of Warrior Elites
By: Sydney Nesbit, and Kari
Melander
Ashikaga Shogunate
• Starting in the 12th century, Japan went through a number of
civil wars which finally ended in the early 1600s due to the rise
of the Tokugawa family.
• The Fujiwara family began depending on alliances with
regional lords.
• By the mid-12th century, the Taira and Minamoto families
began to openly compete. This caused the Gempei wars from
1180-1185. In the end, the Minamoto family won against the
Taira family.
• The Minamoto established the bafuku (tent)government, and
located their capital at Kamakura.
Ashikaga Shogunate
Fujiwara family tree
Morimoto family tree
Ashikaga Shogunate
• The leader of the Minamoto family, Yoritomo, made the
Kamakura regime weak due to his fear of being overthrown by
family members.
• Even his close relatives were murdered, including his brother
Yoshitsune.
• Yoritomo’s shoguns soon gained the responsibility of
protecting his throne, and the measures he took left him
without an able heir to his throne.
Yoritomo
Ashikaga Shogunate
Ashikaga Takauji
• After Yoritomo’s death the Hojo, a warrior family closely allied
with the Minamoto family, took over the Kamakura regime.
• At the start of the 14th century, one of the heads of the
Minamoto family, Ashikaga Takauji, led a revolt that
overthrew the Kamakura regime.
• He established the Ashikaga Shogunate, which lasted from
1336 to 1573.
• The emperor who ruled during the time of Ashikaga’s revolt
refused to realize the truth of the situation and attempted to
revive imperial power.
Ashikaga Shogunate
• This emperor was exiled, but he, his heirs, and several warlords
fought against the Ashikaga faction for much of the remainder of the
14th century.
• Although the emperor was technically in charge of everything, it was
the samurai who truly held the power in the government.
• Heavenly mandate and centralized power was disregarded, instead
regional power was seen during this time.
• Even though the Ashikaga succeeded in destroying the imperial
authority of the Yoshino center, any authority the emperor had left
was destroyed.
• The bushi vassals were freely able to defeat local rivals and seize
peasant land, the old aristocracy, and competing warlords.
Ashikaga Shogunate
• The bushi warlords broke the land they acquired into sections
for the samurai who in return gave military support.
• After the destruction of central authority, a full-scale civil war
broke out from 1467 to 1477. During this time, rivals of the
Ashikaga Shogunate called upon warlord chiefs to support
them.
• Samurai went to enemies’ headquarters around Kyoto, and
eventually the capital was reduced to rubble.
• After the civil war, provincial lords gained more power and
Japan was finally separated into almost 300 small kingdoms
with rulers called daimyos.
Women in the Heian Era
• In the Heian Era of Japan between 794 and 1185,
Chinese influences gradually diminished over
time, and royal courts emerged
• Court life in the royal courts of the Heian Era was
conniving and melodramatic
• Women played very different roles within the
courts than men did, especially in writing
• Women were relatively influential in courts
Women and Religion
• In the song era, a modified Confucian
philosophy called NeoConfucianism placed
women in a low and yielding place in society.
Other religions such as Buddhism also placed
restrictions on women
• Shintoism had relatively positive views on
women, limiting NeoConfuscianism’s impact
on women, and even portrayed women as
divine
• Empress Jingu, who claimed heritgae to the
sun goddess, was believed to have divine
Shaman powers
Women in early Samurai period
• Women in the early samurai period were
held to high expectations, especially when
the husband was gone
• They were trained in the ways of weapons
so that they could defend their families in
times of war- the naginata was the weapon
of choice for women
• This image of women was eventually
replaced by an image of submission and
quiteness
Shogunate rule brings change
• Buddhist, Confucian and samurai
culture all weakened positive effects of
Shintoism for women and greatly
limited their rights
• During the Tokugawa era, marriage was
an expectation for women, and learned
from young ages to please their
husbands
• Leyasu Tokagaw resorted back to
former, more restrictive customs for
women, restricting rights for women in
japan up until modern days
Toward Barbarism
• The chivalrous qualities of the bushi era lowered very
noticeably in the 15th and 16th centuries. During this time,
spying, sneak attacks, and betrayals were common.
• Peasants armed with pikes became crucial for daimyo armies.
Instead of quality of fighting, specifically with samurai, the
larger the army was, the more effective and important it was.
• Peasants were poorly trained and fed, which contributed to
the misery found among the common people.
• The peasant soldiers ended up looting and pillaging in the
towns they crossed through, which made it appear that the
Japanese were reverting back to barbarism.
Japanese peasants
Daimyos Maintaining Order
• Daimyos that were capable introduced tax collection, which
supported irrigation systems and certain other public works.
These actions strengthened rural communities.
• The daimyos also tried convincing people to settle in places
that had not been occupied.
• New tools were also introduced, along with more common use
of draft animals, helped the peasantry with farming.
• Peasants were encouraged to produce crops such as soybeans,
and items such as silk, hemp, paper, dyes, and vegetable oils.
Daimyos Maintaining Order
• A new commercial class that dealt with trade emerged.
• Guilds developed for artisans and merchants that provided
protection for members during the insecurity of the political
situation.
Taxation on farming
Bibliography
•
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=owdnBMrC_5AC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1
1&dq=women+in+heian+courts&ots=S7Tab6lkbu&sig=ewwuWq1XGNKamfn2HC2f
Zwu2jbA#v=onepage&q=women%20in%20heian%20courts&f=false
•
www.womeninworldhistory.com/sample-08.html
•
www.studentpulse.com/articles/286/women-in-ancient-japan-from-matriarichalantiquity-to-acquiescent-confinement
•
www.womeninworldhistory.com/essay-04.html
•
www.school.eb.com/levels/high/article/39814
•
Stearns, Peter; Adas, Michael; Schwartz, Stuart; Gilbert, Marc Jason. “The Spread
of Chinese Civilization: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.” World Civilizations: The
Global Experience (Fifth Edition). Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.