History Japan

• mountainous terrain
• surrounded by the sea
• 4 main islands
• sits on the Pacific "Rim of Fire"

• 1192-late 1800's
• Social Hierarchy
• 1. Shogun
• 2. Emperor
• 3.Daimyo
• 4.Samurai
• Code of the Warrior--Bushido
• -The Book of Five Rings
• The Role of Women
• -to be as poised and cultured as men
• -a creative role in Japanese plays
• -writing poems, playing the fllute or stringed instruments, and in court intrigue

• The central purpose of the Taika reforms was to remake the Japanese monarch into an absolutist Chinese-style emperor
• "Son of Heaven" was added to the Japanese rulers' name
• The imperial administration was revamped along Chinese lines to create a Chinese style bureaucracy
• Peasants conscript army that was always commanded by the Samurai, but was loyal to the Emperor
• In the 8th century the imperial family moved from Nara to Heian
• The name was later changed to Kyoto
• The power of the aristocratic families to build up rural estates was fully restored
• Emperor gave up scheme to build a peasant conscript
• Local militias were established in the rural areas

• A closed world of luxury and strict codes of polite behavior
• Pursuit of beauty and social interaction
• The Tale of Genji, by Lady Murasaki, was the first novel in any language

• while the emperor and his court were admiring the plum blossoms, the Fujiwara shaped imperial policy
• They increased the number of peasants under their control but were in competition with the Buddhists
• By the middle of the 9th century, the Fujiwara packed the adcministration with family members
• married into the imperial family
• used their wealth to build uplarge estates that provided a stable financial base for their growing power

• Power declined because of court intrigues against them
• Court retainers conspired with the Samurai and Buddhist priests to bring down the Fujiwara

The Bushi were the waarrior leaders in the 10th century in Japan who controlled provincial areas and ruled from small fortresses in the countryside

• Mounted troops who pwed loyalty to the bushi
• Devoted their lives to hunting, riding, archery practice and other activities that sharpened their martial skills
• Until the 12th century, main weapon was the longbow and carried straight swords

• Made of individual pieces of leather that were woven together
• Helmets were designed to shield from sword slashes
• Armor was frequently personalized
• Undergarments were made of silk

• from the 12th century on, Samurai relied on superbly forged curved steel swords
• Battles increasingly hinged upon duels of great champions

• From the 12th century onward, japan was moving toward a feudal order that was remarkably similar to that developing in western Europe during this same postclassical period
• A warrior code developed that stressed death rather than retreat or defeat
• Beaten or disgraced warriors turned to ritual suicide to prove their courage and restore their family's honor
• They called this practice Seppuku which meant "disembowelment"

• The rise of the Samurai frustrated all hopes of creating a free peasantry
• In the next centuries the Japanese peasants were reduced to serfs
• Peasants were bound to the land; they worked and treated as the property of the local lord who owned the estate
• They were separated by rigid class barriers from the warrior elite
• There were different ways of dressing as well as prohibitions against carrying swords or riding horses
• In their growing poverty, peasants turned to Buddhism

• The Teachings of the Pure Land Sect offered the promise of bliss in heaven for those who lived upright lives on earth
• Colorful figures in the stories were intended to make Buddhist teachings comprehensible to the peasantry and the artisans, who lived primarily in the fortress towns
• Buddhist shrines and imagesg became popular destinations for pilgramages and objects of veneration

• armed bands roamed the countryside and the streets of the capital
• Rampant crime and civil strife
• from the 12th century onward, Japanese history dominated by civil war
• As the imperial government's control over the country weakened, Buddhist monastaries employed armed toughs to protect them and to attack rival sects
• Samurai were employed as bodyguards to protect palaces and mansions
• Civil wars between shifting factions of the court aristocracy and local warlords erupted across the land
• Chinesse influence declined
• Artisan class, despite strife, produced creations in creamics, landscape architecture, and religious poetry