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101 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Jōmon Era
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• the term means cordmaking, describes the type of decoration on pottery associated with this age.
• Era divided into several periods based on the changing style of pottery. Patterns made by the cord impressions became more complex in later stages. • _____ people, slightly over 100,000 • Lived near sea, gathered shellfish for food • Those who lived in the mountains hunted game and lived on fruits, nuts and edible roots • Fish hooks made of animal bones and ground and chipped stone tools were used by men of the _____ period |
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Yayoi Era
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• Later years of the Neolithic period
• Named because potteries belonging to this culture were first discovered at a placed called _____in Tokyo in 1884.’ • More sophisticated but not as elaborately decorated. Simple and neat, made of mostly straight lines. • Pots were wheel made, reddish in color. • 3 basic types of earthenwares were produced in _____ o Plain jars used for cooking o Decorated urns for storing food o More elaborated designed dishes on pedestals in which offerings to god were made. • Believed to have emerged around the 3rd century BC in northern Kyushu. • Intro of rice cultivation revolutionized the way of life of ancient Japan and established the basis for the economic life of the people until the industrial age. |
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Kofun Era
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• The kofun or tomb era, referred to as the “age of ancient tombs’ because important personages were interred in large burial mounds.
• The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. • The Kofun period is illustrated by a Shinto culture which existed prior to the introduction of Buddhism • The Kofun period was a critical stage in Japan's evolution toward a more cohesive and recognized state • During the Kofun period, a highly aristocratic society with militaristic rulers developed. Its horse-riding warriors wore armor, carried swords and other weapons, and used advanced military methods like those of Northeast Asia. • Like Egyptian Pharaohs, the Kofun aristocrats who were buried in the tombs were buried with bronze mirrors, swords, jewels, and other items. |
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Haniwa
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• Clay figures made for ritual use on and around tombs with the dead during the Kofun period.
• During the Kofun period, a highly aristocratic society with militaristic rulers developed. The cavalry wore iron armor, carried swords and other weapons. Many of them are represented in Haniwa figurines for funerary purposes. • There are haniwa that are equipped with weapons and armor, and these are also thought to be containers for souls. The armor and weapons would serve the purpose of driving away evil spirits and protecting the buried ruler from calamity. Because the horse and animal shaped haniwa were normally neatly arranged into a line, it is believed that they were part of a sending-off ceremony. |
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Edward Sylvester Morse
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• Born in Portland, Maine
• Morse rapidly became successful in the field of zoology. • He attracted the attention of Charles Darwin with his discovery that brachiopods are worms rather than mollusks. • In 1877 Morse visited Japan in search of coastal brachiopods. • He opened the study in archaeology and anthropology in Japan, by the discovery of the Omori shell mound, and his research on material culture. • Morse became Keeper of Pottery at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1890, which now contains his pottery collection, the Morse collection. He was also a director of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Salem from 1880 to 1914. |
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Yamato
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• was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan. Later the term was used as the name of the province and also as an ancient name of Japan. The term was semantically extended to mean “Japan” or “Japanese” in general, and carries many of the same connotations as Americana does for the United States.
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Koguryŏ or Goguryeo
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• Along with Baekje and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Goguryeo was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula as well as associated with the foreign affairs of peer polities in China and Japan.
• Goguryeo was a major regional power in Northeast Asia until it was defeated by a Silla-Tang alliance in 668 CE. After its defeat, its territory was divided among the Tang Dynasty, Unified Silla and Balhae. • The English word "Korea" derives from "Goryeo", which comes from "Goguryeo". |
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Paekche
• Baekje or Paekche |
• It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla.
• Baekje alternately battled and allied with Goguryeo and Silla as the three kingdoms expanded control over the peninsula. At its peak in the 4th century, Baekje controlled some colonies in China and most of the western Korean Peninsula. It became a significant regional sea power, with political and trade relations with China and Japan. • In 660, it was defeated by an alliance of Silla and China's Tang Dynasty, submitting to Unified Silla. |
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Silla
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• was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in Asian history.
• Silla eventually conquered the other two kingdoms, Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668 |
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T’ang Dynasty (China)
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• It was founded by the Li (李) family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire.
• The Tang Dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), the most populous city in the world at the time, is regarded by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization—equal to or surpassing that of the earlier Han Dynasty—as well as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. • Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, was greater than that of the Han period, and it rivaled that of the later Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. • the Tang Dynasty maintained a civil service system by drafting officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. |
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Nihongi / Nihon shoki
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sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history.
• It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan. • The Nihon Shoki was finished in 720 • The book is also called the Nihongi • Like the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki begins with a series of myths, but continues its account through to events of the 8th century. • The Nihon Shoki focuses on the merits of the virtuous rulers as well as the errors of the bad rulers. It describes episodes from mythological eras and diplomatic contacts with other countries. • The Nihon Shoki was written in classical Chinese, as was common for official documents at that time. The Kojiki, on the other hand, is written in a combination of Chinese and phonetic transcription of Japanese (primarily for names and songs). • One of the stories that first appear in the Nihon Shoki is the tale of Urashima Tarō, which has been identified as the earliest example of a story involving time travel.[ |
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Kojiki
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via origin myths or history 712
• "Record of Ancient Matters") is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro by Imperial request. • The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the islands of Japan, and the Kami. • Along with the Nihon Shoki, the myths contained in the Kojiki are part of the inspiration behind Shinto practices and myths, including the misogi purification ritual. |
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Prince Shōtoku
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• Probably the most famous and important figure of this era up to the present day.
• Son of the emperor, a politically astute man • Accelerated the importation of Buddhism into Japan • Established merit based system for high ranks as opposed to hereditary based • Created 17 article code – moral codes based on Confucianism • Most important thing he does is his missions to China, 3x in his life time. This is the first time that the idea of Japan and the use of the word Japan is first used. • Shotoku turned whole-heartedly toward Chinese culture for help with legal and commonplace notions. |
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Soga clan
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• Allied with Shotoku
• one of the most powerful clans in Yamato Japan and played a major role in the spread of Buddhism • Having close ties with the Baekje and Goguryeo of the Korean peninsula, the Soga clan supported the spread of Buddhism when it was first introduced in Japan during the sixth century by monks from the Korean kingdom of Baekje.[3] • Many Japanese at the time, disliking foreign ideas and believing that this new religion might be an affront to the traditional "kami", or Shinto gods, opposed Buddhism. |
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Karma
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• the law of moral causation.
• The theory of Karma is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism. • order of act and result, e.g., • desirable and undesirable acts produce corresponding good and bad results. • As surely as water seeks its own level so does Karma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result, not in the form of a reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. |
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Nirvana
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• is the supreme state free from suffering and individual existence.
• It is a state Buddhists refer to as "Enlightenment". • It is the ultimate goal of all Buddhists. • The attainment of nirvana breaks the otherwise endless rebirth cycle of reincarnation. • Buddhists also consider nirvana as freedom from all worldly concerns such as greed, hate, and ignorance. • No one can describe in words what nirvana is. It can only be experienced directly. |
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Seventeen Articles
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• Created by Prince Shotoku
• One of Prince Shotoku's most important written pieces was the so-called "17-Article Constitution" completed in 604 AD • Shotoku's document sets forth 17 specific laws or principles applied (by him) to nation-wide behavior. |
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Hōryūji
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• A Buddhist temple, completed in 607
• Oldest continuing wooden buildings in the world • Yakushiji temple a healing figure, pray for health to heal from illness. • Originally commissioned by Prince Shotoku |
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Tōdaiji
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• Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan
• The largest wooden building in the world • Houses the world’s largest Buddha statue • Took 500,000 laborers 5 years to build • Commemorated with grand ceremony in 752 |
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Nara (Heijō)
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• The first permanent capital in 710
• Heijo was its name in its day, Nara now. • Political center • Had about 100,000 at the time |
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Heian
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• Heian-kyō literally "tranquility and peace capital"), was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto.
• It was the capital of Japan for over one thousand years • Modeled after the Tang Dynasty Chinese capital of Chang'an (modern day Xi'an), it remained the chief political center until 1185, when the samurai Minamoto clan took power, establishing the Kamakura shogunate. |
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Emperor Kammu
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• Emperor Kammu established it as the capital in 794, moving the Imperial Court there from nearby Nagaoka-kyō at the recommendation of his advisor Wake no Kiyomaro.
• 50th imperial ruler of Japan • He was ambitious and wanted to escape political dominance • Wanted to escape threat of Buddhists as well as Fujiwara family in Nara |
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Fujiwara
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• was a powerful family of regents in Japan.
• The Fujiwara dominated the Japanese politics of Heian period (794–1185) through the monopoly of regent positions • followed by the rise of warrior class, the Fujiwara gradually lost its control over main stream politics. • The Fujiwara Regency was the main feature of government of the entire Heian era • Two key roles – o women is to be married into imperial clan o male is to become a regent o The Fujiwara presided over a period of cultural and artistic flowering at the imperial court and among the aristocracy. o Reigned for about 200 years o Fujiwara patriarchs would arrange for daughters to marry an emperor and put a child on the throne. |
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Kampaku
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was theoretically a sort of chief advisor for the emperor, but was the title of both first secretary and regent who assists an adult emperor.
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Sesshū
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was a title given to a regent who was named to assist either a child emperor before his coming of age, or an empress.
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Neo-duo local
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means two locales. Husband stayed at natal home. Wife created new home, and husband commuted to it. There were in commuter marriages. Woman maintains her own home.
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Uxurilocal
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a man moves into his wife’s parents’ (Mother’s) home
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Rule of Taste
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from famous cultural historian Ivan Morris, status and recognition is not just based on money and military power but on how refined you are. In you ability to write and play music, write poetry, write calligraphy, dance, sports in your dress and sense of color, especially for women. On your good looks, and manners and your display of emotions.
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Byōdō-in
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o a Buddhist temple, outside Kyoto
o One of the most glorious achievements in Japanese architecture 1053 o Constructed by Fujiwara Yorimichi at the height of his family’s power in 1053, conveys the phoenix about to take |
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Kōfukuji
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headquarters of kokubunji system, of state sponsored Buddhist temple in Nara
Kōfuku-ji was the Fujiwara's tutelary temple, and enjoyed prosperity as long as the family did. The temple was not only an important center for the Buddhist religion, but also retained influence over the imperial government. Kōfuku-ji kept its significance because of its connection to the Fujiwara. |
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Tōdaiji
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headquarters of kokubunji system, of state sponsored Buddhism in Nara
• Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan • The largest wooden building in the world • Houses the world’s largest Buddha statue • Took 500,000 laborers 5 years to build • Commemorated with grand ceremony in 752 |
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Saichō
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founder of Tendai Buddhism -
Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Tendai school in Japan, based around the Chinese Tiantai tradition he was exposed to during his trip to China beginning in 804. He founded the temple and headquarters of Tendai at Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei near Kyoto. |
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Kūkai
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founder of Shingon Buddhism-
o a Japanese monk, scholar, poet, and artist, o founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. |
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Shōen
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means private estate
Fundamental to Japan’s economy Origins in 3 practices Grants to officials – office lands Grants to temples – to consorts Grants to land developers Key features – tax free, permanent Unlike European manor Proprietor absent Creates need for local “steward” to manage estates |
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kokubunji system
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state sponsored buddhism
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Jōri:
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Equal Field – system division of cultivated land in Ancient Japan. System for dividing and numbering land
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Ritsuryrō law codes
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is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan
During the late Asuka period (late 6th century – 710) and Nara period (710 – 794), the imperial court, trying to replicate China's rigorous political system from the Tang Dynasty, created and enforced some collections of Ritsuryō. |
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Pure Land Buddhism
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o The Amida Buddhism movement refers to two major new sects emerging out of, in reaction to, existing schools, and drawing in new mass constituency of believers. The key single idea of both is that simple faith, direct prayer to the Amida Buddha for salvation, is the one necessary and sufficient element of Buddhism. Easy to see how this would be "popular". Implicitly denies the importance of self-cultivation, study, acts.
o It is a devotional or "faith"-oriented branch of Buddhism focused on Amitābha Buddha o Practitioners believe that chanting Amitābha Buddha's name, or the nianfo, during their current life allows them, at this life's end, to be received with their karma by Amitābha Buddha |
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Shintō
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o Shinto (神道 Shintō?) or kami-no-michi is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people.
o Shinto is a religion in where practice (actions) and ritual, rather than words, are of the utmost importance. Shinto is characterized by the worship of nature, ancestors, polytheism, and animism, with a strong focus on ritual purity, |
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Kami
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o is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith.
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The Heian period
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is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyoto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aristocratic family who had intermarried with the Emperor of Japan. Heian means "peace and tranquility" in Japanese.
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The Heian period
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is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185.
• The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyoto. • It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height. • considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. • Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aristocratic family who had intermarried with the Emperor of Japan. • Heian means "peace and tranquility" in Japanese. |
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Heike/ Taira
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• a major Japanese clan of samurai in historical Japan, warrior clan with power in West
• along with Minamoto, Taira was a hereditary clan name bestowed by the emperors of the Heian Period to certain ex-members of the imperial family when they became subjects. • The Taira clan is often referred to as Heike ( literally House of Taira ) • Minamoto: teeth and claws of Fujiwara, with base of power in East • Taira crush Minamoto in 1150s, entrench selves in Kyoto • Minamoto rise again, 1180s, under Yoritomo and prevail • Takes “shogun” title, 1192 • Story told in The Tale of the Heiji and Tale of the Heike |
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Tale of Heike (and earlier Tale of Heiji) The Tale of the Heike
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• is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180-1185).
• Heike refers to the Taira clan; "hei" being an alternate reading of the kanji (character) for Taira. • In terms of the title of the Genpei War, "hei" can be alternatively read as "pei" again and the "gen" is the same kanji used in the Minamoto (also known as Genji) clan's name. |
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Taira no Kiyomori
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• Taira no Kiyomori was a general of the late Heian period of Japan.
• He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. |
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Bakufu
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• (literally, "a commander of a force") is a military rank and historical title for (in most cases) hereditary military dictator of Japan.
• the original meaning of "shogun" is simply "a general” • A shogun's office or administration is known in English as a "shogunate". • In Japanese it was known as bakufu which literally means "tent office” • Bakufu could also mean "tent government" and was the way the government was run under a shogun. • The tent symbolized the field commander but also denoted that such an office was meant to be temporary. |
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Kamakura era:
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• Kamakura (1185-1333): military power and rule in tandem with Kyoto.
• Wife outlives Kamakura, she is a Hojo, her family takes over. • is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo. • The Kamakura period marks the transition to land-based economies and a concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class. |
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Minamoto Yoritomo
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• The first shogun
• Yoritomo declares rebellion versus the Taira in the name of the Emperor. • He ultimately succeeds, prevailing in a five year war, from 1180-1185. • He imposed a separate set of claims and key positions on to this system graphs his own economic base and political control system doesn’t wipe it out that’s why there is a dual system. • Sets up a separate seat of government, in Kamakura. It is called the bakufu, literally “tent government,” and this new term conveys a sense of new system or rule, or military government. |
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Hōjō family
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• Wife of Kamakura outlives him, she is a Hojo, her family takes over.
• Hojo’s emerge in 1200s, Minamoto’s have no strong heirs • The Hōjō are also known for their defiance of the Mongols, and fathering the spread of Zen Buddhism and Bushido, but also for extreme decadence and making national decisions in secret meetings at private residences • Hōjō Tokimasa helped Minamoto no Yoritomo, a son-in-law, defeat the forces of the Taira to become Japan's first Shogun. • Hōjō Masako, Tokimasa's daughter, was married to Yoritomo. • After the death of Yoritomo, Tokimasa became Regent to the child Shogun, effectively permanently transferring control of the Shogunate to his clan. • The Minamoto and even Imperial Princes became puppets and hostages of the Hōjō. |
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Shogun
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• (literally, "a commander of a force") is a military rank and historical title for (in most cases) hereditary military dictator of Japan.
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Jitō: land steward
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• medieval land stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi Shogunates. Appointed by the shogun, jitō managed manors including national holdings governed by the provincial governor (kokushi).
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Shugo: constable, provincial governor
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• a title, commonly translated as "Governor," given to certain officials in feudal Japan.
• appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. • The position gave way to the emergence of the daimyō (feudal lords) in the late 15th century, as shugo began to claim power over lands themselves, rather than serving simply as governors on behalf of the shogunate. • The post was initially created in 1185, by Minamoto no Yoritomo, in order to aid the capture of Yoshitsune, with the additional motivation of extending the rule of the shogunate government throughout Japan. • The shugo progressively supplanted the existing kokushi, who were appointed by the Imperial Court in Kyoto. |
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Mongol invasion
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• Right after minamoto dies, wife (a hogo) takes over, her and her father and family dominates the office of the bakufu
• They supervise stewarts, constables and the courts • Rule for about a century • Things change near end of 1200s • Genghis Khan emerges to dominate Asia, and this is prelude to the Mongol invasion • Genghis Khan had built a massive empire, controlling Korea as well as China and much of Asia • The Mongol invasions of Japan of 1274 and 1281 were major military invasions and conquests undertaken by Kublai Khan to take the Japanese islands after the capitulation of Goryeo (Korea). • Despite their ultimate failure, the invasion attempts are of macrohistorical importance, because they set a limit on Mongol expansion, and rank as nation-defining events in Japanese history. • The Japanese were successful, who were helped by the Mongols losing up to 75% of their troops and supplies both times on the ocean because of huge storms. • The invasions are referred to in many works of fiction, and are the earliest events for which the word kamikaze, or "divine wind", is widely used. (it was typhoon season) |
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Genghis Khan
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• Genghis Khan had built a massive empire, controlling Korea as well as China and much of Asia
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Kubilai Khan
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• Kublai or Khubilai Khan (September 23, 1215– February 18, 1294) was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China.
• He eventually won the battle against Ariq Böke in 1264, and the succession war essentially marked the beginning of the civil war of the Mongol empire. • But the Mongol Empire, as a whole, remained united and strong. • In 1271, Kublai established the Yuan Dynasty, which at that time ruled over present-day Mongolia, Tibet, Eastern Turkestan, North China, much of Western China, and some adjacent areas, and assumed the role of Emperor of China. • By 1279, the Yuan forces had successfully annihilated the last resistance of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Kublai thus became the first non-Chinese Emperor who conquered all China. He was the only Mongol khan after 1260 to win new great conquests. • As the Mongol Emperor who welcomed Marco Polo to China, Kublai Khan became a legend in Europe. |
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Nichiren
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• Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) in Japan.
• Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of "Nam Myo ho Renge Kyo" as the essential practice of the teaching. • He is credited with founding what has come to be known as Nichiren Buddhism, a major school of Japanese Buddhism encompassing numerous sects espousing diverse doctrines. |
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Muromachi era: same as Ashikaga era
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• also known as the Muromachi era, the Muromachi bakufu, the Ashikaga era, the Ashikaga period, or the Ashikaga bakufu) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573.
• The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1336 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji. • The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was driven out of the capital in Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga. • [Muromachi is a district in Kyoto] |
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Ashikaga family (also called Ashikaga era). Same as muromachi era
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• An emerging rival warrior band, the ashikaga clan is seeking to challenge the Hojo.
• Emperor declares the Ashikaga the new shogun • Ashikaga era after the family or the Muromachi era after the place where they set up the capital • But this “government” is less effective organization than Kamakura. Military power, more than military government • Ashikaga, more like Taira, put stakes in court titles granted by Emperor, and resides in Kyoto. He and successors gets some revenue through taxing commerce. They use this to patronize the arts. • They also seek legitimacy through promoting international trade, official trade with China, even accepting terms of tribute system (title of “king” in relation to Chinese “emperor.” • Weak central control of provinces. Other protector/shugo families are emergine as regional hegemons, in chage of warrior bands with only weak allegiance to the center, or even to the protector. • Below them, the local military figures (descendants of jitÇ) have increasingly full control over land they used to administer for others. Come to be called kokujin. Local streamlining. A gradual process. Even by early 1400s, some mix of all three systems. |
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Kokujin: petty military lord (knight)
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• were lords of smaller rural domains in feudal Japan.
• They often used their relatively small plots of land for intensive and diversified forms of agriculture; • the kokujin sought to be as productive and self-sufficient as possible, hoping to gain wealth and power. |
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Daimyō
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• is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in premodern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings. In the term, "dai" literally means "large", and "myō" stands for myōden, meaning private land.
• They were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the early 19th century in Japan following the Shogun. |
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Tendai Buddhism (from Heian era)
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• Saicho – Founder
• The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the imperial family and nobility in Japan, particularly the Fujiwara clan; in 794, the Imperial capital was moved to Kyoto. • Tendai Buddhism became the dominant form of main-stream Buddhism in Japan for many years, and gave rise to most of the developments in later Japanese Buddhism. • Due to its patronage and growing popularity among the upper classes, the Tendai sect became not only respected, but also politically and even militarily powerful. • During the Kamakura Period, the Tendai school used its patronage to try to oppose the growth of rival factions—particularly the Nichiren school, which began to grow in power among the merchant middle class, and the Pure Land school, which eventually came to claim the loyalty of many of the poorer classes. |
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Priest Genshin (942-1017)
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• known as Eshin Sozu, was the most influential of a number of Tendai scholars active during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Japan.
• an elite cleric who espoused a doctrine of devotion to Amida Buddha which taught that because Japan was thought to have entered mappō, the "degenerate age" of the "latter law," the only hope for salvation lay in the reliance on the power of Amitabha. |
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Amida Buddhism (chant nenbutsu, praise Amida)
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• Pure Land Buddhism. Pure Land or Amida Buddhism was oriented around the figure of Amida Buddha
• Amitābha is the principal buddha in the Pure Land sect, a branch of Buddhism practiced mainly in East Asia. • According to these scriptures, Amitābha possesses infinite merits resulting from good deeds over countless past lives • Amidism was not a Japanese invention; Pure Land develops out of Mahayana Buddhism in India and became wildly popular in China, where the invocation of Amida (in Chinese, A-mi-t'o-fo ) became the most common of all religious practices. • Amidism represents a shift from a religion which stresses individual effort aimed at enlightenment to an exclusive reliance on salvation by the Amida; this opened up Buddhism to all classes, including women • Because of its democratic nature, the priesthood became evangelical rather than retiring; Buddhism began to become |
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Hōnen (1133-1212) Jōdo shū (Pure Land Sect)
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• Hōnen (1133–1212). Founder of the Jōdo (Pure Land) sect of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism.
• At the age of 13, he became a monk of the Tendai sect. At the age of 43, he converted to the Pure Land teachings upon reading Shantao's Kuan-wu-liang-shou-fo ching shu. • Subsequently he preached that everyone without exception can be reborn in Amida Buddha's Pure Land by simply reciting the nembutsu, and insisted that the Pure Land teachings be considered an independent sect. • The older established sects' opposition to Hōnen's teachings led to his exile from the capital of Kyōto in 1207. Although he was soon pardoned and returned to Kyōto in 1211, he died the following year. • Among his major works are the Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu, an outline of his Pure Land teachings, and the Ichimai Kishomon, a one-page summary of his teachings written or dictated on his deathbed. • By invoking the name of Amida over and over again you could reach salvation • Not a religion of acts, a religion of faith • Human beings are so evil it is impossible for good acts to save you • Rituals were not expensive but were really time consuming |
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Shinran (1173-1262) Jōdo shinshū (True Pure Land Sect)
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Brought Amidism to its logical conclusion
One sincere thought enough, one sincere chant Buddha once before death is enough Popular among lower classes and warriors, people with less time, ordinary farmers Began as Honen's disciple, was exiled with him; but after ban lifted (4 years), he stays in countryside and builds supports there. Also, he marries. A first for Buddhist priest in Japan, thereafter common. He spends 20 years total exile in NW Japan, builds up estimated 100,000 followers, then final decades back in Kyoto. Stressed his links to common people, called followers comrades not disciples. Followers organized into congregations, also unusual, and some letters between he and they survive, show that many were farmers and cultivators, that they met regularly to pray, that they were target of repression by stewards who saw them as threat. He (and Honen) stressed that women had equal claim on men for salvation (vs. previous view that w. first had to return as man). Controversy over their social base: some call Shinran the first to bring "high religion" to masses; others stress that samurai were his main adherents. |
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Nichiren (1222-1282) Nichiren Buddhism (Praise of Lotus Sutra)
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• the 13th-century militant prophet and saint, Nichiren. It is one of the largest schools of Japanese Buddhism.
• Nichiren believed that the quintessence of the Buddha’s teachings was contained in the Lotus Sutra (Sanskrit: Saddharmapundarika-sutra; “The Scripture of the Lotus of the Good Law”). According to him, the other sects then existing in Japan misunderstood the truth, and he vehemently denounced them and the government that supported them. He blamed the social unrest of the period on the erroneous religious beliefs of the nation and proclaimed that the salvation of the Japanese nation depended on devotion |
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Tariki (Salvation by others)
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A Japanese Pure Land term derived from the Chinese term t'a li meaning ‘other-power’. This refers to the power of Amitābha Buddha that supports and empowers the Pure Land devotee's practice. In Japanese Pure Land thought, tariki came to be seen as the only effective power that could save the practitioner;
Belief that individuals’ actions cannot bring them to nirvana Reliance on others Pure Land True Pure Land Tariki means other power, what Christians would call faith. |
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Jiriki (Salvation by self)
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‘self-power’ (jiriki) was seen as arrogant and useless.
Jiriki is the Japanese Buddhist term for self power, to enable ones self to liberate or spiritually enlighten them selves, in other words, reach nirvana. Ji means self and riki means power. There are two terms in Japanese Buddhist schools that classify how one becomes spiritually enlightend, Jiriki and Tariki. In Buddhism Tariki refers to the power of Amitābha Buddha. It is believed that in order to reach enlightenment one must do one of two things, sit and do absolutely nothing (meditate) or do everything. Belief that true understanding can only come from within Reliance on self Zen |
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Zen Buddhism
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Runs parallel to the more faith based sects.
Founded by two monks, Eisai and Dogen The appeal: Zen stressed mental discipline, endurance, suffering. Anti-textual. Enlightenment to be perceived directly, through flashes of insight coming to one who engages in arduous physical/mental discipline, not textual analsys. For warriors it came to be seen as a means to tough-mindedness (samurai machismo). Also, a way to overcome the pre-occupation of self and survival for a warrior. A religion that denies ego. Also gains by its association with other types of prestigious Chinese learning- the so-called Neo-Confucianism that was being propounded in China in 1200s is brought to J. by these same monks and is passed on in the monasteries. Halting devel. With hindsight, there has come to be tendency to see Zen as "the" samurai (even "the" Japanese) religion. But to say it exclusively is an exaggeration. |
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Eisai (1141-1215)
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cofounder of Zen Buddhism
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Dōgen (1200-1253)
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cofounder of Zen Buddhism
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Dogen (1200-1253) Eisai (1141-1215)
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Dogen (1200-1253) Eisai (1141-1215) Both went to China sponsored by old line temples in Kyoto, to study Chan Buddhism there, as had been done for a while. For centuries in China, Chan (same as Zen) had been part of the monastic life of general Buddhist practice. Discipline, meditation as one aspect of practice, and up to this point, it had been in Japan, too, contained within the old temples.
But these two made a break with the past. They and other Japanese visitors, too, were greatly impressed by the vigor of Chan. Saw it as a wholly different road to religious truth. Come back and seek patronage in Kamakura and Kyoto, win it at both, and set up major independent temples, pronounced Zen. |
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Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
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shogun (hereditary military dictator) of Japan, who achieved political stability for the Ashikaga shogunate, which had been established in 1338 by his grandfather, Ashikaga Takauji. The period of this shogunate’s rule (until 1573) subsequently became known as the Muromachi period after the district of Kyōto in which Yoshimitsu lived.
Proclaimed shogun in 1368, Yoshimitsu, in contrast to his father and grandfather, assumed an active role in the imperial bureaucracy. In 1381 he became inner minister, later advancing to the position of minister of the left and, in 1394, minister of state |
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Ōnin War (1467-77)
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– took place in Kyoto.
– was a civil war that lasted 100 years. – A dispute between Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen escalated into a nationwide war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of daimyo in many regions of Japan. |
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Ikkō or single minded sects
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– Independent villages around religious affiliation
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shokuhō daimyō
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– The "mature" daimyo, the “province” daimyo (called shokuho
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Oda Nobunaga (1534-82).
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– Oda rises with amazing speed, over just 15 years in the second half of the 1500s, from 1567-82. He starts this era as a daimyo in the Gifu area, and he ends it in control of about 1/2 of Japan, on verge of controlling remainer by forcing other daimyo to acknowledge his supremacy or else smashing them. He was a bold and vicious leader. He extended the innovations of his peers, just mentioned, to all his territories.
– a. He encouraged or allowed relatively autonomous villages organization so long as villagers pay taxes. – He developed a bureaucratic, systematic program of tax collection. Vassals don’t collect revenue directly from villages. Specialized officers do this, give to Oda, who gives to vassals. – That is: he accelerated separation of kokujin from their fiefs. He took "proprietorship" from the kokujin, and in exchange he guaranteed the petty lord/vassal a certain income reflecting the size and output of his lands. In doing this, he established the right to re-assign a kokujin. – |
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Battle of Nagashino (1575).
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Nobunaga’s forces, aided by Tokugawa Ieyasu’s engage foes in victorious battle. This was a turning point in the shift away from battles of mounted warriors using spears toward large massed armies of footsoldiers using muskets.
Over a 14 year period, he systematically declared war on daimyo who refused to submit to him. Between 1570-73 he annihilated 3 major daimyo. In his own report: "Three times we met them, pursuing them and crushing them. We took the heads of the dead. The others, we chased into the lake." He then declares war on the independent-minded Buddhist sects, of the Ikko ikki. – Oda gave his top 10 lieutenants the domains of the defeated, in exchange for a pledge of total loyalty. They reproduce his administration, spreading the pattern of rule described. Every one of them was low born and owed his place wholly to Oda. |
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Azuchi castle
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– He built a glorious castle. No paintings or drawings from the time survive. This is reconstruction based on written accounts.
– was one of the primary castles of Oda Nobunaga. It was built from 1576 to 1579, on the shores of Lake Biwa, in Ōmi Province. – Nobunaga intentionally built it close enough to Kyoto that he could watch over and guard the approaches to the capital, but, being outside the city, his fortress would be immune to the fires and conflicts that occasionally consumed the capital. This location was also quite strategically advantageous, in managing the communications and transportation routes between his greatest foes - the Uesugi clan to the north, Takeda clan in the east, and Mōri clan to the west |
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Toyotomi Hideyoshi
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• Peasant background
• General for Nobunaga • Completes unification, 1582-90: conquest AND conciliation • Policies: – sword hunt, – vassal relocation, – separation of farmers & warriors, – land survey, – invasions of Korea • Dies in 1598; heir is young son • Born to a foot-soldier peasant family, he rose to bring all of Japan under his rule, a symbol of an era of mobility and “low overturning the high” • Hideyoshi’s different strategy: He emerges as Oda's top lieutenant to finish the job of pacifying and unifying the realm, but takes a very different strategy. A bad cop, good cop routine aimed at other aspiring military lords. • Oda had conquered 1/2 of the territory of Japan. By 1590, 8 years later, Hideyoshi has consolidated all of Japan's territory under his control. • Hideyoshi prevails through conquest and conciliation, unlike Oda. He gives, that is, generous terms to those who pledge allegiance to him, rather than destroy them. He is here taking advantage of the fears generated by Oda. So, while Oda's top 10 lieutenants were underlings raised from within (including Hideyoshi), 9 of Hideyoshi's most powerful daimyo allies or supporters had formerly been opponents who submitted following a war or to avoid one. • Megalomania: he turns his sights to Asia, specifically to Korea. The reason for this disastrous invasion is not clear. Perhaps Hideyoshi had visions of conquering both China and Korea. It is hard to find a "rationale" for this invasion, either in terms of better legitimacy of control at home, or gains expected from conquest. Basically, Hideyoshi was a megalomaniac. He has gone overboard. Hideyoshi sent 160,000 soldiers under the command of 32 daimyo to Korea, and he kept 100,000 in reserve. This was truly a massive mobilization (compare to US in Vietnam, 500,000 at peak in a country of 15 times the population). The size of forces he gathered was over double that of the largest Eurpean armies mobilized until the 1640s (250,000 vs. 100,000). • Hideyoshi takes Seoul in 3 weeks in 1592. Then he declares a new goal of Chinese submission, and he reaches the Yalu river 3 months later, in the summer of 1592. But Chinese troops aid Korea, and they force Japanese to retreat. His defeat is clear within a month. • Also, and despite this very different alliance building strategy, in the process of reaching for supreme power Hideyoshi is like Oda in one respect. He rejects the shogun title. He takes the imperial rank of regent, kanpaku in 1585, and the title of grand minister of state in 1587. • Hideyoshi dies soon after invasion fails. • Just before death, he designates his young son as suceessor and gains a promise from his 5 top daimyo that they, as regents, would protect and then install the son. Installed in this castle. • Then in a final act of sweetness, he murders his nephew, who was a potential blood challenger, including the women and his whole family, before his own death. |
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Nanban
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(southern barbarians)
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Nōmin
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- Peasants.
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Bushi
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- Warriors
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Koku
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- Measurement of rice, or a measurement of wealth or income.
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Ge-koku-jō
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- The practice of the lower ranked overthrowing their superiors.
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Chokkatsuchi
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- Lands directly controlled by the lord.
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Ashigaru
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- Lowest ranking foot soldiers.
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Karō
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- High ranking samurai
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Nihonbashi (Bridge of Japan) - Nihonbashi literally Japan Bridg),
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is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603, and the current bridge made of stone dates from 1911. The district covers a large area to the north and east of the bridge, reaching Akihabara to the north and the Sumida River to the east. Ōtemachi is to the west and Yaesu and Ginza to the south.
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Tōkaidō -
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was originally an old Japanese geographical region that made up the gokishichidō system and was situated along the southeastern edge of Honshū, its name literally means 'Eastern Sea Way'. The term also refers to a series of roads that connected the capitals of each of the provinces that made up the region. In the Edo period, the Tōkaidō road Eastern Ocean Road was demonstrably the most important in Japan; and this marked prominence continued after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate. In the early Meiji period, this region's eastern route was the one chosen for stringing the telegraph lines which connected the old capital city of Kyoto with the new "eastern capital" at Tokyo. In the modern, post-Pacific War period, all measures show the Tōkaidō region increasing in its dominance as the primary center of population and employment.
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Nakasendō -
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was one of the five routes (major roads) of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 stations between Edo and Kyoto, crossing through Musashi, Kōzuke, Shinano, Mino and Ōmi provinces. In addition to Tokyo and Kyoto, the Nakasendō runs through the modern-day prefectures of Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Gifu and Shiga, with a total distance of approximately 534 km (332 mi). Unlike the coastal Tōkaidō, the Nakasendō traveled inland, hence its name, which can be translated as "road through the central mountains" (as opposed to the Tōkaidō, which roughly meant "road near the eastern sea"). Because it was such a well-developed road, many famous persons, including the haiku master Matsuo Bashō, traveled the road. Many people, including women, preferred traveling along the Nakasendō because it did not require travelers to ford any rivers.
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Osaka -
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is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshū, the designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the heart of Greater Osaka Area. Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay. Osaka is the third largest city by population after Tokyo and Yokohama. Historically the commercial capital of Japan, Osaka functions as one of the command centers for the Japanese economy. The ratio between daytime and night time population is 141%, the highest in Japan, highlighting its status as an economic center. Its nighttime population is 2.6 million, the third in the country, but in daytime the population surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo. Osaka has traditionally been referred to as the "nation's kitchen" or the Mecca of gourmet food.
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Mitsui - Mitsui Group
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is one of the largest corporate conglomerates (keiretsu) in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.
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Ise mairi:
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going to Ise shrine, on pilgrimage (generically, pilgrimage is: okage-mairi) is a city located in eastern Mie Prefecture, on the island of Honshū, Japan. Ise is home to Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred Shintō Shrine in Japan, and is thus a very popular destination for tourists. The city has a long-standing nickname — Shinto— that roughly means "The Holy City" and literally means "Capital of the Kami"). It is part of Ise-Shima National Park.
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Ogyū Sorai:
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Confucian studies scholar (1666-1728) - was a Japanese Confucian philosopher. He has been described as the most influential scholar during the Tokugawa period. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings of Confucianism to government and social order. He responded to the economic and political failings that were happening at the time in Japan, as well as the culture of mercantilism and the dominance of old institutions that had become weak with extravagance, which used teachings such as the Way to justify their actions as he felt it. Sorai rejected the moralism of Song Confucianism and instead looked to the ancient works. He argued that allowing human emotions to express themselves was important and nurtured Chinese literature in Japan for this reason. Sorai attracted a large following with his teachings and created the Sorai school, which would become an influential force in further Confucian scholarship in Japan.
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House of Mitsui:
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Edo era merchant house
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Ukiyo:
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“floating world” of Edo era entertainment, centered on Yoshiwara in Edo. described the urban lifestyle, especially the pleasure-seeking aspects. The "Floating World" culture developed in Yoshiwara, the licensed red-light district of Edo (modern Tokyo), which was the site of many brothels, chashitsu tea houses, and kabuki theaters frequented by Japan's growing middle class. The ukiyo culture also arose in other cities such as Osaka and Kyoto. The famous Japanese woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the Floating World", had their origins in these districts and often depicted scenes of the Floating World itself such as geisha, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, samurai, chōnin and prostitutes
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Ukiyo-e:
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woodblock prints depicting that world - is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.
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Kabuki theater -
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is the highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing."
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Bunraku (puppet) theater
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- is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684. Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:
• Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers • Tayū - the chanters • Shamisen players |
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Chikamatsu Monzaemon:
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writer of puppet theater plays (1653-1725) - was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. Encyclopædia Britannica writes that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatist."His most notable plays deal with double-suicides of honor bound lovers.
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