Medieval Japan

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Medieval Japan
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Periods of Early Japanese History

• Jomon 8000 bce-300 bce prehistoric
• Yayoi ca. 300 bce-300 ce 1st Chinese
  influence
• Yamato or Kofun ca. 300 ce-645 ce writing
  introduced
• Asuka 645-710
• Nara 710-794
• Heian 794-1185 period of The Tale of Genji
• Gempei War Period 1156-1192 civil wars
• Kamakura Shogunate 1192-1333
• Ashikaga Shogunate 1333- 1467
• Onin War 1467-1477

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Jomon Period8000 bce-300 bce

• The earliest inhabitants of the Japanese islands
  were gatherers, fishers and hunters.
• Stationary communities of houses with flower
  gardens, cemeteries and domesticated dogs.
• Jomon is the name of the era's pottery the
  earthenware pottery typically had rope like
  patterns on the surface. Jomon means "pattern of
  ropes".

4
Yayoi Periodca. 300 bce-300 ce

• Immigration of rice growers from China mixed
  ethnically and culturally with Jomon-ji
• Introduction of rice agriculture
• More advanced pottery techniques
• Access to metal wares bronze and iron
• Clan culture
• Emergence of nature religion, precursor to Shinto

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Rice Cultivation

• Farmers' life became the standard for the
  Yayoi-jin. When the sun was up, they went to the
  rice paddy for a day's work and when the sun was
  down, they went home. Life became more managed,
  otherwise, harvesting a satisfactory crop was not
  possible. Management of the seeds, time, water,
  and people became the main concern of the
  Yayoi-jin.

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Yayoi uji clans

• Clans headed by single figure -- both war-chief
  and priest
• Women held prominent place in uji, perhaps even
  serving as clan head or priestess
• Each clan associated with a single god or kami
  -- which represented a force of nature
• When one uji conquered another, it absorbed its
  kami into its own religious practices resulting
  in a complex pantheon of kami

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Yamato or Kofun Periodca. 300-645 ce

• Yamato great kings
• Kofun giant tomb mounds
• Military aristocracy
• Capital at Naniwa (Osaka)
• Imported Chinese culture via Korea
• Writing
• Confucianism
• Buddhism

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Prince Shotoku573-621

• Regent during reign of Empress Suiko (r. 592-628)
• Wrote the Seventeen Article Constitution, the
  earliest piece of Japanese writing and basis for
  Japanese government throughout history
• Led Japanese court in adopting Chinese calendar
  and sponsoring Buddhism

Prince ShotokuKamakura period, early 14th
centuryGilt bronze
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Asuka Period645-710

• Capital in the Asuka District
• Establishment of Imperial Power under Taika
  Reform Edict
• Temple building and sculpture introduced with
  Buddhism -- heavily influenced by Korean and
  Chinese models

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Taika Reform Edicts 645Fusion of Buddhism and
Shinto

• Influence of Chinese culture -- institutions,
  language, philosophy concept of national unity
  symbolized by Emperor's dual role
• Shinto religious leader with elaborate rituals,
  ceremonial functions
• Chinese-like secular Emperor
• Emperor ruled by Decree of Heaven with absolute
  authority and by descent from Amaterasu, the sun
  goddess
• United provinces ruled by central bureaucracy
• Government control of land culture

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Shinto

• Shinto is a general term for the activities of
  the Japanese people to worship all the deities
  (kami) of heaven and earth
• Towards the end of the 6th century, the 31st
  Emperor Yomei prayed before an image of Buddha
  for the first time as an emperor for recovery of
  his illness. In accepting Buddhism, a foreign
  religion, the Japanese realized the existence of
  a tradition of their own faith.
• The Japanese called the worship ritutals 'Way of
  Kami (the deity or the deities).
• This indigenous faith, Shinto, has developed into
  four main forms Koshitsu Shinto (Shinto of the
  Imperial House), Jinja Shinto (Shrine Shinto),
  Shuha Shinto (Sectarian Shinto), and Minzoku
  Shinto (Folk Shinto).

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Shinto The Grand Shrines at Ise

• The present buildings reproduce the temple first
  ceremoniously rebuilt in 692 CE by Empress Jito.
  The first temple had been built by her husband
  Emperor Temmu (678-686), the first Mikado to rule
  over a united Japan.        
• Emperor Temmu had established Ise as the
  principal cult shrine (jingu) of Imperial Japan,
  but the site itself, and the cedar trees that
  grew on it, were already sacred before then.    
            
• Besides trees, at the Ise Shrine, are many
  subsidiary shrines of rocks from the sea which
  are regarded as the abodes (iwakura or rock
  abodes) of deities.

Jingu http//www.isejingu.or.jp/english
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• Ise Grand Shrine is Japan's most important Shinto
  shrine and serves as the center of all shrines
  nationwide.
• Situated near the banks of the Isuzu River, the
  shrine is surrounded by 800-year-old Ise Grand
  Shrine cedars.
• The smooth pebble-lined approach to the shrine
  lends the site a majestic air.

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• The shrine consists of two groups of buildings
  the Imperial Shrine (Kotai Jingu), also known as
  the Naiku (inner shrine), and the Toyouke Shrine
  (Toyouke Daijingu ), the Geku or outer shrine.
• The Naiku is dedicated to the Sun Goddess
  Amaterasu Omikami (Heaven-Illuminating Great
  Deity), and the Geku to the Goddess of Cereals
  Toyouke Omikami (Abundant Food Great Deity).
• Both shrines are constructed of wood, and every
  twenty years both are totally rebuilt on an
  adjoining site. The only building on the empty
  site, which retains its sacredness for the
  intervening twenty years, is a small wooden hut
  (oi-ya) with post about seven feet high known as
  shin-no-mihashira (sacred central post). The new
  shrine will be erected over and around this post.

Oi-ya
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The Naiku

• The most revered of all Shinto shrines, the
  Naiku, is located at Ise.
• The Naiku enshrines Amaterasu Omikami, the
  ancestral goddess of Japan's imperial house and
  the great ancestral deity of the Japanese people.

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Nara Period 710-794

• 710 first permanent capital established at Nara
  
• 712 A Record of Ancient Matters first book of
  orally preserved historic legends
• Emperors embraced Buddhism leading to rapid and
  dramatic expansion
• 759 The Manyoshu first poetry anthology
• 784Rise in political power of Buddhist
  monasteries led to capital being moved to Nagaoka
  

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COURTLYJAPAN
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Earliest Japanese Literature

• 712 The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) --
  an anthology of myths, legends, and other stories
  
• 713 The Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth),
  compiled by provincial officials describe the
  history, geography, products, and folklore of the
  various provinces.
• 720 Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan) -- a
  chronological record of history.

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The Kojiki

• The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) is
  traditionally viewed as Japan's first book. It
  was written in 712 by the courtier Ono Yasumaro
  (? - 723) at the behest of Empress Gemmei
  (661-721) and is in three volumes.
• The Kojiki recounts the history of Japan from its
  mythological origins to the era of the Empress
  Suiko (554-628) in the Yamoto era and includes
  myths, legends, Imperial genealogy, history, and
  poetry.
• Ono Yasumaru's work was based on the oral
  recitations of Hieda no Are

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Wakawa-Japanese ka-poetry

• Waka were first composed orally to celebrate
  victories in battle and love, or for religious
  reasons
• Around the 8th century the fixed forms Choka
  (long poem) and Tanka (short poem) emerged. These
  Waka are based on a set number of Mora
  (syllables).
• During the first great age of written waka in the
  seventh and eighth centuries, nagauta or choka
  'long poems were composed for performance on
  public occasions at the imperial court.
• At the same time, tanka 'short poems', consisting
  of five 'lines' in the pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
  syllables, became a useful shorthand for private
  communication between friends and lovers, and the
  ability to compose a tanka on a given topic
  became an essential skill for any gentleman or
  lady at court.
• It was not uncommon for parties to be thrown just
  to recite waka. One ritual was the Utokai. At
  Utokai parties each guest would come with an
  original waka and recite it to the group. All of
  the waka would then be judged by the host and the
  winner would be welcomed to eat at the head
  table.

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The Manyoshu

• Collected ca. 759
• Anthology of over 4500 poems
• Includes wide variety of poems courtly, rustic,
  dialectical, military, travel
• Identified and anonymous poets
• Syllabic poetry 5-7-5
• Choka indeterminate number of lines culminating
  in a 7-syllable couplet
• Tanka 31 syllable poem 5,7,5,7, 7

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Heian Japan

• 794-1185
• Capital at Heian present-day Kyoto
• Highly formalized court culture
• Aristocratic monopoly of power
• Literary and artistic flowering
• Ends in civil war with emergence of samurai
  culture

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Heian Style

• A culture more independent of Chinese influence
• miyabi courtlinessmakoto simplicityaware
  melancholymono no aware evanescence
• Emphasis on the exquisite and evanescent
• Literary poems, letters, pillow books
• Extreme sensitivity to nature
• Nocturnal
• Importance of convention andfashion

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Heian Society

• Patriarchal but women inherited matrilineal and
  matrilocal
• Polygamous
• Sexuality viewed as normal and necessary part of
  life
• Men exercised political power, but marriages
  created political alliances, and women could
  exercise significant political influence

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Heian Painting Yamato-e

• Otoko-e
• strong calligraphic outlines on figures with
  washed colors so that these strong lines would
  not be overwhelmed by the color
• the medium for action subjects involving war or
  conflict
• primarily concerned with the public life outside
  the court or house.

• Onna-e
• rich colors and subtle outlines.
• the medium for courtliness, appropriate to the
  literature of miyabi, such as The Tale of Genji.
• "cutaway" painting, in which interior scenes are
  painted by "cutting away" the roof.
• primarily concerned with the Japanese life that
  goes on inside the court or house

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The Kokinshu(Collection of Ancient and Modern
Times)

• Anthology commissioned by Emperor Daigo (r.
  897-930)
• 1111 tanka poems in 20 books
• Set the pattern for later anthologies
• Books divided by subjectlove, seasons,
  felicitations, parting, travel, names of things,
  etc.
• Poetic sequences linked narrations
• Renga 'linked verse' pairs or groups of poets
  would compose jointly, with one poet supplying
  the initial 5-7-5 of a verse and another the
  concluding 7-7, often building up to hundred
  verse sequences.
• The initial 5-7-5 of a renga became a poetic form
  on its own, the haiku

A confused array of red leaves in the current
of Tatsuta River. Were I to cross, I would
break the fabric of a rich brocade
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Japanese Writing

• Adapted from Chinese calligraphy, but a totally
  different language
• Kanji ideogrammatic use of Chinese characters
• Manyo-kana ideogrammatic and syllabic
• Kana syllabic
• Hiragana onna de or womens writing --
  cursive, does not require knowledge of Chinese
• Katakana -- cursive, derived from Chinese

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Heian Literature

• Men continued to write Chinese-style poetry
• Women began to write in Japanese prose
• First novel Genji Monogatari by Lady Murasaki
  Shikibu
• Diaries
• The Pillowbook by Sei Shonagan
• As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams by Lady
  Sarashina

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The Tale of Genji

• The Tale of Genji has 54 chapters and over 1,000
  pages of text in its English translation.
• The novel has three gradual stages
• 1. The experience of a youth (Chapters 1-33)
  Love and romance
• 2. The glory and the sorrow (Chapters 34-41) A
  taste of power and the death of Genjis beloved
  wife
• 3. The descendants (Chapters 42-54) After the
  death of Genji
• The Tale of Genji depicts a unique society of
  ultra-refined and elegant aristocrats whose
  indispensable accomplishments were skill in
  poetry, music, calligraphy, and courtship.
• The novel is permeated with a sensitivity to
  human emotions and the beauties of nature.

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Gempei War Period Civil Wars

• 1156 Hôgen Disturbance--Taira (or Heike) and
  Minamoto (or Genji) on both sides
• 1160 Heiji Disturbance-- Taira were solidly
  aligned against the Minamoto. A Taira victory
  enabled the clan to become the new aristocracy at
  court from 1160 until the early 1180s
• 1180 Taira-Minamoto War -- Minamoto chieftains
  rose in the provinces that led to the defeat of
  the Taira

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Samurai

• Literally, "one who serves"
• Also known as bushi ("military gentry") -- the
  warrior elite of pre-modern Japan that emerged in
  the provinces from at least the early 10th
  century and became the ruling class of the
  country from the late 12th century until the
  Meiji Restoration of 1868.

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Origins of the Samurai

• Failure of the central government in Kyôto to
  maintain adequate administration
• Samurai became active in managing provincial
  governments
• The first bushidan, or warrior bands, were
  family organizations, military units recruited by
  chieftains from among their kinsmen.
• By the 11th century, however, bushidan had
  developed into more permanent entities structured
  on lord-vassal ties between fighting men
• Taira and Minamoto clans emerged in the 10th
  and 11th centuries

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Bushido

• Code of honor and conduct of the Japanese
  nobility requiring unwavering loyalty on the part
  of the vassal.
• Borrowed heavily from Zen Buddhism and
  Confucianism.
• Emphasized loyalty to ones superior, personal
  honor, and the virtues of austerity,
  self-sacrifice, and indifference to pain.
• Commerce and the profit motive were to be
  scorned.
• Formulated in the Kamakura period and put into
  writing in the 16th c.

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Kamakura Shogunate 1192-1333

• The victor in the Taira-Minamoto War was
  Minamoto no Yoritomo established the first true
  warrior government in Japanese history, the
  Kamakura shogunate (1192-1333)
• Shogun the title that Yoritomo demanded when he
  defeated the Taira Sei i tai shogun , "barbarian
  conquering supreme general."
• Feudalistic Society

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Japanese Feudalism

• Classes
• Warriors
• Daimyo feudal landowners
• Samurai knight/retainers loyal to the Daimyos
• Bushi warriors
• Peasants bound as serfs to the land who paid
  harvest rent to samurai
• A third class of merchants, craftsmen and
  entertainers arose as peace settled in.
  Merchants, especially, became powerful as they
  became rich.

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Mongol Invasion of Japan

• Defining moment for the Kamakura dynasty
• In 1258, Kublai Khan had conquered the Korean
  peninsula and in 1266, he declared himself
  Emperor of China.
• In 1266, representatives of the Mongolian court
  came to Japan and demanded its immediate
  surrender -- Japan refused.
• In 1274, Kublai Khan sent a vast fleet to invade
  Japan but it was destroyed by a hurricanethe
  Japanese called this fortunate hurricane
  kamikaze, or "wind from the gods."
• Again in 1281, Kublai launched the largest
  amphibious assault in the history of the ancient
  and medieval worlds. Another hurricane struck,
  and the bulk of the Chinese army sank with the
  fleet.

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Heike Monogatari

• Tales of the Heike War
• Told by professional storytellers, biwa hoshi ,
  whose job it was to establish definitive versions
  of various tales and commit them to memory--
  their profession came to be known as heikyoku
  ("Tales of the Heike Narration").
• By the 13th century heikyoku constituted the
  leading contemporary performing art form in
  14th-15th century
• During this period, the various tales were
  written down so the composition of the Heike
  monogatari can be said to have taken place
  between 1200 and 1600.

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Noh Drama

• Emerged in the 14th c.
• Frozen in the 17th c.
• Invention attributed to Kanami Kiyotsugu
  (1333-1384)
• Perfected by his son, Zeami Morokiyo (1363-1443)

A scene from Aoi no ue based on The Tale of
Genji
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Noh Characters

• Conventional roles in all dramas
• Shite principal character -- the only true
  person
• Waki secondary character -- introduces story
  and asks questions often a priest
• Tsure shadowy companion to shiite and/or waki
• Kokata child
• Kyogen clown -- usually lower class

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Noh Conventions

• Very short, plotless, tragic in mood
• Highly stylized with very slow pace 200-300
  lines of play can take an hour to perform
• Integrate singing, speech instruments, and
  dancing
• No limitation in time or space
• Highly allusive, poetic, symbolic language
• Less about characters than emotions

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Yugen haunting poetic quality, suggesting quiet
elegance and grace, and subtle and fleeting beauty
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Types of Noh Plays

• A Days Entertainment contains
• A god play
• A warrior play
• A woman play
• A realistic play
• A demon play
• Kyogen Plays placed between Noh plays as comic
  relief
• No music
• Broad humor
• About 20 minutes long

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In Japan, during the Fifteenth Century the bonds
of loyalty between the Ashikaga Shogunate and the
daimyo or lords grew increasingly frayed until
the outbreak of the Onin War (1467-77) and the
descent of Japanese society into the Warring
States period of the 16th Century.