HISTORY Lesson 3 Year 8 Unit 2 Topic: Japan in context Cultural developments Today you will: ►► understand the way religious beliefs influenced Japanese values and cultural practices. Resources Key terms Digital haiku, seppuku, Zen Buddhism Video — Values and culture in shogunate Japan: Part 1 (4:18) Video — Values and culture in shogunate Japan: Part 2 (4:31) For definitions and explanations of terms, please see the Glossary. Lesson In the previous lesson, you learned about the various religious traditions in Japan. In this lesson, you will investigate the influence of these traditions on Japanese culture during the shogunate period. Your focus question is: What influences did religious beliefs have on Japanese values and cultural practices? Identify key features of Japanese beliefs and values While the military rule of the Tokugawa Shoguns was strict, the years of peace encouraged the growth of high culture, including the many forms of literature and the arts. A true samurai was expected to be brave, fearless and utterly loyal to his master. He was expected to spend many hours in perfecting the military skills essential to his role. However, military training was not enough. Samurai were also expected to be trained in the arts and in literature. This idea that a true samurai needed to be a well-rounded person, trained in warfare and in the arts, emerged from Zen Buddhism, a form of Buddhism particularly popular with the samurai. Buddhism is a very old religious tradition and there are many forms of it. Zen Buddhism developed during the Tang dynasty in China in the 7th century and reached Japan in the 8th century during the Heian period. Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Page 1 Year 8 History Unit 2 Lesson 3 The word ‘Zen’ reflects the focus on meditation. Its appeal to the samurai class lay in its focus on simplicity and developing a true awareness of one’s real nature. Samurai were expected to not only be able to read and appreciate literature, but also to write literary genre like Haiku poetry. When a disgraced samurai performed seppuku, or ritual suicide, usually because he had failed in his duty to protect his master, he was also expected to leave a Haiku poem about the event. Hot tip You will find this lesson and the following video useful for your assessment task in later lessons. 1. Read the tasks below to identify what you need to find out when you watch the video. a. Watch the Video — Values and culture in shogunate Japan: Part 1 and the Video — Values and culture in shogunate Japan: Part 2. These videos explain how religious traditions in Japan influenced Japanese values and how key cultural features reflect these values. Page 2 His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials Video 4:18 Video 4:31 Year 8 History Unit 2 Lesson 3 b. Complete the table by ticking either the ‘True’ or ‘False’ box for each statement. Haiku poetry was long and very complex. True False The Japanese tea ceremony was influenced by Zen Buddhism. True False The tea ceremony was particularly popular with peasants. True False Special tea rooms were introduced into private homes. True False The tea houses in the suburbs of Japanese towns were frequented by merchants and samurai in disguise. True False The audience at Noh plays was usually from the upper classes. True False Noh performers were men and they wore masks. True False Samurai were encouraged to attend Kabuki performances. True False Kabuki performers were initially women. True False Sumo wrestling was associated with Confucianism. True False Use information from sources to identify the cultural developments of shogunate Japan 2. Read Source A and answer the questions that follow. Source A Zen Buddhist monk, Takuan Soho, 17th century … and let this [tea ceremony] all be carried out in accordance with the idea that in this room we can enjoy the streams and rocks as we do the rivers and mountains in Nature, and appreciate the various moods and sentiments suggested by the snow, the moon, and the trees and flowers, as they go through the transformation of seasons, appearing and disappearing, blooming and withering. As visitors are greeted here with due reverence, we listen quietly to the boiling water in the kettle, which sounds like a breeze passing through the pine needles, and become oblivious of all worldly woes and worries … Adapted from: Buddhist priest Takuan (1573–1645), The Tea Ceremony http://www.samurai-archives.com/cultcat.html a. According to this source, what would a person experience by participating in a tea ceremony? Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Page 3 Year 8 History Unit 2 Lesson 3 b. What phrase in the source suggests that participants should be treated as special guests? 3. Examine Sources B and C, and answer the questions that follow. Source B Tea ceremony Yoshu Chikanobu, 1895, The tea ceremony, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB_Chikanobu_Cha_no_yu.jpg Source C Tea house merry-making ‘A tea-house merry-making’, in Sketches of Japanese manners and customs, by JMW Silver, 1867. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13051 Page 4 His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials Year 8 History Unit 2 Lesson 3 a. Why do you think Source B is referred to as a ‘Tea ceremony’ and Source C as ‘Tea house merry-making’? Source D Samurai house rules from Hojo Soun’s ‘Twenty-one articles’, early 16th century XV It is boorish [lacking manners] and vile [very offensive, extremely unpleasant] to have no poetic sensibility or skill and you should study the art of poetry. XXI It is not necessary to write here about the ‘Arts of peace and War, including Archery and Horsemanship’, for to pursue these is a matter of course. From of old, the rule has been, ‘Practise the Arts of Peace on the left hand, and the Arts of War on the right’. Mastery of both is required. Adapted from: Hojo Soun (1432–1519), ‘Twenty-one articles’ in Samurai life in Medieval Japan: Samurai house rules XV and XXI http://www.colorado.edu/cas/tea/curriculum/imaging-japanese-history/medieval/ b. Choose a phrase from Source D which emphasises that a samurai was expected to be a ‘complete’ person and not just a good fighter. 4. Examine the images below and answer the questions that follow. Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Page 5 Year 8 History Unit 2 Lesson 3 Source E Edo Ichimura-za theatre, early 1740s Okumura Masanobu, 1741–77, Shibai Ukie by Masanobu Okumura, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shibai_Ukie_by_Masanobu_Okumura.jpg a. What does this image suggest about the popularity of Kabuki theatre in Japan? Page 6 His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials Year 8 History Unit 2 Lesson 3 Source F Sumo wrestling ’Public wrestling in the great amphitheatre at Veddo’, in Sketches of Japanese manners and customs, by JMW Silver, 1867. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13051 b. How does this image suggest that sumo wrestling was a form of mass entertainment? Draw conclusions about the key values of Japanese society 5. Which of the following statements best sums up Japanese society during the shogunate period? Japan was a disorganised society which valued only military success. The values of discipline, commitment, loyalty and the development of the whole person were characteristics of Japanese society. Japanese society placed little value on the arts and literature. Japanese society was characterised by a casual and laid-back attitude. In this lesson, you have learned about the key cultural features of Japan under the shoguns and what values characterised this society. In the next lesson, you will investigate the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Department of Education and Training C2C Independent Learning Materials His_Y8_U2_ILM16_L03 Page 7
