Spread of Civilizations in
East Asia
Lesson 1-3
1
The Spread of Civilizations in
East Asia
• Lesson 1 – Sui, Tang, and Song China
• Lesson 2 - The Mongol and Ming
Empires
• Lesson 3a - The Emergence of Japan
• Lesson 3b - Japan’s Feudal Age
2
1
Lesson 1
Sui, Tang, and Song China
• Explain how Tang and Song rulers ensured
Chinese unity and prosperity
• Describe how Chinese society reflected
Confucian traditions
• Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
3
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• After the Han Dynasty collapsed in 220,
China remained divided for nearly 400
years.
• Yet China escaped the decay that disrupted
Western Europe after the fall of Rome.
• Farm production expanded and technology
slowly improved.
4
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Buddhism spread, while learning and the
arts continued.
• Even Chinese cities survived.
• Although invaders stormed northern China,
they often adopted Chinese civilization
rather than demolishing it.
5
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Meanwhile, various dynasties rose and fell in
the south. During the brief Sui dynasty (589618), the emperor Sui Wen Ti reunited the
north and south.
• But China was not restored to its earlier glory
until the emergence of the Tang Dynasty in
618.
6
85. Sui Wen Ti
• Chinese
emperor
• Re-unified
China in the 6th
century
7
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• The first Tang emperor, Li Yuan, was a
general under the Sui dynasty.
• When the Sui began to crumble , his
ambitious 16-year-old-son Li Shimin,
urged him to lead a revolt.
• Father and son crushed all rivals and
established the Tang dynasty.
8
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Eight years later, Li Shimin compelled his
aging father to step down and mounted the
throne himself, taking the name Tang
Taizong.
• Brilliant general, government reformer,
historian, and master of the calligraphy
brush , Tang Taizong would become
China’s most admired emperor.
9
Li Yuan
(L)
Tang
Taizong
(R)
10
11
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Later Tang rulers carried empire building to new
heights, conquering territories deep into Central Asia.
• Chinese armies forced the neighboring lands of
Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea to become tributary
states.
– That is, while these states remained independent, their rulers had to
acknowledge Chinese supremacy and send regular tribute to the
Tang emperor.
• At the same time, students from Korea and Japan
traveled to the Tang capital to learn about Chinese
government, law, and arts.
12
Tang rulers,
such as
Empress Wu
Zhao, helped
restore the Han
system of
uniform
government
throughout
China.
13
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• They rebuilt the bureaucracy and
enlarged the civil service system to
recruit talented officials trained in
Confucian philosophy.
• They also set up schools to prepare
male students for the exams and
developed a flexible new law code.
14
Vairocana Buddha, disciples, and bodhisattvas – Longmen Caves (China) 15
Tang Dynasty A.D. 675
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Tang emperors instituted a system of land
reform.
– That is, they broke up large agricultural holdings
and redistributed the land to peasants.
• This policy strengthened the central government by
weakening the power of large land owners.
• It also increased government revenues since the
peasants who farmed their own land would be able to
pay taxes.
16
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Under the Tang, a system of canals encouraged
internal trade and transportation.
• The Grand Canal linked the Huang He to the
Yangzi River.
• As a result, food growth in the south could be
shipped to the capital in the north.
• At the time, the Grand Canal was the longest
waterway ever dug by human labor.
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18
19
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Like earlier dynasties, the Tang eventually weakened.
• Later Tang emperors lost territories in Central Asia to
the Arabs.
• Corruption, high taxes, drought, famine, and rebellions
all contributed to the downward swing of the dynastic
cycle.
• In 907, a rebel general overthrew the last Tang
emperor .
• This time, however, the chaos following the collapse
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of a dynasty did not last long.
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• In 960, a scholarly general reunited much of China
and founded the Song Dynasty.
• The Song ruled 319 years , slightly longer then the
Tang; however, the Song controlled less territory
than the Tang.
• In addition, the Song faced the constant threat of
invaders in the north.
• In the early 1100s, the battered Song retreated
south of the Huang He. There, the Southern Song21
continued to rule for another 150 years.
22
Explain how Tang and Song rulers
ensured Chinese unity and prosperity
• Despite military setbacks, the Song period was
golden age.
• Chinese wealth and culture dominated East Asia even when its
armies did not.
• Under the Song, the Chinese economy expanded .
• The center of farming shifted from the fields of the north to the
rice paddies of the Yangzi in the south.
• New strains of rice and improved irrigation methods helped
peasants produce two rice crops a year.
• The rise in productivity created surpluses, allowing more people
23
to purchase commerce, learning, or the arts.
Who would you want as the ruler
of your country? Why?
• Sui Wen Ti: Reunified China in 6th century
• Li Yuan- First Emperor of Tang
• Tang Taizong: Brilliant general, historian,
and master of Calligraphy.
• Empress Wu Zhao- Restored uniform
government throughout China
24
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
25
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Under the Tang and Song, China was a
well-ordered society.
– At its head was the emperor , whose court was
filled with aristocratic families.
• The court supervised a huge bureaucracy, from
which officials fanned out to every part of China.
– Aside from the court, China’s two main social
classes were the gentry and the peasantry.
26
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Most scholar-officials at court came from
the gentry, or wealthy landowning class.
• They alone could afford to spend years
studying the Confucian classics in order to
pass the grueling civil service exam.
• When not in government service the gentry
often served in the provinces as allies of the
emperor’s officials.
27
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• The Song scholar-gentry valued learning
more then physical labor.
• They supported a revival of Confucian thought.
• New schools of Confucian philosophers
emphasized social order based on duty, rank, and
proper behavior.
• Although corruption and greed existed among
civil servants, the ideal Confucian official was a
wise virtuous scholar who knew how to ensure
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harmony in society.
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Most Chinese were peasants who worked
the land, living on what they produced.
– Drought and famine were a constant threat, but
new tools and crops did improve the lives of
many peasants.
– To add to their income, some families produced
handicrafts such as baskets or embroidery.
– They carried these products to nearby market
towns to sell or trade for salt, tea, or iron tools.
29
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Peasants lived in small, largely selfsufficient villages that managed their own
affairs.
• “Heaven is high,” noted one Chinese saying, “and the
emperor far away”.
• Peasants relied on one another rather than the government.
• When disputes arose, a village leader and council of elders
put pressure on the parties to resolve the problem.
• Only if such efforts failed did villagers take their disputes
to the emperor’s court representative.
30
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• In China, even peasants could move up in
society through education and government
service.
• If a bright peasant boy received an
education and passed the civil service
examinations, both he and his family rose in
status.
31
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• In market towns and cities, some merchants
acquired vast wealth.
• Still, according to Confucian tradition,
merchants had and even lower social status
that peasants because their riches came
from the labor of others.
• An ambitious merchant therefore might buy
land and educate at least one son to enter
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the ranks of the scholar-gentry.
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• The Confucian attitude toward merchants
affected economic policy.
• Some rulers favored commerce but sought
to control it.
• They often restricted where foreign
merchants could live and even limited the
activities of private traders.
– Still, Chinese trade flourished during Song
times.
33
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Women had higher status in Tang and early
Song times than they did later.
• Within the home, women were called upon
to run family affairs.
• Wives and mothers-in-law had great
authority, managing servants and family
finances.
34
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Still, families valued boys more highly than
girls.
• When a young woman married, she
completely became a part of her husband’s
family.
• She could not keep her dowry and could
never remarry.
35
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Women’s subordinate position was reinforced in
late Song times when the custom of footbinding
emerged.
– The custom probably began at the imperial court but
later spread to the lower classes.
– The feet of young girls were bound with long strips
of cloth, producing a lily-shaped foot about half the
size of a foot that was allowed to grow normally.
– Tiny feet and a stilted walk became a symbol of
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nobility and beauty.
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38
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Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Footbinding was extremely painful.
• Yet the custom survived and in time
spread to lower classes.
• Even peasant parents feared that they
could not find a husband for a daughter
with large feet.
41
Describe how Chinese society
reflected Confucian traditions
• Not all girls in China had their feet bound.
– Peasants who needed their daughters to work in the
fields din not accept the practice.
• Yet most women did have to submit to
footbinding.
– Women with bound feet often could not walk without
help.
• Thus, footbinding reinforced the Confucian
tradition that women should remain inside the
42
QuickWrite Exercise
• Take an Index Card
• This exercise will last 2-3minutes.
• When I say begin imagine you had only a
few minutes to tell AO about Ancient China
before he disappears into a time machine.
Summarize what you have learned today
about society and Confucian tradition.
• You will turn these cards in before leaving.
43
Constructed Response Practice
• Read the document about Sun Wei Ti
• Focus on his achievement of re-uniting
China
• Break into groups and discuss the main
evidence to answer the question.
• Write your own thesis statement.
44
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song
China
45
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• A prosperous economy supported the
rich culture of Tang and Song China.
• The splendid palaces of the emperors
were long ago destroyed, but many
paintings, statues, temples, and
ceramics have survived.
46
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• Along with poetry, painting and calligraphy
were essential skills for the scholar-gentry.
• In both of these crafts, artists sought balance and harmony
through the mastery of simple strokes and lines.
• The Song period saw the triumph of Chinese landscape
painting.
• Steeped in the Daoist tradition, painters sought to capture
the spiritual essence of the natural world.
• “When you are planning to paint,” instructed a Song artist.
“you must always create a harmonious relationship
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between heaven and earth.”
48
Travelers among
Mountains and
Streams
Fan Kuan
(11th century)
Northern Song Period
49
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• Misty mountains and delicate bamboo
forests dominated Chinese landscapes.
• Yet Chinese painters also produced
realistic, vivid portraits of emperors or
lively scenes of city life.
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(detail from) The Thirteen Emperors
51
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• Buddhist themes dominated sculpture and
influenced Chinese architecture.
• The Indian stupa evolved into the graceful
Chinese pagoda, a multistoried temple with
eaves that curve at the corners.
• Chinese sculptors created striking statues of the Buddha.
• These statues created such a strong impression that,
today, many people picture the Buddha as a Chinese god
rather than an Indian holy man.
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Adventure Owl
• Video
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Foguang Si Pagoda (1056)
55
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• The Chinese perfected skills in making
porcelain, a shiny, hard pottery that was
prized as the finest in the world.
• They developed beautiful glazes to decorate
vases, tea services, and other objects that
westerners would later call “chinaware.”
• Artists also produced porcelain figures of
neighing camels, elegant court ladies playing
polo, and bearded foreigners fresh from their
travels on the Silk Road.
56
High shoulder shape
(meiping)
Northern Song (12th
century)
Stoneware, Cizhou
type with sgraffitto
decoration
57
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• Prose and poetry flowed from the brushes of
Tang and Song writers.
• Scholars produced works on philosophy,
history, and religion.
• Short stories that often blended fantasy,
romance, and adventure made their first
appearance in Chinese literature.
58
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• Still, among the gentry, poetry was the most
respected form of Chinese literature.
• Confucian scholars were expected to master the
skills of poetry.
• We know the names of some 200 major and 400
minor Tang and Song poets.
• Their works touched on Buddhist and Daoist
themes as well as on social issues.
• Many poems reflected on the shortness of life and
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the immensity of the universe.
Identify the literary and artistic
achievements of Tang and Song China
• Probably the greatest Tang poet was Li Bo.
• A zestful lover of life and freedom, he spent
most of his life moving from place to place.
• He wrote some 2,000 poems celebrating
harmony with nature or lamenting the
passage of time.
• A popular legend says that Li Bo drowned
when he tried to embrace the reflection of
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the moon in the lake.
Li Bo
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• When realistic and
less romantic were the
poems of Li Bo’s
friend Du Fu.
– His verses described
the horrors of war or
condemned the
lavishness of the
court.
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• A later poet, Li
Qingzhao, described
the experience of
women left behind
when a loved one
goes off to war.
– Her poems reflect a
time when invasion
threatened to bring
the brilliant Song
dynasty to an end.
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Comparing Exercise
1. How are these two art
pieces similar?
2. How are they different?
3. Which looks to be older?
4. Which would you buy
for your home?
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Lesson 2 Mongol and Ming China
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2
Lesson 2
Mongol and Ming China
• Describe how the Mongols conquered and
ruled a huge empire
• Summarize the effects of Mongol rule on
China
• Explain how the Ming restored Chinese rule
• Outline what policies the Ming pursued
with regard to the outside world
66
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
67
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• The Mongols were a nomadic people who
grazed their horses and sheep on the steppes
of Central Asia.
• Rival Mongol clans spent much of their
time warring with one another.
• In the early 1200s, however, a brilliant
Mongol chieftain united these warring
tribes.
68
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• This chieftain took the name Genghis
Khan, meaning “World Emperor.”
• Under his leadership, Mongol forces
triumphantly conquered a vast empire
that stretched from the Pacific Ocean
to Eastern Europe.
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70
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Genghis Khan imposed strict military
discipline and demanded absolute loyalty.
• His highly trained, mobile armies had some
of the most skilled horsemen in the world.
• Genghis Khan had a reputation for
fierceness. He could order the massacre of
an entire city.
• Yet he also could be generous, rewarding
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the bravery of a single fighter.
29 - Genghis Khan
• Mongol
emperor
• Established the
Mongol Empire
• Had many
influential
descendants
72
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Mongol armies conquered the Asian steppe lands
with some ease, but as they turned on China, they
faced the problem of attacking walled cities.
• Chinese and Turkish military experts taught them
to use cannons and other new weapons.
• The Mongols and Chinese launched missiles
against each other from metal tubes filled with
gunpowder.
• This use of cannons in warfare would soon spread
westward to Europe.
73
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Genghis Khan did not live to complete
the conquest of China.
• His heirs, however, continued to
expand the Mongol empire.
• For the next 150 years, they dominated
much of Asia.
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Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Once conquest was completed, the
Mongols were not oppressive rulers.
• Often, they allowed conquered people
to live much as they had before—as
long as they regularly paid tribute to
the Mongols.
76
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Genghis Khan had set an example for his
successors by ruling conquered lands with
toleration and justice.
• Although the Mongol warrior had no use
for city life, he respected scholars, artists,
and artisans.
• He listened to the ideas of Confucians,
Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Jews and
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Zoroastrians.
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• In the 1200s and 1300s, the sons and
grandsons of Genghis Khan established
peace and order within their domains.
• Today, many historians refer to this
period of order as the Pax Mongolica,
or Mongol Peace.
78
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Political stability set the stage for economic
growth.
• Under the protection of the Mongols, who
now controlled the great Silk Road, trade
flourished across Eurasia.
– According to a contemporary, Mongol rule meant that
people “enjoyed such a peace that a man might have
journeyed from the land of sunrise to the land of sunset
with a golden platter upon his head without suffering
the least violence from anyone.”
79
Describe how the Mongols
conquered and ruled a huge empire
• Cultural exchanges increased as foods,
tools, inventions, and ideas spread along the
protected trade routes.
• From China, the use of windmills and
gunpowder moved westward into Europe.
• Techniques of papermaking reached the
Middle East, and crops and trees from the
Middle East were carried into East Asia.
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Narrative Activity
• Imagine you are a Mongol Warrior. Based
on what you have learned, write a brief
narrative describing one day of your life.
81
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
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Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• Although Genghis Khan had subdued northern
China, the Mongols needed nearly 70 more years
to conquer the south.
• Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, finally
toppled the last Song emperor in 1279.
• From his capital at Cambulac, present-day Beijing,
Kublai Khan ruled all of China as well as Korea,
Tibet, and Vietnam.
83
Khublai Khan
• grandson of
Genghis Khan,
founded the
Mongol, or Yuan,
dynasty that ruled
China from 1279
to 1368.
84
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• Kublai Khan tried to prevent the Mongols from
being absorbed into Chinese civilization as other
conquerors of China had been.
• He decreed that only Mongols could serve in the
military.
• He also reserved the highest government jobs
for Mongols or for other non-Chinese officials
whom he employed.
• Still, because there were too few Mongols to
control so vast an empire, Kublai allowed
Chinese officials to continue to rule in the
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provinces.
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• Under Mongol rule, an uneasy mix of
Chinese and foreign ways developed.
• Kublai adopted a Chinese name for his
dynasty, the Yuan, and turned Cambulac
into a Chinese walled city.
• At the same time, he had Arab architects
design his palace, and many rooms
reflected Mongol steppe dwellings.
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87
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• Kublai Khan was a capable but
demanding emperor.
• He rebuilt and extended the Grand
Canal to his new capital, though at a
terrible cost in human lives.
• He also welcomed many foreigners to
his court, including the African Muslim
world traveler Ibn Battuta.
88
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• The Italian merchant Marco Polo was
one of many visitors to China during the
Yuan dynasty.
• In 1271, Polo left Venice with his father
and uncle. He crossed Persia and
Central Asia to reach China.
• During his stay in China, he spent 17
years in Kublai’s service.
• He returned to Venice by sea after
visiting Southeast Asia and India.
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Polo, Marco
• Italian trader and
traveler, became
famous for his travels
in central Asia and
China. He wrote a
book that gave
Europeans some of
their earliest
information about
China,
90
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• In his writings, Marco Polo left a vivid account of
the wealth and splendor of China.
• He described the royal palace of Kublai Khan, with
its walls “covered with gold and silver and
decorated with pictures of dragons and birds and
horsemen and various breeds of beasts and scenes
of battle.”
• Polo also described China’s efficient royal mail
system, with couriers riding swift ponies along the
empire’s well-kept roads.
• Furthermore, he reported that the city of Hangzhou
was 10 or 13 times the size of Venice, one of Italy’s
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richest city-states.
Summarize the effects of Mongol
rule on China
• As long as the Mongol empire
prospered, contacts between Europe and
Asia continued.
• The Mongols tolerated a variety of
beliefs. The pope sent Christian priests
to China.
• Meanwhile, some Chinese products
moved toward Europe.
• They included gunpowder, porcelain,
and playing cards.
92
Group Activity
Fact War!!!!!
• Break into small groups and discuss what the top
effect Mongol rule had on China. Base your
discussion on what we have learned and feel free
to debate CORRECTLY among your group.
• Once groups decide on their choice they should
place that idea on a note card. The winning group
will win a prize!
• I will be monitoring to make sure everyone
participates.
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Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
94
Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
• The Yuan dynasty declined after the death
of Kublai Khan.
• Most Chinese despised the foreign Mongol
rulers.
• Confucian scholars retreated into their own
world, seeing little to gain from the
barbarians.
• Heavy taxes, corruption, and natural
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disasters led to frequent uprisings.
Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
• Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang (DZOO yoo
ahn DZUHNG), a peasant leader,
forged a rebel army that toppled the
Mongols and pushed them back
beyond the Great Wall.
• In 1368, he founded a new Chinese
dynasty, which he called the Ming,
meaning brilliant.
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Emperor Tai Zu,
Zhu Yuanzhang,
1368 -- 1398,
Ming Dynasty
97
98
99
Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
• Early Ming rulers sought to reassert Chinese
greatness after years of foreign rule.
• The Ming restored the civil service system, and
Confucian learning again became the road to
success.
• The civil service exams became more rigorous
than ever.
• A board of censors watched over the bureaucracy,
rooting out corruption and disloyalty.
100
Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
• Economically, Ming China was immensely
productive.
• The fertile, well-irrigated plains of eastern China
supported a population of more than 100 million.
• In the Yangzi Valley, peasants produced huge rice
crops.
• Better methods of fertilizing helped to improve
farming.
• In the 1500s, new crops reached China from the
Americas, especially corn and sweet potatoes.
101
Forbidden City (Beijing)
102
Ming Dynasty table
103
Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
• Ming China also saw a revival of arts and
literature.
• Ming artists developed their own styles
of landscape painting and created
brilliant blue and white porcelain.
• Ming vases were among the most
valuable and popular Chinese products
exported to the West.
104
Temple
Vase,
Yuan
Dynasty
1351
105
Guan Yu
Captures
General
Pang De
Shang Xi
(1430)
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Lofty Mount Lu
Shen Zhou (1467)
107
Explain how the Ming restored
Chinese rule
• Confucian scholars continued to produce classical
poetry.
• At the same time, new forms of popular literature, meant
to be enjoyed by the common people, began to emerge.
• Ming writers composed novels, including The Water
Margin, about an outlaw gang that tries to end injustice
by corrupt officials.
• Ming writers also produced the world’s first detective
stories.
• Performing artists developed a popular tradition of
Chinese opera that combined music, dance, and drama.108
Activity
• On a separate sheet of paper please write a
quick paragraph about one type of art we
discussed that interests you. Please explain
why.
109
Outline what policies the Ming
pursued with regard to the outside
world
110
• Early Ming rulers
proudly sent Chinese
fleets into distant waters.
• The most extraordinary
of these overseas
ventures were the
voyages of the Chinese
admiral Zheng He
111
112
Outline what policies the Ming pursued
with regard to the outside world
• In 1405, Zheng He commanded the first of
seven expeditions.
• He departed at the head of a fleet of 62 huge
ships and hundreds of smaller ones, carrying a
crew of more than 25,000 sailors.
• The largest ships measured 400 feet long.
• The goal of each expedition was to promote
trade and collect tribute from lesser powers
across the “western seas.”
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114
Outline what policies the Ming pursued
with regard to the outside world
• In the wake of the expeditions, Chinese
merchants settled in Southeast Asian
and Indian trading centers.
• The voyages also showed local rulers
the power and strength of the Middle
Kingdom.
• Many acknowledged the supremacy of
the Chinese empire.
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Zheng He set up an engraved stone tablet listing the dates,
places, and achievements of his voyages. The tablet proudly
proclaimed that the Ming had unified the “seas and
continents” even more than the Han and Tang had done:
“The countries beyond the horizon and from the ends of the earth
have all become subjects…We have crossed immense water spaces
and have seen huge waves like mountains rising sky-high, and we
have set eyes on barbarian regions far away…while our sails
loftily
unfurled like clouds day and night continued their course, crossing
those savage waves as if we were walking on a public
highway….”
--Zheng He, quoted in The True Dates of
the Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the
Early Fifteenth Century (Duyvendak)
117
Outline what policies the Ming pursued
with regard to the outside world
• In 1433, the year Zheng He died, the
Ming emperor suddenly banned the
building of seagoing ships.
• Later, ships with more than two masts
were forbidden.
• Zheng He’s huge ships were retired
and rotted away.
118
Outline what policies the Ming pursued
with regard to the outside world
• However, some speculate that the fleets
were costly and did not produce any profits.
• Also, Confucian scholars at court had little
interest overseas ventures.
– To them, Chinese civilization was the most successful
in the world.
– They wanted to preserve its ancient traditions, which
they saw as the source of stability.
– In fact, such rigid loyalty to tradition would eventually
weaken China and once again leave it prey to foreign 119
domination.
Outline what policies the Ming pursued
with regard to the outside world
• Fewer than 60 years after China halted overseas
expeditions, the explorer Christopher Columbus
would sail west from Spain in search of a sea route
to Asia.
• As you will see, this voyage made Spain a major
power and had a dramatic impact on the entire
world.
• We can only wonder how the course of history
might have changed if the Chinese had continued
the explorations they had begun under the Ming. 120
Activity
• Break into small groups and discuss what
the world might be like if China had
discovered the New World instead of
Columbus. Come up with a great story and
be prepared to tell me. Please use some
facts from today’s lesson.
121
4
Lesson 3a
Emergence of Japan
122
4
Lesson 3a
The Emergence of Japan
• Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Describe the traditions that emerged at the
Heian court
123
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of
Japan
124
125
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• Japan is located on an archipelago, or
chain of islands, about 100 miles off
the Asian mainland and east of the
Korean peninsula.
• Its four main islands are Hokkaido,
Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku.
126
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• Japan is about the size of Montana, but four fifths
of its land is too mountainous to farm.
• As a result, most people settled in narrow river
valleys and along the coastal plains.
• A mild climate and sufficient rainfall, however,
helped Japanese farmers make the most of the
limited arable land.
• As in ancient Greece, the mountainous terrain at
first was an obstacle to unity.
127
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• The surrounding seas have both protected and
isolated Japan.
• It was close enough to the mainland to learn from
Korea and China, but too far away for the Chinese
to conquer.
• Japan thus had greater freedom to accept or reject
Chinese influences than did other East Asian
lands.
• As times, the Japanese sealed themselves off from
foreign influences, choosing to go their own way.
128
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• The seas that helped Japan preserve its
identity also served as trade routes.
• The Inland Sea was an especially important
link among the various Japanese islands.
• The seas also offered plentiful food
resources.
• The Japanese, like the Koreans, developed a
thriving fishing industry.
129
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• Japan lies in a Pacific region known as the Ring of
Fire, which also includes the Philippines,
Indonesia, and parts of Australia and South
America.
• This region is subject to frequent earthquakes and
volcanoes.
• Underwater earthquakes can launch killer tidal
waves, called tsunami, that sweep over the land
without warning, wiping out everything in their
path.
130
131
132
Identify the geographic features that
influenced the early development of Japan
• The Japanese came to fear and respect
the dramatic forced of nature.
• Today, as in the past, soaring Mount
Fuji, with its snowcapped volcanic
crater, is a sacred symbol of the beauty
and majesty of nature.
133
134
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
135
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• The people we know today as the
Japanese probably migrated from the
Asian mainland more than 2,000 years
ago.
• They slowly pushed the earlier
inhabitants, the Ainu, onto the
northernmost island of Hokkaido.
136
137
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Early Japanese society was divided into
uji, or clans.
• Each uji had its own chief and a special
god or goddess who was seen as the
clan’s original ancestor.
• Some clan leaders were women,
suggesting that women enjoyed a
respected position in society.
138
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• By about A.D. 500, the Yamato clan came to
dominate a corner of Honshu, the largest Japanese
island.
• For the next 1,000 years, the Yamato set up Japan’s
first and only dynasty.
• They claimed direct descent from the sun goddess,
Amaterasu, and chose the rising sun as their symbol.
• Later Japanese emperors were revered as living gods.
• While this is no longer the case, the current Japanese
emperor still traces his roots to the Yamato clan.
139
Amaterasu
140
141
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Early Japanese clans honored kami, or
nature spirits.
• This worship of the forced of nature
became known as Shinto, meaning “the
way of the gods.”
• Shinto never evolved into an international
religion like Christianity, Buddhism, or
Islam.
142
143
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Still, its traditions have survived to the present
day.
• Hundreds of Shinto shrines dot the Japanese
countryside.
• Though simple in design, they are generally
located in beautiful, natural surroundings.
• Shinto shrines are dedicated to special sites or
objects such as mountains or waterfalls, ancient
gnarled trees, or even oddly shaped rocks.
144
145
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• The Japanese language is distantly related to Korean
but completely different in Chinese.
• From early on, Japan and Korea were in continuous
contact with each other.
• Korean artisans and metal workers settled in Japan,
bringing sophisticated skill and technology.
• Japanese and Korean warriors crossed the sea in both
directions to attack each other’s strongholds.
• Some of the leading families at the Yamato court
claimed Korean ancestors.
146
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• By about A.D. 500, missionaries from
Korea had introduced Buddhism to Japan.
• With it came knowledge of Chinese
writing and culture.
• This opening sparked a sudden surge of
Japanese interest in Chinese civilization.
147
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• In the early 600s, Prince Shotoku of the
Yamato clan decided to learn about
China directly instead of through
Korean sources.
– He sent young nobles to study in China.
– Over the next 200 years, many Japanese
students, monks, traders, and officials
visited the Tang court.
148
Prince
Shotoku
149
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Each mission spent the year or more in
China-negotiating, trading, but above all
studying.
• They returned to Japan eager to spread
Chinese thought, technology, and arts.
• They also imported Chinese ideas about
government.
150
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Japanese rulers adopted the title “Heavenly
Emperor” and claimed absolute power.
• They strengthened the central government,
set up a bureaucracy, and adopted a law code
similar to that of China.
• Still, the new bureaucracy had little real
authority beyond the royal court.
• Out in the countryside, the old clans
remained strong.
151
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• In 710, the Japanese emperor built a new
capital at Nara, modeled on the Tang capital
at Chang’an.
• There, Japanese nobles spoke Chinese and
dressed in Chinese fashion.
• Their cooks prepared Chinese dishes and
served food on Chinese style pottery.
152
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• Tea drinking, along with an elaborate tea
ceremony, was imported from China.
• Japanese officials and scholars used Chinese
characters to write official histories.
• Tang music and dances became very popular,
as did gardens designed along Chinese lines.
153
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• As Buddhism spread, the Japanese adopted
the pagoda architecture.
• Buddhist monasteries grew rich and
powerful.
• Confucian ideas and ethics also took root.
• They included the emphasis on filial piety,
the relationships between superior and
inferior, and respect the learning.
154
Main hall, Ise Shrine
155
Golden Hall Early Nara Japan 880
156
Daibutsuden
Nara period
8th
century
157
Shaka triad
(Tori Busshi)
Asuka Period
(623)
158
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• In time, the initial enthusiasm for everything
Chinese died down.
• The Japanese kept some Chinese ways but
discarded or modified others.
• This process is known as selective borrowing.
• Japan, for example, never accepted the Chinese civil service
examination to choose officials based on merit.
• Instead, they maintained their tradition of inherited status
through family position.
• Officials were the educated sons of nobles.
159
Explain how Chinese civilization
influenced early Japanese traditions
• By the 800s, as Tang China began to decline, the
Japanese court turned away from its model.
• After absorbing all they could from China, the
Japanese spent the next 400 years digesting and
modifying these cultural acquisitions to produce
their own unique civilization.
• The Japanese asserted their identity by revising the
Chinese system of writing and adding kana, or
phonetic symbols representing syllables.
• Japanese artists developed their own styles.
160
161
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
162
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• This blending of cultures took place from 794 to
1185.
• During this time, the imperial capital was in
Heian, present day Kyoto.
• There, emperors performed traditional religious
ceremonies, while wealthy court families like the
Fujiwara wielded real power.
• The Fujiwara married their daughters to the heirs
to the throne, thus ensuring their authority.
163
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• At the Heian court an elegant and sophisticated
culture blossomed.
• Noblewomen and noblemen lived in a fairy-tale
atmosphere of beautiful pavilions, gardens, and
lotus pools.
• Elaborate rules of etiquette governed court
ceremony.
• Courtiers dressed with extraordinary care in
delicate, multicolored silk.
• Draping one’s sleeve out a carriage window was a
fine art.
164
Phoenix Hall
Heian period 1053
165
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• Although men at court still studied Chinese,
women were forbidden to learn the language.
• Despite these restrictions, it was Heian women
who produced the most important works of
Japanese literature of the period.
• Using the new kana, women of the court
produced fine diaries, essays, and dance
collections of poetry.
166
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• In the 900s, Sei Shonagon, a lady-in-waiting
to be empress, wrote The Pillow Book.
• In a witty series of anecdotes and personal
observations, she provides vivid details of
court manners, amusements, decor, and dress.
• In one section, Shonagon discusses the
importance of keeping up a good appearance
at court
167
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• “Nothing can be worse than allowing the driver of
one’s ox-carriage to be poorly dressed. It does not
matter too much if the other attendants are shabby,
since they can remain at the rear of the carriage; but
the drivers are bound to be noticed and, if they are
badly turned out, it makes a painful impression.”
•
-Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book
168
Sei Shonagon
The Pillow Book
169
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• The best-known Heian
writer was Sei
Shanogan’s rival,
Murasaki Shikibu.
• Her monumental work,
The Tale of Genji, was
the world’s first fulllength novel.
170
171
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• The Tale of Genji recounts the adventures and loves
of the fictional Prince Genji and his son.
• In one scene, Genji moves with ease through the festivities at an elaborate
“Chinese banquet.”
• After dinner, “under the great cherry tree of the Southern court,” the
entertainment begins.
• There is music-Genji performs skillfully on the 13-stringed zither and
does the Wave Dance.
• But the main event of the evening is a Chinese poetry contest.
• Genji and other guests are given a “rhyme word,” which they must use to
compose a poem in Chinese.
• Genji’s word is “Spring” and his poem is the hit of the banquet.
172
Describe the traditions that emerged
at the Heian court
• Elegant though they are, the Heian poems and
romances are haunted by a sense of sadness.
• The writers lament that love does not last and the
beauty of the world is soon gone.
• Perhaps this feeling of melancholy was prophetic.
• While noble men and women strolled through
manicured gardens, outside the walls of the court,
clouds of rebellion and civil war were gathering.
173
5
Lesson 3b
Japan’s Feudal Age
• Explain how feudalism developed in Japan
• Summarize the changes that took place
under the Tokugawa shoguns
• Describe the cultural and artistic traditions
that emerged in feudal Japan
174
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
175
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• While the emperor presided over the splendid
court at Heian, rival clans battled for control of the
countryside.
• Local warlords and even Buddhist temples formed
armed bands loyal to them rather than to the
central government.
• As these armies struggled for power, Japan
evolved a feudal system.
• As in the feudal world of medieval Europe, a
warrior aristocracy dominated Japanese society.
176
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• In theory, the emperor stood at the head of
Japanese feudal society.
• In fact, he was a powerless, though revered,
figurehead. Real power lay in the hands of the
shogun, or supreme military commander.
• Minamoto Yoritomo was appointed shogun in
1192.
• He set up the Kamakura shogunate, the first of
three military dynasties that would rule Japan for
almost 700 years.
177
Minamoto
Yoritomo
178
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• Often the shogun controlled only a small part of
Japan.
• He distributed lands to vassal lords who agreed to
support him with their armies in time of need.
• These great warrior lords were later called
daimyo.
• They, in turn, granted land to lesser warriors
called samurai, meaning “those who serve.”
• Samurai were the fighting aristocracy of a wartorn land.
179
180
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• Like medieval Christian knights in Europe,
samurai were heavily armed and trained in
the skills of fighting.
• They also developed their own code of
values.
• Known as bushido or the “way of the
warrior,” the code emphasized the honor,
bravery, and absolute loyalty to one’s lord.
181
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• The true samurai was supposed to have no fear or
death.
• “If you think of saving your life,” it was said, “you
had better not go to war at all.”
• Samurai prepared for hardship by going hungry or
walking barefoot in the snow.
• For a samurai, it was said, “when his stomach is
empty, it is a disgrace to feel hungry.”
• A samurai who betrayed the code of bushido was
expected to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide, rather
than live without honor.
182
183
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• At first, some noblewomen in Japanese
feudal society trained in the military arts.
• A few even became legendary warriors.
• At times, some noblewomen supervised
their family’s estates.
184
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• As the age of the samurai progressed, however,
the position of women declined steadily.
• When feudal warfare increased, inheritance
was limited to sons.
• Unlike the European ideal of chivalry, the
samurai code did not set women on a pedestal.
• Instead, the wife of a warrior had to accept the
same hardships as her husband and owed the
same loyalty to his overlord.
185
Detail of The Burning of Sanjo Palace
Kamakura period (13th century)
186
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• Far below the samurai in the social hierarchy
were the peasants, artisans, and merchants.
• Peasants, who made up 75 percent of the
population, formed the backbone of feudal
society in samurai.
• Some peasants also served as foot soldiers in
feudal wars.
• On rare occasions, an able peasant soldier
might rise through the ranks to become a
samurai himself.
187
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• Artisans, such as armorers and
swordmakers, provided necessary
goods for the samurai class.
• Merchants had the lowest rank in
Japanese feudal society.
• However, as you will see, their status
gradually improved.
188
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• During the feudal age, most fighting took
place between rival warlords, but the
Mongol conquest of China and Korea also
threatened Japan.
• When the Japanese refused to accept
Mongol rule, Kublai Khan launched an
invasion from Korea in 1274.
• After a fleet carrying 30,000 troops arrived,
a typhoon wrecked many Mongol ships.
189
Explain how feudalism developed in
Japan
• In 1281, the Mongols landed an even larger
invasion force, but again a typhoon destroyed
much of the Mongol fleet.
• The Japanese credited their miraculous deliver
to the kamikaze, or divine winds.
• The Mongol failure reinforced the Japanese
sense that they were a people set apart who
enjoyed the special protection of the gods.
190
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
191
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• The Kamakura shogunate crumbled in the
aftermath of the Mongol invasions.
• A new dynasty took power in 1338, but the level
of warfare increased after 1450.
• To defend their castles, daimyo armed peasants as
well as samurai, which led to even more ruthless
fighting.
• A popular saying of the time declared, “The
warrior does not care if he’s called a dog or beast.
The main thing is winning.”
192
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• Gradually, several powerful warriors united
large parts of Japan.
• By 1590, the brilliant general Toyotomi
Hideyoshi, a commoner by birth, had
brought most of Japan under his control.
• He then tried, but failed, to conquer Korea
and China.
193
Toyotomi
Hideyoshi
194
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• In 1600, the daimyo Tokugawa Ieyasu
defeated his rivals to become master of
Japan.
• Three years later, he was named shogun.
• The Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan
until 1868.
195
Tokugawa Ieyasu
196
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• The Tokugawa shoguns were determined to
end feudal warfare.
• They kept the outward forms of feudal
society but imposed central government
control on all Japan.
• For this reason, their system of government
is called centralized feudalism
197
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• The Tokugawas created a unified, orderly society.
• To control the daimyo, they required these great
lords to live in the shogun’s capital at Edo every
other year.
• A daimyo’s wife and children had to remain in
Edo full time, giving the shogun a powerful check
on the entire family.
• The shogun also forbade daimyo to repair their
castles or marry without permission.
198
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• New laws fixed the old social order rigidly in
place and upheld a strict moral code.
• Only samurai were allowed to serve in the military
or hold government jobs.
• They were expected to follow the traditions of
bushido.
• Peasants had to remain on the land.
• Lower classes were denied luxuries such as silk
clothing.
199
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• Women, too, faced greater restrictions under the
Tokugawas.
• One government decree, sent to all villages, stated,
“However good-looking a wife may be, if she
neglects her household duties by drinking tea or
sightseeing or rambling on the hillsides, she must
be divorced.”
• Women’s freedom to move about, or even travel
with their husbands, was strictly regulated.
200
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• While the shoguns tried to hold back social
change, the Japanese economy grew by
leaps and bounds.
• With peace restored to the countryside,
agriculture improved and expanded.
• New seeds, tools, and the use of fertilizer
led to greater output of crops.
201
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• Food surpluses supported rapid population
growth.
• Towns sprang up on the lands around the
castles of daimyo.
• Edo grew into a booming city, where
artisans and merchants flocked to supply the
needs of the daimyo and their families.
202
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• Trade flourished within Japan.
• New roads linked castle towns and Edo.
• Each year, daimyo and their servants
traveled to and from the capital, creating a
demand for food and services along the
route.
203
Summarize the changes that took
place under the Tokugawa shoguns
• In the cities, a wealthy merchant class emerged.
• In accordance with Confucian tradition, merchants
had low social status.
• Still, Japanese merchants gained influence by
lending money to daimyo and samurai.
• Sometimes, merchants further improved their
social position by arranging to marry their
daughters into the samurai class.
204
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal
Japan
205
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• During Japan’s feudal age, a Buddhist
sect from China won widespread
acceptance among samurai.
• Known in Japan as Zen, it emphasized
meditation and devotion to duty.
206
207
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Zen had seemingly contradictory traditions.
• Zen monks were great scholars, yet they valued
the uncluttered mind and stressed the importance
of reaching a moment of “non-knowing.”
• Zen stressed compassion for all, yet samurai
fought to kill.
• In Zen monasteries, monks sought to experience
absolute freedom, yet rigid rules gave the master
complete authority over his students.
208
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Zen beliefs shaped Japanese culture in many
ways.
• At Zen monasteries, upper-class men learned
to express devotion to nature in such activities
as landscape gardening.
• Zen Buddhists believed that people could seek
enlightenment, not only through meditation,
but through the precise performance of
everyday tasks.
209
210
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• For example, the elaborate rituals of the tea
ceremony reflected Zen values of peace,
simplicity, and love of beauty.
• Zen reverence for nature also influenced the
development of fine landscape paintings.
211
212
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Cities such as Edo and Osaka were home to an
explosion in the arts and theater.
• At stylish entertainment quarters, sophisticated
nobles mixed with the urban middle class.
• Urban culture emphasized luxuries and
pleasures and differed greatly from the feudal
culture that had dominated Japan for centuries.
213
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• In the 1300s, feudal culture had produced No plays
performed on a square, wooden stage without scenery.
• Men wore elegant carved masks while a chorus chanted
important lines to musical accompaniment.
• The action was slow. Each movement had a special
meaning.
• Many No plays presented Zen Buddhist themes,
emphasizing the need to renounce selfish desires.
• Others recounted fairy tales or the struggles between
powerful feudal lords.
214
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• In the 1600s, towns gave rise to a popular new
from of drams, kabuki.
• Kabuki was influenced by No plays, but it was
less refined and included comedy or melodrama.
• Kabuki plays often portrayed family or historical
events.
• Dressed in colorful costumes, actors used lively
and exaggerated movements to convey action.
215
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Kabuki was originated by an actress and
temple dancer named Okuni, who became
famous for her performance of warrior
roles.
• However, women were soon banned from
performing on state.
216
217
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Puppet plays, known as bunraku, were also
enormously popular in towns.
• A narrator told a story while handlers
silently manipulated nearlife-sized puppets.
• Bunraku plays catered to popular middleclass tastes.
218
219
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• The feudal age produced stories like the Tale of the
Heike about a violent conflict between two families.
• Another important prose work was Essays in Idleness,
a collection of short essays by Kenko, a Zen Buddhist
priest.
• Many of the essays express Zen values, but other
contain witty observations about human nature.
• “How boring it is,” Kenko wrote, “when you meet a
man after a long separation and he insists on relation
at interminable length everything that has happened to
him in the meantime.”
220
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Japanese poets adapted Chinese models,
creating miniature poems called haiku.
• In only three lines- totaling 17 syllables
in the Japanese language-these tiny word
pictures express a feeling, thought, or
idea.
• The poem by Sogi at the beginning of
this section is an example of haiku.
221
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• Japanese paintings often reflected the
influence of Chinese landscape paintings,
yet Japanese artists developed their own
styles.
• On magnificent scrolls, painters boldly
recreated historical events, such as the
Mongol invasions.
222
223
224
Describe the cultural and artistic
traditions that emerged in feudal Japan
• In the 1600s, the vigorous urban culture
produced a flood of colorful woodblock
prints to satisfy middle-class tastes.
• Some woodblock artists produced
humorous prints.
• Their fresh colors and simple lines give
us a strong sense of the pleasures of town
life in Japan.
225
226
227
228
Looking ahead
229
The Tokugawa shogunate brought
peace and stability to Japan. Trade
flourished, merchants prospered, and
prosperity contributed to a flowering
of culture. Still, the shoguns were
extremely conservative. They tried
to preserve samurai virtues and
ancient beliefs.
230
In the 1500s, Japan faced a new
wave of foreign influence. The
shogun at first welcomed the
outsiders, then moved to sever
foreign ties. In the next unit, you
w/ill read about Japan’s uneasy
relationship with an expanding
Europe
231