Chapter 13
P. 283
 A shogun was a military leader in Japan
 A ronin was a warrior who had no leader

Honour was the most important thing to
a warrior – imp. enough to give your life
for
 This is best shown in the story of the “47
Ronin”

Power and Control

“to understand the story of the 47 ronin
is to understand Japan”

This story takes place during the “Edo”
or “Tokugawa” time period in Japan

“Edo” was present-day Tokyo

Before this time, the Japanese people
were constantly fighting

The “nobles” were known as daimyo

“Tokugawa” is a title given to the
leaders, just like the words “King” or
“Lord”
Tokugawa Ieyasu

1603: Ieyasu defeated a rival daimyo in a
great battle
The Emperor made him a shogun, and
gave him tremendous power
 His goal was to keep his power by creating
a stable gov’t
 He spread the land and power to lords
around Japan; this helped control the other
daimyo

Change:
1.
2.
Hostages: Daimyo were forced to live
in Edo every second year, without their
family. They were held as a kind of
“hostage” in case their family planned
an uprising
Shared power: there was a federal
gov’t called the “Shogunate,” and many
local ones run by daimyo
Strict Laws: the daimyo’s clothes,
marriages, and money was controlled;
they were forced to pay for things like
building roads
-other laws: p. 286
3.
*all of these laws were meant to take away
some of the power from the daimyos,
so that they could not revolt
Feudalism, again...
The feudal hierarchy was based on land:
lords became rich from the work of
peasants
 The goal of a hierarchy is always control
 Each class was hereditary – passed on
through families by birth

The Samurai
Well-respected
 Lived with their shogun (leader)
 Only they were allowed to have swords
 There were ranks of samurai – the
lowest were “ronin” who had no masters
 Weren’t allowed to trade or sell – lived
simple lives

Page 290: The Way of the Warrior
 Seppuku – a ritual suicide performed by
samurai

Peasants
Mostly farmers
 Were worked extremely hard
 Laws controlled everything they did
 No tobacco, no wine, needed
permission to travel

Artisans
Artists and craftspeople
 Son`s were forced to take after their
fathers
 Made paper, porcelains, containers,
clocks, pans, etc.
 Had a lower status than an peasant

Merchants
Bought and sold from artisans and
farmers
 Shipped food and materials
 A lot like bankers
 Bottom of the social order
 Gov`t spies reported a merchant who
showed off wealth, or criticized the gov`t

Women
Performed duties depending on what
class they were born into
 Women living in the country had more
freedom
 Worked in the home, and also did labour
 Considered ``lower`` than men
 Not allowed to own property

Outcasts
Shunned by most of society because of
their work, which usually involved death
Ex: Leather tanners, butchers, people who
deal with dead bodies
 Could not live in society, change jobs,
enter homes, or be in the city after 8pm
 Example: the Ainu people

Honour & Duty

Social control – rules and customs
meant to control people’s behaviour;
aims to maintain order

Teaching of Confucius taught society
class distinctions
Confucius
Chinese scholar
 Taught morals – how to live “right”
 Teachings brought to Japan by Buddhist
monks
 Taught that everyone had a role in
society
 Everyone accepts this = peace
people rebel = chaos

Encouraged people to be modest, and
work/study hard
 Rules for proper behaviour and
compassion
 Golden rule: “What you do not wish for
yourself, do not do to others.”
 Taught about 5 basic relationships
(p.296)


Filial piety – faithfulness and devotion to
parents

p. 297 – Social Uniformity

p. 298 – Edo values in modern Japan
Group responsibility & Shame
Samurai were masters of the lower
classes
 They divided the people up into
“families” called goningumi
 People were expected to help each
other.
 Each person is responsible for the
group’s behaviour
 If one person disobeyed, the group was
punished

First Contact with the West
Portuguese were one of the first
countries to travel far by ocean
 1543: a Portuguese trading ship was
wrecked off the coast of Japan
 They soon found out their cultures were
very different
 The Japanese called them the
“Southern Barbarians”

New Beliefs


Francis Xavier (a priest) soon arrived to
convert the Japanese to Christianity
More missionaries soon followed
Both religions were somewhat similar:
1. Both had ethical codes – rules about
“right” and “wrong” behaviour
Ex: stealing and murder are wrong


1.
2.
But they were also quite different:
The Christian idea of one god was
quite different than the Japanese
beliefs
Japanese = loyal to leaders
Christian = loyal to God