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Feudalism in Japan and England
Directions: Use the following documents to make comparisons between feudalism in Japan and England .
The general issue was this: societies that arose on the fringes of the classical word – including Russia and
parts of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Japan and northwestern Europe – often were forming governments
with no particular historical precedent. At most, very loose, essentially tribal kingships had emerged
before. Lacking highly developed economies, well established political legitimacy, or even many train
officials, it was difficult to form elaborate states. Western Europe tried briefly to revive the Roman
Empire (under emperor Charlemagne, around 800 CE) but did not succeed. Japan made an attempt to
imitate the Chinese Empire In the seventh century but could not. Russia was influenced by the powerful
Byzantine Empire but was not able to match it. A looser, less demanding government as the only option
in these new civilization regions.
According to the document, why did feudalism develop in Japan and Western Europe?
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The English and Japanese feudal systems are similar in that they both gave grants of land for military
service, and the social ladders were similar. After that point, they differ. In the English feudal system, to
get grants of land one must swear an oath of fealty to one’s lord, but in the Japanese system that was not
required. The military classes for both feudal systems lived by a code of honor yet with different goals.
They had different monetary gains, and the armor they wore was different. Japanese peasants (shiki) had
a little more freedom than the English peasants (serfs) because they could own land. Both warrior classes
were inspired to fight by religion but differently, the knights for God’s glory and the Samurai for their
own.
According to this document, identify one similarity between Japanese and English feudalism
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According to this document, identify one difference between Japanese and English feudalism
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The receive a grant of land, an English nobleman demonstrated his obedience and reverence to his lord. Swearing
faithfulness and military and financial support through the customary oath, the nobleman knelt and place his hands
between his lord’s, thereby becoming his vassal. In return, he lord swore a corresponding oath of protection and
granted a fief of land to his vassal. This lord granted pieces of his own fief to knights for the same oath. A knight could
also rent pieces of his own fief to peasants. After swearing oaths to provide food and military services to their lord,
these peasants became serfs. Feudal land and holdings were generally hereditary, passing on to sons or male cousins.
Unlike English feudalism, Japanese landholders did not have to swear oaths to receive fiefs. Instead, the shogun
appointed officials called jito to oversee the official owners. Similar to the English lords, a lower class called daimyo
became the land holding aristocracy. But because the shoguns did not give an oath to the daimyo, the aggressive
daimyo became the greatest military threat to the shogunate (the shogun’s power) in later years. Resembling English
knights, samurai were the military backbone of the Japanese feudal system. Japanese peasants, like their European
counterparts, served as farmers at the bottom of the feudal pecking order.
According to this document identify one way the process of acquiring land was similar in Japanese and English
feudalism.
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Both Japanese and English feudal systems were dominated by military strength controlled by the social hierarchies.
English knights, and their Japanese equivalents, samurai, filled this feudal need for military forces. Samurai got their
name from a Japanese verb meaning “to serve”, which accurately described their job as military servants. Although
differing culturally, samurai and knights were comparable in several ways. First, knights and samurai both lived by
codes of honor. Knights were bound by a code of chivalry, and Japanese samurai by Bushido (the way of the warrior).
Still, these codes of honor differed in their focuses. According to the selfless emphasis of their Christian background,
English knights took a chivalrous oath to “protect the weak, defenseless, and helpless, and fight for the general welfare
of all.” The samurai warrior code of conduct stressed “personal bravery, honor and loyalty, avoidance of luxuries, family
honor, and expected a samurai to face pain and death with indifference.” Samurai were greatly influenced by Confucian
ideals which emphasized personal honor and individual loyalty to one’s master. Unlike chivalrous knighthood which
addressed only males, the Bushido warrior code included female samurai.
According to this document identify two similarities between Japanese and English warriors.
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According to this documents identify one difference between Japanese and English warriors.
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