The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Off the east coast of Asia, too far to
be seen on the clearest day, lies the
Land of the Rising Sun—Japan.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Japan is a curving chain of volcanic
islands, larger in area than Great
Britain, but smaller than France.
On the four main islands of Kyushu,
Shikoku, Honshu, and Hokkaido, most
of the land is mountainous, but there
are several fertile plains of
considerable size and many flatbottomed river valleys of arable soil.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Japan has a temperate climate and
dependable rainfall.
But Japan is also a violent land,
sitting squarely in the path of
hurricanes (typhoons) which batter it
almost every year, uprooting trees
and filling narrow river valleys with
foaming floods.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Another kind of
violence comes
from
underground:
active volcanoes
belch fire and
smoke, and
earthquakes
shake the islands
from end to end.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The extraordinary beauty of Japan
and the grim catastrophes that afflict
it seemed to have reflected
themselves in the Japanese
character—a contradictory mixture of
delicacy and belligerence.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
For the last fifteen centuries the
Japanese have ranked as among the
world’s most ferocious warriors, but
few other people have given more
attention to courteous conduct or
more loving devotion to flowers,
poetry, or art.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
In a more direct way, Japan’s
geography affected its national
character.
The Korea Strait, which separates the
westernmost island (Kyushu) from
the nearest part of the Asiatic
mainland, is 100+ miles wide, making
it difficult and dangerous to cross in
early times.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Japan was never successfully invaded
or conquered by anyone, including
China.
The barrier strait gave Japan semiisolation, putting it within the Chinese
cultural zone and at the same time
setting it apart.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
During certain periods a broad stream
of knowledge, literature, art, and
religion flowed from China to Japan…
and at other times the flow was shut
off and Japan developed on its own.
But whether in isolation or not, Japan
was always itself.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Everything that came from China,
from household arts to philosophy,
was reshaped to suit Japanese tastes
and needs.
Japanese borrowing was wholly
voluntarily, it did not come from
direct military threat or outright
occupation.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
By 500 BCE, a thousand years after
China had achieved a high civilization,
the chain of Japanese islands off its
coast were still inhabited by seminomadic tribesmen.
Archeological evidence indicates that
some of them had been there for
thousands of years, but who they
were and where they came from is
largely a mystery.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
It seems unlikely that they bore much
racial resemblance to the modern
Japanese, who are predominately a
Mongoloid people.
Another ancient tribal group, the
Ainu, were a Stone Age group who
lived chiefly by hunting and fishing,
worshipping bears, and were notably
hairy (which most Japanese are not).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Some anthropologists think that the
Ainu—a few of whom still live on the
northern island of Hokkaido—were
primitive members of a white race, a
strain split off from ancestral
Caucasian stock in very ancient times.
They might have come from Siberia
and were forced into northern Japan
by a more advanced people living in
the south.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Examples of the Ainu people:
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The people who pushed the Ainu
northward also weren’t Mongoloid, at
least not in the clear sense that the
Chinese are.
Where they came from is also unclear
(but they probably came from
somewhere in northern Asia).
They may have spoken a language similar
to modern Japanese, which is a little
different from Chinese and distantly
related to Korean.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Starting in the second century BCE,
waves of Mongoloid immigrants (or
invaders) crossed the Korean Strait in
considerable numbers, bringing the
knowledge of how to grow rice in
flooded paddies, how to weave
coarse cloth and how to smelt iron
and forge it into crude tools and
weapons.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
They mixed with the earlier
inhabitants and gradually adopted
some of their customs and language.
Like most early farmers, the people
who resulted from this amalgamation
practiced a form of nature-worship,
deifying such phenomena as the sun
and moon, or an especially aweinspiring mountain or waterfall.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
This mixed culture, which was
flourishing by the early Christian era, is
known as the Yayoi, from the site
where archeologists first excavated its
remains.
Glimpses of this early Japanese culture
come from Chinese travelers, one of
whom wrote in 238 CE, that
southwestern Japan (which he called
Wa) was divided into many small states
that were often ruled by sorceresses.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Among these magicworking queens was
a lady named Pimiko,
(175-248 CE) who
lived shut up in a
fortified palace with
1,000 female
attendants and one
man to help her
communicate with
her subjects.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
According to another Chinese
account, “the people of Wa live on
raw vegetables and go about
barefoot. They smear their bodies
with pink and scarlet. They eat with
their fingers…when men of
importance worship, they merely clap
their hands instead of bowing or
kneeling…The people of Wa are very
fond of strong drink.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
About 250 CE this island of
“barbarians” governed by sorceress
queens fell under sterner influences.
Across the Korean Strait came fierce
Mongoloid horsemen, an invasion that
was probably part of the explosion of
Asian peoples destined to fling the
Huns against the Roman Empire a
century later.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Little is known about them except
they fought in iron armor and used
superior iron weapons.
They may have been comparatively
few in numbers, but their
horsemanship and weapons, their
organization and fighting spirit were
responsible for bringing a new
structure to Japanese society.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Soon these warlike horsemen became
established as the aristocracy of
Japan, and it wasn’t too many
generations before one of their noble
families, perhaps in alliance with
native priest-aristocrats, won
precedence over the others.
By a miracle of continuity, this same
Imperial Family (the Chrysanthemum
Throne) still reigns over modern
Japan.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Since the Korean peninsula stands
between the Chinese mainland and the
four major islands of Japan, much of the
importation of Chinese forms came to
Japan through Korea.
By 500 CE, one third of Japan’s nobility
claimed Korean or Chinese ancestry.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
In 405 CE, a Korean monk traveled to
Japan to teach the Chinese script.
This became Japan’s earliest written
language, and Japan’s recorded
history begins only in the 8th century
CE.
By 500 CE, most artisans and metal
workers had come from Korea.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
It is from early Chinese/Korean
literature that historians believe that
an early Japanese state developed in
the third century CE when a clan of
people worshipping the sun-goddess
(Amaterasu) established their
dominance on the Yamato Plain in
central Honshu Island.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The Sun Goddess Amaterasu emerges
from her cave and dances…
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Sent down from
heaven to establish
order and bearing
three precious
symbols—the curved
jewel, the sword, and
the mirror—(which are
still the imperial
symbols of Japan),
“the august grandchild”
of Amaterasu landed in
southeastern Kyushu.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
His son was Jimmu
Tenno, the legendary
first emperor of
Japan, who’s domain
was centered near
the modern city of
Osaka.
There he set up his
capital and reigned
for “more than 100
years.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Through this origin myth runs a
thread of fact…archeological and
historical evidence shows that the
Japanese state expanded from
Kyushu and reached the Yamato
region before 400 CE.
From this point, the myths became
fairly plausible records of flesh-andblood emperors and their courts.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Even then the emperor was cast in
the paradoxical role he would play
throughout most of Japan’s history—
venerated as supreme but for all
practical purposes more of a religious
symbol than the head of government.
The real power was in the hands of
an official like a prime minister.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
This powerful position was a prize
fought over by various clans who could
muster their own private armies.
There was no firm rule of succession:
when an emperor died or was deposed,
the great minister usually decided
which prince of the Imperial Family
was to be heir.
Sometimes he had several young
princes assassinated in order to
prevent future rivalries.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Emperors might be dethroned or
murdered, but the royal family was
never displaced because its religious
significance was too important.
Only an authentic emperor, descended
from the sun-goddess (Amaterasu),
could be held divine and could
intercede with heaven on behalf of
men.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
This ritual usefulness has protected
and preserved the Imperial Family for
nearly 2,000 years.
Early Japan was still a barbarous land
of loose political association and
technology that was far behind
China’s (or even Korea’s).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
There was no written language and
only a few scholars knew how to read
or write Chinese.
Communication was so poor that the
central government had little
influence beyond the Yamato region.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Much of the country was frontier,
plagued by outlaws and pirates or
Ainu that hadn’t been subdued.
But a great change was
coming…suddenly Japan became
aware of the charms and advantages
of Chinese civilization and eagerly
welcomed everything Chinese.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The beginning of this period of
marked Chinese influence is usually
given as 552 CE.
China was emerging from its own
chaos and was bursting with new
religious ideas and artistic and literary
vigor.
The more the Japanese learned of
China, the more they wanted to catch
up with Chinese culture.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The year 552 is significant because
that was the year the ruler of the
Korean kingdom of Paikche, which
had close cultural ties with China,
appealed for Japanese help against
his enemies.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Along with his ambassadors he sent
to the Yamato court a bronze image
of the Buddha, some Buddhist
scriptures, and a royal letter praising
Buddhism.
Buddhism was already 1,000 years
old, but the Korean king’s letter
seems to have triggered a new burst
of interest in that religion, for the
royal family became active followers.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Iname Soga, the chief minister,
appears to have seen Buddhism as a
handy carrier of Chinese culture and
ideas, including a strong, centralized
bureaucracy in the hands of powerful
ministers.
If the Chinese system could be set
up, it would give the Soga family tight
control over the outlying provinces.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Iname’s adoption of Buddhism threw
Japan into 50 years of struggle between
those who favored Buddhism (which
stressed spiritual and ethical virtue),
and those who wanted to maintain the
native religion (Shinto).
Iname’s son and successor, Umako,
imported Chinese books and scholars,
sent embassies and students to China,
and founded Buddhist monasteries.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The high point of
Japanese
“borrowing” came
between the 7th-9th
centuries, starting
with Umako’s chosen
heir apparent to the
throne, Crown Prince
Shotoku Taishi in 593
(lived 572-622).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Prince Shotoku launched a series of
large-scale missions to China, which
took hundreds of Japanese monks,
scholars, artists, and students to the
mainland, and when they returned, they
put into practice what they had learned.
For example, Chinese-style taxation
systems, legal codes, government
ministries, and provincial administrations
were established.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
He issued the Seventeen Article
Constitution, proclaiming the
Japanese ruler as a Chinese-style
emperor and he encouraged both
Buddhism and Confucianism.
In good Confucian fashion, that
document emphasized the moral
quality of rulers as a foundation for
social harmony.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
“When wise men are entrusted with
office, the sound of praise arises. If
unprincipled men hold office,
disasters and tumults are multiplied.
In this world few men are born with
knowledge: wisdom is the product of
earnest meditation. In all things,
great or small, find the right man and
they will surely be well managed.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Shotoku is
remembered as an
idealized sage-ruler
of the Chinese type.
Chinese customs and
etiquette became the
fashion and Japanese
scholars learned the
difficult Chinese
written language.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Religiously though, the Japanese
would remain distinctive.
Although Buddhism in many forms
took hold in the country, it never
completely replaced the native beliefs
and practices, which focused attention
on numerous kami, sacred spirits
associated with human ancestors and
various natural phenomena (rocks,
streams, mountains, etc).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Kami were found everywhere, and
they could be called upon to help in a
time of human need.
Shinto shrines were built throughout
the land, always including a mirror, a
sword, and a jewel in tribute to the
sun goddess.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The Shinto tradition provided
legitimacy to the imperial family,
based on claims of descent from the
sun goddess.
Because veneration of the kami lacked
an elaborate philosophy or ritual, it
conflicted little with Buddhism.
In fact, numerous kami were
assimilated into Japanese Buddhism
as local expressions of Buddhist
deities or bodhisattvas.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Twenty-five Bodhisattvas Descending
from Heaven (Japanese 13th century):
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The Buddhas and bodhisattvas were
accepted as especially powerful and
exalted kami, capable of helping
those in adversity.
The royal family in Japan knew that
Emperor Ashoka (269-232 BCE) in
India had adopted Buddhism and
they emulated his decision and
wisdom.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Clans close to the emperor were
divided in their reception of the
foreign religion.
A minority thought the new religion
should be banned.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Those who
accepted it
regarded Buddhism
as a force for
performing
miracles, especially
healing the sick, as
many Buddhist
monks were
especially skilled in
medicine.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
When Prince Shotoku wrote his
Seventeen Article Constitution, Article
#2 declared that the Japanese people
should “Sincerely reverence the three
treasures…the Buddha, the Law, and
the Monastic orders.”
Buddhism was seen as one of the
principle constituents of power in
China (because of the Sui and T’ang)
and therefore important to Japan.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
A century later, Buddhism became a
pillar in the structure of Japanese
national unity and administration.
The emperor performed the official
rituals of both Shinto and Buddhist
worship.
Buddhism also introduced a measure
of centralization (the Buddhist shrine
in Nara became the central shrine for
all Japan).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Prince Shotoku’s death (622) was
followed by a bloody interval of civil
war which drove the Soga clan from
power (many were slaughtered).
In 645 the Emperor Kotoku came to
the throne under the tutelage of
another clan, the Fujiwara.
The Fujiwara would rule Japan for the
next 500 years.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The Japanese
adopted the
Chinese calendar
along with the
Confucian belief
that everyone and
every animal had a
role to play in a
hierarchical society.
Understanding
one’s place in the
hierarchy led to
harmony.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The Japanese adopted the Chinese
pseudoscience of divination called
Geomancy.
For example, in building a homestead,
a wise owner consulted a geomancer’s
compass to make sure everything
would be free of evil.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Two capital cities, first Nara (710794) and then Heian (Kyoto)(7941186) arose, both modeled on the
T’ang capital of Chang’an.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Nara is regarded as the first permanent
capital in Japan and was built in 710 (in
2010 Nara celebrated its 1,300th
anniversary as Japan’s first capital).
Before that time the capital was
relocated at the death of each ruler
because of fear the living site was
polluted by the emperor’s death.
The layout of Nara was based on the
Chinese grid system of streets and
avenues.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
During its heyday, ancient Nara had a
population of 100,000, making it the
largest of the ancient cities of Japan.
Today it has about 400,000 people.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Nara would become a city renowned
(even today) for its architecture and
tradition of Buddhist art.
The Todaiji Buddhist Temple is the
largest wooden structure on earth.
Inside is a 15ft statue of Buddha.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Chinese culture permeated almost
every aspect of urban Japanese life.
An example of the sustained influence
of Chinese culture on the elite was
the first collection of Japanese
poems, known as the Ten Thousand
Leaves, or Manyoshu.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Various schools of Chinese Buddhism
took root, first among the educated and
literate classes and later more broadly in
Japanese society.
Buddhism became an important force in
the capital and was patronized by the
government.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Hundreds of statues of Buddha were
commissioned, 48 temples were built
within Nara and many more
throughout the land, and Buddhist
scriptures were mass-produced and
spread everywhere.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Even though Nara was a beautiful
capital, its government was not always
effective.
Its armies were so weak, they were
often defeated by tribal peoples to the
north and manipulated by aristocrats at
home.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Eventually, there were so many
priests and monks in Nara that a
member of the clergy even dared to
aspire to the imperial throne.
A scandal late in the period involved a
powerful Buddhist monk (named
Dokyo—who was said to be very
handsome but unscrupulous) who
manipulated the ruling empress and
nearly took control of the throne.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Dokyo claimed the great Shinto wargod Hachiman had declared Japan
would have peace forever if he were
made emperor.
The empress sent a trusted emissary
to Hachiman’s shrine to ask the god if
this were true.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Hachiman’s answer
was that Dokyo,
lacking the imperial
lineage, could not
be emperor.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The scheming monk soon fell from
favor and was eventually banished
from the imperial court.
Although a number of women had
ruled in Japan (usually after the
death of their husbands), this custom
was brought to an end because of
this scandal.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Art, architecture, education, medicine,
views of the afterlife, attitudes toward
suffering and the impermanence of
life—all of this reflected the influence
of Buddhist culture on Japan.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Chinese calligraphy—and with it an
interest in historical writing and poetry—
also was adapted by the Japanese elite.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Printing from movable blocks followed
from Korea in the eighth century.
Chinese came to be considered the
language of learning so Japanese
scholars wrote in Chinese.
All the "serious" books–history, theology,
science, law–were written in Chinese.
The earliest known book written in native
Japanese, "Records of Ancient Matters"
was compiled in 712.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
The Japanese even built a Chinesestyle university to train government
officials…but rather than serve as a
mechanism for recruiting talented
commoners into the political elite, it
only enrolled students who were the
sons of court aristocrats.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
While the capital and the elites were
heavily influenced by Chinese culture,
the rural villages and farmsteads were
much more conservative, and less
affected.
Farmers in some areas lived in pit
houses partially underground and rice
was the primary crop.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Japan
Fields were still cleared by agricultural
techniques that involved burning off
brushy and forested areas and
planting in the ash-rich soil (slash and
burn).
Since the Chinese did not threaten
the Japanese, the Japanese were able
to be selective in their borrowing.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
By the 10th century, deliberate efforts
to absorb additional elements of
Chinese culture faded, and formal
tribute missions to China stopped,
although private traders and Buddhist
monks continued to make the difficult
journey to the mainland.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
In 794 AD a new capital was founded
at Heian-kyo (means the “capital of
peace and tranquility”), the site of the
present-day city of Kyoto.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
This is how Heian was described in the
pre-industrial era: The capital itself was
situated in beautiful country, encircled on
three sides by thickly forested hills and
mountains, often delicately wreathed with
trails of mist; in the autumn evenings one
could hear the deer’s cry in the distance and
the desolate call of the wild geese overhead;
the landscape abounded in streams and
waterfalls and lakes; and into its green slopes
and valleys the countless shrines and
monasteries blended as if they too had
become a part of nature.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The Heian period would be the height
of classical culture in ancient Japan.
In the political realm, the Japanese
never succeeded in creating an
effective centralized and bureaucratic
state to match that of China.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Even though the court and the
emperor retained an important
ceremonial and cultural role, their real
political authority gradually
diminished in favor of competing
aristocratic families.
The samurai of later ages would look
back to Heian as the source of their
elite culture.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
As in China, the power and wealth of
Buddhist temples and monasteries
alarmed some members of the court.
To reduce the power of the Buddhist
clergy and increase his power, the
Emperor Kammu (r. 781-806) moved
the capital from Nara to Heian in 794.
The Heian period coincided with the
decline of the T’ang.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
With the last official mission to China
in 838, Japan’s Buddhism would
develop along its own paths, helped
by substantial imperial patronage.
The Buddhist priesthood became
increasingly Japanese, no longer
reliant on priests from China.
Zen (Chan Buddhism) appeared in
the 7th century but didn’t become
popular until the 12th century.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Zen promoted the Buddhist idea of
deep meditation coupled with defense
of the state.
Its emphasis on the martial arts made
it especially attractive to the
increasingly powerful warrior class.
Since then, it has deeply influenced
Japanese culture and remains
important in Japan today.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Three elements have given Buddhism
prominence and significance in
Japanese life (even until today):
1. Japanese Buddhism cultivated an
especially pure aesthetic dimension,
seen in everything from art and
architecture, to formal gardens, to
the presentation of self, gifts, to tea,
to food.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
2. Buddhism’s emphasis on the
transience of all life inspired much of
Japan’s great literature, from the Tale
of Genji—a thousand years ago—to
the works of Mishima Yukio in the
20th century (he committed seppuku
in 1970 after completing his last
novel).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
3. Buddhism has coexisted and even
merged with indigenous Shinto
worship and belief.
Buddhism has remained one of the
two national religions of Japan, and
most Japanese today continue to
mingle Shinto and Buddhism in their
aesthetic and spiritual lives.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Japanese literary and artistic culture
also evolved in distinctive ways despite
much borrowing from China.
As in Korea and Vietnam, a unique
writing system emerged that combined
Chinese characters with a series of
phonetic symbols.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
A highly stylized Japanese poetic
form, known as tanka, developed
early and has remained a favorite
means of expression ever since.
Particularly during the Heian period, a
refined esthetic culture existed at the
imperial court, even as the court’s
real political power melted away.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Heian is the age
of the “Shining
Prince”—the age
of Prince Genji,
the major
character in Lady
Murasaki
Shibuku’s Tale of
Genji.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Court aristocrats and their ladies lived
in splendor, composed poems,
arranged flowers, and conducted
their love affairs.
“What counted,” wrote one scholar,
“was the proper costume, the right
ceremonial act, the successful turn of
a poetic phrase, and the appropriate
expression of a refined taste.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Most of our knowledge of this courtly
culture came from female writers, who
composed their diaries and novels in
the vernacular Japanese script, rather
than in the classical Chinese used by
elite men.
Women at this level of society largely
escaped the more oppressive features
of Chinese Confucian culture (seclusion
in the home, footbinding, prohibitions
on remarriage for widows).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Japanese women
largely escaped
these restrictions
because China’s
most powerful
influence on Japan
was during the
T’ang period (when
elite women enjoyed
considerable
freedom).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
In early Heian Japan, there were
women known as the asobi, or sexual
entertainers, who “entertained” both
aristocrats and monks.
Their “entertainments” were not
exclusively sexual…their high-priced
services sometimes included folk
songs and traditional dances, even
Buddhist sutras.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The Japanese seemed to embrace a
very liberal attitude towards
relationships.
Men were often polygamous, women
were monogamous, widows could be
sexually active without shame.
Prostitution (the asobi) was merely
risque, not considered shameful.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Japanese women could inherit property,
Japanese married couples often lived
apart or with the wife’s family; and
marriages were made and broken easily.
None of this corresponded to Confucian
values.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Eventually people began to look at
the asobi with distrust.
Celibate monks, their chastity
threatened by the asobi, began to
decry these women as wicked, out to
distract and corrupt Buddhist men.
Gradually the asobi gained a
reputation as a public nuisance so
many settled in “pleasure districts.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
In general, divorce was increasingly
frowned upon, and widows were
expected to remain unattached and
to pray for their dead husbands.
Many widows were expected to enter
a nunnery.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
When Japanese women began to lose
status in the 12th century and later, it
had less to do with Confucian
pressures and more to do with the
rise of the warrior culture.
As the personal relationships of
samurai warriors to their lords
replaced marriage alliances as a
political strategy, the influence of
women in political life was reduced,
but this was Japanese phenomenon,
not a reflection of Chinese influence.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The hub of the colorful society in Heian
literature was the emperor, who
sometimes was no more than a child
when he came to the throne.
Revered as a religious and nationalistic
symbol, but given virtually no practical
power, he spent his career performing
the long, slow, sacred rituals considered
necessary for the welfare of the country
or acting as the central figure in the
numerous court festivities.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Among his most
important duties
was presiding over
the annual
Chrysanthemum
Festival, when he
and his nobles
inspected the
chrysanthemums in
the gardens of the
Imperial Palace.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Following the rite of flower-viewing
there was a banquet during which the
emperor’s guests composed poems
and drank wine in which the
chrysanthemums had been steeped—a
concoction believed to promote
longevity.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Around the emperor a massive
bureaucracy was mildly busy with
functions of similar importance.
Grave discussions and involved
paperwork concerned such details as
the kind of carriage proper for a
nobleman of a certain rank.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
For those at the emperor’s court, every
move was made with the utmost
delicacy.
A courtier’s rise or fall could hinge on a
single syllable of a poem.
The exact shade of the paper on which
a letter was written and the way the
paper was folded carried a wealth of
meaning.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Perfume-blending was practiced as a
fine art, and socially prominent
gentlemen were often recognized by a
hint of their favorite scent.
To modern eyes the perfumed
“dwellers among the clouds” who lived
at court might not seem very
attractive.
The men wore tiny patches of beard
on the point of their chins.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Both sexes covered their faces with
white powder.
The women shaved off their
eyebrows and painted much heavier
ones high on their foreheads.
They also blackened their teeth;
white teeth were considered glaring
and hideous.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Women let their hair grow as long as
possible: a girl was considered
unusually lovely if her hair was
abundant and longer than she was
tall.
Clothing was incredibly elaborate, and
nearly every detail was prescribed by
court regulations or etiquette.
Men wore black lacquered headgear
that made them look like a crested
quail.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Both men and women wore loose
trousers, and on dress occasions a
woman might wear over these as
many as 12 silk robes of different
colors, whose full sleeves were of
varying lengths so that all would
show a little at the wrists.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
When riding in
carriages, women
hung their manycolored sleeves over
the sides for passersby
to admire, and every
color had to be just
right (or it might be
considered in bad
taste and the whole
court would hear
about it).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The avenues of Heian (Kyoto) were
broad and planted with trees, more
like parks than thoroughfares.
The main avenue of the city lead
south from the Imperial Palace and
was nearly 300 feet wide, and the
beauty of its willows and cherry trees
was a favorite subject of poets.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
This is the rebuilt front gate of the
Imperial Palace in Kyoto (Heian):
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Within the palace enclosure was the
city’s most impressive structure—the
Great Hall of State—where the
imperial throne was located.
It was located at the end of a 170 ft
raised hallway, painted red and
covered by a roof of dazzling blue
tiles supported by 52 columns.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The homes of the nobility were built
on main avenues in compounds
covering several acres and
surrounded by low, white painted
stone walls with carved and painted
gates.
A typical compound had the master’s
quarters and separate structures
housing his principle wife, his
secondary wives and concubines, his
children, relatives, and servants.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Like temples and structures of state,
their houses were made of wood,
rectangular in shape and tastefully
simple, reflecting the austerity and
understatement that would distinguish
Japan’s art and architecture for
centuries.
Rooms were divided by movable
screens, there were no windows, and
there were few furnishings.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Usually the main room had a low table,
braziers for heating, and cushions for
sitting on the floor.
A platform about 9’ square and 2’ high
called a chodai stood in the center of
larger rooms…with mats and cushions
surrounded by curtains it became a
bed chamber.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Another common piece of furniture
for the elite was a kicho, a portable
curtained frame, 6’ high that allowed
a woman to conceal herself from view
while being able to carry on a
conversation.
Outside the curtain one could only
see a vague outline.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The moment of
commitment in a
Heian love affair
generally came
when a lady
allowed a
gentleman to
come behind her
kicho.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Though highly refined in many ways, the
Heian world was full of gaps and
contradictions.
Education was largely a matter of
learning to write in ponderous Chinese,
memorizing innumerable poems, and
being polished in manners and etiquette.
There was no science or other
intellectual life, and after breaking off
contact with China, no interest in foreign
countries.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Costumes were elaborate but food
was simple (so simple, it was hardly
ever mentioned in literature).
Great effort was expended on
gardens but little on houses.
In religious matters, superstitions
existed alongside lofty Buddhist
philosophy.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Divination was given serious attention
and the interpretation of good or bad
omens played a decisive role in
shaping government policies.
Certain days were considered
unlucky and on such days every effort
was made to remain indoors and as
inactive as possible.
Even bathing or washing one’s hair
was put off until an auspicious date.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Beliefs in demons, goblins, and other
evil supernatural spirits was common,
and there were plenty of incantations,
spells, and charms to keep them at
bay.
In the Imperial Palace, guards
twanged their bowstrings at regular
intervals to frighten away any evil
spirits that might have entered.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The rise of the Samurai began in the
11th century as the power of Japan’s
central government in Heian
gradually eroded.
The Fujiwara ministers loyal to the
emperor attempted to maintain their
influence by making alliances with the
two most powerful military factions,
the Taira and Minamoto clans.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The conflict that developed between
these two ambitious clans led to the
rise of the warrior culture and a
system of military rule that would
dominate Japan for nearly 800 years.
Japan’s feudal age began in 1156
when the Minamoto and Taira
families began fighting for control of
the capital Kyoto.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
As political power became increasingly
decentralized, the Minamoto and Taira
developed their own military forces,
“gentleman” warriors—the fabled
samurai (which means “to serve”)—
warrior class of Japanese society.
Some were wealthier than others, but
no matter what their economic
circumstances, all were bound by a
code that demanded absolute loyalty to
their superiors in the feudal chain of
command.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The samurai developed a distinctive
set of values featuring great skill in
martial arts, bravery, loyalty,
endurance, honor, and a preference
for death over surrender.
Nothing was supposed to interfere
with this devotion, neither love of
wife or children, nor duty to one’s
parents.
Least of all should the fear of death
affect a man’s fidelity to his leader.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The samurai code of honor was
bushido, the “way of the warrior.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The wealthier
samurai fought on
horseback, clad in
helmet and flexible
armor made by
narrow steel strips
held together by silk
cords.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Outwardly, the samurai were similar
to the medieval knights of Europe in
their devotion to their lords.
But the inward principles that
motivated them were quite different.
The idea of chivalry and the
glorification of womanhood that
underlay European knighthood had
no counterpart among the samurai.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Nor were the samurai motivated by
religious fervor.
A samurai going into battle was no
crusader invoking heavenly aid in his
war cries.
Instead, he tried to strike terror in his
enemies by shouting his own prowess
and the names and exploits of his
illustrious ancestors.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
In 1156 full-scale war between the
Taira and Minamoto families erupted
in Kyoto, and the city that for more
than 300 years had been a sanctuary
of culture and elegance became the
scene of great cruelty and
destruction.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Samurai and common soldiers on both
sides burned palaces and slaughtered
the inhabitants.
Most prisoners were executed, often
beheaded, even though capital
punishment had long been abolished at
court because of Buddhism’s stress on
nonviolence.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Early in the war, the captured leader
of the Minamoto was condemned to
death by the Taira, and his own son
was ordered to kill him. The son
refused, but a Minamoto officer did
the deed rather than have it done by
the hated Taira. Then he committed
seppuku.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
This 12th century painting depicts the
famous naval battle of Danno-ura
(1185) where the samurai of two rival
clans fought to the death. Many of the
Taira warriors, along with some of their
women, plunged into the sea rather
than surrender to their Minamoto
rivals.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Japan’s celebration of the samurai and
of military virtues contrasted sharply
with China’s emphasis on intellectual
achievements and political officeholding, which were accorded higher
prestige than bearing arms.
“The educated men of this land,” wrote
a Chinese minister in the 11th century,
“regard the carrying of arms as a
disgrace.”
Obviously, the Japanese didn’t agree.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Conclusion: Japan’s ability to borrow
extensively from China while
developing its own distinctive
civilization provided a model for its
encounter with the West in the 19th
century. Then, as before, Japan
borrowed selectively from a foreign
culture without losing either its
political independence or its cultural
uniqueness.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
During the post-Classical era (6001450), other societies besides Japan
had developed distinctive identities
and cultural traditions.
Korea and Vietnam were also
involved in world trade patterns, and
all three were deeply influenced by
Chinese political, cultural, and
economic developments.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Chinese armies occasionally invaded
Korea and Vietnam, and Chinese
merchants traded with merchants
from all three societies.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Buddhism spread
from China to Korea
and Vietnam (before
going to Japan),
filtered from India
through Chinese
society and culture,
bringing much
diversity to the
religion as it
gradually diffused.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Unlike the northern nomads, the
societies of Japan, Korea, and
Vietnam were thoroughly agricultural
and sedentary.
During the first millennium C.E. they
became part of a larger process—the
globalization of civilization—which
produced new city and state based
societies in various parts of the world.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Proximity to their giant Chinese
neighbor decisively shaped the
histories of these new East Asian
civilizations, for all of them borrowed
major elements of Chinese culture.
But unlike the native peoples of
southern China, who largely became
Chinese, the peoples of Japan, Korea,
and Vietnam did not.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
These societies would retain their
distinctive identities, which have
lasted into modern times.
While resisting Chinese political
domination, they also appreciated
Chinese culture and sought the
source of Chinese wealth and power.
Living in the shadow of China tended
to isolate Korea and Japan but not
Vietnam.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Vietnam was not as isolated because
it had a strategic location in the
Indian Ocean trade basin, and its
interactions with India and other
cultures in Southeast Asia kept the
Vietnamese highly involved with nonChinese regions.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Korea: sometime before the 2nd
century BCE people on the Korean
peninsula had organized a state called
Jeoson, but the northern part of Korea
and Manchuria were conquered by the
Han Emperor Wu in 108 BCE.
Military garrisons and some
colonization by Chinese settlers
established Chinese control and
influence in northern Korea while
providing the initial channel for Chinese
influence.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Korean tribes managed
to win some of the
territory back when the
Han collapsed, and
during the 2nd century
CE, several Korean
tribes united to form
the state of Koguryo.
Two other states—
Paekche and Silla–
formed a little later,
joining Koguryo to be
called “The Three
Kingdoms.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Buddhism, which the Koreans learned
from the Chinese, became the chief
religion.
By the late 600’s, Silla had conquered
the other two kingdoms and taken
control of the entire peninsula.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Confucianism, like Buddhism, had
diffused from China, and became a
strong influence on Koreans of the
Silla Kingdom (688-900).
The Sui dynasty sent three
expeditions to conquer Korea, but all
ended in disaster (which eventually
brought down the Sui).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
The Silla Dynasty ruled Korea until the
late 9th century when they were
replaced with the Koryo Dynasty
(where “Korea” came from) that ruled
until 1392.
It was during the Silla period that
Chinese influences peaked and Korean
culture achieved its first full flowering.
The Koreans even referred to their
rulers with the Chinese term wang
(king).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
The T’ang dynasty tried to retake Korea
in the 7th century (at the beginning of
the Silla period) and succeeded in
occupying much of the peninsula.
But Chinese efforts to set up puppet
regimes and to assimilate Koreans to
Chinese culture provoked sharp military
resistance.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Silla armies were able to prevent the
T’ang from taking over their
capital…as a result, a compromise
was reached when Chinese forces
withdrew from Korea in exchange for
the Silla king’s recognition of the
T’ang emperor as his overlord.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
In theory, Korea was a tributary state
to T’ang China, but in reality the Silla
Kingdom operated with a great deal
of independence even though the
Silla sought to turn their small state
into a miniature version of T’ang
China.
The arrangement benefited both
sides, with envoys of the Silla kings
regularly delivering gifts to Chinese
emperors in exchange for gifts from
China to Korea.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
The Silla built a new capital city at
Kumsong to look like the T’ang capital
at Chang’an.
This is the terrain near Kumsong.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
The crown's tree and
antler uprights may
abstractly symbolize a
"world tree" that reaches
from earth to heaven.
These crowns originated
from Siberian shaman
headwear, and it is
thought that Silla rulers of
this period were
themselves shaman-kings
and shaman-queens.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Tribute missions to China provided
legitimacy for Korean rulers and
knowledge of Chinese court life and
administrative techniques, which they
sought to replicate back home.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Most importantly for the Koreans, the
tributary relationship opened the
doors for Korean merchants to trade
in China, mostly for luxury goods like
ceremonial clothing, silks, fancy teas,
Confucian and Buddhist texts, and
artwork—all of which enriched the
lives of a Korean aristocracy that was
becoming increasingly Chinese in
culture.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization:
Korea
Thousands of Korean students were
sent to China where they studied
primarily Confucianism but also
natural sciences and art.
Even though Confucianism and
Buddhism became a part of Korean
traditions during this era, Chinese and
Korean societies differed in many
ways.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Some Korean elites studied the
Confucian texts and took the exams,
but Korea never established a
bureaucratic system based on the
examination system.
Korea didn’t experience the major
conflicts between Confucianism and
Buddhism that existed in late T’ang
period China.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Political control remained firmly in the
hands of the royal family and
aristocracy.
The Korean elite tended to favor
Buddhism over Confucianism, and the
Korean royal family lavishly supported
monasteries.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Buddhist monks attended the ruler
and royal family, and both Buddhist
and Confucian schools were founded.
More than in China, a small
aristocratic elite controlled Korea,
with their members filling most of the
posts in the bureaucracy and
dominating the social and economic
life of the entire kingdom.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Artisans were seen as their servants,
and no distinct social class developed
for merchants or traders.
Despite their low status, Korean
artisans often rivaled the Chinese in
artistic and technological pursuits.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Even though the Koreans first learned
techniques for manufacturing porcelain
from the Chinese, the Koreans created
pale green-glazed bowls and vases
called “celadon” that the Chinese
admired and collected (and today
remain highly prized by collectors and
museums).
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Korean woodblocks were also
exceptional, and the oldest surviving
woodblock prints in Chinese
characters were produced in Korea in
the middle 700’s.
Like the Song Chinese, Koreans
experimented by the early 13th
century with movable type, although
the demand for books was less than
in China because fewer Korean elites
were literate.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Korean woodblock printing panel.
Many Koreans today believe that
movable type was invented in the
Koryo Kingdom, not Song China.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The efforts to plant Confucian values
and Chinese culture in Korea had a
very negative impact on Korean
women, particularly after 1300.
Early Chinese observers noticed, and
strongly disapproved of “free choice”
marriages in Korea as well as the
practice of women singing and
dancing together late at night.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
With the support of the Korean court,
Chinese models of family life and
female behavior, especially among
the elite, gradually replaced the more
flexible Korean patterns.
Earlier, a Korean woman had
generally given birth and raised her
young children in her parent’s home,
where she was often joined by her
husband.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
This was now strongly discouraged,
for it was deeply offensive to Confucian
orthodoxy, which held that a married
woman “belonged” to her husband’s
family.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Some Korean customs—funeral rites
where a husband was buried in the
sacred plot of his wife’s family, the
remarriage of widowed or divorced
women, and female inheritance of
property—eroded under Confucian
influence.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
But plural marriages for men also
began to end.
In 1413, legal distinctions were made
between a man’s primary and
secondary wives…he had to identify
which was primary.
Because she and her children now
had special privileges and status,
sharp tensions emerged within
families.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
After 688, Korea’s political
independence, though occasionally
threatened, remained intact.
And in the 1400’s Korea moved towards
greater cultural independence by
developing a phonetic alphabet, known
as hangul, for writing the Korean
language.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Korean hangul :
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Although resisted by male elites who
preferred Chinese characters, the
new form of writing gradually took
hold, especially in private
correspondence, in popular fiction,
and among women.
Clearly part of the Chinese world
order, Korea nonetheless retained a
distinctive culture as well as a
separate political existence.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Vietnam: At the southern fringe of
the Chinese cultural world, the people
who eventually came to be known as
the Vietnamese had a broadly similar
historical encounter with China.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
As in Korea and Japan, the elite
culture of Vietnam borrowed heavily
from China—adopting Confucianism,
Daoism, Buddhism, administrative
techniques, the examination system,
artistic and literary styles—even as its
popular culture remained distinctive.
And like Korea, Vietnam achieved
political independence while
participating fully in the tribute system
as a vassal state.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
But there were differences as well.
The cultural heartland of Vietnam in
the Red River valley was fully
incorporated into Chinese state for
more than a thousand years (111
BCE—939 CE), far longer than parts of
Korea.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Known as Annam, its people were
regarded by the Chinese as “southern
barbarians,” and they were ruled by
Chinese officials who expected to fully
assimilate this rich rice-growing region
into China culturally as well as
administratively.
To these officials, it was simply a
further extension of the southward
expansion of Chinese civilization.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Chinese-style irrigated agriculture was
introduced, as were dams and
waterworks, the use of fertilizer, and
pig farming.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Vietnamese elites were brought into the
local bureaucracy and educated in
Confucian-based schools; Chinese
replaced the local language in official
business; Chinese clothing and
hairstyles became mandatory; and large
numbers of Chinese, some fleeing
internal problems at home, flooded into
the relative security of what they
referred to as “the pacified south,”
while often despising the local people.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Ancient Vietnamese capital city of
Hue (main gate):
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The heavy pressure of Chinese
presence generated not only a
Vietnamese elite thoroughly schooled
in Chinese culture but also periodic
rebellions.
In 39 CE, a short-lived but long
remembered uprising was launched
by two sisters, daughters of a local
leader deposed by the Chinese.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
One of the sisters, Trung Trac, whose
husband had been executed,
famously addressed 30,000 soldiers
while dressed in full military regalia:
“Foremost I will avenge my country.
Second I will restore the Huang lineage.
Third I will avenge the death of my
husband.
Lastly I vow that these goals will be
accomplished.”
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
When the rebellion was crushed
several years later, the Trung sisters
committed suicide rather than
surrender to the Chinese, but in
literature, monuments, and public
memory, they long remained
powerful symbols of Vietnamese
resistance to Chinese aggression.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
The weakening of the T’ang dynasty in
the early 10th century finally enabled a
large rebellion, led by Ngo Quyen, to
establish a separate state known as
Dai Viet.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Before and after Chinese control
Vietnam had a love-hate relationship
with Chinese culture and politics.
Chinese scholars brought to Vietnam
their script, Confucian ethical
principles, and Confucian literary
classics.
Vietnam carefully maintained its
tributary role, sending repeated
missions to do homage at the Chinese
court.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Successive Vietnamese dynasties found
the Chinese approach to government
useful, styling their rulers as emperors,
claiming the Mandate of Heaven, and
making use of Chinese court rituals,
while expanding their state steadily
southward.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
More so than in Korea, a Chinesebased examination system functioned
to undermine an established
aristocracy, to provide some measure
of social mobility for commoners, and
to create a merit-based scholargentry to staff the bureaucracy.
Buddhism also arrived via China (5th
century) in the Mahayana form.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
But the Vietnamese elite remained
deeply committed to Chinese culture,
looking at their own country less as a
separate nation than as a southern
extension of a universal civilization,
the only one they knew.
Beyond the elite, however, there
remained much that was uniquely
Vietnamese.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Examples include a distinctive language,
a fondness for cockfighting, chewing
betel nuts, and a greater role for women
in social and economic life.
Female nature deities and even a
“female Buddha” continued to be a part
of Vietnamese popular religion, even as
Confucian-based ideas took root among
the elite.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
These features of Vietnamese life
reflected larger patterns of Southeast
Asian culture that distinguished it
from China.
And like Korea, the Vietnamese
developed a variation of Chinese
writing called chu nom (“southern
script”), which provided the basis for
national literature.
The Spread of Chinese Civilization
Chu nom: