Chapter 11
The Eastern Asian Rimlands:
Early Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
Japan Land of the Rising Sun
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Japan is an Island country
4 main islands
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Hokkaido (north)
Honshu (center)
Kyushu and Shikoku (south)
Temperate Climate especially in the East
3 major cities
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Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto
Geography
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Mountainous – volcanic – creates fertile soil
20% total land is suitable for cultivation = 2
crops/year
Located on Asian and Pacific tectonic
plates – prone to earthquakes
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Film Clip: Days that Shook the World: Japan
1923
Origins
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Izanagi and Izanami – god
and goddess their union creates
Japan
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Give birth to Amaterasu which then
becomes the founder of society
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This gives credence to the Emperors
to come
Origins Con’t
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Evidence of humans at least 100,000 years
Jomon 10,000 years ago pottery evidence
400 BCE – Korean immigrants Yayoi
culture come to Japan along with rice crops
will spread to northern islands
Yayoi Culture
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Settle predominately in Yamato Plain (near the
modern cities of Osaka and Kyoto)
Tribal Society called Uji
Ruled by hereditary chieftain
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Protection for portion of harvest
Population divided into:
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Aristocratic class
Majority of Population
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Rice farmers
Artisans
Household servants
Yayoi Con’t
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Highly decentralized society
Although, dominant clan in the Yamato
region claimed to be descendent of
Amaterasu and did contain some measure
of power.
The Rise of the Japanese State
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Do to the potential threat of China, Japan
reorganized itself:
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1) Created alliances with remaining Korean
States
2) Centralized authority to reset a Chinese
invasion
Shotoku Taishi (562 - 622)
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Key, dominant figure in Yamato region
Sent missions to Chang’an (Tang) to learn political
institutions to strengthen centralization
Taishi Reforms:
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Creates 17 Article Constitution (pg 294)
Supreme ruler and a merit system for selecting and
ranking public officials,
Limited the power of hereditary nobility
Enhanced the prestige and authority of the Yamato ruler
Taika – the great change
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Creation of the Grand Council of State
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Cabinet of 8 ministries
Japan divided into administrative districts
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Rural villages run by chiefs
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Overseer of the household registers
Assigning of the sowing of crops and cultivation
Rice and mulberry trees
Prevention of offences
Requisition of taxes and forced labour
New Tax System:
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New tax and law system creates
centralized taxes
Land is now owned by the state
Taxes now paid directly to the state
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Introduction of Buddhism into the country
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The Nara (710-784) and Heian (794-1185)
Periods
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These periods = a time of decentralization
To avoid taxes land was given up to high ranking
aristocrats who were exempt from paying taxes
Result – centralized government loses influence
and strategic marriages bind strong factions
together
Rural Clans continued to become more powerful
especially with the introduction of the samurai.
Clans become militant
The Samurai
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Lived life of simplicity
and self-sacrifice
Followed Bushido or
warrior code
Strict loyalty bonded
samurai class
Become a major
political and military
force in the country
side.
See bookmarked sites
The Kamakura Shogunate
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Civil war ensues as decentralization occurs
Re-Centralization occurs under the leadership
from a warrior clan: Minamoto Yoritomo (11421199)
Sets up power base at Kamakura peninsula
Shogunate System:
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Centralized government Bakufu
Powerful Military under leadership of the Shogun
Emperor exist but is a figure had to the Shogun
System will continue into the second half of the 19th C.
Time of Unrest
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Mongol Invasion Late 13th C
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Ashikaga Period 1333 – 1600
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Invasion tried twice
Second invasion conquered by Kamikaze “divine wind) Typhoon
Decentralization rampant
Daimyo (great names) are ruling creating a loose coalition of
families ruling together
Onin War 1462-1477
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Destruction of Capital City of Kyoto
Disintegration of the Shogunate
Powerful Aristocrats seize large territories and rule
independently
Warring common until 16th C when centralization returns
Economic and Social Structure
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Agricultural society based on “wet rice”
Economic Con’t
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Commerce slow to develop in Japan
Uji – made up of weavers, carpenters and
ironworkers trade though is regulated and
limited to clan leaders
Yamato state money economy gradually
develops although barter is common
Kamakura Period
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Trade and manufacturing develop
Appearance of Tri-monthly markets
Emergence of industry: paper, iron casting, and
porcelain
Foreign trade with Korea and China
Japanese Exports: raw materials, paintings,
swords
Japanese Imports: silk, porcelain, books, copper
cash
Ashikaga Period
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Rapid growth of wealth and authority of
daimyo families create market towns
Full money economies
Local manufacturers form gilds – Zaivatsu
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Monopolies on product industry – apprentice,
journeyman, master
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includes rice, samurai swords etc.
Rice famines
Social Life
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Common People
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Top officials – well to do peasants – responsible
for organizing collective labour services and
collecting tax grain and so are exempt from taxes
Peasents
Genin – Landless labour
Eta – Hereditary slaves
Gender Roles
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Women and men share importance early on as both are
needed to perform tasks to survive
Polygamy common
8th C law code guaranteed inheritance rights of women, and
wives abandoned by husbands were permitted to divorce and
remarry
Husbands could divorce if a male child wasn’t produced,
committed adultery, disobeyed parents in law, talked too
much, engaged in theft was jealous or had a serious illness!
With the introduction of Buddhism women were subordinate
in position
Religion
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Early belief – worship of nature spirits:
Kami and ancestor spirits
Evolve into Shinto the state religion
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Ritualistic acts at a shrine
Process of purification
Stress on the importance and beauty of nature
Becomes a state doctrine linked the divinity of
the emperor and Japanese nation
Buddhism
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Introduced in 6th C CE
Create a Shinto/Buddhism combination in a
symbiotic relationship
Two sects
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1) Pure Land sect – common people
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Devotion alone could lead to enlightenment and
release
2) Zen Buddhism – compliment traditional beliefs
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Austerity self-discipline and communion of nature
Korea
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Major influences from China
Korea is divided into the Three Kingdoms
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4th to 7th C
Kings bitter rivalry for influence and territory on the
peninsula
All absorb political and cultural influence from China
Koguryo influenced by Buddhism in the late 4th C
Kingdoms share a tributary relationship with China
Silla has strong internal cohesion due to location from
China will become dominant power
Silla Kingdom
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Force Chinese from all of Korea except Yalu River
Accepts tributary status under the Tang
Attempted to use Chinese political model for centralization
Buddhism rising in popularity
Chinese architecture, art, and written language become
popular
No civil service examination system or distribution manorial
lands to the poor
Sulla king assassinated in 780 country sinks into civil war
Koryo Dynasty
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Arose in the North
Adopted Chinese political model
Civil Service exam system introduced in 958
Industry and commerce slowed develop
Agriculture premier source of wealth
King and noble families hold land
Base people composed of slaves, artisans, and
specialized workers
Mongol Rule
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Koryo unable to overcome the power of the
nobility and the absence of a reliable tax base
Koryo becomes a tributary to Khan
Profound suffering to the Korean people for
peasants and artisans
Introduction of new ideas and technology
With the rise of the Ming in China Koryo collapses
Power now in the hands of Military commander Yi
Song-gye Yi dynasty in 1392
Vietnam – The Smaller Dragon
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By 200 BCE – a young state began to form
Immediately felt pressure by the Qin Dynasty in
China
Vietnamese gain independence after the Qin
collapse
A Century later absorbed into the Han Empire
Started autonomous region under the
administration of the local landed aristocracy
Chinese taxes are oppressive and in 39 CE revolt
led by Trung Sisters bring an end to Han rule
Cont
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Chinese suppress the rebellion and begin
to rule directly
Intermarriages between the SinoVietnamese elite identirfy with Vietnamese
autonomy
Art, architecture, literature, philosophy and
written language of the Chinese adopted
Seen as part of China
The Rise of the Great Viet
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In the 10th C – Vietnamese strengthened by a
sense of ethnic and cultural identity overthrow
Chinese rule with the collapse of the Tang
Dynasty
Dai Viet becomes a new force on the South-east
Asian mainland
Dai Viet – take on Champa and the Gulf of Siam
and Mongols – being successful!
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Use of guerrilla warfare
Chinese Legacy
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Confucian model followed
Ruler styled like Chinese Emperor
Adopted Chinese court rituals, claimed
Mandate of Heaven
Chinese political model adopted including
civil service exam
Spread of Buddhism, Daoism and
Confucianism