Japan and Southeast AsiaSSWH0.

Very Early Japan

• Japanese are a very homogenous people; this played a major role in its history

• Unsure where first settlers came from• By first millennium BCE, Jomon people

were living on the islands

Buddhism and Shinto• Buddhism

– Zen and Nichiren sects developed after arriving from Korea

– Buddhism gave religion broader, nobler intellectual content

– Zen emphasized meditation techniques• Shinto, “The Way of the Gods”

– Close to Chinese Daoism– Combination of animism, worship of great deities– Optimistic, guilt-free world view with no theology,

sacred book, or concept of heaven and hell

Early Government and Administration

• Beginning of organized large-scale government in Yamato period

• Yamato clan claimed descent from Sun Goddess, founded imperial family

• Buddhism became religion of upper class

Mahayana Buddhism officially introduced to Japan in 538

POLITICAL

Early Government and Administration

• 17-point Constitution written in 604, stated what a government and loyal citizenry ought to do

• Used Chinese government model with village as foundation unit

• Japanese were confident to pick and choose what they would adopt

Shotoku Taishi, the leader responsible for the 17-point constitution

Nara and Heian periods710-1185

• First capital built at Nara• Buddhism began steady transformation to popular

religion• Imperial court moved to Kyoto in 794• Contacts with China, Korea strictly limited

Nara and Heian periods710-1185

• Government became struggle between all-powerful emperor and decentralized feudal lords– Emperors reduced to ceremonial

figures– Fujiwara clan became power behind

the throne

• Shogunate – true head of government was shogun (military commander)

• Warriors (bushi, or samurai) rose in power, with their code of conduct (bushido)

Shogunate

Kamakura Period1185-1333

• Complete domination by samurai and their overlords

• Shoen: parcels of productive land, villages– Exempt from central government taxation– Shiki: privately-held rights to their use and income– Not unusual for shoen to have 3-5 lords

Kamakura Period1185-1333

• Bakufu: military government under shogun– Shogun was independent true ruler of Japan– Bakufu able to defeat Mongol invasion attempts

AESTHETIC

Arts and Culture in Medieval Japan

• Japanese and Chinese languages are radically different

• First Japanese books– Chronicles of Japan– Records of Ancient Matters

• World’s first novel. Tale of Genji– Tells great deal about aristocracy– Genji and Pillow Book were Japanese books, no

foreign models– Both books written by women

Arts and Culture in Medieval Japan

• Poetry was special strength• Japanese painting

– Great sense of design, draftsmanship– Nature scenes, lively portraiture

• Great attention to cultivation of beauty; life was to be enjoyed

Japanese painting

Arts and Culture in Medieval Japan

• Buddhist evolution– Buddhist sects emphasized

salvation through faith alone– Zen Buddhism insisted on

meditation alone to purify the mind

• Became most influential of all Buddhist worship forms

• Underlay Japanese interpretation of beauty, truth

Zen Buddhist monk meditating

POLITICAL

Ashikaga Shogunate1336-1573

• Ashikaga clan were shoguns, ruling daimyo (local nobles)

• Culmination of Japanese feudalism, period of bloody wars

• Contacts with China– Especially close in trade– Japanese pirates, smugglers also active

• Korea– Mediated China-Japan trade– Had fallen into Chinese control, but with autonomy– Government was feudal division of king, local lords– Conquered by Mongols

Early Southeast Asian States• Enormous and varied area

– Burma, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Philippine Islands

– History of independent political organization until modern times when they became European colonies (except Thailand)

– Mainland Southeast Asians descended from Turco-Mongolian language group

– Islanders descended from Austronesian languages – Racial diversity– Chinese influence based on military, diplomacy– India’s influence through trade, culture, philosophy

Early Southeast Asian States• Funan and Champa

– Funan, Mekong River delta, conquered by Khmers– Champa, central Vietnam– Both kingdoms strongly influenced by Hindu Indians

Kampuchea and Sri Vijaya • Kampuchea

– Khmers were politically dominant group– Kampuchea was greatest of ancient mainland

kingdoms– Wealth based on wet-rice agriculture– Taxation to build Angkor Wat temple may have

contributed to its decline

Flag-map of Democratic Kampuchea

Kampuchea and Sri Vijaya

• Sri Vijaya – Controlled much of insular

region – Focused on controlling

Malacca Straits trade route– Indian conquest brought

organization, expansion

Majapahit

• Only indigenous empire to unify all of Indonesia• Trading, commercial venture• Last great Hindu kingdom in southeast Asia• Failed when aggressive Islam arrived

Burma and Thailand• Burma

– Burmese kingdom centered on religious shrines at Pagan

– Governing class adopted Hinayana Buddhism– Empire destroyed by Mongols

• Thailand– Government centered at Ayuthaya– Mongols allowed Thais to be tributaries rather than

conquering them– Chakri Dynasty created most stable, administratively

advanced state in southeast Asia

Vietnam• Often-rebellious subjects of China• Han ruler made Nam viet into a Chinese province• Next 1000 years, imperial appointees governed it• Mahayana Buddhism became dominant faith• Had only southeast Asian writing based on Chinese• Independent state in 939, paying tribute to China• Even Mongols were repelled• Maintained resistance against new Chinese

invasions

Discussion Questions1. Japan from the Nara Period until the 19th century was

ruled as a shogunate, with a figurehead emperor. Where else have you studied a system where true power was in military hands? What was different about the Japanese experience? Can you think of any modern nations that still have a royal family which has little except ceremonial position?

2. You have already studied about China, where a huge empire was formed, and you’ve read about several other large empires. Yet, Southeast Asia never solidified into a single unit. Why do you think that never happened? Is there anything in Southeast Asian history or culture which prevented such unification?