Spread of Chinese CivilizationJapan, Korea, Vietnam

What played a major role in the transmission of Chinese civilization to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam? Buddhism

An Indian religion filtered through Chinese civ, and then transported to J,K,V

Also provided a link between Japan and Korea

How was East Asia different from other societies in terms of cross-cultural interaction? Japan and Korea almost exclusively interacted with China

Isolated from wider international contacts, even though they attempted to establish some autonomy

In other societies, cross-cultural interaction was persistent with large consequences

When were the Taika, Nara, and Heian periods? What equivalent dynasty is occurring in China? Taika (645-710)

Nara (710-784)

Heian (794-857)

Sui in China

Describe the Taika reforms. What groups attempted to halt the reforms? Central goal: remake the Japanese monarch into an

absolutist Chinese-style emperor

Intended to create a professional bureaucracy

Create a peasant conscript army

Aristocracy and the Buddhist monks

Dominated the emperor and the capital

Monks led street demonstrations

Almost took over the throne

How did the aristocrats and common people adjust to Chinese influence? Aristocrats struggled to do so

Challenged the influence

Argued for a return to Japanese ways

Commoners largely influenced by Buddhism

When to monks when sick or needed luck

Meshed the Buddhist deities with Kami

Even commoners showed displeasure by reworking Buddhism into a distinctly Japanese form

Reflected the failure of the Taika reforms

What happens due to the failure of the Taika reforms? Leads to a decrease in power from the emperor

First went aristocratic families

Later shifted to the local lords in the provinces

As this shift happens, those who wanted to strengthen indigenous traditions gained the upper hand

How did the emperor react to the Buddhist challenge? Fled and established a new capital city at Heian (Kyoto)

Forbade the Buddhists to build monasteries

Established monasteries in the hills around Heian

Abandoned the Taika reforms

Restored the great aristocratic families

The reforms were meant to curb their power

Kept the elaborate ranking system in which the aristocrats were divided

Broke with Chinese precedent by determining rank mostly by birth

(Korea)

Aristocrats had already taken over most positions in the central gov

Now they also could build rural estates

Gave up the conscript army

Local leaders organized milita forces instead

What was a key aspect of life at the court in Heian? Created a closed world of luxury and aesthetic delights

Lived in accordance with codes of polite behavior

Social status key

Love affairs and gossip

What was the architectural layout of the Heian court? Complex of palaces and gardens

Unpainted wood

Sliding panels, matted floors, wooden walkways

Fish ponds, artificial lakes with water falls, fine gardens

How did the need to express literary verse change the written language? What does this lead to? Simplified the borrowed Chinese script

Increase in poetry and literary works

Most celebrated- Lady Murasaki’s The Tale of Genji

First novel ever

Captures the charms of court life

What family gains large influence over the imperial throne? Fujiwara

How did they gain power? Packed the upper administration

Married into the imperial family

Used the wealth and influence of their office to build large estates

Provided a stable financial base for their growing power

Had to compete with the Buddhist monasteries

How did the provincial families gain power? Pursued land, like the Buddhists and aristocrats

Origins:

Aristocratic

Land owners

Estate managers

Local state officials

Controlled land and resources, and denied them to Heian

Gradually carved out tiny kingdoms

Ruled from small fortresses

What was the role of the bushi? Warrior leaders of the provincial estates

Administered law

Supervised public works projects

Collected revenue

Failure of the court to build conscription armies allowed the bushi to concentrate power

Build up their own armies

What was the role of the samurai? Mounted troops loyal to the bushi

Not the high court or aristocrats

Increasingly called in to protect the emperor and his retainers

Keep peace in the capital

With bandits and Buddhists being armed, the court and high officials hired the provincial lords and their samurai to serve as bodyguards

Describe the warrior culture of the samurai and bushi. Battle locations and times were negotiated before hand

Battle increasingly depended on the duels of the great champions

Warrior code develops that stressed family honor and death rather than retreat or defeat

Beaten or disgraced warrior turned to ritual suicide to restore their family’s honor

Known as seppuku, disembowelment

Chaotic battles that tilted on the performance of a few champions on each side

No chivalry yet

How was the role of the peasants changed? How did they cope with this? Rise of the samurai quashed all hope of a free peasantry

Reduced to serfs over the next few centuries

Bound to the land, treated as property

Separated by rigid class barriers by the warrior elite

Physically set off by the different dress

Prohibitions against carrying swords or riding horses

Turned to Buddhism and the pure land sect

Offered heaven for those who lived well on earth

Colorful figures made the teaching comprehensible and appealing

Shrines became pilgrimage destinations

What was the name of the first Japanese period from this section? Taika

What was the goal of the Taika reforms? Turn the Japanese emperor into a Chinese-style absolute

emperor

After the failing of the Taika, where do they move the capital to? Kyoto

The abandonment of what part of the Taika reforms give the provincial landlords more power? Conscription army

What family gains power over the emperor? Fujiwara

What is the bushi? Warrior leaders of the provincial estates

What clan takes over power at Kamakura? Minamoto

What is the bakufu? Military government

What family rules Japan from 1336 until 1573 Ashikaga

How did the provincial families gain more power? Fujiwara and other families depended on alliances with

regional lords

Support them in rival disputes

Packed the court bureaucracy by 11th/12th cent.

By mid-12th cent, led t open feuding between:

Taira

Minamoto

How did the battle between the two families play out? Taira originally gain upper hand

Controlled emperor and dominated court

Turned into open warfare in 1180s

Minamoto commanders + network of alliances=win

Taira’s attempt to grab power in the capital -> end of links with rural notables

Gempei Wars last five years in Honshu

Hurt the peasants

Ravaged the farmlands

Fought against each other and better trained samurai

By 1185, Taira was destroyed

What was the original political structure of the Minamoto Minamoto establishes the bakufu- military gov’t

Switched capital to Kamakura

Preserved emperor

Real power with Minamoto and their samurai

Beginning of the feudal age

How did Yoritomo weaken the Kamakura regime? Obsessed about being overthrown by his kin

Murdered or exiled close relatives-> Yoshitsune, major reason for their military victory

Fear of spies led to paranoia in elite life under the first Kamakura shogun (military leader of the bakufu)

Measures he adopted left him without an able heir

What happened after the death of Yoritomo? A scramble of the bushi lords to build up their own power,

increase land

The Hojo soon dominate Kamakura

Left Minamoto as in charge

Three-tiered system

Hojo- really in charge

Minamoto shogun- manipulated by Hojo

Emperor in Kyoto- owned by Minamoto

How does this get even more complicated? Rise of Ashikaga Takuaji in early 14th century

Overthrew the Kamakura regime

Establishes the Ashikaga Shogunate (1336-1573)

Emperor refuses to recognize Ashikaga

Driven from Kyoto to Yoshino

Fight against the Ashikaga and the puppet emperor

Eventually destroyed by Ashik

How does Japan devolve into violence?

All these wars undermined both the emperor and the shogunate

Leaves the bushi vassals free to:

Crush local rivals

Seize the lands of:

Peasants

Old aristocrats

Other warlords

Court aristocracy wiped out

Lands acquired given to samurai

How did civil war break out? Collapse of central authority leads to civil war (1467-77)

Rival Ashikaga heirs get warlords to support claims

Samurai flock to different rivals in Kyoto

All out warfare in the streets

Kyoto is destroyed within a few years

Shogunate self-destructs

Japan was then divided into 300 little kingdoms

Rulers known as daimyo rather than bushi

How did the peasants show their displeasure? Peasants drawn into combat

Poorly fed and badly trained

Major source of growing misery

Looted and pillaged as they marches

Sporadically rose up in hopeless, brutal revolts

Idea that Japan was devolving into barbarism

How did commerce develop under the daimyos? Encouraged peasants to produce highly marketable goods

Silk, hemp, paper, dye, oils

Daimyos competed to attract merchants to their castle towns

Soon, wealthy merchant class emerges

Guild organizations for artisans and merchants

Social solidarity and group protection

What type of artwork did this era have in Japan? How was it influenced by Zen Buddhism? Monochrome ink sketches

Screen and scroll paintings

Capture natural beauty of Japan

Some with glimpses into Japanese life

Zen ideas present in architecture

Golden and Silver Pavilions

Designed to blend into natural settings

Ryoanji Temple

Influence of Shinto and Zen clear in such gardens

Tea ceremony lent to composure and introspection

What laid the basis for the lasting unification of Japan? Economic and cultural growth of the warlord/daimyo era

Improved admin within each of the daimyo domains

Commercial and artisan classes helped build a unified economy

Potent allies of political leaders who wanted to unify Japan

Unified system of currency and weights & measures

Legal and admin systems in each domain could connect to provide good bureaucracy for a unified Japan

Who are the Koguryo? How did they increase sinification? Tribal group on the north of peninsula who created an

independent state

At war with two southern rivals, Silla and Paekche

Contacts between the Koguryo and the northern China groups (post-Han) resulted in the first wave of Sinification

How else did Koguryo implement Chinese culture? Who didn’t like them? Attempted the writing style

Korean not good for it

Koguryo king imposed a unified law code

Patterned after the Han

Established universities to master Confucian classics and Chinese history

Tried to create a Chinese-style bureaucracy

Nobility did not support him- why would they?

How did Korean divisions lead to Chinese conquerors? The three Korean kingdoms weakened each out without

unifying

Internal strife left Korea vulnerable to outside attacks

Tang could not successfully defeat the Koguryo

Decided to strike an alliance with the Silla

Defeated Paechke and Koguryo

How did China rule the peninsula? They didn’t- they had the Silla do it

Originally, quarreled over how to divide the peninsula

Fought Silla, could not win

Uprisings in peninsula

Tang gave up the peninsula in return for regular tribute payments and Silla’s submission as a vassal

Silla independent rulers

Kept these boundaries and independence until 20th century

What was the timeline of Korean dynasties until 1392? Silla (668-9th century)

Koryo (918-1392)

How did Korea interact with China? What did this relationship show about Korea? Sent embassies and tribute to the Tang court

Collected Chinese texts

Noted the latest fashion

Their regular attendance was a sign of their prominent and enduring participation in the tribute system

The Chinese emperors were content to receive tribute

Offered tribute in the form of splendid gifts

Acknowledged the superiority of the Son of Heaven by their willingness to kowtow

Who dominated interaction with China in Korea? Aristocrats

Divided into ranks

Didn’t intermarry or socialize with one another

Filled most of the posts in the bureaucracy

Dominated social and economic life

Most trade with China and Japan was to provide the aristocrats with:

Fancy clothes

Special teas

Scrolls

Art

Korea exported mostly raw materials

Timber

Copper

Mined by near-slaves in horrible conditions

What led to the fall of both the Silla and Koryo? Uprisings by the common people and “low born”

Against a class supremely devoted to their own well-being

Combined with quarrels between the aristocratic households and outside invasions

What was Vietnam’s relationship with China? Had a culture before China

Gave them a strong sense of themselves as a distinct ppl with a common heritage

Did not want to see that overwhelmed by China

Well aware of the benefits they derived from:

Superior tech

Political organization

Ideas

Gratitude was tempered by the fear of losing their own identity

How did the Viets unite the area? After the Qin raids, the Viet rulers defeated the feudal lords

in the Red River valley

Intermarried and blended with the Mon-Khmer and Tai-speaking peoples who occupied the Red River

Crucial to the formation of the Vietnamese as an ethnic group

How did the Han approach the Viets? The Han tried to incorporate south China into their empire

Came into conflict with the Viets

Initially settled for vassal status and tribute payment

By 111 BC, the Han thought it best to conquer them outright

Garrisoned the Red River valley with Chinese troops

S-G co-opted the local lords and encouraged them to adopt Chinese culture

The Viet realized they could learn from China, and cooperated

China began introducing key elements of their own culture into the south

What factors made it easier for Vietnam to revolt? The fragility toe links that bound them to China

Distance and mountains created harsh conditions for Chinese admin to make expeditions

Only a few Chinese lived in the Red River

Chinese control depended on the strength of the ruling dynasty

When there was political turmoil or nomadic incursions, Vietnam took advantage to assert their independence

How did Vietnam expand?

Refused to settle in the highlands on the Red River (malaria)

Main adversaries were Chams and Khmers

Occupied the low lands to the south that Vietnam wanted

Launched periodic expeditions to retaliate for raids

Regularly traded with the hill dwellers for forest products

Tended to minimize their cultural exchange with the “nude savages”

Moved south, using their:

Larger population

Superior bureaucratic

Military organization

Fostered by China

From the 11th to 18th century, they fought a long series of successful wars against the Chams

Eventually drove them into the highlands

Clashed with the Khmers

Had moved into the Mekong delta

Power had declined since the great temple of Angkor Wat was built

Provided no match

Occupied much of the upper delta of the Mekong

How did Vietnam fracture? As armies and colonists moved further south from Hanoi,

found it difficult to control the fighters in the frontier

As the southerners intermarried and adopted some of the customs of the Chams and Khmers, differences developed between the north and south

North saw the south as being less energetic and slower in speech and movement

Regional military commanders in the south grew less responsive

Slower in sending taxes

Bickering turned to violent clashes

By the end of the 16th century, the Nguyen had emerged to challenge the Trinh family in the North