Early History of Japan

1. Early History of Japan World History CP

2. Early Japanese Society • Earliest Japanese society was organized into clans, or groups of families descended from a common ancestor. • Each family inherited its position; warriors, farmers, weavers, potters • By 400 A.D.: Several clans formed a union and settled in the district called Yamato.

3. Early Japanese Society • The clans of Yamato united much of Japan and even governed a small area of southern Korea. • Tenno Clan • Led the union • Claimed to be descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu. • In time, set up Japan’s first and only ruling dynasty.

4. Adapting Chinese Patterns • 500s: Missionaries from Korea introduced Buddhism and Chinese culture to Japan. • Brought Chinese script, which became Japan’s first written language. • Japanese were impressed with the Chinese. • 607 A.D.: Prince Shotoku of the imperial family sent a group of Japanese nobles to China. • Spent years studying Chinese government, art, literature, science, and philosophy.

5. Adapting Chinese Patterns • Chinese influence reached every level of Japanese life. • Government • Confucian and Daoist philosophies • Used Chinese tools and farming methods • Raised Chinese crops • Absorbed Chinese ideas about music, dance, sculpture, and architecture. • Adopted the Chinese idea of one set capital.

6. Adapting Chinese Patterns • Despite borrowing from the Chinese, Japan still maintained their own identity. • Selected the ideas that worked for them. • Wouldn’t use the ideas that didn’t work. • Tried civil service but scrapped it. • Never accepted the Mandate of Heaven • Accepted Buddhism, but kept traditional beliefs. • Did not change dynasties, unlike the Chinese.

7. Heian Court • 794: Emperor moved his court to Heian, present-day Kyoto. • During this time the developed a new Japanese system of writing called kana. • The power of the emperor was declining, and by the 800s great court families controlled Japan. • Divided land into private estates, which they assigned to local strongmen. • Peasants worked the land.

8. Heian Court • Slowly, a single family, the Fujiwara gained great land wealth and concentrated power in their own hands. • Fujiwara ruled Japan for 200 years. • Emperor became a figured head. • Carried out religious duties but had no real power.

9. Japanese Feudalism • During the 1100s, strong warrior families challenged the power of the Heian court. • Samurai, or warrior knights, waged fierce battles for control of the land. • Feudalism emerged out of the conflict. • Feudalism: System where local lords ruled the land, but they had to be loyal to the emperor.

11. Japanese Feudalism • 1192: Minamoto Yoritomo had emerged as the strongest military figure in Japan. • The emperor gave him the title of shogun, or chief general of the army. • A new feudal class system emerged under Minamoto and his successors.

13. Japanese Feudalism • Japanese Feudal System • Emperor stood at the head of the system, but remained a figurehead. • The shogun exercised the most power. • Controlled the land and the people. • Commanded an army of samurai. • Commoners • Peasants, artisans, merchants

14. Japanese Feudalism • In theory, the Shogun commanded complete loyalty of his lords. • In practice, the samurai lords and their followers battled for power with the shogun and one another. • By the 1400s, Japan was in constant state of war. • The shogunate passed from one military family to another.

15. Achieving Unity • 1500s: Several strong military leaders pushed to reunite Japan. • ToyotomiHideyoshi • Able general who was the most successful in reuniting Japan. • 1590: Brought all of Japan under his control. • Invaded Korea and hoped to conquer China. • Failed in his goals, but built the foundations for a united Japan.

16. Achieving Unity • 1600: Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hideyoshi’s successor, claimed the title of shogun. • Set up the Tokugawa shogunate, which lasted until 1868. • During this time, shoguns created a peaceful, orderly society under centralized feudalism.

17. Achieving Unity • Tokugawa shoguns left feudal class in place, but brought the daimyo under their control. • Daimyo: great samurai • Shogun required daimyo to spend every other year in Edo (Tokyo). • Daimyo had to leave their wives and children in Edo as permanent hostages to ensure their good behavior. • Emperor remained a powerless figurehead.

18. Achieving Unity • Economic and Social Changes: • Edo grew from a small fishing village to a bustling city. • Roads improved. • Trade and travel increased. • Cities and towns sprang up by harbors and along rivers. • New economic markets developed.

19. Achieving Unity • Economic and Social Changes: • The daimyo and their samurai followers had to adapt to the changing conditions. • No longer spent all its time fighting. • Some samurai became government officials. • Others managed the estates of daimyos and the shogun. • Education became more widespread. • By the early 1800s, Japan had become a unified nation in many ways.

20. An Isolated Nation • Early on, the Tokugawas felt threatened by the growing number of westerners who were arriving in Japan. • Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English • Catholic missionaries had success in converting people, which angered the shogun. • Early 1600s: Japanese government began persecuting foreign missionaries and Japanese Christians. • 1639: Japan was closed to the world. • Foreigners were forbidden from entering the country. • Japanese who left couldn’t return. • Outlawed the building of ocean-going ships. • Exceptions: Some contact with China, Korea, and the Dutch. • Isolation lasted for more than 200 years.