Chapter 13:The Spread of Civilization - Japan, Korea, Vietnam

Japan: The Imperial Age

• Japanese rulers want to build a Chinese-style society

• Taika, Nara and Heian periods (7th to 9th centuries)• Tremendous borrowing from China• Courts who lost political control to powerful

aristocratic families and Buddhist monks

• Taika reforms, 646• Copy Chinese style of rule• Try to develop bureaucracy• Opposed by aristocracy, Buddhist monks

Crisis at Nara and the Shift to Heian (Kyoto)

• Emperor Kammu moves capital from Nara to Heian (Kyoto), 794, try to gain a fresh start• Buddhists forbidden to build monasteries• Abandons Taika reforms• Aristocracy restored to power

Court Life in the Heian Era

• Heian court culture, extremely refined• Codes of behavior• Aesthetic enjoyment and luxurious delights• Poetry, written on fans or scented paper• Women and men take part in outpouring of literary

production• Lady Murasaki, Tale of Genji

The Decline of Imperial Power

• Fujiwara family• Dominate

government and shape policies

• Marry into imperial family

• Cooperate with Buddhists• Elite cult within

Buddhism

• Regional lords (bushi)• Fortress bases on their land• Semi-independent, ruled forts• Samurai begin as loyal to

bushi• Warrior class emerges• Martial arts esteemed• Special code stresses family

honor and death rather than defeat• Seppuku or hari-kiri

• Peasants lose status, freedom, treated as property of local lord• Turn to salvationist

Buddhism

Rise of the Provincial Warrior Elite

The Era of Warrior Dominance• Provincial lords’ power grows• Imperial house and aristocracy decline• By 11th/12th c., provincial families dominate, are in

control at court (Taira, Minamoto clans)• Declining influence of China as Japanese imperial

house weakens• 838, Japanese embassies to Tang China

stopped• Gempei Wars in Honshu (main island)

• Battle between Taira and Minamoto clans• 1185, Minamoto victorious and control

court• Minamoto establish Bakufu, feudal

military government/dictatorship• Kamakura, capital called Kamakura

regime

The Breakdown of Bakufu Dominance and the Age of the

Warlords• Yoritomo, Minamoto shogun (military leader of bakufu)• Assassinates relatives• Death brings succession struggle

• Hojo family, alligned with Minamoto, dominate Kamakura regime• Real power rests in Hojo family• Hojo manipulated Minamoto shoguns• Minamoto claimed to rule in the name of Kyoto

emperor

• Ashikaga Takuaji, a Minamoto, overthrows Kamakura rule in 14th c.• Ashikaga Shogunate established• Collapse of centralized authority• 1467-1477, civil war among Ashikaga factions

• 300 small kingdoms, ruled by warlords (daimyo)

Violence and Solace• Chivalry of Bushi era deteriorates• Era of barbarism emerges• Military division and social change

• Peasant violence• Warfare becomes more brutal

• Battles determined more by size and organization of warlord’s forces, than the outcome of samurai combat

• Economic and cultural growth• Daimyo support commerce• Increase in trade

• Art and Zen Buddhism (simplicity)• Mimic monochrome Chinese

style• Screen and scroll paintings• Show natural beauty of Japan

Korea• Ruled by indigenous dynasties for most of its

history, but most greatly influenced by China• Ancestors from Siberia, Manchuria, begin farming

(4th c.)• Tang Alliances and the Conquest of Korea• 109 BCE, Choson kingdom conquered by Han• Koguryo people resist Chinese dominance• Establish independent state in the northern

half• Sinification increases after fall of Han (adopt

Chinese culture)• Buddhism an important vehicle (artists,

monasteries)• Chinese writing, Chinese law code

• Three Korean kingdoms: Koguryo, Paekche, Silla

Korea, cont.• The Sinification of Korean Elite Culture• Silla capital, Kumsong, copied Tang cities• Buddhism favored over Confucianism• Aristocracy most influenced by Chinese culture

• Koryo (same as Koguryo, changes its name) Collapse, Dynastic Renewal• Revolts caused by labor, tax burdens• Weaken Silla, Koryo governments

• 1231, Mongol invasion, followed by turmoil• 1392, Yi dynasty founded, lasts until 1910• Restored aristocratic dominance

The Making of Vietnam• Chinese push south to Red River Valley• Viets retain distinctiveness• Qin raid into Vietnam, 220s BCE• Commerce increased• Viets conquer Red River lords

• Merge with Mon-Khmer and Tai peoples• Important for formation of Vietnamese as

distinct ethnic group• Culture distinct from China• Women generally have higher status in family

and in society• Conquest and Sinification• Han expand (dissatisfied with Viet tribute),

Vietnam becomes a tributary from 111 BCE, direct control

• Chinese culture systematically introduced

The Making of Vietnam, cont.

• Culture of anti-Chinese resistance develops• Resistance from aristocracy, peasants• Women participate• 39 CE, Revolt of Trung sisters

• Winning independence and continuing Chinese influences• Distance from China helps resistance• Independence by 939 until 19th century• Le Dynasty (Vietnamese dynasty, 980-

1009), using Chinese-style bureaucracy

Vietnamese Drive to the South• Khmer, Chams (groups who occupy lowland regions)• Viets want this land• Defeated by Viets • From 11th-18th centuries, Viets expand into

Mekong delta region• Expansion and Division• Hanoi, far from frontiers• Cultural divisions develop following intermarriage

with Chams, Khmers• Nguyen dynasty• Capital at Hue, by late 1500s• Challenge Trinh family in North• Rivalry until 18th century• Leaves Vietnamese oblivious to outside threat:

French and Catholic Church

Chapter 13 Homework Questions

• Compare the role of the elites in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam in the process of Sinification.

• How did borrowing from China evolve Japan along their own political and cultural traditions?

• How did the Tokugawa warlord family come to power after years of civil war?

• How did Korea develop a separate identity after repeated Chinese interventions?

• After benefitting from borrowing from the Chinese, how did Vietnam develop their own identity despite intervention from the Han dynasty?