Fusions and Divisions in Nara and Heian Japan

8 Mar

Timeline

Ancient Japan: Jomon and Yayoi

• Jomon Culture: “cord-marked” for pottery found 10,000 to 200 BC, hunter gatherers likely of SE Asian origin

• Yayoi Culture: 300 BC-300 AD, beginning of rice cultivation, brought by immigrants from Korea and China, develops division of labor
• fortified communities on hilltops indicate a period where warfare was common

Proto-Shintoism

• “Way of the gods”
• no prophets, canonical texts or clear doctrine
• only coalesced into cohesive faith in early modern era
• kami — spirits that inhabit objects, places, and ideas
• they are also ancestors of different clans
• since most kami inhabit the natural world, Shintoism encourages a love of nature
• Likely begins as diverse forms of animism (nature worship), but becomes progressively more fused with politics

Fushimi Inari Shinto Shrine

Yamato Period (c. 300–710)

Modern Sakai with keyhole burial mounds, largest belonging to 4th cent. Nintoku Emperor

Map of Japanese Territories

• Made up of confederations of semi-autonomous patriarchal clans, each worshipping their own kami
• Hierarchy shown by tombs with ritual, then military, grave goods
• Yamato clan becomes dominant, gives loyal chieftains titles, asks China for recognition, and elevates their sun goddess kami
• They adopt Chinese-style bureaucracy and writing system
• Labor is hierarchically divided by clan with some serving as ministers, military officials, bureaucrats, etc.

Introduction of Buddhism

Hōryū-ji Temple commissioned by Prince Shotoku

• Yamato Period often divided into Kofun (tomb) and Asuka Period, with Buddhism marking the disappearance of tombs
• Buddhist emissaries from Baekje arrive at Yamato court in 552, but thousands of “Hata” immigrants were already there
• Did it spread from the top down or bottom up?
• Traditionalists feared Buddhism would undermine clan-based social structure and anger the kami
• Conflict over Buddhism led to conflict between the pro-Buddhist Soga clan and anti-Buddhist Mononobes

Empress Suiko (r. 592–628)

Portrait by Tosa Mitsuyoshi, 1726

• wife of one emperor, brother of his successor, Sushun, and briefly a Buddhist nun
• Sushun challenged the head of his Soga clan, who had him assassinated
• Suiko was chosen to rule to avert further power struggle
• Her nephew, Shotoku, becomes regent
• Together, they recognize Buddhism, centralize authority, and establish relations with Sui China

Prince Shotoku and his 17 Principles

• Public-oriented Confucianism fused with Buddhism
• Harmony, obedience, detachment, and decorum
• Meritocracy over nepotism, but no exam system yet
• Centralization: “the people have not two masters, ” but advocates consultation on large matters
• Builds Buddhist temples, but also visits Shinto shrines
• Establishes cap rank system, where lower officials are promoted based on merit

Taika Reforms: Decline of the Clans

• The head of the Soga clan snubs Shotoku’s son, Yamashiro, twice for the throne, and then his son forces him to commit suicide
• Yamashiro’s supporters kill the Soga chief and his puppet emperor abdicates
• Rebels who had studied in China help implement centralizing Taika Reforms
• State takes possession of all land
• Clans can no longer demand labor from their people
• Census and land surveys imitate China’s equal field system
• Hierarchy of officials from capital, to nearby, to outlying areas

Elevation of Emperors

• Tenmu (673–686) defeats his nephew and claims throne
• Promoted supporters and elites from the periphery
• Tenmu and his consort-successor Jito (690–7) claim to be divine descendants of Ameratsu, the sun goddess kami
• Also claim merit from promoting Buddhism gives them legitimacy
• Compile dictionary, require officials be literate, and send them to teach officials on the periphery
• Written law code enshrines imperial power

Nara Japan (710–794)

• Nara (L), modeled after Chang’an, becomes first permanentcapital and urban center
• Todaiji — world’s largest wooden structure, built to house
• Yoro code lays out census, taxation, land distribution, and bureaucratic structure
• History and poetry compiled in classical Chinese — establishing origin myths of emperors and literary style
• Fujiwara clan rebels twice, foreshadowing future developments

Religious fusions

Great Buddha of Nara

Yushima Seido Confucius Shrine

• Three treasures, Shinto deities consulted and virtue considered in determining succession
• Buddhism more tolerant of female rulers than Confucianism
• Tendai Buddhism — all things have a Buddha nature is reminiscent of Shinto belief in kami

Heian Period (794–1185): privatization of the throne

• Begins with move of capital to modern-day Kyoto
• Fujiwara clan gains power by marrying daughters to emperors, the only clan who could do so
• marriages were matrilocal, so princes usually grew up in Fujiwara households
• Youshifusa (804–872) reigns as regent for young grandson, and his son serves a regent for an adult emperor
• Regent soon becomes a permanent post staffed by Fujiwara family, who dominate throne for 200 years

Heian Culture

Niou serenades Nakanokimi (from the 12th century Genji Monogatari Emaki scroll)

• shoen- reclaimed, privately held, hereditary estates that are rented out and become basis of wealth for aristocrats and monasteries
• Often put in name of monastery or high official to become tax-free
• Tale of the Genji by Lady Murasaki captures courtly life
• highly ritualized manners
• high degree of literacy among elite men and women
• extremely hierarchical and status conscious
• Focus on arts and courtly intrigues distracts from maintaining order on periphery, leading to rise of warlords and samurai

Cloistered Government and the End of the Heian

• Emperors retire and rule through their sons to prevent succession struggle and Fujiwara control
• Shirakawa (1053–1129, r.1073–1087) uses this strategy to establish control over succession and grant shoen to the royal family
• Competing factions of clans and monasteries become militarized, fostering growth of samurai warrior class
• When the Minamoto clan defeated the Taira, which included the Prime Minister and emperor’s father-in-law, their leader becomes the first shogun “general-in-chief ”