Part Nine IX › Division III III › Section 934 934

Japan to the Meiji Restoration (1868), and Korea to 1910

Subject Outline

AIntroduction: the character and achievements of Japanese and Korean civilizations, the geography and ethnography of Japan and Korea, archaeological and documentary historical sources, historiographic problems
BEarly Japan
- 1Prehistoric cultures: nonceramic cultures in the Paleolithic Period, Jomon (5th or 4th millennium to c. 250 bc) and Yayoi (c. 250 bc-ad 250) Neolithic pottery cultures, agriculture and the influx of Chinese culture
- 2The ancient period: unification of Japan under the Yamato court and subsequent governments (c. 250-710)
  - aThe rise and fall of the Yamato court: relations with Korea, internal power struggles, introduction of Buddhism
  - bThe governmental reforms of Shotoku Taishi of the Soga family: theories of ideal government, the 12 court rank and the "Seventeen Article Constitution," relations with China, spread of Buddhism
  - cThe Taika reforms (645), elimination of the Soga family, land reform, intervention in Korea, the ritsu-ryo system of social and land reform
- 3The Imperial state from 710 to 1185
  - aGovernment-directed religious and cultural developments in the Nara period (710-784): flowering of Buddhism; Chinese and Indian influences on literature, music, and the visual arts
  - bThe Heian period (794-1185): changes in the ritsu-ryo system, ascendancy of the Fujiwara family and growing importance of the aristocracy
    - iFailure of Taika land reforms, power struggles among the nobility, growth of Fujiwara control over government, rise of Japanese literature and rejection of Chinese culture
    - iiGovernment by "cloistered" emperors: decline of Fujiwara power and rise of the samurai class, the Hogen (1156) and Heiji (1159) uprisings, introduction of feudalism
CFeudal Japan
- 1The Kamakura period (1192-1333)
  - aMinamoto Yoritomo and the founding of the bakufu (shogunate) at Kamakura (1192), the samurai shugo as feudal lords
  - bThe rise of the Hojd family from 1199: the Jokyu Disturbance (1221), Hojb Yasutoki's (1224-42) administrative reforms, the Joei law code
  - cResistance to the Mongol invasions of Japan (1274 and 1281), the Kamakura bakufu and feudal administration of farming regions
  - dBuddhist culture during the Kamakura period (e.g growth of Zen) and Neo-Confucianism, literature, philosophy, and the visual arts
  - eDecline of Kamakura society: economic problems leading to the rise of daimyo (domain lord) class and decline of bakufu
- 2The second feudal era: the Muromachi, or Ashikaga, period (1338-1573)
  - aThe Kemmu Restoration (1333) and return to direct Imperial rule: the emperor Go-Daigo, the Kemmu legal code, Ashikaga Takauji and the dual dynasties (1336-92)
  - bYoshimitsu's establishment of the Muromachi bakufu (1378) and unification of the dual dynasties (1392): taxation and strong military governors, feudal warfare after 1428
  - cIncreased trade with China: piracy, the Omn War (1467-77), provincial self-government and growing influence of farmers
- 3The period of the "warring country" and the beginning of unification under the Oda regime
  - aUnification under sengoku (civil war) daimyo league leaders: development of commerce and guilds
  - bArrival of the Portuguese (1543) and Spanish (1549): opening of trade, Catholic Jesuit missionary activity ( 1549)
  - cCultural development in the 15th and 16th centuries: the influence of Zen Buddhism on philosophy, drama, literature, and the visual arts
  - dThe Azuchi-Momoyama period (1574-1600): unification under Oda Nobunaga (1549-82) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1582-98)
- 4The Tokugawa period (1603-1867): military-bureaucratic rule
  - aEstablishment (1603) and consolidation of the Tokugawa (Edo) shogunate by Tokugawa Ieyasu: Japanese policy of national seclusion (1630s) from Christian missionaries and most European traders
  - bThe Tokugawa postfeudal military-bureaucratic system: class structure and bakuhan system
  - cIndustrial and commercial developments, advances in literature and the visual arts
  - dThe weakening of the bakuhan system and its eventual collapse
    - iEconomic crises: impoverishment of small farmers and commercial problems, political reform, opening of Japan to Western influences (1840s)
    - iiCultural developments in the 18th and 19th centuries: Confucianism and the Shinto revival, Buddhism, literature and the visual arts
    - iiiThe Tempo reforms and downfall of the bakuhan: economic and administrative measures, pressure from Europe and the U.S.
DKorea to 1910
- 1The prehistoric origins of the Korean people, the use of ironware and emergence of tribal states in the Bronze Age
- 2The Three Kingdoms of Korea (Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla) and their interactions (c. 57 bc- ad 668), introduction of Buddhism, literature and the visual arts
- 3The unification of Korea under Silla control (668-935): adoption of Chinese governmental organization and land tenure system, emergence of provincial magnates, cultural developments
- 4The Koryo dynasty (935-1392): social and cultural developments, military rule, land reform and social change after the Mongol invasions (123 1--c. 1261)
- 5The Yi (Choson) dynasty (1392-1910)
  - aThe establishment of a Confucian state: royal bureaucratic government, decline of Buddhism and emergence of Confucian culture, introduction of printing
  - bInvasions by Japan (1592-98) and the Manchu (c. 1619-1636): Korea as a Ch'ing (Manchu) vassal, Silhak scholarship and cultural development, introduction of Roman Catholicism