7th Grade History: Japan

The Tale of Genji is a novel written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. The story is about a prince, Genji, on a search for love between social classes. It’s known for descriptively portraying court life, in perspective of a noble.

They both tried to conquer (attacked first) Japan but failed to do so because of the weather. This assisted Japan because most of the Mongol fleet boats oversea sank which caused the Chinese to surrender.

The East China Sea

Prince Shotoku sent scholars to learn about Chinese society.

Built Buddhism temple and wrote commentaries on Buddhist teachings which raised popularity, mostly from nobles.

Fashion (adorned themselves), Literature (Tale of Genji), Visual Art (painting, calligraphy, and architecture from nature & court life), Architecture (modeled Heian as Chinese capital building design(s) and went after simplicity), Performing arts (drama, musicians, jugglers, and acrobats), religion (ZEN Buddhism)

The traditional religion of Japan

extended families

person who rules a country for someone who is unable to rule alone

A new popular form of Buddhism arrived from China. They didn’t believe that neither faith or good behavior led to wisdom. Instead, they believed in self-discipline and meditation which appealed to warriors

A style of drama from Japan created in the 1300s which combines music, speaking and dance. Noh tells about heroes or figures from Japan’s past.

The time & period when Japanese culture and learning flourished.

A group of nobles who live near and serve or advise a ruler.

One of the most historical novels written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu which talks about court life in Japan.

The samurai code of rules which focus on proper behavior, influenced modern-day Japan by dedication and discipline

Trained professional warriors who served daimyo to protect land and lord, also shogun

Japan’s large landowners

A general who ruled Japan in the emperor’s name.

A person who appears to rule even though real power rests with someone else.

He served from 593 to 621 as a regent for his aunt, the empress. Spread Buddhism throughout Japan.

Japanese noble and writer, she wrote The Tale of Genji, the world’s first known novel.

Japan was influenced by China and Korea in various ways. They learned written language by the Chinese, Chinese philosophical ideas of Confucius had shaped culture and family life, and religion (Buddhism) came to Japan from Korea.

Prince Shotoku many Chinese ideas to Japan. Well-educated people and men used Chinese characters in written language and poetry and attempted to achieve more authority similar to the Chinese but failed. In religion, he spread Confucianism and Buddhism which gained interest among his people.

The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu depicts the lives of Japanese nobles. She perfectly captures court life in Japan because in her book, Genji, a prince, discovers people in different social divisions while relating to her own life in court.

The primary duty of samurai warriors were “to serve”, also defined in Japanese. Samurai served the social classes above them, daimyo and the shogun. Their payment was land for the most substantial samurai, rice for the least.

Bushido is defined as the samurai code of rules and “the way of the warrior”. Bushido influenced modern Japan by portraying dedication and discipline, an example for the Japanese to follow.

Although it may seem that the emperor has the main authority, the emperor is a figurehead and shoguns had actual control. When noble clans fought for power, the Minamoto clan ended up winning. The Minamoto clan leader wanted to rule but didn’t want to remove the emperor’s place, creating the job as a figurehead.

During the year 1630, shoguns cut off connections from the world in order to prevent losing power. Including interactions, they banned guns to avoid rebellions. This assisted Japan’s samurai period to the 1880s, longer than expected because of isolation.