Lesson 12 Ancient Japan

Japan before the 6th century

According to Chinese documents, in the 1st and 2nd centuries, there were more than 100 small countries in Japan, and more than 30 of them had "historical" relations with the Han Dynasty. They all came to China via the Korean Peninsula.

In the early 5th century, Japan was unified by the Yamato regime that emerged in central Honshu. The supreme ruler of the Yamato kingdom was called the "Great King," who ruled the country through the nobility. The royal family and the nobles each had their own private domains. The inhabitants of the territories were organized in the form of "ministries", and those who were engaged in agriculture were called "field ministries", those who were engaged in marine fishing were called "sea ministries", and so on. The immigrants from China and Korea were also organized into brocade and forging divisions according to their specialties. The tribesmen were the private citizens of the nobles, and their status was similar to that of slaves.

Daika Reform

In the 6th and 9th centuries, Japan actively absorbed Chinese culture. Chinese culture directly influenced Japan and strongly stimulated the rulers of Yamato. The reformists among the imperial family staged a palace coup and installed Emperor Takatori on the throne with the year Daika. Starting from 646, Japan carried out a series of reforms modeled on the Tang Dynasty's rules and regulations, which is known as the "Daika Reform".

The main contents of the Daika Reform were: politically, a centralized system centered on the emperor was established, and three levels of localities were set up: national, prefectural, and provincial, which were governed by officials from the central government. Economically, all private land and private citizens were abolished and the land and ministries were nationalized as public land and citizens; the state granted citizens land, which was reserved for six years and could not be used for life or bought or sold; and taxes were standardized. The Daika Reformation led to the development of Japan as a centralized feudal state.

Samurai and Samurai Groups

More than 100 years after the Daika Reform, private ownership of land and land annexation flourished. The nobles, gentry and temples bought and

The nobles, gentry, and temples bought and annexed a lot of land and formed estates. The large estates also enjoyed the privilege of "no loss, no entry" and neither paid taxes to the state nor allowed local officials to interfere in their affairs. The central government gradually lost control over the local community and the social situation became unstable. In order to protect their estates, the local powerful armed the young and strong men of their families and servants to form a military group with a combination of blood relations and master-subordinate system, the members of which were called "samurai. Smaller groups of warriors followed and obeyed a more powerful leader to form larger groups of warriors. In the late 12th century, the Genji warrior group defeated the Heike warrior group, and Genji's leader, Minamoto Yoritomo, received the title of "Shogun of the Shogunate" and set up a shogunate in Kamakura. The Kamakura Shogunate had political and military powers independent of the imperial court, and Japan entered a period of shogunate rule that lasted nearly 700 years.

During the Shogunate period, the Shogunate and the Imperial Court coexisted. The Shogun was nominally appointed by the emperor, but the emperor's power was in fact decentralized and became a kind of ceremonial ornament. The power of the state was basically in the hands of the samurai class. The long rule of the samurai group gradually led to the formation of a set of samurai doctrines that demonstrated the morality and behavior of the samurai class. Bushido emphasized loyalty, righteousness, loyalty and fearlessness. The samurai's allegiance was not to the state, but to his lord. For the samurai, filial piety to his relatives, righteousness to his wife, and kindness to his son must take precedence over loyalty to his lord. The essence of bushido was to be a faithful servant to his master with the utmost bravery and sacrifice. This value gradually had an impact on Japanese civil society as well.

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