General Flashcards
Tokugawa Shoguns
The Tokugawa clan were the final shoguns to rule (1603-1867)
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder of the dynasty and built a new capital in Edo, which is now known as Tokyo
Who were Shoguns?
Although Japan has officially been ruled by emperors since 700 CE, for a large part of this time the country was controlled by military leaders called shoguns.
Overtime, the shoguns became more powerful than the emperor himself, though this was not acknowledged.
The word shogun means commander troops
Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first shogun in 1192
For 700 years after that, Japan was mainly ruled under the Shoguns, who held all military and political power.
The title of shogun was often passed down from father to son. Sometimes the shogun’s family would become weak, and a rebel leader would take their power. This would start a new ruling family of shoguns
How did the Tokugawa Shogun end?
In 1868 the 15th Tokugawa Shogun was overthrown by rival clans and forced to give up position
Power was returned to the emperors and the capital of Japan became Edo
Clan?
Groups of families related by blood or marriage
Each clan honoured a particular god believed to be an ancestor of all the family members however the most direct line to the ancestor kami was the clan leader.
Each clan was led by a group of warriors who protected them in return for a share of their rice harvest.
Clans fought each other for land and power
Geography
Over 3000 Islands
Japan’s rugged terrain means that only 15 percent of land can be farmed on. Local clans would fight over fertile lands
Because of this obstacle, instead of crops, most Japanese looked toward the sea. Early Japanese settlers fished from coastal villages. Seafood is an important part of the Japanese diet
Merchants would travel along the Coast and visit villages with good to trade.
As the sea surrounding Japan seperate it from the rest of Asia, Japan developed its own unique religion, arts and social structures
Shintoism
Shintoism is a religion that is still practised today
Followers believe that the gods are sacred spirits known as kami
Japanese believed that all natural things were alive. Therefore, kami took form of things and aspects important to life. E.g. Sun, hills, lakes, mountains, rivers, trees and fertility
The sun goddess Amaterasu was considered Shinto’s most important kami
People were believed to become kami after they died and were worshipped by their families
But what does “Kami” mean?
Kami means luck as well as paper. The early Japanese would pick a random paper after a donation was given and hope that it would give good luck to them. This paper was called “omikuji”
Shinto beliefs
People are considered to be basically good.
Evil spirits are responsible for the bad things that happen
To ward off evil spirits,they had to got through processes of purification, prayers and offerings to the kami.
The Japanese Creation myth
In the beginning there were two gods called Izanagi and Izanami (wife)
They placed a sphere in the ocean and when they brought it up, water drops formed the islands of Japan.
Izanami had many children but died while giving birth to the god of fire. Izanagi followed her into Yomi, the land of the dead, to bring her back.
When doing so, he brought impurities back that affected the earth. These impurities caused human wrongdoing so he washed himself and water drops fell from his body to become gods. This included Amaterasu, the son goddess, who is the most important Japanese god.
Samurai: before and after
Despite their power, clan leaders needed help to protect their land and enforce the law so they called on men from Japan’s lower social ranks. Overtime, these men became known as samurai or ‘those who serve’. By around the 12th century, the samurai had developed into a highly trained and skilled warrior class who were masters of martial arts
The imperial court
They believed the emperor communicated with gods and had magical powers.
Therefore, he did not involve himself in the day to day running of the country.
Instead, he lived in an isolated but beautiful imperial court. It was luxurious and a privilege for a select few.
The imperial court was dedicated to fine arts and learning.
Writing
Both men and women were encouraged to write
Men used a form of writing called kanji that originated in China while women used a form of simpler writing called kana with fewer characters.
Prince Shotoku
A Yamato prince
Built a strong government based on China’s example where All power was given to the emperor who had to be obeyed by the people of Japan. He stated independent farmers had to pay tax and offer military service for their right to hold land.
He also created a bureaucracy that gave emperors the power to appoint all officials
He also set out a social system that ranked people according to their ability, not birth.
The rules were taken from the ideas of Confucius, who was a Chinese scholar and teacher.
How did civil wars before the shoguns begin?
In time, the imperial court of Japan’s emperor became too big to manage. As a result, some government officials were released from their obligations to the emperor. Some of them went on to become managers of Japan’s various provinces. They sold the crops they grew, and collected taxes; many became wealthy and powerful people. New clans formed around these ruling families, and conflicts broke out among them. These civil wars would see the rise of shoguns that would go on to control Japan
