Week 9

Question 1

Sea and Land Trade Routes

Answer 1

-Sea Routes
~Monsoon Trade Winds
-Land Routes
~Size and Nature of the Trade
-The trade routes that connected Eurasia ren both overland through central Asia, and by the sea from east Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to India and from there to China
~The sea routes had existed for centuries, but it was not until the Hellenistic Age that Greek sailers began to learn the secrets of the monsoon trade winds from Arabian and Indian sailers
In the summer, the wind blows from the southeast, and in the fall and winter, they blow from the northwest
**This means that, in the summer, sailors would start out in Arabia or East Africa and be blown directly across the Arabian Sea to India, they could trade, and when the winds changed, they would be blown back to Africa
**Similar winds occur to the east of India, allowing merchants to easily sail north along the coast and then south towards Sumatra and Java
**These winds allowed for the creation of a trade network that spanned the Indian Ocean
-These sea routes primarily brought spices (pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.) from Southeast Asia and southern India to the Mediterranean
~Similarly, porcelain, silk, and other Chinese manufactured goods were shipped to India and the Mediteranean
*However, travel by sea was an intrinsically dangerous activity in the pre-modern world, and even though these sea routes allowed for the movement of reasonably large cargoes, shipwrecks were a normal part of life
-Overland trade dramatically expanded during the Hellenistic Age, the Greeks began to develop colonies throughout central Asia and ruled over large portions of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan
~Once the Han Dynasty expanded into central Asia, they could stabilize and protect trade routes from the Han capital at Chang’an to the region surrounding the Taklimakan Desert
*Around the same time, Rome conquered and stabilized the area around the Mediterranean
**Between these two empires, a series of states developed (most prominently the Parthian Empire in modern Iran and Iraq and the Kushan Empire in modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India
-In the pre-modern world, there were no special names for this trade or these trade routes, but in the mid-1800s, the German explorer and geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen traveled through western China on expeditions to map and uncover the natural resources of central Asia
~When he published his findings, he referred to the trade routes that linked the Mediterranean with China as the Silk road
*Later historians and geographers continued to use the term to the point where it has become commonplace today
-However, the term and image that brings up are somewhat disingenuous since when, or if, one thinks of this trade, one might have visions of vast camel caravans crossing Asia and of individuals making the trip from the Mediterranean to China (a la Marco Polo)
-However, those visions are probably incorrect for the classical and post-classical period
-There are the occasional report and accounts of individuals traveling long distances
~One Chinese explorer may have traveled as far as the Black Sea or Mesopotamia, and Chinese accounts report an embassy from Rome arriving at the Han court in 166 CE
-However, there is little substantiating evidence for these accounts, and they seem to be dramatic exceptions rather than the rule
~Instead, overland trade tended to be very local and small scale
Small groups of merchants would travel between cities or oases selling small, valuable, and easily transportable goods
**Think of individuals or small groups of merchants bringing carved gems, small loads of silk, individual pieces of clothing, or small statues or artistic items from the borders of China to nearby states
**Those items would be brought, and transported to the border of another state, and then sold
**This process repeated itself so that a small number of items gradually made their way across Eurasia

Question 2

Trade and Disease

Answer 2

-Antonine Plague (165-180 CE)
~Smallpox?
-China (100s-300s CE)
-More important than the actual trade in material goods was the trade in disease, ideas, and culture
-Contact between people and increased trade meant that diseases traveled widely
~Near the head of the second century CE, the epidemic disease began to spread in Rome
*Starting around 165 CE, soldiers who had been campaigning in Mesopotamia returned to Roman territory with the Antonine Plague, named after the reigning emperor Marcus Aurelius
**This epidemic ravaged Rome until 180 CE
-Rome’s trade networks, which allowed goods to move from northern England to Egypt, also spread this disease remarkably swiftly
~Scholars don’t know for certain what it was, a number have suggested it was smallpox, but it devastated the population and killed up to 1/3 of the population in the hardest-hit areas
*Additional epidemics occurred in Rome during the third century CE as well
-Similar epidemics occurred in the Han Dynsity during the 100s CE and continued after the collapse of the Han in the third and fourth centuries
~Its always possible that there is a connection between the disease that ravaged Rome and those that ravaged China, but the exact connection (if there is one) is unclear
*What is clear is that the trade routes and increasing interconnection of the world as a result of trade meant that populations were introduced to new diseases from areas that they had not previously been in contact with before, and that these new diseases traveled more quickly and more widely than ever before

Question 3

The Kushan Empire (circa 30-375 CE)

Answer 3

-Hellenistic, Persian, and Indian Gods, Government, and Culture
-As individuals traveled and empires developed and stabilized Central Asia, developed of a cosmopolitan state
~In these states, Roman, Greek, Arabian, Persian, Indian, Central Asian, and Chinese merchants brought their various traditions together, and as a result, they began to combine and evolve
-The Kushan Empire was the most famous and influential of these states
~The Kushans were originally nomads from the steppes, but from around 30 to 375 Ce, they ruled large portions of Central Asia
*In the 30s CE, they conquered large portions of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan
**There there discovered the Hellenistic cities of Bactria and Gandhara, which were still honoring Greek gods, along with the Buddha, and various Persian deities
-Instead of replacing the culture and traditions that they found there were their own nomadic traditions, the Kushans simply absorbed the Hellenistic and Persian culture
~They used the Greek alphabet, maintained Greek laws, continued Persian styles of rule, and honored Greek and Persian deities
*When they later conquered northern India, they absorbed the traditions and ideas of the region
**They started using Sanskrit, and they began to honor Hindu deities

Question 4

Devotional Panels

Answer 4

-Zeus and Shiva
-One can see the blending of traditions in the devotional panels that are currently in the MET
~These two works, both from the third century CE, show a god with a worshiper
The bearded figure is Zeus and the other is the Hindu deity, Shiva
**In both cases, one can see a worshiper approaching the god
**When the gods are Greek and Indian, the MET notes that the styles of the painting are described as naturalistic in the Hellenistic style and that this style of devotional art (the worshiper and gods together) originated in Persia
**Here in the Kushan Empire, these gods and artistic styles were blended together

Question 5

Kushan Coins

Answer 5

-Kanishka I (ruled early 100s CE)
-Perhaps the most important surviving Kushan art comes from their coins
~Kushan coins typically display the image of a ruler while the reverse shows an image of a deity or holy figure who the ruler wanted to honor
*Coins show a wide variety of Kushan gods as well as figures such as Hercules, Shiva, Hermes, and Mithras, and as a result, these coins tell us a great deal about the culture and religious blending that occurred in the Kushan Empire
-The reign of Kanishka I, who ruled sometime in the early second century CE; has a coin with Kanishka on the front
~Writing around the outside is actually in the Kushan language, but it is using the Greek alphabet
Kanishka worshiping at an altar; note the stance with the legs spread apart and the toes pointing outward
**This is actually quite characteristic of a depiction of individuals in nomadic society
**After one dismounts after a long day in the saddle, one can feel somewhat bowlegged
**The stance is something that is characteristic of nomadic art where individuals spent their lives on horseback
-The other side of the coin has a standing figure who is Buddha
~One can actually see his name spelled out next to him in Greek letters (BODDO), and one should be able to identify the “do not fear” mudra, the elongated ears, and the topknot
The object on the right of the Buddha is actually the monogram of Kanishka I, which shows his identification with, and support for, the Buddha
**This image is intrinsically Hellenistic in nature due to the naturalistic depiction of the figure’s body and robes
**Even the depiction with one hand up in the mudra and the other holding a part of his robe is similar to the bronze image of the Buddha we looked at during the lecture on Hellenistic Art

Question 6

The Early Spread of Buddhism

Answer 6

-The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) (400s BC)
~Four Noble Truths
~Noble Eightfold Path
~Nirvana
-Asoka and Stupas
-Buddhist monks begin to develop and articulate a variety of new ideas in the Kushan Empire
~Buddhism was founded by the Buddha sometime in the 400s BC or possibly earlier
The Buddha taught individuals the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path to end their earthly suffering and possibly attain Nirvana, thus ending the cycle of reincarnation
**The Buddha and his early followers did not believe that he was a divinity
**The Buddha was simply an enlightened individual, and once he died and attained Nirvana, his presence was no longer felt in the world
**That being said, his followers and the great Indian emperor Asoka founded stupas, shrines that contain relics of the Buddha or his early followers (this ashes, objects associated with them, or pieces of them), across India as the meditative focus for believers

Question 7

Mahayana Buddhism

Answer 7

-The Divinity of the Buddha
-Past, Future, and Cosmic Buddhas
~Maitreya
-Bodhisattvas (enlightened beings)
-Theravada Buddhism
-As Buddhist beliefs spread across northern India and into the Hellenistic world of Bactria and Gandhara, they began to evolve
~Over the course of hunters of years
*In the late centuries BC and the early centuries CE, some monks began to argue that the Buddha was not just a normal individual
-Instead, he was a divinity
~Even though he had attained Nirvana at his death, believers could still feel his presence in this world
*according to some scholars, this seems to have developed, in part, because of stupas and their relics
**These sit, and the objects they contained, suggested that the Buddha continued to be a part of the world
-In addition, individuals began to argue that the historical Buddha was not the only buddha who had ever lived or would ever live
-In fact, there were innumerable enlightened individuals who had been born before Buddha and would be born in the future
~Other buddhas ruled over other, heavenly, realms, of existence where individuals could go after their death
*Some of these beings were also present in this world as bodhisattvas, or “enlightened beings”
-Bodhisattvas were individuals who were so enlightened that they could have achieved Nirvana, but they were so filled with compassion for the suffering of people on earth that they decided to put off nirvana to remain in the world and help other achieve enlightenment
~These bodhisattvas are a constant presence in this world, and they act to help individuals who call on them
-The Maitreya is both a bodhisattva and a buddha of the future
~He both helps individuals in this world, but he also rules over a heavenly plane of existence and will be reborn at some undetermined time in the future, at which point he will create a world that will be ideal for the preaching of Buddhist Dharma
-Maitreya Buddha from the 3rd century Kushan Empire has multiple Hellenistic concepts
~The very naturalistic portrayal of the powerful torso, the hair, and the thick, have robes draping the figure
*The mustache is something we often see in Hellenistic depictions of the Buddha and bodhisattvas as well
**Also note the jewelry and armband
-While images of the Buddha (or other buddhas) typically show him in the plain robe of a monk, bodhisattvas are still connected to the world, and the jewelry is typically a representation of that
~The hands, one is missing but it probably would have been upraised in the “do not fear” mudra
*The other hand holds a flask that contains the heavenly cure for world suffering
-This belief in the divinity of the Buddha, in the presence of infinite buddhas =, and in bodhisattvas meant that there were a variety of divine beings constantly working to allow individuals to achieve enlightenment and end their suffering
~WHile other models of Buddhism primarily offered enlightenment to monks or individuals who had attained perfection over hundreds or thousands of incarnations, these new beliefs meant that enlightenment was a possibility for everyone
*Because enlightenment was open to more people, practitioners of this form of Buddhism labeled their beliefs Mahayana, meaning the “Great Vehicle” because it could carry all of humanity to Nirvana
**Those who rejected these beliefs and continued to follow the older doctrines referred to their doctrines as Theravada, meaning “the Teaching of the Elders”

Question 8

The Spread of Buddhism

Answer 8

-Keep in mind that there are a wide variety of other differences between these two schools (Mahayana encourages vegetarianism while Theravada allows the eating of meat), and each school can be further subdivided into an almost infinite variety of sects and beliefs
~Even though today we regard Mahayana and Theravada as being two distinct paths, in the early centuries CE the development of different beliefs did not result in conflict or even the development of separate monastic communities
*Accounts from the monasteries across India and Central Asia tell us that monks from both schools lived side by side for centuries, and they did not necessarily see their different ideas as being contradictory
**Aided by merchants and driven by their desire to teach Buddhist Dharma, monks from both traditions traveled throughout Asia along the Silk roads, but their teachings primarily took root in different areas
-Mahayana Buddhism spread widely in Central Asia, China, the Korean peninsula, and Japan
-Theravada spread in modern Sir Lanka and Southeast Asia, but it certainly traveled north to Central Asia, China, and Japan as well

Question 9

Buddism and Trade

Answer 9

-Bamiyam (100s -2001 CE)
-Monks spread Buddhism by traveling along the Silk Roads
~As monks traveled these trade routes, they set up monasteries and stupas in remote locations, and they often traveled with, and were supported by merchants
-Merchants would donate to the foundation of monasteries, and in return, these monasteries served as a way station
~For weary travelers, monasteries severe as hostels, hospitals, and even markets for goods brought from other parts of the world
-Buddhist institutions lined the overland trade routes from India to western China, and they possibly extended as far west as Iran
~Threse monasteries continued to foster trade even when Rome and Han China declined in the 200s CE
-Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Buddhist community as Bamiyan in modern-day Afghanistan
~Bamiyan was a key waypoint for travelers and the site of a Buddhist community as early as the 2nd century CE
For travelers coming west across the Hindu Kush, it was a place to rest after the hardship of the mountains, and for travelers headed east, it was the main point to rest up before attempting the mountain passes
**The cliff faces were carved with shrines and cells where monks meditated
**To mark the site, they carved monumental statues of the Buddha, one 180 feet tall, and another 120 feet tall
**While they carve out the general outline of the figures, they did not carve every detail of the robes
-Instead, a combination of rope covered with mud and plaster was used to form the robes
~In its heyday, the images were painted in bright colors, and the stones and surrounding caves were decorated with silk flags and other decorations
*This effect, combined with the burning of incense was intended to evoke an image of a heavenly realm of peace and security
-For nearly 1500 years, these statues marked the passage across the mountains
~Even though they were scarred by war and chaos, they survived until 2001 when the Taliban, who saw them as a symbols of idolatry, used a combination of heavy artillery and dynamite to destroy the statues
*Even though there are attempts to recover and recreate the images, their destruction marked the end of one of the great symbols of the Buddhist expansion and support fro trade along the Silk Road

Question 10

Six Dynasties Period (220-589 CE)

Answer 10

-Han Collapse (220 CE)
-Nomadic Migration/ Invasions
-Shift South
-There were undoubtedly individual Buddhists in China during the Han Dynasty
~There are accounts of Han emperors converting to Buddhism or honoring Buddha, but they apparently legendary
Buddhism really only developed a major following in China after the collapse of the Han around 220 CE
**In the aftermath of the Han collapse, China entered what is known as the Six Dynasties Period, which lasted from 220-589 CE
**During this time, a series of dynasties controlled portions of China for small periods before being overthrown and replaced
**To make matters worse, the Han had managed to keep the borders of China secure against the nomadic people who lived to the north and west of China
****With the disunity and chaos that engulfed China, no one was able to prevent the movement of these nomadic groups into China
-According to Chinese records, they began to move into Northern China during the 200s and 300s CE
~As they arrived, they sacked the centers of Chinese civilization along the Yellow River
Chinese historians record the almost total destruction of the western Han capital at Chang’an and their eastern capital at Luoyang
**After sacking the region, they began to settle and adopt Chinese traditions
**A terracotta figure of one of these mounted, nomadic warriors from the Nothern Wei Dynasty, which was found by a nomadic group in the 300s CE
-Because of this chaos, several changes began to occur in Chinese society
~First, the center of Chinese civilization began to shift to the south
During the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, the center of civilization was along the Yellow River
**The Han had conquered the south, but people regarded it as a non-Chinese, disease-ridden, and generally undesirable place to live
**However, as nomads began to move north, as chaos and destruction enveloped the area along the Yellow River, people began to move south
****As a result, the area along the Yangtze and even further south became increasingly dominated by Chinese culture and traditions
~Second, people became increasingly disillusioned with Confucianism
The whole point of Confucianism was that it would end the chaos and destruction that China had embraced during the Spring and Autumn and Warring State Periods
**While China had embraced Confucian doctrines, it had clearly not created an unending period of peace
**As a result, people turned away from Confucianism and towards other traditions
**In particular, they turned to Buddhism

Question 11

Buddhism in China

Answer 11

-Fotudeng and Kumarajiva (300s-early 400s CE)
-Translating and adapting Buddhism
~Nirvana
~An Lingshou
-Appeal to Nomadic Rulers
-Buddhism arrived in China from Central Asia
~From Bactria and Gandhara, Buddhist monks made their way across the Hindu Kush to the area around the Taklimakan Desert
There they set up stupas and monasteries in the various oasis cities that surrounded the desert
**From these sites, monks traveled east to China
**One of the most famous of these individuals was Fotudeng, a monk from an oasis kingdom near the Taklimakan who, according to tradition, traveled to India to study Buddhism and then made the trip to China in the early 300s CE where he converted a nomadic warlord who founded a short-lived dynasty in northern China
**He converted other government officials, and he began to translate Buddhist text and ideas from Sanskrit and other languages into Chinese
*****Later monks, such as Kumarajiva in the late 300s and early 400s CE, another monk from an oasis kingdom bordering the Taklimakan, continued the process of translating and began to develop the corpus of Buddhist text available to Chinese readers
-This was a rather problematic process for a variety of reasons
~The basic process of translating complicated philosophical concepts from Sanskrit into Chinese proved difficult
*The two languages are extremely different, and as a result, it proved difficult to translate Buddhist texts while preserving their general sense
**In addition, many Buddhist concepts were not particularly compatible with Chinese traditions
-Traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife suggested that individuals had souls that could descend to the underworld or rise to the world of the realm of the immortals
~This belief in the soul ran counter to Buddhist teachings regarding the lack of a permanent soul
-Similarly, concepts like nirvana and karma proved difficult to translate, and the role of women found in Buddhist texts became somewhat problematic due to patriarchal Chinese values
~According to tradition, the Buddha was initially resistant to allowing women to become nuns, but he eventually allowed it, and so Buddhist nuns were prominent in Indian traditions
-However, allowing women to avoid marriage, leave their families, and join a Buddhist monastery was something that ran counter to Chinese traditions
~As a result, Buddhist monks had to justify women’s ordination, and the ordination of men, in new ways
-In the early 500s Ce, Shi Baochang, wrote a series of biographies of early nuns who had lived hundreds of years previously
~One of the most famous of these was An Lingshou, a woman who resolved to join a monastery but was prevented by her father who regarded her as selfish for her desire to benefit her own path to enlightenment rather than caring for her family as a whole
-However, she was able to join a religious life through the intervention of Fotudeng
~He performed a miracle that allowed her father to see his daughter’s past lives teaching Buddhist Dharma and convinced her father that allowing An Lingshou to become a nin would not just benefit her soul but would enable her to benefit the souls of her entire family
*Thus, joining a monastic community was an act of filial piety in the end
-Despite these difficulties, Buddhism first became popular among the formerly nomadic rulers of northern China
~While there were undoubtedly individuals who were motivated by true belief
Buddhism allowed the nomadic rulers a tradition that would allow them to unify their realms and justify their rule while still keeping themselves separate from Chinese traditions
**While the nomadic peoples who occupied northern China quickly began to assimilate as they started to intermarry, eat Chinese foods, wear Chinese styles, and write using Chinese characters, they still wanted to keep themselves separate and maintain their traditional lifestyles as much as possible
**As a result, Buddhism allowed nomadic rulers to unify their realms while not relying upon Confucianism, Daoism, or other distinctly Chinese tradition
-One of the earliest known Buddhist images from China
~Currently housed in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and what makes it truly unique is an inscription on the back that dates to 338 CE
*It was probably produced in northern China during the first wave of conversion
**It’s bronze but was originally gilded (Except for the head)
-Monks brought the first images of the Buddha from Central Asia, and one can tell that this image is heavily indebted to Central Asian depictions of the Buddha
~The thick and heavy robes that cover both shoulders, the shawl, and the depiction of the hair
*While there is no halo, there is a square knob on the back of the head where a halo could be attached
**The three holes; the one in the middle was probably be a lotus blossom while lions would have been affixed on either side

Question 12

The Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535 CE)

Answer 12

-Perhaps the most important patron of Buddhism in China was the Northern Wei Dynasty that ruled northern China around 368 to 535 CE
~The northern Wei were descendants of the Tabgach, a nomadic group of warriors who established one of the longest-lived dynasties during the Six Dynasties Period
The key to their success was their adoption of Buddhism
**They established monasteries and commissioned monumental sculptures across their realm
**The most famous of these sites in the Yungang Grottoes began to be carved sometime in the 460s CE
-One of the earliest carvings; is of Cave 20, one of the first works to be produced
~One can see several points here that are clearly derived from central Asian traditions, such as the wide-open eyes, the design of the hair and robes, the large nose
*Originally, the carving would have been enclosed with a Facade, and one can see the remnants of that in the form of square holes surrounding the figure
**These would have held support beams for the facade

Question 13

Travel to India

Answer 13

-Faxian (early 400s CE)
~Texts and Art
~Gupta Empire
-As Buddhism spread widely in China, Chinese Buddhists began to travel directly to India in order to accumulate Buddhist texts from their place of origin to translate for Chinese audiences
~One of the most famous of these individuals was Faxian who traveled to India in the early 400s CE
There he studied with Buddhist teachers in India and eventually traveled south to Sir Lanka where he copied texts and transported them home via the sea routes
**He was not alone in this, and a whole series of Chinese travelers began to travel to India with the desire to study in the homeland of Buddhist traditions
-When these travelers returned, they not only brought back new texts, but they also brought back new art styles that were developing in the Gupta Empire that ruled India until the mid-500s CE
-An image of the Buddha, the hair has substantially changed from the more wavy, curly hair of the Hellenistic world
~Instead, one can see the hair is depicted in very tight curls that coil left to right
One can see the three folds in his neck that are characteristics of Gupta art
**The robe is extremely sheer
**One can very clearly see the body underneath the robe, but it clings very tightly and the artist has abandoned the heavy Hellenistic folds in favor of very clear parallel folds down the front of the figure
**As they brought these images and styles back home to China, this began to influence Chinese sculptures and depictions of the Buddha

Question 14

The Lotus Sutra

Answer 14

-Infinite Variety
-Parables
-Avalokitesvara (Guanyin
~Pure Land Buddhism
~The Amitabha Buddha
-The Central Asian monks and translators who spread Buddhism during the Northern Wei Dynasty were responsible for translating and introducing one of the most important texts of Buddhism in East Asia, The Lotus Sutra
-The Lotus Sutra provides a summary of the main Mahayana beliefs by arguing that the Buddha’s compassion for all people drives his teachings so that they can satisfy all individuals
~The Buddha describes these ideas through a series of parables
The Parable of the Burning House is one of the most famous of these
**The Buddha teaches that the Three Vehicles (the three paths of enlightenment) are represented by those who become bodhisattvas, those who attempt to find nirvana through their inward, personal efforts, and those who find enlightenment through the teachings of the Buddha (individuals known as arhats) are in actuality just one vehicle
**Other parables teach that the Buddha’s offer of salvation was open to all creatures regardless of gender or sin, the multiplicity and unity of the Buddha, and the existence of thousands of realms of existence that encompass heavens and hells that are occupied by a variety of demons, ghosts, humans, bodhisattvas, and buddhas
-These are the back and one side of a stele from the 800s CE
~The three large figures on the back each represent a different Buddha, but to convey the infinite array of cosmic buddhas, the artist has carved tine representations of them into every remaining inch of the stele
-As the end of the Lotus Sutra teaches about various bodhisattvas and their role within the cosmos
~While there are an infinite array of bodhisattvas, in China one of the most important was Avalokitesvara
-Avalokitesvara, who is China became known as Guanyin, is the perceiver of the world’s sounds, a bodhisattva of infinite compassion who helped all individuals at all times, regardless of their status in life or their sins
~In China, Guanyin became an exceptionally important bodhisattva where stories about the miracles performed by him became commonplace in the Five Dynasties Period
and afterward
*In India, Avalokitesvara was generally portrayed in masculine or gender-neutral ways (after all, he could appear in any form possible necessary to help individuals)
-A breast statue of Avalokitesvara from northern Pakistan that was made sometime in the 600s CE
~While some elements of this appear to be inspired by much earlier Hellenistic designs (note the powerful torso and drapery), by the time this image was produced, many of those styles had melded with or been replaced by Indian designs
*The elaborate crown
**In China, Guanyin underwent a number of changes
-The second image is of the Northern Wei image of Guanyin
~The crown is still present, but the features are quite different
The face is somewhat elongated and angular, which is characteristic of Northern Wei design
**A closer look at the center of the crown
**One can see the figure of a Buddha, but that’s not the historical Buddha, that’s the Amitabha Buddha
-Guanyin was particularly popular due to the association with Pure Land Buddhism
-Pure Land Buddhism was a belief that emerged in the 500s CE that argued that it was possible, but extremely difficult, for individuals to attain enlightenment in this world
~Instead, individuals should live the best lives that they could so that they could be reborn in the Western Pure Land, a fantastic realm to the far west of China that was a realm of wonder and perfection where all people, regardless of their actions could learn to attain enlightenment
*This was modeled off the traditional belief in Kunlun, a mythical mountain to the west of China that was believed to be the home of deities such as the Queen Mother of the West (some may be familiar with it as the home and training ground of Iron Fist)
-The Amitabha Buddha, a celestial Buddha who was aided by Guanyin, ruled over this world
~In order to symbolize this connection, images of Guanyin typically include an image of the Amitabha Buddha in the crown
-The third image comes from the Sui dynasty in the late 500s CE
~Note the crown here, but also look at the hands
One hand holds a willow branch, which was associated with healing, and the other hand holds a flask of healing water
**While the features are less angular than the previous image, not the flowing robes that become points, the almost flame-like design of the halo, and the elongated legs, arms, and body of the figure
**All of these elements originated in Northern Wei design as they began to change Central Asian styles and develop more distinctively Chinese images
-The final image of Guanyin come from sometime in the 1000s CE
~Again, not the crown, but this is another evolution of Guanyin, what is known as Water Moon Form
The way Guanyin is sitting is supposed to indicate meditation on the illusionary nature of reality while in the Pure Land
**The body had become increasingly feminized even though the gender is still rather ambiguous
**In later centuries, Guanyin became increasingly associated with childbirth and granting of children
**Because childbirth and children were primarily associated with women in China, images of Guanyin became increasingly feminine in nature as the image changed to meet this new focus

Question 15

Buddhism in the Sui and Tang

Answer 15

-Longmen Caves
~Emperoe Wu (late 600s CE)
-Vairocana Buddha
-Buddhism really reached its height during the Sui and Tang Dynasties
-The Sui reunited China at the end of the Six Dynaties Period
~They collapsed quickly but the Tang Dynasty replaced them and brought China to its geographical and cultural height
Both the Sui and the Tang supported Buddhism in order to unify their empires by portraying themselves as ideal Buddhist monarchs who were creating peaceful and orderly societies that would facilitate the spread of Buddhist Dharma
**Under Sui and Tang, emperors supported monasteries and built Buddhist monuments to deliberately emulate Buddhist legends about the Indian emperor Asoka
**One of the most impressive of these is the Longman Caves
-The northern Wei Dynasty first began to build Buddhist temples at the site in the 400s CE, but during the late 600s and 700s CE, the Tang began to support the monasteries and temples here as well
-The image is of monks and bodhisattvas surrounding the Vairocana Buddha
~The Vairocana Buddha is often seen as the supreme cosmic Buddha who rules over the universe
In this case, the Emperor Wu, one of the only female emperors in the history of China, who essentially ruled independently during the late 600s CE, commissioned the building of the series of figures because she wanted to solidify her rule by identifying with the Vairocana Buddha
**In the same way that he ruled over the universe, she rules over China
**In addition to the Vairocana Buddha, Emperor Wu also identified herself with the Maitreya Buddha, arguing that she was an incarnation of him and brought the same peace and prosperity that he would, and she commissioned images of him as well
**In return for the material support of the state, Buddhist monks supported the Sui and Tang emperors by portraying the rulers as ideal Buddhist monarchs
-During the Tang dynasty, Chinese Buddhist monks discovered relics of the Buddha that, according to legend, Asoka had sent to China
~The discovery of these relics and the foundation of shrines around them proved that the Tang emperors had earned the Mandate of Heaven

Question 16

Zoroastrianism

Answer 16

-Sogdians
-A wide variety of other religious traditions spread across the Skil Roads to China in addition to Buddhism
-Zoroastrianism spread from its homeland in Persia east to Central Asia where is became one of the main religious traditions associated with the Sogdian people who lived in modern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
~The Sogdians were merchants who traveled the Silk Roads between western China and Persia
*As a result, they encountered traditions from across the world, and helped spread these religious traditions to China
**Large numbers of Sogdians lived in Chang’an during the Sui and Tang Dynasties
-Archaeologists have discovered several Sogdian tombs on the outskirts of the city, and the art that survived from these locations provides detailed depictions of Zoroastrian worship and beliefs about the afterlife
-While Zoroastrianism does not seem to have gained many Chinese converts, there is archaeological evidence of several Zoroastrian temples in the city that probably served the Sogdian community
~In addition, Sogdians are often depicted in Tang Dynasty art, particularly in tomb figurines
*These show the Sogdians as merchants and traders and are clear evidence of their sizable presence in China and the value placed on the trade and goods that they provided
-A Sogdian image of a wine merchant (the big bag he is holding is actually a wineskin

Question 17

Manichaeism

Answer 17

-Mani (200s CE)
~Light and Dark
~Borrowing
~”Buddha of the light”
-In addition to Zoroastrianism, Sogdians also seem to have brought Manichaeism to China
~The proper Mani had founded Manichaeism sometime in the 3rd century CE
*He seems to have started as a devoted Zoroastrian who lived in Mesopotamia, but he was exposed to a variety of Christian, Buddhist, and other religious ideas that were circulating around Mesopotamia
-Mani seems to have argued that the teachings of the main prophets of these traditions (Jesus, Zoroaster, and the Buddha) were all relevant and divinely inspired, but they needed to be completed by his teachings
~He argued that the world was divided by the forces of light (good) and dark (wickedness)
-The Light was the symbol and realm of the main deity who wanted humans to be saved through their moral and ethical behavior, while dark was the realm of a wicked god who was independent and worked against the forces of Light
~The forces of light and dark were contesting the souls of humans, but Mani argued that one could be ethical by avoiding the pleasures of the material flesh and by supporting the “elect” (those who had taken vows to study and preach the works of Mani)
-As the ideas of Mani spread, his followers borrowed the ideas and terms of the religions that they encountered in order to spread his beliefs
~Mani suggested, other religions were simply incomplete, then their terms and ideas could be freely borrowed
*In the Mediterranean, Manicheans freely borrowed Christian ideas and doctrines to the extent that some early Christians thought that Manicheans were simply a heretical sect of Christianity
-In central Asia, Manichean borrowed extensively from the iconography and terminology of Buddhism
~ They referred to Mani as the “Buddha of the Light,” their descriptions of the realm of the Light borrowed the ideas of the Pure Land, and Manichean art emulated Buddhist styles in order to depict Mani
*Their texts and images were so similar to the Buddhists that when European scholars started to explore central Asian Buddhist shrines and complexes, they mistook Manichean texts and artwork for Buddhist materials
-When Manicheans entered China, they borrowed extensively from religious Daoism in order to connect Mani with Laozi
~This intellectual flexibility allowed the Manicheans to win converts wherever they went, and they proved to be quite successful in Central Asia
*In the 700s, the Uighur people, a group of central Asian nomads, were converted to Manichaeism and remained so until the Uighurs turned to Islam in later centuries
-The image from China produced sometime in the 1200s CE
~The figure in the center is Mani, but the iconography is drawn from Buddhist traditions
*The figures in white would be the elect who are preaching a sermon on salvation

Question 18

Christianity

Answer 18

-Church of the East
~Saint Thomas Christians
~Christians in the Tang Dynasty
-Christianity also traveled along the Silk Roads
~ONe of the first places that Christianity spread was east into the cities of Mesopotamia where early Christians were able to gain converts
In Mesopotamia, early Christians encountered the wider religious traditions and ideas that traveled along the Silk Roads and began to move further east
**Their ideas quickly started to diverge from those of the Mediterranean
**The main difference was a disagreement over the nature and relationship of Jesus’s human and divine natures (a theological topic known as Christianity)
-While Christians in the Mediterranean argued that Jesus’s single nature was both fully human and fully divine, eastern Christians emphasized the distinctness of Jesus’s human and divine natures
~Because of their distinct beliefs, historians often refer to this church as the Church of the East
Missionaries from this Christian tradition traveled to southern India where they established communities of Saint Thomas Christians (who are known as such due to legends that the apostle Thomas founded their churches) still survive today
**Other missionaries traveled overland to central Asia, from there to the oasis communities surrounding the Taklimakan desert, and from there, missionaries arrived in Chang’an during the early 600s CE
**All along the way, they founded churches and shines alongside Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and Manicheans
-While these early Christians were allowed to set up in Chang’am and other major Chinese cities, their beliefs never spread widely
~They attempted to translate their works and ideas into Chinese, but unlike the Buddhists and Manicheans, they attempted to translate their ideas and texts as literally as the cloud
*instead of adopting ideas and terms that would be familiar to a Chinese audience, they simply transliterated names, and terms in ways that did not make any sense
**Similarly, they emphasized traditional Christian doctrines even though they did not appeal to the Chinese audience
-We know a good deal about the from a variety of sources, but the main source is a stele that was discovered in China during the 1600s
~The Chinese and Syriac text provides a history of the Church of East’s reception in the Tang Dynasty and its later history in China
Th image is actually a rubbing taken from the stele since images of the actual stele are extremely difficult to see
**At the top, there is a cross surrounded by swirling clouds
**The cross is, of course, Christian, but the clouds are actually more reminiscent of Chinese Daoist imagery and provide an example of the blend of Christian and Chinese imagery that these individuals used to spread their beliefs

Question 19

The Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE)

Answer 19

-Yang Jian (r.589-604 CE)
~Legalism
~The Grand Canal
-Sui Yangdi (r. 604-618 CE)
-The Six Dynasties period ended in 589 CE
~Over the course of the 580s, Yang Jian rose to power in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, a regional nomadic state
-In 581 CE, he seized control of the state and by 589 CE, he had reunified China by adopting legalist-style policies that enforced strict laws and regulations
~In order to link northern and southern China, he began building an artificial waterway to link the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers and the plains of northern China by expanding and dredging existing rivers and canals
*While the project was not completed during his lifetime, the Grand Canal became one of the most important commercial waterways in China (something that has persisted to the modern day)
-Yang Jian also attempted to unify China by building Buddhist temples and monuments
~His son, Sui Yangdi took over after his death and embarked on a series of wars
He sent armies into Vietnam and attempted to conquer the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo
**While the invasion of Vietnam was successful, it was extremely costly
**The invasions of Goguryeo failed dramatically and resulted in Sui Yangdi’s assassination in 618 CE

Question 20

Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE)

Answer 20

-Li Yuan (r. 618-626 CE)
-Tang Taizong (r. 6260649 CE)
-After a brief period of chaos, the general Li yuan took control over CHina and in 618 founded a new dynasty, the Tang
-THe Tang ruled over a massive empire that connected China to central Asia and India via the Slik Roads
~The emperors of the 600s and early 700s CE financed the building of Buddhist shrines and temples, embarked on infrastructure projects, and expanded control over central Asia and the northern parts of the Korean peninsula
*They created a prosperous and powerful state, at least in part, because of the actions of the second Tang emperor
-In Li Yuan’s later years, his sons began to engage in a power struggle for the throne that ended in 627 CE when Tang Taizong deposed his father (who lived in retirement for another nine years) and had his two brothers assassinated
~Almost as soon as he came to power, he began to develop a new law code, the Tang Code, which helped create a solid foundation for the Tang state

Question 21

The Tang Code

Answer 21

-Legalism and Confucianism
-Equal-field System
-Problems
-The Tnag Code provides a mix of strict legalist policies and Confucian ideals
-Tang Taizong intended that the COde create a uniform system of justice by outlining all the possible punishments that magistrates could implement for almost any sort of crime
-Magistrates primarily interviewed witnesses in order to decide exactly what sort of crime had been perpetrated in order to determine which punishment needed to be applied
~While they had some leeway when deciding the application of the law’s statutes to crimes, the intent was to ensure that all areas of China were treated in the same way
While lower magistrates could sentence people to punishments that ranged from beating to execution, the more severe punishments required approval by their superiors, and the emperor had to approve all death penalty cases
**This way, the code followed the advise of Han Feizi and other legalist thinkers by keeping the ultimate power of punishment in the hands of the emperor
-The Code blended these leagalist ideas about the implementation of justice with a strong does of Confucian ideology
~Punishments for crimes against one’s father or mother were harsher than the same crime if they were committed against strangers
The Code also strictly controlled markets and the sale of goods
**In Confucian ideology, merchants were at the bottom of society (not quite as useless as soldiers, but close)
**While scholars and peasants provided useful services to society, merchants were simply parasites
****As a result, the ode instructed officials to monitor what merchants sold in the markets, to set prices for essential goods to ensure that people were not being gouged, and to prevent elite government officials from entering so that they would not be corrupted
-The Tnag Code also established the equal-field system across the entirety of their realm
~Officials were sent out across China to create registers that recorded information about every household that they could find
They recorded the number of people living in each household along with information about the land and its productivity
**Then they began to redistribute the land
**Households were given a set amount of arable land that they could use for the lifespan of the male head of the household
****Once that individual died, the state would be redistribute that land to new families
****Every three years, officials were required to create new registers that would monitor the births and deaths of each region in order to make sure that they properly redistributed this land
-In addition, the state gave each household a chunk of land that they would hold as their personal possession and that could be passed to any heirs as an inheritance
~Typically, this was land that was used for agriculture that required an investment of time and money but would take generations to pay off (orchards)
-The Tnag state did this for three main reasons
~First, they intended that this system would ensure that farmers received an equal amount of land
~Second, they wanted to prevent that aristocracy from creating massive estates that would disenfranchise peasants
~Third, with all this information in place about the productivity of land and how much each individual owned, they were able to assess how much in taxes each individual in the entirety of the Tnag state should pay
*It was not a new ideas in China, the northern Wi Dynasty had pioneered it, but the Tang attempted to implement it on a massive scale
-However, the Tang ruled over an enormous empire that contained some 60 million people
~In order to monitor individuals at the level described in the Tnag Code, the Tang state needed bureaucrats and government officials constantly recording information about every level of society
While they expanded the university and exam system that they then established, they were never able to employ enough officials to monitor society in the way the Code intended
**In addition, the equal0field system never actually supplied enough taxes to finance the working of the state
**The state did not tax Buddhist monasteries and the aristocracy, which meant that the richest people in China were not actually a part of the tax base
-The Plan for an Emperor that Tang Taizong wrote in his final years
~He intended it to guide his successor, and it lays out his theories regarding the role of the emperor, proper government, and the nature of the state
*The advice that he provides guided the Tang to a period of peace and prosperity
**Under the reigns of Tang Taizong, Emperor Wu (who was Tang Taizong’s concubine before marrying his heir, and then when her husband has a stroke she ruled in his place from the 660s until her death in 705 CE), and Xuanzong, the Tang Dynasty dominated Central and East Asia

Question 22

The An Lushan Rebellion (755-763 CE)

Answer 22

-Xuanzong
-Consort Yang
-An Lushan
-Consequences
-The region of Xuanzong came to an untimely end that resulted in the destruction of the Tang’s authority
~While Xuanzong had started as an active and engaged ruler, in his later years (starting in the 740s) he began to focus less on matters of state and more on the extravagant court at Chang’an and his various concubines, in particular his favorite, Consort Yang
*An image from 750 depicts one of the emperor’s horses
**It reflects the artistic spender of Xuanzong’s reign during this time
-However, after the same time, An Lushan, a soldier of mixed Turkish and Sogdian background began to rise through the ranks of the Chinese army, and by the mid-640s, he was a favorite of both Xuanzong and Consort yang
~Xuanzong ceremoniously adopted him in 651 and put him in charge of the army in the entirety of northern China
-However, factions such as the Tnag court were opposed to having a foreigner be so involved in the state, and An Lushan became increasingly unhappy with the situation
~As a result, in 755 CE he rebelled, taking over the heartland of the Tang and occupying both Luoyang and Chang’an (the two Tang capitals)
*Xuanzong, his son, his ministers, and Consort Yang fled to the south to escape capture
-However, along the way, his troops rebelled, killing the ministers who they blamed for the rebellion, and demanded Consort Yang’s death
~As a result, Xuanzong ordered her to commit suicide, which she did by hanging herself
*As a result, Xuanzong abdicated in favor of his son and spent the rest of his life in mourning
-The Tnag state essentially collapsed during the Rebellion
~Even though An Lushan was assassinated by one of his sons in 757 CE, his other heirs and his generals continued to fight against the Tang
*To keep the rebel armies at bay, the Tang had to create alliances with nomadic Uighur tribes to acquire the necessary troops, and even with this additional aid, they were unable to defeat the remnants of An Lushan’s armies until 763 CE
**Even after this period of chaos, the Tang’s problem were not over
-The rebellion essentially destroyed the equal-field system and the tax base that supported the Tand Dynasty
~Even though the Tang tried to implement new taxes and to reform the Tand Code, they were forced to cede authority over territories to local generals who kept most of the tax revenue or simply seceded
*As a result, they were unable to maintain their control over Central Asia and Southern China, and suffered raids from the powerful Tibetan Empire that developed during the 600s CE and raided as far as Chang’an in the late 700s
**Even though the Tang Dynasty technically survived until 907 CE, they never regained the authority that they had lost as a result of the An Lushan rebellion

Question 23

Tu Fu (712-770 CE)

Answer 23

-Exams (735)
-Travel
-Chang’an (745)
-An Lushan Rebellion
-Tu Fu was born in 712 CE and lived his early years during the glory days of Xuanzong’s rule
~This was a time of peace and prosperity, and he was raised and educated with the expectation that he would take official exams and become a bureaucrat
*The exams of the time focused on writing poetry and prose on Confucian virtues, so writing poetry and engaging in poetry competitions was a part of his education
-However, when he took the exams in Chang’an around 735, he failed
~He traveled and wrote poetry until sometime around 745 when he returned to Chang’an
*There he attempted to gain a government position but was unable to do so
-In the 750s, he and his family, like everyone else in Tang China, were caught up in the An Lushan rebellion
~While he managed to get his family to safety, the rebels captured him, he spent time in the rebel-occupied Chang’an, and he experienced the chaos and turmoil of the rebellion firsthand
*In the years after the rebellion, he spent time serving in various minor posts around China and experienced the various invasions and rebellions of the 760s before he died in 770 CE
-Tu Fu is known as one of the greatest Chinese poets because his poetry experimented with Chinese poetical forms in unique ways
~Unfortunately, it is hard to understand the stylistic brilliance of Tu Fu when reading him in English translation
-Read his poetry not because of their political brilliance but because Tu Fu chronicled the suffering of the common people during the turmoil and chaos that accompanied and followed the An Lushan Rebellion
~While hid early poetry celebrates the strength and power of the Tang state, starting with his return to Chang’an in the mid-740s, he began to contrast the lavish lifestyle of the imperial court with the suffering of the poor
*In his later works, he directly addressed the chaos and suffering that he saw in the world around him, and did so by interweaving his private struggles and family life in ways that were not standard at the time
**His works provide a personal perspective on the political events of the mid 700s CE

Question 24

Tang Diplomacy

Answer 24

-Tribute System
~Prostration
~Gifts
~Fictional Nature of the System
-The Sui and the Tang regarded China as the Middle Kingdom
~China sat in the center of the world, and as the largest and most stable state in existence, it was China’s responsibility to create order and peace in the surrounding world
In order to do this, the emperors created a tribute system to organize the surrounding kingdoms
**In this system, diplomats from surrounding state would travel to Chang’an where they would ritually prostrate themselves and acknowledge the superiority of the Chinese emperors
**In return, the emperors would give these diplomats gifts (ceremonial seals) that would reinforce Chinese authority over the surrounding kingdoms
**There wat always a fictional quality to this system
-In most cases, the states acknowledging Chinese authority were so far away that the Chinese had no political control or authority
~Despite this, the system of tribute encouraged trade and contact between the China and the rest of the world
*Diplomats would go home with stories about the wealth and glory of Chang’an and the Tang elites
-The elites of the surrounding kingdoms would send their children to China to be educated, and those children would return home with Chinese literature and philosophy, ready to remake their societies in order to emulate China
-The image shows Tang Taizong greeting an ambassador from Tibet
~The painting does come from the Tang Dynasty, so it probably provides a reasonably accurate representation of what such a reception might have looked like

Question 25

Three Kingdoms Period (57-668 CE)

Answer 25

-Goguryeo
Baekje
-Silla
-Gaya
-In the Korean peninsula, the Chinese had attempted to intervene as early as the Han Dynasty
~However, these military attempts to dominate the area were never particularly successful
~However, it’s during this time that Three Kingdoms Period (57-668 CE) that Chinese influence began to be felt in the peninsula
~During the Three Kingdoms Period, four major states dominated the peninsula
*Goguryeo
*Baekje
*Silla
*Gaya
**The name might seem slightly misleading sine you can see these four states on this map, but it is technically correct since Gaya was not technically a kingdom, it was a confederation of tribes

Question 26

Confucianism and Buddhism

Answer 26

-Gogruyeo (late 300s CE)
-State Buddhist Temples
-Maitreya
-The exact history of the spread of Chinese influence into these kingdoms can be somewhat difficult to determine due to the lack of precise historical records from the kingdoms themselves
~The first state that began to adopt Chinese philosophy was Goguryeo
Starting in the late 300s, kings began to centralized control and expand the power of the state
**As a part of thus, they built Confucian style academies
**These academies allowed the kings to develop a bureaucracy modeled along Chinese lines, adopt Chinese style law codes, and they began to absorb Chinese literature and culture
-In addition, it is around the same time that Buddhist monks began to enter the region and the first official state Buddhist temple in Goguryeo was founded in the late 300s CE
~The spread of Chinese culture further down the peninsula is somewhat more difficult to determine, but the dates when states began to found official Buddhist monasteries and shrines are fairly clear
This is important because Buddhism was typically a tradition that converted from the bottom up
**Monks and nuns first spread Buddhist beliefs among the poor, and that slowly worked its way up to the elites
**Along with Buddhist monasteries or temples are a pretty good indicator of when Chinese culture has spread to most of society
**All these states had state Buddhist monasteries and probably Confucian academies by the 500s CE
-These four state were in a constant state of warfare during the Three Kingdome Period, both against one another and against various Chinese invasions during the Sui and Tang Dynasties
~As a result, the most popular bodhisattva in the Korean peninsula was the Maitreya
*The promise of a future savior who would bring peace and prosperity and create an ideal quite common form the period
-Maitreya is one of the most distinctive early Korean Buddhist images
~It probably is a development of Northern Wie Dynasty images that show Maitreya and other bodhisattvas, including Guanyin, with his lower legs crossed
*However, the positions of the body, the pensive look, and the movement of the body, are all unique Korean innovations

Question 27

Unification of Korea

Answer 27

-Tang Alliance (660-668 CE)
-Unified Silla (668-935 CE)
~Chinese Influence
~Social Hierarchy
-The unification of Korea occurred in the late 600s because of Chinese influence
~In 660, the crown prince of the Silla Dynasty traveled to Chang’an in order to forge an alliance with the Tang
*They had already conquered Gaya, but they asked for Tang aid in defeating Baekje
**In return for their aid, the Silla offered to aid the Tang in a joint attack of Goguryeo
-The Tang agreed, and 668 CE they had accomplished both goals
~The Silla unified the southern portions of the peninsula while the Tang controlled the north
Consequently, the new Unified Silla government began to emulate Tang forms of government
**They adopted a form of the Tang Code, and built a new capital that was a miniature model of Chang’an
**They absorbed Chinese literature, culture, and society, and they became closely connected to Japan as well as the rest of East Asia via trade and commerce
-This is not to say that they became a carbon copy of China
~The Silla kept their traditional, almost caste-like social hierarchy and did not attempt to adopt an exam system for recruiting officials
-Instead, bureaucrats were drawn almost entirely from the existing social hierarchy
~In addition, slavery was a much more important part of Silla society compared to the Tang
*This social hierarchy and slavery never disappeared even though in the 900s the successor state to the Silla, Goryeo, instituted a civil-service exam, and bureaucrats were usually drawn from the ranks of the hereditary elites
-The small images of the Buddha (that’s the historical Buddha, not a cosmic Buddha or bodhisattva) from this period

Question 28

Japan

Answer 28

-Early Origins (300 BC-300 CE)
~Migration
~Shinto
~China
*Wa
*King of Na Seal (57 CE)
-Japan provides a somewhat different model from Korea
~The first inhabitants of Japan probably migrated to the island during the last ice age when land bridges connected the island to the mainland
*They developed a hunter-gather lifestyle, but during the 300s BC, these original inhabitants of Japan were displaced by new waves of migration from China and Korea
**These new arrivals brought agriculture, horses, and advance metallurgy
-This is the period in which Japan’s indigenous religion, Shinto, began to develop
~Shinto is unique amid world religions in the sense that it lacks most of the features of a religious tradition
*The main belief is that the rocks, trees, rivers, and mountains of Japan are inhabited by spirits and gods known as kami
-These kami can be nature spirits but they are also considered to be the ancestors of particular clans, and the spirits but they are also considered to be the ancestors of particular clans, and the spirits of dead ancestors can become kami as well
~There is not set pantheon of gods with a set hierarchy
*However, there are a variety of myths associated with these kami, including a variety of accounts of them meeting to determine their collective activates or decisions
**Finally, Shinto does not have a set group of rituals or texts (traditions vary widely), and while there are Shinto priests and priestesses, there is not hierarchy
-There are archaeological sites from this period, and we begin to see Chinese sources describe the islands
~They refer to it as Wa and describe the island as a place where it is want all the time and people can survive by only eating vegetables
Archaeological finds from this period indicate close contact with China
**The King of Na Seal, probably dates from the middle of the first century CE
**The inscription state that a Han emperor sent it to give the King of Na authority over his kingdom
**As a result, we can see here the beginnings of the tribute system in this object

Question 29

Yamato Period (300-710 CE)

Answer 29

-Yamato Emperors
~Amaterasu
-Kofun
~Haniwa
-Around 300 CE, the various clans that occupied Japan began to develop and expand their authority
~In particular, the leaders of the Yamato clan began to expand their authority by arguing that they were descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu and thus had divine authority over the entirety of Japan
*Because of the growth of the Yamato clan, the period from 300-710 CE is usually referred to as the Yamato Period
-This era sees the growth of centeralized authority, something that can be seen in the construction of kofun
-Kofun are enormous keyhole-shaped tombs that were erected across Japan as the burial sites for emperors and leaders of these clans
-Today, they are typically covered in forest, but originally, they were covered in gravel as well as terracotta figures called haniwa
~There purpose in unclear but they may have been intended to serve the tomb’s occupant in the next life or simply to preserve the mound
*Regardless, the amount of effort that is put into these tomb complexes clearly indicates the growth of a political hierarchy that could marshal peasant labor to produce these tombs
**Buddhist monks began to arrive in the island from Korea during this period as well

Question 30

China and Centralization

Answer 30

-Prince Shotoku (r. 593-622)
~Seventeen-Article Constitution
-Taika Reforms (645 CE)
-Nara (710)
-Even though the Yamato Emperors began to expand their authority, they were not in charge of a powerful, centralized state
~Their authority was recognized across japan, but local warlords were the ones who controlled the collection of taxes, and they tended to keep most of the taxes for themselves and only sent token sums to the imperial court
-In the 500s, powerful clans began to send their sons to China to be educated
~There they saw the growth of the Sui Dynasty and returned with Chinese philosophy and governmental concepts that they tried to put into practice in order to strengthen the state
*This was led by Prince Shotoku (r. 593-622) who was appointed by his aunt, Empress Suiko (r. 592-628), to serve as her regent
-Under the guidance of Prince Shotoku, Japan began a decisive shift toward China
~He imported Buddhist, Confucian, and Legalist ideas and remade the court along the lines of the Sui and Tang
One of the most famous documents associated with the reign of Prince Shotoku is the Seventeen-Article Constitution
**While the document may not actually come from Prince Shotoku directly, it certainly reflects his ideas,
**In this document, one should be able to see the blend of Chinese ideas and Japanese traditions
-However, the Seventeen-Article Constitution does not describe reality; it describe an ideal program that Prince Shotoku was trying to accomplish
~It was not until the mid 600s and early 700s that we see this program be put into place
*In the aftermath of Prince Shotoku’s death, his family, the Soga clan, took control over the political offices surrounding the emperor and gradually began to move from behind the scenes to taking open control
-However, they were deposed and assassinated in 645, and the emperors began to reform society
-The Taika Reforms, which remains in Japan
~The implementation of a centralized state modeled on the Tang
*These reforms were modeled on the Tang Code, but the Japanese modified those Tang ideas so that they would fit in Japanese context
**This ushered in a period when Japanese society almost complexly modeled itself on Tang China
-In 710, the empress established a new capital at Nara that was a miniature version of Chang’an, and she forced local warlords and the leaders of clans to move to the city in order to keep an eye on them
~Within the city she and her successors built Buddhist temples, and to honor the Buddha, the produced massive bronze statues
-One of the largest of these today is the Great Buddha (which represent Vairocana) that was originally built in the 740s, but it has had to be repaired over the years, and so the head and hands are reconstructed
-However, Japan never became a clone of China because they did nor borrow all elements of Chinese government and culture
~They rejects the merit system and exams, and in particular, they were uninterested in the doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven (The idea that rulers can and should be overthrown is the heavens remove their mandate)
*Instead, they solidified the power of the emperor by ensuring that Amaterasu was seen as one of the main gods in Shinto belief and thus connected the power of the emperors to the power of the goddess

Question 31

Heian Period (794-1185 CE)

Answer 31

-Fujiwara Clan and Loss of Imperial Authority
-This rejection of the mandate of heaven is what has allowed the Japanese emperor to survive until the modern day
~In the 790s, the emperors gradually lost power as members of the Fujiwara clan gradually took over control of the court
During the Heian Period, the capital moved from Nara to Kyoto, and even through the emperors were still regarded as possessing divine authority over the entirety of Japan, the actual power of the emperors was minimized as the Fujiwara clan monopolized the power and controlled access to the emperors
The imperial court gradually began to focus on ritual and ceremony as true power resided in the hands of the Fujiwara clan
*During this era, Japan began to break with Chinese traditions
**The literature and ceremonies of the court gradually developed into distinctly Japanese institutions
**This situation (both the position of the emperors and the separation from Chinese traditions) continued until the nineteenth century, but the emperors were never deposed because of their divine authority
-This image has nothing to do with the Heian Period
~It is one of the one million miniature pagodas that were produced and distributed during the 760s to Buddhist temples around Japan, and they provide an example of the spread and support for Buddhism that occurred during this period
-In Korea and Japan we see two examples of the spread of Chinese influence
~Both cases, Korean and Japanese states borrowed extensively from the Sui and Tang government and society in order to develop centralized governments
*In both cases, they looked to the Sui and Tang as models of cultural refinement
**However, they remade Chinese traditions and only borrowed the portions that they thought would best serve their societies