Lesson 23: The Influence of Neighboring Cultures on Japan

• Cultural diffusion


  the spread of cultural elements
• Prince Shotoku


  a japanese ruler who encouraged cultural diffusion from countries on the Asian mainland
• What aspects of their culture did Japan adopt from the Korean Peninsula?

  • Confucianism & Buddhism
  • bronze casting
  • advanced ironworking
• Empress Suiko and Prince Shotoku came to power when...


  the ruling family in the region of Yamato (Honshu) became powerful enough
• Type of society during Empress Suiko's and Prince Shotoku's rule:


  agricultural
• Main crop during Empress Suiko's and Prince Shotoku's


  rice
• Family life during Empress Suiko's and Prince Shotoku's rule:


  centered around the mother
• Government during Empress Suiko's and Prince Shotoku's rule:


  power divided among uji
• Uji


  clans with chiefs (Japan was far from being unified so power was divided amongst the uji)
• Knowledge of mainland culture came to Japan via...


  • the Japanese who traveled to China
  • forms of gifts
  • Korean workers who settled in Japan
• Shotoku created the Seventeen Article Constituion in 604 C.E. that was based on Chinese Confucianism and it explained...


  how the emperor was the supreme leader
• In 700-800 C.E. : 


  rulers adopted a form of Chinese government which was strongly centralized and supported by a large bureacracy
• In 900 C.E., Japan's government turned into a...


  powerful aristocracy, meaning only nobles held high positions in the government
• Japanese form of government:


  • emperor depends on the uji
  • emperor depends on local leaders
  • continual struggle for the right to select the emperor
• Before Japan's government was influenced:


  The emperor had loose control over the uji who controlled their own areas of land. Uji chiefs fought over the right to select Japan's emperor and influence his decisions.
• Japan's capital city (Nara) : 


  • based on the Chinese capital city (Chang'an)
  • checkerboard streets
  • imperial palace
  • Buddhist temples & monasteries
• Differences between Nara & Chang'an:


  • size difference (Nara is a lot smaller)
  • protective borders (Nara has no walls)
• Shinto


  a Japanese religion that expresses love and respect for nature
• Meditation


  a spiritual discipline that involves deep relaxation and clearing the mind of distracting thoughts
• Enlightenment


  seeing the world as it really is
• Mahayana / "Greater Vehicle"


  • teaching of the Mahayana that all people can reach nirvana
  • followers believed in bodhisattvas
• Nirvana


  a state of perfect peace
• Bodhisattvas


  Buddhists who can enter nirvana but choose instead to help others reach enlightenment
• Who and what did followers of Shinto worship?


  • natural objects of nature
  • the emperor
  • special people
• What did Shinto stress?


  purifying the unclean
• What is the moral code of the Eightfold Path?


  • showing respect
  • acting right
  • meditation
• Before borrowing Chinese characters the Japanese was only a spoken language and had no...


  writing system of its own
• Kanji / "Chinese writing"


  Japanese words
• Kana (900 C.E)


  simplified Chinese characters that stood for Japanese syllables
• Tanka


  poems based off songs and oral tradition and were about love and the beauty of nature
• Sculptures were meant to...

  accompany and protect the dead
• Prince Shotoku founded Horyuji which was...


  a place of Buddhist worship
• Shinto shrines were based on...


  agricultural society and nature
• Gagaku


  court music from China
• Sheng


  wind instrument the resembles a phoenix
• In what ways did neighboring cultures influence Japan?

  influenced Japan's government, city development, religion, writing, literature, sculptures, architecture, and music
• Pagoda


  a tower-shaped structure with several stories and upturned, tiled roofs
• In medieval times, ideas from other cultures traveled to Japan via...

  the Korean Peninsula