Chapter 13 JAPAN, KOREA, & VIETNAM

Overarching Themes Buddhism serves as vehicle for spread of Chinese culture Chinese culture is selectively adopted, and often modified to meet local needs Creates distant connection w/ India (origins of Buddhism) Reoccurring question – “how much do we really need/want Chinese culture?” Creates cultural link between these centers of civilization

Japan’s Contact with China Early contact tempered by faithfulness to traditional values Shinto views on supernatural/natural world Taika reforms (646 CE) Revamps political system  Adoption of Confucian education (scholar class)  Adoption of Chinese written language (very different)  Adoption of Chinese political etiquette  Transformation of Japanese monarch  Become an absolutist divine emperor – “Son of Heaven”  Creation of professional bureaucracy Adoption of Buddhism as religion of the elite  Lower classes fuse Buddhism & Shinto

Japan’s Contact with China Failure of Taika reforms (mid-8 th century) Japanese aristocratic families & Buddhist monks had too much power  Would not allow creation of an absolute emperor  Buddhists were trying to gain control of gov’t for themselves Emperor abandons Taika reforms, reinstates aristocrats  Hopes that alliance will weaken Buddhist power Japan abandons Chinese merit-system of advancement  Revert to standard social classes based on birth

Japan’s Contact with China Success of Chinese Cultural Adoption Elites create a world based on reputation and social status  Emphasis on physical appearance, material wealth – shallow & fake Achievements in poetic and literary works – focus on sentimentality Impact on women  Successful poets, artists, musicians  Become involved in political and social intrigues (form of power)  Still relegated to secondary status  Lower class women able to engage in commercial activity  Guilds, merchant activities  Warrior class women ultimately minimized (training, marriage, inheritance)

Japan’s Growth & Development Competition for Political Power 4 groups vie for control of government  Aristocrats  Increase land holdings to build power base  Accumulate wealth and peasants/artisans  Buddhist monastic orders  Increase land holdings to build power base  Accumulate wealth and peasants/artisans  Local provincial lords (Bushi)  Increase land holdings to build power base  Control production in the countryside (labor and product)  Create fortresses to defend their land (self-sufficient)  Build up their own armies  samurai  Samurai serve as police force for gov’t  Emperor  Claim to divine power is weakened  Bureaucracy replaced by aristocrats

Japan’s Growth & Development Results in several periods of warfare and rebellion  Creation of Bakufu – military government  Creation of Shogun – military leaders of the Bakufu  Noble families compete for real control of government, but appoint emperors as figurehead  Provincial land owners destroy aristocracy (could not defend themselves)  Ultimately results in collapse of Japan’s political structure  Creation of small kingdoms, ruled by daimyos (bushi) Abandonment of Chinese imitation (coincides with decline of China)

Overview of Korea Korea has the longest “cultural exchange” relationship with China Most content with relationship Question: Is it possible for Korea to develop a unique culture, given its proximity to China?”

Early Korea: 4 th century BCE  Early Koreans were of Siberian/Manchurian decent, rather than Mongol/Turkic/Han Acquire early traits of civilization (agriculture, metalworking, etc) from China Korea conquered by Han China in 109 BCE Chinese colonists remain until fall of Classical period As China weakens, native kingdoms develop  Koguryo, Silla, Paekche

Development of Korea Much cultural borrowing from China (Sinification) Buddhism, art, architecture (temples), Confucian learning Attempted bureaucracy  fails without support from Korean nobles Korea almost re-conquered by Tang  take advantage of internal divisions Establish a tribute system instead with new Silla kingdom (668 CE) Boundaries of Korea effectively unchanged from this point forward

Korean Independence…sort of (668 – 1392 CE) Conscious effort to model Tang court Korea was most dedicated tribute state Placation of Tang emperor  “kowtowing” Almost total adoption of Chinese culture (except bureaucracy)  Improvement on Chinese pottery (one of finest EVER)  Class structure  Aristocrats  Government workers  Commoners (peasants)  Low-born (nearly slaves)  Cultural adoption mostly limited to elites  Other classes receive little/no benefits Creation of Yi dynasty  Reigns from 1392 – 1910 CE  Maintains relationship with China

Overview of Vietnam Most removed (geographically) from China’s influence In possession of a sophisticated culture prior to Chinese contact

Early Vietnam: 220 BCE  Conflicted between benefits of Chinese culture & loss of national identity Early military conflicts resulted in cultural exchange, but no political control Have a closer connection to SE Asian groups (Cambodians, Khmers & Tais) Language bore no resemblance to Chinese Preference for nuclear family vs. Chinese extended family Greater freedom held by Viet women Distinct art & literature Conquest by Han China (111 BCE) Viet cooperate with Chinese in order to learn and adapt Adoption of political /military forms  control of neighbors Adoption of farming techniques  population explosion

Vietnamese Fight for Independence Failure of adoptions to impact lives of Viet peasants  results in resistance Chinese contempt for traditional Viet culture affects relationship Development of open hostility Cooperation between lords and peasants to revolt Most famous revolt led by women: Trung sisters (39 – 43 CE)  Resentment by women to Confucian codes Helped by geography (too far from China) Independence won from Tang (939 CE)  Maintain it against Mongols and Ming China

Development of Vietnamese Dynasties Despite political independence, cultural adoption continues Finally establish small-scale bureaucracy  Less powerful than China’s  Relate with peasants more than elites  interests and revolts Creation of civil-service exam (Confucian base) Construction of Chinese-style capital cities Successful conquest of neighbors  result of learned Chinese techniques Fragmentation  development of cultural conflict between North and South (US?)