Feudal Society

What was feudal society like… A) in the middle ages B) in Aztec society

Feudal Society  The three levels of Japanese society are:  The emperor  The nobility  The samurai

Feudal Society  Membership in each class was based on heredity. This means that it is determined by birth.  People in lower levels could improve their situation through hard work, talent or gaining wealth.

Strict Rules for Governing Behaviour  There were 216 rules regulate dress  For example, an upper class women had to wear 12 silk kimonos with an exact combination of colors showing  Peasant were not allowed to wear silk  Harsh punishments for those that disobeyed

Empress Michiko wore a traditional 12 layered kimono robe. She could hardly move with all of that cloth!

The Samurai  Warrior class  Served a shogun or daimyo  Only the Samurai were allowed to have swords: they had 2 – one to slice an enemy in two and one to cut off their head after they defeated them  The lowest rank (and least honorable) of a Samurai were the ronin

The Samurai  Couldn’t become involved in trade or business  Samurai code of honor: lead simple and thrifty lives  In times of peace, they became officers in rural towns  Swords were a social privilege, was considered their soul (could behead any commoner who offended him) Deadliest Warrior

Seppuku  Ritual suicide  An honourable alternative to humiliation or public shame  Showed that the samurai had let someone down  Small sword would be plunged into abdomen, and then he would be beheaded by an aide  If the samurai composed a poem, it was seen as more honourable

Peasants  Considered important because they produced food  Forbidden to smoke or drink and needed permission to travel outside their district

Artisans  Lived in towns and cities  Status lower than that of the peasants because they used materials made by others – for example a weaver relied on the silk farmer for silk.  The son of an artisan belonged to the same social class of his father and practiced the same craft.

Merchants

 Brought items from artisans to trade or sell to others  Stored rice – rice was used as currency so the merchants were like bankers  Bottom of the social order

Women  Page 293 Exploring Sources  How does a woman’s duty to her husband relate to a samurai’s duty to his daimyo? To a daimyo’s duty to his shogun?  Women were expected to be loyal, obedient, and subservient to their husbands just as the samurai was to his daimyo and the daimyo to the shogun.  How do these instructions compare with your ideas about the relationship between a husband and wife today?  Compare Japanese women with women in European feudal society.  Both were responsible for the appropriate upbringing and education of their children. Both were expected to be subordinate to their husbands.

Outcasts  Those that were ignored by other classes because of their work, for example, butchers, people with leprosy  Lived apart from the rest of society  Not allowed to change jobs, enter a peasants home or be in a city after 8 pm  The Ainu were also excluded from the feudal hierarchy

Leprosy

Your task…  Create a diagram that shows the social order in Japan during the 1700’s  Design a symbol that represents the position, role or way of life of each of the groups in Japanese society  Make it creative and colorful, paper will be provided for you. This paper is only for your good copy. Make sure you have a rough draft before you move on to you good copy  Your design must fill the page

Ch 13 - Shaping a Unique Worldview: Japan Under the Shogun  FOCUS QUESTION: How do forms of government and decision making reflect a society’s worldview?

Important Terms and Concepts – Define and/or briefly discuss  Ronin,  daimyo  shogun/shogunate  Tokugawa Period  hereditary  Samurai  seppuku  Ainu  Confucius  Confucianism

SECTION 1: Power and Control  Reflect on the story of the 47 Ronin on page 283.  How should heroes in our society be rewarded or honoured?  Read pages  Summarize the 3 actions used by the Shogun to bring about stability  Read Zoom In on page 290.  In what ways were values and behavior of the samurai similar to those of the knights and monks of medieval Europe and the humanists during the Renaissance? In what ways were they different?  Why do you think the image of the Samurai is so appealing in Japanese society, even now?  The traditional Samurai was an educated man of taste and strength. He was brave, honest, loyal self-disciplined and honourable. These traits are still those that are greatly respected.  The “Modern” samurai will be a highly respected individual if he holds to the same characteristics.

 Complete question 1a on Over to You, page 294 as you read this section. Also complete Q2 on page 294  #2 The status and political power of merchants in Renaissance Europe:  In Renaissance Europe, merchants were able to become wealthy and influential. They funded trading expeditions and established relationships between cultures.  The status and political power of merchants in Aztec society:  In Aztec Society merchants were respected as traders of goods and spies collecting intelligence for the army. They could live well with their earnings, but were restricted in the clothes they wore, the houses they lived in and the power in Aztec society that they had.  The status and political power of merchants in Edo Japan:  In Edo Japan, merchants were at the bottom of the social order. They were spied upon, and lived in fear that the government would take over their businesses.

Section 2: Honour and Duty  Canada’s Rule of Law, a three-part principle of justice. It is designed so that our laws protect the rights of individual citizens. It states that Canadians must recognize and accept that  o the law is necessary to regulate society  o the law applies equally to everyone  o no one in our society has the authority to exercise unrestricted power to take away our rights except in accordance with the law  How might our society be different if the Rule of Law did not exist?

 How did social controls shape Japanese identity and citizenship?  read pages 295–296  Read page 297, and answer questions 1 and 3  Are uniforms a good way to create equality among students? Explain your thinking.  How do people in your school use clothing styles to express their identity as part of a particular group?

 Complete the Think it through questions at the bottom of the Fast Forward reading on page 298.  How does advertising in the media portray the ideal person in Canadian society? What images are used to persuade you to conform to this ideal?  When is conformity a positive thing? When is it not? Think about examples in your own life.

SECTION 3: Contact with the West  page 300:  What threats had the Japanese government faced from contact with a different culture?  Have you had a personal experience or have read about an incident in which parents did not want their children to associate with someone from another place.  why would the parent be concerned?  What are the similarities between this type of scenario and the arrival of the Europeans in Japan.  read pages 300– 302.  create one or two headlines that capture the “big news” events described in the text.

Homework Questions (answer the following on a separate sheet of paper): Complete Q1a and Q2 on the Over to You on page 302. You may complete in point form. Please answer the following questions using the information from chapter 13: 1. Merchants bought items from artisans to trade or sell to others. True or False 2. Women in urban areas had more freedom. True or False 3. Outcasts were people who were loved by other classes because of their work. True or False 4. Confucius was a Chinese lawyer. True or False 5. Rules about how to teach are called ethical codes. True or False 6. They organized the lower class into groups of five families are called goningumi. True or False 7. Faithfulness and devotion to one’s parents is called filial piety. True or False 8. Chinese families were allowed to have 13 children. True or False 9. The class that women were born into determined their responsibilities. True or False 10. They were not allowed to leave their homes in the day time. True or False