The Heian Period Learning Target: I can identify why the Heian Period has been called the “Golden Age of Japan”. HSS 7.5.5

Heian Period (794-1185 AD) The emperor of Japan moved his capital to the city of Heian (now Kyoto) in 794 AD. Many royals then set up a court in Heian to be near the emperor. In Heian, nobles lived lives of luxury that were much different from the lives of the common people of Japan.\ Miyabi: The Court Code: Decorum, Appearance, Restraint

Heian Japan 794-1185 Capital at Heian: present-day Kyoto Highly formalized court culture Aristocratic monopoly of power Literary and artistic flowering Ended in civil wars and emergence of samurai culture

Court Life in Heian The focus of noble life during the Heian Period was luxury. They wanted to find as much beauty as possible. Nobles spent much of their day creating art or viewing artistic performances.

Golden Age of Literature Poetry - famous forms of Japanese poetry include haiku and tanka. Literature - during this time many Japanese novels were written by Japanese noble women. (Japanese men wrote books in the Chinese language.) The world’s first full length novel, The Tale of Genji, was written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. Most noble women kept journals about their lives at court. The Pillow Book is and example of a lady’s journal.

Murasaki Shikibu From a series of the 36 Immortal Poets Katsukawa Shunsho 18th c. From a series of the 36 Immortal Poets Katsukawa Shunsho 18th c.

Thirty-six Immortal Poets                                                                                                                                                                     Thirty-six Immortal Poets The Thirty-six Immortal Poets (detail), Edo period (1615-1868) Ikeda Koson (1802–1867) Two-panel folding screen; ink and color on silk; 68 x 68 3/4 in. (172.8 x 174.6 cm) Property of Mary Griggs Burke

Golden Age of Art Nobles loved to create art. Watercolor paintings of landscapes and illustrations of stories were very popular. Paintings were used to decorate homes and furniture. Painted fans were also popular. Calligraphy (decorative writing) was also popular with nobles. They spent many hours copying poetry. Architecture (building design) was an important art form. Many shrines, palaces and temples were designed during this time.

Otoko-e style ." Otoko-e was characterized by strong calligraphic outlines on figures with washed colors so that these strong lines would not be overwhelmed by the color—the illustration below, from the illustrated manuscript Shigisan engi emaki , beautifully represents the style of otoko-e. The otoko-e was the medium for action subjects involving war or conflict; The Japanese literary genre of engi is a narrative that chronicles the founding of a Buddhist establishment, in this case, Chogosonshiji, founded by Myoren. The painting style is in otoko-e , or "men's pictures." This style is characterized by active movement; the artist uses strong ink calligraphic lines and weak color pigments so that the colors don't overwhelm the black or gray lines. All the emakimono were classified as yamato-e , or "Japanese painting," in distinction to kara-e , or "Chinese painting." The main criterion for differentiation was the yamato-e concerned subjects drawn from Japanese culture and life while the kara-e were based on Chinese themes or subjects.

Performing Arts Japanese nobles considered performing undignified, but they loved to watch jugglers, musicians, acrobats and dramas. The first Japanese dramas were written for puppets. This is called bunraku. Later dramas, called Noh plays, featured live actors and focused on hero tales.

Kokinshu Poets Fun'ya-no-Yasuhide Otomo-no-Kuronushi Ono no Komachi Lady Ise Otomo-no-Kuronushi The Kokinshû also has two prefaces: a Japanese one written by Ki no Tsurayuki and a Chinese one by Ki no Yoshimochi. Tsurayuki's preface is regarded as being the first work of Japanese poetic criticism, setting out criteria for judging poems, giving terminology and making suggestions about poets who were to be regarded as superior. In particular, he mentions the 'Six Poetic Sages' (rokkasen): Archbishop Henjô, Ariwara no Narihira, Fun'ya no Yasuhide, The Monk Kisen, Ono no Komachi and Ôtomo no Kuronushi. The principal poets of the collection (those with more that 5 poems included) are: Tsurayuki (102), Mitsune (60), Tomonori (46), Tadamine (36), the Monk Sosei (36), Narihira (30), Ise (22), Fujiwara no Tomoyuki (19), Komachi (18), Henjô (17), Kiyowara no Fukayabu (17), Fujiwara no Okikaze (17), Ariwara no Motokata (14), Ôe no Chisato (10), Sakaoue no Korenori (8). Ariwara no Narihira Ki no Tsurayuki

Fashion Noble women placed a high value on fashion. If a women appeared in society without following strict rules of dress, she would be shamed and ostracized. The nobles had wardrobes full of silk robes, and gold jewelry. Both men and women wore kimonos. Women wore elaborate outfits such as long gowns made of 12 layers of colored silk which were cleverly cut and folded to show off many layers at once. Both men and women carried fancy, painted fans.

Heian Fashion During the Nara and the previous Asuka periods, techniques for dyeing silk were developed. Clothing consisted of many pieces including upper and lower garments, jackets, a front skirt, and a back skirt.

Appearance and Beauty The perfect face was round and white with a tiny mouth. Both men and women applied large amounts of white powder to their faces. All women and many men blackened their teeth with an iron substance. Women shaved their eyebrows and painted two small black artificial eyebrows high on their foreheads. Women grew their hair as long as possible, with the hopes that the hair would be longer than the person was tall. People were advised to sleep only at night so no one would see them sleeping since they were believed to be uglier when lying down.