Early Japanese Early Japanese lived in small farming villages and were ruled by powerful clans. – Clan = extended families or groups of families related by blood or marriage

Early Japanese Clans often fought over land. – Why don’t you think they just didn’t share the land?

Early Japanese Powerful clans built up armies to conquer other clans. – Later, these trained fighters would develop into samurai. The Yamato clan was one of the more powerful. They claimed to be descendents of the goddess of the sun.

Early Settlers The leaders of the Yamato clan began calling themselves emperor. Japan’s first emperors came from the Yamato clan. Today, Emperor Akihito is a descendent of the Yamato clan.

Prince Shotoku’s Influence Between A.D., Prince Shotoku sent Japanese scholars to visit and learn from the Chinese and Koreans. What are some examples of ideas that Japanese borrowed from China and Korea?

Prince Shotoku’s Reforms ( ) Borrowed Ideas from China (about 600 A.D.) Created a constitution or plan of government. – all power to the emperor – emperor appoints all officials – clan leaders opposed this idea because it weakened their power

Borrowing from China Prince Shotoku sent officials to China to learn about Buddhism, art, medicine, writing, and philosophy. Began constructing cities like those in China (in a grid fashion)

Borrowing from China Prince Shotoku ordered Buddhist temples and monasteries to be built – Horyuji Temple is the world’s oldest surviving wooden building

Borrowing from China Japanese scholars brought back ideas of Confucianism from China. Confucian ideas include: – fathers should rule their families – wives should obey their husbands – children should obey their parents – younger brothers should obey their older brothers Do you agree with these teachings?

Borrowing from China Language – Japanese writing was strongly influenced by the Chinese Today, they still share many of the same characters but many have different meanings. Kanji

Japan Learns from China and Korea Introduced farming – growing rice in rice paddies Made pottery from a potter’s wheel Early Japanese settlers were skilled metal craftsmen axes, knives, hoes from iron swords, spears, and bells from bronze