1. Chapter 13: The Spread of Civilization - Japan, Korea, Vietnam

2. Japan: The Imperial Age
Japanese rulers want to build a Chinese-style society
Taika, Nara and Heian periods (7th to 9th centuries)
Tremendous borrowing from China
Courts who lost political control to powerful aristocratic families and Buddhist monks
Taika reforms, 646
Copy Chinese style of rule
Try to develop bureaucracy
Opposed by aristocracy, Buddhist monks

3. and the Shift to Heian (Kyoto)
Crisis at Nara
and the Shift to Heian (Kyoto)
Emperor Kammu moves capital from Nara to Heian (Kyoto), 794, try to gain a fresh start
Buddhists forbidden to build monasteries
Abandons Taika reforms
Aristocracy restored to power

4. Court Life in the Heian Era
Heian court culture, extremely refined
Codes of behavior
Aesthetic enjoyment and luxurious delights
Poetry, written on fans or scented paper
Women and men take part in outpouring of literary production
Lady Murasaki, Tale of Genji

5. The Decline of Imperial Power
Fujiwara family
Dominate government and shape policies
Marry into imperial family
Cooperate with Buddhists
Elite cult within Buddhism

6. Rise of the Provincial Warrior Elite
Regional lords (bushi)
Fortress bases on their land
Semi-independent, ruled forts
Samurai begin as loyal to bushi
Warrior class emerges
Martial arts esteemed
Special code stresses family honor and death rather than defeat
Seppuku or hari-kiri
Peasants lose status, freedom, treated as property of local lord
Turn to salvationist Buddhism

7. The Era of Warrior Dominance
Provincial lords’ power grows
Imperial house and aristocracy decline
By 11th/12th c., provincial families dominate, are in control at court (Taira, Minamoto clans)
Declining influence of China as Japanese imperial house weakens
838, Japanese embassies to Tang China stopped
Gempei Wars in Honshu (main island)
Battle between Taira and Minamoto clans
1185, Minamoto victorious and control court
Minamoto establish Bakufu, feudal military government/dictatorship
Kamakura, capital  called Kamakura regime

8. The Breakdown of Bakufu Dominance and the Age of the Warlords
Yoritomo, Minamoto shogun (military leader of bakufu)
Assassinates relatives
Death brings succession struggle
Hojo family, alligned with Minamoto, dominate Kamakura regime
Real power rests in Hojo family
Hojo manipulated Minamoto shoguns
Minamoto claimed to rule in the name of Kyoto emperor
Ashikaga Takuaji, a Minamoto, overthrows Kamakura rule in 14th c.
Ashikaga Shogunate established
Collapse of centralized authority
, civil war among Ashikaga factions
300 small kingdoms, ruled by warlords (daimyo)

9. Violence and Solace Chivalry of Bushi era deteriorates
Era of barbarism emerges
Military division and social change
Peasant violence
Warfare becomes more brutal
Battles determined more by size and organization of warlord’s forces, than the outcome of samurai combat
Economic and cultural growth
Daimyo support commerce
Increase in trade
Art and Zen Buddhism (simplicity)
Mimic monochrome Chinese style
Screen and scroll paintings
Show natural beauty of Japan

10. Korea
Ruled by indigenous dynasties for most of its history, but most greatly influenced by China
Ancestors from Siberia, Manchuria, begin farming (4th c.)
Tang Alliances and the Conquest of Korea
109 BCE, Choson kingdom conquered by Han
Koguryo people resist Chinese dominance
Establish independent state in the northern half
Sinification increases after fall of Han (adopt Chinese culture)
Buddhism an important vehicle (artists, monasteries)
Chinese writing, Chinese law code
Three Korean kingdoms: Koguryo, Paekche, Silla

12. Korea, cont. The Sinification of Korean Elite Culture
Silla capital, Kumsong, copied Tang cities
Buddhism favored over Confucianism
Aristocracy most influenced by Chinese culture
Koryo (same as Koguryo, changes its name) Collapse, Dynastic Renewal
Revolts caused by labor, tax burdens
Weaken Silla, Koryo governments
1231, Mongol invasion, followed by turmoil
1392, Yi dynasty founded, lasts until 1910
Restored aristocratic dominance

13. The Making of Vietnam Chinese push south to Red River Valley
Viets retain distinctiveness
Qin raid into Vietnam, 220s BCE
Commerce increased
Viets conquer Red River lords
Merge with Mon-Khmer and Tai peoples
Important for formation of Vietnamese as distinct ethnic group
Culture distinct from China
Women generally have higher status in family and in society
Conquest and Sinification
Han expand (dissatisfied with Viet tribute), Vietnam becomes a tributary from 111 BCE, direct control
Chinese culture systematically introduced

15. The Making of Vietnam, cont.
Culture of anti-Chinese resistance develops
Resistance from aristocracy, peasants
Women participate
39 CE, Revolt of Trung sisters
Winning independence and continuing Chinese influences
Distance from China helps resistance
Independence by 939 until 19th century
Le Dynasty (Vietnamese dynasty, ), using Chinese-style bureaucracy

16. Vietnamese Drive to the South
Khmer, Chams (groups who occupy lowland regions)
Viets want this land
Defeated by Viets
From 11th-18th centuries, Viets expand into Mekong delta region
Expansion and Division
Hanoi, far from frontiers
Cultural divisions develop following intermarriage with Chams, Khmers
Nguyen dynasty
Capital at Hue, by late 1500s
Challenge Trinh family in North
Rivalry until 18th century
Leaves Vietnamese oblivious to outside threat: French and Catholic Church

17. Chapter 13 Homework Questions
Compare the role of the elites in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam in the process of Sinification.
How did borrowing from China evolve Japan along their own political and cultural traditions?
How did the Tokugawa warlord family come to power after years of civil war?
How did Korea develop a separate identity after repeated Chinese interventions?
After benefitting from borrowing from the Chinese, how did Vietnam develop their own identity despite intervention from the Han dynasty?