Content Guide: History of Japan before 1868
– important developments, dates, names, and termini you should be able
toexplain.
– in general: be able to summarize important political, socio-economic, and
cultural developments of all periods of Japanese history until 1868 (start early
to compile a file or cards for each of these three dimensions of each period).
– this content guide is not the final version yet and might still be subject to
changes and minor additions! (More information during classes).
- please only learn those Japanese, Chinese, and Korean terms that are underlined,
i.e. “daimyō”, but not “Takamatsu-zuka kofun” (of course no knowledge of
Japanese or Chinese characters is necessary for this exam, just use the
romanization, i.e. daimyō). It is then for instance sufficient to just write “…
claiming heritage of the sun goddess” instead of “… claiming heritage of the sun
goddess Amaterasu ōmikami”), likewise “cloistered government” instead of
“insei government” for the late Heian-period is also sufficient (for the Japanese
Studies students: it is not forbidden, of course, to memorize more Japanese
terms!)
Palaeolithic: 35000 – 15000 BP (before present)
Jomon period: 15000 – 900 BCE (before common era)
Yayoi period: 900 BCE – 250 CE (current era)
Kofun period: 250 CE – 600 CE
Asuka period: 550 – 710
Nara period: 710 – 784 (794)
Heian period: 794 – 1192
Kamakura period: 1192 – 1333 (1336)
Muromachi period: 1336 – 1477
Sengoku period: 1467-1600
Edo period: 1600 - 1868
3point stand out about Japan’s geographical and ecological context.
1. The combination of mountainous terrain, torrential rains, and generally poor soil = farming
was slow to develop.
2. This forbidding landscape has engendered high cost for transportation and commerce and a
strong sense of regionalism.
3. Japan has served as a point of convergence for diverse transportation routes.
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,Prehistory and Protohistory
Jōmon period & Yayoi period:
Key dates:
- Paleolithic: ca. 35,000-15,000 BP
- Jōmon period: ca. 15,000-900 BCE
- Yayoi period: ca. 900 BCE-250 CE
Key developments:
- Geographical and ecological context of the archipelago in general (see Farris on
‘building blocks’).
- Jōmon: Advent of hunter-fisher-gatherer society
- Jōmon people shared fertility cults. Figurines/ dolls said to be used for rituals, partially
for fertility
- No social division no distinguishing between people in the graves
- Yayoi: Gradual and incomplete transition to agriculture (particularly wet-rice
cultivation). Short rice grain arrived from the continent. (thanks to new
agricultural tools)
- Distinct styles of Jōmon and Yayoi pottery.
- Yayoi: bronze artifacts (bells, swords (possible indication of war in late Yayoi), and
mirrors +agricultural tools). + Possible cultural differences between western and
eastern Japan through different pottery styles.
- Most of the population starts to live in dug pit houses from Yayoi period onward.
- Small ‘states’ mentioned in records of first Chinese missions to Yayoi period Japan;
accounts indicate female rulers (‘Himiko’, sometimes read alternatively ‘Pimiko’). Most
important archeological site: Yoshinori excavation site in Kyūshū. growing political
system
- Archeological accounts suggest wide-spread warfare between smaller political entities
in late Yayoi, to be seen through increase of deadlier weapons and heavier fortifications.
(EX example) (difference between Jomon and Yayoi period?)
- iron instead of stone/wooden tools (weapons but also tools for farming)
- Gradual but incomplete transition to agriculture: wet rice cultivation -> use of irrigation
techniques (Short rice grains came from the continent)
- political self-consciousness → small states (mentioned in first Chinese missions to Yayoi
period)
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, - social stratification
mixed economy; hunting and gathering combined with cultivation of wet rice
It takes a lot of labor and organization to deploy rice field -> harmonious society/organization
Different kind of graves which indicate social stratification (building of kofun; indicator of the
fully stratified society of the kofun period)
Most of the people started to live in dug-pit houses
Key persons:
- Himiko/Pimiko (according to the History of the Wei dynasty): also, queen of Yamato (shaman)
(seen as friend of the Wei dynasty) Sinocentric world: therefore, she would pay tributes
and make Wa smaller, but instead she would get a commercial relationship and military
protection.
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