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Summary History of Japan
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Summary History of Japan
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HISTORY OF JAPANSUMMARY LECTURE 1
OBJECTIVITY AND THE “FICTION OF THE FACTS” – BOOT AND TOTMAN IN COMPARISON
A CERATIN INDETERMINACY OF THE PAST
Hayden White says that a history book is never just a record of the past, like a video tape or something.
Instead, it must make sense out of the past by telling a story about what happened and why. This is the only
way to objectively speak of the past.
Ian Hacking speaks about the ‘indeterminacy of the past’ and the ‘paradox of retroactive redescription’.
BOOT AND TOTMAN
Boot points out the uniqueness of Japan, he wants to illuminate the general by means of the particular. His
book is held together by the 3 W’s: who has the power, when and where. He has a more classical, utterly
conservative view. We see this too with his use of AD and BC, referring to Christianity.
Totman, also discusses the uniqueness of Japan, but in contrast to that of any other society, community or
individual has been unique. He wants to illuminate the particular, by ‘situating’ it in the broader, general
context. He holds the parts of his story together with the three ‘continuities’: production – distribution –
representation. This suggest a more leftist leaning. Totman in opposition to boot uses abbreviations as BCE, CE
and yBP.
SUMMARY LECTURE 2
FROM ~ 250 BC TO ~ AD 200
THE UJI AND QUEEN HIMEKO
The Yayoi culture emerged as a result of the importation of Bronze age culture from the Asian continent. The
settlers formed blood-related kinship group called uji. The territory under the rule of one uji, or a smaller
related group of uji, was called kuni. The information known about the proto-historical period is gained from:
Archeological discoveries
Geographical treatise of the Han history
Account of the Japanese in the History of the State of Wei
Account of the Japanese in the History of the Later Han Dynasty
Nihon Shoki & Kojiki (to be handled with some care though)
,On the basis of the archeological finds we can distinguish two religio-cultural spheres.
It was said that this two religio-cultural spheres constantly fought, which indicates that they were to an extent
organised as units of at least some political significance. This fight, however, stopped when these two spheres
submitted loyalty to Himeko of Yamatai (end 2 nd century - beginning 3rd century). In total, 28 kuni pledged
loyalty to Yamatai. Kuni, located to the East of the Kinai (Kyoto-Osaka-Nara) region, remained independent.
Himeko’s state of Wa was a fusion of the kuni /uji of Northern Kyushu and the Kinnai region. An uji was a
group led by a chieftain, responsible for supervising the clan, settle disputes amongst uji members, dealing
with outsiders and worshipping the uji’s tutelary god. His power rested upon his knowledge of god and his
ability to transmit this will to the uji members.
Himeko was some sort of supreme uji-chieftain. It seems, however, that her brother ran the government, and
not Himeko herself. This could be the precedent of a later tradition where emperors do not rule themselves.
Himeko had the mystic attributes of an uji leader.
Shirasu and shiroshimesu both mean ‘to govern the state’, reverential forms of the verb shiru, to know. This
implied that you needed a certain knowledge, the one of the will of god, to govern the state. Himeko therefore
had religious authority. At Himiko’s time politics and religion were not yet two distinct spheres as they are
today.
One of the attributes of the uji chieftains was a carved jewel, magatama. Himeko wore a necklace of curved
jewels, representing the unification of the uji under her rule. Thus, we may define the state of Yamatai as a
“nation of uji groups, held together, or unified by the religio-political authority of queen Himiko”.
Himeko died middle 3rd century and was succeeded by clan member Toyo. Yamatai was only able to rise
through the help of the state Wei (after the fall of the Han: Wei Shu Wu). Wei occupied the northeast and the
south of the Korean peninsula, and allied with Yamatai as a counter against the state of Wu, which allied with
the state of Koguryo, which extended from the north of the Korean peninsula to Manchuria.
In AD 265, the Western Qin takes over the Wei and the power of Toyo’s Yamatai starts to decline.
THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURIES AD
THE FIRST ‘EMPEROR’
Yamatai was attacked by a growing state in Northern Kyushu, succesfully taking over Toyo’s political powers
without prolonged hostilities. This ruler, and first emperor of Japan, is believed to be Sujin. He is known for the
enshrinement of the sacred mirror in his palace as a symbol for his divine ancestor, the Sun Goddess.
Later, he will transfer the mirror to Yamatai, and finally the daughter of 11 th emperor Suinin will permanently
install it in Ise. This may be interpreted as a manifestation of the desire to have Amaterasu revered not only as
the tutelary god of the imperial family, but as the supreme goddess of all other uji.
“THE ONE WITH THE DIVINE FUNCTION TO KEEP THE REALM TOGETHER”
Sujin’s successors undertook a series of expeditions in an attempt to conquer resisting kuni. Around AD 400
forces ventured the Korean peninsula. As a result of these expeditions, large-scale importation of Chinese
culture and techniques from the Korean peninsula and the continent began. The expansion of power and
territory was furthermore important as an indicator for the growing economic and military strength and the
argueably high level of administrative organisation.
, Around this time the emperor would be called ‘The one with the divine function to keep the realm together’.
Amanoshita, the Japanese counterpart of tianxia, can be read as an expression of the grown self-awareness of
the Japanese ruler as a strong political leader, claiming to be the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese emperor.
The large mausoleums (kōfun) are physical evidence enough to get an impression of the imposing position of
the emperors of that period.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Crimes were considered to be a transgression against the divine will of the ruler. When such transgressions
occurred, the gods could only be appeased by rites of purifications. Such rites require an offering, which was
accompanied with priestly invocations.
Harae, which literally means ‘to shake off’: to get rid of the filth again, that has been attached to a
person as a result of the transgression.
Misogi: where one immerses themselves in water and thus having the filth washed away from them.
In order to check and divining the veracity of evidence presented at a trial, the suspect has to remove
a stone from boiling water. The suspects credibility was determined in accordance with whether or
not his or her hand was injured or not.
However, when Japan happened to come in contact with Confucianism, Chinese concepts of secular
punishment were gradually adopted as well. For a while, in a period of transition, both, rites of purification and
secular punishment were required as penance for the same or comparable crimes.
SUMMARY LECTURE 3
THE FIFTH CENTURY TO 603 AD
UJI, KABANE, AND IMPERIAL CONTROL
The tendency to secularization is also cognizable in politics as well. Whereas the significance of the emperor
depended on the ability to know the will of god, it now shifted to his ability to obtain knowledge from the
reports of imperial officials. What we call secularization reflects the emergence of a more complex and
sophisticated administrative apparatus.
The imperial administration consisted of a variety of official posts. Since only those with hereditary titles
(kabane) were entitled to fill such official posts, the posts themselves too became hereditary. However, being a
kabane only qualified you to hold such a post, so not every kabane was automatically appointed to such a post
in the imperial administration.
Once kabane had become an integral part of the imperial administration, the court frequently conferred
kabane on uji, or promoted uji, in recognition of their merit and deeds, or for political reasons. It also
happened that uji were demoted or even stripped from their kabane.
With the power of the imperial administration and its kabane increasingly growing, the authority of the
tutelary gods and various uji declined. Instead, the central element in the legacy of an uji’s chieftain and his
successors was his responsibility for his uji performing the duties and obligations to the emperor. Amongst the
tasks was:
Guarding the court (Otomo, Kume).
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