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Kristin SzaboJAPN305PAINTER5-18-11
Cultural Diffusion
The diffusion of the foundations of Chinese culture that came to make up
Japan is an example of what defines Japanese culture today. It is important to
assess where the Japanese culture originates as the Japanese would like to
retain they are a uniquely homogenous society today. Throughout history Japan
has borrowed from many cultures, mainly China and has also tried to maintain its
own cultural identity. This paper seeks to establish historically in the most
accurate way possible where, when, and why Japan was affected and made
such decisions concerning its culture and society.
Even before significant cultural relations with China, Japan (known before
centralization as Wa), had a long history of culture and had established its own
society. While Japan had had influences from immigrants in the earlier centuries
from the mainland Asia, Japan for the most part developed on its own. Japan
was a decentralized country of clans; each clan was distinct in that they
worshiped their own deity, whom the warrior aristocracy claimed descent from.
The clans even had their own caste system and there was a small minority of
slaves possibly that of immigrants from the mainland. The people at the time had
developed metallurgy and pottery. The people of Yayoi and the Kofun period had
also created ways using tattoos and makeup to separate the elite from the
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peasantry. Women shared a similar role to men; the society at the time was
thought to be more matriarchal. The people who lived in Japan did not have to
wander in search of food and thus the clans had developed to stay stationary
because they could live off fishing and farming. This development probably gave
women more power as they were not restricted to gathering food, bearing and
taking care of children all the time. Many clans were led or advised by Shaman,
and many of the Shamans had been women. Some of the most famous
Shamans were the famous Queen Himiko and the Empress Jingu, who both may
have existed around the 3rd to 4th century, and may or may have not been the
same person.
Shintoism, the religion unique to Japan was founded and developed
sometime during the 3rd century in the late Yayoi period to early Kofun period
and served as an explanation for the mysteries of life, nature and how people
came to be. Shintoism is unique in that practitioners believe that there is energy
or “soul” to everything in existence, especially nature. Inside plants, animals,
trees, rocks, for instance, live the spirits of gods called kami who the people
worship and fear. Shintoism is one of the reasons Japan began to centralize and
unite. One of the clans, the Yamato clan was an influential clan who had settled
in Ise, claimed that their leader was descended from the Sun Goddess
Amaterasu. The Yamato clan would become the ancestral line to Emperors of
Japan.
By 522 C.E. Shintoism was firmly established in Japan. In 553 C.E.,
emissaries from Baekje i brought Buddhism in the form of a bronze statue of
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Buddha and sacred texts of Buddha’s teachings to the emperor of Japan as gifts.
Baekje was one of the three warring Kingdoms of modern day north and South
Korea, they had a long standing relationship with Japan. Japan had become a
tributary state to China sometime early on in its history (and had continued a
relationship through trade and immigrants), the Wei Zhi, a historical chronicle in
China describes a tributary relationship with Japan. It goes into great detail about
Wa, Japan’s name at the time and Queen Himiko, a great shaman leader in
Japan during the 3rd century. Japan did not record its history until the Kojiki and
Nihon Shoki, neither of which was completed until around the 8th century. China
and Korea had been recording its relations with Japan long before however much
of the history was debated and some of it was left out in the Nihon Shoki. Notably
Queen Himiko was thought to be a myth or politics wrote her out historically.
Japan had great interest in measuring up to China by 553 C.E. when the
emissaries from Baekje brought Buddhism to the country. The leaders of Japan
wanted to create a stronger more centralized nation because they were awed by
the power and bureaucracy of Han China whom they had interactions with
throughout the centuries as they had always been the “eastern barbarians”. In
592 C.E., Prince Shoutoku Taishi as regent declared Buddhism a state religion
and the people who were firmly rooted in Shintoism were forced to syncretize the
two religions if they were to accept them.
With the introduction of Buddhism followed the cultural diffusion of China.
Buddhism although originally from India had many followers and a history in
China. Religious texts in Chinese were imported to Japan as well as many
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literature and legal texts. It is generally agreed that in this point in history Japan
had no written language. This prompted the country to borrow and modify the
Chinese characters so in attempt to understand the texts. So in 405 C.E. the
Japanese court officially adopted the Chinese writing system. Not only did
having a writing system allow them to understand and study Chinese religion,
history, literature and so on; it also allowed Japan to eventually develop a more
centralized political system under the Japanese emperor.
Japan not only adopted Buddhism as a philosophy and religion it also took
on Confucian ideals that influenced the country for many centuries. Buddhism
and Confucianism are important aspects of the Chinese culture. “As a systematic
belief system, Buddhism forced the local Japanese religions, [Shintoism] which
were less coherent systems, to define themselves in relation to Buddhism.
Confucianism, a systematic religious belief system, had a lot to say about
governance and society and proved attractive for the Japanese.” (Perez, 1998)
Confucianism came along with Buddhism in the first of the Chinese
influence into Japan between the 6th and 9th centuries. Buddhism however was
much more dominant and took hold on the people and the imperial court.
Though, Confucianism survived as a philosophy into the late 19th century and
remains even so today as an important impact on Japanese thought and values.
This much is evident in everyday thought, whether or not Confucianism is the
main perpetrator there is reason enough to believe that is one of the main
reasons that the Japanese society shifted from a matriarchal society to a
patriarchal society.
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Buddhism became so prominent in Japan that the
monks held power over the public officials and the
Emperor. Nara the capital as the time had been the center
of Buddhism; even today remnants of that effect can be
seen in temples like Todaiji that still stand. In the 8th century, 794 CE, the
Emperor made the decision to move the capital to what is now known as Kyoto in
order to move the seat of government away from the Buddhist priests influence in
affairs of government. The capital at the time was named Heian-kyo.
Interestingly, both Kyoto and Nara were both constructed after Chinese city
planning models. For instance, the cities were divided up to be very geometric
and the fields and irrigation systems where they did their agriculture were also
very geometric.
The Japanese Imperial Court adopted not only things like architecture,
(especially in Kyoto and Nara), and city-planning, the court also borrowed
Chinese models of bureaucracy, for instance titles, ranks and functions,
especially modeled after Confucian principles as that became a part of Japanese
society and thought. The creation and use of a road system, what was known as
the nakasendo which was created to
accelerate communication, connect cities
and control rebelling localities was also a
significant feature of this borrowed
planning.
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Emperor Koutoku, the successor to Prince Shoutoku who declared Buddhism as
a state religion in 592, himself implemented what is known as the Taika Reforms
in 646. The Japanese government was to be reorganized on the model of T’Ang
government. This Taika Reforms included land reforms which were to bring
about greater centralization of the country and more power to the imperial court.
It was during these reforms especially that Emperor Koutoku sent envoys and
missionaries to China to learn everything about the culture Japan could borrow
and assimilate.
The Heian period (794 to 1185) in Japan is thought to be the height of
Chinese cultural influences as well as the spread of Buddhist and Confucian
values. It is also the period of time Japan ended ties as a Tributary state with
T’Ang China in the 800’s; however Japan continued to send people on missions
and to trade with China.
Writing was initially a technical process and not used for prose or
mandates. In the 9th century, a monk by the name of
Kuukai, is credited with having created modern day
kana, two of the written alphabets (hiragana and
katakana), used to convey Japanese sounds.
Originally the Japanese language in written form was
modeled after Chinese and adopted to fit the Japanese speaking language. The
Japanese written language looked very much like Chinese in that it consisted of
kanji, the complex characters that represented ideas entirely. However, Kuukai
felt that the Japanese language was not suited for such a convoluted style and
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took parts from the characters (known as manyougana), that would become part
of the Japanese sounds system of kana.
It eventually evolved so that people would write about court life and
people would write, read and create Japanese poetry waka and tanka. The
Japanese had begun by studying the literature of the Chinese and the Chinese
style poetry and then made it their own. Murasaki Shikibu (approx.. 973-
1014/1025) and Sei Shonagon (966-1017) are some of the court ladies noted in
Heian for writing using the new kana and promoting writing for Japanese.
Murasaki is credited with writing one of the oldest novels in the world, “The Tale
of Genji”, which is about the son of an Emperor who is reduced to commoner
status and about his often romantic adventures and life during the Heian period.
Sei Shonagon wrote, “The Pillow Book”, which is a collection of musings,
happenings at court, and poetry during the Heian period. One of the most famous
poetry compilations to come from Classical Japan that was compiled sometime
around the Heian period was the Manyoushuu. This compilation consisted of
Japanese tanka that was more Japanese stylistically than it was modeled after
Chinese literature and poetry. The poetry was also written by many people of all
walks of life over hundreds of years and reflected more Shinto teachings in the
writing overall. The influence of Confucianism and the Chinese aesthetic in the
early literature, especially in the Manyoushuu is especially evident in these early
written works.
In the Heian period, the Japanese also began turning away from Chinese
ideals and started trying to maintain more of Japanese feel this is evident when
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people began creating Japanese poetry, literature and art. However when Japan
became an isolationist state in the Tokugawa period, Tokugawa threw out all of
the outside influences, (like missionaries), and effectively banned any outside
influences from coming in. It was during this period many things that are
inherently a Japanese creation took place because no outside influences were
taking place. It is during this period that the inception of many of the things one
thinks of when one thinks of Japan came about. For instance, the use of the
geisha, kabuki, Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints), and haiku are entirely
Japanese creation and are not influenced by any outside inspirations. Although
ikebana, tea ceremony, and forms of painting and sculpture are Japanese and
were developed throughout the Tokugawa period, they were influenced by things
like Buddhism.
Currently Japan does not seem to like China or Korea really, although
interestingly recently they seem to like their pop stars. Japan seems to seem
China especially as a form of economic competition than as a country to emulate.
Japan might not openly acknowledge that in the end, China, Korea and Japan
are really related and connected- however that does not change the countries
sense of pride. But it likes America! Ever since the Meiji period when it started
opening up to the world Japan has been westernizing itself while still retaining
some of its traditional values. This is evident in the clothing, abuse of the English
language, and so on. However Japan has had a recent interesting history with
Nationalism.
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Ever since Japan reopened its doors to the world in Meiji, Japan found it
had much to compete with if it was to catch up with the world. The leaders of
Japan tried to promote the idea of a national united Japan to its people, also in
order to appear a strong equal nation with the world. In the Taisho period Japan
became more fervent with the desire concerning Nationalism because of the
world and its imperialists. Japan sought to expand its land and failed. Everything
after that leading up to World War II was a fascist reasoning to support warfare,
imperialism, and industrialism. With that sort of thought, the country built up this
sort of mindset that it indeed deserved what it sought because it was different or
better than all the rest. And the reason it lasted so long was because the people
really believed for the most part and followed in those ideals. Thus nowadays
Japan is rebooting in light of those nationalistic thoughts as well as dealing with
an ever-changing world. Japan also has to deal with a contradictory, long history
that seeks to adopt and adapt from many cultures and religions.
Japan while a very unique country with a long history has adopted and
adapted much from the Chinese culture. Even before it was a tributary state to
China it was a unique culture that was filled with clans and unique deities.
However, much of modern Japan’s foundation is most certainly because of what
it borrowed from China whether it worked or not. Much of that influence is still
seen in its own developed way today. Japan while it acknowledges those
connections and origins would assert that something or someone Japanese
would mean that there is much cultural exclusivity to be had with that. However, it
should probably be understood that Japan has indeed had much foreign
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guidance in the formation of the culture that is known today.
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i Sometimes romanized Paekje