hi guys! welcome to the stage of history of Japan... moving on with part 2 this week, U guys will know about Ancient and Classical Japan..enjoy it..
Intro
The Yamato
polity was the main ruling power in Japan from the middle of the 3rd century until 710. The Kofun period (mid 3rd century – mid 6th century), is defined by a period in which many keyhole-shaped
tumuli were constructed. At the beginning of the Asuka period (mid 6th century – 710), the capital was moved in
Asuka, southernmost part of the Nara Basin. The main difference between the
Yayoi period and the Kofun-Asuka periods is the development from a sedentary and agricultural culture to a more advanced and militaristic
culture from
China via the Korean peninsula. This was replaced by
Tang Dynasty Chinese influences during the Nara period which introduced centralized imperial government, aesthetics and religion instead of military advances during the Kofun-Asuka eras.
Kafun Period
The Kofun period (古墳時代, Kofun period), beginning around
AD 250, is named after the large burial mounds (
kofun) that appeared at the time. The Kofun period saw the establishment of strong military states centered around powerful clans, and the establishment of a dominant Yamato Polity centered in the
Yamato and
Kawachi provinces, from the 3rd century to the 7th century, origin of the
Japanese imperial lineage. The polity, suppressing the clans and acquiring agricultural lands, maintained a strong influence in the western part of Japan. Japan started to send
tributes to Imperial China in the 5th century. In the Chinese history records the polity was called as
Wa and its
five kings were recorded. Based upon the Chinese model, they developed a central administration and an imperial court system and society was organized into occupation groups. Several proto-state formations rivaled one another, possibly representing different ethnic backgrounds. Close relationships between the
Three Kingdoms of Korea and Japan began during the middle of this period, around the end of the 4th century. According to the
Gwanggaeto Stele, Japan actively participated with large armies on the Korean Peninsula during the late 4th and early 5th centuries. According to the
Book of Song, of the
Liu Song Dynasty, the Liu-Song emperor awarded the king of Yamato, which he considered to be his tributary vassal, the title of the ruler of
Silla,
Baekje, and the
Gaya confederacy even though Yamato had no actual influence in internal affairs of these kingdoms. The
Samguk Sagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) recorded
Baekje and
Silla sent their princes as
hostages to the Yamato court to ensure military support; King
Asin of Baekje sent his son
Jeonji in 397 and King
Silseong of Silla sent his son in 402.
Asuka period
The Asuka period (飛鳥時代, Asuka period?) is when the proto-Japanese Yamato polity gradually became a clearly centralized state, defining and applying a code of governing laws, such as the
Taika Reform and Taihō Codes
. The introduction of Buddhism led to the discontinuing of the practice of burial mounds, or kofun.
Buddhism was introduced to Japan by
Baekje, to which Japan provided military support, and it was promoted by the ruling class.
Prince Shotoku devoted his efforts to the spread of
Buddhism and
Chinese culture in Japan. He is credited with bringing relative peace to Japan through the proclamation of the Jūshichijō kenpō (十七条憲法), often referred to in Japan as the
Seventeen-article constitution, a Confucian style document that focused on the kinds of morals and virtues that were to be expected of government officials and the emperor's subjects. In a letter brought to the
Emperor of China by an emissary from Japan in 607 stated that the 'Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises' (Japan) sends a letter to the 'Emperor of the land where Sun sets' (China), thereby implying an equal footing with China which angered the Chinese emperor. Starting with the
Taika Reform Edicts of 645, Japanese intensified the adoption of
Chinese cultural practices and reorganized the government and the penal code in accordance with the Chinese administrative structure (the
Ritsuryo state) of the time. This paved the way for the
Confucian philosophy in Japan until the 19th century.[
citation needed] This period also saw the first uses of the word Nihon (日本) as a name for the emerging state.
Mural painting onthe wall of the Takamatsuzuka Tomb, Asuka, Nara, 8th century
Nara Period
The Nara period (奈良時代, Nara period) of the 8th century marked the first emergence of a strong Japanese state. Following an Imperial rescript by
Empress Genmei the move of the capital to
Heijō-kyō, present-day
Nara, took place in 710. The city was modelled on the capital of the Chinese
Tang Dynasty,
Chang'an (now
Xi'an). During the Nara Period, political developments were quite limited, since members of the imperial family struggled for power with the Buddhist clergy as well as the regents, the
Fujiwara clan. Japan did enjoy friendly relations with
Silla as well as formal relationships with Tang China. In 784, the capital was moved again to
Nagaoka (to escape the Buddhist priests) and then in 794 to Heian-kyo, present-day
Kyoto. Historical writing in Japan culminated in the early 8th century with the massive chronicles, the
Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Matters, 712) and the
Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan, 720). These chronicles give a legendary account of Japan's beginnings, today known as a
Japanese mythology. According to the myths contained in these 2 chronicles, Japan was founded in 660 BC by the ancestral
Emperor Jimmu, a direct descendant of the
Shinto deity
Amaterasu, or the Sun Goddess. The myths recorded that Jimmu started a line of emperors that remains to this day. Historians assume the myths partly describe historical facts but the first emperor who actually existed was
Emperor Ōjin, though the date of his reign is uncertain. After the Nara period, actual political power has not been in the hands of the emperor, but in the hands of the
court nobility, the
shoguns, the military and, more recently, the
prime minister.
The great Buddha at Nara, 752 AD
Heian Period
The Heian period (平安時代, Heian period), lasting from
794 to
1185, is the final period of classical Japanese history. It is considered the peak of the Japanese
imperial court and noted for its
art, especially in
poetry and
literature. In the early 11th century,
Lady Murasaki wrote the world's oldest surviving novel called
The Tale of Genji. The
Man'yōshū and
Kokin Wakashū, the oldest existing collections of the
Japanese poetry were compiled in the period. Strong differentiations from Asian mainland culture traits emerged (such as an indigenous writing system, the
kana).
Chinese influence had reached its peak, and then effectively ended with the last Imperial-sanctioned mission to
Tang China in
838, due to the decline of the
Tang Dynasty, although trade expeditions and
Buddhist pilgrimages to China continued. Political power in the Imperial court was in the hands of powerful
aristocratic families, especially the
Fujiwara clan who ruled under the titles
Sessho and Kampaku (regents). The end of the period saw the rise of various military clans. Three very important clans were the
Minamoto clan, the
Taira clan and the
Fujiwara clan. Towards the end of the 12th century, conflicts between those clans turned into civil war, such as the
Hōgen and
Heiji Rebellions, followed by the
Genpei war, from which emerged a society led by
samurai clans, under the political rule of a
shogun.
An handscroll painting dated circa 1130, illustrating a scene from the "Bamboo River" chapter of the Tale of Genji.