CIVILIZATIONS OF EASTERN ASIA

 

Heian/Fujiwara period: During the Heian/Fujiwara period (794-1185), an explosion of the arts took place in the Imperial court. The noblewoman, with nothing to occupy them because all menial labor was done by the serfs and villeins of feudal Japan, focused on writing, painting, embroidery, and their looks. The first “novel”, The Tale of Genji, was written by a woman of the Heian court. Women could only write in Japanese, and consequently wrote better novels than men who had to write in Chinese, their second language. Another major factor in the life of the court was the rituals and ceremonies that dictated almost every aspect of royal life. How low to bow, how to greet your elders, all manner of etiquette were ruled by ceremonies based on rank. Another code of chivalry dictated the way of the warrior, or Bushido. This code was the law that all warriors of Japan lived by, and sometimes died by.

 

 Kamakura Shogunate: The Kamakura Shogunate began when Yorimoto, the leader of the Minamoto family, was given the title of shogun (1192 AD), or supreme general of the emperor’s army. Effectively the shogun had all the real power,  ruling through the puppeteer emperor.

    The Kamakura were able to repel the Mongol invasions, but at a great cost, economically and militarily. This led to their eventual decline. The government could no longer afford to pay the samurai that had fought for them, so the samurai returned to their own homes and served local warlords. The empire slowly broke apart into small feudal kingdoms, and the shogunate dissolved into chaos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japan: Heian/Fujiwara Period and the Kamakura Shogunate