In the Shadows of Giants

In the Shadows of Giants:

Japan, Korea, and the Indochinese Peninsula

Japan:

• Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, Hokkaido

• Temperate climate• Mountains and

valleys• Ethnic

Homogeneity: Japanese and Ainu

Foundations of Japanese Society

• Our source material:– Archaeology– Chinese observers– Mythological accounts

• Wei chronicles of Japan

• Jimmu-tenno: First Human Emperor

Shintoism• Cosmogonical deities• Ameratsu and the

Land of the Rising Sun

• Kami and the uncanny in nature

• Shrines and ritual observance

• Tsumi and ritual improproety

The Asuka Period• Uji and Yamato

leadership• Buddhism and Soga

patronage• Shotoku Taishi and

Tang models• The Rise of the

Fujiwaras• The Taika Reforms

– Imperial land ownership– Tax assessments– State Shintoism

Imperial Culture

• The Nara Period:– Diffusion of Buddhism– Codification of Shinto– The Fujiwaras and

indirect rule• The Heian Period

– Pure Land Buddhism– The Tale of Genji– The Northern Tribes

and the Shogun

The Crisis of Late Heian Society

• Aristocratic landlords and tax-exemption

• Voluntary land concentration

• Cloister government• The Gempei War

(1180-1185): the Taira and the Minamoto

The Kamakura Period• From courtier to

samurai• Bushido• Zen and the Art of

War• The Shogunate:

indirect rule at its zenith

• Bakufu in action• Repulsion of the

Mongols (1268-81)

Towards Modernity: The Ashikaga Shogunate

• Northern and Southern divisions

• Ikkis• The Onin War (1467-77)• The Economic

Transformation of Japan:– Transportation– Economies of scale– Noble demands and

merchant organization– Chinese trade

• The Golden Age of Japanese Art (1378-1490)

Korea

• The Land in-between• Arable land and

demographic distribution

• Neolithic and Bronze Age Korea

• Enter the Han• Cultural Conduit

The Three Kingdoms

• Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla

• Wood-block and the Tripitaka Koreana

• Shamanism and Chinese religion

• Unified Silla and tributary status

Later Korean History• Collapse of Silla• Foundation of the

Koryo• Culture: celadon, for

example• Social patterns:

– Codification– Buddhism as center of

life– Manorialism

The Indochinese Peninsula

• Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar

• Climatic patterns• The Giants: India and

China

Vietnam

• Red River delta culture• Chinese domination (111 BC – 938 AD)• The Trung Sisters’ Rebellion• Dai-Viet independence• The Golden Age of the Ly Dynasty

Cambodia and Thailand

• The Khmer and Indian borrowings

• The Khmer Empire• Angkor Wat• The fall of the

Khmers• The Thai migration

Summary

Societies in East and Southeast Asia grew up in the shadows of the larger nations of China and India. China especially cast a long shadow over the history of its neighbors, whose rulers were conceived of as “little brothers” of the great Chinese emperor, regardless of dynasty. Nevertheless, reflection on the history of these lands reveals a considerable degree of autonomous cultural identity, perhaps none so fierce as that of Japan.