CHAPTER 5.2 SHOGUNS AND SAMURAI

I. NARA JAPAN1. Nara became the capital city of Japan in the

early 700’s. Because of its importance, the history of Japan during this time is called the Nara Period. Nara resembled the Chinese city of Changan.

2. Japanese emperors at Nara organizes governments into ranks. Government jobs were given to nobles of powerful families. Jobs could be passed on to the official’s son or another relative.

3. Buddhism came to Japan from Korea and was popular during the Nara Period. Nobles who were not Buddhist opposed the religion, and struggles broke out between Buddhist and non-Buddhist for control of the government.

4. After stopping an attempt by a Buddhist monk to seize the throne, the emperor left Nara to the Buddhist.

Review the lesson and analyze how Nararesembled Changan.

                                                            

     

KINKAJUJI (GOLDEN TEMPLE)

Main Hall

Gates

Lecture Hall

Pagoda

Bell

II. THE RISE OF THE SHOGUN

1. In AD 794, Heian became the new capital of Japan. Today the city is known as Kyoto.

2. The government of Japan declines during the AD 800’s because of a series of weak emperors. Since many of Japanese emperors were children, regents ruled them. Most regents were from the Fujiwara clan and the clan grew powerful and wealthy.

3. Powerful nobles of other clans gained control in other provinces in Japan.

4. To protect their lands, nobles built armies of warriors called samurai. Samurai followed a code of conduct called Bushido, which demanded that a samurai be loyal to his master, courageous, and honorable.

5. The Gempei War was a civil war between the two most powerful clans in Japan – The Taira clan and the Minamoto clan. Minamoto Yoritomo was the leader of the Minamoto clan and commander of their army.

MAJOR BATTLES OF THE GEMPEI WAR

On which island were mostbattles fought?

6. After the Minamoto won the Gempei War, the emperor decided to reward Yoritomo to keep him happy and loyal to the emperor. The emperor gave him the title of Shogun, or commander of all of the emperor’s military. Yoritomo was a ruthless leader. He and the shoguns after him appointed samurai to run provinces.

7. Kublai Khan and the Mongols invaded Japan but were twice defeated. Typhoons, called Kamikaze by the Japanese, helped defeat the invading Mongols.

III. THE DAIMYO DIVIDE JAPAN1. As samurai divided their lands among their

sons, the pieces of land got smaller, and the samurai grew resentful toward the shogun.

2. In 1331, the emperor rebelled against the shoguns and many samurai joined him. Although he won, the emperor refused to give the samurai more land.

3. Askikaga Takauji was a general who turned against the emperor and made himself shogun.

4. Many samurai became vassals of a daimyo. This meant the samurai gave an oath of loyalty to his daimyo in exchange for land. This system is known as feudalism.

5. With no strong central government, Japanese warriors fought each other. The Onin War raged from 1467 to 1477. Much of Kyoto was destroyed. After the war, fighting spread throughout the country as daimyo resisted the shoguns. The Ashikaga shogunate fell in 1567.REVIEW: Why did the samurai resentThe shoguns?ANALYZE: Describe how feudalism is Japan was similar to feudalism in Europe in the middle ages.

COMPARE KNIGHT / SAMURAI

European Knight

CHIVALRY Lord or noble

Land, respect, power

800 – 1300’s AD

Japanese Samurai

BUSHIDO Daimyo Land, respect, power

1100’s – 1800’s AD

CODE OF HONOR Loyal to…

Offered for services

Time period