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Geography
Estates
Religion
Government
Art
100
Archipelago
What type of land structure is Japan?
100
50 feet
What is the approximate diameter of the early tombs?
100
1) After Saicho's death, a power struggle developed amongst the leadership, as rivalry turned violent. 2) Against the court, Mt. Hiei monks frequently demanded such things as land, favor, and power. They resorted to terrorism when their demands were not met.
How did the Tendai sect of Buddhism become a problem?
100
reforms based on Chinese model of centralized gvt. private ownership of land abolished provincial administration system
What were the Taika reforms?
100
Ladies dressed in numerous robes, typically twelve in overlapping layers, cosmetics were used by men and women, especially white face powder. The ladies took great pride in their long, flowing, glossy black hair, but plucked their eyebrows and painted in a new set and blackened their teeth.
Name at least two ways that women in the Fujiwara court groomed themselves to show they value their appearance.
200
Haniwa
What is the name of the earthenware cylinders that surrounded early tombs?
200
The Imperial family, certain nobles, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines were allowed to hold on to their land continuously
Which groups of people were allowed to hold on to their land, contrary to China's "equal field" system? Hint: religious
200
The Tendai temple on Mt. Hiei
What did the Imperial court declare as the "Center for the Protection of the Nation"?
200
Historical tale is the product of the blurring of history and literature, or fact and fiction. They were written in Japanese and focused instead on the details about how people actually lived, felt, and thought. Official court histories compiled in the early Heian period were written in Chinese and are largely a dry accounting of the facts and events of court government.
What is historical tale, and how did differ from early Chinese-style court history?
200
The initial Japanese way of writing was to spell out the Japanese sounds using Chinese characters. Using the kana syllabary, some of these characters were adapted, simplified, and used as phonetic symbols or alphabet.
What is kana, and how does it differ from the initial Japanese way of writing?
300
Pit dwellings with thatched roofs
What types of homes did the Jomon live in?
300
Small landholders commended their fields to local influential families and temples, who in turn commended "their land" to the large, wealthy families or religious institutions who by custom enjoyed exemption from taxes and immunity from government inspection. (Compiled estates)
What is commendation?
300
The sun godess
Who is Ama Terasu?
300
In their heyday the Fujiwara were the wealthiest family in the land. In the Nara period, the Fujiwara played an important part in politics. The key to the Fujiwara success in gaining control over the Imperial family was through marriage.
Who were the Fujiwara, how did they gain power?
300
The Kokinshu is a collection of ancient and modern poems that were known for its quality, refinement, taste, and decorum, and intense emotion.
What is The Kokinshu?
400
Ryukyu islands
Where do scholars believe the Jomon people came through based off their archeological remains?
400
1) The Chinese "equal field" system did not apply. 2) Their land was exempt from taxes and immune from inspection by government officials.
Name one way the Japanese estates were different from the Chinese system of landholding.
400
1) Economics, since the size and number of Buddhist estates continued to increase. 2) Number of clergy, since the government in the ninth century did not limit them. 3) Imperial patronage, as Buddhism was still thought of as a magical protector of the state, and the rituals of Buddhism and art still had great aesthetic appeal.
Name at least two reasons as to why Buddhism rose in importance in the Heian period.
400
The Fujiwara never tried to overthrow the Yamato, preferring instead to "rule from behind the screen." It became gradually became accepted that the emperors would reign, but not rule. Emperors were mere figureheads.
What does "ruling from behind the screen" mean? How did the Fujiwara rule from behind the screen?
400
In poetry, the care and attention to detail, the shape and style of the lines mattered as much as the message. As did the season, the weather, the occasion, the color and texture of the paper, the way it was to be folded, the selection of a suitable flower that was to be attached, and the fragrance of the perfume.
Name four things that one might note as they look at calligraphy in poetry. Note, attention to detail.
500
Mt. Koya on the Kii peninsula
Which mountain is the Shingon's main monastery located? (Hint: south of Osaka)
500
Rather than a centralized Chinese-style system of land distribution, Heian Japan was reverting back to a private landholding system. On the estates, peasants worked for small landholders, who were controlled by estate managers, who answered to proprietors, who in turn were beholden to wealthy patrons. What most affected the lives of the people on the estates then were not the decisions made by the central government, but rather those made by the patrons, the noble families and the religious institutions.
Explain the role of feudalism in Japan
500
1) Aesthetically pleasing (ornaments, icons and mandalas) 2) Mysterious ceremonies (incantations, divination, exorcism, and the medicinal use of herbs) 3) Secretive (teaching in secret - only priests or leisured aristocrats could hope to master Shingon ways)
Why did the Shingon appeal to the aristocracy of the Heian court?
500
Japan used civil service exams to educate sons of court aristocrats as opposed to using them for a wider recruitment of bureaucratic talent
How were the civil service exams in Japan different than those in China?
500
Mono no aware translates to sensitivity to things or a "capacity to be moved by things." The Japanese are emotional people by nature who will respond intuitively and spontaneously when they are moved by the beauties of nature or the feelings of other people. The Tale of Genji has long been held by Japanese critics to exemplify this characteristic.
What is the Tale of Gengi, and how does it use "mono no aware" to speak to the Japanese people?