chapter 8

Deep Ideologies

1) Chinese Buddhism

2) China had developed a system called the Tribute System.

3) Women had a lot more freedom and were able to work and have an education.

4) Marriage alliances were used as political strategies.

Shotoku Taishi

Shotoku Taishi was a prominent aristocrat from one of the major clans and he launched a lot of scaled missions to China. Shotoku had issued the Seventeen Article Constitution and saying that the emperor of Japan should be a chinese style emperor and was to encourage Buddhism and Confucianism.

The Tribute System

People who were not from China had to send a delegation to the Chinese court and they would have to present products of value from the countries to the emperor of China. The emperor in return would grant the permission to the person to trade into China's rich markets and the emperor from China would also provide gifts for them and often times it would be worth a lot more than what the tribute had offered. This was how the Chinese Dynasty's tried to regulate there relationships with the northern nomads.

China 600 B.C.E

Map #1

China 1000 B.C.E

Map #2

The Tale of Genji

"The 'Tale of the Genji' or Genji Monogatari, written in the 11th century CE by Murasaki Shikibu, a court lady, is Japan's oldest novel and possibly the first novel in world literature. The classic of Japanese literature, the work describes the life and loves of Prince Genji and is noted for its rich characterisation and vivid descriptions of life in the Japanese imperial court. The work famously reproduces the line 'the sadness of things' over 1,000 times and has been tremendously influential on Japanese literature and thinking ever since it was written. The 'Tale of Genji' continues to be retranslated into modern Japanese on a regular basis so that its grip on the nation's imagination shows no sign of loosening."

The Diamond Sutra

Diamond Sutra

"Diamond Sutra, Sanskrit Vajraccedika-sutra (“Diamond Cutter Sutra”), brief and very popular Mahayana Buddhist text widely used in East Asia and perhaps the best known of the 18 smaller “Wisdom” texts that together with their commentaries are known as the Prajnaparamita (“Perfection of Wisdom”). It takes the form of a dialogue in the presence of a company of monks and bodhisattvas (“Buddhas-to-be”) between the Buddha as teacher and a disciple as questioner. The Chinese translation, Jingang jing (“Diamond Sutra”), appeared about 400 CE.The Diamond Sutra expresses the Prajnaparamita emphasis upon the illusory nature of phenomena in these words: “Just as, in the vast ethereal sphere, stars and darkness, light and mirage, dew, foam, lightning, and clouds emerge, become visible, and vanish again, like the features of a dream—so everything endowed with an individual shape is to be regarded.” As with most of the shorter (and later) Prajnaparamita texts, the ideas are not argued or explained but boldly stated, often in striking paradoxes, including frequent identification of things with their opposites. Thus, the form of presentation underlines the text’s thesis that spiritual realization depends upon transcending rational categories. Partly for this reason the Diamond Sutra is considered the Sanskrit work closest in spirit to the philosophy of Chan (Zen) Buddhism."

China

841-845

Suppression of Buddhism

868

First printed book

300-800

Buddhism takes root in china

581-618

Sui dynasty: reunification of China

618-907

Tang dynasty: more freedom for elite women

960-1279

Song dynasty: China's "economic revolution"

North of the Great wall

200 B.C.E- 200 C.E

Xiongnu Empire

750s

Uighurs assist Tang dynasty rulers in suppressing rebellion

907- 1234

Khitan and Jurchen peoples rule parts of northern China

East Southeast Asia

East/ Southwest Asia

1000

The Tale

of

Genji in

Japan

794-1185

Heian period

in Japanese History: highly refined court

life

939

Vietnam

establishes independence

from China

688

Founding of

Unified

Silla Kingdom

(Korea)

604

Shotoku Taishi issues seventeen article constitution in Japan

1443

Korea

establishes

phonetic

alphabet,

hangul

East and Central Asia

1207- 1368

Mongol conquest/ rule in China

841- 845

Suppression of Buddhism in China

939

Vietnam independent from China

618- 1279

Tang and Song dynasties in China

1405- 1433

Ming dynasty maritime

expeditions

in Indian

Ocean

Vietnam and China

Vietnam had been under the ruling of China for over a thousand years. They had adopted Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, administrative techniques and artistic/literary styles from China. The heartland of Vietnam was called the Red River Valley and it was fully incorporated into the Chinese state. At the Battle of Bach Dang River changed it all.

Vietnam and China

Japan and China

The Japanese islands were never invaded because they were separated from China by about 100 miles of ocean. Japan had found that much was useful from China form the Tang Dynasty. China had a goal of turning Japan into a centralized bureaucratic state. Since China did not attack Japan or threaten them it made it possible for Japan to have educated and literature classes. But then Buddhism had deeply affected Japan's art, architecture, education, view of the afterlife, and the impermanence of life. When collecting China's culture elements it had diminished and the tribute missions from Japan to China had stopped which had made it difficult for people to return to the mainland. So with the few items that Japan had collected from the Chines culture they had to mix it with there own culture.

Xiongnu Empire

An imperial creation of nomadic steppe peoples who inhabited lands north of China. In the third and second centuries B.C.E., this empire stretched from Manchuria to Central Asia, establishing a model for later Turkic and Mongol empires.

Xiongnu

Empire

Foot Binding

The Chinese practice of tightly wrapping girls feet to keep them small, prevalent in the Song dynasty and later; an emphasis on small size and delicacy was central to views of female beauty.

Foot Binding

Tribute System

A set of practices that required a show of subordination from all non-Chinese authorities and the payment of tribute-products of value form their countries- to the Chinese emperor. In return, China would grant trading rights to foreigners and offer gifts even more valuable than the tribute itself.

Hangzhou

China's capital during the Song Dynasty, with a population at its height of more than a million people.

Hangzhou

Tang dynasty

Tang Dynasty

Ruling dynasty of China (618-907) noted for its openness to foreign cultural influences. Together with its successor, the Song dynasty, it represented a golden age of arts and literate and established patterns of Chinese life that endured into the twentieth century.

How has the concept of human rights evolved over time?

#1

The concept of human rights had changed dramatically in many different ways for women especially. In the Song dynasty, women had a lot more freedom but they still had little restrictions. Women had later found the ability of foot binding which they were able to have a whole new image. In the textile, industry men had taken the work of females and the industry had grown even more. Women then went on and had operated restaurants, sold fish, and vegetables worked as maids, cooks, and dressmakers. Women had thought that they were able to finally be equal to there husbands. Women were finally able to control there own dowries and were able to inherit property from there families. Women were, later on, able to have the right to education so that they can educate their children better and increase the family's fortune. In Japan, elite women had also enjoyed their freedom. The elite women had continued to inherit property but their marriages were made and broken easily. Then the political life of women was reduced and the marriages were later used as strategies.

What are the conditions necessary for peace?

#2

Some conditions for peace were arrangements that the nomadic confederacy who were known as the Xiongnu Empire they would give China, or China would give to the empire. The Chinese emperor had negotiated to say that the nomadic state would be recognized political equal and had supplied them for a year with large quantities of grain, wine, and silk. Because of this arrangement the empire had also agreed to not have military incursions into China. The Turkic empire would have something similar to the Xiongnu empire. They would also receive a "gift". Steppe nomads and China had extorted goods to avoid conflict, but sooner or later the state had broken down. The Uighurs would also receive gifts to avoid conflict because they were the ones who had rescued the Tang dynasty and in return, they were given one of the Chinese emperor's daughter as a wife and would exchange their horses and would give them silk and they would also receive half a million rolls of silk to the Uighurs lands.

What happen when diverse cultures interact?

#3

Many things can happen when diverse cultures interact. Something that can happen is that a war can break out, or they end up being rivals, or they can end up fighting until one diverse culture has been wiped out. There would not be a lot of things stopping them because China's iron industry was rapidly growing and so was the invention of gunpowder which was for the military. There was a lot of military conflict. The steppe nomads were not interested in ruling China. On the other hand the nomadic people had some ruled parts of China and had also governed parts of China. Japan, Korea, and Vietnam had responded to china in several different ways but they had also appreciated the Chinese culture.

How do resources affect cooperation and conflict?

#4

Resources affect cooperation and conflict in many different ways. An example would be the crisis of Chinese Buddhism. China had state treasuries and they had been low on funds and the government officials had to have a covetous eye on the state wealth, because of this people would think that Buddhism was a foreign origin and offensive to the Confucian and Daoist thinkers. The people had argued over the withdraw of the city-state. A lot of people had to take on the new life of china and the changing environment. Later on, the state of China had to take action on the Buddhist establishment and other religions. Nuns and monks had to return to there normal life which they would be tax-paying citizens again. Because of this Buddhist were not allowed to use gold, silver, copper, iron, and gems.

How does belief influence action?

#5

For China belief influences in many different ways. They would also influence action because China would go place to place and others would say that they want to have that belief or that they want to be like that. Sooner or later China had influenced Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. For example, in China, they had used women for marriage. They would marry them because others thought that marriage can be used as a political strategy. The people from China thought that Japan should have some of there beliefs and so they did. When China was trying to transform Japan-China said that they should be a centralized bureaucratic state on their model. In Vietnam, they had adopted Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism based on China. In Korea, China would have culturally influenced them in the form of Buddhism.

How is power distributed and exercised?

#6

China had used their power for good and for bad. China had used its power to gain access to new things like rice for example. Since China had a lot of creativity they were able to have something that would cause cross-cultural contact. They would be able to have something similar to the Persian windmills. China also had the power to invade many different city-states because a great economic evolution that had made them the most skilled and China was also by far the richest. They also had real growth in their population. They would distribute their power by showing Vietnam, Korea, and Japan their ways of life and how they would do things. For example, they would show Vietnam there approach to the government and they had found it useful.

Samurai and Knights: Were the Similarities Greater than the Differences?

#7

The similarities had been greater than the differences. There had been more samurai then knights in Japan. In Japan when power had actually become more of a decentralized state. Because of this Japan had to create there own military forces which had been known as a samurai. A samurai was considered someone with loyalty, bravery, endurance, honor, amazing skill in martial arts, and someone who had proffered death over surrender. A knight was also someone who had to have loyalty, respect, honor, and endurance.

What were the Most Important Consequence of the Printing Press?

#8

The printing press affected ancient China in many ways. It opened up a way for news to get around and let others see what was going on in what time. It allowed Chinese officials to create important documents it also opened up a way for another form of communication. Another huge way it had affected China is that it created another way for art to become published and seen. At the time of the printing press came out it made people happy because in that time people had been seen depressed because of war and poverty, it allowed the people to see and read the printed books.

Enlightenment Philosophers: What was their main ideas?

#9

Their main ideas were that they were trying to make a change in their state or they were doing something to demonstrate what they had to go through. They had also wanted to show women experiences a little more of freedom also what women would conduct. For example in a Japanese novel called "The Tale of Genji" the author Murasaki Shikibu, she wanted to show the romances of court life that women had. Philosophers in Korea had also wanted to show their main idea by not having the same alphabet for China they wanted to have something different. Philosophers in China wanted to let other people know that they had the strongest military power and no one could invade them in any way shape or form.