Reading I NEED HELP ON MY HOMEWORK

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HIST 87: Meeting 2A Key Terms

January 14, 2025 A. Today’s Historical Periods Kofun Period, 300-538 Asuka Period, 538-710 [with Kofun, “the Yamato Period”] Nara Period, 710-784 Heian Period, 784-1185 Kamakura Period, 1185-1333 Muromachi Period, 1338-1573 B. Today’s Chronology 552: Introduction of Buddhism to Japan via Paekche Kingdom (Korean Peninsula). 646: Taika Reform (“Taika” = Great Change) establishes ritsuryō system. 701: Taihō Code establishes the theoretical basis for government under ritsuryō system. 784: Capital established in Heian-kyō (present-day Kyoto). 967: Regency Period of the Heian era begins. 996: Sei Shōnagon completes The Pillow Book 1017: Fujiwara no Michinaga appointed as Regent (highpoint of Fujiwara power) 1068: Regency Period ends. C. Key Terms 1. ⽒ uji The clan groups of the Kofun period (300-538). As defined by William H. McCullough: “A loosely knit, patrilineal kin group of nobles whose members shared an ancestral or guardian deity, bore a common patronymic (except for the imperial clan, which had no name) and hereditary title of status, acknowledged a common chieftain, and were usually buried together in a clan cemetery.”1 Clans managed governance in and around the Nara plain from the 4th to mid-7th century.2 2. ⼤化 taika Literally, “great change.” The Taika Reforms of 646 centralized authority in the imperial court through land tenure and tax reform. The Yamato clan controlled the imperial court. Leaders of other clans were granted official positions with stipends to encourage their participation in the new system. 3. 律令 ritsuryō

1 William H. McCullough, “The capital and its society,” in The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. II, ed. Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough, 97-182 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 128. 2 Delmer H. Brown, “The Yamato Kingdom,” in The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. I, ed. Delmer M. Brown, 108- 162 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

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Literally, “law and order.” The Taika Reform (646) created a new system of land tenure and taxation, and created “sustenance households” (jikifu) linked to court rank, which centralized authority and power under the Yamato court. The Taihō Code of 701 codified the system into a series of administrative and penal codes that centralized authority among a hereditary aristocracy and an imperial court.3 4. ⾷封 jikifu Sustenance household. Court officials appointed at Fifth Rank and higher received large grants of tax-free rice land, which they used to support their positions and activities in the capital. These ranks (and their attendant sustenance households) were largely hereditary. In the early Heian period, nobility at the Third Rank and above came from around 20 clans. Officials at the Fourth and Fifth rank came from around 150-200 clans. The number of clans with members at these ranks declined over the Heian period as the Fujiwara consolidated power by controlling court offices. At the same time, the Court began granting sustenance households to nobles of lower ranks, gradually diluting the economic power associated with all but the highest ranks.4 5. 摂政 sesshō Regent. The official charged with governing the realm on behalf of a child emperor. From 858 to 967, the office was used only sporadically. Between 967 and 1068, what historians call “the Regency Period,” the office was in use continuously, and generally occupied by a member of the Fujiwara’s Northern House.

3 David Lu, "Law and Administration Under the Taihô-Yôrô Code," Japan: A Documentary History (ME Sharpe, 1997), 29-36. 4 McCullough, “The Capital and Its Society,” 131.

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D. Key Images, Tables, Quotes 1. Sei Shônagon, The Pillow Book, #1, “In Spring It Is the Dawn.” “In the winter the early mornings [are the most beautiful]. It is beautiful indeed when the snow has fallen during the night, but splendid too when the ground is white with frost; or even when there is no snow or frost, but it is simply very cold and the attendants hurry from room to room stirring up the fires and bringing charcoal, how well this fits the season’s mood! But as noon approaches and the cold wears off, no one bothers to keep the braziers alight, and soon nothing remains but piles of white ashes.” 2. Murasaki Shikibu, author of Tale of Genji, c. late 10th century: Sei Shônagon is “dreadfully conceited. She thought herself clever, and littered her writings with Chinese characters, but if you examined them closely, they left a great deal to be desired. Those who think of themselves as being superior to everyone else in this way will inevitably suffer and come to a bad end, and people who have become so precious that they go out of their to be sensitive to the most unpromising situations, trying to capture every moment of interest, however slight, are bound to look ridiculous and superficial. How can the future turn out well for them?” 3. Amino Yoshihiko’s Map of Ancient Japan -- image in Canvas 4. The Reform Edict of Taika, 646 (from Lu, “The Taika Reforms,” p. 27): “In lieu [of titles to lands], sustenance households shall be granted to those of the rank of Daibu (Chief of a bureau or ward) and upwards on a scale corresponding to their positions. Cloth and silk stuffs shall be given to the lower officials and people, varying in value.” 5. "Ritsuryô State" (律令 ritsuryô, literally "law" and "order") Ritsu" 律 referred to the criminal code and "ryô" 令 referred to the administrative code. The specific code to which "ritsuryô" referred was the "Taiho Code," which was promulgated in the first year of Taihô (701). This code was based on a model from the Tang Court in China. But, in contrast to the administrative code of the Tang Court, which theoretically opened up administrative positions to scholars regardless of lineage, the Taihô Code consolidated authority in a hereditary aristocracy and the imperial household. 6. Table reproduced from The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2

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7. Table reproduced from The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2

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8. Map reproduced from Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2007)