| 1. |
Focus Question: What
early developments make Japanese culture and history unique? |
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Japanese culture changed radically on three separate occasions, and
each time change was "prompted" by? Why are there no bones
to allow archeologists to study the earliest settlers of Japan? Why
is early Japanese Jomon pottery baffling to archaeologists? From
where did the Yayoi immigrants come, when did they arrive and what technology
did they bring? On what economic basis did the Yayoi culture rest?
From the first century C.E. to the third, what was the political situation
in Japan? What does the Records of Ancient Mattersreveal about
Yamato society? What was the basic social unit of Yamato society?
What was the relationship of the Yamato court to Korea and what advantages
did it bring the court? What does Shinto mean? What
are its chief characteristics? Why did the sun goddess become the
chief deity? |
| 2. |
Focus Question: Which
elements of Chinese higher culture did Japan absorb? Which does Japan
reject? |
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When did Japan absorb higher Chinese civilization? Why and what
did Japanese rulers borrow from the Chinese? Explain the cultural
gap between rulers and the mass of people during this period? How
did the position of the emperor of China differ with that of Japan during
the Nara period? What "type of rulers" were the emperors of the Nara
and Heian courts follow? How was political power shared?
How did the imperial court extend its influence into the provinces? |
| 3. |
Focus Question: How
was Japan governed and what factors helped define its character? |
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How did the Japanese court government differ from that of China?
What taxation system did Japan eventually adopt? Why did increasing
numbers of cultivators commend their small holding to important nobles?
During the Nara period, what percentage of able-bodied men were conscripted
into the military? Who were the samurai and why did they replace
the conscripted soldiers? How did the Fujiwara secure “their” rule
at court from 986-1086? Who initially replaced the Fujiwara nobles
in controlling Japan? How did Taira Kiyomori "gain" power and how
did the "rule". |
| 4. |
Focus Question: What were
the main features of Japanese culture in the Middle Ages? |
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What was the chief "occupation" of the aristocracy? How large
was the aristocracy during the early Heian period? What accounts
for the great cultural gap between the aristocracy and commoners?
In which language was most literary works produced until the 19th century?
Why was the invention of Kana so important? Who were the first
and most noted writers of early literature in the Japanese language?
What type of literature did they produce? What aspect of Buddhism
appealed
to the Naran and Heian Japanese? How and why was the reception of
Buddhism in Japan different from China? What are the main differences
of Tendai and Shingon sects of Buddhism? What was the relationship
between Buddhism and Shintoism? |
| 5. |
Focus Question:What led
to the new institution of the shogunate and how did it function?
What were its weaknesses? |
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How was the Minamoto Yoritomo victory different from the earlier one
of Taira Kiyomori? Why did Yoritomo decide to establish his headquarters
at Kamakura? What condition of feudalism is controversial in its
application to Japanese history, why? What qualifications are necessary
to consider the Kamakura military band feudal? How did the Kamakura
vassals manage to rule Japan despite their small numbers? What role
did the Hojo play in shogun politics after the death of Yoritomo?
How was the second invasion of Japan by the Mongols of Kublai Khan repulsed?
Despite victory, how did the Mongol invasions negatively affect the shogunate?
What was the position of women in Japan and what most affected their status
in society? Why and how did Japanese inheritance practices change
in the fifteenth century? What tensions developed in late Kamakura
society? How was the Ashikaga shogunate different from the Kamakura?
What factors complicated the relationship between the Kyoto bakufu and
the Ashikaga vassal states? How urban was Japan until the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries? During the late Heian, what practice shifted
more agricultural surplus into local hands and what was its impact? What
prompted the expansion of commerce and markets within Japan? |
| 6. |
Focus Question: What was
the nature of medieval Japanese culture? |
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How was Japanese medieval culture different from classical culture?
What were the main doctrines of Pure Land Buddhism? Why did it become
the dominant form of Buddhism in Japan? How was Nichiren buddhism
different from Pure Land? How was Zen Buddhism a religion of paradox
in Japan? In what cultural area did Japanese Zen excell? What
were the characteristics and main themes of No plays? Which three
countries of Asia were most affected by Chinese culture? What explanation
can be given for the parallels of feudal culture which characterized both
northwestern Europe and Japan? |
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