AS 201 Japan's Feudal Experience I: Video

Kyoto v. Kamakura

Emperor Remains at the Top

Assigns Ranks and Land rights to Nobles;

Appoints Governors and Vice Governors as Provincial Adminstrators

It's a "Bureaucratic Arrangement" i.e. they hold an Office to which they are Apointed by the Sovereign

Kamkura = an independent administrative center or structure which is both

--Lower down than the Imperial/Court One; and

--Networked in to a differet Hierarchy, a Military one

Yes, Shôgun is "appointed" by the Emperor, too;

But beneath him are men, warriors, who are in a Direct, Personal, Feudal Relationship with their Military Leader, their Fedual Lord

These Relations are governed by Personal Bonds of Loyalty

Oaths are sworn, the Vassal pledges to (Over) Lord

These are at the Heart of a Feudal System

The governing Values are

Valor, Honor, Loyalty, Courage

-- and a Personal Relationship between Lord and Retainer

--so the Kamakura system = a Network of personal Allegiances between Minamoto-no- Yoritomo (the Shôgun at Kamakura) and his "Gokenin" (ご家人), literally, his "Housemen"

These very Personal Bonds between Lord and his Retainers are Sacred and Pre-eminent; and also

Outside the Old Imperial Administrative Framework centered on Kyoto;

Emperor still at the Apex

Tenno (Emperor)

Who Appoints Shogun

who has his Loyal

Housemen they provide

Law and Order

Defense

Tax Collection

Oversee Royal Estates (shoen)

for

Aristocrats and Temples

where Farmers

work in villages growing crops

so, all of these relationships pyramid up to the seat of Kamakura power, which was called the

Bakufu, (幕府), lit. "Tent Govt" i.e., Military Government

--this term comes to be translated as the "Shogunate"

Seperated by Distance and Structure from Kyoto

For all practical puposes, these Samurai Vassals or Retainers can ignore the Imperial Office Structure;

They are part of a secondary governmental structure nested within the old one;

They report back to their Feudal Lord, the Shôgun, whose Retainers they were

So we are seeing a Hybrid kind of system:

--the Minamoto Housemen, the Gokenin, manage Estates throughout Japan

--these Estates, Shôen, belong to the Emperor, Court Nobles, big Temples and Shrines, etc.

--But the managers no longer work for the Noble Families

--but for a military leader with whom they share a personal bond of loyalty,

--and they create a complex system of rewards or compensation for services provided.

--They are asking for, and getting, their fair share of the rewards the system can offer

This constitutes the Rise of the Samurai Class

--They are injecting themselves into an existing governmental structure with one of their own which operates on its own, private principles

--The Samurai are the Guardians of Local Law and Order and Financial Administration, too

--So it is a National Governmental Structure or System centered around Military Leaders and Warrior Families situated in Kamakura

Religious Awakening

This set of institutional transfomations is also accompanied by a signifcant Religious Transformation New forms of "Popular Buddhism" emerge which rather than stressing the Difficult 8-fold Path of inner work that practioners must follow, it claims Faith can be all you need.

Believe Now! Have Faith in the Buddha, and you will be reborn into a Paradise where you experience eternal bliss.

You could practice Popular Buddhism, i.e. demonstrate your Faith, by Chanting and Repeating Key Phrases from Sutra.

Nichiren or the "Lotus Sect of Buddhism also a newer, popular form of Buddhism. Just chant "Namu myôhô, renge kyô" or "Praised Be the Lotus Sutra" and you could be good to go.

Not all were buying this, though:

Zen Buddhism appealed to Samurai with its focus on physical and metal dicipline as a way to transcend both Rationalism and Scholasticism in favor of Direct Perception of Reality, of the Inner Mind, of one's own Buddha Nature.

Four key principles were noted:

1. Not relying on the words and letters,

2. Teachings are transmitted outside the Scriptures;

3. Pointing directly into one's mind,

4. Seeing into his own nature and attaining Buddhahood.

In other words, it is not about what the Buddha said or tried to explain after his Enlightenment experience under the Bo Tree;

It is about REPLICATING or HAVING that same Direct Intuitive Experience of the Truth of the Universe for ourselves.

Mongol Invasions 1274 and 1281

--massive 250,000 attackers

--Long, hard grueling campaigns

--Problem was, foreign enemy so no Land or Spoils to distribute to warriors in compensation for their sacrifices;

This is a problem for the System because it cannot reward the samurai.

--At the same time, the Warrior Class is outgrowing its economic base, exacerbating;

--as number of warriors and warrior families grow, it's stil the same size pot from which to distribute the "bennies," so everyobody takes a little less? Never popular!

--So warrior bonds begin to pull apart; the Hojo Regents attacked and destroyed;

--Ashikaga Takauji emerges as new Shôgun, but his base is in Kyoto, the Muromachi District

--So he is working more closely with the Aristocrats

-- so he is never as independent as Kamakura Shogunate was; So Court and Mlitary start to blend and bleed into one another

--Meanwhile, as Central government structure weakens, local vassals become more and more autonomous; also more powerful.

Start to be called Daimyô (大名) lit. "Big Names"

--Build castles and Castle Town;

--Their Realms or domains are built from the bottom up like European Kingdoms or Principalities.

--The Daimyô make House Codes and that becomes the Law of their Territory -- so they were very independent from everybody = local self rule

--their aim is to maximize on the economic and military power of their domain and build huge, siege-resistant castles.

--During this politically unstable era, oddly, the arts flourish;

-- Ink Paintings (sumi-e),

--the Gold and Silver Pavillions in Kyoto,

--Noh Theatre,

--Tea Ceremony,

--Landscape Gardens

-- all art forms featuring extreme Restraint and Minimalism; also

--Yûgen = or the beauty of the partially or half revealed truth;

--we call it a kind of fûryû bunka or a culture of "refined or tossed off elegance," the surprise of finding beauty where you do not expect it;

--wabi-sabi = appreciation for the desolate, the flawed, the lonely, the isolated, the sad

A Time of Economic Dynamism

Ashikaga or Muromachi Era Japan having its own mini-Commercial Revolution. Not quite like Song but

--markets spreading, market towns appear; --specialization, crops for the market,

--trade with China and Europe,

--Kyoto a craft center,

--Osaka/Sakai a commercial center,

--peasants more autonomous so they can innovate and be more productive;

--take their crops to the marketplace

-- not quite like the Song Commercial Revolution - but first steps

So, change is in the air and these Daimyô start to compete and go to War with each other:

Ushers in the Warring States Period 1477-1600

Instructions

AS 201 Japan's Feudal Experience I: Video

Kyoto v. Kamakura

Emperor Remains at the Top

Assigns Ranks and Land rights to Nobles;

Appoints Governors and Vice Governors as Provincial Adminstrators

It's a "Bureaucratic Arrangement" i.e. they hold an Office to which they are Apointed by the Sovereign

Kamkura = an independent administrative center or structure which is both

--Lower down than the Imperial/Court One; and

--Networked in to a differet Hierarchy, a Military one

Yes, Shôgun is "appointed" by the Emperor, too;

But beneath him are men, warriors, who are in a Direct, Personal, Feudal Relationship with their Military Leader, their Fedual Lord

These Relations are governed by Personal Bonds of Loyalty

Oaths are sworn, the Vassal pledges to (Over) Lord

These are at the Heart of a Feudal System

The governing Values are

Valor, Honor, Loyalty, Courage

-- and a Personal Relationship between Lord and Retainer

--so the Kamakura system = a Network of personal Allegiances between Minamoto-no- Yoritomo (the Shôgun at Kamakura) and his "Gokenin" (ご家人), literally, his "Housemen"

These very Personal Bonds between Lord and his Retainers are Sacred and Pre-eminent; and also

Outside the Old Imperial Administrative Framework centered on Kyoto;

Emperor still at the Apex

Tenno (Emperor)

Who Appoints Shogun

who has his Loyal

Housemen they provide

Law and Order

Defense

Tax Collection

Oversee Royal Estates (shoen)

for

Aristocrats and Temples

where Farmers

work in villages growing crops

so, all of these relationships pyramid up to the seat of Kamakura power, which was called the

Bakufu, (幕府), lit. "Tent Govt" i.e., Military Government

--this term comes to be translated as the "Shogunate"

Seperated by Distance and Structure from Kyoto

For all practical puposes, these Samurai Vassals or Retainers can ignore the Imperial Office Structure;

They are part of a secondary governmental structure nested within the old one;

They report back to their Feudal Lord, the Shôgun, whose Retainers they were

So we are seeing a Hybrid kind of system:

--the Minamoto Housemen, the Gokenin, manage Estates throughout Japan

--these Estates, Shôen, belong to the Emperor, Court Nobles, big Temples and Shrines, etc.

--But the managers no longer work for the Noble Families

--but for a military leader with whom they share a personal bond of loyalty,

--and they create a complex system of rewards or compensation for services provided.

--They are asking for, and getting, their fair share of the rewards the system can offer

This constitutes the Rise of the Samurai Class

--They are injecting themselves into an existing governmental structure with one of their own which operates on its own, private principles

--The Samurai are the Guardians of Local Law and Order and Financial Administration, too

--So it is a National Governmental Structure or System centered around Military Leaders and Warrior Families situated in Kamakura

Religious Awakening

This set of institutional transfomations is also accompanied by a signifcant Religious Transformation New forms of "Popular Buddhism" emerge which rather than stressing the Difficult 8-fold Path of inner work that practioners must follow, it claims Faith can be all you need.

Believe Now! Have Faith in the Buddha, and you will be reborn into a Paradise where you experience eternal bliss.

You could practice Popular Buddhism, i.e. demonstrate your Faith, by Chanting and Repeating Key Phrases from Sutra.

Nichiren or the "Lotus Sect of Buddhism also a newer, popular form of Buddhism. Just chant "Namu myôhô, renge kyô" or "Praised Be the Lotus Sutra" and you could be good to go.

Not all were buying this, though:

Zen Buddhism appealed to Samurai with its focus on physical and metal dicipline as a way to transcend both Rationalism and Scholasticism in favor of Direct Perception of Reality, of the Inner Mind, of one's own Buddha Nature.

Four key principles were noted:

1. Not relying on the words and letters,

2. Teachings are transmitted outside the Scriptures;

3. Pointing directly into one's mind,

4. Seeing into his own nature and attaining Buddhahood.

In other words, it is not about what the Buddha said or tried to explain after his Enlightenment experience under the Bo Tree;

It is about REPLICATING or HAVING that same Direct Intuitive Experience of the Truth of the Universe for ourselves.

Mongol Invasions 1274 and 1281

--massive 250,000 attackers

--Long, hard grueling campaigns

--Problem was, foreign enemy so no Land or Spoils to distribute to warriors in compensation for their sacrifices;

This is a problem for the System because it cannot reward the samurai.

--At the same time, the Warrior Class is outgrowing its economic base, exacerbating;

--as number of warriors and warrior families grow, it's stil the same size pot from which to distribute the "bennies," so everyobody takes a little less? Never popular!

--So warrior bonds begin to pull apart; the Hojo Regents attacked and destroyed;

--Ashikaga Takauji emerges as new Shôgun, but his base is in Kyoto, the Muromachi District

--So he is working more closely with the Aristocrats

-- so he is never as independent as Kamakura Shogunate was; So Court and Mlitary start to blend and bleed into one another

--Meanwhile, as Central government structure weakens, local vassals become more and more autonomous; also more powerful.

Start to be called Daimyô (大名) lit. "Big Names"

--Build castles and Castle Town;

--Their Realms or domains are built from the bottom up like European Kingdoms or Principalities.