Outside Influence on Japan

Name:
------------------
..
Period: ·· Date:
---- ----------
The <strong>Influence</strong> of Neighboring Cultures on Japan
Cultural Diffusion to Japan
• Many cultural ideas traveled to Japan from the------­
Peninsula.
• Many of these ideas originally came from------- and
• From China, Japan learned about--------
• Buddhist priests brought
to Japan 1,000 years
after it was founded.
• -------came to power in 593 C. E .
• He admired Korean and Chinese culture.
• In 607 C. E. he sent an official representative to the
--------court.
• He encouraged upper-class Japanese to travel to China to learn
literature, art, philosophy and-------
Japanese interest in other cultures
• Even before Prince Shotoku, Japan had interactions with the Asian
mainland.
• Knowledge of Confucianism and. Buddhism came from the
-------- Peninsula.
• Also advanced ironworking and------- working.
• Japan was originally an-------society.
• People grew
and other crops.
• Upper classes owned--------·.
• Family life was centered around the-------' as father's
generally lived away from the family.
• Japan was not a
country.
• Power was divided among chiefs of clans called-------
Government: Imitating the Chinese System
• Like China, Japan also had-------
• In China the emperor was------- ruler.

• In Japan the emperor only had
control over
semi-independent clans, the uji.
• Uji leaders struggled among themselves for the right to select
the emperor and influence his .
• During the ih and gth centuries Japan started using a Chinese style of
government where the emperor was the
ruler and set
ranks for governmental officials.
• The Taikia Reforms helped
the central
government.
• Land------- was taken away from the lords and given
to the emperor.
City Design
• After the Japanese central government was stronger, they needed a new
• The city became a smaller version of ______ _
• It became known as
-------
• Nara had an orderly checkerboard------- pattern for it's
streets.
• A wide central boulevard ran down the. center.
• The northern section had
temples and
monasteries near the imperial pa.lace buildings.
• The only difference besides the size was that Nara did not have a
Buddhism and Shinto
• Japan's original religion is-------
• This religion expresses the love and respect of the Japanese for
• Worships spirits called----------
• Kami are things like wind, lightning, trees, the
-------, and other important people.
_________
• Shinto stresses purifying whatever is-,..-------
..;....
• Buddhists see life as full of and

• It taught that life is an------- cycle of birth, death, and
rebirth.
• If you led a bad life, you would be .reborn into something
• If you were respectful to others, acted rightly, and achieved
wisdom through meditation you can eventually achieve
-------and never be born again.
Buddhism comes to Japan
• In 552 a Korean king sent the Japanese emperor a statue of the
-------and a recommendation for the new religion. ·
• The statue arrived with chanting monks, books of prayer, gongs,
and banners.
• The emperor had not
anything like this before.
• The expression on the Buddha's face was of severe
he
thought it should be worshiped.
• There was great controversy but eventually it was admired for it's
wisdom and rituals.
• Buddhism did not
Shinto, the two blended
together.
<strong>Influence</strong>s of Chinese Language and Poetry·
• Ancient Japanese was only a _______ language.
• Written documents were written in-------' whiCh they
learned from Korean scholars.
• The Japanese started using
, or "Chinese
writing." to write Japanese words.
• Eventually started using
, or "borrowed 1E~tters."
which used simplified Chinese characters to stand for syllables.
• Earliest Japanese poems are from the ih and gth centuries. They used
Chinese characters to develop-------
• Tanka is based on having a set number of
each line of the poem.
Carving Techniques
in

• Sculptures started as
figurines, often of armored
warriors, saddled horses, robed ladies, and objects like houses and·
boats.
• The Chinese brought stone working to Japan.
• The Koreans used and
-------
• The Japanese learned these techniques but also worked with
Architecture
• Temple designs from------- came to Japan from
• Buddhist monasteries featured shrines called------­
with roofs shaped like bells.
• The Chinese replaced the bell shape with a series of stories and
curved roofs.
• These are called
-------
• Buddhist pagodas inspired Shinto priests to build their own
------------
shrines.
.
• Shinto shrines reflected Japan's agricultural society and nature.
Music
• Japan's native music consisted of chanted poems, war songs, folk songs, .
and
prayers.
• These were
, using only a few notes.
• Clay figurines show musicians playing the either, flutes, and
percussion instruments.
• From china came
, Chinese court music.
• This is still played in Japan today.
• The Chinese-------' pronounced
in
Japan also came during this time.