Japan Learns from China and Korea

Early Japanese Society

• Early Japanese society received little influence from the rest of Asia

• But, by the 500s, Japanese leaders started sending people to China and Korea to learn more about their cultures

Changes in Language

• Early Japan had no written language

• Japan borrowed Chinese as a written language

• Chinese characters represented Japanese sounds

Language• The rich and educated learned to write

in Chinese

• Chinese was the official language of Japan’s government

Religion and Philosophy

• Remember Shinto? – It originated in Japan

• Shinto is Japan’s traditional religion

• Shinto is the worship of nature spirits, called kami

Religion and Philosophy

• One of the most influential leaders to bring Chinese ideas to Japan was Prince Shotoku

• Prince Shotoku was a regent- a person who rules a country for someone who is unable to rule

Religion and Philosophy

• Prince Shotoku sent scholars to China- they brought back Confucianism– What two principles

did Confucius teach?

• Japanese families began to live by the rules of Confucianism

Religion and Philosophy

• Korea introduced Buddhism to Japan

• People knew about Buddhism, but many still wanted to practice Shinto

Religion and Philosophy

• Prince Shotoku was Buddhist- he worked to make Buddhism popular in Japan

• He even built a Buddhist temple that still stands today

Government

• Villages in Japan were ruled by clan chiefs– What is a clan?

• One clan, the Yamamotos, became powerful by conquering other clans

• They called themselves the emperors of Japan

The son and grandson of Japan’s current emperor

Government

• Prince Shotoku wanted Japan’s emperors to be powerful, like China’s

• But, the clans didn’t agree

• As a result, Japan’s emperors gained little power

Review Questions

True or False- Japan is made up of mountains, volcanoes and flat coastal plains

Review Questions

• How did Japan’s location both separate it from and tie it to China and Korea?

Hint

Review Question

• What is a clan?

Review Questions

• What two religions did Prince Shotoku help spread in Japan?

Review Question

• The influence of China and Korea on Japan’s early history, culture and development is found in all of the following except

a. Japan’s first writing system

b. The traditional Japanese diet

c. Early rules for family behavior

d. The practice of Buddhism

Review Question

• What is a regent?

Changes in Language

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Religion and Philosophy

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Government• __________________________________

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The son and grandson of Japan’s current emperor