Japan+Chapter+4

Post 3 events/ideas and 1 image of something that reflects the influence of China and the uniqueness of Japan during the Nara Period.

Sam Wickham:


 * The Nara pursued Chinese culture actively, sending envoys called kentoshi to the Tang court every twenty years
 * The Kojiki and the Nihongi both employed the use of Chinese characters when written during this period. The Kojiki used the characters to represent the sounds of the Japanese language, and the Nihongi was actually written in Chinese.
 * The Chinese monk Ganjin arrived in Nara and established the first kaidan, or ordination platforms.

Statue of Chinese monk Ganjin

Derek Crowley

Prince Shotoku who wrote the //Seventeen Article Constitution//
 * Adopted a Chinese Confucian model of government
 * Most Japanese lived in pit houses during the Nara period
 * A capital city based on a model of a Chinese capital alienated Japanese aristocracy from its populatio

Jason Purnell:

chinese alphabet (or so Google says it is)

 * Most Japanese followed the Shinto religion and worshiped Kami
 * Used Chinese writing
 * Japan begins to adopt Chinese taught Buddhism

Alexander Stravinski http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/01/03/travel/03heads600/articleLarge.jpg
 * Integrated Buddhism into the government
 * Was primarily an agriculture and village based society
 * Eventually broke off from the uji

Heijyokyo Palace in Nara

Jeffrey G. Rosenberg: Daibutsu "Great Buddha" at Nara.
 * In 770, Empress Suiko printed 100,000 copies of a Buddhist charm to ward off disease in Japan.
 * In 692, many of Japan's religious temples had become Buddhist monasteries—nearly 545 of them—bringing Buddhism to its peak level of influence since its introduction into Japan. Buddhism almost became Japan's state religion.
 * The Buddhist monk, Gyogi taught Japanese that Shinto divinities were varying forms of Buddha—Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, became "the great cosmic deity who ruled over a world of light."[[image:DSCN2769.jpg]]

Sebastian Bellisario


 * Blended the Shinto and Buddhist religions so that they both could coexist.
 * Moved the capitol to Nara, the first capitol of japan to remain constant for any amount of time. This was made possible by the growing strength of Buddhism. Shinto prevented a capitol remaining inone place due to the belief that the dead kami would remain and haunt the house.
 * The capitol was moved to Nagaoka to avoid the growing influence of Buddhism in the government.

Larry Zhu:


 * Some Degree of political influence also helped the spread of buddhism as the powerful Soga family rose and ebbed with Buddhist thought.
 * The Kojiki and Nihongi provide ample evidence of Chinese influence. These are slightly adapted to Japanese cultures by tracing the Mandate of Heaven back to the Sun God
 * Poetry and Architectual style both harken back to Chinese innovation. Nara temples, particularly mahayana temples, utilize Chinese designs

Adam Grey path of the kentoshi
 * Nara was Japan's first truly urban center. It had 200,000 residents, 4% of the entire country's population
 * The first works of Japanese literature appeared during the Nara period as a result of court efforts to record and document Japan's history
 * The nara court aggressively imported Chinese civilization by sending diplomatic envoys known as kentoshi to the Tang court every twenty years