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Home › Forums › Core Seminars › East Asia Origins to 1800, Spring 2021 › Session 5 - April 14
Cynthia Jackson.
stubingRegister for the discussion session on Zoom here: https://usc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAqcuGqpzkuGNBkfN5yn3UNsY5nlk8caQRt
Speaker: Professor Morgan Pitelka from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Video 1: Japanese Origins
Video 2: Henan-period Japan
Required Readings
Martha PaoThis week’s readings and videos have been informative and fun. I particularly enjoyed the Sarashima Diary, as the voice of the author, in her youth and optimism, reminded me of Jane Austen (possibly with less of the social critique).
Something that stood out in this introduction to Japan is the focus on literature and art. It contrasts starkly with the unit on China, where the emphasis was on conquest and war. I do wonder if this is a reflection of the culture of Japan vs China? Or perhaps it just happened that the material was more readily accessible? Might there be an unconscious bias in how the two countries are seen? In any case, it is a welcome change to move away from war, repression and political maneuvering and into poetry!
Sean LobberechtI found the first video on Japan very fascinating, especially because it links directly to my curriculum. In Massachusetts the state standards focus mainly on China and the standards on Korea and Japan are brief. One of the standards however has to do with the spread of Buddhism from mainland Asia into Japan. I believe this video helped me gain not only a better understanding of how Buddhism got to Japan but also the influence it had on the nation once it arrived there. I really want to work on having students understand the importance of religion in ancient civilization as many other things are tied to religion such as written records, art, and technology just to name a few. I had mentioned in an earlier post about how my colleague and I are throwing around an idea about an essential for our whole curriculum which would be "what makes a civilization great." I believe coming to a better understanding of the role religion plays in these ancient societies is an essential componenet to this question. Taking a look at the power power struggle between the monarch and the religious institutions would be an excellent activity.
Another aspect of this video I found very interesting was this idea of the moving capital. I believe teaching Japan's history using this as a key idea could help students gain a better understanding of the material? Why were capitals moved? What was the purpose? What did those moving the capital have to gain? I think starting off with just the map of where these capitals were locating and tracing the movement of these capitals could be a fascinating way to dig deeper into different periods of Japaneese history.
Morgan BurtI appreciated the insight that Professor Pitelke provided. I found it interesting when he discussed the written language of Japan. It was mentioned in the text, but clarified by Professor Pitelke. I think that it was unique that Japan began using Chinese writing, although it did not directly express the exact thought or pronunciation. Over time, he mentioned that the written language began to take a shift to match traditional Japanese grammar. He also mentioned that with this new establishment of language, women began engaging in writing more than they had in the past. He highlighted "The Sarashina Diary." Mentioning that the author was one of the greatest of her time. I did find it interesting that the name of the author is unknown, due to the patriarchal society structure. I am wondering if this was the case even during the reign of the female emperor that he mentioned?
Richard CateI enjoyed the 2 lecture sections we were able to watch. I would like to see the whole series. Perhaps I just missed a link to them.
Daniella LeiatoI appreciated this week's reading. Excerpts from The Sarashina Diary will be a great addition to my English classroom. The mixture of poetry and prose as the writer explores and develops her identity will be a great addition into a unit on identity. Using excerpts and elements from the text also offers a great way to open up dialogue about women writers throughout history - taking an intersectional comparison of, as mentioned in a forum post above, women across cultures writing about their experiences (ex: Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, and more contemporary writers such as Sandra Ciscneros and others).
Richard CateI have always been a bit amused that the Tale of Genji is an approved book for middle School students to read considering the sexual content and adult themes. But parents who won't allow their children to read Anime will brag about how scholarly their kid is if they read a classic.
I go over this book with my students and the development of written Japanese. I do not have the time to go into the books content beyond a general synopsis and connections they can observe in people's behavior in their own experience.
forgive my short commentaries as I'm writing during the showing of short videos while teaching my classes.
Johnny WalkerI was fascinated to hear that the influence of Chinese Confucianism (distilled and filtered through Korea) to Japan caused it to become a more patriarchal society. To learn that Japan had a strong matriarchal tradition as embodied by the reign of Empress Suiko, was interesting. It seems as if Japan's culture already had a well-defined relationship between subject and ruler before Confucianism arrived. Why would it adopt a Confucian model? There was a mention that some rulers may have been ethnically Korean. Would that be a reason for importing those Confucian patriarchal values? Has Empress Suiko been "rediscovered" and celebrated more in Japan as a symbol of feminism and women's empowerment in the modern era?
I'm curious if the Confucian influence also inspired greater centralization and hierarchical political structures in addition to subordinating women. Do the massive tombs of the Kofun period reflect a Confucian influence (similar to the terracotta wariors and large tombs within dynastic China) or did that hierarchical and monumental society develop independently? In the lecture, there was mention of intercultural or economic exchange between Japan and Korea in the Kofun period. How long had that been occurring? These monumental structures are quite fascinating developments in human history whether in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Britain, Meso America or South America. And, while there were regional cheifdoms that seemed to later coalesce around a strong ruler, I'm curious how historians are able to suss out the uniquely Japanese culture before China's influence. I'm also interested in the role of "indigenous people" in Japan and how and why they developed separately from the majority population.
I'm also fascinated by the role that politics played in establishing the large religious center at Nara in order to pacify and unify the population under their rule as well as to "buttress their imperial authority" or be a "soverign blessed by Buddha". Religion being imported and used to consolidate power seemed to go hand in hand with importing Confucian values in order to calcify social mobility.
But, the growth in power of the Buddhist priests and abbots and their meddling in the politics of state was one of the causes to move the capitol to Kyoto. That's pretty amazing. It reminds me European attempts to weaken religious power after using it for their own gain, whether the Great Schism where Avignon became the center of French Catholicism, Henry VIII's establishment of the Anglican Church, or Peter the Great's dissolution of the patriarch into the Holy Synod. The harnessing, control, and conflict of religion and state is a central theme throughout history, and it is very interesting to see it being played out here.
But, I think the coolest thing may have been the dogu clay figurine of a sunglasses wearing character. It made me wonder if the Pokemon and anime figures are modern continuities of these artifacts, and to consider the talismanic or shamanistic nature of the modern toys and collectibles people currently use. Finally, because the glasses were likely a response to blinding snow, I wonder about the environmental history of Japan and how people have adapted over time to drastic climate change.
Johnny WalkerI was fascinated to learn about the development of written language and the modification of Chinese symbols into a phonics-based Japanese system. Then, once people had the system with which to express themselves, the flowering of literature was a result of authors who were women.
In the Contemporary China course, we looked at how rising education levels among women in the 1970s and 80s led to a lower infant mortality rates, less poverty and rising overall health and economic well-being. How depressing and sad it was to hear the descriptions of the diary entries as well as The Tale of Genji as eloquent cries for help from an extremely patriarchal society. And, I laughed out loud at the "Depressing Things" list which could find itself on a blog or instagram account of a young woman today from the mundane "dog howling in the daytime" to the bitingly satirical "a scholar whose wife has one girl child after another."
Hearing that aristocratic women were stuck in guilded palatial cages and even were restricted in their speech to male relatives while partitioned behind a screen is such a tragic state-of-affairs. It's a dystopian almost Handmaid's Tale environment. I find it little surprise that a warrior-based samurai culture develops on the heels of this oppressively patriarchal Heian era.
As a history teacher, I always enjoy working with English teachers to collaborate on interdisciplinary units. The academic value of fiction analysis and historical context simultaneously is enormous when exposing students to both literature and history. I also appreciate how Professor Pitelka mentioned the "Me Too" Movement when discussing the millenium-old Tale of Genji and connecting the writing of Murasaki Shikibu to the "outing" of men, whose monstrous behavior and abuse of women echos through the ages. So, in addition to incorporating fiction in order to illuminate history class, more importantly, both history and fiction can place our students' analysis of current events into a similarly more complex and nuanced context with both the historical and literary argumentation to advocate for justice.
Taylor BubI found this weeks videos to be extremely interesting. It is fascinating to learn that the written Japanese language was developed from Chinese characters, and equally interesting to see that many old writings from Japan, were actually written in Chinese. I also found the Tale of Genji to be fascinating to learn about. It seems so interesting to have never heard of it. I think a cool project idea for students would be to have them read one chapter of the Tale of Genji, and create some art form to represent a chapter; students could create a video and reenact it, they could draw or paint it, write about it, etc. I think this would be a cool way for students to explore Japanese writing, similarly to how they explore greek myths and books like the odyssey, as well as tales like the story of Gilgamesh.
Sean LobberechtAs a 7th grade geography and ancient civilizations teacher i found the fact that the purposeful location for the capital of Kyoto to be very ineresting. In an earlier response I talked about how teaching the different Japanese time periods of history might be interesting if it was approached by using the moving capitals as a starting point for each different time period. To expand on that by including Kyoto would be great in my opinion. In ancient civilizations we talk about the geography and how it plays a pivotal role in where ancient civilizations pop up. I think using the story of Kyoto would be an excellent opportunity to show how geography really matters. The placement of Kyoto seems to be perfect from a strategic perspective. It was defended to the east and north by mountains, it had rivers in the general vacinity, it had a channel that led to the sea, and farmland to the south. All of these geographic features are very useful for a city, especially a capital. Ancient civilizations can be a little dry for students, especially the geography portions. Really outting a focus on it though by showing what the different geographic eatures can do for a city I think would be a great lesson for students. It may not even have to be in the unit where you teach about Japan. It could come at the begginning of the year and be used as a prime example of why geography matters so much.
Karina AlonsoI found these videos and readings very informative and I learned new things about Japan. I am looking forward to our session in order to gain more knowledge. I remember taking a course in college about early Japanese art and it was nice to revisit. I have also found it interesting that historically women did not write their names on the literature they created.
Taylor BubI really enjoyed the reading "The Canons of Courtly Taste". some of the short waka peoms included in this were wonderful. The text explains that many of these poems provided sad metaphors for things in Japanese life. I love the example provided:
Taylor BubIt would be cool for students in a science class to be given materials and asked to create sunglasses with no glass and then test them out but going outside or somewhere with a bright light. It would be cool to see what ideas students come up with, or to see if they come up with ideas similar to the ancient 'sunglasses' shown in the sculptures.
Tara CorralPersonally, I would like to know more about the earlier time periods of Japan. Morgan mentioned that Japan has been Japan for the longest time so I feel like it has helped build this idea of what has taken place in Japan or some of it wider known history. In the last section of this course we were looking at how Chinese Pottery indicated when and where civilizations began to develop and the transition from a nomadic lifestyle transitioned into more of a stabilized society. It's interesting to think that Japan was creating such unique and well crafted ceramic pots like the one in the Jomon Period. In the discussion someone mentioned that maybe it was due to the people traveling less frequently that they were able to develop such complex designs. My other thought was how did this travel or what was the process when it was time to move. I got stuck on the earlier parts of this video where Morgan mentions that the doll may be wearing sunglasses or a form of sunglasses. I think it would be a great experiment to show my younger students on how to make useful items such as sunglasses out of materials we have at home. I could show images of the Artic Snow Goggles that Morgan suggested to look up and show how other groups of people found ways to get around blinding sunlight such as using bones and carving eye slits. I think my lower grades would love an art lesson where they discover new ways to make everyday materials of clothing.