Speaking historically, the word “medieval” is usually associated with the middle ages of Europe, where things were thought to be primitive. However, there was a medieval period in Japan as well. Europe and Japan are separated by two countries, so it is not surprising to see that their respective medieval worlds occurred at different times. For Japan a lot of it occurred during its Heian and Kamakura periods, where the power split from the Imperial Court and was shared with the Shogunate. Between the Heian Era and the Kamakura Era, there were changes of whom the powered was controlled and the religion of Buddhism, although significant in both eras, was starting to surface as a stronger power, itself. But during this period in Japan, the elegant literature was changing, going almost hand in hand with the changes that were happening.
In the Heian Era, literature was popular in the court, for both the men and the ladies. They took part in reading and writing literary prose, and waka was especially popular. Waka was used for not only pastime but to be exchanged between men and women as love letters are. An important and popular collection of waka proves to be an example of what the Heian period was about. The Kokinwakashu was an Imperial collection, focusing on things that were considered to be elegant, such as seasons, love, and grief. The, what can be referred to as, theme of the collection was miyabi, a metaphorical and less brash way of saying things. This miyabi was an elegance that was almost treated like a rule of waka.
Things slowly changed when time shifted to the Kamakura period. Three centuries after the compilation of the Kokinwakashu, a Shinkokinshu, or the New Kokin(waka)shu, was compiled. It tried to keep elements f...
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...owed behind the time, but played a huge and important role during the medieval period.
Works Cited
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Being a relative neophyte to medieval Japanese history I found Conlan’s State of War to be an enlightening series of chapters about the changes that developed out of the Nanbokucho experience. With the requirement for compensation, rewards being imperative for service, and the often times capricious nature of loyalty; Conlan demystifies the Japanese warrior, revealing them to be no gods or buddhas, rather by and large merely pragmatists.
Boardman, Phillip C. "Margery Kempe (c. 1373-1439)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 455-62. Print.
It was the Portuguese, rather than the Dutch, were the first Europeans to begin a
In the Heian period, an educated person like Genji who wrote beautiful poetry becomes well known and highly regarded. “When the time came to declaim the poems, the Reader could not get on with Genji’s because the gathering repeated and commented admiringly on every line. Even the Doctors were impressed. His Majesty was undoubtedly pleased, since to him Genji was the glory of every occasion.” (Tyler 153)
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The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
Suzuki, Tomi. Narrating the Self: Fictions of Japanese Modernity. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1996.
Due to the geographic location of Japan and China as well as the association between both cultures, many early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by Chinese figures and Chinese culture. Because of this intimate relationship between Japan and China, the majority of Japanese literary works up to the end of the early modern literary period (ending around 1868) was dominated by Chinese cultural references and figures. However during Japan’s opening to the West, this dominance by Chinese literature and culture was reduced as an influx of Western ideals transformed the Japanese literary scene into a fusion of East and West, a fusion that can still be seen today as it permeates a great deal of Japanese popular culture and society.
Japan didn’t have much religious influence in its politics whereas in Western Europe that was the basis for most of its political decisions. An example of those political decisions is the Crusades; in the Crusades the European were in a war with the Muslims over the Holy City. A political similarity between the two is both feudal systems had figureheads. Japan’s figurehead is the emperor, and Europe’s figure head is the king. The shogun has the real power in feudal Japan, and the pope has the power in feudal Europe.
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Howe, Helen, and Robert T. Howe. A World History: Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Volume 1. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1992. 533.
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