0:01 this video is brought to you by
0:05 captivating history the culture of
0:07 ancient Japan was built on the ideals of
0:10 order harmony and self-improvement
0:13 while these core values guided the early
0:16 history of Japan they remain key factors
0:20 in the success of modern day Japan the
0:22 Land of the Rising Sun is steeped in
0:24 honor and tradition but it's not been
0:27 without its contradictions the ancient
0:30 Japanese sought order and decorum but
0:32 they believed the mythology that the
0:35 land arose from chaos peace harmony and
0:39 Zen are emphasized however ancient Japan
0:42 was defended by legendary samurai and
0:45 Shogun warriors Japan had a strict
0:47 social hierarchy an unwritten social
0:50 rules dictating interactions between
0:52 people of different classes yet rulers
0:55 in ancient Japan were given autonomous
0:57 control over their regions these
1:00 contrasts are the reason Japan remains
1:02 one of the most complex societies in the
1:06 world out of chaos came order according
1:08 to the ancient Japanese creation myths
1:11 when the land separated from the ocean
1:13 seven pairs of deities gods and
1:16 goddesses emerged to create the seven
1:18 thousand plus islands of the Japanese
1:21 archipelago the seas kept the island
1:24 somewhat isolated from mainland Asia and
1:26 the mountainous terrain made many areas
1:30 inaccessible the Fertile volcanic soil
1:33 however was perfect for farming the
1:35 first inhabitants of the Japanese
1:37 islands were hunter-gatherers who
1:39 crossed land bridges from the mainland
1:42 between 500,000 and 30,000 years ago
1:45 after a time they built permanent
1:47 settlements grew rice and paddies
1:49 developed pottery making skills
1:52 established trade routes and took major
1:55 steps toward modernity the people of
1:57 ancient Japan were not entirely isolated
2:00 they interacted with outside cultures
2:03 particularly the Chinese and Koreans to
2:05 observe how people organize the
2:08 government and distributed power instead
2:10 of each group appointing their own ruler
2:12 or King as they once did
2:13 power became more
2:17 realized by around 550 seee the yamato
2:19 kingdom was firmly established as the
2:22 leading royal clan of ancient japan they
2:25 recorded land ownership collected taxes
2:27 and enacted conscription orders to build
2:31 a strong military under the central rule
2:33 there were court-appointed supervisors
2:35 who controlled the subjects in outlying
2:37 areas taking their orders from the
2:39 central government and reporting back to
2:42 them all this administrative work meant
2:43 that the yamato government needed
2:46 scribes and educated supervisors to
2:48 assist with the record-keeping and
2:50 communication highly-trained scribes
2:52 from korea were brought in to do the
2:55 work in exchange for a military alliance
2:57 but not everyone was in favor of this
2:59 agreement with the Koreans the issue
3:02 created a divide among the Japanese
3:05 people from this rift emerged the Soga
3:07 clan which played an important role in
3:10 the future of Japan one of the guiding
3:12 principles of the Soga clan was the
3:14 belief that the nation should be both
3:17 wealthy and mighty the role of the
3:19 government they felt was to build the
3:21 country's riches in a mass of powerful
3:24 military a mantra still prevalent today
3:28 in the 3rd century CE II when the Soga
3:30 clan ruled ancient Japan Buddhism
3:31 arrived on the shore of the Japanese
3:34 islands Buddhism may have come by the
3:36 way of missionaries purposely sent to
3:39 convert the Japanese court or the belief
3:40 system may have had a more organic
3:43 origin come in to Japan with immigrants
3:45 from India and China regardless of its
3:48 origins in Japan Buddhism became the
3:50 religion of the royal class the
3:53 widespread acceptance of Buddhism opened
3:55 the floodgates to other Chinese beliefs
3:57 that poured into ancient Japan including
4:01 Taoism and Confucianism it was an age of
4:03 enlightenment for the people of the Land
4:06 of the Rising Sun the Chinese also
4:08 influenced the royal titles an imperial
4:10 hierarchy of the Japanese people
4:12 although the Japanese didn't adopt the
4:15 titles of Emperor and Empress until the
4:17 early 8th century they made the title
4:20 retroactive they changed the official
4:22 court records to add the titles of
4:24 Emperor or Empress to the rulers of the
4:27 yamato dynasty dating back centuries
4:29 a political coup in the seventh century
4:31 out stood the former yamato rulers an
4:35 emperor Kotaku seized control he
4:38 appointed his nephew prince naka as the
4:40 head of state and together they ushered
4:42 in a wave of new reforms that moved
4:44 ancient china from a royal system to a
4:47 true imperial system the imperial
4:49 government assumed leadership over clans
4:52 removing power from clan chieftains to
4:55 keep the power centralized the rulers
4:57 repossessed ancestral lands that once
4:59 belonged to the clan chieftains they
5:01 also implemented a system for the
5:03 collection of taxes and appointed their
5:06 own priests to the nation's network of
5:09 buddhist temples all of Japan was
5:11 sectioned off into provinces with a
5:13 provincial inspector reporting back to
5:15 the central government all this was
5:17 reminiscent of the Chinese structure
5:19 demonstrating the influence that China
5:22 had on its island neighbors what
5:24 followed next was the era called the
5:26 Golden Age of classical Japan
5:29 politically control passed from leader
5:31 to leader either by succession
5:34 abdication or coup and may have appeared
5:36 to be a time of instability but
5:39 culturally Japan was thriving
5:41 interactions with Korea and China were
5:44 declining allowing the Japanese to come
5:46 into their own as a society art and
5:49 literature uniquely Japanese emerged
5:52 this was also when the Japanese form of
5:54 writing called Kanna emerged based
5:56 loosely on the Chinese writing system
5:59 Kanna had fewer symbols and was easier
6:02 to learn today's Japanese people still
6:05 use the kana system for writing as Japan
6:08 isolated itself from the influences of
6:10 Korea and China and became more
6:12 self-reliant the Imperial system of
6:15 government relaxed no longer was all the
6:18 power concentrated centrally but more
6:20 authority fell back on the regional and
6:21 provincial nobles and clan leaders
6:24 tighter trade restrictions were put in
6:26 place and merchants relied on the barter
6:29 system so much that the government
6:31 halted the minting of coin currency the
6:34 economy declined it only became stable
6:36 again after 1040 when the central
6:38 government instituted a series of
6:41 reforms samurai warriors
6:43 the fighting unit used by various
6:45 Japanese clans battled each other for
6:49 power now synonymous with Japan the
6:51 samurai class affected areas of life in
6:53 Japan for centuries beginning in the
6:56 1100s basically hired thugs
6:58 albe it Noble prestigious and
7:01 well-trained thugs the samurai worked as
7:03 retainers for the noble landowners of
7:06 Japan over time the samurai warriors
7:09 developed a strict code of ethics and
7:11 morals they were loyal brave and
7:14 unwavering in battle they were skilled
7:16 in military tactics weapon making and
7:19 diplomacy coexisting with the samurai
7:23 was the Shogun beginning around eleven
7:25 eighty five the Shogun's were Emperor
7:27 appointed rulers that supported the
7:30 figurehead Emperor's as the position
7:32 evolved the Shogun class became a
7:35 hereditary post with sons taking over
7:37 for their fathers or uncle's as a group
7:40 the Shogun's were often called bakufu
7:43 meaning tent government Shogun's
7:45 completed the actual administrative work
7:47 of the government but their positions
7:49 were temporary hence the term tent
7:52 government the jobs of individual
7:54 Shogun's may have been temporary but the
7:56 institution itself lasted for seven
7:59 centuries both the samurai and Shogun
8:02 traditions ended in the mid-1800s during
8:06 the Meiji Restoration as Japan entered
8:09 the late medieval period around 1300 the
8:11 Land of the Rising Sun moved closer to
8:14 the modern Japan we know today in the
8:17 14th 60s however power was slipping away
8:19 from the Shogun's and into the hands of
8:21 the feudal landowners in a civil war
8:23 broke out leading to a decade-long
8:25 conflict in the fourteen sixties and
8:28 early 1470s the war ended without a
8:31 clear victory on either side but it did
8:33 end the Shogun's control of the feudal
8:36 lords the feudal lords were then free to
8:38 rule over their lands as they saw fit
8:40 with only passing regard to the word of
8:43 the Emperor while wars were being fought
8:45 and battles for power were waged the way
8:47 of life for the Japanese was evolving
8:50 into a complex society Japanese society
8:53 is one of the most complex on earth
8:54 because it took on aspect
8:57 of its diverse history different systems
8:59 of rule and influence from other
9:02 cultures the transition of power from
9:04 clan chieftains to Kings to emperors to
9:07 Shogun's two samurai warriors and more
9:08 left the Japanese people with a
9:10 complicated network of class structure
9:13 that extended from nobility to the
9:15 peasant farmers and social outcasts
9:18 slavery officially ended in Japan in
9:20 1590 when the concept of owning another
9:23 human was deemed morally wrong however
9:26 forced labor and underpaid workers
9:29 continued to be an issue the emergence
9:31 of the merchant class in the artisan
9:34 class in Japan added to the complexity
9:36 of the society but also served as an
9:39 indicator of a strong economy the
9:42 Japanese people appreciated fine quality
9:45 goods such as silk and sorts produced by
9:47 artisans and willingly paid a fair price
9:50 for them likewise merchants allowed the
9:52 people to buy the items they needed like
9:56 cloth tools and food some members of the
9:58 artisan class and merchant class became
10:00 wealthy and influential however their
10:02 lack of nobility put them in an awkward
10:04 place in the hierarchy of Japanese
10:07 society for all its complexities
10:10 Japanese society was also rather rigid
10:13 and unforgiving most people stayed in
10:14 the class in which they were born and
10:17 there was little upward mobility those
10:19 rigid societal norms were especially
10:21 evident with the role of women in
10:24 society in the upper echelon of society
10:26 during the Japanese's Classical era
10:29 women enjoyed more equality than ever
10:32 before there were several female rulers
10:35 other Empress's or queens who actively
10:37 ruled their people when Buddhism was
10:40 introduced into Japan the rule of women
10:42 diminished part of the Buddhist belief
10:45 system was that the family unit is led
10:47 by a patriarch sons were valued over
10:49 daughters and women were viewed as
10:52 impure male family members controlled
10:54 the female members who are prohibited
10:56 from inheriting land making their own
10:59 marriage choices and living on their own
11:01 marriages were arranged for political
11:05 and economic gain while the samurai and
11:08 Shogun's make ancient japan seem warlike
11:10 aggressive the art music and literature
11:13 of the time reflected the exact opposite
11:16 the style of painting have oaks a sense
11:19 of calm and serenity mostly nature
11:21 scenes were done in watercolor the
11:23 paintings were beautiful in their
11:26 simplicity like the watercolors Japan's
11:28 most famous style of poetry focused on
11:31 nature the haiku may seem uncluttered on
11:33 the surface but are written following a
11:36 specific and unbending set of rules in
11:39 Japanese music performed on traditional
11:41 instruments such as the double reed
11:44 flute 13 strings either and three string
11:47 lute the moments of silence between the
11:49 notes were just as important as the
11:52 music itself it even translated to
11:54 japanese dance during performances
11:56 dancers will pause in their movements
11:59 during moments of silence in the music
12:01 while the art and literature of the
12:03 ancient Japanese centered on harmony
12:06 with nature the music and dance focused
12:08 on the emotions of the human experience
12:11 the Land of the Rising Sun remains a
12:13 place in which strict social rules
12:15 dictate the way of life for the Japanese
12:18 the country moved from a land of warring
12:21 clans to a technologically advanced
12:23 nation with a strong economy and global
12:26 presence yet remnants of ancient Japan
12:28 can be seen throughout modern culture in
12:31 the old temples and palaces the art and
12:34 music the code of honor and respect and
12:37 the poetry of Japan to discover more
12:39 about ancient Japan then check out our
12:41 book the captivating guide to the
12:44 ancient history of Japan their ancient
12:46 civilization and Japanese culture
12:48 including stories of the samurai
12:51 Shogun's and Zen masters it's available
12:54 as an e-book paperback and audio book
12:57 awesome grab your free mythology bundle
12:58 ebook for free while it's still
13:00 available all links are in the
13:02 description if you enjoyed the video
13:04 please hit the like button and subscribe
