Feudalism : Japan and Europe

1
Feudalism Japan and Europe
2
Feudalism

• Political system of local government based on
  the granting of land in return for loyalty,
  military assistance, and other services.

3
Japan--Europe

• King
• Lords
• Knights

• Emperor
• Shogun
• Daimyo Daimyo
• Samurai Samurai Samurai Samurai

Daimyo vassal lords or warrior chieftains
4
The emperor reigned, but did not always rule!
Feudal Society
5
Medieval Warriors
vs.
European knight
Samurai Warrior Some were women
6
Japanese Feudalism lasted over 600 years from the
12th to the 19th centuries. How long did European
feudalism last?
From the 6th to the 14th centuries.
7
Religion- Japan

• Buddhism
• no longer reserved for the scholars and monks
• Popular among ordinary people
• Zen Buddhism
• emphasized personal enlightenment through
  discipline and meditation
• Tea Ceremony
• Architectural influence
• Gardens used for meditation within temples

8
Religion- Europe

• Catholicism influences all aspects of life
• Focus on the afterlife not the harsh life in this
  world
• Great Cathedrals

9

• Oda Nobunaga
• 1534-1582
• Daimyo
• Seized capital at Kyoto
• Rule the Empire by force
• Used firearms to gain victory
• Committed seppuku ritual suicide when one of
  his generals turned on him

10
Hideyoshi

• 1590 brings most of Japan under his control
• Failed to conquer Korea and China

11
Tokugawa Ieyasu

• 1603 - becomes sole ruler or Shogun
• Moved capital to Edo
• Strong centralized government
• Tokugawa Shogunate ruled until 1867

12
Tokugawa Rule

• Order restored
• centralized feudalism
• Farm production increased population increase
• Majority of peasants heavily taxed
• Lives miserable
• Many left for the cities
• Merchant class and wealthy prospered
• Elevated status by lending money to samurai and
  shoguns
• Emperor figurehead
• Closed off trade
• Except Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki harbor
• Shift from rural to urban society
• Increased employment opportunities for women

13

• Flowering of Japanese culture
• Kabuki Theater
• Controlled daimyo
• Lords had to live at capital every other year
• Daimyos family remained in Edo permanently
• Could not repair their castles or marry without
  permission

14

• 1549 Christianity introduced by missionaries
• Shogun feared religious uprisings
• bans Christianity
• 1637 uprising by peasants
• Christianity eliminated
• Closed country policy adopted-1639
• Nagasaki only port open
• Dutch and Chinese
• Japanese forbidden to leave

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
Similarities

• Use of horses and heavy armor
• Controlled peasant class
• Rituals and institutions
• Militaristic
• Chivalry/Bushido
• Castles
• Inhibited development of strong central
  government
• Rigid class distinctions
• Alliances of mutual protection between monarchs
  and nobles
• Land in exchange for loyalty and military aid

18
Differences

• Japan
• Relied more on group or individual loyalty not
  contractual agreements
• Same throughout Japan
• Sword and bow and arrow
• Centralized under the Tokugawa
• Constant warfare followed by several centuries of
  peace

• Western Europe
• Emphasized feudal loyalty with negotiated
  contracts, in which the parties each gained
  advantages
• Took different forms in different areas of Europe
• Sword and lance
• Decentralized
• Constant warfare