Ancient Japan: culture and customs of the islands

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Ancient Japan is a chronological layer that some scholars date back to the 3rd century BC. BC. - III century. AD, and some researchers tend to continue it until the 9th century. AD As you can see, the process of the emergence of statehood on the Japanese islands was delayed, and the period of the ancient kingdoms quickly gave way to the feudal system. This may be due to the geographical isolation of the archipelago, and although people settled it as early as 17 thousand years ago, connections with the mainland were extremely episodic. Only in the 5th century BC. here they begin to cultivate the land, but the society continues to be tribal.

Ancient Japan left behind extremely little material and written evidence. The first annalistic references to the islands belong to the Chinese and date back to the beginning of our era. By the beginning of the 8th century AD include the first Japanese chronicles: "Kojiki" and "Nihongi", whenThe Yamato tribal leaders who stood out in the foreground had an urgent need to substantiate the ancient, and therefore sacred, origin of their dynasty. Therefore, the annals contain many myths, tales and legends, surprisingly intertwined with real events.

At the beginning of each of the chronicles, the history of the formation of the archipelago is described. The “age of the gods”, preceding the era of people, gave birth to the god-man Jimmu, who became the founder of the Yamato dynasty. The cult of ancestors, which has been preserved on the islands since the primitive communal system, and new religious beliefs about the Heavenly goddess of the sun Amaterasu became the basis of Shintoism. Also, ancient Japan professed and widely practiced totemism, animism, fetishism and magic, like all agricultural societies, the basis of life of which was favorable weather conditions for the harvest.

Approximately from the II century. BC. ancient Japan begins to forge close ties with China. The influence of a more developed neighbor was total: in the economy, culture, and beliefs. In the IV-V centuries, writing appears - naturally, hieroglyphic. New crafts are born, new knowledge about astronomy and technology comes. Confucianism and Buddhism also penetrate the territory of the islands from China. This creates a real revolution in culture. The impact of Buddhism on the mentality of society was especially important: belief in the transmigration of souls accelerated the decomposition of the tribal system.

But despite the significant superiority of China, Ancient Japan, whose culturewas especially influenced by a neighbor, remained an original country. Even in its political structure there were no features inherent in ancient China. In the social structure of society as early as the 5th century. AD tribal elders and leaders played a significant role, and free farmers were the main class. There were few slaves - they were "domestic slaves" in the families of farmers. The classical slave-owning system did not have time to take shape on the territory of the islands, as tribal relations were rapidly replaced by feudal ones.

Japan, whose culture and traditions are closely connected with Confucianism and Buddhism, gave many architectural monuments of religious architecture. These include temple complexes in the ancient capitals of Nara and Heian (modern Kyoto). The ensembles of the Naiku shrine in Ise (III century), Izumo (550) and Horyuji in Nara (607) are especially striking in their skill and completeness. The originality of Japanese culture is maximally manifested in literary monuments. The most famous work of this period is "Manyoshu" (VIII century) - a huge anthology of four and a half thousand poems.