UMBC History 458/658                                                                                                                                                                                                   Fall 2000
Prof. Constantine N. Vaporis                                                                                                                                                                   FA 215, MWF 12-12:50
Office: Admin. 723                                                                                                                                                                                   Office tel. 410-455-2092
email: vaporis@umbc.edu Office hrs: M 2-3, W 2-3, by app’t

Page Index:
Course Description
Some Objectives
Textbooks
Useful Reference Works
Grading
WWW and Japanese Cultural History
Lectures and Reading Assignments
Biographical Oral Presentation
Term Paper

Course Description: Beyond the story of Japan’s present economic success lies a long and rich record of social, religious, aesthetic and intellectual developments. This course adopts largely a cultural and intellectual approach to the history of Japan from the origins of the Japanese people through the height of Tokugawa rule (1603-1868). Some areas of focus will be: an examination through archaeological sources of Japan’s beginnings; the relationship between Japanese and continental culture; the transition of Japanese society from courtier to warrior rule during the 11th-14th centuries; the process of political unification of the 16th century and the first contacts between Japan and the West; the mechanisms of rule during the long years of the “Tokugawa peace”; and the rise of Japan’s first truly popular culture during the Genroku years (1688-1704). In addition to the primary textbooks and supplementary secondary source materials, readings will consist of contemporary works of historical fiction, historical war tales, personal diaries, and religious tracts. Frequent use of visual materials--slides, overheads, films and videos- will be made. Students are encouraged to participate actively in class.

Some Objectives:
1. Explain the development of Japanese civilization within the context of  East Asian and other foreign cultures
2. Articulate the ways in which Japan developed a culture of its own.
3. Analyze important cultural developments and contributions in religion,  philosophy, visual and performing
    arts, and literature
4. Relate cultural trends to larger historical themes
5. Explore Japanese aesthetic values

Textbooks:
H. Paul Varley, Japanese Culture (fourth edition)
W. Debary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. 1
Sonja Arntzen, trans., The Kagero Diary
Peter Duus, Feudalism in Japan (third edition)
Helen Craig McCullough, trans., The Tale of the Heike
Donald Keene, trans., Essays in Idleness
Ihara Saikaku, The Life of an Amourous Man
 

Useful Reference Works:
Earl Miner, Hiroko Idajiri and Robert P. Morrel, The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature
     (REF PL726.1M495)
Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (REF DS805.K633; a second set is in  Stacks folio under the same number)
John Dower and Timothy George, Japanese History and Culture From  Ancient to Modern Times. Seven Basic Bibliographies (REF  DS835.D676)
 

Grading:
Midterm (10/2), 20%
Final Exam (12/15), 40%
Term Paper ( due12/1), 20%
Participation/in-class writing, 20% --includes biographical oral presentation--please select person by 10/11.  A list of possible historical personages will be handed out early in the semester. Please note that this material may be used in your term paper, if you wish.

The WWW and Japanese Cultural History:
1) The Origins of emaki--see the article on emaki and the origins of manga  at: www.animecraze.com/nov99/manga.html
2) Orientations (The Magazine for Collectors and Connoiseurs of Asian  Art):  www.orientations.com.hk/hmmar00.htm
 See this site’s hyperlinks for other Asian art sites.
3) For those who read French, this is an excellent site on Japanese  religion:   www.multimania.com/kyosaku/bukkyo/todaiji/vairocha.htm
4) Nara and the Daibutsu (with good images):  www.din.or.jp/~coffee/ken/sec5/rm3/nara-e.htm
5) Kyoto National Museum: www.kyohaku.go.jp/meihin
6) Haniwa: userpages.chorus.net/burleigh/art/haniwa.html
7) Japanese armor: www.fsinet.or.jp/~usa/historyus.html
8) Samurai: townschool.com/NTP/student/SAMURAI/IMAGE.HTM
 

Lectures and Reading Assignments (please note that some changes to the schedule and readings may be made):

Week 2
9/4 (M) Labor Day: No class

9/6 (W) Prehistoric Japan: Jomon and Yayoi Cultures
Paul Varley, Japanese Culture (hereafter, Culture) Ch. 1;
W. DeBary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, vol. 1 (hereafter Sources),  pp. 1-20.

9/8 (F) The Yamato State
Sources, pp. 60-67
handout: Gary Ledyard, “Galloping Along with the Horseriders: Looking for  the Founders of Japan,” Journal of Japanese Studies 1, 2 (1975), pp.  217-54.
 
 

Week 3
9/11 (M): Film: “Ancient Tombs of Japan” (30 min.)
Discuss Ledyard article.

9/13 (W) Film: “Shinto: Nature, Gods and Man in Japan” (50 min.)
Handout: H. Byron Earhart, Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity, pp. 5-23.
Sources, pp. 21-33

9/15 (F) Ise Shrine
 
 

9/20 (W): Early Buddhism in Japan
Film: “Horyuji Temple” (24 min.)
Culture, Ch. 2 (pp. 17-44); Sources, pp. 91-111

9/22 (F) Buddhist Art and Writing
Film: “From the Asian Continent: Chinese Characters and Buddhism” (20  min.); video: “Buddhist Art”
Sources, pp. 112-151

Week 5
9/25, 9/27 (M/W): Taika Reforms and the Nara Imperium
Sources, pp. 68-90, 152-171

9/29: Discussion/Review
 

Week 6
10/2 (M): Midterm Exam

10/4, 10/6 (W/F): The Heian Aristocratic World
Culture, Ch. 3 (pp. 45-71)
The Kagero Diary, pp. 1-50. Please bring book to class on Friday!

Week 7
10/9 (M): Heian Culture: A Nativist Reaction?
Sources, 172-183
Kagero Diary, Book 1 (pp. 55-163). Please note that the text comprises  only 1/2 the pages; the other half are notes, which may be read as  you feel necessary.

10/11 (W): Women in Ancient and Classical Japan
Kagero Diary, Book 2 (pp.167-271)

10/13 (F) Narrative Picture Scrolls
Film: Narrative Picture Scrolls (28 min.)
Kagero Diary, Book 3 (pp. 275-379)
Culture, Ch. 4 (pp. 72-81)
 

Week 8 (professor absent until 10/27)
10/16 (M) Video: “Classical Japan and the Tale of Genji”
Peter Duus, Feudalism in Japan, pp. 1-52
 
 

10/18 (W) Video: ”Medieval Japan and Buddhism in Literature”
Duus, Feudalism, pp. 53-72

10/20 (F): In-class Writing Assignment
Duus, Feudalism, pp. 73-102.

In-class (Closed Book) Writing Assignment: Based on Duus, please write an essay, in your own words, on the concept of feudalism in Japanese history. How appropriate or useful is the term in understanding Japanese history? (Please be sure to define the term.)
 

Week 9
10/23, 25 (M/W): Independent Research in Library
Select a historical personage (Japanese, of course) to research, from any period up to 1800. I will hand out a list of suggestions but you may select someone not on the list as well (with my approval, please). You will be asked to make an oral report of 5-10 minutes in length on an appropriate class day, to be decided in advance with the professor. This research may be used in your paper, if you wish.

10/27 (F): From Genji to Heike: The World Outside of Heian-kyo
Tale of the Heike, pp. 1-56, examine reference materials at back of book
 

Week 10
10/30 (M): Kamakura: Age of the Warrior?
Tale of the Heike, pp. 57-164
11/1 (W): The Medieval Consciousness
Tale of the Heike, 165-196, 239-255
Sources, pp. 192-97

11/3 (F) Discussion of The Tale of the Heike--please bring text to class
Tale of the Heike, pp. 283-327, 368-70, 372-389, 430-38, 456-75
handout: Kamo no Chomei, “Tales of my Hut”
video: “Hoichi the Earless”
 

Week 11
11/6 (M): The Popularization of Buddhism
Sources, pp. 184-225

11/8 (W): Shoen and the Medieval Economy
Essays in Idleness, Introduction

11/10 (F): Medieval Culture
Culture, Ch. 5 (pp. 83-123)
 

Week 12
11/13 (M): Zen
Video: “Principles and Practices of Zen”
Sources, pp. 226-60.
Essays in Idleness, pp. 1-51.

11/15 (W): The Noh Theater
Film: “Noh Drama” (30 min.)
handout: “Matsukaze”
Essays in Idleness, pp. 52-121
Sources, pp. 277-90

11/17 (F): The Tea Ceremony
Film: “The Spirit of Tea”
Essays in Idleness, pp. 121-160
 

Week 13
11/20 (M): Discussion of Tsurezuregusa
Essays in Idleness, pp. 61-201

11/22 (W): TBA

11: 24 (F): Thanksgiving holiday
 
 

11/29 (W): A Country Unified
Culture, Ch. 6 (pp. 124-145)
Sources, pp. 302-334

12/1 (F): European Culture in Japan
Video: “On A Wind from the South”
Culture, Ch. 7 (pp. 146-180)
 

Week 15
12/4 (M): The Great Peace of Tokugawa
Sources, pp. 335-68, 384-400
Saikaku, The Life of an Amorous Man, pp. 5-23

12/6 (W): Genroku Popular Culture
Amorous Man, pp. 23-92

12/8 (F) Film: “Bunraku: ‘Sonezaki Shinju’”;
video: “Kabuki”
Amorous Man, pp. 93-139.
Sources, pp. 441-58.
 

Week 16
12/11 (M): Late-Tokugawa Culture
Amorous Man, pp.139-233.
12/13 (W): Review
 

Final Exam: Fr. 12/15, 10:30-12:30
 
 
 

Biographical Oral Presentation:
A good place to start is with the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, 9 vols. plus supplement ((REF. DS805.K633 (1983); another set can be found in stacks folio under the same calls numbers. Both sets are non-circulating). Yusen Kashiwahara, Shapers of Japanese Buddhism (also on reserve), also has a number of biographies of religious figures. These are indicated with a “#” after the name. The multi-volumes Cambridge History of Japan, like its Chinese counterpart, is also an important source of biographical information. A few other biographies can be found in Ivan Morris, The Nobility of Failure, and are indicated by “@” after the name. The oral report can be up to five minutes in length and may be delivered with notes but not read from a prepared text. In addition to providing a narrative of the individual’s life, his or her importance to East Asian history should also be discussed.

Some suggestions:
Ennin (Japanese monk who travels to Tang China) (diary available)
Saicho# (Heian Buddhist figure)
Kukai# (Heian Buddhist figure)
Kuya# (Patriarch of Nembutsu/Pure Land)
Honen# (Pure Land Buddhist figure)
Sugawara Michizane (Heian scholar-official)@ (biography available)
Dogen# (Zen)
Nichiren# (Kamakura period sect founder)
Eisai# (Zen)
Ikkyu# (Unconventional religious figure, Muromachi period) (biography available)
Fujiwara Michinaga (Heian political figure)
Murasaki Shikibu (Heian female author)--translated diary available
Sei Shonagon (Heian female author with a pointed brush)
Minamoto Yoritomo (first shogun of Kamakura gov’t)
Minamoto Yoshitomo (Kamakura shogun’s brother)@
Hojo Masako (female, behind-the-scenes political leader of Kamakura bakufu)
Lady Nijo (former imperial consort's diary of travels around country in nun's guise, late-13th c.-early 14th c.)
Emperor Go-Daigo (led failed overthrow of military gov’t)--bio available
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (shogun/aesthete)
Sen Rikyu (tea master)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (first of three unifiers, 16th c.)--biographies  available
Oda Nobunaga (second of three unifiers)
Tokugawa Ieyasu (third unifier, founder of Tokugawa bakufu)-biographies  available
Sharaku or Hiroshige or Hokusai (woodblock print artists)
Englebert Kaempher (Westphalian doctor who visited Japan twice in the late 17th century)

Term Paper
Assignment: undergraduates, 10-12 pages, typed (text); graduate students, 20-22 pages (text)

Format: Please follow the History department guidelines for writing papers. (Failure to do so will result in a lower grade.) Use endnotes only, please. Copies of the guidelines are available at the History department, 7th floor, Adm. Building or from the department’s website.

Selecting a Topic: Try to identify a time period, theme of interest (e.g., the aristocratic life, rise of the samurai), or general area (art, religion, theater, politics, economics) of interest. Then read a few related entries in the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan (REF DS805.K633; also a set in stacks folio, same number) to see how you might develop a paper. At the end of most long entries you can find a brief bibliography which will provide a starting point for research. Further bibliographic leads can be found in John Dower and Timothy George, Japanese History and Culture From Ancient to Modern Times. Seven Basic Biliographies (REF DS835.D676.1995); this resource is arranged both chronologically and thematically. If you have no idea about what you would like to write about, I would suggest flipping through this title and examining the range of topics covered. Of course you are welcome to talk with me about your ideas and interests.

Deadlines:
Topic statement and brief bibliography, 10/9
Final paper, 12/1

Sample Topics:
The Development of the State in the Yamato Period
The Rise of the Warrior in Early Japanese History
Women's Diaries of the Heian Period
The Role of Zen in Japanese Art
The Japanese Tea Ceremony
Shoen and the Medieval Economy
Feudalism in Japan and Europe
The Popularization of Buddhism in Kamakura Japan
The Development of the Daimyo Domain
The Three Unifiers (Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu)
Japan's Golden Age of Art during the Momoyama Period
Japan's Sixteenth-Century Revolution
The Early Modern Japanese State
Japan's First Popular Culture (Genroku period)

These are just a few suggestions. Please feel free to define your own topics. Of course, whatever the topic, your paper must not be simply descriptive but should advance an argument; i.e., it must have a thesis.

It is expected that you will use a minimum of two major sources (monographs or collections of essays). Required textbooks for the course may not be included in this number.