Heian Chapter 21

8/13/2019 Heian Chapter 21

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Heian-kyo:The Heart ofJapan's Golden Age21.1 lntroduct ion

In Chapter 0.you lcarned hutothcrAsiancultLrresnl'lucncc'dlpln. No* you'll

scr ' l tuu uniquclv apancseulturc loucrct l ronr hc 9th o thc l l th centur ics.

As 1ouhavc carncd. apan s closc'cnough() lr ' nlainland l Asi a to be aflcctcd

b1cul turu ldeus iont theconl incnt . l thcsanc inre. hcwutcrs cparatingapanlronr hc nrainllndhclpcdprotcct hc Japanc'scl)nl conqLrcstv othelAsianpct>

plcs.As a rcsult. apan enraincd oliticll lv intlepentlentndhatl hc chilnce o

dn clon tsoun c i . " i l izat ion.

Forn losto l the l lh century .hcc i ty ol Nlra $as Japan'snrpcr iul lp i l i r l . )uf in-s

this imc.contucts ith Chinr broughtnranvnr. \culturll idcu\k) Jlp n. Then. n 79-1.

the rnpcror antnru rovcd hccapital o Hci ln-k1o. r(r 'o rrclns i t \ in J lpuncs ' .)

This rcnt nrarkshc st r t ol lhe Heian per iod, r ihieh astcd rnt i l l l t5 .

Thc Hcianpcr iod s ot icncul lcd lpun'sGolden Age. [)ur in-ul ] is in lc .

aristoentscd a grcat lourishing l Japunescultulc. 'hc'lristocllts prircd bc uty.

elccancc.ndeorrcctntiulncrs.Orer inrc. hcl de'r'clopcde*

formsol litcraturc nd art. Pocts

$rotcdc l ic te lyabout cel ings

and he l'a-sile c uticsof naturc

Courtwon.rcn omposed ia ries

andothcI vpeso1' onfiction.

Paintc'rsntlscr.rlplorsnvented

ncwstvlcs f lt. Perli)nners

enlerlaincdhc court u ith ne\\

k ind: r l r r rur ie.lurrec.nddnrrrr l .

Thcbr i l l iant u l ture ) l-he

Hcian cr io t l t i l l in l lucnccs

Jrprncscrr l l rd i lc tr rd;r1.rr his

chapter,or.lwill lcarnnrore bout

Japan's oldcnAgc. You'll look

athou Hciurt r ist( ,cr i l t \i rcd und

how hcycrcltcd new kindso1 '

Japancserrtand iterutur .

Hcian-k1'o: hc Heartol Japan'sGoldcnAgc 129



Phoenix allwasoncepartof a

grandemple earHeian-kyo.

coriuption dishonestr llegal

practices,speciallynvolving

m0ney

230 Chapter l

21.2 A New CapitalDuring he 8th century,heBuddhist

priests f Naragained greatdealof influ-

enceover heJapaneseourt. n 784, he

emperorKammudecidedo movehis capi-

tal away rom Nara, n panbecause e

thoughthepriests' owerwasdamagingto thegovemment.he emperor lsowant-

ed a larger, rander ity for his capital.

The irst siteKammuchosewas

Nagaoka. bout30miles rom Nara.But

the movewas roubled romearlyon.As

money ouredn to build henewcity,

rumorsof corruption flew. People aid

the andhadbeenacquiredhrougha deal

with a rich Chineseamily.The sitealso

seemedo be unlucky, ecausehe emper-or's family suffered llnessesat this time. ln 794, the emperor stopped

work on the city. Once again he ordered hat the capital be moved.

This time Kammuchose villageon t he Yodo River.The sitewa s

both lovelier than Nagaokaandeasier o protectfrom attacks.Kammu

began uildinga newcity he calledHeian-kyo, The Capitalof Peace

andTranquility."

Heian-kyo became he first truly Japanese ity. Today t is called

Kyoto. Like Nara,Heian-kyowas laid out in a checkerboard attern

like the Chinese ity of Chan g'an.Built on a grandscale, he walled

city was lovely and elegant. t was set n forestedhills, amid streams,waterfalls,and lakes. t had wide, tree-linedstreets.Shrinesand tem-

plesblendedwith the area's atural eauty.

Heian-kyo's crisscrossing treetswere modeledafter thoseof

Chang'an, ut the city's architecture asJapanese.n the center f the

city werepalacesandgovemmentoffices.WealthyHeian families lived

in mansionssurroundedby beautiful gardenswith artificial lakes.The

groundsof each home covered hree o four acresand wereenclosed

by a white stonewall.

Inside the mansions, arge rooms weredivided by screens r curtains

and connectedwith open-aircoveredhallways.Simplicity wasconsid-ered beautiful, so there were few objectson the wood floors other han

straw mats and cushions.The Jananese id not usechairs.

Daily life was very formal, and conect mannerswere extremely

important. For example,a Heian lady sat behind a portablescreen. he

screenhid her from view while she alked and took part in life around

the house.An unmarried ady would permit her suitor to seepast he

screenonly after a romancehad becomeserious.



21.3The Rise of the Fujiwara FamilyDuring much of the Heianperiod,aristocratswere hepolitical and

cultural eaden of Japan.By themid-9thcentury, herealpower n the

imperialcourtshifted from theemperor o aristocratic amilies. The

most mportantof thesenoble families were he Fujiwara, who con-

trolled Japan or nearly 300yean.

The Fujiwara were neveractually rulers.The Japanese elieved hattheemperor's amily was descendedrom Japan's ungoddess. his

gave he royal family a special ight to govern.But the Fujiwarahad

otherwaysof exercisingpower.

First,beginningn 858, he Fujiwaramaniedmanyof theiryoung

daughtersnto theroyal family. Theyalsomadesure hat sonsof

Fujiwara oyal wives were chosen o be emperors.Second,he Fujiwara

acted s advisors o the emperor. n reality they had morepower han

the ulers heyguided.They often coaxedolder emperors o retire so

thata child or youthcould take he throne.Then he Fujiwara ruledas

regentsn theyoungemperor'sname.The most successful ujiwara eaderwasFujiwara Michinaga,who

ledJapan rom 995 to 1028.He neverhad an offrcial role in thegov-

emment. owever,his smart, mbitiousmanhad he espect f all

amund im. He was he father-inlaw of four emperors nd hegrand-

fatherof threemore. He lived in greatwealthand uxury.Michinaga

righdysaid, This world, I think, is indeedmy world."

Michinaga d one of the best-known eoplen Japan's istory.During

bis ime n power, he Fujiwara amily became ven icher.They built

polaces,ansions,nd emples. fterMichinaga's eath, issonbuilt a

hmousemple hatcame o be calledPhoenixHall. It likely eamed his Fujiwara ichinaga,neotthemostorme ecauset wasshapedike a bird n flight.Partof the emple till powerfuleaders uring apan

strndsodayasabeautiful cminder f Japan'sGoldenAge. Gold€n ge,wasverywoatthy.n his

TheFujiwara amily used heirpower o betler heirown ives. pag6rom hediary f LadyMurasaki,

llowever,heyalsokeptpeacen Japan or nearly hree enturies. his Michinagas ontertainedyboats n

lracehelped apaneseultureblossom uring he Heianperiod. a arge ond thishome.



Noble omenn higheranks ad

servantso help hemwith heirper-

sonal eedsrommorningo night.

21.4 Social Position in the Heian GourtRankwas highly important during the Heian period.A person's ank

wasdeterminedalmostcompletely by what family he or she came rom.

Being born into a high-ranking amily matteredmore than personal

qualities r skills.

There were nine main ranks n the Heian court hierarchy.High coun

nobles illed the top threeranks.Thesenobles were appointedby the

emperor,and they dealt directly with him. Less mportant officials filled

the fourth and fifih ranks. Nobles n all these anks receivedprofits

from rice farms throughout he countryside.They also receivedmoney

from taxespaid by peasantarmers.The sixth through the ninth ranks

were filled by minor officials, clerks, and experts n suchfields as aw

and medicine.

The nine main ranks weredivided into classes uch as senior and

junior. upperand ower. In all, there were some 30 subranks.Each rank

brought with it specificprivilegesand detailed ules aboutconduct.

Membersof difl'erent anks haddifferent types of housesand carriagesRankdetermined he number of servantspeoplehad and even the num-

ber of tblds in the fans they carried. Men of the first, second,andthird

ranks carried answith 25 folds. Men of the fourth and fifth ranks used

fanswith 23 folds. The l'ansof those n lower ranks had l2 folds.

This precise anking systemalso determinedsuch mattersas what

color clothing a noble could wearand the height of the gatepost n front

of hi s family's home. n addition, f a personwas oundguilty of a

crime. rank determinedhow harsh he sentencewould be.

232 Chapter2l



21.5 Beauty andFashion During theHeian Period

Heiansocietyprizedbcauty.

elcgance. nd irshion. o bc

described s r'oli good).peoplc

hadkr come iom an mponantfamrly. hey alsohadrc kn k

niceand be sensitiveo beauty r

nature. oetry. nd art. Individuars

wereudgedby how lood their

tlsle was.The ability o reco_gnize

beauty asvalued lcr quul i t ies

likcgenerosity nd honcsty.

Both menandwonrengroouted

thenrselvesith gleatcare.Small.

poinlcd eardswcrc consideredattractivc n nrale ourtiers.

Forwornen.onghair u as an

impo111|1cduly ci | lurc. dcul l) .

a wontan's air woLrld rou

longcrhansheuas al l .

ThcJupunesel lhis ir rc crrn-

sidered hite eethun ttrrc(ive.

sobothnrenand wollrclr arelirlly

blackenedheir ecth.Thcy used

a dycmade ionr iron nd othcringredientsoaked n lcu or vin-

egar. ow one sntellcdwasalsovery signilleant. o both rnel and

womcnwore scents. erllntc conrpelilions crc frcquent nd popular.

Peopleuardedheirscent ccipes arclllly.

Forwonten. rakeup vasalso nrpollarrt.Vomenuscdwhite ace

po\r'dero make hemsclvcsook r er1. alc.Ovcr hc chalkypowder.

Heiun omanput k)uclres f red on h 'r chccks. hcn shcpainted n

a small edmouth.Shealsopluckedout hcr ('vcbro$ andpainted n

a sel n.iust he righ( spoton her irrchcad.

A woman's lothingneededo be bcaLrtilul. n arislocratic omanmightwearas manyas l2 silk undcr-robc.st a timc. Whcnshe ode n

a caniage. hemightdilnglca \\ r ist so hittpcoplccoultl see he ovely

layersf colored ilk.

The oveof beautyalsoshowed n Hciln alchirectLrre.alligraph.

poetry.ndafiwork.Concernwith ti) |nr und bctuty wassosreat ha t

couniersometintes crlirrnrc'dtylircdditnecs splrt ol theirothcial

duties.

Long air, yebrowsainted igh

on he orehead,ndbr ighted ips

were i gns l beauty ur inghe

Heian er iod.

courti€r a memberfa ruler's

c0un

of Japan'sGoldenAge 233cian-kyo: hc Hcart



Noblemen,ressedn silk obes nd

courthats,enjoya gameof ,temazl

Theobject f hegamewas o keep

theball n heairas ongaspossible

21.6 Entertainment at the Heian CourtHeian-kyo's ristocratsadplentyof leisureime or sporting vents,

games, ndcontests. en enjoyedwatching orse aces, rchery on-

tests, ndsumowrestling.n sumowrestling, oungmenof great

weight ry to throweachother o thegroundor out of the ring. When

the weatherwaswarm,menandwomenalikeenjoyedwatching oat

races long he river hat an hrough he city.

Groups f courtiers layed gamecalled emai, in which heykickeda leather all backand onh, keepingt in the air for as ong

aspossible. heyplayedn the same legant obes heyworeat court.

Women sed he stone ieces f thepopular oardgamego to play

agame alled ango.Theobjectwas o balance smanystones s

possible n one inger.

Eachof the many estivals ndcelebrationsn the Heiancalendar

had ts own customs.Many nvolved ontestshat ested thletic, oet-

ic, or artistic kill. For example,n the Festival f the Snake, upsof

wine were loated n a stream.Guestsooka cup anddrank rom t.

Then heyhad o think up and eciteapoem.Otherspecial ays ea-turedcontestshat udged hebesGdecoratedans, he most ragrant

perfumes,he oveliest rtwork, r the mostgraceful ancing.

Dancingwasan mportant kill for Heian-kyo's obles, ince ance

waspartof nearlyeveryfestival.Bugakuprtormances wereapopular

form of entertainment.ugaku ombined ancewith musicanddrama

Bugaku ancers oremasks ndacted uta simplestoryusingmemo

rizedmovements.

234 Chapter l



21.7 Sculpture and PaintingDuring the Heian Period

During he Heianperiod.artists ontinued o be ntluenced y

Chinese rt.Gradually. owever. culptors nd painters rcated

theiror,l'n aoanesetvles.

Early Heiansculptors ommonlymudean entirework tiom

onepieceof wood.Latcr n thisperiod.sculptorsmadcstatues y carvingseparate ieccs ronr carcfullyselected

woodand hen oining them.With the help of assistants.

sculptors ould nrake he separate arts n largequ ntities.

As a result. heycould create groupof sinrilar tatucs

quicklyandprecisely. ocho.an anistwho worked ir r

FujiwaraMichinaga. robablydevelopcdhis echnique.

Jochomadeperhapshe greatest asterpiece f Hcian

sculpture.heAmida Buddha. his Buddha. The Lord of

Boundless ight." was hc subiect f muchpopulrr worship n

Japan. ocho's eautifully arved tatuc xpresses sense fdeeppeace nd strcngth.

In painting.Hci n arlists onsci ouslldercloped Japanr.'se

style, o distinguisht tiom Chinese-stylert. heycalled t

lortuto-e,or "Japaneseainting.'Painters rcu theirscencs

with hin inesand hen i l lcd hcm n with br ight olors.

Linesu'erenade quickly to suggest novemcnt.n a

restful cenc. ines \eredru*n moredcliberately.

At tlrst afi istsused he ne$'stvle o paint

Buddhrst ubjects. ut ovcr tinrc hey i)cused

on nonreligious cenes. hereuere lirur maintypes f yanrato-c:andscapeshowing he

fourseasons.laces f natural cauty. eoplc

doingseasonalasks. ndscenesronr iter-

ature called story paintings".

The new style. f paintingwas used o

decorate alls.screens. nd hc slidingdoors

of houses nd enrple s. omeof the ntost

famous xamples f yanlato-e. owever. re

scrollpaintings. scrollpaintingshowsa

series f scenesion right to leii. so hatvie\r'-

ersseeevenls n tinreorderas hey unroll hc

scroll.Scrollpaintinghad been nvenlcd n

China. ut Heianpainters dded heirown

distinctiveouches. or example. hey ofien

showed cenesnsidebuildings iom above.

as f theviewerwcrepeering houghan

invisibleoof.

This tatues

made f o ined

pieces fwood.

Thepegat he

shoulderould

have it nto he

arm iece.

Heian-kyo: he Heartol'Japan'sGoldenAge 235



imagcty dsscriptivor magina-

tivs angusgs,spociallyhon

usedo nspirementalpictures"

Murasakihikibu,hown ere

atherdssk, as lsading rit€r

duringhsHeiansriod.hewrote

TheTale l theGenji, ften alledhe

world'sirstnovel.

236 Chapter l

21.8 Writing and LiteratureDuring the Heian Period

Writing was he mostvaluedorm of expressionn HeianJapan.

Everyone asexpectedo showskill in usingwordswell. Early Heian

writers omposed rtfulpoemsn Chinese. s timewenton, distinctly

Japanese aysof writingdeveloped, oth n daily ife and n thecre-

ationof worksof literature.Writing in Dally Life Poetrywaspartof daily ife in Heian-

kyo.Peoplewereexpectedo makeuppoetry n public. f they could

not hink up a few clever ines o fit an occasion, thers oticedhe

failure.Men andwomen arefullycreated oemso charmeachother.

Whensomeone eceiveda poem rom a friend, family member,or

acquaintance,eor shewasexpectedo write a response.he reply ^poemwassupposedo have he same tyle,mood,and magery as

the original.

In the astchapter, ou leamedhow theJapanese sedkana o write

the syllables f their anguage ith simplifiedChinese haracters.nHeian imes, herewere wo waysof writingsyllables,much ike two

separatelphabets. ne, atakana, asmore ormal.Menused ata-

kanawhen heywroteanything mportant. he secondway of writing

syllableswas tiragana.Charactersn hiragana re ormedwith simple

strokeshatmakewriting and eading asier nd aster.Hiraganawas

mostlyseen s women'swriting."Courtwomen avored

hiraganaor personal riting,andsome f themused t to

createastingworksof literature.Over ime,hiragana

took its placealongside atakana spart of Japan's

written anguage.

Heianwriters ook care o presentheir

work in a beautifulmanner.Calli-

graphyskills were as mportantas

the ability to createpoetry.People

believed hathandwriting evealedheir

characterandgoodness ener han he

words hey used.Calligraphy wasoftcn

displayedon colorful, handmade aper.

Sometimeshepaperwas evenperfumed.

Women Become Japant

Leading W?itera The emale om-

panionso thecourtiers f Heian-kyowere

usually electedor their ntelligence.hey

often took a great nterest n literature.Asa

result,women ed he loweringof agolden

ageof Japaneseiteraturen the l0th and lth .

centunes.



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Thewealthyoblssuringh€Heian

psriodgnoredheproblemstpoor

peoplenJspan's

uralreas.

21.9The End of the Heian PeriodThe Heianperiod s knownas Japan'sGoldenAge of peace.But

despite heglittering imperialcourt,problemswerebrewing thatwould

bring an end to the Heianperiod.

Aristocratsn Heian-kyo ived very well, but in Japan'sural areas

rnostpeoplewerequite poor.Thepeasants'arming and other work

supportedHeian-kyo's ich. Even so, the wealthy ooked down on thepoorand gnored heirproblems.

While therich focusedon culture n Heian-kyo,eventsn thecoun-

tryside began o weaken he Heian court. Thepracticeof giving large

estateso top noblesslowly reduced he emperors'power.Thosewho

owned heseestates aidno axes.After a time, tax-free and wasquite

common.Thegovemment ould no longer collect enough axes o

support heemperor.

Japan's ulers began o lose control. Bandits oamed he countryside,

Peopleof differentreligionsbegan o band ogether o attackandmb

eachother.Thegovemmentwas now too weak o supply aw enforce-ment. Estateownerscreated heir own policeand armies o protect heir

lands.Theprofits fron landowners'estateswent to payingthe warriors

insteadof supporting he emperor.

By the 12thcentury thepowerof some ocal lords rivaled that of

theweakenedmperialgovemment.Fighting broke out over control of

the and. Meanwhile,variousclans struggled or power n the capital.

By 1180, herewascivil war n Japan.

In I 185,Minamoto Yoritomo, he headof a military familn seized

power.A new era began n which military leaders ontrolled Japan,

You will read more about his era n the next chapter.



21.1OTheEffect of the Heian Per iod

on JapanToday. \s rou l l r rc lcut r tcr l . l te l lc i r i r tpcr iod \ l r \ \ l l le l ) i l l l l r r l r t Lt t t i t l t tel r

. l rprrr te 'c u l l t t lc l l te r ' l leet : r r l t l t i . l l t r r re l i r tgt r l c t t l t t t t t l r rc r t i l l l t ' l t

to t l i [ . ln l l ret . l ]u l r i ) l . l i r l ) i l r t et t l l l t teh. i t tc t l la i r tct l l t l l lec() l l \ t i l l l l

\ lnec l lc Hci i l l ] I tcr i , ' t l . l l i ' . . i l l hc \cL ' l l l l ( ) \ t e lc i t r l \ t t l . l l t I i t t t'

l i te[ r lutc i t l , l , l t . t t tLt.

l le i iur lLLt th, , t ' t t l l t tet r rer l t tr t t

l i l lc f . l l r l ) i tnc\c \\ r ' r t ( . / / r i / ( l / ( r/ /

( i r ' r r1 lbr \ lu l t ' l rL i Sl t iL i l t t r r r r t t l

l ' , t t , \ 11, , , 'L)\ \ r . i \ l t , ' . r . : , ' , r t . '

c l l r r r ic . . l hcr it re lt : h l t ' ie lo . l i t l t l t t t

. t \ Sh.rkc\PClt lC \ \ ()fk\ l l le l ( )

I inr l i .h.pci i ler ' . .

' I - l te.treec.. ( ,1 l l ( 'e

\ r f i lc l \ l l i ld

rr nt l r jLuel lcct ott . lr tp.t t t'

* t t l lc t t

l l r r r r tLr . r - lc .ha . l i r I lne\e I )e() l ) lal ' .1. r \ \ \n lL \ \ i l l r l l r r ' . . l | | lL ( l l . r l . l ( -

tcr ' ' t t :ec i r l lu l r t l t r4 Oot i i .

l l c i . rn n l lucnacei t r t t lsohc:cct t

in nrrr r lcrr t r tct t r I l re l l ( ) t1l ) ( )c l l l \

. l l le l , r / l l . , / \e l ] . \er \ | r ) l ) t l l l l r l l

l lcrun inrc ' . - l - iu tk i r( 'e t t \ i . \ t i l l . l

.a '

.{.r

*l

a

I

Noh the. r ter a c asslcormof

Japanese rama nvolv g herotc

thenres, chorus, nddance

. l

r\-:\ i l ' , r . l l t ll r . l r l r r l . l l rP l t t t r ' rc t lc l l l t l l lc t ( )di l \ .

\ lor lc tn . l . i ] l tne:e r l t . t t t l i l t ls t r \ l l ( ) \ \ \ l lc i i l l l i t l l l t te l lecs. \s r ot t l l l . l r

tculr l l . hc busaLt t pet I i ' t t t l t t tecs ol l lc iat t l i l l lc r blet l t lc t l dat lcc l t t l r l

, . l lu l i r . lSugltkr t c t l lo. l i tPt t t t . t t t l i t l t lc t l r )h t l r { r ; r l { r r . lt t Nrth thl t t l l . , . .. r ultrrt t tss inls l i l rc toie slotr lts I rcr l i l t tnels t l i l t l tc l t t l , . l l r l i1 (Jt l1 \()h

thr l ler i \ c 'n1unc\ olr l hrr t i t i . r t i l l r i Populul l ( ) l l l l o l cr l (er l l r l l l r r lenl

tn. l . t l ) l t t l

21.11GhapterSummaryln thischapter. ou earncd bout he GoldenAge ol Japa ncse

culture. uring hc Hcianp 'riod.aristocrals----cspeciallyhe

Fujirvaraarnily rlontinatcdhe rnperial ourt.Tllcy crcated

acul lurehatwasuniqLtc ly 'apanese.

Thearistocrats l Hcian-kvo ived n grett Iuxurl'.They prizedbeautl. le-t:rncc.ntlcorrcct lltnners.Heianartists raatcd ew

Japancsebrns ol scLrlptLtrendpuintinl.C()ttn$otllcll \\ rote

classicurks ol Japlt ncscit 'rJture.

TheHeianpcriodcntlctl n ciril rvarand he riseol ncu nilitarl

Ieadcrs.n the ncxt chlptr'r.vou $ill learnhou thcse eildcrs reated

awarr ior ulturen Japnn.

I l r : i l ) , r r l r r ( l s f r r0l l r r r , rs t r . r l l r i l

:L rr r r t r \ ) r ' I i r t l I r ie i l i 6f | i

l . l , .Lrr( i , , l t l r r \ ' - , l l ' r

Documents

Heian Chapter 21