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Jomon Period › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
The Jomon Period is the earliest historical era of Japanese history which began around 14500 BCE, coinciding with the Neolithic Period in Europe and Asia, and ended around 300 BCE when the Yayoi Period began. The name Jomon, meaning 'cord marked' or 'patterned', comes from the style of pottery made during that time. Although the entire period is called Jomon, various phases can be identified based on the style and intended use of the pottery.
SETTLEMENT & SUBSISTENCE
The people that came to what would be known today as Japan first did so near the end of the last glacial period, or Ice Age, most likely while following animal herds over land bridges formed during the glacial period. When the climate warmed and the land bridges disappeared, the soon-to-be Jomon people found themselves on an island. With the animal herds cut off from their homelands dying off, the Jomon people utilized hunting and gathering to fulfil their needs. Their diet has been found to consist of bears, boars, fish, shellfish, yams, wild grapes, walnuts, chestnuts, and acorns. Evidence of their diet was found inside middens, domestic waste disposal piles, and shell mounds that were found near villages.
ALTHOUGH THE JOMON PEOPLE DEVELOPED A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE, RICE FARMING WAS ONLY INTRODUCED NEAR THE END OF THE PERIOD, AROUND 900 BC.
Starting around 5000 BCE, the Jomon developed a more sedentary lifestyle settling into villages; the largest one at the time covered around 100 acres (c. 0.4 km²) and had about 500 people. Villages near the sea would have relied heavily on fishing while settlements further inland adopted a primarily hunting lifestyle. In many villages, what are assumed to be ceremonial stone platforms and storage pits have been found. The initial simple shelters of the villages would soon develop into pithouses built around a central fireplace, with a structure supported by pillars, accommodating around five people each. The Jomon people would settle in different areas depending on the changing climate; colder periods would require proximity to the sea as evidenced by much larger mounds of shells and fish bones found compared to warmer periods when the settlement pattern shows a shift to further inland sites in order to take advantage of the flourishing flora and fauna.
Along with the change in habitation, the total population underwent significant fluctuation: by 5000 BCE the population would grow from 20,000 to 100,000, only to grow further to 200,000 by 3000 BCE before falling back to 100,000 by the end of the period. Although the Jomon people had a somewhat sedentary life, the agricultural revolution only came with the introduction of rice farming near the end of the Jomon Period. This was around 900 BCE when along with advanced metalworking techniques rice was brought to southwestern Japan from what is today Korea.
Jomon tools
TECHNOLOGY
Jomon technology, for the most part, consists of basic stone and wooden tools such as knives and axes as well as bows and arrows, similar to Neolithic technology used in Europe and the rest of Asia. Alongside stone tools, various traps and snares also aided the Jomon people in hunting. Clothing was made from the bark of the mulberry tree, put together using bone needles, and the Jomon were also found to weave wicker baskets. Since at certain periods the Jomon people were settled near the ocean, fishing tools like harpoons and hooks were developed alongside the techniques to use them. Unlike Europe and the rest of Asia, agriculture was not practiced until much later, near the end of the period, so no tools for large-scale farming have been found until the Yayoi period. However, there is evidence of small-scale horticulture or gardening.
JOMON POTTERY
Jomon pottery was made by hand, without the use of a potter's wheel, by building up from the bottom coils of soft clay mixed with other materials such as fibers or crushed shells. Afterwards, the outside and inside of the pottery were smoothed out by tools and then fired in an outdoor bonfire. The remains of the Jomon pottery itself are the oldest pottery to be dated in the world, thousands of pieces of which have been found. The pottery used in the earliest part of the Jomon Period, the Incipient (14500 BCE - 5000 BCE), had rounded bottoms and were used to cook outside, steadied on top of a pile of stones or sand.The next form of pottery, used in the Early Jomon (5000 BCE - 3000 BCE), had flat bottoms and was increasingly intended for indoor use. In the Middle Jomon Period (3000 BCE - 1000 BCE), vessels were more elaborately decorated depicting flames or snakes among other things, and in the Late Jomon Period (1000 BCE - 300 BCE), the walls of the pottery became thinner and vessels had a wider array of uses.
Jomon cup
RITUALS & BELIEFS
The Jomon have been found to bury infants in large jars, adults inside pits and shell mounds near villages, and place ceremonial offerings and other ornaments in graves from the Middle to Late Jomon Periods. Starting sometime in the earlier Jomon phases the clay dogu figurines were made and intially started as flat images ranging in size from 3 to 30 centimeters.By the Middle Jomon phase the figurines became more widespread and numerous, and by the Late Jomon phase, the figurines acquired three-dimensional features. Many such figures depicted pregnant women in the hope of boosting fertility or they depicted regular people which were sometimes broken in the belief that any bad luck or illness would pass to the figurine and miss the living person it represented. A common practice for males entering puberty would be ritualistic teeth pulling for unknown reasons. In northern Japan, a number of stone circles have been found around villages dating to the Jomon Period, the purpose of which is not known but theorized to be for a plentiful hunt or fishing.
TRANSITION TO THE YAYOI
For most of the Jomon Period, Japan was isolated from the rest of Asia so the culture, society, and technology could be called more original and, arguably, more primitive since it could not gain access to the ideas and technology of other cultures. It was not until later phases of the period that evidence was found that indicated contact with the mainland such as similar pottery in Korea, and Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan. The Jomon people would eventually learn rice growing and metalworking from Korea as well as come into contact with people who would mix with the natives in more southern region.They would become the modern Japanese people, although a small group would maintain a higher percentage of original Jomon DNA far to the north, on the island of Hokkaido.
Samurai › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
The samurai (also bushi ) were a class of warriors which arose in the 10th century CE in medieval Japan and which lasted until the 17th century CE. The type has been romanticised since the 18th century CE as the epitome of chivalry and honour.Whilst there are many examples of samurai displaying great loyalty to their masters, the reality is that warfare in medieval Japan was as bloody and as uncompromising as it was in any other region. It is true that, from the 17th century CE, and no longer needed in a military capacity, samurai often became important moral teachers and advisors within the community.
DEVELOPMENT & STATUS
The government system of conscription was ended in 792 CE, and so in the following Heian Period in Japan (794-1185 CE), private armies were formed in order to protect the landed interests ( shoen ) of nobles who spent most of their time away at the imperial court. This was the beginning of the samurai, a name which literally translates as 'attendant' while the verb samuraumeans to serve. There were other classes of warriors but samurai was the only one with a connotation of serving the imperial court. Samurai were employed by feudal lords ( daimyo ) to defend their territories against rivals, to fight enemies identified by the imperial court, and battle with hostile tribes and bandits. As samurai eventually organised into groups with political power they were able to take over from a weak imperial court in the 12th century CE. Thus, from the Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE) a new government system was founded which was dominated by warriors and it would remain so right up until the 19th century CE.
SAMURAI RODE INTO BATTLE SHOUTING OUT THEIR LINEAGE & PAST DEEDS, CHALLENGING ANY OF THE ENEMY TO SINGLE COMBAT.
Many samurai came from the Kanto plain and had gained valuable experience in the campaigns against the Emishi tribes in the north. In these battles, warriors began to develop a code which gave them the possibility to earn a reputation and increase their status amongst their peers and masters. Naturally, bravery on the battlefield was paramount and a tradition developed of samurai riding into battle shouting out their lineage and past deeds, and challenging any of the enemy to single combat.However, it was not until the Edo period (1603-1868 CE) that a fully standardised system of status and rankings developed for samurai. There were three principal ranks:
- gokenin (housemen), the lowest and vassals of a feudal lord.
- goshi (rustic warrior), they could farm their independent land but could not have the two swords of the full samurai rank.
- hatamoto (bannermen), the highest rank.
Samurai made up just 6% of the total population, and their elevated status gave them certain privileges, notably the right to kill anyone on the spot who had offended them and who was below their social rank without any legal repercussions. This sometimes led to unfortunate incidents where samurai tested their swords against innocent passer-by, a test known as tsujigiri, or 'cutting down at the crossroads.' Many samurai had their own dedicated assistants or baishin who also worked any land their master owned.
WEAPONS
Samurai warriors rode on horseback and primarily fought using bow and arrows, even though they also had a curved long sword. They had a second, shorter sword, and a decree by the ruler Hideyoshi in 1588 CE stated that only full samurai could wear two swords and this became an important status symbol. Their preferred method of attack was surprise, often in a night attack. They wore a silk cloak known as a horo, which was fastened around the neck and at the waist. They also wore light and flexible leather armour; the heavier armour for which samurai are famous today was only worn from the 17th century CE onwards. Samurai came to belong to specific military houses or buke. There were no women samurai, although there did exist a small group of female warriors known as onna bugeisha ('martially-skilled women').
Samurai on Horseback
BUSHIDO
The bushido or shido, meaning the 'way of the warrior,' is the famous warrior code of the samurai but it was only compiled in the late 17th century CE, by which time the samurai were no longer active militarily but functioned more as moral guides and advisors. It is, therefore, difficult to ascertain the level of chivalry samurai actually practised throughout their history. It would seem likely that, just as any warrior in any other culture, pragmatism would have ruled the day when fighting actually took place. Promises and truces were frequently violated, villages were burned and the defeated slaughtered as honour came from victory and nowhere else. Samurai were, above all, motivated by financial gain and advancing their social position. It is also true that despite the chivalrous reputation of warriors superimposed in later times on Japanese medieval history, especially in terms of austerity, loyalty and self-discipline, it was not at all uncommon for mass defections to occur during battles, including generals. At the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 CE no fewer than five generals and their armies switched sides mid-battle.
THE FOLLOWERS & RETAINERS OF A SAMURAI WERE SIMILARLY EXPECTED TO COMMIT SUICIDE ON THE LOSS OF THEIR MASTER.
SEPPUKU
Those in the top echelons of the samurai were expected to fight to the death, even if this meant killing oneself to avoid capture.The honourable method was seppuku or self-disembowelment as the stomach was considered to contain the spirit, not the heart. The warrior first donned a white robe, symbol of purity, and then cut his abdomen with a knife stroke from left to right.Not being a particularly fast or efficient method of suicide, an assistant was usually on hand with a special sword, known as a kaishakunin, to decapitate the samurai. The followers and retainers of a samurai were similarly expected to commit suicide on the loss of their master in a code known as junshi or 'death by following.'
SAMURAI AS HEROES: YOSHITSUNE
Many heroes in Japanese mythology are samurai warriors and none is more famous than the legendary Yoshitsune (1159-1189 CE). Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, born Ushiwakamaru, was the younger brother of the shogun and a successful general in the Gempei War (1180-1185 CE). His legendary status springs from his standing as the epitome of the loyal, honourable, and unflappable warrior. He was taught fencing as a youth, rid the countryside of several robbers, and compelled the warrior-monk Benkei to become his faithful servant. Winning many battles, notably leading a cavalry charge at Ichinotani and leaping a boat bridge at Danno-Ura, he eventually aroused his brother's jealousy. Yoshitsune, consequently, fled to northern Japan, only passing the border controls when Benkei beat him in pretence that Yoshitsune was a hapless servant. There was to be no happy end for the hero, though, for the shogun eventually found and blockaded Yoshitsune in a castle which was then burnt to the ground. In some versions of the myth, Yoshitsune escaped to become the Mongol prince Temujin, later to be known as Genghis Khan. The story of Yoshitsune became a staple theme of Noh and Kabuki theatre.
Samurai
FORTY-SEVEN RONIN
Perhaps the most famous real-life samurai, episode of mass- seppuku, and example par excellence of maintaining honour through death is the story of the 47 Ronin ( Shijushichishi ) which occurred in 1703 CE. The lord of Ako, Asano Naganor was at the castle of the shogun in Edo one day when he was insulted by the shogun's (not so diplomatic) chief of protocol, Kira Yoshinaka. Naganor foolishly drew his sword, an act which carried a capital offence within the walls of the castle, and so he was compelled to commit seppuku. However, his 47 samurai followers, known now as ronin ('wanderers' or 'masterless samurai') swore revenge on Yoshinaka. Biding their time for two years, they finally got their man and put his decapitated head on the grave of their fallen master. The ronin were punished for their crime after much public debate and given the option of execution or seppuku. 46 (the missing figure is unaccountable), aged between 15 and 77, decided to accept seppuku and so guarantee their legendary status as the greatest followers to the letter of the samurai code. The ronin were buried, beside their master, at the Sengakuji Temple.
DECLINE & SUBSEQUENT MYTHOLOGISING
The importance of samurai and local armies was greatly reduced following the stabilising policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868 CE) which brought relative peace across Japan. This continued the process begun half a century earlier by Hideyoshi who had disarmed the rural populace and forbidden samurai from working land. Many samurai, faced with becoming either peaceful farmers or retainers to local lords when there was no warfare to speak of, consequently, took a third path and became teachers, administrators (especially in finance), and moral guides. Samurai still enjoyed an elevated social status, being members of the top shi rank, which placed them above merchants, artisans, and farmers within the shi-no-ko-shoranking system.
The 18th century CE saw a romanticisation of the samurai which is still perpetuated today in the media. For example, the famous opening line of the Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, a book on swordsmanship written in 1716 CE during peacetime, boldly states that ' Bushido is a way of dying.' In 1872 CE conscription was reintroduced and in 1876 CE the samurai were formally disestablished, although descendants of former samurai continued to be distinguished with the title of shizoku up to the Second World War.
This article was made possible with generous support from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
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