EALC 24422 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Emperor Jimmu, Meiji Period, Heian Period
20 Jun 2018
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4/19 Week 4 EALC pt 2 Lecture and Discussion
What is the emperor?
- A complete sovereign; doesn’t really need help leading the country.
Japanese concept of emperor?
- A symbol, a concept of identity
- Confucian idea of the father of the family
- The japanese already had the divine origin; they didn’t need a Mandate of Heaven
（天命） to legitimize the emperor. He was already legitimized through myths and
stories
Context--how did we get to the Meiji Period?
- Role of the emperors in the Kojiki
- Who was the first real emperor? (A real person lol)
- Emperor Kenmei (8th cent)
- Emperor Jinmu? Later
- Sessho Kanpaku
- Until the meiji period, it was fine for a woman to become an emperor
- Soga and Fujiwara--dominant in the Heian period; Taira clan; Minamoto (where
the shogun’s rank comes from); Ashikaga (Muromachi period 14th cent, two
courts were established
- All clans that managed to dominate the emperor as regions. They
CONTROLLED the emperor
- Kan and Min
- Kan: officials; had political influence
- Min: (民) The “people” who were really the intellectuals, scholars, etc
- People’s Rights Movement
- Demanded REAL ELECTIONS in the government. It was established in the
1880s
- The government created a response to this in 1889 which created a
government that had a little more political influence
Presentation
How we can use Emperor Hirohito as a case study
- He is the image of a nation-state, developed the image of what it means to be Japanese
Document Summary
4/19 week 4 ealc pt 2 lecture and discussion. A complete sovereign; doesn"t really need help leading the country. Confucian idea of the father of the family. The japanese already had the divine origin; they didn"t need a mandate of heaven (cid:15910) (cid:15911) to legitimize the emperor. He was already legitimized through myths and stories. Role of the emperors in the kojiki. Who was the first real emperor? (a real person lol) Until the meiji period, it was fine for a woman to become an emperor. Soga and fujiwara--dominant in the heian period; taira clan; minamoto (where the shogun"s rank comes from); ashikaga (muromachi period 14th cent, two courts were established. All clans that managed to dominate the emperor as regions. Min: ( ) the people who were really the intellectuals, scholars, etc. The government created a response to this in 1889 which created a government that had a little more political influence.
