9781422283547

2 In the Shadow of China

Learning from China and Korea A Gagaku musician hitting a gong at the Shinto temple, Ise. Gagaku is an ancient from of court music in Japan.

T he Japanese began to have direct contact with China around 400 ce . China was much more powerful, wealthy and advanced than Japan. The Japanese were very impressed and eagerly learned how to write, how to make porcelain, silk, lacquer and paper and how to

lay out (plan) cities. They also took over the Chinese calendar and the Buddhist religion (see right). For over 400 years Japan sent officials and scholars to China and in return welcomed many teachers, priests and craftsmen from there and Korea, who came to settle in Japan. The Way of the Gods The Japanese had their own religion, Shinto , which means “the way of the gods.” It was based on the worship of nature and gods. Shinto had no great founder or prophet. It had no scriptures except myths that were eventually written down in the first Japanese books—the Kojiki and Nihon shoki. Shinto taught that every natural object, such as a lake or mountain, tree or rock, as well as any person either living or dead, had a spirit ( kami ) which ought to be respected. Many Shinto festivals and celebrations began

as ways of asking the gods to protect the rice crop or thanking them for a good harvest.

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