THE RULE OF TASTE

TERMS:

In your responses to the questions below, use (and define) at least ten of the following terms in such a way as to assure the instuctor that you understand the historical importance / significance of each item. Cross the item off the list as you do so.
 
  
uji / be / tomo
Yamato 
Kojiki 
garan
Nihon shoki
bugaku
tenno 
Izanagi / Izanami
Byodoin
Mimana 
Jimmu 
shinden
Soga 
Manyoshu 
hiragana
Shotoku Taishi
Miroku / Amida
katakana
Nihon / Nippon
Todaiji 
The Tale of Genji
Taika Reform
Tempyo 
The Pillow Book
Taiho Code
Horyuji 
emakimono 
 
 

QUESTIONS FOR CONTEMPLATION:

In the spaces provided, write a brief response to each of the questions provided below:

  1. The Yamato clan was one among many. Following its rise to power, how did it buttress its hegemony and legitimize its "imperial" position?

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  2. In borrowing heavily from China, the Japanese nonetheless sought to maintain their "Japaneseness". Describe those elements already present in Japanese culture and civilization considered part of this "essential nature".

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  3. List the major products of the borrowing process, elements of Chinese civilization and culture imported to Japan after the sixth century. How was this borrowing process accomplished?

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  4. Discuss Chinese influences on Japanese art and architecture during the Aristocratic period.

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  5. What evidence do we have of the process of adaptation at work in Aristocratic Japan? What indigenous cultural developments occurred during the Aristocratic period?

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  6. What evidence of the continuing impact of the cultural style of the Aristocratic Period exists in Japan today?