The Cambridge History of Japan
The Cambridge History of Japan
William H. McCullough , University of California, Berkeley
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GBPThis volume provides the most comprehensive treatment of the Heian period, the golden age of the Japanese imperial court, in any Western language. From Heian-kyo, founded in 794, the Japanese emperor ruled over an elaborate government modelled on China's absolute monarchy. Ambassadors to the T'ang court and students studying in China brought back laws, ideas, Buddhism, temple architecture, sculpture, and wall-painting. Chinese influences blended with native Japanese elements in courtly painting, calligraphy, poetry and prose. The world's first novel, The Tale of Genji, was completed about 1020. In 1185 the elegant and peaceful world of the court was shattered by the struggle of the Taira and Minamoto warrior clans, who usurped real political power and left the emperor with a symbolic, legitimizing role. Contributors to this volume emphasize political history, the land system, provincial administration, the capital and its society, aristocratic culture, and the acceptance of Buddhism and popular religious practices.
- Contributors discuss society, rural economy, arts and culture, and religion, as well as politics and military history
- Comprehensive overview of Heian period, bibliography lists other important works for further study
- Chapters are result of years of specialization, building upon work of Japanese scholars
Reviews & endorsements
'All teachers, students, and researchers into Japan's past should be grateful that there is now an authoritative source describing the entirety of Japanese political and cultural history in greater detail that ever before.' Monumenta Nipponica
Product details
September 1999Hardback
9780521223539
782 pages
236 × 162 × 41 mm
1.18kg
24 b/w illus. 3 maps 8 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The Heian court, 794–1070 William H. McCullough
- 2. The capital and its society William H. McCullough
- 3. Land and society Dana Morris
- 4. Provincial administration and land tenure in Early Heian Cornelius J. Kiley
- 5. Chinese learning and intellectual life Marian Ury
- 6. Aristocratic culture Helen Craig McCullough
- 7. Aristocratic Buddhism Stanley Weinstein
- 8. Religious practices Allan G. Grapard
- 9. Insei G. Cameron Hurst III
- 10. The rise of the warriors Rizo Takeuchi.
