What you must do in this unit
- Read chapter 13 in the textbook.
- Read my notes on Japanese Society.
- Watch the short video.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
- Post (or respond) with your thoughts/ideas/comments in the discussion forum: How close were cultural and political relations between early Japanese and Chinese societies? (5 points).
What you can do in this unit
- Chelsea Alice has a very nicely designed timeline of Japanese history that covers the different chronological periods of the country.
- Cynthia Rinehart has created a beautiful online exhibit on Japanese Waka poetry.
- Check out the web exhibit by Elise Monsen, former student, A Brief History of Japanese Art.
Some videos that you can watch for this unit
- Classical Japan during the Heian Period | World History | Khan Academy
- Religion in Japan
- Medieval Japan and China 800s-1400s
- For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.
Extra Credit Options
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, in a one-page paper consider a comparison of way of the samurai (see Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure, which is sometimes called the "way of the samurai") with the way of the medieval knight (for example in the Song of Roland). Please be sure to cite your sources.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read the Shinto Creation Stories and then write a one-page paper in which you compare these stories to other creations epics such as the Popol Vuh or Genesis. Please be sure to cite your sources.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, read Prince Shotoku, The Japanese Constitution and write a paragraph in which you comment on some of the aspects of Japanese political thought of the seventh century.
- For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course. Send your instructor the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.
Unit Learning Objectives
- Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) demonstrate knowledge of early Japanese and Korean history and (2) critically evaluate a historical term.