The Cambridge History of Japan

This volume provides the most comprehensive treatment in Western literature of the Heian period, the Japanese imperial court's golden age.

Donald H. Shively (Edited by), William H. McCullough (Edited by)

9780521223539, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 July 1999

782 pages, 24 b/w illus. 3 maps 8 tables
23.6 x 16.2 x 4.1 cm, 1.18 kg

'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

This 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.

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.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Asian history [HBJF]