7.4. Japan (III - XIX centuries)

The Age of the Kings of Yamato. The birth of the state (III-ser. VII). the core of the Japanese people was formed on the basis of the Yamato tribal federation (as Japan was called in antiquity) in the III-V centuries. Representatives of this federation belonged to the Kurgan culture of the early Iron Age.

At the stage of registration of the state, the society consisted of blood-related clans (uji) that existed independently on their land. A typical clan was represented by its head, priest, lower administration, and ordinary free individuals. The group of semi-free (bemins) and slaves (yatsuko) joined it, without entering it. The first in the hierarchy was the royal clan (tenno). His selection in the III. was a turning point in the country's political history. The clan tenno ruled with the help of advisers, the rulers of the districts (agatha nosi) and the governors of the provinces (kunino miyatsuko), the same leaders of the local clans, but already authorized by the king. The appointment of a ruler depended on the will of the most powerful clan in the royal entourage, who also supplied the royal surname of the wives and concubines of their members. From 563 to 645 such a role was played by the Soga clan. This period of history was named the period of Asuka by the name of the residence of the kings in the province of Yamato.

The internal policy of the Yamato kings was aimed at uniting the country and at shaping the ideological basis of autocracy. An important role in this was played by the “Statutes of 17 Articles” created in 604 by Prince Setokou-Taisi. They formulated the main political principle of the highest sovereignty of the ruler and strict subordination of the younger to the elder. Foreign policy priorities were relations with the countries of the Korean Peninsula, sometimes reaching armed clashes, and with China, which took the form of embassy missions and the goal of borrowing any suitable innovations.

Socio-economic structure of III-VII centuries. enters the stage of decomposition of patriarchal relations. Community arable land at the disposal of rural households, gradually begin to fall under the control of strong clans, opposing each other for the initial resources; land and people. Thus, a distinctive feature of Japan was the significant role of the tribal feudalizing nobility and a more pronounced tendency to privatize land holdings more than anywhere else in the Far East, with the relative weakness of the power of the center.

In 552, Buddhism came to Japan, which influenced the unification of religious and moral-aesthetic ideas.

The Age of Fujiwara (645-1192). The historical period following the epoch of the Yamato kings covers the time, which began at the “Taik coup” in 645, and the end - in 1192, when the military rulers with the title of shogun ¹ stood at the head of the country.

Under the motto of the Thai reforms, the entire second half of the 7th century passed. Government reforms were designed to reorganize all areas of relations in the country according to the Chinese Tang model, to seize the initiative of privately appropriating the country's initial resources, land and people, replacing it with the state one. The central government apparatus consisted of the State Council (Dadjokan), eight government departments, and a system of major ministries. The country was divided into provinces and counties headed by governors and county governors. An eight-degree system of genera of titles was established with the emperor at the head and a 48-rank ladder of court titles. From 690 censuses and redistribution of land began to be conducted every six years. A centralized system of army recruitment was introduced, and weapons were withdrawn from private individuals. In 694, the first metropolitan city of Fujiwarak построен was built, the permanent seat of the imperial stakes (until that time, the stakes were easily transferred).

Completion of decoration of the medieval Japanese centralized state in the VIII. was associated with the growth of large cities. In one century, the capital was translated three times: in 710 in Heijokö (Nara), in 784 in Nagaoka, and in 794 in Heyankö (Kyoto). Since the capitals were administrative, rather than trade and craft centers, after the next transfer they fell into neglect. The population of provincial and district towns did not exceed, as a rule, 1,000 people.

Foreign policy problems in the VIII. retreat into the background. Fading consciousness of the danger of invasion from the mainland. In 792, universal military service is abolished and coast guard are liquidated. Embassies in China are becoming rare, and trade begins to play an increasingly important role in relations with the Korean states. By the middle of the IX. Japan finally passes to the policy of isolation, it is forbidden to leave the country, the reception of embassies and courts is stopped.

The formation of a developed feudal society in the IX-XII centuries. was accompanied by an ever more radical departure from the Chinese classical pattern of government. The bureaucratic machine was thoroughly imbued with related aristocratic ties. There is a trend towards decentralization of power. The divine tenno already reigned more than actually ruled the country. The bureaucratic elite around him did not work out, because the system for the reproduction of administrators on the basis of competitive exams was not created. From the second half of the ninth century. The power vacuum was filled by representatives of the Fujiwara clan, who actually begin to rule the country from 858 as regents for juvenile emperors, and from 888 - as chancellors for adults. Period mid-IX - the first half of the XI. It has the name "time of the regents and chancellors". It flourished in the second half of the tenth century. with representatives of the house of Fujiwara, Mitinaga and Yorimiti.

At the end of the ninth century. the so-called “state-legal system” (ritsure) is being drawn up. The personal office of the emperor and the police department directly subordinate to the emperor became the new highest state bodies. The broad rights of the governors allowed them to strengthen their power in the provinces so that they could oppose it to the imperial one. With the fall in the value of the county government, the province becomes the main link in public life and entails the decentralization of the state.

The population of the country, mainly engaged in agriculture, numbered in the VII century. about 6 million people in the XII century. - 10 million. It was divided into full-paid (remin) and non-full-right (semin) paid taxes. In VI-VIII centuries. dominated allotment land use system. The peculiarities of irrigated rice farming, which is extremely labor-intensive and required the personal interest of the worker, determined the predominance of small-scale free labor in the structure of production. Therefore, the labor of slaves was not widespread. Full-fledged peasants treated state land plots that were subject to redistribution every six years, for which they paid grain tax (in the amount of 3% of the officially fixed yield), with tissues and fulfilled developmental duties.

During this period, the dominant lands were not a large state-owned farm, but were given to cultivating individual fields to dependent peasants.

Officials received plots for the duration of the position. Only a few influential administrators could use the lot for life, sometimes with the right to pass it on for a period of one to three generations.

Due to the natural nature of the economy, government departments had access to the few urban markets. The functioning of a small number of markets outside the capital met with a lack of professional market traders and a shortage of peasant fishery products, most of which were seized as taxes.

A feature of the socio-economic development of the country in the IX-XII centuries. was the destruction and complete disappearance of the allotment system of management. The patrimonial possessions, which had the status of “granted” to individuals (syön) by the state, come to replace it. Representatives of the highest aristocracy, monasteries, noble houses that dominated the counties, the hereditary possessions of peasant families appealed to state bodies for recognition of the newly acquired possessions as syoens.

As a result of socio-economic changes, all power in the country from the tenth century. began to belong to noble houses, owners of shoens of different sizes. The privatization of land, income, positions was completed. To settle the interests of the opposing feudal groups, a single class order is being created in the country, to designate which a new term “imperial state” is introduced (cocci), replacing the former regime - “rule of law” (ritsure cocci).

Another characteristic social phenomenon of the era of the developed Middle Ages was the emergence of the military class. The professional warriors who had grown up from the detachments used by the owners of the Syoen in the internecine struggle began to turn into a closed class of samurai warriors (busi). At the end of the Fujiwara epoch, the status of armed force rose due to social instability in the state. In the samurai environment, a code of military ethics emerged, relying on the main idea of ​​personal loyalty to the lord, even to the point of unconditional readiness to give his life for him, and in the case of dishonor to commit suicide by a certain ritual. So the samurai turn into a formidable weapon of large farmers in their struggle with each other.

In the VIII century. Buddhism, which quickly spread to the top of society, did not yet find popularity among the common people, but was supported by the state, became the state religion.

Japan in the era of the first shooter Minamoto

Japan in the epoch of the first shogunate Minamoto (1192-1335). In 1192 a sharp turn in the historical fate of the country takes place, the supreme ruler of Japan with the title of shogun became Minamoto Yerimoto - the head of an influential aristocratic house in the north-east of the country. The city of Kamakura became the headquarters of his government (bakufu). The Minamoto Shogunate lasted until 1335. It was the heyday of the cities, crafts and commerce of Japan. As a rule, cities grew around monasteries and the stakes of large aristocrats. The rise of the port cities at first contributed to the Japanese pirates. Later in their prosperity began to play the role of regular trade with China, Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia. In the XI century. there were 40 cities in the XV century. - 85, in the XVI century. - 269, in which there were corporate associations of artisans and merchants (dza).

With the arrival of the shogun, the agrarian system of the country changed in quality. The leading form of land ownership is petty samurai, although large fiefdoms of influential houses, the emperor and all-powerful vassals of Minamoto continued to exist. In 1274 and 1281 the Japanese successfully resisted the invasion of the Mongolian army.

Among the successors of the first shogun, power seized the house of Houjou's relatives, called Sikkeni (rulers), under whom a semblance of a deliberative body from higher vassals appeared. As a pillar of the regime, the vassals carried the hereditary guarding and military service, were appointed to the post of administrators (dzito) in the fiefdoms and state lands, military governors in the province. The power of the military government of bakufu was limited only to military-police functions and did not cover the entire territory of the country.

Under the shoguns and rulers, the imperial court and the Kyoto government were not liquidated, because military power could not rule the country without the authority of the emperor. The military power of the rulers was greatly strengthened after 1232, when the imperial palace attempted to eliminate the power of the sikken. It turned out to be unsuccessful - the troops loyal to the court were crushed. This was followed by the confiscation of 3,000 shoen belonging to supporters of the court.

Ashikaga Second Shogun

The second shogunate Ashikaga (1335–1573) The second shogunate in Japan arose during the lengthy strife of the princes of noble houses. For two and a half centuries, periods of civil strife and the strengthening of centralized power in the country alternated. In the first third of the XV century. the positions of central authority were the strongest. The shoguns prevented the growth of control of the military governors (shugo) over the provinces. To this end, bypassing shugo, they established direct vassal ties with local feudal lords, obliged shugo western and central provinces to live in Kyoto, and from the south-eastern part of the country - to Kamakura. However, the shoguns centralized power was short-lived. After the assassination of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori in 1441 by one of the feudal lords, an internecine struggle unfolded in the country, which developed into a feudal war of 1467-1477, the consequences of which were reflected for a century. In the country, there comes a period of complete feudal fragmentation.

In the years of the Muromachi shogunate, there is a transition from small and medium feudal land tenure to large. The system of estates (syön) and state-owned lands (koryo) is declining due to the development of trade and economic relations that destroyed the closed borders of the feudal domains. The formation of compact territorial possessions of large feudal lords - principalities begins. This process at the provincial level also proceeded along the line of increase in the holdings of military governors (shugo ryokoku).

In the era of Ashikaga, the process of separation of handicrafts from agriculture was deepened. Craft workshops arose now not only in the metropolitan area, but also on the periphery, concentrating in the headquarters of military governors and the estates of the feudal lords. Production focused solely on the needs of the patron, was replaced by production on the market, and the patronage of strong houses began to provide a guarantee of monopoly rights to engage in a certain type of production activity in exchange for the payment of monies. Rural artisans are moving from a stray to a settled way of life, there is a specialization of rural areas.

The development of the craft contributed to the growth of trade. There are specialized trading guilds, separated from the craft shops. On the transportation of products of tax revenues, a layer of toimaru merchants grew up, which gradually turned into a class of intermediary merchants who transported a wide variety of goods and engaged in usury. Local markets were concentrated in areas of harbors, crossings, postal stations, shoen borders and could serve a territory with a radius of 2-3 to 4-6 km.

The centers of the country remained the capital of Kyoto, Nara and Kamakura. According to the conditions of occurrence, the cities were divided into three groups. Some grew out of postal stations, ports, markets, customs posts. The second type of cities arose during the temples, especially intensively in the XIV century, and had, like the first, a certain level of self-government. The third type was the market settlements at the castles of the military and the rates of provincial governors. Such cities, often created by the will of the feudal lord, were under his complete control and had the least mature urban features. The peak of their growth accounted for the XV century.

After the Mongol invasions, the authorities took a course to eliminate the diplomatic and trade isolation of the country. Taking measures against the Japanese pirates who attacked China and Korea, bakufu restored diplomatic and trade relations with China in 1401. Until the middle of the 15th century. the monopoly of trade with China was in the hands of the shoguns Ashikaga, and then began to go under the auspices of large merchants and feudal lords. Silk, brocade, perfume, sandalwood, porcelain and copper coins were usually brought from China, and gold, sulfur, fans, screens, lacquered dishes, swords and wood were sent. Trade was also conducted with Korea and the countries of the South Seas, as well as with the Ryukyu, where in 1429 a unified state was created.

The social structure in the Ashikaga era remained traditional: the ruling class consisted of the court aristocracy, the military nobility and the top clergy, the common people - from the peasants, artisans and merchants. Until the XVI century. classes of feudal lords and peasants were clearly established.

Until the 15th century, when a strong military power existed in the country, the main forms of peasant struggle were peaceful: escapes, petitions. With the growth of principalities in the XVI century. rises and armed peasant struggle. The most massive type of resistance is the anti-tax struggle. 80% of peasant uprisings in the XVI century. held in the economically developed central regions of the country. The rise of this struggle was also promoted by the advance of feudal fragmentation. Mass peasant uprisings took place in this century under religious slogans and were organized by the neo-Buddhist sect of Jodo.

Unification of the country; Shogunate Tokugaeva

Unification of the country; Shogunate Tokugaeva. Political fragmentation put on the agenda the task of uniting the country. This mission was fulfilled by three prominent political figures of the country: Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582), Toyotomi Hijoshi (1536-1598) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). In 1573, defeating the most influential daimyo and neutralizing the fierce resistance of Buddhist monasteries, Oda overthrew the last shogun from the house of Ashikaga. By the end of his short political career (he was killed in 1582), he mastered half of the provinces, including the capital Kyoto, and carried out reforms that contributed to the elimination of fragmentation and the development of cities. Покровительство христианам, появившимся в Японии в 40-х годах XVI в., обуславливалось непримиримым сопротивлением буддистских монастырей политическому курсу Ода. В 1580 г. в стране было около 150 тыс. христиан, 200 церквей и 5 семинарий. By the end of the XVII century. их количество возросло до 700 тыс. человек. Не в последнюю очередь росту численности христиан способствовала политика южных даймё, заинтересованных в обладании огнестрельным оружием, производство которого было налажено в Японии католиками-португальцами.

Внутренние реформы преемника Ода, выходца из крестьян Тоётоми Хидзёси, сумевшего завершить объединение страны, имели главной целью создание сословия исправных налогоплательщиков. Земля была закреплена за крестьянами, способными платить государственные налоги, усилен казенный контроль за городами и торговлей. В отличие от Ода он не оказывал покровительства христианам, проводил кампанию по изгнанию миссионеров из страны, преследовал японцев-христиан – уничтожал церкви и типографии. Успеха такая политика не имела, ибо преследуемые укрывались под защитой принявших христианство мятежных южных даймё.

После смерти Тоётоми Хидзёси в 1598 г. власть перешла к одному из его сподвижников Токугава Изясу, который в 1603 г. провозгласил себя сёгуном. Так начался последний, третий, самый продолжительный по времени (1603-1807 гг.) сёгунат Токугава.

Одна из первых реформ дома Токугава была направлена на ограничение всевластия даймё, которых насчитывалось около 200. С этой целью враждебные правящему дому даймё территориально рассредотачивались. Ремесло и торговля в городах, находившихся под юрисдикцией таких тодзама, передавались в подчинение центру вместе с городами.

Аграрная реформа Токугава еще раз закрепила крестьян за их землями. При нем были строго разграничены сословия: самураи, крестьяне, ремесленники и торговцы. Токугава начал проводить политику контролируемых контактов с европейцами, выделив среди них голландцев и закрыв порты для всех остальных и, прежде всего, миссионеров католической церкви. Пришедшие через голландских купцов европейские наука и культура получили в Японии название голландской науки (рангакуся) и имели большое влияние на процесс совершенствования экономического строя Японии.

The seventeenth century brought Japan political stability and economic prosperity, but as early as the next century, the economic crisis began. In a difficult situation were samurai, deprived of the necessary material content; peasants, some of whom were forced to go to the cities; daimyo, whose wealth has declined markedly. True, the power of the shoguns still remained unshakable. A significant role was played in this by the revival of Confucianism, which became the official ideology and influenced the way of life and thoughts of the Japanese (the cult of ethical norms, devotion to the elders, the strength of the family).

The crisis of the third shogunate became apparent from the 1930s. XIX century.The weakening of the power of the shoguns was used primarily by the tozam of the southern regions of the country, Choshu and Satsuma, who grew rich due to the smuggling of arms and the development of their own, including the military industry. Another blow to the authority of the central government was caused by the violent “discovery of Japan” by the United States and European countries in the middle of the 19th century. The emperor became the national-patriotic symbol of the anti-foreign and anti-shogun movement, and the imperial palace in Kyoto became the center of gravity of all the rebellious forces of the country. After a short resistance in the fall of 1866, the shogunate fell, and power in the country was transferred to the 16-year-old Emperor Mitsuhito (Meiji) (1852-1912). Japan has entered a new historical era.

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Итак, исторический путь Японии в Средние века был не менее напряженным и драматическим, чем у соседнего Китая, с которыми островное государство периодически поддерживало этнический, культурный, экономический контакты, заимствуя у более опытного соседа образцы политического и социально-экономического устройства. Однако поиск своего национального пути развития привел к становлению самобытной культуры, режима власти, общественного строя. Отличительной чертой японского пути развития стали больший динамизм всех процессов, высокая социальная мобильность при менее глубоких формах общественного антагонизма, способность нации воспринимать и творчески перерабатывать достижения других культур.