Several eras of Japan, urgently requested!

Several eras in Japanese history

About the 1st century AD, there were more than 100 small countries in Japan, some of which established diplomatic relations with the Eastern Han Dynasty. Later, these small countries gradually unified.

In the 4th century AD, a relatively large country was established in the Kansai region. It is said that the person who finally unified them was the ancestor of the today's imperial family. At that time, the scope of Japan included western Honshu, northern Kyushu and Shikoku. After a long period of time, the country was unified.

So it is difficult to make an accurate determination of the exact year when Japan was born. According to the "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki" records, the first emperor, Emperor Jimmu, founded the country and ascended the throne in 660 BC. The date of his accession is equivalent to February 11 of the current Western calendar, so this day is designated as "National Founding Day".

Jomon Period

Since the Pluvial Period, human ancestors have lived on the Japanese archipelago; the formation of the Japanese race and the prototype of the Japanese language is believed to have occurred 10,000 years ago. The Jomon period before the 3rd century BC.

At that time, people lived in small or ten-person households in pit-style thatched houses and made a living by hunting, fishing, and gathering, forming a society without distinctions between rich and poor or between classes. Return to the top

Yayoi Period

In the 3rd century BC, rice cultivation and metal utensil use techniques were introduced from Korea to northern Kyushu.

Rice farming technology has brought epoch-making changes to Japanese society. It has expanded production, created a gap between the rich and the poor, and made the rural community tend to become political groups. The beliefs, etiquette, and customs brought by farming also gradually spread, forming the prototype of Japanese culture. Return to the top

Tufun Period

In the middle of the 4th century AD, the Yamato regime unified the small, divided countries. With the unification of the country, ancient tombs represented by the front and back round tombs expanded to various places.

This period was the period when many Chinese knowledge and technologies were introduced to Japan. The Yamato regime absorbed China's high material civilization.

In the 5th century AD, foreigners from the Korean Peninsula - naturalized people - brought technologies such as iron production, pottery, textiles, metal crafts, and civil engineering. They also began to use Chinese characters.

In the 6th century AD, Confucianism was officially accepted, and Buddhism was also introduced to Japan.

In the 7th century AD, Prince Shotoku was committed to political reform, and with the motivation of "Taika Reform", he set out to establish a centralized state with the emperor as the center. This approach was followed by the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and at this time they were more actively introducing Chinese culture. By the end of the 9th century AD, China had sent more than 10 envoys to the Sui Dynasty and to the Tang Dynasty. Return to the top

Nara Period

In 710 AD, Japan established its capital Heijōkyo (now Nara City), ushering in the prosperous period of the Ritsuryō state.

However, at this time, the contradictions began to be exposed as the poverty of farmers and the increase in vagrants, and the virtual collapse of the public land citizenship system due to the expansion of manors.

Due to the country's efforts to protect Buddhism during this period, Buddhist culture, especially Buddhist art, began to flourish. For example, the Asuka culture created Japanese Buddhist culture in the early 7th century AD; the unique Hakuho culture in the late 7th century AD; and the balance culture in the mid-8th century AD, under the influence of the culture of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, which used realistic techniques to embody the rich emotions of human beings. Wait, comparable to Buddhist art, the cultural pyramid of this period is the "Man'yoshu". "Man'yoshu" collects about 4,500 waka written by people ranging from common people to the emperor in about 400 years before the middle of the eighth century AD. It truly reflects the simple life emotions of the ancient Japanese. In addition, Japan's oldest historical book "Kojiki" (written in 712 AD), the oldest imperial history book "Nihon Shoki" (written in 720 AD), and the oldest collection of Chinese poems "Huai" are still preserved. "Wind Algae" (written in 751 AD) and so on are the cultural heritage of this period. Return to the top

Heian Period

At the end of the 8th century AD, Japan moved its capital to Heian Kyo (now Kyoto City) in an attempt to rebuild the legal system. But due to the collapse of commons citizenship, the country fell into financial difficulties. The last batch of envoys to the Tang Dynasty was sent out in 894 AD and then ended, and there was no longer a large-scale introduction of Chinese culture. From the 10th to the 11th century AD, the Fujiwara clan monopolized political power, with the manor as its economic basis, and was the most powerful. However, due to the chaos of local politics, public security was extremely poor, and the samurai group became stronger.

By the end of the 11th century AD, in order to fight against Fujiwara, "institutional government" was implemented, that is, the emperor and the emperor ruled on behalf of the emperor in the late Heian period of Japan. As a result, samurai entered central politics.

The Heian period was characterized by native culture. In the 9th century AD, influenced by the Tang Dynasty, Hongren and Zhenguan cultures in esoteric Buddhism and Sinology were still very prosperous. However, after the severance of diplomatic relations with China after the 10th century AD, Japan's unique aristocratic culture emerged. Representatives include the first imperial collection of Japanese songs, "Kojin Wakashu" (written in the early 10th century AD), the world's oldest novel "The Tale of Genji" (written in the early 11th century AD), and the essay "Pillow" (written around 1000 AD). ) and a number of other literary and artistic works.

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The Kamakura period

At the end of the 12th century AD, Minamoto Yoritomo was granted the title of the first general to conquer barbarians and established the shogunate in Kamakura. From then on, the samurai regime was born. This gave rise to the opposition between the politics of the military family and the politics of the public family (referring to the officials and nobles of the imperial court).

In the late 13th century, the samurai rule of the shogunate began to face difficulties, and the Kamakura shogunate gradually embarked on the road to destruction.

In terms of culture, based on the aristocratic culture of the past, the Zen culture introduced to Japan during the Song Dynasty was introduced, and a vivid, realistic, simple and unique martial arts culture was cultivated. In terms of religion, Kamakura Buddhism was founded by famous monks such as Horan, Shinran, and Nichiren, and gained faith from all walks of life.

Zen Buddhism, which was introduced to Japan in the 12th century AD, attracted the attention of the Kanto warriors, and new trends emerged in the field of art. In terms of literature, the novel "The Tale of the Heike" (written in the early 13th century AD) with the Genpei War as the background appeared, which is an outstanding representative of ancient Japanese military narratives. Back to Mogami

The Muromachi Period

In the first half of the 14th century AD, after the great general Ashikaga Yoshimitsu stabilized the Muromachi shogunate in Kyoto in the first half of the 14th century AD, in more than two centuries, in terms of politics and culture, The Wu family overwhelms the public family and is at an advantage. Since the Muromachi shogunate was established by gathering powerful daimyo, the shogunate itself had weak governance capabilities. In January of the first year of Onin's reign (AD 1467), the Onin Rebellion broke out. Daimyos from all over the country rose up one after another. The Muromachi shogunate was on the verge of collapse, and Japan entered the Warring States Period. The Warring States Daimyo became a powerful independent political power that ruled the local land and people.

In terms of culture, both the aristocracy and the martial arts culture were influenced by Zen Buddhism. The Kokuyama culture represented by Kinkakuji Temple in the late 14th century AD, and the Higashiyama culture represented by Ginkakuji Temple in the late 15th century AD were both very developed. In the mid-16th century AD, the Portuguese and Spanish came to Japan and introduced guns and Christianity. It was a vibrant time culturally. Return to the top

The Warring States Period (the late Muromachi period and the Azuchi and Momoyama periods)

After the Onin Rebellion, daimyo emerged one after another across Japan, wars raged, and the people were in dire straits.

In the mid-16th century AD, a hero appeared who was determined to unify Japan by force and end the troubled times. He was Oda Nobunaga. In the third year of Eiroku (1560 AD), Oda Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto's 40,000 army with 2,000 troops at Ozama, and his reputation became great. Later, they gradually unified Owari and Kinki, and prepared to attack Sanin and Sanyo. During this period, Nobunaga built the magnificent Azuchi Castle. Therefore, Nobunaga's era is called the "Azuchi era". In the tenth year of Tensho (AD 1582), the Honnoji Rebellion broke out and Nobunaga died. Hideyoshi Hashiba, an important minister of the Oda family, defeated Mitsuhide Akechi and Katsuie Shibata successively, establishing his status as heir. After that, Japan was gradually unified through the conquest of Shikoku, the conquest of Kyushu, and the Battle of Odawara. Later, he was given the surname "Toyotomi" by the emperor and was given the title of "Guanbai". The era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi is called the "Momoyama Period". In the third year of Keicho (1598 AD), Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness in Fushimi Castle. The Toyotomi clan was divided into two factions: Omi (Western Army) and Owari (Eastern Army). As one of the five elders of the Toyotomi regime, Tokugawa Ieyasu launched the Battle of Sekigahara in the fifth year of Keicho (1600 AD), defeated the Western Army, and established the Tokugawa regime. In the eighth year of Keicho (AD 1603), the Tokugawa Shogunate was established, and the Warring States Period ended. Back to the top

Edo period

In the eighth year of Keicho (AD 1603), Tokugawa Ieyasu was granted the title of general to conquer barbarians and established the shogunate in Edo (now Tokyo). For more than 260 years, the Tokugawa family ruled the country. This period is called the "Edo Period". The Tokugawa shogunate strictly controlled the emperor, nobles, temples and shrines, and took great pains to rule the peasants who supported the shogunate system.

In the ninth year of Yuanhe (AD 1623), Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third generation general of the Tokugawa family, took office and ordered the country to be locked down. Except for opening Nagasaki and Kaizhen as external ports, foreigners are prohibited from coming to Japan, and Japanese are prohibited from traveling overseas. Due to the seclusion, the shogunate system ushered in a period of stability. However, with the development of industry and commodity economy, the self-sufficient management system of farmers collapsed. From the 18th century AD, the shogunate system began to waver.

Common people’s culture is the characteristic of this period. The Genroku culture from the late 17th century to the early 18th century was the culture of samurai and merchants centered in Kyoto, Osaka and other Kami (people in the Kanto region of Japan called Kyoto and Osaka Kami). Doll joruri, kabuki, ukiyo-e, and crafts flourished. In the early 19th century, Kasho culture moved to Edo, and novels, kabuki, ukiyo-e, literati paintings, etc. presented a colorful merchant culture. Back to top

Meiji Era

At the end of the Edo shogunate, natural disasters continued, the shogunate ruled corruptly, and the people were in dire straits. Moreover, the shogunate's financial difficulties made most of the middle and lower-level samurai increasingly dissatisfied with the shogunate. At the same time, the Western capitalist powers used strong ships and cannons to knock on the door of Japan, which had been closed for more than 200 years. Under the dual pressure of internal and external troubles, the Japanese gradually realized that the only way to become strong and prosperous was to overthrow the shogunate rule and learn from capitalist countries. So a vigorous fall came to an end. In this overthrow of the shogunate's rule, the warriors of the two feudal vassals, Mo and Changzhou, played an important role.

On January 3, 1868, the rebel faction representing the interests of the bourgeoisie and the emerging landlord class came under the leadership of Okubo Toshimichi, Saigo Takamori, and Kido Takayoshi, known as the "Three Heroes of the Restoration." , successfully launched a coup, forcing the 15th generation of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshiki, to hand over power, and the newly enthroned Emperor Meiji issued an edict to "restore the imperial government." This is the "Meiji Restoration" in Japanese history. Japan has since embarked on the path of capitalism.

In 1868 AD (the second year of Meiji), Emperor Meiji moved the capital to Edo and changed its name to Tokyo. After that, a series of major reforms were carried out in politics, economy, culture, education, diplomacy and other aspects. Japan's national power gradually grew stronger. Later, it defeated the Chinese Beiyang Fleet in the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, and completely annihilated the Russian Pacific Fleet and Baltic Fleet. Japan became one of the imperialist powers. Return to the top

The Taisho and Showa eras

Compared with the historic progress made in the Meiji era, Emperor Taisho was called the "unfortunate Taisho." Emperor Taisho reigned for 15 years, but his political performance was far inferior to that of Meiji. Moreover, he was troubled by encephalopathy throughout his life. In the end, he was forced to relinquish power and recuperate, leaving Prince Hirohito as regent. In 1926 AD, Hirohito ascended the throne, with the reign name "Showa", that is, Emperor Showa. The first 30 years of the Showa era were a dark 30 years for the people of China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. At this time, the Japanese government was committed to aggression and expansion. In 1931 AD (Showa 6), the "September 18th Incident" broke out and the Japanese army invaded Northeast China.

On July 7, 1937 (Showa 12), the Japanese army provoked the "Lugouqiao Incident" and launched a full-scale war of aggression against China.

In 1941 AD (Showa 16), the Japanese army attacked Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War broke out. This period not only brought serious disasters to the people of China, North Korea, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, but also brought pain and difficulties to the Japanese people. This is the darkest period in the history of Japan and Sino-Japanese relations.

On August 15, 1945 (Showa 20), the Japanese army surrendered. The US military occupied Japan and changed Japan's autocratic emperor system to a constitutional monarchy. The emperor was retained as a symbol of Japan.

In July 1972 (Showa 47), Tanaka Kakuei became the Prime Minister of Japan and began to implement "multilateral independent" diplomacy. In September of the same year, Tanaka visited China and signed the "Sino-Japanese Joint Statement" with Premier Zhou Enlai on September 29, announcing the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

In August 1978, China and Japan signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

In October 1978, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping was invited to visit Japan and announced that the Treaty of Peace and Friendship had officially come into effect. Relations between China and Japan have since normalized.

In 1989 (Showa 64, the first year of Heisei), Emperor Showa died of illness. Crown Prince Akihito ascended the throne and changed the reign name to "Heisei".