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The Cambridge History of Japan Vol. 2: Heian Japan

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Heian Japan

Series The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 2

Edited by Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough

Publication Date 1999

Hardback ISBN-10
0521223539

Hardback ISBN-13
9780521223539

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 10.1017/CHOL9780521223539

Overview

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.

For more details of the
print book, and how to buy it online, please see
Heian Japan in the Cambridge University Press online
catalogue.

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Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Introduction
by
Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough

The Heian court, 794–1070
by
William H. McCullough

The capital and its society
by
William H. McCullough

Land and society
by
Dana Morris

Provincial administration and land tenure in early Heian
by
Cornelius J. Kiley

Chinese learning and intellectual life
by
Marian Ury

Aristocratic culture
by
Helen Craig McCullough

Aristocratic Buddhism
by
Stanley Weinstein

Religious practices
by
Allan G. Grapard

Insei
by
G. Cameron Hurst

The rise of the warriors
by
Takeuchi Rizō

Works cited

©2011 Cambridge University Press.
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