Anyway, for our purposes, Heian culture is the high culture of the upper-upper-class aristocracy, and obviously focusing on this tiny sliver of the upper class leaves out the experience of most Japanese people. I mean, you can't just make up economic theories. What I love about it is that it embraces the human imagination.
As a novelist, and also a consumer of culture, I'm a big fan of cultural history. So for most of this episode, we'll be looking at cultural history as opposed to like economic or political history. And when I say Japanese culture, I do mean culture, because the achievements of the Heian period were primarily artistic, especially in literature. So discussions of Japanese history often focus on the Tokugawa period because it's got ninja and samurai, but much of the foundation of Japanese culture dates to the Heian period between 7 CE. Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet? 5Ĭrash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at While this doesn't give a lot of insight into the lives of daily people, it can be very valuable, and the idea of approaching history from a cultural perspective is a refreshing change from the usual military or political history that survives from so many eras.Ĭitation 1: Morris, Ivan, The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu was the classic piece of literature of the day, and it gave a detailed look into the way the Aristocrats of the Heian period lived. There was a flourishing of art and literature in the period, and a lot of that culture was created by women. Rather than being known for a thriving economy, or particularly interesting politics, the most important things to come out of the Heian period were largely cultural. The Heian period in Japan lasted from 794CE to 1185CE, and it was an interesting time in Japan.
In which John Green teaches you about what westerners call the middle ages and the lives of the aristocracy.in Japan.
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