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Author Farris, William Wayne, author.

Title Heavenly warriors : the evolution of Japan's military, 500-1300 / William Wayne Farris.

Publication Info. Cambridge, Mass. : Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University : Distributed by the Harvard University Press, 1995, 1992.

Item Status

Order cancelled for Moore: Acquisitions/Serials.
Description 1 online resource.
text file
Series Harvard East Asian monographs ; 157
Harvard East Asian monographs ; 157.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 443-464) and index.
Summary "The word samurai suggests the colorful figure of a lightly armored, mounted archer attended by two or three foot soldiers engaging in ritualized one-on-one combat, the aristocratic fighting man of the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333). Although some historians have considered the rise of the samurai as analogous to the rather abrupt rise of feudal knights in medieval Western Europe, Farris provides an "evolutionary model" for Japan that traces the step-by-step adaptive development of local strongmen over more than half a millennium. Through analyses of military technology and tactics, social organization, economic base, and political skills, mainly based on Japanese primary sources, Farris demonstrates some of the underlying continuities in that development together with the rather late acquisition by warriors of those political capabilities that led to the dominance of the Shogunate over the Court." "Japan's original Heavenly Warrior, the Emperor Temmu, declared in 684, "In a government, military matters are the essential thing." Farris's detailed descriptions and maps of major battles from the Korean Wars of the sixth century through the thirteenth-century Mongol Invasions underscore the validity of that judgment. Finally, Minamoto no Yoritomo triumphed as "the chief of all warriors," and established his Shogunate in 1185, giving a firmer political base to Japan's warrior elite."--Jacket.
Contents Origins of weapons, war, and Japan's early military, 500-645 -- Obeying the Imperial Command: The military from 645 to 770 -- War in the northeast and technological remedies, 770-900 -- From external defense to internal peacekeeping, 850-950 -- The "missing link" : The military of the Middle Heian Era, 950-1050 -- Warriors and land, 1050-1150 -- The quest for independence and political skills, 1150-1185 -- Japanese feudalism reconsidered, 1185-1300.
Acknowledgments -- Introduction (starting p. 1) -- 1 Origins of Weapons, War, and Japan's Early Military, 500-645 (starting p. 11) -- Japan's Earliest Military Technology (starting p. 12) -- Japan's Earliest Military Organization (starting p. 23) -- 2 Obeying the Imperial Command: The Military from 645 to 770 (starting p. 33) -- Forging the New Chinese-Style System (starting p. 34) -- Chinese-Style System of 702 (starting p. 47) -- Horse-Raising in the Eighth Century (starting p. 57) -- Revolt of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu and the Provincial Military (starting p. 60) -- Fujiwara no Nakamaro and Military Power in the Capital (starting p. 69) -- 3 War in the Northeast and Technological Remedies, 770-900 (starting p. 81) -- Prelude to the Wars in Northeastern Japan, Origins to 774 (starting p. 82) -- Wars in Northeastern Japan, 774-812 (starting p. 90) -- Character and Effects of the Northeastern Wars (starting p. 97) -- Pruning the Taiho System (starting p. 104) -- Crossbow and Japan's Defense in the Ninth Century (starting p. 113) -- 4 From External Defense to Internal Peacekeeping, 850-950 (starting p. 120) -- Growing Domestic Violence and Reforms in the Military System (starting p. 121) -- Revolt of Taira no Masakado (starting p. 131) -- Rebellions East and West (starting p. 142) -- Masakado, Sumitomo, and the Evolution of the Middle Heian Military System (starting p. 150) -- 5 "Missing Link": The Military of the Middle Heian Era, 950-1050 (starting p. 163) -- Military System of the Capital, 942-1050 (starting p. 164) -- Military System of the Provinces, 942-1050 (starting p. 177) -- Rebellion of Taira no Tadatsune and Reform of the System of 900- 1050 (starting p. 192) -- 6 Warriors and Land, 1050-1150 (starting p. 204) -- Late Heian Era: An Overview (starting p. 206) -- Late Heian Era: Case Studies (starting p. 215) -- Military in the Former Nine Years' War, 1051-1062 (starting p. 223) -- Latter Three Years' War: An Illegal Campaign (starting p. 233) -- Raising an Army in the Late Heian Period: Taira no Tadamori and the Pirates of the Inland Sea (starting p. 241) -- 7 Quest for Independence and Political Skills, 1150-1185 (starting p. 252) -- Taira's Road to Power and the Capital Military (starting p. 254) -- Hogen War of 1156 (starting p. 263) -- Disturbances of 1159 (starting p. 270) -- Taira and the Late Heian Military System, 1160-1185 (starting p. 273) -- Great Civil War of 1180-1185 (starting p. 289) -- Japan's Military, 1180-1185 (starting p. 297) -- 8 Japanese Feudalism Reconsidered, 1185-1300 (starting p. 311) -- Kamakura Military in Action (starting p. 313) -- Counting Warriors (starting p. 335) -- A Warrior's Income (starting p. 343) -- Conclusions (starting p. 355) -- Appendix Tables (starting p. 381) -- 1 Resources used in the Wars in the Northeast: Men (starting p. 383) -- 2 Resources used in the Wars in the Northeast: Materiel (starting p. 385) -- 3 Numbers of Strong Fellows (kondei) in Japan, 792-905 (starting p. 388) -- 4 Taira Military Expeditions, 1177-1180 (starting p. 390) -- 5 Figures for Armies during the Great Civil War of 1180-1185 (starting p. 392) -- Notes (starting p. 399) -- Bibliography (starting p. 443) -- Glossary (starting p. 465) -- Index (starting p. 471)
Access DRM-free.
Provenance Gift of Paul and Mary Haas.
Subject Japan -- History, Military -- To 1868.
Japan.
History, Military.
Chronological Term To 1868
Subject Japan -- History -- To 1333.
History.
Chronological Term To 1333
Genre/Form Electronic books.
History.
Military history.
Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: 067438704X 9780674387041 (OCoLC)35954626
ISBN 1684172977 (electronic book)
9781684172979 (electronic book)
067438704X
9780674387041