History 150a Midterm Study Guide
NOTE: Bring your own blue book on the day of the exam. Leave it blank—do not write your name in it beforehand—because we will shuffle and redistribute all the blue books at the beginning of the exam period.
Items to identify on a map (5 Items, 5 minutes, 10 points)
As practice, refer to the maps in the Smits and on the web site to locate on the blank map included in your reading packet the following items.
1. Honshû 6. Paekche
2. Kyûshû 7. Silla
3. Hokkaidô 8. Inland Sea
4. Shikoku 9. Lake Biwa
5. Ryûkyûs 10. Kyoto/Heian
Chronology (5 Items, 5 Minutes, 10 points)
Five of the following terms will be presented in a mixed up order on the exam. You will be asked to put them in the proper sequence, but not required to provide precise dates in this section.
1. Jômon 5. Nara
2. Yayoi 6. Heian
3. Tomb 7. Kamakura
4. Asuka 8. Muromachi/Ashikaga
Terms to identify (5 Items, 40 minutes, 40 points)
In two or three sentences, 1) identify the person(s), event, or phenomenon, 2) give the time frame, and 3) indicate the item's general historical significance. If a glossary entry exists on the web page for the item, be aware that the definition given may not be complete in covering requirements 1-3, so use your own judgement. Most of the terms appear in the Smits textbook, but flesh out your answers by drawing on materials from the lectures and other course readings.
1. The Sannai Maruyama archaeological site
2. Silla and Paekche
3. Queen Himiko
4. kami
5. Izumo
6. Empress Suiko and Prince Shôtoku
7. uji and be
8. Taihô-Ritsturyô and Yôrô Codes
9. The Kojiki and Nihongi
10. The Manyôshû
11. Nara (formerly Heijô) and Kyoto (formerly Heian)
12. Tôdaiji/kokubunji
13. Kûkai
14. Mount Hiei
15. Fujiwara marriage politics
16. Cloistered Emperors
17. kana script
18. Murasaki Shikibu
19. The rule of taste at the Heian court
20. shôen
21. hinin
Essay Questions (40 minutes, 40 points)
Prepare to write an essay on ONE of the following topics. All of the options below will be available in the exam. Organize your thoughts so that you offer a clear argument (statement of position) supported by concrete and relevant examples, evidence, etc. drawn from the course materials covered up until the midterm.
Note: The appropriate length of the essay will be variable in terms of page numbers, due to differences in handwriting and other factors. Therefore, I am not specifying a required number of pages, beyond pointing out that one page is insufficient, and a full separate blue book is more than necessary. Instead, think in terms of developing and supporting a coherent argument. When you have completed that process, then you are "done."
1. Amino states that "we should remember that the title of "emperor" (tennô) is inseparable from the formation of a State in the Japanese islands." (Amino, 311) Explain the connection between "emperor" and state as you recount key points in the emergence of centralized (or at least centralizing) governance in ancient Japanese history.
2. As a budding historian of ancient Japan, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of, and the possibility of synthesizing the information gathered from, two or three distinctly different types of evidence used to study prehistoric and early historic Japanese society. Again, use concrete examples to illustrate and support your points.
3. Discuss religious beliefs in ancient Japan in terms of the power that they conferred on particular groups in different eras. What kinds of continuity, change, and perhaps conflict do you see among your two or three examples?
4. When does it start to become accurate to speak of "Japan" (Nihon) as a political, economic and cultural unit distinct from continental Asia? Explain why as you recount key points in the evolving relationship between the archipelago and the continent up through the Heian period.
