Deck 3: The Intellectual World of Late Tokugawa

Question 1

Both Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi felt pressure to build ideological legitimacy for their rule because of....

A) The threat from the more powerful Chinese emperor
B) The need to resist the Dutch traders and missionaries
C) Their extensive use of violence in their rise to power
D) Their devotion to Buddhism

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following was NOT part of the Tokugawa shoguns' campaign to legitimize and sanctify their rule?

A) A major pilgrimage to Kyoto
B) The destruction of Toyotomi shrines
C) The construction of a shrine in Nikko
D) The adoption of the title of Great August Deity

Answer 2

D

Question 3

One of the main preoccupations of Neo-Confucian scholars in the Tokugawa Period was...

A) Articulating visions of social order
B) Devising systems for governing outlying territories
C) Understanding how to emulate Chinese imperial successes in Japan
D) Reconciling Confucianism with Shinto

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which two groups jostled for ideological supremacy during the Tokugawa period?

A) Neo-Confucians and Catholics
B) Buddhist and Shinto priests
C) Buddhists and Neo-Confucians
D) Catholic and Shinto priests.

Question 5

What was the ultimate sources of the Emperor's power in Japanese theology?

A) His descent from the sun goddess
B) His descent from Confucius
C) His residence in the sacred city of Kyoto
D) His special relationship with the shogun

Question 6

What was the significance of the concept of 'ri'?

A) It was the name for the sun in Shinto religion
B) It was the sacred name of the emperor
C) It was the 'universal law' that underlay all reality
D) It was the was the name given to the ideal social order.

Question 7

What was one of the primary intellectual challenges facing Ogyu Sorai and his contemporaries?

A) How to reconcile the rule of the shogun with that of the emperor
B) How to explain the changes occurring in society
C) How to write philosophically-inspired poetry
D) How to bring public entertainment and philosophy together

Question 8

The Kaitokudo Academy was based in...

A) Ise
B) Hiroshima
C) Nikko
D) Osaka

Question 9

Kabuki and bunraku were forms of what?

A) Poetry
B) Music
C) Art
D) Theatre

Question 10

What was distinctive about the works of Chikamatsu Monzaemon?

A) It was primarily about the lives of foreigners
B) It was primarily about the lives of merchants
C) It was primarily about the lives of common folk
D) It was primarily about the lives of nobles

Question 11

The Tokugawa regime believed that luxury and public entertainment...

A) Had to be encouraged for economic benefit
B) Had to be carefully regulated for religious reasons
C) Had to be encouraged for the sake of keeping the peace
D) Had to be carefully regulated for social stability

Question 12

What was one of the signal failures, according to 17th and 18th century critics, of the Tokugawa government?

A) A failure to assert control over the content of kabuki
B) A failure to incorporate skilled men of talent into government
C) An over-reliance on the advice of neo-Confucian scholars.
D) The closing of the the country from foreign economic opportunities.

Question 13

What characterizes the major Tokugawa period reform efforts?

A) They had little long-term practical impact
B) They were inspired by ancient models of Japanese governance
C) They led by samurai from domains in the peripheries
D) They were masterminded by the successors of Ogyu Sorai

Question 14

'Hardline Confucianism' did NOT emphasize which of the following qualities?

A) A commitment to martial virtue
B) A commitment to reducing consumption
C) A commitment to moral improvement
D) A commitment to learning about the outside world

Question 15

Motoori Norinaga turned to which body of thought in his studies?

A) Ancient Indian texts
B) Western texts
C) Ancient Japanese texts
D) The works of Tanuma Okitsugu

Question 16

Which of the following was NOT a component of the thinking of Motoori Norinaga?

A) That the Japanese could naturally tell the difference between right and wrong
B) That the gods were only just beyond the reach of human experience
C) That Japan was the land of the gods
D) That the emperor was a key mediator between the divine and the human

Question 17

What was Aizawa Yasushi's attitude towards foreigners coming to Japan?

A) It was inevitable and should be embraced
B) It was increasing and should be resisted
C) It was already happening and should be tolerated
D) It was a problem of the past and could be ignored

Question 18

The intellectual trends of the 18th and 19th centuries did NOT contain which of the following?

A) Increasing concern about the competence of daimyo and the shogun
B) An increasing focus on the emperor as the source of political legitimacy
C) Intensifying critiques of Tokugawa handling of foreign incursions
D) A gathering sense of Japan's insignificance on the global stage

Question 19

Tokugawa new religions tended to be initiated by...

A) The discovery of a new sacred text
B) Men or women who received revelations
C) Renewed interest in Buddhism
D) Foreign proselytisation

Question 20

Fill in the blank: The idea that _____ began to gain currency towards the end of the Tokugawa period?

A) The bakufu needed to destroy the imperial monarchy
B) The only way to deal with foreign incursions was to convert to Christianity
C) Domains were obliged to assert their independence before they were obliterated
D) Loyalty to Japan was more important than loyalty to one's domain