Posted: December 9th, 2022

Feudalism in European and Japanese Society

Feudalism was used in both Japan and Europe and as such, ad similarities amongst in Uses including the basis the system was based on, the hierarchy involved in such a system, and the establishments lords built as their residences. However, as a result of varying cultures, the feudal system had a handful differences in both countries; from the basis of ideas regarding the feudal system (I. E.
Confucianism and Kong Quiz versus Catholicism and Roman imperial laws) to the date of establishment of feudalism as a social system in their respective countries; payment of the lord and dainty for the military service performed by the serfs, peasants, and samurai to he aversion of suicide, or lack thereof when in regards to samurai, by knights as a result of their binding to Catholic Christian law. Feudal European and Japanese societies were built on a hierarchical society firstly.
Various levels of social strata were the basis of aforementioned feudal societies. These levels of strata included (1) nobles (2) warriors and (3) tenant farmers or serfs. Like many ancient and medieval societies, social mobility was never truly at center stage and as a result it was a near nonexistent thing in feudal societies in both Europe and Japan. In addition, these feudal societies fostered an abundance of respect for the warrior class, stemming from constant warfare and their function as local lords. The warrior class was restrained by a code of ethics.

For example, European knights were expected to follow a code of chivalry while Japanese samurai were expected to follow the doctrine of what is called bushier –?in other words, “the way of the warrior. ” Finally, feudal lords in both countries, Europe and Japan, built strong and large castles that could be used for defense from invaders and also served as protection for themselves and their vassals, seeing as that in and of itself was the main precept f feudalism–protection in exchange for homage, labor, and a share of the agricultural harvest.
On the other side of the coin, the basis of ideas regarding the feudal system of society differed from Europe to Japan. European feudalism was founded on the authority of the Catholic Church, an element of European life that was increasingly important in such a medieval society, along with Roman imperial laws and customs the likes of which were supported by said Catholic Church. As a result, the symbiotic relationship between a lord and his vassals was seen as contractual, an idea originating from he ancient patronize relationship found in the Roman Empire.
The lords o offered both protection and payment while the vassals gave their complete loyalty to the lords. Whereas Japanese feudalism originated on the precepts of Confucianism and the doctrine of the Chinese philosopher, Kong Quiz. These doctrines emphasized morality and filial piety–respect for both superiors and elders-?and functioned as the quintessential “moral compass” Of both peasants and villagers who were required to honor and pay taxes to the warrior class.
Secondly, feudalism made its way to Europe long before it surfaced in Japan–800 A. D. Versus 1100 AD. Respectively. This appearance of feudalism in Japan coincided with the ending of the Hein period and the rise to power of the Kumara Shogun. However, many years later, European feudalism came to a careening halt in the sixteenth century as a result of the growth of stronger political states, thereby eliminating the need for the symbiotic relationship between the lord and the vassals and serfs fostered by feudalism.
Japanese feudalism would later find its inevitable end in 1868 as a result of the Meijer Restoration. In addition, European knights were gifted land by their lords as a exult of their military service and as such they had immense control over the serfs who worked the gifted land. This contrasts against the life of the Japanese samurai seeing as they en ever owned any land in their feudalism society.
Instead, dainty used a percentage of their annual income, generally accumulated from taxing peasants, in order to pay the samurai. (This salary was typically paid in rice. ) Lastly, Catholic Christian law prohibited knights from committing suicide and, instead, encouraged the fight to avoid death in both battle and life. This precept of Catholicism originates from the belief that those who go commit suicide are emended to hell, a consequence that is unimaginable in the Christian faith.
The Japanese, on the other hand, welcomed death seeing as they had no religious affiliation and saw no need to fear their own mortality or the consequences that would undoubtedly come with such an irreversible act. In their perspective, committing suicide in the face of inevitable defeat preserved their honor as warriors, thus suicide was honorable in Japanese culture. It is interesting to note, however, that although Japan and Europe had no quantifiable contact with one another during this time period, hey managed to develop sociopolitical systems akin to one another.

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