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  • 6 - Aristocratic culture

  • Edited by Donald H. Shively, University of California, Berkeley, William H. McCullough, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Japan
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    28 July 1999, pp 390-448

  • Summary

    In this chapter, aristocratic culture is used to mean a style of social and artistic expression characteristic of the Japanese court at Heian-kyō and limited primarily to its members. One of the conspicuous aspects of this culture is the preoccupation with beauty which influenced standards of judgment in the arts such as secular painting, calligraphy, Buddhist art, music including Chinese cosmopolitan music, and Heian poetry. It also impacted other aspects of ordinary life as may be seen by from a survey of upper-class domestic architecture and furnishings, textiles, dresses and costumes, dietary customs, and occupations and pastimes such as wrestling and falconry. From around 950 on, the typical aristocratic residence consisted of a group of buildings situated in a large urban estate, its stands of pine and maple trees, artificial hills and streams, and architecture of this type, the buildings were carefully designed to harmonize with the setting.