Heian Japan · 794-1185

Heian Japan: the world of The Tale of Genji

In Heian-kyo, today's Kyoto, court nobles lived for poetry and beauty, and a court lady wrote The Tale of Genji. Students explore Japan's classical age, the families who ruled behind the emperor and the warriors who would end it.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000 to AD 900
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In Heian-kyo, today's Kyoto, court nobles lived for poetry and beauty, and a court lady wrote The Tale of Genji. Students explore Japan's classical age, the families who ruled behind the emperor and the warriors who would end it.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe life at the Heian court in Kyoto around the year 1000.
  • Explain how kana writing helped create Japanese literature, including The Tale of Genji.
  • Explain how the Fujiwara and then the samurai took power away from the emperors.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1000

The capital of peace

Open the map in 1000 and turn on Cities. Find Kyoto, then called Heian-kyo, "capital of peace and tranquillity". Compare its dot with other cities of the year 1000. Is it large or small?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1000

The far north

Pan north along Honshu to the island of Hokkaido. Whose lands does the map show there in 1000? The court in Kyoto fought for centuries to control the north of Honshu.

Open this view on the map
c

AD 900

Japan turns inward

Look at the sea between Japan and China. In 894 the court stopped sending envoys to Tang China. Why might Japan stop, and what might grow in their place?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Heian court valued poetry, beautiful handwriting and the right colours of clothing. What does that tell you about the lives of nobles?
  2. Court women wrote in kana while men wrote official texts in Chinese. How did that help women become great writers?
  3. How did the Fujiwara rule Japan without ever becoming emperors?
  4. Far from the capital, warriors guarded estates and fought rebels. Why would they become more powerful over time?
  5. The Heian period lasted almost 400 years. Why is it often remembered as Japan's classical age?
4

Game round

9 min

Rule History has no Heian ruler, so play Charlemagne, crowned emperor in 800, a few years after Heian-kyo was founded. Let students take turns ruling. Then compare: how did Charlemagne's power differ from a Heian emperor's, whose regents often ruled for him?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.