The Counterreformation has accelerated in Austria in…

The "Christian problem" is, in effect, a problem in control- ling both the Christian daimyo in Kyushu and trade with the Europeans.

By 1612 the shogun's retainers and residents of Tokugawa lands have been ordered to foreswear Christianity.

More restrictions come in 1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyushu), 1622 (the execution of one hundred and twenty missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the Spanish), and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians).

Finally, in 1635, an edict prohibits any Japanese from traveling outside Japan or, if someone leaves, from ever returning.

In 1636 the Portuguese are restricted to Deshima, a man-made islet—and thus, not true Japanese soil—in Nagasaki's harbor.

The Tokugawa Shogunate expels all Spanish traders from Japan in 1624 and ends trade with the Philippines.

Yamada Nagamasa visits Japan in 1629 with an embassy from the Thai king Songtham.

Iemitsu had been able to assume real power with the death of Hidetada in 1632.

Worried that his brother Tokugawa Tadanaga might assassinate him, however, he has ruled carefully until that brother's death by seppuku in 1633.

Hidetada had left his advisors, all veteran daimyo, to act as regents for Iemitsu.

He dismisses these men after his brother's death in 1633.

In place of his father's advisors, Iemitsu appoints his childhood friends, creating a strong, centralized administration with their help, Iemitsu.

This makes him unpopular with many daimyo, but Iemitsu simply removes his opponents.

Chen Hongshou, a native of Zhuji, ZheJiang province, had once trained under Lan Ying, and is skilled in painting peculiar human figures, landscapes, flower-and-bird.

He utilizes plump, profound brushwork and precise color, creating a unique style.

His two masterpieces,"Shui Hu Ye Zi" and "Bo Gu Ye Zi", are the rare examples among the Ming and the Qing dynasties.

Together with Cui Zizhong, who specializes in human figure painting, he is very famous at this time: the two painters are known colloquially as "Chen in South and Cui in North".

He also is skilled in calligraphy, poetry and prose.

The Tokugawa Shogunate in 1635 forbids merchants to travel abroad under penalty of death.

A Japanese imperial memorandum from this year decrees: "Hereafter entry by the Portuguese galeota is forbidden.

If they insist on coming, the ships must be destroyed and anyone aboard those ships must be beheaded."

The major intellectual development of the Tokugawa period is the flourishing of neo-Confucianism.

Confucian studies have long been kept active in Japan by Buddhist clerics, but during the Tokugawa period, Confucianism emerges from Buddhist religious control.

This system of thought increases attention to a secular view of man and society.

The ethical humanism, rationalism, and historical perspective of neo-Confucian doctrine appeals to the official class, and by the mid-seventeenth century, it is Japan's dominant legal philosophy and contributes directly to the development of the kokugaku (national learning) school of thought.

Members of the samurai class adhere to bushi traditions with a renewed interest in Japanese history and cultivating the ways of Confucian scholar-administrators, resulting in the development of the concept of bushido (the way of the warrior).

Another special way of life—chonindo—also emerges.

Chonindo (the way of the townspeople) is a distinct culture that arises in cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo.

It encourages aspiration to bushido qualities—diligence, honesty, honor, loyalty, and frugality—while blending Shinto, neo-Confucian, and Buddhist beliefs.

Study of mathematics, astronomy, cartography, engineering, and medicine are also encouraged.

Emphasis is placed on quality of workmanship, especially in the arts.

For the first time, urban populations have the means and leisure time to support a new mass culture.

Their search for enjoyment become known as ukiyo (the floating world), an ideal world of fashion and popular entertainment.

Professional female entertainers (geisha), music, popular stories, Kabuki and bunraku (puppet) theater, poetry, a rich literature, and art, exemplified by beautiful woodblock prints (known as ukiyo-e), are all part of this flowering culture.

Literature also flourishes with the talented examples of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) and the poet, essayist, and travel writer Matsuo Basho (1644-94).

Buddhism and Shinto are both still important in Tokugawa Japan.

Buddhism, combined with neo-Confucianism, provides standards of social behavior.

Although not as powerful politically as it had been in the past, Buddhism is espoused by the upper classes.

Proscriptions against Christianity had benefited Buddhism in 1640 when the bakufu had ordered everyone to register at a temple.

The rigid separation of Tokugawa society into han, villages, wards, and households helps reaffirm local Shinto attachments.

Shinto provides spiritual support to the political order and is an important tie between the individual and his community.

Shinto also helps preserve a sense of national identity.

Advanced studies and growing applications of neo-Confucianism contribute to the transition of the social and political order from feudal norms to class- and large- group-oriented practices.

The rule of the people or Confucian man is gradually replaced by the rule of laws.

New laws are developed and new administrative devices are instituted.

A new theory of government and a new vision of society emerges as a means of justifying more comprehensive governance by the bakufu.

Each person has a distinct place in society and is expected to work to fulfill his mission in life.

The people are to be ruled with benevolence by those whose assigned duty it is to rule.

Government is all-powerful but responsible and humane.

Although the class system is influenced by neo-Confucianism, it is not identical to it.

Whereas soldiers and clergy are at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Chinese model, in Japan some members of these classes constitute the ruling elite.