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Pitch Video
A level 3 VFX students FMP
Pitch Video
A level 3 VFX students FMP
Contextual Thinking
and influences
What will be on here?
Here on the Contextual thinking tab I plan to talk about my inspirations and influences when it comes to the FMP, as well as some historical context for the period that my documentary is going to be based around.
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The main reason though is to go into detail about a large range of topics that can fall under the Mongol invasions that I can't fit in with my research as they're either too specific or too generalised.
In short its to make sure my research is as clear and concise as possible whilst still letting me dive into topics that may not even make it into the video or go into detail about things that may just be referred to in one line of the script.
The Mongol invasions: why did I choose this conflict?
Well to start the late middle ages is probably one of my favourite periods in history to study, It’s from the beginning of this period that we get the classical (and mostly fictitious) idea of the chivalrous knight, but that's not exactly in the periphery of what my topic covers.
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The Mongol invitations of japan were one of the most succinct and substantial Mongol defeats since the founding of the empire, maybe not the most devastating, but the fact the Mongols barely made it to the mainland was surely a devastating blow to not just their honour but the facade of the Mongol invincibility they so carefully cultivated over the years, this would more than likely of be the main driver behind the second invasion.
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It's fascinating to think about how much this event would affect not just Japan but the entirety of Asia through small changes that would bring about ages of war and conquest not just to Japan but back to the mainland.
One of the main ways it changed Japan was militarily, after the experience in facing troops and military strategies that were completely foreign to the Japanese style of combat as they had been isolated from the mainland for a long time at this point. The Mongols used massed ranks of shield and spear wielding warriors, whereas the Japanese were still primarily mounted archers and apart from that relied on a challenge and one on one combat system.
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This resulted in Japan starting to recruit peasant foot solders to serve under the samurai; the 'ashigaru' meaning 'light foot' or light infantry, this changed the way war was fought in Japan and set them down the road to the sengoku jidi a period of almost constant war witch would see the rise of many great warriors and warlords.
eventually though Japan would be unified once again and its after that we can see the emergence of Japans imperial ambitions as under the second great unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the samurai would invade Korea. this in turn set the stage for the expansion a lot later during and before the second world war.
I think that the fact that the Japanese were at the start extremely outmatched and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the overwhelming numbers of the Mongol horde would see the annihilation of Japanese culture and way of life, but were saved through the unrelenting staunchness of the defence at Hakata and the timely intervention of mother nature in the form of the two kamikazes.
Its a very interesting story and I'm exited to share it with people who haven't heard about this seemingly insignificant moment in history.
The historical context
The Kamakura Shogunate
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This is all here to give background to the Mongol invasions of japan which happened in 1274 and again just five years later in 1281, these wars were known by the Japanese as the ‘GenkÅ’ (this name was also used for a later war and twice again for eras of Japan) To give proper context to all of this I will talk a bit about both sides and the situation in the far east at the time.
The invasions happened in the Kamakura period of Japan(1185-1333) the predecessor to the far more famous Sengoku period(1333-1568), a great deal of what happens as a result of the invasions will contribute to the outbreak of the Sengoku jidai ‘age of warring states’.
The Kamakura period started with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. Think of the shogun as the military dictator of Japan who held actual power with an emperor as a figure head for religion.
Buy this time the samurai were a fundamental part of now feudal Japanese society, ruling over the peasants as a warrior class that were also deeply ingrained in the government, this lead to the provinces of Japan being given to samurai clan lords called ‘shugo’ or ‘military land governors’.
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At the point of the Mongol invasions the nominal shogun was Hojo Tokimune. But in actuality he was a regent Shogun or 'shikken' as there was a sitting Kamakura shogun the 2 year old Prince Koreyasu. Much like the emperor of Japan the shogun was controlled by a different family, in this case the Hojo.
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The first Invasion
It could be argued the then khan of the Mongol empire Kublai didn’t originally want to invade japan but instead simply make it his vassal and to have the ‘king’ as he put it in a diplomatic letter, of Japan at his court, but after sending many Korean and Mongol envoys and diplomats, he received basically no answer.
This would of been viewed as a great insult: to ignore what is essentially a summons from the man chosen by the gods to rule the world (the mandate of heaven was what the Chinese and Mongol people believed the emperor or khan held. It granted him control over the universe as ordained by the gods.)
it is important to say at the time of the first invitation Kublai didn’t control all of china, the south Chinese or Song dynasty were still holding out against him mainly in the walled city fortress of Xinyang, this meant the full might of the Mongol empire could not be levied against just Japan as they had to keep Karakoram the capital at the time garrisoned incase of a sudden Song offensive.
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This resulted in the first invading force to be approximately 23,000 men, consisting of Chinese, Korean (Goryeo), Jurchen and Mongol troops, on ships of various sizes. most constructed in Busan and the surrounding costal cities
After the fighting on Tsushima and Iki was done the invasion force moved on Hakata bay.
The Inspirations
Another channel that inspired me to dive into this kind of content is Linfamy, who funnily enough as I'm writing this uploaded a video on the Mongol invasions, although it is just about the lead up.
He's a creator that mainly focuses on subjects to do with ancient Japanese culture and society this can range from warfare to myths and anything in-between, his delivery and style of content isn't really the same as what I want to create as he tends to joke a lot and its a overall less serious and more playful affair.
I do defiantly enjoy his content and despite his differences to the other creators mentioned here there is still a lot I can take away as inspiration from his videos, the information and how he presents it is clear and precise and you always leave his videos feeling like you learnt a little bit more about Japan, this is certainly something to aspire to as I hope my presentation of information can be just as informative because it is the main goal of my project
