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As for overseas trade, the Muromachi period saw the only formal diplomatic relations and [[tribute]] trade between any Japanese state and the Chinese Imperial court since the [[Nara period]]. The Ashikaga shogunate, certain powerful temples, and a few powerful samurai clans (including the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi]], [[Otomo clan|Ôtomo]], and [[Hosokawa clan]]s) engaged in official authorized trade in Chinese ports, through a [[kango boeki|tally trade]] system. Much smuggling, [[wako|piracy]], and other trade also took place, and so exchanges across the region were quite active, even outside of official trade.
As for overseas trade, the Muromachi period saw the only formal diplomatic relations and [[tribute]] trade between any Japanese state and the Chinese Imperial court since the [[Nara period]]. The Ashikaga shogunate, certain powerful temples, and a few powerful samurai clans (including the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi]], [[Otomo clan|Ôtomo]], and [[Hosokawa clan]]s) engaged in official authorized trade in Chinese ports, through a [[kango boeki|tally trade]] system. Much smuggling, [[wako|piracy]], and other trade also took place, and so exchanges across the region were quite active, even outside of official trade.
==Popular Culture==
==Popular & Elite Culture==
A number of officially patronized and popular arts developed in the Muromachi period, particularly in Kyoto, and particularly in conjunction with samurai patronage or simply with the shogunate's presence amplifying Kyoto's position as a cultural center.
A number of officially patronized and popular arts developed in the Muromachi period, particularly in Kyoto, and particularly in conjunction with samurai patronage or simply with the shogunate's presence amplifying Kyoto's position as a cultural center. It was also at this time that attitudes towards the arts, particularly performing arts such as ''[[dengaku]]'' and ''[[sarugaku]]'', began to shift in a significant way away from their dangerous associations with magical effectiveness, towards an appreciation of them in a more refined, cultural category, albeit while retaining (as [[Noh]] in particular does) associations with the spiritual and otherworldly.
In addition to official samurai patronage of Noh, [[tea ceremony]], various forms of poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and martial arts, Kyoto began to see the expansion of popular spectatorship of certain arts, as performance troupes organized into ''za'', and took part in paid performances (''kanjin'') held in the riverbanks or other marginal areas, made less marginal by these officially authorized events. Though officially sanctioned, however, these performances, and the marginal spaces where they were held, continued to be associated with spiritual pollution and marginality. When, in a famous incident in [[1349]], the stands collapsed under an excited crowd, killing over one hundred people at a ''[[dengaku]]'' performance attended by the shogun & ''[[kanpaku]]'', there was much criticism that the shogun was perhaps too infatuated with such petty entertainments.<ref>Ikegami, 107-108.</ref>
In addition to official samurai patronage of Noh, [[tea ceremony]], various forms of poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and martial arts, Kyoto began to see the expansion of popular spectatorship of certain arts, as performance troupes organized into ''za'', and took part in paid performances (''kanjin'') held in the riverbanks or other marginal areas, made less marginal by these officially authorized events. Though officially sanctioned, however, these performances, and the marginal spaces where they were held, continued to be associated with spiritual pollution and marginality. When, in a famous incident in [[1349]], the stands collapsed under an excited crowd, killing over one hundred people at a ''dengaku'' performance attended by the shogun & ''[[kanpaku]]'', there was much criticism that the shogun was perhaps too infatuated with such petty entertainments.<ref>Ikegami, 107-108.</ref>
Though [[Zen]] Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period, arts associated with it saw considerable development and prominence in the Muromachi period, with the Zen painting of [[Sesshu|Sesshû]], [[Shubun|Shûbun]], and [[Josetsu]], all Muromachi era painter-monks associated with the Kyoto temple of [[Shokoku-ji|Shôkoku-ji]], becoming some of the most famous and treasured ink paintings in the Japanese canon today.
Though [[Zen]] Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period, arts associated with it saw considerable development and prominence in the Muromachi period, with the Zen painting of [[Sesshu|Sesshû]], [[Shubun|Shûbun]], and [[Josetsu]], all Muromachi era painter-monks associated with the Kyoto temple of [[Shokoku-ji|Shôkoku-ji]], becoming some of the most famous and treasured ink paintings in the Japanese canon today.
Zen, tea ceremony, and other factors also influenced architecture dramatically in this period, with a number of forms, such as the tearoom itself and ''[[shoin-zukuri]]'' architecture, along with specific developments such as the ''[[chigaidana]]'' shelf and ''[[tokonoma]]'' alcove, developing into standard "traditional" forms.
==Society==
==Society==