I've found a better way to get even with my memories.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/phys.htm

http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/atomic_and_nuclear_physics/4_7/4_7_1.html

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=U-235

http://www.nea.fr/listsmh/ueval/msg00002.html
* **, A.V. FOMICHEV***,

The cross-section of U-235 fission induced by neutrons with the energy of 20-200 MeV was estimated. The

estimation presents a combined data processing of so-called “absolute” measurements and “shape

measurements” performed in the Khlopin Radium Institute over a period of several years by the Program

“Neutron Data for Science and Technology”. The resulting version of the cross-section is independent of data

obtained by other experimental groups.

Introduction

The cross-section of U235 fission induced by neutrons is considered as the nuclear

standard. The upper bound of application of this standard increased to 200 MeV. This

happened in relation to new technological problems in the range of intermediate neutron

energies. Unfortunately, for neutron energies higher than 20 MeV the fission cross-section of

U235 was barely obtained from the experiments performed in one nuclear center, Los

Alamos. Independent data for this energy range would be extremely useful, since these data

could help decrease a systematic error in determination of this value. In this work we attempt

to obtain such independent data.

To solve the problem we do not propose new experiments. We will use the results of

the experiments performed previously in the Khlopin Radium Institute. The fission crosssection

of U235 has been measured for various neutron-energy ranges, with the use of various

neutron sources. The results of these measurements were published previously. However, our

approach considers these data as a new experimental set, allowing us to obtain new results by

a corresponding processing. We employ the recognized, well tested calculation code for

obtaining the shape of the neutron flux from the neutron-producing target. Further, we use this

calculated dependence for normalization of the experimental data. The experimental data and

the calculation code are equally important for the final result.

Procedure

We consider two groups of experiments measuring the fission cross-section, called

absolute and relative. In absolute experiments, the neutron flux, i.e. the number of neutrons

passed through the fissile target, is measured. In relative experiments, counting of fission

event of the studied nuclide is performed relatively to the counting of fission events of the

reference nuclide, i.e. two fissile samples are placed in the same neutron flow.

The measurements related to the first group were performed for fixed neutron

energies. The neutron flux was determined by the method of associated particles. There are

five such values (or points at the scale of the energy dependence of U235 fission crosssection):

2.6, 4.5, 8.5, 14.5, and..19.5 MeV (A.V.Fomichev

The measurements related to the second group were performed on a spallation neutron

source that has a wide neutron energy spectrum (O. Shcherbakov, A. Donets, A. Evdokimov

et al

1), V.N.Dushin et al.2)).3)). The number of incident neutrons in the fission detector was not measured. However,

*

fomichev@nuclpc1.phys.spbu.ru

**

dushin@atom.nw.ru

***

fomichev@atom.nw.ru

the energy of each neutron producing a fission act was measured. It was determined by the

time-of-flight procedure. These experiments gave the counts of the fission detector as a

function of the energy of the neutrons initiating fission in the energy range of 1-200 MeV.

For relative measurements, the shape of the energy dependence of the neutron flux is

not needed. Therefore, it was not determined in the experiments. However, if this dependence

is known, the relative measurements can be normalized by the absolute measurements. The

result can be extrapolated for the entire energy range.

Modern calculation codes allow reconstruction of the neutron flux shape from the

experimental conditions. For this purpose we used one of these codes, FLUKA, written by

A.Fasso', A.Ferrari, J.Ranft et al.

known geometry of the neutron-producing target and performed the normalization.

4). We reconstructed the neutron-flux shape based on the

Results

The calculated shape of the neutron flux is shown in Fig. 1. In the calculations, we

used characteristics of the neutron-producing target, such as material characteristics and

geometric sizes, and also the characteristics of proton beam, such as the energy of the incident

protons and the beam diameter.

1 10 100

100

1000

10000

1/MeV,cm2,

E(n), MeV

μA

Fig.1

Neutron flux from the neutron-producing target, calculated with the use of code FLUKA4).

In the calculations, we did not take into account the following factors: (a) position of

the incident proton beam relative to the target edges, (b) massive construction elements

located near the target, and (c) obstacles for the neutron flux in the way to the fission detector

(such as collimators forming the sizes of the neutron beam in the experimental area, sections

at which the beam passes through membranes or flies though the air, etc.).

The dependence of the neutron flux on neutron energy, plotted in logarithmic

coordinates, closely resembles a straight line. The result for the U235 fission cross-section

estimated from our experimental data is presented by the solid red line in Fig. 2. The error

band is shown by dotted red lines. The arithmetic operations with simulated and experimental

data were restricted to a division of the count rate of a fission detector by the value of neutron

flux according to:

N

(

fE )= Φ

(

where

(

neutron beam produced by the spallation source as a function neutron energy;

E) * σ(E)* Const. , (1)NfE ) is the number of counts of U235 fission events from the detector placed in theΦ

(

calculated dependence of the neutron-flux density on neutron energy; and “Const.” is a

normalization factor selected to ensure that the cross-section curve passes through the

experimental points from A.V.Fomichev

E) is the1).

10 100

1,0

1,5

2,0

2,5

?

n, xn

n, xp

n, x

α

n,4n'

n,f n,nf n,2nf n,3nf

Fission, U235, bn

E(n), MeV

Our evaluation

INDC-368

RI data

Stat.error band

Fig. 2.

of INDC-368

Cross-section of U235 fission by neutrons. Black curve describes our data; red curve corresponds to data5); red-dotted curves show the error band for our estimation.

Conclusions

(1) The above procedure of data processing allows obtaining the fission cross-section for

U235 induced by neutrons with energies from 1 to 200 MeV with the error of 10%.

(2) In some energy ranges our estimation is in good agreement with the values recommended

in INDC-368

(3) There are ranges of discrepancy in Fig. 2. The interesting discrepancy of our curve with

the recommended curve is seen at energies higher than 20 MeV. Our curve predicts a local

decrease and increase at energies ~ 60 MeV, while the recommended curve has a smooth

slope.

(4) The reliability of the above conclusions can be improved by co processing of results of

our experiments performed for a number of nuclides: U235, U238, Np237, Pu239, Pu240,

and Pu242.

(5) The accuracy of the neutron flux restoration can be improved by making an additional

experiment, in which the point of proton entry into the neutron-producing target will be

fixed.

5).

References

1) A.V. Fomichev, Ph.D. thesis, V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, 1984

2) V.N. Dushin, A.V. Fomichev, S.S. Kovalenko et al, Statistical analysis of experimental data of fission cross

section measurements on U233,235,238, Np237, Pu239,242 at neuron energies 2.56, 8.4, 14.5 MeV, Proc. Of

the XII International symp. on nuclear physics., Gaussig, 1982, p. 138.

3) O. Shcherbakov, A. Donets, A. Evdokimov et al., Neutron-Induced Fission of U233,238,Th232, Pu239,

Np237, Pbnat, and Bi209 Relative to U235 in The Energy Range 1-200 MeV.

4) A.Fasso', A.Ferrari, J.Ranft, P.R.Sala, "FLUKA: Status and Prospective for Hadronic

Applications", Proceedings of the MonteCarlo 2000 Conference, Lisbon, October 23-26 2000,

A.Kling, F.Barao, M.Nakagawa, L.Tavora, P.Vaz - eds. , Springer-Verlag Berlin, p.955-960

(2001).

5) A.D. Carlson, S. Chiba, F.-J.Hambch et al. Update to Nuclear Dada Standatds for Nuclear Measurements,

INDC-368, 1997

 

Dear Dr. Jacqmin,
>
> I am answering to your question for Akira Hasegawa. The following are
> revised parts of U-235 and U-238 for JENDL-3.3:
>
> U-235
>
> 1) Nu-p
>     The data curve of JENDL-3.2 was smoothed by averaging.
> 2) Nu-d and decay constants
>     Slightly modified.
> 3) Resolved resonance parameters up to 2.25 keV
>     The parameters of Leal et al. (= ENDF/B-VI.5) were adopted.
> 4) Unresolved resonance parameters (2.25 - 30 keV)
>     JENDL-3.2 parameters were slightly modified so as to reproduce the
>     cross sections in this region newly evaluated on the basis of
>     experimental data.
> 5) Fission cross section
>     Simultaneous evaluation was made for the fission cross sections of
>     U-233, U-235, U-238, Pu-239, Pu-240 and Pu-241 in the energy range
>     from 30 keV to 20 MeV. This result was adopted.
> 6) Capture cross section
>     The direct capture cross section was added.
> 7) (n,2n) cross section
>     The cross section above 15 MeV was modified.
> 8) Fission spectrum
>     New calculation was made. The new spectrum was harder than JENDL-3.2,
>     and similar to ENDF/B-VI. In the energy region above 10 MeV,
>     pre-equilibrium process was considered for the pre-fission neutrons.
> 9) Delayed neutron spectra
>     Brady-England (=ENDF/B-VI) was adopted.
> 10) Other neutron spectra
>     Calculated with GNASH code.
>
> U-238
>
> 1) Nu-d and decay constants
>     Slightly modified.
> 2) Fission cross section
>     The result of the simultaneous evaluation was adopted.
> 3) Inelastic scattering cross sections
>     Direct crss sections were re-calculated for the levels of MT=54, 55
>     and 56. The data for MT=78 to 83 were deleted and those of MT=91 were
>     modified.
> 4) Capture cross section
>     The cross section above 1 MeV was modified.
> 5) (n,2n) cross section
>     Slight modification was made around 14 MeV
> 6) (n,3n) and (n,4n)
>     Calculated with GNASH code.
> 7) Angular distributions of elastically scattered neutrons
>     Slightly changed.
> 8) Fission spectrum
>     In the energy region above 10 MeV, preequiliburium process was
>     considered for the pre-fission neutrons.
> 9) Delayed neutron spectra
>     Brady-England was adopted.
> 10) Other neutron spectra
>     Calculated with GNASH code.

 

Neutron-Induced Fission Cross-Section of U235 at Energies of 20-200 MeV

 

A.A. FOMICHEV

 

St. Petersburg State University, Uljanovskaja St. 1, 195904, Petrodvorets, Russia

 

B.N. DUSHIN

V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, 2-nd Murinski Ave. 28, 194021, St.Petersburg, Russia

Its not as if there was anything tangible. Or serene about this day. It was just beautiful-with the azaleas and bamboo and cigarettes, Worshipping the very gorund we stood on. Observing people, complimenting them. I fell in love with everything today. Its so beautiful. Everything. This is a day where I will change. Change my dissapointment and turn it into something magical and wonderful. Childhood was suck a begging, revised through this day, yet tainted with some adolesence of our plethera. Synthesis. Combined with everyhting in the universe in a delicous bittersweet liquid that coats everything a long as its veiwed with the eyes of someone like me. Today i fell in love with the world.-Ashlynn

Feudal Japan
The "feudal" period of Japanese history, dominated by the powerful regional families (daimyo) and the military rule of warlords (shogun), stretched from the twelfth through the nineteenth centuries. This time is usually divided into periods following the reigning family of the shogun:

[edit]
Kamakura Period
Main article: Kamakura Period

The Kamakura period 1185 to 1333 is a period that marks the governance of the Kamakura Shogunate; officially established in 1192 by the first Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo.

 
Japanese samurai boarding Mongol ships in 1281.The most traumatic event of the period was the Mongol invasions of Japan between 1272 and 1281, in which massive Mongol forces with superior naval technology and weaponry attempted a full-scale invasion of the Japanese islands. A famous typhoon referred to as kamikaze, translating as divine wind in Japanese, is attributed to devastating the second Mongol invasion forces who invaded in the spring of 1281, although some scholars assert that the defensive measures the Japanese built on the island of Kyushu may have been adequate to repel the invaders. Although the Japanese were successful in stopping the Mongols, the invasion attempt had devastating domestic repercussions, leading to the extinction of the Kamakura shogunate.

The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short reestablishment of imperial rule under the Emperor Go-Daigo by Ashikaga Takauji, Nitta Yoshisada, and Kusunoki Masashige. The Kamakura period is also said to be the beginning of the "Japanese Middle Ages", which also includes the Muromachi period and lasted until the Meiji Restoration.

[edit]
Muromachi Period
Main article: Muromachi Period

The Muromachi period (Japanese: 室町時代, Muromachi-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi shogunate, also known as the Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1336 by the first Muromachi shogun Ashikaga Takauji. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki was driven out of the capital in Kyōto by Oda Nobunaga.

The early years of 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period is also known as the Nanboku-chō or Northern and Southern Court period.

The later years of 1467 to the end of the Muromachi period is also known as the Sengoku period, the "Warring States period", a time of intense internal warfare. The first contacts with the West started at the end of the period, with the arrival of Portuguese "Nanban" traders.

[edit]
Contact with the West
Main article: Nanban trade period

 
A group of Portuguese Nanban foreigners, 17th century, Japan.The first contact with the West occurred about 1542, when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, landed in Japan. Firearms introduced by Portuguese would bring the major innovation to Sengoku period culminating in the Battle of Nagashino where reportedly 3,000 arquebuses (the actual number is believed to be around 2,000) cut down charging ranks of samurai. During the next century, traders from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain arrived, as did Jesuit, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries.

During the early part of the 17th century, Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate suspected that the traders and missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by European powers. This caused the shogunate to place foreigners under progressively tighter restrictions. An English mariner named William Adams had journeyed with a Dutch fleet and been shipwrecked in Japan in 1600. He had managed to impress Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu with his seafaring knowledge and was made an honorary Samurai and granted a large estate. When English traders from the East India Company made landfall in 1613 they were able to obtain Adams' assistance, as a favourite of the Shogun, in establishing a factory - a house or place for mercantile factors or agents.

In 1615, Japan also sent embassies to the Americas and Europe, headed by the samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga, although these efforts were defeated by the deteriorating relationship between Japan and Catholic countries.

See also:Christianity in Japan

[edit]
Azuchi-Momoyama Period
Main article: Azuchi-Momoyama Period

The Azuchi-Momoyama period (Japanese: 安土桃山時代, Azuchi-Momoyama-jidai) runs from approximately 1568 to 1600. The period marks the governance of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the capital of Kyōto. The name Azuchi-Momoyama comes from the names of their respective castles, Azuchi castle and Momoyama castle.

See Also: Sengoku Period

[edit]
Edo Period
Main article: Edo Period.

 
Stone foundation of the main tower at Edo Castle.
A 1634 Japanese Red seal ship, during the Edo period.During the Edo Period, the administration of the country was shared by over two hundred daimyo. The Tokugawa clan, leader of the victorious eastern army in the Battle of Sekigahara, was the most powerful of them, and for fifteen generations monopolized the title of Sei-i Taishōgun (often shortened to shōgun). With their headquarters at Edo (present-day Tokyo), the Tokugawa commanded the allegiance of the other daimyo, who in turn ruled their domains with a rather high degree of autonomy.

The shogunate carried out a number of significant policies. They monopolized foreign policy, and expelled traders, missionaries, and foreigners, with the exception of the Dutch and the Chinese. They placed the samurai class above the commoners: the agriculturists, artisans, and merchants. They enacted sumptuary laws limiting hair style, dress, and accessories. They organized commoners into groups of five, and held all responsible for the acts of each individual. To prevent daimyo from rebelling, the shoguns required them to maintain lavish residences in Edo and live at these residences on a rotating schedule; carry out expensive processions to and from their domains; contribute to the upkeep of shrines, temples, and roads; and seek permission before repairing their castles.

Many artistic developments took place during the Edo Period. Most significant among them were the ukiyo-e form of wood-block print, and the kabuki and bunraku theaters. Also, many of the most famous works for the koto and shakuhachi date from this time period.

Throughout the Edo Period, the development of commerce, the rise of the cities, and the pressure from foreign countries changed the environment in which the shoguns and daimyo ruled. In 1868, following the Boshin War, the shogunate collapsed, and a new government coalesced around the Emperor.

[edit]
Seclusion
Main article:Sakoku

 
Japan's first treatise on Western anatomy, published in 1774, an example of Rangaku.To avoid potential interventions from foreign powers, particularly from Europeans, who had been precisely doing so in Asia, Japan forced all foreigners to leave and barred all relations with the outside world except for commercial contacts with Dutch and Chinese merchants restricted to the manmade island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay and several small trading outposts outside the country. However, during this period of isolation (sakoku, 鎖国), that began in 1641, Japan was much less cut off from the rest of the world than is commonly assumed, and some acquisition of western knowledge occurred under the Rangaku system.

Russian encroachments from the north led the shogunate to extend direct rule to Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kuriles in 1807 but the policy of exclusion continued.

[edit]
End of seclusion
Main article: Late Tokugawa shogunate

 
Landing of Commodore Perry, officers & men of the squadron, to meet the Imperial commissioners at Yoku-Hama (Yokohama?) July 14th 1853. Lithograph by Sarony & Co., 1855, after W. Heine.This policy of isolation lasted for more than 200 years, until, on July 8, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy with four warships: the Mississippi, Plymouth, Saratoga, and Susquehanna, steamed into the bay at Edo, old Tokyo, and displayed the threatening power of his ships' cannon. He demanded that Japan open to trade with the West. These ships became known as the kurofune, the Black Ships.

The following year, at the Convention of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854, Perry returned with seven ships and forced the Shogun to sign the "Treaty of Peace and Amity," establishing formal diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States. Within five years Japan had signed similar treaties with other western countries. The Harris Treaty was signed with the United States on July 29, 1858. These treaties were widely regarded by Japanese intellectuals as unequal, having been forced on Japan through gunboat diplomacy, and as a sign of the West's desire to incorporate Japan into the imperialism that had been taking hold of the rest of the Asian continent. Among other measures, they gave the Western nations unequivocal control of tariffs on imports and the right of extraterritoriality to all their visiting nationals. They would remain a sticking point in Japan's relations with the West up to the turn of the century.

FEUDAL JAPAN: 1185 to 1694  

 

1185  Start of feudal epoch (Shoguns) of Kamakura period in Japan
1191  Zen movement from China becomes popular in Japan
1274  Mongol attacks on Japan repulsed
1336  Ashikaga period in Japan - feudal lords and Samurai warriors
1549  Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier tries to convert Japanese to Christianity
1585  Japan unified under dictator Hideyoshi
1597  Christian converts persecuted in Japan
1603  Tokugawa period - feudal Japan finally unified and pacified
1640  Japan excludes all foreigners
1694  Death of Bashö (haiku poet)

   
    by Minamoto Yoritomo was the single most tranformative event of early Japan. The bakufu , or "tent government" (because soldiers lived in tents), was more or less a military government. It primarily functioned as a separate government concerned primarily with military and police matters. The Emperor's government in Kyoto continued to function as before: the court still appointed civil governors, collected taxes, and exercised complete control in the area surrounding the capital.

   The real power of the state, however, became more concentrated in the hands of the Kamakura shogun. The term comes from the title that Minamoto Yoritomo demanded when he defeated the Taira: Sei i tai shogun , "barbarian conquering supreme general." The shogun, and the military government beneath him, really did not control much of Japan. For all practical purposes, the provinces of Japan were independent even though local lords (daimyo) swore allegiance to the shogun.

   The shogunate, however, did not remain in Minamoto hands for very long. When Yoritomo died in 1199, his widow, from the clan of the Hojo, usurped power from the Minamoto clan. She was a Buddhist nun, so she was known as the "Nun Shogun." She displaced the son who had inherited from his father and installed another son, who was soon assassinated. From that point onwards, the Hojo clan ruled the bakufu while the Minamoto nominally occupied the position of shogun. The relationship between the bakufu and the imperial government had never been very friendly; in 1221, the imperial court led an uprising against the bakufu , but failed. By this point, however, the ideology of loyalty had become fully ingrained in the bakufu structure; the imperial court had little luck persuading people to break that loyalty.

   The defining moment for the Kamakura bakufu was the invasion of Japan by the Mongols. In 1258, Kublai Khan conquered the Korean peninsula and in 1266, he declared himself Emperor of China. In that glorious year for the newly formed Yuan dynasty, Kublai set his sights on Japan. In 1266, representatives of the Mongolian court came to Japan and demanded its immediate surrender to Mongolian rule. The imperial court was terrified, but the Hojo decided to stand its ground and sent the representatives home. In 1274, Kublai Khan sent a vast fleet to invade Japan but it was destroyed by a hurricane—the Japanese called this fortunate hurricane kamikaze, or "wind from the gods." Again in 1281, Kublai launched the largest amphibious assault in the history of the ancient and medieval worlds. The Chinese army was a terrifying invasion force. They had the latest technology including gunpowder bombs and "fire-sticks," or guns, and their waves of archers dealt out death and destruction with astonishing efficiency. But the Hojo managed to keep them from landing on the coast, for they had built a vast wall against the invaders. Finally, another hurricane struck, and the bulk of the Chinese army sank with the fleet.
 
  
      soldiers and samurai with gifts of land; this is how the feudal system worked. The samurai gave unswerving loyalty to his daimyo or to the shogun, and in return was rewarded with land. This gift of land, however, would be divided by his sons, and they would in turn divide their portion among their sons. By the end of the thirteenth century, there was, as a result, widespread poverty and dissatisfaction.

   Several families resented the monopoly that the Hojo held over the positions in the bakufu , and throughout the thirteenth century, disturbances would break out over this issue. Finally, in 1331, the Emperor decided that he should rule Japan, not the bakufu , and led an uprising against Kamakura. The Kamakura bakufu sent its most heroic and brilliant general, Ashikaga Takauji, to meet the Emperor's forces in battle. Ashikaga, however, switched sides; by doing so, he precipitated a hemmorhage of loyal forces from the Kamakura. In 1336, the Emperor's forces under the leadership of Ashikaga Takauji overthrew the Hojo. The Emperor would not be the sole ruler of Japan, for Takauji set up his own bakufu in the capital city of Kyoto.

   Under the Kamakura bakufu , the various regions remained more or less independent. The only rule that was exercised over these regions was by the imperial court and its regional governors. The Ashikaga period, on the other hand, was really a multi-state system whose center was the bakufu in Kyoto. All the offices, of which there were only four—police and military, finances and taxes, records, and a judiciary, were staffed by vassals loyal to the Ashikaga. These vassals were now daimyo, or "lords," that ruled various regions as military governors and owed loyalty to the Ashikaga and the bakufu . All of the daimyo had private armies which oversaw the integrity of their territories (and frequently invaded other daimyo territories).

   The military power, then, lay with individual lords. The only way the government was centralized was through the bonds of loyalty between the daimyo and the bakufu . During the fifteenth century, these bonds grew increasingly frayed until the outbreak of the Onin War (1467-1477) and the descent of Japanese society into unrelenting civil war. 

Social Class	Social, Political and Economic Context
Emperor The chief of several clans or family groups called ubi became the Emperor when one of his class took political power.	The Emperor and the imperial family had the highest social status. He was a figurehead, a leader in name only. He was the religious leader, but had little political power, and in reality was under control of the shogun's clan. Economically, the people of all other classes of society provided for the Emperor and his court.
Shogun The shogun was part of the warrior class, and considered to be a noble.	The shogun was the military leader of the most powerful of the Emperor's clans. The clans often fought to acquire this high social status. The shogun was the actual political ruler. He had a high social status and those of the other classes provided for his economic needs in return for protection and privileges (e.g., a small portion of land, some of the produce of the land).
Daimyos The daimyos were part of the warrior class. They were nobles at the top of the samurai class. Daimyo translates to mean "great names."	The daimyos were the shogun's representatives. They ran the estates according to the shogun's rules. Their swords were their most valuable possessions because they were required to use them often to demonstrate their loyalty to the shogun. They had high social status as members of the warrior class. They lived in huge castles surrounded by moats.
Samurai The samuai were members of the warrior class.	The samurai were professional warriors of the military aristocracy. They were loyal to the shogun and daimyos, in whose castles they resided. Their position gave them fairly high social status, but little political power. Their economic needs were met by lower classes similar to the arrangement with the daimyos and the shogun.
Ronin The ronin were paid soldiers whose loyalty was with the leader they defended at the time.	The ronin were wandering samurai who had no daimyos. They worked as body guards for rich merchants or as paid soldiers during civil war. They had low social status, no political power and depended on others for their economic well-being.
Peasants The peasants were the largest class, constituting 90% of the population.	The peasants included farmers and fishermen. They had very low social status, no political power and were very poor. They were valued because they produced the food for all other classes, and often made the material for clothing. The peasants paid taxes to the daimyos and shogun in the form of rice and work. Often peasants starved when they had to give up more than two-thirds of the year's crops to the upper classes in return for being able to remain on the land.
Artisans The artisans were the craftspeople who made a variety of wood and metal products to meet the needs and wants of the other classes.	The artisan crafted a variety of products including art, cooking pots, fish hooks, farm tools, utensils, ship anchors and swords. The artisans, who were well-known for their exceptional swords, were highly respected. However, on the whole, this class was not as respected as peasants because they did not produce food.
Merchants The merchants sold goods and produce made by others.	The merchants were of very low social status and seen as unimportant because they produced nothing of value and lived off the efforts of others' work. So low was the respect for these sellers that, often, they were made to live in separate locations and not allowed to mix with other classes except to do business.

... Early Feudal Japan: In the early feudal period, samurai women were expected to exhibit loyalty, bravery, and take on the duty of revenge. As her warrior husband was often absent, the samurai wife also had important duties at home. Her responsibility was the food and all the household supplies. She oversaw the harvesting of crops, managed all the servants, and took over all financial business in terms of disorder. In matters which concerned the well-being of the family, her advice was sought and her opinions respected. On her, too, fell the burden of providing the proper education of her children. She was to instill in them a strong sense of loyalty to the samurai ideals of courage and physical strength.

In wartime women sometimes had to defend their homes. Trained in weaponry, women carried a dagger in their sleeves or sashes and could throw with deadly aim. The naginata, a long, curved sword, was considered the weapon most suitable for women. Japanese girls today continue the ancient art of naginatajutsu as they learn how to wield the naginata.

Sometimes women joined men in battle, actually fighting along side them or encouraging the troops. And, like their husbands, women were expected to commit suicide if the family was dishonored in any way. Some women used suicide as a form of protest against injustice, as in the case of one woman who killed herself when her husband mistreated her.

An example of the continuing power of women in the early feudal period is Hojo Masa-ko. This strong-willed woman seized the reins of the shogunate after her husband, the first shogun Yoritomo Minamoto, died in 1199. She quickly maneuvered her own family, the Hojo clan, into a regency over her son Yoriie. In her old age it was she who galvanized the shogunate army which crushed the forces of the Emperor Go-Toba in 1221. The Hojos remained as regents over all the successive Minamoto shoguns for the next century and a half. For this reason Hojo Masa-ko, known as "Mother Shogun," has been referred to as the founder of the shogunate.

Over time the independent samurai woman was replaced by an image which depicted the ideal samurai women as humble, obedience, self-controlled and above all subservient to men. Respecting one's husband and family and bearing a male child became this ideal woman's most important tasks. By the later feudal ages, the law of primogeniture prevailed as increasing disputes over property resulted in girls being debarred from rights to inherited property. Supporting the deterioration in women's position were both Confucian doctrine and Buddhism which denigrated women's intellectual and moral capacities. After the 15th century, the teachings of the "Three Obediences" reigned. "A woman has no way of independence through life. When she is young, she obeys her father; when she is married, she obeys her husband; when she is widowed, she obeys her son."

Women and Religion: Women took an active part in the religions of early Japan. From ancient times women were Shinto shamans. Often a miko or a Shinto princess was called upon in difficult cases to try to establish the truth. After going into a trace and being possessed by the god, the kami would then speak though the miko's voice. Also, women participated equally in Japan's festivals and celebrations. Some, such as the festival of the Maid Star (the Tanabata festival), were directed principally toward women.

When Buddhism first appeared it appealed particularly to upper-class women. The convents offered them an alternative to marriage and provided leadership roles through the office of abbess. Visits to temples offered others an escape from the confines of their houses. At the same time, Buddhism lessened women's status by portraying them as dishonest, deceitful, and neglectful of religious duties.

By the 12th century many Japanese were adherents of Amidism. It was felt that only Amida's grace could help in this age of degenerating social and political structures. Amida's appeal was the idea that belief alone, and not intense self-discipline and self-power, could assure one's escape from the painful cycles of birth and rebirth. The Monk Honen claimed that by repeating the Amida name of Buddha, there would be no distinction between men and women nor between the mighty and the weak. Later, the more violent Lotus sect repudiated this; "No women are to be found in paradise. Women will have to first be reborn as men." Beliefs of women's inherent sinfulness increased as time went on.

Peasant Women: The lives of peasant women contrasted greatly with the lives of women in the upper classes. Since most accounts from the period deal with the concerns of the aristocrats, who were only about one-tenth of one percent of Japan's population, we know very little of the lives of the vast majority who were commoners. We do know that women worked alongside men in a kind of rough equality and had some control over household decisions. They held some property rights, including rights of inheritance and divorce, although they could not remarry. In contrast to aristocrats, peasant women often wore their hair short and, since families needed their hands for labor, married late, usually to someone in their own village or group of villages. Farmers only took one wife. As time went on, however, the later feudal age samurai ideal of the obedient, submissive woman was accepted by the common people and peasant women lost much of their earlier independence.

"Bombing of Dresden in World War II." wikipedia. wikipedia,the free encylopedia. 26 Mar. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dresden_bombing>.

""Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously"." SPIEGEL ONLINE. 11 Feb. 2005. Spiegel Online. 26 Mar. 2006 <http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,druck-341239,00.html>.

"Angela's story The Destruction of Dresden ." Time Witnesses. 23 Mar. 2003. Time Witnesses. 26 Mar. 2006 <http://www.timewitnesses.org/english/%7eangela.html>.

Metzger, Lothar. "The Fire-bombing of Dresden." Time Witnesses. May. 1999. Time Witnesses. 26 Mar. 2006 <http://www.timewitnesses.org/english/~lothar.html>.

Avis Norfleet
3rd Period
1/11/06
Greeks of the Hellenic Period and Philosophy

The Greek civilization made many innovations that have affected the course of history. The peek of the Greek civilization, and its innovations, was the Hellenic period. A major concept created during this time was philosophy. Philosophy has continued to advance and help make the world and its people comprehensible. When philosophy is defined, Greeks are proven to be very important in originating the science and making contributions to it and the world.
Philosophy is logic and the science of reason fueled by the love of wisdom. Philosophy encompasses logic and reason. When a philosopher makes decisions and observations about human nature they are using logic and reason. Without logic and reason there is no way to justify their statements. Philosophy is a science. Philosophy is the science of the world and mankind. Finally, philosophers must love wisdom. Without the love for wisdom they would not pursue it. Now, that the foundation of philosophy is laid, the affects of Greeks upon it can be shown. Many events in Greece triggered the invention of philosophy. The Peloponnesian War led to a time of uncertainty. During this period the Greeks searched for answers. The search for answers was the beginning of philosophy. Throughout the Pre-Socratic and Classical periods, philosophers arouse and began to elaborate upon philosophy.
The contribution of Pre-Socratic and Classical period philosophers not only affected the world at the time, but many future generations. Hippocrates changed the way medicine was practiced, and set a foundation for today’s medical practice. He was nicknamed the “father of medicine”, and truly was. He based his work on observations, urged doctors to keep records of their cases, and drafted an ethical medical code. The medical code, the Hippocratic Oath, is still recited today. Pythagoras, another Pre-Socratic philosopher, made many advances in math. He explored the nature of numbers, especially whole numbers and their rations. His practices are still used today. In geometry the method of finding the length of a triangle’s side is called the Pythagorean Theorem. The classical philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle changed the faces of philosophy, politics, and science. Socrates believed in absolute rather than relative truth and created a system used for finding truth known as the Socratic Method. Plato was a contemporary to Socrates. He improved upon his ideas, but branched out in many directions. He wrote books on his idea of the ideal society and government. Aristotle was a pupil of Plato, but had many different views. One of his greatest accomplishments was creating the basis for today’s scientific method. Now that philosophy has been defined, the great contributions Greeks made to the creation of philosophy and development of it and related sciences is evident.

 

Parents: Zeus and Metis, although some consider Athena motherless, or do not give Metis credit for childbearing. She was Zeus' favorite child and given acess to all his weapons, including his lightning bolts.

Maried to:

Home:

Title: Goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature. She was also the godess of war, but unlike the god of war, Ares, took no pleasure from it and only resulted to battle when nessacary, finding other solutions preferable. Athena translates to "Queen of Heaven."

Weapon of choice: Zeus' awful aegis, buckler and even his thunderbolts. Her shield bears the head of Medusa.

Sacred Symbols: olive tree and owl

Powers:

Pastimes: Honing fighting skills

Backround: When Metis became pregnant, Earth warned Zeus that the boy she would bore would overthrow him. So Zeus swallowed Metis hold. Soon he got an overwhelming headache.  He summoned help and was hit over the head with an ax.. Athena sprang from his forehead, fully clad in armour. Some explain this even further, claiming within Zeus, Metis began to make a helmet and robe for her daughter.  The clamoring of the helmet against his skull is what enduced Zeus' headache.

She was in compition with Posiedon to be athen's diety. To prove herself worthy, she made an olive tree rise on the citadel of Athens.  Posieden tried to outdo her by striking the mountain with his trident and making a spring of water gushfoward.  But seeing as he was the god of the sea, the water was salty. The olive tree was more useful to the athenians, and thus Athena became their diety.

She helped many heroes including: Perseus, Jason, Cadmus, Odysseus and Heracles/Hercules in their quests. She helped Perseus slay Medusa in order to gain the gorgons head.  She even fought Typhon, the most heinous of creatures, standing alone when all the other gods fleed. She won that battle and saved Olympus and Zeus' reign.

The major lowlight of her life was in competition with Hera and Aprhodite.  All three asked Paris to judge who was most beautiful. Each bribed him.  Athena with success in battle, Hera with power, and Aprodite with the love of the most beautfiul women in the world: Helen of Troy.  Pairs was most pleased with Aprodites bribe and chose her as the most beautiful. Thus, Hera and Athena were dubbed losers.  Of course, this proved to be a negative disission because Helen and Paris's love caused the Trojan war. All the Trojan's died.

The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City is located in Beijing. It was named the Forbidden City because it was forbidden to everyone accept its residents. It is a cluster of imperial palaces that were built in 1406-1420 A.D, during the Ming dynasty. A moat and high wall surround the city. The gate outside the city is called the Meridian Gate. Through the gate and inside the city is a large courtyard with five bridges. The bridges represent the five Confucian virtues of humanity, sense of duty, wisdom, reliability and ceremonial propriety. Many structures make the city unique. Roads are lined with marble carvings of lions, mythical animals, camels, elephants, and horses. The city contains 9,999 rooms in all. The surrounding city is just as exceptional. Medieval buildings that once catered to the needs of nearby palaces are still standing.

Basic Idea and Structure
Chinese architecture is based on balance and symmetry. The most important aspect of Chinese architecture is emphasis on the horizontal, which is a heavy platform and a large roof that floats over its base. Another important aspect of ancient Chinese architecture is timber framework. It identifies supporting structure and bonding structure. Color is important in timber framework. In the beginning, pain was used for antisepsis, the eliminating or reducing of decay causing microorganisms. Later, paint became an architectural ornament. Buildings can also be built in grey or red bricks, but wood is most often used. Chinese architecture is abstract and nonrepresentational. It involves the manipulations of spaces, volumes, planes, masses and voids.

more pictures lauren and me, her house and the playground.

( looky looky! )