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The world turned upside down : medieval Japanese society / Pierre-François Souyri ; translated by Käthe Roth.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Souyri, Pierre.
- Series:
- Asia perspectives
- Standardized Title:
- Monde à l'envers. English
- Language:
- English
- French
- Subjects (All):
- Japan--History--1185-1600.
- Japan.
- History.
- Physical Description:
- xxiv, 280 pages : maps ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Columbia University Press, [2001]
- Language Note:
- Translated from the French.
- Summary:
- This unique synthetic history of Japan's "middle ages" is a remarkable portrait of a complex period in the evolution of Japan. Using a wide variety of sources -- ranging from legal and historical texts to artistic and literary examples -- to form a detailed overview of medieval Japanese society, Souyri demonstrates the interconnected nature of medieval Japanese culture while providing an animated account of the era's religious, intellectual, and literary practices.
- Contents:
- Chapter 1. The Curtain Rises 1
- Japanese Medieval Society 2
- The Age of the Warriors 2
- Social Mobility, Revolts, and Growth 4
- The Sources 6
- Written Sources 7
- Other Types of Historical Materials 8
- The People of Japan 9
- Chapter 2. Social Dynamics in the Late Heian Period 17
- The Court's Domination of the Provinces 18
- The Birth of the Warrior Class 20
- The Regime of the Retired Emperors 24
- The Rise of the Taira 27
- Chapter 3. The Crisis in the Late Twelfth Century 29
- War 29
- Favorable Conditions in the Eastern Provinces 32
- To the Death for the Estate! 36
- Establishment of the Bakufu 43
- Chapter 4. Kamakura: The Warrior Regime 48
- The Rise of the Hojo Family 49
- The Bakufu and the Vassals 52
- Governors and Stewards 54
- The Law and Justice 56
- The Mongol Invasions and the Culmination of the Kamakura Regime 61
- Chapter 5. Kamakura: A Society of Questions 65
- The Nobility in Turmoil 66
- Chomei 66
- Jien 68
- The New Buddhists 70
- Practice or Faith? 70
- Honen 72
- Shinran 73
- The Reaction of Orthodox Buddhism 74
- Nichiren 75
- Ippen 75
- Zen 76
- The Five Mountains 78
- The Heike: Evoking the Departed 80
- Chapter 6. Kamakura: A Society in Transformation 84
- Those Who Lived Off the Land ... 84
- The Rural Economy 85
- The Village 86
- The Rise of Agricultural Production 87
- Trade in the Countryside 87
- Emancipation of the Serfs 88
- ... And Those Who Did Not Live Off the Land 91
- The "People of the Sea" 93
- Artisans 95
- Dancers and Courtesans 96
- The Pariahs 97
- Kamakura and Kyoto 99
- Chapter 7. The Second Middle Ages: The Turning Point of the Fourteenth Century 101
- The Rise of Violence and Tensions in the Regime 103
- A "Virtuous Government" 104
- Bandits and People with Strange Customs 106
- The Evil Parties 106
- Stone Throwing 108
- Basara 108
- War Again: The Fall of the Hojo Regime 110
- The Kenmu Restoration 112
- Civil War 116
- Chapter 8. Warriors, Pirates, Peasants, and Priests 121
- New Governors and Landowner Leagues 121
- War in the Provinces and the Emergence of Governors 121
- Landowner Leagues 124
- The Growth of International Piracy 126
- The Rise of the Peasantry 128
- The So 130
- The Estates in Revolt: Shoke no ikki 131
- Thoughts and Attitudes: From Theorists to Organizers 135
- History As Seen by Kitabatake Chikafusa 135
- Return to Conservatism in the New Buddhism 138
- Zen of the Five Mountains 139
- Chapter 9. The Splendor and Misery of the Muromachi Century: The Culmination of the Ashikaga and the Development of Trade 142
- The Political Cadres: Stability and Then Failure in the Ashikaga Shogunal Regime 143
- Growth in International Trade 148
- Okinawa: "A Bridge Between Countries" 151
- Domestic Trade in the Archipelago: Guilds and Moneylenders 153
- Kinai at the Heart of a Prosperous Economy 156
- Lake Biwa and Omi Province 157
- From Kyoto to Hyogo 158
- Chapter 10. The Splendor and Misery of the Muromachi Century: New Uprisings, New Culture 161
- The Do-ikki: Cultivator Disputes 161
- The Terrible Onin War (1467-77) 166
- New Forms of Sociability and Art 170
- Conditions for Art Production: Sponsorship and Discrimination 175
- "Companions" and Ji Monks 175
- Kawara Society 176
- A New Art of Living: The Chinese Style and the Creation of a "Japanese" Style 178
- Chapter 11. The Sengoku Period: Communes, Religious Leagues, and Neighborhood Associations 181
- Overview of the Years 1480-1570 181
- The Quest for Autonomy: Village "Communes" 183
- Sokoku: Regional Communes 188
- The Yamashiro Uprising 188
- The Iga Commune 190
- "We Who Have Faith": The Ikko Leagues 192
- Urban Autonomy and Self-Defense 195
- The Machishu 196
- The Lotus Leagues 198
- Sakai 200
- Chapter 12. The Sengoku Period: Warlords Seeking Power 202
- The Collapse of the Shogunal Regime 202
- Warlords: Two Examples 203
- The Hojo Lords 203
- The Imagawa Lords 205
- What Is a Warlord? 206
- The New Vassalage: "A Strong Army" 210
- The New Organization: "A Rich Country" 211
- Reflections on Japanese Feudalism 213
- Creating a New Order 214.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [257]-261) and index.
- ISBN:
- 0231118422
- OCLC:
- 45661500
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