early modern period

Early Modern Period

Group # 3 Article

“Was the Early Modern Japan Culturally Integrated”

Sunday, April 11, 2010

The Author: Mary Elizabeth Berry

• Currently at Berkeley University of California, a Professor in the History Department

• Ph.D. Harvard University (1975) History & East Asian Languages

• M.A. Harvard University (1970) Regional Studies: East Asia

• Visiting Professor teaching at Stanford University and at Kyoto University


• Books Published: Hideyoshi, The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto, Japan in Print: Information and Nation in Early Modern Period

• Over 30 Articles published in Academic Journals

• Areas of Interest are Japan, Kyoto, Sengoku Period, and Cufucian Family Orientation


The Article’s focuses on convergence and divergence• The origin for the topic is a remark made by

Edwin O. Reischaucher. Japan’s Tokugawa Era achieved “a greater degree of cultural, intellectual, and ideological conformity...than any other country in the world” (p.547)

• The remark is the basis that Professor Lieberman based his essay on

• Professor Berry based her paper from problems with Professor Liberman’s conclusion


Example of the Types of Written Evidence

• 1681 military register published names of officers that served the Tokugawa shogunate under 230 titles

• 1697 agricultural manuel named the types, divided by varieties, information into separate chapter : vegetables(57), grasses(11), trees(36), herbs(22), grain(19)

• 1687 a city directory of Edo, divided into 97 categories of craftspeople and merchants


Looked at Information Society Printed

• The Early Modern Period is noted for massive amounts of printed information that had some sort of documentation relevance

• Areas of agriculture, religion, the military, the cities, the businesses are tied to the social and political structure of Japan

• The culture’s response to dramatic changes in politics, economy, urbanization, and outside influences, modernity


Professor Berry

• “The integration of systems tends to accelerate the separation of people” (p.549) THESIS

• Diversity developed in sects of religions, art, acting styles, poetry, and entertainment within a homogeneous society

• Active map makers: there are over 1,200 maps of Edo city alone, thousands of maps created from the Tokugawa Period showing the same area, but actively pointing out differences


Printing

• “The printing information...maybe evidence of macro-social integration through literacy and print networks” (p.550)

• Print media converges in material, diverges into categories

• Berry suggests that printing was a way for Japan to respond to social/ political changes


China’s Influence

• China’s print culture: being literate as a special status. Educated, Elite, Class, Self-Cultured

• Chinese Writing System

• Use of Woodblock Printing

• Open new markets (Bookstores, Publishers, Sales)

• New types of employment


• Information as important knowledge and a commodity

• Passing Information along ( An early model for a Communication System)

• Texts of information (any subject)

• Travel guides, Territory Maps

• Urban Directories, Business Directories

• Documenting and Recording


Buddhism

• Recorded social activities and financial obligations

• Factor in politics, economy, and the markets

• Recorded names, affiliations, family genealogy, and stories (Real/Fictional)

• A shared culture through stories. Example: Genpei War (1180-1185) miracle stories, tales of battles, rituals of death


Civil War• Berry views civil wars occurring as formative

1. Shaped governing systems 2. Upheaval inspired a desire for peace

• Identifies Toyotomi Hideoshi as instrumental at shaping the governing system in 1590, the Tokugawa House 1600-1868 ruled over 200 domains


Professor Liberman’s Essay• Berry found the essay to focus on general

patterns (Military, Politics, Language)

• The essay generalized historical events while lumping people into groups (farmers-some followed a Lord, others self-governed; farmers had different backgrounds- Samurai)

• Liberman looked at language (focusing on linguistics/ oral vernaculars); Proof/Evidence is a problem acquiring (1400-1800) (Berry focused on Printed materials)


Conclusion

• National Identity through cultural integration of information

• Print Culture: Information, Promoted learning, Literacy, and Propaganda

• Social/Political economy convergence from a strict governing system

• “Tokugawa period is a remarkable for a certain income leveling” (p.570) Credited to Hideyoshi


Remarks• Berry’s paper unlike other scholarly works is

written in the first person

• The number of source used were limited

• Berry uses her own book and article to quote from and reinforce her own thesis

• Berry’s convergence/divergence topic is not proved, She moves on to other topics like Hideyoshi, civil war, and print industry

• Berry provides a possible explanation for the massive printed information


early modern period

Documents

printing information

information society

professor berry

early modern japan

kyoto university

harvard university

professor teaching

professor lieberman