The world turned upside down : medieval Japanese society
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The world turned upside down : medieval Japanese society
(Pimlico, 543)
Pimlico, 2002
- Other Title
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Monde à l'envers : la dynamique de la société médiévale (Histoire du Japon)
- Uniform Title
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Monde à l'envers
Available at 4 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
First published: New York : Columbia University Press, 2001
Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-261) and index
"A Pimlico original"
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In the late twelfth century, Japanese people called the transitional period in which they were living the 'age of warriors'. Feudal clans fought civil wars, and warriors from the Kanto Plain rose up to restore the military regime of their shogun, Yoritomo. The whole of this intermediary period came to represent a gap between two stable societies: the ancient period, dominated by the imperial court in Heian (today's Kyoto), and the modern period, dominated by the Tokugawa bakufu based in Edo (today's Tokyo). In this remarkable portrait of a complex period in the evolution of Japan, Pierre F. Souyri uses a wide variety of sources - ranging from legal and historical texts to artistic and literary examples - to form a magisterial overview of medieval Japanese society. As much at home discussing the implications of the morality and mentality of The Tale of the Heike as he is describing local disputes among minor vassals or the economic implications of the pirate trade, Souyri brilliantly illustrates the interconnected nature of medieval Japanese culture. The Middle Ages was a decisive time in Japan's history because it confirmed the country's national identity.
New forms of cultural expression, such as poetry, theatre, garden design, the tea ceremony, flower arranging and illustrated scrolls, conveyed a unique sensibility - sometimes in opposition to the earlier Chinese models followed by the old nobility. The World Turned Upside Down provides an animated account of the religious, intellectual and literary practices of medieval Japan in order to reveal the era's own notable cultural creativity and enormous economic potential.
by "Nielsen BookData"