![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Bibliographic Data: Akamatsu Toshihide and Philp Yampolsky. “Muromachi Zen and the Gozan System.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 313-30.
Argument, Sources, Examples The Gozan system, adopted from China, by which the Ashikaga shogunate managed and subordinated Rinzai Zen, quickly became "almost entirely bureaucratic in nature," and at the same time, "enthusiasm for Zen study waned" (319), possibly because Zen began to incorporate elements of an esoteric tradition and because in the 14thC (i.e. the Yuan dynasty) direct connections with China waned. Provincial (i.e. Soto) Zen gained in popularity after the Ônin War, "but it too changed radically in style. It was now a simplified and formalized teaching with numerous extraneous elements derived from other forms of Buddhism, both esoteric and Pure Land" (ibid). The leashing of Zen doubtless served the bakufu's interests, as did the generally tight links between the Zen temples and the bakufu itself.
Bibliographic Data: Itō Teiji with Paul Novograd. “The Development of Shoin-Style Architecture.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 227-40.
Argument, Sources, Examples The development of what later came to be called the "shoin style" of architecture in the Muromachi age is a modification of the Heian and Kamakura style of palace architecture "in adaptation to new social and cultural practices" (228). "The crumbling of the old rigidly stratified society, the spread of freer, more casual relations between members of the military aristocracy or between upper and lower levels of society, as well as the emergence of new cultural pursuits such as the tea ceremony, renga composing parties, and the rage for displaying Chinese art and artifacts led to new forms of architecture to accommodate these changing patterns in social behavior and cultural life" (227). It is only after the consolidation of the style as such in the Momoyama period that the last of the palace style features dropped out of shoin style; all Muromachi shoin style structures retain vestigial palace style elements, as architecturally speaking the Muromachi period was a transitional phase. Shoin elements include such stereotypically "Japanese" practices as tatami mats covering the floors, no distinction between central chamber and outer veranda, and the decorative or writing alcoves with shelves for display, as well as sliding door and wall panels.
Bibliographic Data: Kawai Masaharu with Kenneth A. Grossberg. “Shogun and Shugo: The Provincial Aspects of Muromachi Politics.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 65-86.
( Shogun and shugo )
Bibliographic Data: Miyagawa Mitsuru with Cornelius J. Kiley. “From Shōen to Chigyō: Proprietary Lordship and the Structure of Power.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 89-106.
( Shoen to chigyo )
Bibliographic Data: Nagahara Keiji with Kozo Yamamura. “Village Communities and Daimyo Power.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 107-24.
( Villages and daimyo )
Bibliographic Data: Satō Shin’ichi with John W. Hall. “The Ashikaga Shogun and the Muromachi Bakufu Administration.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 45-52.
( Shogun and bakufu )
Bibliographic Data: Toyoda Takeshi and Sugiyama Hiroshi with V. Dixon Morris. “The Growth of Commerce and the Trades.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 129-44.
( Commerce and trades )
Critical assessment: This book is a wealth of interesting, critical, and relevant material; I've only covered only about half of it. Even the stuff that isn't ground-breaking is interesting. Medieval Japan was far more interesting than those who talked about "the Dark Ages" would think.
Further reading: Tonomura, Community and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan; Segal, Coins, Trade, and the State; Keirstead, The Geography of Power in Medieval Japan; Mass, Antiquity and Anachronism in Japanese History
Meta notes: Everyone had more fun in the medieval period.
Argument, Sources, Examples The Gozan system, adopted from China, by which the Ashikaga shogunate managed and subordinated Rinzai Zen, quickly became "almost entirely bureaucratic in nature," and at the same time, "enthusiasm for Zen study waned" (319), possibly because Zen began to incorporate elements of an esoteric tradition and because in the 14thC (i.e. the Yuan dynasty) direct connections with China waned. Provincial (i.e. Soto) Zen gained in popularity after the Ônin War, "but it too changed radically in style. It was now a simplified and formalized teaching with numerous extraneous elements derived from other forms of Buddhism, both esoteric and Pure Land" (ibid). The leashing of Zen doubtless served the bakufu's interests, as did the generally tight links between the Zen temples and the bakufu itself.
Bibliographic Data: Itō Teiji with Paul Novograd. “The Development of Shoin-Style Architecture.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 227-40.
Argument, Sources, Examples The development of what later came to be called the "shoin style" of architecture in the Muromachi age is a modification of the Heian and Kamakura style of palace architecture "in adaptation to new social and cultural practices" (228). "The crumbling of the old rigidly stratified society, the spread of freer, more casual relations between members of the military aristocracy or between upper and lower levels of society, as well as the emergence of new cultural pursuits such as the tea ceremony, renga composing parties, and the rage for displaying Chinese art and artifacts led to new forms of architecture to accommodate these changing patterns in social behavior and cultural life" (227). It is only after the consolidation of the style as such in the Momoyama period that the last of the palace style features dropped out of shoin style; all Muromachi shoin style structures retain vestigial palace style elements, as architecturally speaking the Muromachi period was a transitional phase. Shoin elements include such stereotypically "Japanese" practices as tatami mats covering the floors, no distinction between central chamber and outer veranda, and the decorative or writing alcoves with shelves for display, as well as sliding door and wall panels.
Bibliographic Data: Kawai Masaharu with Kenneth A. Grossberg. “Shogun and Shugo: The Provincial Aspects of Muromachi Politics.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 65-86.
( Shogun and shugo )
Bibliographic Data: Miyagawa Mitsuru with Cornelius J. Kiley. “From Shōen to Chigyō: Proprietary Lordship and the Structure of Power.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 89-106.
( Shoen to chigyo )
Bibliographic Data: Nagahara Keiji with Kozo Yamamura. “Village Communities and Daimyo Power.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 107-24.
( Villages and daimyo )
Bibliographic Data: Satō Shin’ichi with John W. Hall. “The Ashikaga Shogun and the Muromachi Bakufu Administration.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 45-52.
( Shogun and bakufu )
Bibliographic Data: Toyoda Takeshi and Sugiyama Hiroshi with V. Dixon Morris. “The Growth of Commerce and the Trades.” In Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W. Hall and Toyoda Takeshi. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2001 [1977]: 129-44.
( Commerce and trades )
Critical assessment: This book is a wealth of interesting, critical, and relevant material; I've only covered only about half of it. Even the stuff that isn't ground-breaking is interesting. Medieval Japan was far more interesting than those who talked about "the Dark Ages" would think.
Further reading: Tonomura, Community and Commerce in Late Medieval Japan; Segal, Coins, Trade, and the State; Keirstead, The Geography of Power in Medieval Japan; Mass, Antiquity and Anachronism in Japanese History
Meta notes: Everyone had more fun in the medieval period.