Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japanese Society

The World Turned Upside Down: Medieval Japanese Society

Roth, Käthe
Souyri, Pierre François

Paperback

Series: Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture

Medieval & Renaissance HistoryGeneral World HistoryJapanese History

ISBN10: 0231118430
ISBN13: 9780231118439
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: Sep 3 2003
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.89
Height: 0.69 Width: 5.62 Depth: 8.80
Language: English

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, theater, 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.

1 different editions

Also available

Also in

Japanese History

View All