Reading | "Why Edo" and "Why Japan" - Reading Yokota's "Taihei Under heaven"

"Taihei Under Heaven: Early Edo Period"

Sun: By Fuyuhiko Yokota

Translated by Qu Liang

Published by Wenhui Publishing House

I think that reading the history of neighboring Japan, in addition to pure historiography, also contains a certain practical significance, that is, to understand the Japan we are facing today.

Today, almost all of the contents that are considered representative of the Japanese tradition were produced or formed in Edo: the new Kabuki, Kiyori, and Seongkuku architecture, not to mention, the old waka, Noh, tea ceremony, and hanamichi were also reshaped or renewed during the Edo period. The same is true of politics and economics, and important presences such as the imperial system and chaebols in modern times are inseparable from the influence of the Edo period. Tokyo, as the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan today, was developed directly from Edo Castle, so much so that the old Tokyoites still called themselves "sons of Edo" when they showed their regional identity. It can be said that knowing and understanding the Edo period is an indispensable and important part of interpreting "why Japan" is an important part.

However, our understanding of the Edo period is not sufficient, at least far less than other eras such as Nara and Muromachi, where sino-Japanese exchanges were frequent. For most people, the Edo period as a whole is like a "familiar stranger", and it is impossible to get a glimpse of its true face. Obviously, before answering "Why Japan", we first need to face "Why Edo". This volume touches on how the Edo period began and evolved, and is the key to understanding "why Edo" is the key.

In fact, compared to other general history works on the early Edo period, this volume by Mr. Yokota has a distinct narrative character, which is mainly reflected in the following three key aspects:

First, the division of the times. Whether it is the recent era under the "four-point method" of traditional Japanese history or the Edo period based on the location of the ruling center, most of them will take as the starting point the events of Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1598) and the appointment of the Shogun of Seiyi three years later (1603). This division undoubtedly focuses on the historical process, especially the continuity of political development, after all, the "opening of Edo" laid the foundation for the Tokugawa regime's rule for more than 260 years.

Of course, the honbu General History's staging method of dividing the period of Ieyasu's seizure of the world into the previous period of the Oritoshi regime, which initially achieved unification, and using "Genwa Yanwu" as the starting point of the narrative, also has its rationality: the reconstruction of the national unified regime initiated by Nobunaga, initially realized by Hideyoshi, and finally established by Ieyasu completely ended the war and chaos that had been divided for more than a hundred years after the Onin Rebellion. From the end of the Battle of Osaka in the first year of the Yuan And the first year (1615) to the end of the second half of the 19th century, there was no large-scale war or loss of control of japan, and the actual situation and corresponding political and social activities did undergo major changes, and the title of the book "Tianxia Taihei" is a perfect interpretation of the characteristics of this era.

More importantly, such an "alternative" division of eras actually triggered a shift in the focus of the historical narrative of the Edo period. The history of the Edo period, which began at the beginning of Edo, naturally cannot ignore the great influence of Ieyasu, the founder of the regime, and the downward historical narrative inevitably focuses on the process of establishing the ruling order and the construction of institutions. In contrast, if the staging begins after a long period of peace, the narrative will naturally shift to how political activity continues, how social life develops, and even the rituals of martial arts, public-military relations, the prohibition of state, and the ruling ideology behind Confucianism. Thus, while narrating the political evolution, it is also possible to interpret the secular humanities of the Edo period in a cocoon-like way.

Second, narrative techniques. This volume never attempts to state history in a textbook-style serious tone, but from the prologue onwards, through the accounts of Edo period publications such as the Tale of Osaka Monogatari and their written examinations, it intuitively cuts into the context of the time, and thus leads to a specific introduction to the construction of the shogunate system, social management, civil litigation, the separation of soldiers and peasants, the identity system, and other changes in the ruling order and social production and living conditions. With regard to political history, the author, after outlining the process of establishing the ruling institutions and institutions, focuses on related topics such as the rituals of the samurai family in Edo Castle, the beliefs of Nikko Toshogu Shrine, the Namban Rebellion, and the prohibition of religion. These unique and vivid contents reflect the character of this volume, which is different from the typical general history works that use political history as the axis and classify ideas, culture, art, etc.

In fact, the narrative thread of this volume is no longer confined to political history, or even strictly chronological. Although the first three chapters have their own emphases, they are still introduced according to the time of occurrence of major events. From the fourth chapter onwards, the narrative's emphasis is self-contained due to its own emphasis (village society, urban society, wenzhi thought, book knowledge). This brings the content of this volume closer to a horizontal historical narrative that integrates politics, society, ideology and culture, and perhaps to regard it as a "general history" work of Bloch in a sense.

Third, academic vision. As many scholars in China have pointed out, Kodansha, a general history of Japan, has been known for its extremely high academic value since its inception, and it is also an academic masterpiece among the japanese history works currently imported into China, and this volume clearly reflects this feature. In addition to the unique character of the aforementioned historical periodization, research paradigm, and research horizon, this volume not only fully excavates and extensively cites diverse historical materials as evidence, but also explains the relevant historical issues touched upon with the latest conclusions that were generally recognized by the academic community at the time of the book.

These academic personalities undoubtedly shape the academic vision of the contents of this volume: the narrative of village society begins with the interpretation of peasant-written documents, and to a certain extent breaks the limitations of historical staging - the family history of Yanagida Kunio, the founder of modern Japanese folklore, is also written into it; for the social life of the "Three Capitals" headed by Edo, Mr. Yokota makes extensive use of various historical materials or records, including screen paintings, maps, urban governance ordinances (town touches), and merchant trade records, to explain. It is one of Mr. Yokota's main research areas to bring the reader as close as possible to the real life of the Edo period, and to examine the records of villages, urban documents, and the circulation of books and knowledge, providing us with an effective way to distinguish the ideology and culture of the Edo period from the standpoint of political history and social history, and to understand the characteristics of the Edo period through the perspective of knowledge transmission.

It can be said that this volume presents a panoramic image of the early Edo period with rich details and a broad picture with unique era division, narrative techniques, and academic vision. Of course, such a narrative will inevitably lead to a blurred chronological order, a lack of clarity in the image of historical figures, and a fragmentation of the evolution of political history, but this volume is undoubtedly an indispensable and important supplement to general history works that fully describe these aspects, such as "The Opening of Edo" by Mr. Shoji Fujii. Combining these writings on the early history of Edo, we will be able to get the closest possible approach to the answer of "why Edo" and to interpret "why Japan" in more detail.

Author: Liu Chen

Editor: Jiang Chuting