Cultural Identity in the Edo Period

Daniel Gundersen

ISBN 10: 3659555509 / ISBN 13: 9783659555503

Published by LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing Jul 2014, 2014

About this Item

This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -In the Edo period, people who started to question what it meant to be Japanese increased. This kind of cultural identity can be seen in thoughts on Japan as Shinkoku (Divine Land), K¿koku (Imperial Country), Bukoku (Martial Country). All three emphasised what made Japan special compared to other countries. In this book, I compare Shinkoku, K¿koku, and Bukoku thoughts and show how they relate to each other, and what similarities and differences they have. To do this I analyse two texts, Ch¿ch¿ jijitsu (Actual facts about the Central realm) by Yamaga Sok¿, and Seji kenbunroku (A witness account of matters in the world) by Buy¿ Inshi. The former contains typical elements from K¿koku thought, and the latter presents views that are typical of Bukoku thought. The common understanding has been that the idea of Japan as Bukoku emerged early in the Edo period and was later weakened as a result of the increasing popularity of K¿koku. However, the two texts show K¿koku in a time where Bukoku thought was more common, and vice versa. This implies that there were several intellectual layers differing from what has been accepted as the mainstream in the Edo period history of ideas.VDM Verlag, Dudweiler Landstraße 99, 66123 Saarbrücken 76 pp. Englisch.

Seller Inventory # 9783659555503

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Cultural Identity in the Edo Period
• Publisher: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing Jul 2014
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3659555509
• ISBN 13: 9783659555503
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 220W x 150H x 5D millimeters 220 millimeters width by 150 millimeters height by 5 millimeters depth
• Weight: 131 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In the Edo period, people who started to question what it meant to be Japanese increased. This kind of cultural identity can be seen in thoughts on Japan as Shinkoku (Divine Land), Kōkoku (Imperial Country), Bukoku (Martial Country). All three emphasised what made Japan special compared to other countries. In this book, I compare Shinkoku, Kōkoku, and Bukoku thoughts and show how they relate to each other, and what similarities and differences they have. To do this I analyse two texts, Chūchō jijitsu (Actual facts about the Central realm) by Yamaga Sokō, and Seji kenbunroku (A witness account of matters in the world) by Buyō Inshi. The former contains typical elements from Kōkoku thought, and the latter presents views that are typical of Bukoku thought. The common understanding has been that the idea of Japan as Bukoku emerged early in the Edo period and was later weakened as a result of the increasing popularity of Kōkoku. However, the two texts show Kōkoku in a time where Bukoku thought was more common, and vice versa. This implies that there were several intellectual layers differing from what has been accepted as the mainstream in the Edo period history of ideas.

About the Author

Daniel Gundersen took a master degree in Japanese studies at the University of Oslo. He has worked and studied several years in Japan, China and Korea. He worked as a Chinese language teacher for two years as well as being a freelance translator. He currently works as a consultant at Norwegian Center for International Cooperation in Education.