Uncharted Waters : Intellectual Life in the Edo Period

Anna Beerens

ISBN 10: 9004216731 / ISBN 13: 9789004216730

Published by Koninklijke Brill BV Mai 2012, 2012

About this Item

Neuware - In the Edo period, Japan had its first experience of what one might call 'intellectual life' in a pregnant sense of the word: a scene that combined serious intellectual pursuits, from poetry writing to the interpretation of the Confucian classics, with intense social interaction. Edo-period Japan was crisscrossed by networks of poets, scholars, artists and collectors who exchanged information, discussed each other's work, cooperated in collaborative projects, and gossiped about each other. Intellectual life in Edo Japan was a seething cauldron of social interaction and competition, sometimes harmoniously productive, sometimes destructively vicious, but never stagnant. This volume, compiled in honour of Prof. W.J. Boot, offers eleven essays that explore the intellectual scene of Edo-period Japan from a variety of perspectives.

Seller Inventory # 9789004216730

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Uncharted Waters : Intellectual Life in the Edo Period
• Publisher: Koninklijke Brill BV Mai 2012
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004216731
• ISBN 13: 9789004216730
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 244W x 159H x 22D millimeters 244 millimeters width by 159 millimeters height by 22 millimeters depth
• Weight: 568 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In the Edo period, Japan had its first experience of what one might call “intellectual life” in a pregnant sense of the word: a scene that combined serious intellectual pursuits, from poetry writing to the interpretation of the Confucian classics, with intense social interaction. Edo-period Japan was crisscrossed by networks of poets, scholars, artists and collectors who exchanged information, discussed each other’s work, cooperated in collaborative projects, and gossiped about each other. Intellectual life in Edo Japan was a seething cauldron of social interaction and competition, sometimes harmoniously productive, sometimes destructively vicious, but never stagnant. This volume, compiled in honour of Prof. W.J. Boot, offers eleven essays that explore the intellectual scene of Edo-period Japan from a variety of perspectives.

About the Author

Anna Beerens, PhD (2006) in Japanese Studies, University of Leiden, works as an editor and is active as an independent scholar specializing the the social and institutional history of early modern Japan. Her most recent publication "Interview with Two Ladies of the Ooku" appeared in Monumenta Nipponica vol. 63, no. 2 (2008).
Mark Teeuwen, PhD (1996) in Japanese Studies, University of Leiden, is Professor at Oslo University. He has published extensively on the history of kami cults and Shinto. His latest book is A new history of Shinto (2010, co-authored with John Breen).