5.4 Edo Period 1600 – 1867: Society and the Genroku Era
Society
The Tokugawa regime froze society. Primogeniture, where the oldest inherits, was instituted and if there were a succession dispute, the government might confiscate the land to settle it. The individual had no rights and the smallest legal entity was the family. Offices were inherited. Social classes were ranked according to Confucian principles.
At the top of the social order was the Emperor followed by the nobility (kuge). Next, came the shogun. The daimyō were ranked according to their proximity to the Tokugawa. The samurai had to choose between becoming peasants and moving to the city as a retainer. The only landed samurai were the hatamoto or bannermen. After the samurai came the peasants, the craftsmen, and lastly the merchants.
Confucian principles divided society by merit. Samurai were first because they created order and set a high moral example. Farming peasants were second because they produced the most important commodity, food. Artisans produced nonessential goods. Merchants were last because they generated wealth without producing any goods. Artisans and merchants were collectively called chōnin.
Below or rather outside Japanese society were the eta (“filthy”) and hinin (“non-human”). These were people whose work broke the tenants of Buddhism. Eta included butchers, tanners, and undertakers. Hinin included town guards, street sweepers, and executioners. Also included were beggars, entertainers, and prostitutes. These people were assigned to certain quarters in a city, had no social mobility, and even their clothing was regulated.
By the late 17th century, life became increasingly harder for the samurai. Samurai were not allowed to have productive jobs, so in times of peace they were unemployed. They were paid a stipend in rice, whose value fluctuated. By contrast, the economy was growing and it was favoring the chōnin who had control of money and consumer goods at the expense of the daimyō and samurai.
Genroku Era (1688-1704)
The Genroku Era occurred during the reign of Emperor Higashiyama. The era name means “original happiness.” The art, architecture, and culture of the townspeople, merchants, and samurai flourished as a result of several years of peace and stability.
The upper strata enjoyed elaborate and expensive rituals, elegant architecture, landscaped gardens, Noh, patronage of the arts, and the tea ceremony.
The surplus wealth of merchants led to leisure entertainment: teahouses, taverns, pleasure quarters, theaters, public baths, tourism, kabuki, puppet theater, and woodblock prints. The chōnin also played a key role in the development of ukiyo-e and contemporary handicrafts.
Ukiyo-e is the genre of Japanese art that began during this time and flourished through the 19th century. Its artists produced woodblock prints and painting of female beauties, kabuki actors, and sumo wrestlers, as well as scenes depicting historical events and folk tales, travels and landscapes, and erotica. The term “ukiyo-e” means “pictures of the floating world.” The term “floating world” (ukiyo) refers to the Buddhist term denoting the impermanence and fleeting nature of human pleasures. The term “floating world” referenced a hedonistic lifestyle.
In literature, Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693) wrote about bourgeois life, materialism, and love of pleasure. He authored Five Women Who Loved Love and The Life of an Amorous Man. Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was a poet, a master of 17 syllable poems called haiku.
Kabuki came about when a Izumo no Okuni, a shrine maiden, erected a stage to sing and dance to attract customers along the bank of the Kamogawa River in Kyoto.
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) became the great puppet theater master and is best known for Chushingura or Forty-Seven Ronin and wrote most of the great puppet theater scripts.
It was during this time that the events of the forty-seven rōnin occurred. In 1701, Asano Naganori, the daimyō of Akō han, having been allegedly insulted by Kira Yoshihisa, attempted to kill him. Kira Yoshihisa was a kōke (master of ceremonies), who oversaw matters of protocol. Kira was assigned to tutor Asano for an upcoming visit by representatives of the Emperor. Kira demanded bribes for tutoring. Asano refused to pay. Kira then began to call Asano an ignorant and unmannered country boor. After Asano failed to kill Kira, Shogun Tsunayoshi ordered that he commit seppuku. But Kira was not punished. Asano’s house was abolished and his retainers were branded rōnin. After two years of secret plotting, a group of forty-seven of Asano’s retainers (the Forty-Seven Ronin) avenged Asano’s death by killing Kira by decapitation. They surrendered to the shogunate authorities and were ordered to commit seppuku for the murder. This was considered an honorable death instead of beheading. The story of The Forty-seven Ronin was retold in the puppet theater, kabuki, and in various works of literature.
In painting, Rinpa was revived during this period by brothers Ogata Kōrin (1658–1716) and Ogata Kenzan (1663–1743) who collaborated with Tawaya Sōtatsu. They were supported by wealthy merchants and old Kyoto aristocratic families who favored art of classical tradition – ceramics, calligraphy, and lacquerware.
Next, Economic Woes