Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Outsiders
These people were considered untouchables or people not worthy of regular society.
They could not be in a city after 8PM, enter a peasant's home, change their jobs and they had to live apart from everyone else.
"Outcasts were called 'eta' (穢多, literally, "an abundance of defilement" or "an abundance of filth"), a term now considered derogatory. Eta towns were called etamura (穢多村)."
An outcast could be killed because they didn't exhibit the appropriate level of society- for example not removing headware in the presence of a "better"
" A magistrate declared that "An eta is worth 1/7 of an ordinary person." They could be killed with impunity by members of the samurai caste. "
The Shogun would now be in Charge of Japan.
A two level system of government, bafuku, was established.
The Ainu and anyone whose livelihood was unclean made up this class of outsiders.
Federal- Shogun( trade, foreign relations, major important matters)
Local- daimyo (disputes over land, minor crimes, etc.)
Merchants
This was the lowest class because they didn't actually produce anything.
But that didn't mean they weren't wealthy!
The emperor and imperial family had no official power and were figure heads
Restrictions were created that
dictated what daimyo could wear, who they could marry and what they could spend. They were now responsible for infrastructure like road building.
The Floating World
This was the entertainment district of plays, restaurants, gaming houses and bars.
While these activities were looked down upon, they were allowed to continue under strict surveillance.
A lot of merchants spent their time and money here, as well on luxury items for themselves and their families
Daimyo
Daimyo had to visit the capital
once a year and spend every
second year there. That put a lot
of financial strain on the daimyo.
They didn’t have time or
resources to start an uprising.
They also had to leave family
members as hostages
Tokugawa used Confucianism to organize society. It taught that everyone had a place in society.
Society would be a peaceful place if everyone accepted their duties and obligations; if they didn’t, there would be chaos and war. He used the idea of Shi-Nou-Kou-Shou (from top to bottom) to organize
the lower classes. The ranking system went: Samurai, farmers, artisans and finally, merchants.
There were even separate city districts for people to live in
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2422.html
People were encouraged to be modest,
work hard and study.It also stressed
that people need compassion.
Rituals, strict social order were
very important.
Confucianism was taught in schools to children. Some smaller schools would accept other classes of children but this was not common.
Most attended a local school of that focused on reading, writing, and basic math. Japan was renouned for having a literate general population.
Artisans
These are the people who would take the raw goods and refine them.
Some of the industries of the time were: tea, tobacco, wax, indigo, salt, knives, sword making, pottery, lacquer ware, silk, cotton, soy sauce, sake, paper, stone cutting, medicine, chemicals and carpentry.
An eligible candidate would
apprentice their trade under
a master until there skills were
perfected.
Only Samurai could wear swords or have guns. They were never without their two swords so they were viably different from everyone else.
Samurai became bureaucrats for the Shogun, escorts for traveling nobles, peacekeepers. They could not trade or be involved in business.
The Bakufu's policy towards commerce and industry changed a lot over time. Sometimes the central government tried to control and tax private businesses but other times free economy was permitted.
Not all samurai had the same level of status. There were poor samurai farmers who had to live simply and thrifty lives.With no war to draw an income from, life was sometimes harder than that of a peasant.
Even though there were different levels of wealth, the class was grouped together in a district of Edo.
The lowest rank of this class was the
ronin (row-nan)
(samurai without masters)
Over time, the Bafuku went to a currency system of gold, silver and copper/brass for small transactions.
Peasants were given more status than in Europe because they were able to produce rice and therefore sustain society. They were considered the second most important group below samurai. The village paid a rice tax, to the Daimyo, not each farmer. But, each house hold had to help out to make sure they met the quota
needed to pay the taxes.
Early in the Edo period there was major conversion
of crop and thanks to irrigation and water projects.
These innovations also
led to a major population increase. Innovations in
fertilizer and other farming
techniques helped stabilize the food production in
this time. People
were now not only growing food for their families,
but could sell a little for themselves.