Here are questions raised by students in class and the professor's answers.
Q1. What was the system of land ownership in the Edo period? Were farmers permitted to own land?
Under the Edo political system, which was a kind of feudalism, Shogun gave land to daimyos to rule in exchange for loyalty. Farmers were considered to be part of land and prohibited from moving. No land sales or rentals were permitted. Under such a system, the modern concept of land ownership is difficult to define. We can say that ultimately and indirectly, everything was owned by Shogun. Within each han, daimyo had the right to govern and tax his land. But each village had autonomy, as long as they paid rice taxes. It is difficult to say who owned land.
Q2. Why could the Bakufu suppress military uprisings by hans?
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun, was very clever. Various systems created at the beginning of the Edo period prevented any revolt against the central government. For example:
--Heavy financial burden for biannual commuting to Edo, public works, random taxes
--Daimyo's wife and children were always held in Edo, as hostages
--Strict restrictions on travel, shipbuilding, construction of castles, etc.
--Strong hans were placed away from Edo, and friendly hans were given militarily important locations
--Frequent reshuffling of han locations, and forced mutual checks among daimyos
--Any sign of rule breaking led to the ending of the daimyo family
Q3. Why was only the Dutch language chosen for Western studies in the Edo period?
Because the Netherlands was the only Western country that the Bakufu granted the right to trade with Japan (the other permitted trading partner was China). So all the technical books imported from the West were in Dutch. Studying the Dutch language was equal to learning Western technology.
Among the Western countries, the Bakufu allowed only the Netherlands to trade with Japan because (i) the Dutch were Protestant (the Catholic countries like Spain and Portugal sent aggressive religious missions to convert Japan to Christianity, which the Bakufu did not like); and (ii) the Dutch were more interested in commerce than religious activity. The Dutch themselves seem to have argued with the Bakufu that the Spaniards and the Portuguese were trying to invade Japan or exploit gold and silver mines in Japan.
Q4. While the Edo system was a rigid class society, was there some mobility among classes through marriage or any other means?
In principle, no class mobility was allowed. The distinction between the samurai (ruling) class and all other classes was especially strict. But unofficially, I suppose there were a small number of exceptional cases (poor lordless samurai becoming farmers, rich merchants with merits upgraded to samurai etc). But I am not aware of any reliable statistics on this. At any rate, we can say that the Edo system did not have any open or systematic rules for inter-class transition, and social stability depended on class rigidity.
By the way, the Edo society was based on the paternal family system in which the first son inherited the family name and assets. This first-son principle still survives in modern Japan, at least psychologically and especially in the rural areas and conservative families (although legally all sons and daughters are equal).
Q5. Was dissatisfaction with unequal land distribution one of the main reasons for farmers' uprising?
As far as I know, that was not the main reason. From the mid 17th century onward, the main reasons for farmers' uprising included protestation against (i) heavy tax burden, (ii) corrupt officials; (iii) han's policy; and (iv) Bakufu's policy. The typical method of uprising included direct appeal to the government (which was illegal), collective abandonment of land and moving to another area, attacks on official buildings, etc. Toward the end of the Edo period, as poor and landless farmers increased, there were also many uprisings against rich merchants and farmers (destroying their houses).
Q6. Was Japan linguistically unified?
I suppose we can say YES. Although there were different dialects and nuances in pronunciation, which made oral communication across different regions quite difficult, these were all variations of the same Japanese language. The written language was uniform across countries. The important thing is that, through the use of the same language, the Japanese national identity was already firmly established (much prior to the Edo period). In other words, differences in language did not cause social division or ethnic conflict. However, some small parts of Japan were not integrated like this: the Ainu (indigenous) people in Hokkaido and the Okinawa people spoke different languages and had different cultures. They were considered foreign, not Japanese.
Q7. What is Confucianism?
There were many ancient Chinese philosophers, but the most famous ones are Confucius (551-479 BC) and Lao-tse (6th century BC? his existence is not proven). Their ideas are called Confucianism and Taoism, respectively. Confucius taught virtue and discipline in social life (how to do rituals and ceremonies, respect parents, serve your lord, how the king should behave, etc.) while Lao-tse pointed toward natural living and experience (how to achieve things without effort, feel the mystery of being, know the world without leaving the house, etc). These two saints had enormous impact on East Asian societies (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam ...) in the last 2500 years.
Confucius hoped to become an advisor to a truly wise king, but he never found one. All his life, he traveled with his disciples and taught them through conversation (a bit like Buddha, Socrates or Jesus). The disciples wrote down his words in Lun-yu (Rongo in Japanese) which became the best selling textbook for the next two millenniums. My favorite line from Lun-yu is as follows: "You shall always remember the age of your parents. One, for celebrating. Two, for fearing." Confucianism was introduced to Japan in the 4-5th century AD, but remained unpopular until the Edo Bakufu reactivated it. The doctrine was very suitable for maintaining social order in a class society.
Q8. Tell us more about the outcast class.
There are two types of outcast people in the Edo period: hinin (meaning non-human) and eta (meaning unclean). These discriminatory words existed from long ago, but the Bakufu institutionalized them at the bottom of the society by giving organization and social roles.
Hinin were beggars who lived in designated districts in urban areas. They had managers (internally or officially appointed) who organized and policed themselves. There were also unorganized hinin as well. It was sometimes possible for normal people to become hinin through poverty and vice versa.
Eta were people whose profession was to process dead animals (horses, cows, etc) and supply raw materials for the leather industry. They were also forced to work in criminal execution. These were considered unclean jobs. However, many eta people were engaged in other professions as well, including farming. Eta were also organized by managers at the han level.
Discrimination against these people continued even after the Edo period ended. To eliminate such discrimination, Zenkoku Suiheisha (National Level Society) was created in 1922 and Buraku Kaiho Domei (League for Liberating Discriminated People) was organized in 1955. Legally, of course, the present constitution guarantees equal rights for all. But the movement for eradicating social discrimination continues even today.