For anyone already familiar with Japanese history, Pierre Francois
Souyri's book is remarkable for the masterly incision with which he
grafts a powerful narrative drive onto a comprehensive and complex
analysis of perhaps the most turbulent 500 years in Japan's
recorded history. For the non-specialist, Souyri's talent for
mixing the dramatic with the intellectual paves the way for the
discovery of a lost world, the echoes of which continue to shape
modern Japan. Souyri starts in the late 12th century, at the
beginning of the Kamukura period which marks the genesis of the
warrior regimes, better known today as the Shogunates, and ends
with the arrival of the Portuguese during the height of the
Tokugawa Shogunate. The intervening era saw enormous change as
feudal wars split the country and new forms of cultural expression
developed - some of which, like the tea ceremony, came to epitomize
Japanese traditions. Souyri traces the changes in detail, using a
wide range of legal, religious and artistic records to build up an
astonishing picture of Japanese society in all its ramifications.
Kathe Roh's translation is pacey and accommodates the dense flow of
fact and interpretive flourish with excellent clarity, and
altogether this is a detailed and empathic study of an era that is
inviting enough for the reader to overcome the challenge of
approaching an exotic and alien intellectual terrain. (Kirkus UK)
In the late twelfth century, Japanese people called the
transitional period in which they were living the "age of
warriors." Feudal clans fought civil wars, and warriors from the
Kanto Plain rose up to restore the military regime of their shogun,
Yoritomo. The whole of this intermediary period came to represent a
gap between two stable societies: the ancient period, dominated by
the imperial court in Heian (today's Kyoto), and the modern period,
dominated by the Tokugawa "bakufu" based in Edo (today's
Tokyo).
In this remarkable portrait of a complex period in the evolution
of Japan, Pierre F. Souyri uses a wide variety of sources --
ranging from legal and historical texts to artistic and literary
examples -- to form a magisterial overview of medieval Japanese
society. As much at home discussing the implications of the
morality and mentality of "The Tale of the Heike" as he is
describing local disputes among minor vassals or the economic
implications of the pirate trade, Souyri brilliantly illustrates
the interconnected nature of medieval Japanese culture.
The Middle Ages was a decisive time in Japan's history because
it confirmed the country's national identity. New forms of cultural
expression, such as poetry, theater, garden design, the tea
ceremony, flower arranging, and illustrated scrolls, conveyed a
unique sensibility -- sometimes in opposition to the earlier
Chinese models followed by the old nobility. "The World Turned
Upside Down" provides an animated account of the religious,
intellectual, and literary practices of medieval Japan in order to
reveal the era's own notable cultural creativity and enormous
economic potential.
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