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This iconoclastic work on the prehistory of Japan and of South East
Asia challenges entrenched views on the origins of Japanese society
and identity. The social changes that took place in Japan in the
time-period when the Jomon culture was replaced by the Yayoi
culture were of exceptional magnitude, going far beyond those of
the so-called Neolithic Revolution in other parts of the world.
They included not only a new way of life based on wet-rice
agriculture but also the introduction of metalworking in both
bronze and iron, and furthermore a new architecture functionally
and ritually linked to rice cultivation, a new religion, and a
hierarchical society characterized by a belief in the divinity of
the ruler. Because of its immense and enduring impact the Yayoi
period has generally been seen as the very foundation of Japanese
civilization and identity. In contrast to the common assumption
that all the Yayoi innovations came from China and Korea, this work
combines exciting new scientific evidence from such different
fields as rice genetics, DNA and historical linguistics to show
that the major elements of Yayoi civilization actually came, not
from the north, but from the south.
Building on previous developments, Europe developed from the 18th
century a particular package of characteristics along the whole
spectrum between practical and intellectual that both gave it a
dynamic capacity for expansion and set the format of what is
recognized as the modern world. Because of this development, it
posed a serious challenge to large parts of the non-European world.
This text presents a case study of Europe's impact on an old and
distinctive non-European civilization. Part One deals with the
elements in Europe's strength, technological, political and
intellectual. It also uses Wallerstein's world-systems perspective
to give an economic dimension to this picture of the new world of
Europe, and then looks at the important question of the challenging
place of the Dutch in the new economic order from the 17th to the
18th century. This is followed by a brief account of the Dutch
East-India Company in Java, and its political effects. Part Two
deals with the nature of the Javanese "ancien regime", both in
court and in provincial circles, with a focus on society and
civilization, rather than those staples of Javanese historiography
to date, political events and economic s
This iconoclastic work on the prehistory of Japan and of South East
Asia challenges entrenched views on the origins of Japanese society
and identity. The social changes that took place in Japan in the
time-period when the Jomon culture was replaced by the Yayoi
culture were of exceptional magnitude, going far beyond those of
the so-called Neolithic Revolution in other parts of the world.
They included not only a new way of life based on wet-rice
agriculture but also the introduction of metalworking in both
bronze and iron, and furthermore a new architecture functionally
and ritually linked to rice cultivation, a new religion, and a
hierarchical society characterized by a belief in the divinity of
the ruler. Because of its immense and enduring impact the Yayoi
period has generally been seen as the very foundation of Japanese
civilization and identity. In contrast to the common assumption
that all the Yayoi innovations came from China and Korea, this work
combines exciting new scientific evidence from such different
fields as rice genetics, DNA and historical linguistics to show
that the major elements of Yayoi civilization actually came, not
from the north, but from the south.
This book presents a case study of Europe's impact on an old and
distinctive non-European civilisation. Part One deals with the
elements in Europe's strength, technological, political and
intellectual. It also uses Wallerstein's world-systems perspective
to give an economic dimension to this picture of the new world of
Europe, and then looks at the important question of the changing
place of the Dutch in the new economic order from the seventeenth
to the eighteenth century. This is followed by a brief account of
the history of the Dutch East-India Company in Java, and its
political effects. Part Two deals with the nature of the Javanese
ancien regime, both in court and in provincial circles, with a
focus on society and civilisation, rather than those staples of
Javanese historiography to date, political events and economic
statistics. Part Three deals with the overall pattern set by the
VOC's changing economic imperatives and with the impact of the
successive tides of capitalism on three regional societies of Java.
Part Four deals with intellectual shifts that took place in this
period, and argues that these shifts were less conservative than
the socio-economic ones described in Part Three and, though more
fragile and vulnerable, were crucial for the future. The conclusion
attempts to show the significance of these developments for modern
Indonesia and the way in which some of the dynamics begun in this
period are being played out in the contemporary world.
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