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Michael Curl
Location: Northern California, US Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 487
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 Posted: Wed 18 May, 2011 3:51 pm Post subject: Feudalism |
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So I was wondering, what are some good books that compare and contrast Japanese with European Feudalism? Yes I know the issues, does what we call feudalism ever exist at all, if it did, did it in Japan. However I also know that many articles and books have been published on the subject and since I have access to Jstor I would love whatever sources you can turn out.
E Pluribus Unum
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Charles Richmond
Location: Casstown Ohio Joined: 16 May 2011
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Wed 18 May, 2011 4:04 pm Post subject: Re: Feudalism |
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| Michael Curl wrote: | | So I was wondering, what are some good books that compare and contrast Japanese with European Feudalism? Yes I know the issues, does what we call feudalism ever exist at all, if it did, did it in Japan. However I also know that many articles and books have been published on the subject and since I have access to Jstor I would love whatever sources you can turn out. |
"The Book of the Samurai, the Warrior Class of Japan" by Stephen R. Turnbull.
Goes into detail about how Japanese society was structured, the various classes,organization of the social strata and their interactions and roles within Japanese society up to the Meiji Restoration.
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Timo Nieminen
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While not a comparison, the content of W. W. Farris, Heavenly Warriors will give a very good comparison when alongside a book on the development of European feudalism.
There are also the books by Karl Friday, Hired Swords and Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan.
For the intersection between Farris and Friday, you might be interested in Friday's reply to Farris's review of Hired Swords, available on JSTOR.
Jansen's Warrior Rule in Japan might be good too, but I've not even looked at this book.
"In addition to being efficient, all pole arms were quite nice to look at." - Cherney Berg, A hideous history of weapons, Collier 1963.
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N Cioran
Location: Toronto Joined: 21 Nov 2010
Posts: 72
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A. Elema
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| Posted: Thu 19 May, 2011 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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That question seems to come up on a regular basis in more than one forum. Is it part of a textbook or a standardized curriculum somewhere?
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Chuck Russell
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| Posted: Thu 19 May, 2011 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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bastard feudalism by michael hicks
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Lafayette C Curtis
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Susan Reynolds's Fiefs and Vassals is another book worth checking out with regards to the European side of the question.
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Werner Stiegler
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I can second this one. It's an excellent book and it really goes out to show how the samurai operated within the legal framework set by the gouvernment in Heiankyo. I've read some comparable texts about medieval and early modern social structure, but those were written in german.
For a general intriduction I would suggest S.E. Finers "The History of Gouvernment" rather than the dry and really uninteresting texts written by Turnbull. His concepts of privatizing public rights is a really good shorthand that can potentially help you to bend your mind around feudalism in general.
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Andrew W
Location: Florida, USA Joined: 14 Oct 2010
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| Posted: Thu 26 May, 2011 5:44 am Post subject: |
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| Lafayette C Curtis wrote: | | Susan Reynolds's Fiefs and Vassals is another book worth checking out with regards to the European side of the question. |
If you are only going to read one book on the European side of the question, it should be this one. Reynolds completely reshaped the discussion, and it's impossible to study feudalism in an academic setting without referencing her work.
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Michael Curl
Location: Northern California, US Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 487
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| Posted: Thu 26 May, 2011 7:44 am Post subject: |
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Sounds like I will have to read fiefs and vassals then, but I already know about european feudalism, I was looking more for info on japanese. Also, I read the hired swords book, and while very good, for some reason Japanese history only holds my interest for so long, kinda weird. But I do recommend the book, especially its new look on the cause of feudalism there, since it is the opposite of europe's.
E Pluribus Unum
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Michael G.
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| Posted: Thu 26 May, 2011 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Towards the end of Feudal Society Marc Bloch briefly touches on the similarities of medieval society in Europe and Japan. Doesn't go into very much detail at all about Japanese feudalism (if we wish to call it that), the book being on the whole about European feudalism, but Bloch does mention various similarities between the two.
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This is a standard topic