State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth-Century Japan: 46 (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) - Softcover

Thomas Donald Conlan (author)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1929280238 ISBN 13: 9781929280230

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2003

Synopsis

This path-breaking study of the transformative power of war and its profound influence on 14th century Japan presents a fundamental revision of Japanese history. By illuminating Japan through the lens of war, Conlan provides insight into how state and society functioned, as opposed to how they were portrayed in ideal. He recreates the experience of war from the perspective of one warrior, and then reconstructs how war was fought through statistical analysis of surviving casualty records. Conlan also shows that the battles of the 14th century mark a watershed in Japanese history. The fiscal exigencies of waging war led to a devolution of political power to the provinces. Furthermore, the outbreak of war caused social status to become performative, based on the ability to fight autonomously, rather than being prescriptive, or determined by edicts of investiture. This work bridges the intellectual gulf between then and now by exploring how the seemingly contradictory categories of religion and war were integrally related. The 14th century belief that the outcome of battle was determined by the gods meant that religious institutions warred both ritually and physically, and that religious attitudes frequently underpinned warrior behavior. State of War rehabilitates warfare as a focal point of historical inquiry and provides a fascinating overview of premodern Japanese history.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas Donald Conlan is Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University. He holds a PhD from Stanford University, where his advisor was Jeffrey Mass, and he is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He is the author of In L

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1929280238
• ISBN 13: 9781929280230
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316