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Post by fujiwara on Dec 13, 2005 21:22:14 GMT -5
I realize this is kinda goofy but...
I am part of the development team for a mod of the game Mount & Blade (first mentioned on the AA) based on the Onin War. I am trying really hard for historical correctness, and I need some titles for the bushi running around. I know things like hatamoto and taisho, but what were the peon samurai retainers called? In hierarchy conscious Japan, I can't imagine there wasn't a system to distinguish the 100 koku samurai from the 250 koku samurai from...you get the idea. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Arigatou!
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Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Dec 13, 2005 23:43:54 GMT -5
I don't know, you're all bushi to me. ;->
I seem to recall the term jizamurai being used to refer to samurai of very low rank. Hey, look, it's even the right period for the Onin Wars! Pierre Souryi, in The World Turned Upside Down says:
"The clearest social phenomenon in the countryside between 1450 and 1550 was the appearance of a rural middle class composed of a relatively large number of village notables. These men, who were designated in various ways (dogo, jizamurai, and others), played a central role in the internal village organization and began to distinguish themselves from the myoshu [wealthy peasants] and the peasants....The enrichment of the upper peasant classes in the Muromachi period gave rise to a new stocial category, betwen the wealthy peasants and the local landowners, whose members claimed warrior status by caling themselves samurai. Although they no longer worked in the fields, they still lived in the villages among the peasants, with whom they felt a kinship. But they also differentiated themselves from the peasantry, to whom they rented parcels of land to farm, by showing off their new social position; the samurai carried swords openly and owned horses. These village samurai or jizamurai, formed protective vassal links with the shugo [provincial military governors]" Souryi, p. 185.
I bought The World Turned Upside Down as a gap filler - I'd read all sorts of stuff about the Heian period, but needed to learn more about what came afterward. It's a scholarly survey of medieval Japan and the author is very good about referring to people by the Japanese descriptive terms of rank or occupation. I found it useful. It's in print and in paperback. You might want to track down a copy if it interests you.
I'm sure some of our resident buke can offer more clues.
Saionji
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