ON THE GENDER IN EDUCATION AND CULTURE IN EARLY AND MIDDLE EDO PRIOD

1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 10610322
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: KANAZAWA UNIVERSITY
• Principal Investigator: NAKANO Setsuko Kanazawa Univ., Faculty of Letters, assistant professor, 文学部, 助教授 (60019338)
• Project Period (FY): 1998 – 1999
• Keywords: EDO PRIOD / GENDER / EDUCATION / KANA / ONNADAIGAKU / CONFUCIONISM / IE / TENDERNESS / CULTURE / PUBLICATION

Research Abstract

This research handles the history of women's culture in early ando middle Edo period on which fer recerches have been done.
According to the proceeding researches of women's history in Edo period, the development of the New-Confucionism strengthened the discriminetion to women and became one of the big elements to bring the worse situation for women than the previous priod. But, these ideas have not been suficiently inspected in historical studies. In this book, I take the notice on the changing from Buddism to Confucionism as the moral authority of the socity and clarify that the New-Confusionism worked progressivelly activery for the mental development of women in those years. And viewing through the history of women's culture, I point the Genroku-Kyoho priod was the turning priod when the women's culture which was continued from Heian period until then and composed of Buddism elements, changed into the new culture.
"Chap.1 The Women's Family and Works Viewed in Kana-soshi (books writt en in Kana Which published in early Edo priod)": In this chapter, I reserch and explain about the livelihood of popular womenin early Edo-period, using Kana-soshi as the documents. This period, when the social began to be settled down after the civil war of Sengoku period, was characteristic as the Heian culture penetrated down through populace. I explain the culture of popular livings had developed as being influenced by those Heian culture, which proceeded before Genroku-Kyoho period.
"Chap. 2 Women's Culture with Tenderness and Waka (Japanese Poem)": In this chapter, I research which kind of Heian culture were introduced to popular women in early Edo period. I clarify that the emotional of tenderness penetrated commonly and characteristically in all types of Heian culture being introduced to women at that time. This culture of ofendernes, although it had been gradually diversified in quality by new-Confucianism, worked as one of the two big elements of the women's education. Another one was new-Confucianism culture for women.
"Chap.3 "Joshikun" and "Tubo no Ishibumi" (both books are the teaching ones for girls, the former written by Kumazawa Banzan and the latter by Banzan's son): Through "Joshikun" and the others. I say the teachings of "the life of this world is important" from the stand point of new-Confucianism were spreaded in front of the women of that time who believed Buddism and prayed for happy future life as so through medieval period. In this stage of period the society, which had the moral of "Gorin Gojoh" common both in men and women, had come and the women began to think more about their lives in this world than future life. A long with the permeation of new-Confutionism, the characteristic sweetness of Heian culture being included in the tenderness education for women, was denyed and the tenderness education was diversed in quality.
"Chap. 4 "Onna-Daigaku" and the Establishment of Populaus Family": I describe that Genroku-Kyoho period was the time when populaus family began to establish gradually under the developments of economy and society of towns. In the development of the society, the foundation of the culture common in men and women was made, losing the specialty of women's culture which had continued from Heian period. This process appeared characteristically in the aproach of men's letters and women's one, and it was cleary seen in the text of "Onna-Daigaku". This process also concerned the development of the moral common with men and women which I point in Chap. 3. Under this common culture, thesocial order of men and women was founded and the foundation of the social conscious that ruled women as the second class (under men) began to spread at this period.
This research handles mainly the printted and published materials as the documents. Those documents tell symbolically the diversity of the culture. Aothough most of those documents were written by men, I tried to figure out the women's real situations from those. I also used as the documents the text books for girl's calligraphy written by women at that time. From those we can saw the women's attitudes proceeding the change of women's culture. This shows that women were not simply forced to follow the change but selected the change by themselves.