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The Resource Popular literacy in early modern Japan, Richard Rubinger

Popular literacy in early modern Japan, Richard Rubinger

Creator
Summary
The focus of Richard Rubinger's study of Japanese literacy is the least-studied (yet overwhelming majority) of the premodern population: the rural farming class. In this book-length historical exploration of the topic, the first in any language, Rubinger dispels the misconception that there are few materials available for the study of popular literacy in Japan. He analyzes a rich variety of untapped sources from the sixteenth century onward, drawing for the first time on material that allows him to measure literacy: signatures on apostasy oaths, diaries, agricultural manuals, home encyclopedias, rural poetry-contest entries, village election ballots, literacy surveys, and family account books. The book begins by tracing the origins of popular literacy up to the Tokugawa period and goes on to discuss the pivotal roles of village headmen during the early sixteenth century, a group extraordinarily skilled in administrative literacy using the Sino-Japanese hybrid language favored by their warrior overlords. In time literacy began to spread beyond the leadership class to household heads, particularly those in towns and farming communities involved in commerce, and eventually to women, employees, and servants. Rubinger identifies substantial and enduring differences in the ability to read and write between commoners in the cities and those in the country until the eighteenth century, when the vigorous popular culture of Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo (Tokyo) attracted village leaders and caused them to extend their capabilities. Later chapters focus on the nineteenth-century expansion of literacy to wider constituencies of farmers and townspeople. Using direct measures of literacy attainment such as village surveys, election ballots, diaries, and letters, Rubinger demonstrates the spread of basic reading and writing skills into virually every corner of Japanese society. The book ends by examining data on illiteracy generated from conscription examinations given by the Japanese army during the Meiji period, bringing the discussion into the twentieth century. Rubinger's analysis of this information suggests that geographical factors and local traditions of learning and culture may have been more important than school attendance in explaining why illiteracy continued to persist in some areas
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 238 pages)
Contents
  • Literacy in early Tokugawa villages
  • Signatures, ciphers, and seals
  • Country culture and the rise of provincial literati in the eighteenth century
  • The nineteenth-century expansion of popular literacy
  • Direct measures of popular literacy in the nineteenth century
Isbn
9781435666160
Instance
Label
Popular literacy in early modern Japan
Title
Popular literacy in early modern Japan
Statement of responsibility
Richard Rubinger
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
The focus of Richard Rubinger's study of Japanese literacy is the least-studied (yet overwhelming majority) of the premodern population: the rural farming class. In this book-length historical exploration of the topic, the first in any language, Rubinger dispels the misconception that there are few materials available for the study of popular literacy in Japan. He analyzes a rich variety of untapped sources from the sixteenth century onward, drawing for the first time on material that allows him to measure literacy: signatures on apostasy oaths, diaries, agricultural manuals, home encyclopedias, rural poetry-contest entries, village election ballots, literacy surveys, and family account books. The book begins by tracing the origins of popular literacy up to the Tokugawa period and goes on to discuss the pivotal roles of village headmen during the early sixteenth century, a group extraordinarily skilled in administrative literacy using the Sino-Japanese hybrid language favored by their warrior overlords. In time literacy began to spread beyond the leadership class to household heads, particularly those in towns and farming communities involved in commerce, and eventually to women, employees, and servants. Rubinger identifies substantial and enduring differences in the ability to read and write between commoners in the cities and those in the country until the eighteenth century, when the vigorous popular culture of Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo (Tokyo) attracted village leaders and caused them to extend their capabilities. Later chapters focus on the nineteenth-century expansion of literacy to wider constituencies of farmers and townspeople. Using direct measures of literacy attainment such as village surveys, election ballots, diaries, and letters, Rubinger demonstrates the spread of basic reading and writing skills into virually every corner of Japanese society. The book ends by examining data on illiteracy generated from conscription examinations given by the Japanese army during the Meiji period, bringing the discussion into the twentieth century. Rubinger's analysis of this information suggests that geographical factors and local traditions of learning and culture may have been more important than school attendance in explaining why illiteracy continued to persist in some areas
Member of
Action
digitized
Cataloging source
N$T
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1943-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Rubinger, Richard
Dewey number
302.2/2440952
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • maps
Index
index present
Language note
In English
LC call number
LC157.J3
LC item number
R83 2007eb
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Literacy
  • Popular education
  • Alphabétisation
  • Éducation populaire
  • LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES
  • EDUCATION
  • Literacy
  • Popular education
  • Japan
  • Alfabetisme
  • Populaire literatuur
  • Plattelandsbevolking
  • Japan
Label
Popular literacy in early modern Japan, Richard Rubinger
Instantiates
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-227) and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Literacy in early Tokugawa villages -- Signatures, ciphers, and seals -- Country culture and the rise of provincial literati in the eighteenth century -- The nineteenth-century expansion of popular literacy -- Direct measures of popular literacy in the nineteenth century
Control code
256631586
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 238 pages)
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Isbn
9781435666160
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other control number
10.21313/9780824863975
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
22573/ctt62trg9
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Reproduction note
Electronic reproduction.
Sound
unknown sound
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)256631586
System details
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.
Label
Popular literacy in early modern Japan, Richard Rubinger
Publication
Antecedent source
unknown
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-227) and index
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Literacy in early Tokugawa villages -- Signatures, ciphers, and seals -- Country culture and the rise of provincial literati in the eighteenth century -- The nineteenth-century expansion of popular literacy -- Direct measures of popular literacy in the nineteenth century
Control code
256631586
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (xii, 238 pages)
File format
unknown
Form of item
online
Isbn
9781435666160
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other control number
10.21313/9780824863975
Other physical details
illustrations, maps
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
22573/ctt62trg9
Quality assurance targets
not applicable
Reformatting quality
unknown
Reproduction note
Electronic reproduction.
Sound
unknown sound
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)256631586
System details
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002.

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