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- Convenors:
-
Matthias Hayek
(EPHE-PSL)
Annick Horiuchi (Université de Paris)
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- Stream:
- Intellectual History and Philosophy
- Location:
- Torre A, Piso 0, Sala 04
- Sessions:
- Saturday 2 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
By examining different discourses dealing with animals and human beings, whether they were 'observable' or 'fabulous', in Edo period books, this panel aims to look at how Japanese scholars from the 17th and 18th century understood, classified, and interacted with their 'natural' environment.
Long Abstract:
Discourse on natural products had a long scholarly tradition in Japan, which draws its roots in ancient China. Important changes occurred in the 17th century when the increasing mobility of scholars allowed them to confront the reality with the content of their books. On the other hand, the introduction of late Ming Chinese books such as Sancai tuhui transmitted the curiosity toward fabulous beings or foreigners living in faraway countries. From the 18th century onwards, this curiosity was yet reinforced by the diffusion, within the literati milieu, of Dutch scholarly productions, which not only revealed an unknown geographical space but also showed a new way of depicting and drawing living beings. All these new experiences could not but influence the Japanese practices of observation and depiction of living beings and a number of works published during the 17th century and 18th century indicate the emergence of what Timon Screech called a "scientific gaze". However, this doesn't necessarily imply that a transformation was taking place in the way Japanese understood, classified, and interacted with their 'natural' environment. For instance, can we claim that this new gaze affected men-animal relations? Were the exotic animals introduced by the Dutch books or observed by castaways compatible with Japanese explanation of animal realm?
Although there is probably no straightforward answer to such questions, it should be possible to get a firmer grasp of the issue through examining different discourses dealing with animals or human beings in books of the Edo period, whether they were actual, 'observable' creatures or 'fabulous' beasts. What aspects of these animals are stressed out? Is it possible to find, within this realm, different degrees of proximity with the human world? Are the two strictly differentiated? How are the various beings populating the globe described? How is the question of human 'animality' addressed? These are the interrogations we will try to take on in this exploratory panel.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 2 September, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
By looking at how Terashima Ryōan's Wakan sansai zue (1715) deals with prodigious denizens of faraway lands and elusive beasts, I will attempt to shed light on the boundaries between ordinary and extraordinary within the scholarly perception of environment in the first half of the Edo Period.
Paper long abstract:
The Wakan sansai zue, or Japanese and Chinese illustrated Encyclopedia of the Three Powers, is a well-known work in 105 sections distributed among 81 fascicules. It has sometimes been compared to 18th centuries Western encyclopedias, insofar as it encompasses the knowledge gathered since the beginning of the Edo period in a broad range of fields, such as astronomy, calendar, and honzō. The author, Terashima Ryōan, a physician from Ōsaka, claims to have spent some thirty years before completing what appears to have been his lifework. To do so, he drew inspiration from late Ming encyclopedias and essays starting with Li Shizheng's Bencao Gangmu (1596). Wang Qi's Sancai tuhui (1609), and Xie ZhaoZhe's Wuzazu (1616). He was also able to build on a local trend of scholarly discourses, such as Hayashi Razan, Nakamura Tekisai and Kaibara Ekiken's, which, while emulating those of these Chinese forerunners, had been taking Japanese context into account.
An epitome of a 'typological' worldview that includes Western conceptions imported through Chinese sources, Terashima's encyclopedia gives an important place to foreign countries and their people, from well-documented East-Asian neighbors to the prodigious denizens of faraway lands. Animals, also, are presented in there diversity, including elusive beasts such as dragons, kappa or sea-monks.
What is the place of these entries, and what kind of information and representation do they convey? Were these creatures described in the same way as more familiar one's? Did they pertain to specific, separate categories, and if so, on what ground were such distinctions made? And what about animals like foxes or turtles, which could supposedly display uncanny, if not divine, properties?
By trying to look at how these discourses fit within the general economy of the book, and how they relate or not to each other, this paper will attempt to shed some light on the boundaries between ordinary and extraordinary within the scholarly perception of environment of the late 17th - early 18th century, and on the existence, or lack thereof, of a criteria-based conception of an objective 'nature'.
Paper short abstract:
Using the genre of Illustrated encyclopedias of famous products printed in late 18th century, the paper will examine different aspects of men-animal relations, such as the imagery attached to specific animals or the way animal behavior is analyzed by villagers in order to capture them.
Paper long abstract:
We are used to link descriptions and representations of animals to treatises of natural history such as the famous Yamato honzô (Materia medica of Japan; 1709) by Kaibara Ekiken. But animals are also present in other types of learned literature. Illustrated encyclopedias such as Nihon sankai meibutsu zue (Illustrated famous products of the mountains and seas of Japan; 1754) or Nihon sankai meisan zue (Illustrated famous productions of the mountains and seas of Japan; 1799) provide also a wide variety of descriptions of animal behavior or human behavior toward animals. However, these descriptions are not intended to deal with every aspect of the animals. Animals (fishes, birds, whales, bears,..) in this context are seen as mere consumer goods that are supposed to be eaten or transformed into drugs. The way they are looked at is necessarily determined by this purpose and attention is mainly focused on the most effective way to capture them. It is also to be noted that these writings are resting on oral testimonies and more rarely on direct observations. Thus, it would be an error to consider these books as reflecting authentic men-animal relations in early modern Japan. The fact remains that they offer an interesting angle to approach the topic. On the one hand, they shed light on the imagery attached to some animals (especially the biggest ones), the way it draws on ancient poetry, Chinese scholarly tradition as well as local legends. On the other hand, they can be used to observe the evolution of men-animal relations in a context of proto-industrial production where elaborate techniques are implemented by a large number of villagers in order to trap the animals. These materials finally provide a means to reflect upon the place animals had in people's life and village organization. A special attention will be paid to illustrations in so far as they provide invaluable information.
Paper short abstract:
I focus on a 'petto buumu' in mid-18th century Japan, and the concomitant animal care books that were published to assist those interested in breeding and feeding 'nezumi' in particular. How can we interpret their contents in the context of human - nonhuman animal relations in early modern society?
Paper long abstract:
In this presentation I focus on a 'petto buumu' in mid-18th century Japan, and the concomitant animal care books that were published to assist those interested in breeding and feeding particular types of pets . How can we interpret their contents in the context of human - nonhuman animal relations in early modern Japan?
The lives of and care for pets in the Tokugawa period is not a deeply researched area. Cats and dogs have recieved some attention by modern scholars. However, there were also tiny, inconspicuous animals that caused a rage especially in the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Edo.
What I will discuss in this presentation, are two of the lesser known creatures: goldfish and 'nezumi' - which can be a rat or a mouse in Japanese - on the basis of guide books that were published in the mid-Tokugawa period. They seem to have been quite popular, as the publication and republications of several booklets on "How to raise goldfish" and "How to raise rats/mice", for example, show.
My main questions are: how were these animals 'domesticated' and was their breeding manipulated? How did they fit in with other social pursuits of their owners, with matters of money and status? In short: what does a reflection on their existence as pets in early modern Japan tell us about the history human and nonhuman relations?