Growth of farming
In the Kamakura and Muromachi periods farmers began using iron tools, ploughs pulled by oxen and horses, water wheels for irrigation and manure from grass and ash. In many places they grew two crops a year, rice first and then wheat or barley. Harvests grew, there was food for more people, and farmers had something left to sell.
Growth of trade, markets and guilds
Fixed-day markets opened in villages and temple towns, first about three days a month and later more often. Craftspeople made cloth, paper, iron goods and sake. Traders and craftspeople formed guilds called za under the protection of a noble or temple, to guard their trade and avoid competition. Copper coins from Ming China became common money, and money lenders (doso and sakaya) grew rich. Trade ports such as Hakata, Sakai and Hyogo became busy.
Self-governing villages (so)
In the Kinai area, villagers formed so, a village organisation run by themselves. They held meetings (yoriai), chose senior men, wrote village rules (okite), shared water and forest land, paid tax together to the lord, and set their own punishments. In this way ordinary people took part in making rules.
Self-governing towns
Rich merchant towns also ran themselves. Sakai was managed by a council of ten wealthy merchants. Hakata had a similar council. They kept the peace, built walls and moats and kept the towns open for trade without a strong lord. Their independence ended when strong warlords rose later.
Uprisings of common people
An ikki ("one mind") was a group joined by an oath. In 1428 farmers, carters and townspeople rose in the Sho-cho uprising (tsuchi-ikki) and demanded debt cancellation (tokusei). They attacked money lenders and burned debt papers. In Yamashiro (1485) villagers forced warring daimyo out of their region and ran it by themselves for eight years, and in Kaga (1488) believers of a Buddhist faith rose and ruled for about a century.
Culture of warriors and common people
Kitayama culture (about 1400, Yoshimitsu) is shown by the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku), mixing court style and warrior taste. Higashiyama culture (about 1480, Yoshimasa) is simple and calm, shown in the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku). The shoin room has tatami mats, sliding doors and an alcove, the base of the Japanese home. Zen monks brought tea gatherings, flower arranging, gardens of stone and sand, and ink painting (suibokuga) by artists like Sesshu.
From villages and temples came Noh (slow masked drama by Kan'ami and Zeami) and Kyogen (funny short plays), renga (linked poems by many people) and short picture stories (Otogizoshi). Common people also enjoyed festivals and folk dances. So the culture of warriors and common people mixed.
Key formulas and definitions
- Farming: iron tools + oxen/horses + water wheels + ash manure + two crops a year = bigger harvest
- Za = guild of traders/craftspeople; doso = money lenders
- So = self-governing village (yoriai meeting, okite rules); Sakai and Hakata = self-governing towns
- Ikki = group joined by oath; Sho-cho uprising 1428 = debt cancellation demand
- Kitayama (Golden Pavilion) and Higashiyama (Silver Pavilion, shoin) culture; Noh, Kyogen, ink painting, tea
Worked examples
1. How did better farming lead to more trade?
Iron tools, water and manure and two crops raised harvests. Farmers had extra food to sell, so markets and craft work grew.
2. Why did villagers form a "so"?
To manage water, forests and tax together, to protect themselves, and to settle quarrels by their own rules and meetings (yoriai).
3. Why did farmers and townspeople rise in 1428?
Heavy debts to money lenders and unfair demands pushed them to rise together (ikki) and demand that debts be cancelled.
4. Show how Muromachi culture mixed warrior, Zen and common-people tastes with two examples.
Ink painting and tea gatherings came from Zen monks and were loved by warriors. Noh and Kyogen grew from village and temple plays and were enjoyed by common people and shoguns.
Common mistakes
- Saying all ordinary people were free. Many still paid heavy tax and owed debts; self-rule was strongest in the Kinai area.
- Mixing up Kitayama (Golden Pavilion, Yoshimitsu) and Higashiyama (Silver Pavilion, Yoshimasa).
- Thinking ikki always means violence. It first means a group joined by an oath.
- Forgetting that markets and copper coins grew together; coins came mostly from Ming China.