Lust, commerce, and corruption : an account of what I have seen and heard, by an Edo Samurai / / translated by Mark Teeuwen [and four others] ; edited and with an introduction by Mark Teeuwen and Kate Wildman Nakai ; Noah Arlow, jacket design ; contributors John Breen [and four others]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910463986303321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York : , : Columbia University Press, , 2014; ©2014
• ISBN: 0-231-53597-X
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (497 p.)
• Collana: Translations from the Asian classics
• Disciplina: 952/.025
• Soggetti: Social classes - Japan - History - 19th century; Electronic books.; Japan Social life and customs 1600-1868; Japan Social conditions 1600-1868; Japan Economic conditions 1600-1868; Japan Moral conditions History 19th century
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Era Names, Measures, Currencies -- Maps -- Part 1. Buyō Inshi and His Times -- Part 2. Matters of the World: An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard -- Prologue / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 1 / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 2 / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 3 / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 4 / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 5 / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 6 / Inshi, Buyō -- Chapter 7 / Inshi, Buyō -- Glossary -- Editions and References -- Contributors -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: By 1816, Japan had recovered from the famines of the 1780's and moved beyond the political reforms of the 1790's. Despite persistent economic and social stresses, the country seemed to be approaching a new period of growth. The idea that the shogunate would not last forever was far from anyone's mind. Yet, in that year, an anonymous samurai author completed one of the most detailed critiques of Edo society known today. Writing as Buyo Inshi, "a retired gentleman of ; Edo," he expresses a profound despair with the state of the realm and with people's behavior and attitudes. He sees decay wherever he turns and believes the world will soon descend into war. Buyo shows a familiarity with many corners of Edo life that one might not expect in a samurai. He describes the corruption of samurai officials; the suffering of the poor in villages and cities; the operation of brothels; the dealings of blind moneylenders; the selling and buying of temple abbotships; and the dubious strategies townspeople use in the law courts. Perhaps the frankness of his account, which contains a wealth of concrete information about Edo society, made him prefer to remain anonymous. This volume contains a full translation of Buyo's often-"ed but rarely studied work by a team of specialists on Edo society. Together with extensive annotation of the translation, the volume includes an introduction that situates the text culturally and historically.

At empire's edge [[electronic resource] ] : exploring Rome's Egyptian frontier / / Robert B. Jackson

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910777862003321
• Autore: Jackson Robert B. <1961->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2002
• ISBN: 1-281-73032-7; 9786611730321; 0-300-12951-3
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (1 online resource (xxv, 350 p.) ) : ill., maps
• Disciplina: 932/.022
• Soggetti: Romans - Egypt; Egypt Antiquities, Roman; Egypt Boundaries; Egypt History 30 B.C.-640 A.D
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-335) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- CONTENTS -- ILLUSTRATIONS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- I. The Hills of Smoke, Gebel ; Dokhan -- II. Mons Claudianus -- III. The Quarry Roads to the Nile -- IV. Ports on the Red Sea Coast -- V. Desert Trade Routes -- VI. The Gateway to Africa: Aswan, Elephantine, and Philae -- VII. Roman Nubia -- Overview of the Western Desert -- VIII. The Great Oasis -- IX. The Small Oasis -- X. Siwa Oasis -- ABBREVIATIONS -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX
• Sommario/riassunto: When Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 B.C. after the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, its vast and mysterious frontier lands had an important impact on the commerce, politics, and culture of the empire. This engrossing book-part history and part gazetteer-focuses on Rome's Egyptian frontier, describing the ancient fortresses, temples, settlements, quarries, and aqueducts scattered throughout the region and conveying a vivid sense of what life was like for its inhabitants. Robert B. Jackson has journeyed, by jeep and on foot, to virtually every known Roman site in the area, from Siwa Oasis, forty-five kilometers from the modern Libyan border, to the Sudan. Drawing on both archaeological and historical information, he discusses these sites, explaining how Rome extracted exotic stone and precious metals from the mountains of the Eastern Desert, channeled the wealth of India and East Africa through the desert via ports on the Red Sea, constructed and manned fortresses in the distant oases of the Western Desert, and facilitated the expansion of agricultural communities in the desert that eventually experienced the earliest large-scale conversions to Christianity in Egypt. Elegantly written and illustrated with many handsome photographs, the book will be a treasured resource for archaeologists, classicists, and travelers to the region.