Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: February 10, 2021 at 10:04:53 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Japan]: Curtis on Farris, 'A Bowl for a Coin: A > Commodity History of Japanese Tea' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > William Wayne Farris. A Bowl for a Coin: A Commodity History of > Japanese Tea. Honolulu University of Hawaii Press, 2019. x + 227 > pp. $68.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8248-7660-9. > > Reviewed by Paula R. Curtis (Yale University) > Published on H-Japan (February, 2021) > Commissioned by Martha Chaiklin > > _Opening the window, I hear it: _ > > _A voice selling tea. _ > > Much like the fourteenth-century Zen monk who composed the poem above > (p. 62), in _A Bowl for a Coin_, William Wayne Farris invites the > reader to listen for the call of medieval street vendors peddling > their brews in the snowy northeast of Japan, or imagine the weariness > of a nineteenth-century laborer plucking soft tea leaf shoots for the > finest harvest. Farris uses tea as an entry point to place everyday > stories of the archipelago within larger historical processes and > changes from the year 750 to the present day. What would it look like > to tell a history of Japan through a product that has become > synonymous with both its contemporary culture and cherished past? > This book answers that question. > > Through a chronological and thematic approach, Farris addresses > several core questions that are laid out in his introduction, namely: > how and why Japanese came to produce, distribute, and consume tea; > what methods were used to grow and cultivate tea successfully; what > the lives of those responsible for tea production were like; how tea > was exchanged and marketed, and, more broadly, "how tea made its > imprint on Japanese civilization" (p. 2). The book thus takes an > interest not only in commodity history but also in the intersections > of culture, medicine, technology, international trade, social custom, > and more. > > In keeping with his interest in Japan's _longue durée_, Farris > periodizes each of his four chapters by spans of some hundreds of > years: prehistory and early medieval (750-1300), medieval > (1300-1600), early modern (1600-1800), and finally, modern Japan > (1868-present). Aligning the particular histories of tea > technologies, trade, and consumption with broader economic, > demographic, and social developments over time, this book echoes > Farris's previous contributions to the field but with tea as a > distinctive and enticing lens.[1] Although his topical focus is > Japan, Farris successfully puts this study into conversation with > larger global histories, not only in his discussions of premodern and > modern interregional and international trade but also his inquiry > into whether Japan experienced an "industrious revolution," and when. > He argues that although scholars typically see Japan's early modern > period as the moment when the labor needed for cultivation became > more efficient, agricultural advances resulted in surplus goods for > the market, and an increase in both demand and population drove the > commoditization of certain goods to coalesce into a protoindustrial > cycle of development, it was in the medieval period, c. 1350, that we > first find this incipient consumer society, even if that growth was > uneven. > > The discussion of this transformation begins with the prehistory of > the tea industry from 750 to 1300 in chapter 1. Farris situates early > tea exchange within elite East Asian social and political practices, > introducing it as a beverage very different from what we imagine tea > to be today. At the time, processing methods were relatively > underdeveloped and networks of gift exchange among Buddhist > practitioners and aristocrats were the primary means of circulation > for a bitter drink recognized primarily for its medicinal properties. > Neither particularly delicious nor widely accessible, Farris makes > the important point that although tea would eventually be > domestically produced, poetic ruminations on its consumption reflect > both its popularity among the elite and its strong association with > continental origins as an exotic, foreign commodity. > > Chapter 2 suggests that between 1300 and 1600, although the full > commoditization of tea had yet to occur, the swift expansion of the > market and consumption patterns that would eventually characterize > the "industrious revolution" are present. Spurred by population > growth, agricultural development, labor specialization, and the > acceleration of regional competition (resulting in large part from > the now-expanding warrior society), tea began to spread to the lower > classes and generate competition within domestic networks. Farris > argues that the emergence of tea "brands" and the use of tea as a > form of taxation suggest its entry into the market as a commercial > commodity, alluding to its modern fate (p. 49). Although Farris > emphasizes somewhat speculatively that the addictive properties of > tea had a notable impact on its diffusion across social groups and > geographies, he makes a stronger case for its ubiquity through his > discussion of technological changes (like the introduction of the tea > grinder or cultivation methods better adapted to cold climes), his > collation of fragmentary textual and pictorial sources showing > temples and shrines investing in the development of tea plots for > local sales, and tea's growing presence in literary and artistic > practices such as tea ceremony, poetry, and theater. Despite the > medieval period's marked increase in tea production, distribution, > and consumption, including the emergence of the culturally > significant and more delicious powdered green tea from Uji in the > late fifteenth century, Farris argues in chapter 3 that it is the Edo > period that marks tea's golden age. > > Farris identifies the three core reasons for tea's "triumph" over > this 250-year period: the intensification and improvement of farming, > a more knowledgeable and hard-working labor force (motivated in part, > Farris suggests, by caffeination from habitual tea drinking), and a > consumer society pervaded by tea. He makes his case through a > geographical and cultural survey of tea's preponderance, with a > special emphasis on the trial-and-error process of adapting to a new > industry as tea took hold in northeast Japan, first shipped into the > ports of Tsuruga and Obama, before demand became so high that local > production emerged as a profitable possibility. The significance of > this period for tea history is underscored by the invention in 1740 > of what Farris terms a "genuine steamed steeped leaf tea (_sencha_)" > (p. 169) and the untold varieties of tea produced in regions all over > the archipelago that became unique "brands" and fully infiltrated the > cultural milieu through their appearance in visual arts, printed > advertisements, fiction, performance, and tea house culture. > > Significantly, the growing body of literature on tea cultivation > practices, represented by numerous manuals and treatises on tea, > attests to the influence of the expansion of print and textual > engagement on tea production. In early chapters, Farris takes note of > the some of the earliest writings on tea that began text-based > treatments on tea farming and consumption, such as the > twelfth-century monk Yо̄sai's _Drink Tea and Prolong Your Life_ > (_Kissa yо̄jо̄ ki_), but it is worth noting that in the Edo > period a much more comprehensive discourse on tea processes and > practices took hold that also made production methods and know-how > more accessible to lower social classes. The perspective of these > lower classes is highlighted in Farris's insightful case study of the > Bunsei Tea Incident of 1824, in which 115 tea-producing villages in > Shizuoka lodged a lengthy and complex lawsuit with the shogunate > against merchant organizations and traders engaging in unfair > business practices. This discussion showcases Farris's granular > approach to larger-scale historical analysis, using the case's > individual grievances, bureaucratic complexities, and the > historiographic debates surrounding its events to situate laborers > and tea's role as a commodity in the evolving social and political > contexts of the Edo period. > > Chapter 4 brings the reader through the dizzying changes wrought by > Japan's gradual modernization. Two key elements of this shift are > increased mechanization and enhanced involvement in global economies > on the world stage. Farris divides this era into three subperiods. > From 1868 to 1925, investment in overseas trade drastically > diminished the regional varieties of tea from the Edo period in favor > of streamlined, standardized exports, while a mobile working class of > female laborers buttressed labor-intensive tea processing (a > tantalizing hint at the gendered politics of domestic labor that this > reader would have been interested in reading much more about). > Between 1925 and 1980, faltering exports motivated a domestic turn, > and tea advertisements within Japan, along with mail-order services, > began reinforcing the already ubiquitous tea as a symbol of a > nostalgic, "traditional" past with tea at the center of interpersonal > relationships and hospitality. Meanwhile, as Japanese innovators > developed forms of mechanization and experimented with new scientific > cultivation practices, the postwar decades saw dietary changes and > competition from international competitors in the form of black tea > and coffee. As of the 1980s, despite an overall decline in tea > production and consumption, Farris argues that tea's place in > Japanese society and economy stabilized, as much a product of new > technologies of PET bottle use and vending machine sales as the > renewed legacies of tea's image as a healthful and relaxing beverage. > Tea has also secured a new, niche place in international markets in > alternative forms, such as confectionaries and cosmetics. > > In his conclusion, Farris appropriately warns against considering > these modern transformations a success story of industrial > "progress." He reminds the reader that there is something to be said > for the innumerable tea varieties that once flowered in distant > regions of the early modern archipelago that everyday people took > pride in, as opposed to today's soulless corporate streamlining of > tea primarily for company profit. This personal reflection is a > reminder of one of the strengths of Farris's book as a whole, which > is his ability to combat "big name" history that focuses primarily on > figures like Kukai, Sen no Rikyū, or the many tea-obsessed shoguns. > Farris instead interweaves textual, visual, archaeological, literary, > and other sources to find the people on the ground and uncover what > their lives looked like in a world gradually pervaded by tea. > > Though it integrates complex economic, social, cultural, medicinal, > political, technological, and food histories into its 1,300-year > narrative, _A Bowl for a Coin_ is eminently accessible to a lay > audience and to students. At first blush, a "commodity history" may > seem like a hard sell. However, Farris's writing is clear, his > throughlines are easy to follow, and his chapter divisions by time > period allow educators to easily assign individual chapters in their > classrooms to offer alternative and interdisciplinary histories that > present more holistic narratives of transformation over time. > Furthermore, Farris's book is an important contribution as a > well-researched foil to popular writings on tea that focus almost > entirely on its finished product or received narratives of tea > ceremony traditions and legacies as a native Japanese commodity and > immutable cultural practice. At the same time, it complements other > important scholarly publications that have been or will be go-to > sources for researchers and educators over the years, such as Rebecca > Corbett's _Cultivating Femininity: Women and Tea Culture in Edo and > Meiji Japan_ (2019), Morgan Pitelka's edited volume _Japanese Tea > Culture: Art, History, and Practice_ (2003), and Paul Varley and > Kumakura Isao's _Tea in Japan: Essays on the History of Chanoyu_ > (1995). While providing the reader concrete historical knowledge of > tea and the people whose lives were intertwined with its path, > Farris's book aptly articulates that this past was as changeable as > that of any other historical item or idea. > > Note > > [1]. This work fits into the pattern of Farris's previous monographs, > with a chronological focus on demography, economy, climate, and > social change: _Population, Disease, and Land in Early Japan, > 645-900,_ Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series 24 (Cambridge, > MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 1985); _Japan's Medieval > Population: Famine, Fertility, and Warfare in a Transformative Age_ > (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006); _Daily Life and > Demographics in Ancient Japan,_ Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese > Studies 63 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Japanese > Studies/University of Michigan Press, 2009); and _Japan to 1600: A > Social and Economic History_ (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, > 2009). > > Citation: Paula R. Curtis. Review of Farris, William Wayne, _A Bowl > for a Coin: A Commodity History of Japanese Tea_. H-Japan, H-Net > Reviews. February, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55852 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#6286): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/6286 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80551106/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
