Thread by @toranosukev

A short thread on the importance of basic general details in your history research & writing. Reading 「徳川将軍家の演出力」by Andô Yûichirô 安藤優一郎 right now, and I'm loving it. Only on Chap 2, but so far lots of good basic details that I just hadn't ever come across before.

The title is kind of a pain to translate, but I guess literally it's something like "The Performance Ability of the Tokugawa Shogunal House." Talking about how processions, audience ceremonies, etc were used to construct and convey notions of the shogun's power. 2/x

I suppose it may sound super niche and too-fine-detailed to spell it out this way, but, in all the years of my diss research, there were so many basic questions I just never happened upon the answers for. 3/x

When lords met with the shogun, did they ever see his face or body? It's easy to assume they might have, esp. if they were discussing some matter with him. But Ando is the first time I think I've seen it explicitly said that they did not - head to the floor, the entire time. 4/x

Thanks, Ando-sensei. That's actually really important to know. And, at the beginning of every audience ceremony when elites met with the shogun, there was this sound, しーしー (shii shii), that someone called out. But who? And what was the meaning of this? 5/x

Ando's book is the first time I've seen it explained that 表坊主 monks in service to the shogun apparently went around the rooms and halls and said "shii shii" as a signal for everyone, not just in the audience hall but throughout that whole part of the castle, to be quiet. 6/x

Even after reading however many articles, book sections, and primary sources about audience ceremonies, this is the first time I can actually envision that it might have been a little raucous until the ceremony formally began, and then just how silent it was when it did begin 7/x

止め針一本、地に落ちても聞こえただろう。So quiet you could hear a pin drop.

So this "shii shii" wasn't some inscrutable ritual syllable - it served a dramatic and practical function.
8/x

In just the first two chapters of this book, I've seen stated definitively that when the shogun went out on procession 御成, no one was to watch the procession at all, with the exception of those who chose to "greet" the shogun by prostrating on the ground 土下座 ... 9/x

... in their finest formal clothing, not lifting their heads to even get a glimpse of the procession itself. Everyone else remained in their homes, with the shutters shut and extra paper placed over all windows, to totally block out any potential peeking. 10/x

So, here's another point where just understanding the basics of what it looked like, somehow just goes unmentioned, or only very briefly mentioned, in so many other works. Now we know, we can picture, that shogunal processions were not at all the parade scenes like matsuri 11/x

During seasonal festivals (matsuri), of course people came out and stood or sat along the sides of the streets to watch the parade. People rearranged their front rooms to make viewing areas, or set up stands. Others sold food, books & prints, and other things. 12/x

Certainly, when Korean or Ryukyuan embassies processed through the streets, it was a similar festival-like atmosphere.

https://twitter.com/toranosukev/status/1294611202882977792

13/x

But what about daimyo processions? Well, to be honest, Ando hasn't given me a straight answer just yet, as of p75. But, we have learned that within Edo, it was only Tokugawa (Shogun, Gosanke, or Gosankyo) processions that merited such severe prohibitions on viewing 14/x

Within Edo, people were not obliged to hide themselves away, or to prostrate on the ground (土下座, dogeza), for every daimyo procession that passed by. But outside of Edo, they were. Thank you, for a straight answer. 15/x

Depending on what your research is on, what argument you're trying to make, these details might seem irrelevant; might seem far too nitty-gritty or "in the weeds," even. But, let me ask this: if we focus so much on only what's essential to the argument, what do we miss? 16/x

I'll speak just for myself, my own lack of knowledge, but I've learned about, and lectured about, sankin kôtai numerous times without ever knowing very much at all about what the daimyo processions, or the street scenes they passed through looked like. 17/x

I don't even mean fine details. I just mean being able to picture it in your head. What were the dominant colors? Did they carry banners? Did they play music? Did people gather on the sides of the streets to watch the procession, or go about their normal lives? 18/x

Okay. I'm going to go on for just a few tweets longer. Jumping to the example of Atlantic piracy, just for an example.

I haven't read Dr. Jamie L.H. Goodall (@L_Historienne)'s book on Chesapeake piracy. I'm sure it's got some excellent arguments ... 19/x

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I have no doubt it's got some excellent arguments about how piracy fits into how we conceive of maritime politics, American politics, how we might rethink criminality ... the role of piracy in broader threads of political events, where its role has been overlooked or unknown 20/x

But! How can you talk about pirates without knowing what we're even talking about to begin with? In this ep of Drinking with Historians, Dr Goodall lays out some important basics: that they dressed and talked a lot like anyone else of the era ... 21/x

... that "talk like a pirate" and a whole ton of other stereotypical ideas about pirates come from movies, not from reality. That pirates were perhaps much more racially/ethnically/nationally diverse than we imagine them... 22/x

And though she doesn't get into here, the question of how large their ships were, for example. Whether when it comes to pirates, or even Ryukyuan embassies, I'm not so particular on how many masts, or exactly what shape of sails or what style of cannon ... 23/x

*Those* are the things I'd call going into too much detail, for me personally, for my personal taste or drawing of lines. (If you're into that stuff, or if it's important for your argument, go for it.) But ... 24/x

But my point with these pirates, which goes back to Tokugawa processions too, is, a 5-man ship is not a 500-man ship. A three-masted ship is not a dinghy. So, having some basic notion of the visual/material/spatial culture is fundamental to setting the scene, 25/x

... before you even get into the more complex political significance or theoretical interpretations. That's basically it, that's my point. 26/26 (for now?)

(Sorry to drag you into this @L_Historienne . Hope you don't mind. )