Carlee Schaffer
FWA: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
Many people throughout their lives, whether they are aware of it or not, have on a pair of rose colored classes. Things perceived by them are seen though their perspective and opinions, based on their own society and knowledge. Throughout the human race’s history though, there have been a few people who acknowledge these rose colored glasses and take them off. They see the world for how it actually is, through other cultures’ traditions and knowledge. Many of these people are anthropologists and study other cultures for a living. In being an anthropologist, they write their findings in the form of an ethnography. The most recent ethnography that I have read is The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, …show more content…
To the people of Japan, this view of aesthetics is shallow and skin deep. When a person of Japan thinks about aesthetics, they not only think of the overall look of something, but they also think and work very hard so that every single piece within the overall look is in its perfect and proper place. They spend hours perfecting a seemingly already perfect look. They do not just let things fill a space, but they spend long and aching hours making that object, whether it be a flower display for a painting or a tree in the garden, have its own shape and space, so that it is not just filling empty space, but making a mark of its own. Just as much precision is put into the aesthetics of something as the samurai put into their …show more content…
The Japanese people believe in doing both of these because of the long standing value and belief of proper place. Proper place to the Japanese people is the idea that everything has a specific purpose in life, a specific place to lay, and disrupting either of these would cause stress within the society. This idea carries out to their caste system within the society. They believed that if one was born into the samurai caste, then he/she must stay within this ranking to not cause upheaval. As well as that, they believed that moving up in society’s ranking was not needed, unless strenuous situations were at hand. With the flower representing the Empirical Family and its hold on the society, the idea of staying within one’s own caste, in fear of the penalties was a great one. That is why the chrysanthemum flower was a big symbol with the idea of proper place. Another example of proper place would be found in how the Japanese people put great effort into making everything pleasing and fitting their aesthetics. They believed that every human, as well as object that was of any meaning, had its purpose and place within the world. Not only the positive space in a still art painting of flowers was important, but the negative place of such a painting was of just as much importance, for it not only mattered what was happening visually, but also what could be
FWA: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
Many people throughout their lives, whether they are aware of it or not, have on a pair of rose colored classes. Things perceived by them are seen though their perspective and opinions, based on their own society and knowledge. Throughout the human race’s history though, there have been a few people who acknowledge these rose colored glasses and take them off. They see the world for how it actually is, through other cultures’ traditions and knowledge. Many of these people are anthropologists and study other cultures for a living. In being an anthropologist, they write their findings in the form of an ethnography. The most recent ethnography that I have read is The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, …show more content…
To the people of Japan, this view of aesthetics is shallow and skin deep. When a person of Japan thinks about aesthetics, they not only think of the overall look of something, but they also think and work very hard so that every single piece within the overall look is in its perfect and proper place. They spend hours perfecting a seemingly already perfect look. They do not just let things fill a space, but they spend long and aching hours making that object, whether it be a flower display for a painting or a tree in the garden, have its own shape and space, so that it is not just filling empty space, but making a mark of its own. Just as much precision is put into the aesthetics of something as the samurai put into their …show more content…
The Japanese people believe in doing both of these because of the long standing value and belief of proper place. Proper place to the Japanese people is the idea that everything has a specific purpose in life, a specific place to lay, and disrupting either of these would cause stress within the society. This idea carries out to their caste system within the society. They believed that if one was born into the samurai caste, then he/she must stay within this ranking to not cause upheaval. As well as that, they believed that moving up in society’s ranking was not needed, unless strenuous situations were at hand. With the flower representing the Empirical Family and its hold on the society, the idea of staying within one’s own caste, in fear of the penalties was a great one. That is why the chrysanthemum flower was a big symbol with the idea of proper place. Another example of proper place would be found in how the Japanese people put great effort into making everything pleasing and fitting their aesthetics. They believed that every human, as well as object that was of any meaning, had its purpose and place within the world. Not only the positive space in a still art painting of flowers was important, but the negative place of such a painting was of just as much importance, for it not only mattered what was happening visually, but also what could be