Kaiho Seiryō: “The Law of the Universe: Commodities Transactions”

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Kaiho Seiryō: “The Law of the Universe: Commodities Transactions”
Overview
Context
About the Author
Explanation and Analysis of the Document
Audience
Impact
Document Text

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Abstract

This forcefully argued essay on the virtue of commodity trading provides us with evidence that all was not well in the Neo-Confucian social order of Tokugawa Japan. In defiance of the shogunate’s marginalization of the merchant class and its official disdain for profiteering and entrepreneurship, Kaiho Seiryō (1755–1817), a samurai scholar, not only defends but valorizes commercial activity.

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