Vgairola - Is it true that the existence of this merchant class, being so low in social esteem, is one (main?) reason why there are no great sailing feats among these groups - confucian and others in Asia? Whereas the Venetian merchant class, among others, was lauded, made wealthy, and left behind empires. So much energy devoted to keeping people in their places...what a shame.
Dr. Yamashita presentation on Japan was excellent. What came to mind as he lecture on vendettas in Japan was how we can take this example on draw on it to compare it to other legal systems in our classrooms (this is not to suggest that studying this form of Japanese law is not sufficient – far from it) as how societies have dealt with acceptable forms of punishments. I am thinking about my opening unit on World History and the change of law over time.
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