Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
son,fortherewasnoequivalenttoadoublebed.Youngchildrensleptwiththeirmotherun-
tiltheywerebigenoughtohavetheirownmattress.Thesemattresses,seldommorethanan
inch or two thick, were stored in a cupboard by day. Instead of pillows, wooden headrests
were used, sometimes padded, positioned under the neck. Of course, samurai slept in the
same way, but with more luxurious bedclothes. In important farmhouses, where there were
many servants, they might have dormitories or even separate rooms, like junior samurai in
castle-towns, arranged in the upper story of a large gatehouse.
The head of the family was of course supreme, and all the other members deferred to
him. His wife might in fact have considerable influence over him, but this would be exer-
cised discreetly and in private. The normal marriage between children of houses of some
substance was a result of negotiation involving two go-betweens or sponsors, with the sen-
timents of the persons directly concerned being only minimally consulted; the advantages
of an alliance between the two families was of greater importance. The bride brought with
her a dowry and what might be termed the contents of her bottom drawer—bedding and
clothing. The wedding was sanctified in a ceremony conducted by the sponsors, in which
there was a ritual exchange of cups of sake. With people near the line of poverty or even
destitution, family advantage was much less of a consideration, and marriages were far
more haphazard and likely to depend upon the feelings that the couple had for each other.
Some villages had houses for young people where they might live a communal sort of ex-
istence,sometimeswithamixingofthesexes,andinthesecircumstancestherewasagood
deal of pairing and separating; permanent associations might arise from love or from the
pregnancy of the girl. It is probable that at this level a marriage was not recognised until
a child was on the way. It was also easy to get rid of a wife, especially if she was child-
less—the husband had only to send her back to her parents' home with her belongings.
A young bride in a more affluent home can hardly have looked forward to going to her
new husband's house, apart from the satisfaction of accomplishing her duty. Many of the
chores that had been the responsibility of her mother-in-law were now transferred to her.
Many mothers-in-law began a life of leisure and of bullying the new arrival, who had of-
ten, in addition to the more strenuous tasks that now fell on her, to act as a sort of maid,
combing out her mother-in-law's hair, massaging her shoulders when she complained of
being tired; she had also, of course, to look after her husband, a duty which would range
from providing delicacies for his meals to giving personal attentions such as cleaning out
his ears and washing his feet when he came home from working in the mud. The birth of a
sonrelievedherofsomepartoftheheavierwork,butonecanonlypresumethatsheprayed
for the day when she, too, could become a mother-in-law in her turn.
Land-holdingswerenormallyhandedontotheeldestson,andyoungersonswereoften
in a sorry plight, being obliged to work for their brothers, or going off to work for other
farmers; onesolutionforthemwastomigrate totheexpandingtowns.Whentherewereno
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