The social structure and civil trials in the Kamigata district in the early Edo period : Comparative analysis of literature in early-modern China and Japan

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This study focuses on a series of court stories which were mostly adapted from Chinese originals and became popular among townspeople in the Kamigata district in the early Edo period. Its aim is to clarify the reason why keen interest in civil trials-which had not been expressed in Chinese originals nor earlier Japanese literature-suddenly appeared, by analyzing the social structure of the Kamigata district. As a result of the analysis, it has been discovered that small local communities called 'Cho' in that district were profoundly related to civil trials. Also, the high awareness of the functions of 'Cho' and civil trials was developed by composing linked verse, which enjoyed a boom among common people at that time.