Summary Of The Imagawa Letter

The ‘Imagawa Letter’ is a very insightful source that allows you to see what life was like while Imagawa Ryoshun was the Tendai [Constable] for what we today call Shizuoka Prefecture. The source is written in a format as if someone was reading this letter to Imagawa from a very unhappy citizen. This source complicates our understanding of the power and control, by challenging what many of us believe or assume about how society was run by rulers in the 14th century. Many assume that their leader was liked and respected by the majority, however, some under the power of Imagawa disagreed. This is demonstrated through the source, giving an insight knowledge to what kind of leader Imagawa was and how his energy, time and priorities were focused
People believe there are social inequalities because today, currently we are surrounded by inequality and differing social classes, so it would be harder for us to believe something that we have not yet experienced. The article “The Imagawa Letter” (Ryoshun 8.5B) in the right-hand column expresses that there was some serious mistreatment through the social statuses, “You live in luxury by fleecing the people … ” Essentially this shows that the leader really had no regard for the people below him, the people that he was supposed to help. The right-hand column in the same article (8.5B) “The Imagawa Letter” expressed a deep and very powerful quote, “It should be regarded as dangerous if the ruler of the people in a province is deficient even in a single [one] of the cardinal virtues of human-heartedness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and good faith.” This was a longer reference but made the point clear that the leader, was a very selfish leader who did not think very much of anyone except himself. For the speaker to describe the leader as deficient in areas of righteousness, good faith and wisdom, for example, gives a very strong idea that the best interest of the people was not in mind. This proves that the wealthy, or people in positions of authority are the ones that are best off. A final quote to explain further how social inequalities were present and support our present beliefs is a reference from the left column in (Ryoshun 8.5B) “The Imagawa Letter” expressing that “you disregard other people’s viewpoints; you bully them and rely on force.” This is the perfect example proving that there are inequalities to the people who are not as well off as someone in a position of wealth or power. The rest of the common people are the ones who are getting treated poorly, ignored and bullied because of their social class or status. Inequalities have been around for ages, even before the