Six Measures of Worth
The very fabric of imperial society is woven around the concept of social status and awareness of any, particular, individual's place within that fabric. This awareness starts within the home and the nuclear family and wefts and weaves its way outward through the extended family, the clan, the neighborhood, the village, the city, the county, prefecture, and province, and throughout the whole of the empire and the greater imperial society, itself. Everyone, every man, woman, and child, of every race is aware of their personal place and relative status within the greater fabric of society. Some to a greater or lesser degree. This awareness colors every interaction between people. It effects the clothes an individual wears, the way their home is constructed, even the very language and words an individual speaks to others is based upon their relative status.
There are six, broad, social distinctions within imperial society. Each of these reflects the traditional functions which each class is thought to perform within society. These distinctions were laid down by the Dasheng, Tong Zhao-zi, in his Book of Observations and are supposed to represent the apparent value which each class, and therefore individual, has within the eyes of society as a whole. At the top of of this hierarchy, of course, are the Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix Empress, who were the models of the Dasheng's Superior Being. They are their own class and only Heaven is above them. Sometimes, not even then.
Below Their Imperial Majesties are the priests of the world. Of course, some priestly distinctions are above others. At the top of the priestly class are the priests of the dominant religion: Shinto or Shendao. These are the kamunushi (jisi), thay tu, or musogin who attend to the temples and shrines, great and small, dedicated to the Amatsukami (Heavenly gods) or kunnitsukami (earthly gods) which dot the length and breadth of the empire. Next down are the souryo or heshang who make up the Eightfold Path of Creation's Dawn. Then there are the lay priests or priestesses of either faith who have not been ordained, but still cleave to their faith in their everyday lives. At the bottom of this social stratum are the tribal shamans, the Poh or Otgan who serve the tribal peoples of the empire.
Below the priests of the world are the civil servants. Those gentry-scholars, the Upright Individuals, who serve the emperor and empress within the The Imperial Bureaucracy. They who, in theory, keep the empire running smoothly and efficiently.
Below the civil servants in the hierarchy are the nobles, the Great Houses and their ilk, called the guizu or kizoku. These are the descendants of the once-great warrior-lords, the daimyo, who ruled the empire during the Age of the Bushi.
Below the nobility, of course, are the peasantry. Though this stratum is often generalized to "farmers" in everyday parlance, it actually makes up the wealth of commoners as a whole within imperial society. This class combines the farmers, fishermen, herders, and general laborers which make up the backbone of the realm.
At the bottom of this grand, imperial social order sit the merchants, actors, entertainers, prostitutes, criminals, garbage collectors, those who have survived suicide, or anyone else that is considered to be "outside society." These are the hinin, feiren, or eta. Then there are the burakumin or buluomin who, due to their perceived Kegare, are considered to be "untouchable." These are people like executioners, undertakers, butchers, and tanners.
There are six, broad, social distinctions within imperial society. Each of these reflects the traditional functions which each class is thought to perform within society. These distinctions were laid down by the Dasheng, Tong Zhao-zi, in his Book of Observations and are supposed to represent the apparent value which each class, and therefore individual, has within the eyes of society as a whole. At the top of of this hierarchy, of course, are the Dragon Emperor and the Phoenix Empress, who were the models of the Dasheng's Superior Being. They are their own class and only Heaven is above them. Sometimes, not even then.
Below Their Imperial Majesties are the priests of the world. Of course, some priestly distinctions are above others. At the top of the priestly class are the priests of the dominant religion: Shinto or Shendao. These are the kamunushi (jisi), thay tu, or musogin who attend to the temples and shrines, great and small, dedicated to the Amatsukami (Heavenly gods) or kunnitsukami (earthly gods) which dot the length and breadth of the empire. Next down are the souryo or heshang who make up the Eightfold Path of Creation's Dawn. Then there are the lay priests or priestesses of either faith who have not been ordained, but still cleave to their faith in their everyday lives. At the bottom of this social stratum are the tribal shamans, the Poh or Otgan who serve the tribal peoples of the empire.
Below the priests of the world are the civil servants. Those gentry-scholars, the Upright Individuals, who serve the emperor and empress within the The Imperial Bureaucracy. They who, in theory, keep the empire running smoothly and efficiently.
Below the civil servants in the hierarchy are the nobles, the Great Houses and their ilk, called the guizu or kizoku. These are the descendants of the once-great warrior-lords, the daimyo, who ruled the empire during the Age of the Bushi.
Below the nobility, of course, are the peasantry. Though this stratum is often generalized to "farmers" in everyday parlance, it actually makes up the wealth of commoners as a whole within imperial society. This class combines the farmers, fishermen, herders, and general laborers which make up the backbone of the realm.
At the bottom of this grand, imperial social order sit the merchants, actors, entertainers, prostitutes, criminals, garbage collectors, those who have survived suicide, or anyone else that is considered to be "outside society." These are the hinin, feiren, or eta. Then there are the burakumin or buluomin who, due to their perceived Kegare, are considered to be "untouchable." These are people like executioners, undertakers, butchers, and tanners.
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