Four divisions of society
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The four divisions of society refers to the model of Japanese society during the Edo period. The four castes, samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants were abbreviated to form the term Shinōkōshō (士農工商 shinōkōshō?).
With the creation of the Domains (han) under the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, all land was confiscated and reissued as fiefdoms to the Daimyo. The small lords, the samurai, were ordered to either give up their swords and rights and remain on their lands as peasants, or move to the castle cities to become paid retainers of the daimyo. Only a few samurai were allowed to remain in the countryside, the landed samurai (郷士 gōshi?). Some 5% of the population were samurai.
The artisans were likewise ordered to move to the cities. Thus, the towns below the castles were divided into four parts, the samurai quarter, the merchant quarter, the artisans quarter, and the hanamachi, where theaters, brothels and gambling dens were located. In the towns, different ways of life developed, with the chōnindō of the artisans and merchants and the bushidō of the samurai.
The peasants, around 80% to 90% of the population, had to carry the burden of the economy. Taxes were paid in rice, 40% to 50% of the harvest, collected from the village as a community. The villages were given self-rule under village headman.
The ranking of the divisions was influenced by confucianist thinking: The wise ruler was at the top, followed by the farmer who produces the wealth of the society. The artisan only reuses the wealth created, while the merchant only distributes the goods. Interestingly, there is a parallel to the physiocratic school of François Quesnay and his contemporaries, who influenced the French Ancien Régime.
Yet, the picture did not fit reality: the merchants were the wealthiest group, and many samurai had to take debts to keep up.
Parts of the population did not belong to any of the four castes at all. On top were the kuge, the Court Nobles in Kyoto. They did not possess political influence, but still had a ceremonial function. They were dependent on the shogun, who gave them enough financial support to regain some of the old splendour of the Heian period. With only about 5000 people, they were a rather small group.
Below the system were the eta, who did the "dirty work", because their occupations were taboo under Buddhism and Shinto. They were the undertakers, the slaughterers and the tanners. The hinin, literally "Non-people" were the second group: travelling minstrels and convicted criminals.
