Chapter 26: Foreseeing Danger in Times of Peace is a Virtue
Yuan Ye’s operations were fierce, treating the villagers of Hibitsu Village until they were mostly recovered. The number of patients decreased significantly, and it was no longer as bustling as when he first opened. He also took the opportunity to rest, as he had been busy and under immense psychological pressure since his transmigration, making him quite tired.
At this time, the twenty-first year of Eiroku had also arrived.
He arrived in late winter, which, if calculated by the Gregorian calendar, would be around early January. Japan’s Muromachi period used the Chinese lunisolar calendar. It wasn’t until early February of the Gregorian calendar this year that the first month of the lunisolar calendar arrived, marking the New Year—New Year’s Day. There was no “Spring Festival” holiday at this time; transmigrators would have to wait until the Republic of China era to celebrate it.
However, New Year’s Eve did exist. The night before New Year’s Day was New Year’s Eve. At this time, Japan already had a custom similar to eating “toshikoshi soba” (year-crossing buckwheat noodles). Aping and Yayoi cooked a large pot, ensuring everyone ate their fill.
Of course, it was far from the refined dishes of later generations. It was truly just boiled buckwheat noodles and steamed buckwheat noodles, eaten with bean paste for dipping. The bean paste was coarsely ground and a bit scratchy on the throat.
Yuan Ye couldn’t get used to the taste, but he felt bad about disappointing Yayoi and Aping’s hard work, so he secretly transferred it all to A Man’s bowl.
It wasn’t that he was being fussy. He was never a fussy person in the Modern Era and could endure hardship. But in the Japanese Medieval Period… he really couldn’t swallow it. Anyone who ate it would know!
After eating the “toshikoshi soba,” it was New Year’s Day. Yuan Ye planned to pay a New Year’s visit to the Yayoi family. After all, he was currently “renting” their house, and they were the landlords. He had also caused them quite a bit of trouble with his black clinic, so he had to be polite and perhaps give their children a red envelope.
Fortunately, he was quite aware of his limitations and knew he didn’t understand the customs of this era. He observed the situation first and made some indirect inquiries. To his surprise, he discovered that in the Medieval Period, Japan celebrated New Year’s visits on the second day of the new year. On the first day, everyone did nothing but lie at home and sleep, not cooking anything and eating cold food, allowing everyone to rest well.
One had to admit that life in ancient times was truly slow-paced. In the Modern Era, how could one rest for a whole day during the New Year?
After sleeping until the second day, the villagers indeed began visiting each other. This was quite similar to later generations, with everyone exchanging auspicious greetings. Yuan Ye’s status here, and his reputation as a widely respected “Mongol Divine Doctor,” meant that many villagers, including the Yayoi family and Jubei’s family, came to offer him New Year’s greetings. If he hadn’t disliked it so much, many villagers would have kowtowed to him.
On the third day, they paid homage to the well, presided over by Jikuro. He was a follower of the Aragiko Maeda Family and a “celebrity” in the village—a strong commoner with military achievements. In a sense, he was a reserve for low-ranking samurai, with a certain possibility of becoming a vassal of the Aragiko Maeda Family, holding a higher status than the ordinary villagers’ “sakun.” He led all the male villagers in worshipping the village well, thanking it for its service over the past year and hoping it wouldn’t run dry in the new year.
On the fourth day, after paying homage to the well, Jikuro again led all the male villagers to worship the Odaigawa River and Mount Ise. The purpose was likely similar: hoping they would provide more mountain products this year, not reduce their water flow, or cause floods that would destroy fertile fields.
On the fifth day, they sacrificed to the ox, hoping it would work diligently without injury or illness.
Since Hibitsu Village couldn’t afford to keep an ox, they made one from mud and straw. After the villagers paid their respects, they carried the mud ox outside the village, crushed it, and spread it evenly in the fields of each household.
On the sixth day, they worshipped various gods and yokai, hoping they would continue to bless the village and at least not bring disaster.
By the seventh day, which was “Renri” (Human Day), the “day for caring for and nurturing the body,” all the women in the village collectively brewed a pot of “Seven Herb Porridge.” They went out together to pick five types of wild vegetables: water celery, cudweed, chickweed, stellaria, and shepherd’s purse, along with radishes, turnips, and a little rice. They brewed a large pot of vegetable porridge to share, praying for good health and freedom from illness and disaster in the coming year.
Simultaneously, through a competition to pick wild vegetables, a group of meticulous, diligent, and agile “saotome” (rice-planting maidens) were selected, preparing to begin seed breeding and seedling cultivation for the upcoming spring plowing.
By this point, the Japanese New Year of the Medieval Period was over. Life in Hibitsu Village returned to normal, and it was far less leisurely than in winter. It wasn’t yet the Little Ice Age, and the climate hadn’t been ravaged by global cooling. The climate was quite different from modern times. After the lunisolar New Year, plum blossoms had long since faded, and it was already considered spring. Plants began to sprout, and there were already large quantities of edible wild vegetables in the wilderness and mountains. The entire village of Hibitsu went out to dig the first batch of wild vegetables.
Yuan Ye followed along for two days and finally solved a mystery, understanding why large-scale peasant uprisings were extremely rare in Japan.
The reason was simple: natural resources in ancient Japan were too abundant. They were so abundant that even if the local lords took more than 80% of the grain, the peasants could still survive and barely hang on. This was completely different from China, where the land was always at its carrying capacity limit.
There were numerous rivers, and hills and mountainous areas accounted for over 80% of the land. Surrounded by the sea, the climate was originally warm, even warmer than in modern times. Thus, in spring, there were waves of fresh, tender wild vegetables appearing early, and mushrooms and bamboo shoots were found everywhere, inexhaustible.
In summer, there were abundant aquatic plants and shellfish. Lotus seeds, lotus roots, and river mussels were everywhere, inexhaustible.
In autumn, the mountains were full of wild fruits and nuts, with wild persimmons, wild peaches, and wild apricots everywhere, along with hazelnuts, pine nuts, and chestnuts. Only winter was a bit difficult. They could only stay in the village, reduce their activities, and eat the little grain they had saved. However, the cold season in modern Japan is very short, and at this time, it was even shorter than in modern times. After a brief period of hibernation, they could see wild vegetables sprouting everywhere again.
This might also be the main reason why the indigenous Ainu people of Japan did not develop a nation:
The readily available food and the relatively warm, short winter season eliminated their desire to develop agriculture. They couldn’t establish an effective food storage system or form a refined social division of labor.
After thousands of years, they remained small, scattered hunter-gatherer tribes. Their population could not accumulate, and their combat effectiveness was negligible. If there was any danger, they would simply move. They could find food elsewhere, so they didn’t need to pay much attention to military preparedness.
As a result, when waves of immigrants from the Korean Peninsula, bringing agricultural technology from China, crossed the sea to Kyushu Island, they leveraged the characteristic of agricultural culture to accumulate population. In less than a hundred years, there was a population explosion, and they merged, forming the so-called “Wajin.” They began to gradually encroach upon the Ainu people’s territory eastward.
They were driven from Kyushu Island to the main island, from the main island over Mount Fuji, from Mount Fuji into the desolate Kanto region, from desolate Kanto into the Hokuriku mountains, and finally, they weren’t even allowed to stay in the mountains, being driven directly into the icy Hokkaido. At the time of Yuan Ye’s transmigration, Ainu tribes were locked in fierce battles with the Japanese at the entrance to Hokkaido, with successive uprisings to resist enslavement by the Japanese.
Finally, when Japan became a militaristic nation and developed the technology to fully exploit Hokkaido, they intensified their actions, confining them to concentration camps, throwing them into mines, draining their last drop of blood, and systematically carrying out extermination. Their methods were no less brutal than those of the Germans. It’s just that the Ainu people did not possess global public opinion hegemony and couldn’t produce films to play the victim for a long time, resulting in very few people knowing about them in later generations.
In modern times, the Ainu population is estimated to be around ten thousand. As an ethnic group, they have essentially perished.
Perhaps in a few decades, no one will remember that such a pitiable ethnic group once existed.
This is a typical example of “born in peril, die in ease,” but it also indirectly proves that the Japanese Archipelago is indeed a land rich in natural resources. Even lacking iron and oil, it is not as barren as most people imagine. The abundant production from numerous rivers and mountains, excellent fishing and hunting resources, and large deposits of precious metals make it undoubtedly a treasure land.
At least in the agricultural era, it was quite good. Even though it is located at the junction of several tectonic plates, with three major earthquake zones and four volcanic zones, it remains very habitable.
Yuan Ye watched the villagers picking wild vegetables everywhere and then looked around at the wilderness, which was showing signs of vibrant life. Lost in thought, his stereotypical impression of Japan began to crumble.
At the same time, he felt a slight sense of caution, thinking that the wars of the Japanese Warring States period being “village brawls” might also be unreliable, possibly another stereotype. His relaxed New Year’s mood was once again on high alert.
Prudence in times of peace is a virtue, and foresight is wisdom. Although the situation looks good now, one must still be careful and absolutely cannot die in ease like the Ainu people!
One must continue to strive to survive!
