Reading Medieval Ruins

"It is midday in the medieval city of Ichijåodani, a community of roughly 10,000 people nestled in a valley in the northern region of Echizen Province, Japan. A doctor welcomes a patient into his large residential and clinical complex situated among temples and capacious warrior homes. The patient, who walked hours from her village south of the city, looks around at the large gate, the grand buildings, and the impressive decorated interior with wide eyes. The structures are larger even that the homes of the wealthiest village elders in her community. Then again, she is in the capital city, home to the lord of the province. She describes her symptoms to the doctor, who listens carefully and makes notes: pain and vomiting in the morning, bad enough that she has found it difficult to work. She is worried that she may be dying, and other than her husband, she has no one in her village to turn to, as she was raised in a different region. The doctor reassures her that her symptoms are consistent with morning sickness. It seems"--

Morgan Pitelka is Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.