The Tokugawa Shogunate (å¾³å·å¹•åºœ, Tokugawa bakufu), also known as the Edo Bakufu (江戸幕府), was the feudal military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1868.
The Tokugawa Shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Ieyasu became the ShÅgun and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the daimyÅ lords of the samurai class. The Tokugawa Shogunate organized Japanese society under the strict Tokugawa class system and banned most foreigners under the isolationist policies of Sakoku to promote political stability. The Tokugawa and daimyÅ de facto administered Japan through their system of han (feudal domains) alongside the de jure Imperial provinces. The Tokugawa Shogunate saw rapid economic growth and urbanization in Japan which led to the rise of the merchant class and Ukiyo culture. The Tokugawa Shogunate declined during the Bakumatsu ("Opening of Japan") period from 1853 and was overthrown by supporters of the Imperial Court in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Empire of Japan was established under the Meiji government and Tokugawa loyalists continued to fight in the Boshin War until the defeat of the Republic of Ezo at the Battle of Hakodate in June 1869.
History
🇯🇵 The Shogunate: History of Japan - A brief history of the Shogunate system of Japan. "Eastminster" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 ...
Following the Sengoku period ("warring states period"), the central government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga during the Azuchiâ€"Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Society in the Tokugawa period, unlike in previous shogunates, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The daimyÅ (lords) were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyÅ and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyÅ might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local rulers. Otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts that did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants, ranging from simple local disturbances to much larger rebellions. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.
A 2017 study found that peasant rebellions and collective desertion ("flight") lowered tax rates and inhibited state growth in the Tokugawa shogunate.
In the mid-19th century, an alliance of several of the more powerful daimyÅ, along with the titular Emperor, succeeded in overthrowing the shogunate after the Boshin War, culminating in the Meiji Restoration. The Tokugawa shogunate came to an official end in 1868 with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, leading to the "restoration" (王æ"¿å¾©å¤, ÅŒsei fukko) of imperial rule. Notwithstanding its eventual overthrow in favor of the more modernized, less feudal form of governance of the Meiji Restoration, the Tokugawa shogunate oversaw the longest period of peace and stability in Japan's history, lasting well over 260 years.
Government
Shogunate and domains
The bakuhan taisei (幕藩ä½"制) was the feudal political system in the Edo period of Japan. Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning "military government"â€"that is, the shogunate. The han were the domains headed by daimyÅ.
Vassals held inherited lands and provided military service and homage to their lords. The bakuhan taisei split feudal power between the shogunate in Edo and provincial domains throughout Japan. Provinces had a degree of sovereignty and were allowed an independent administration of the han in exchange for loyalty to the shÅgun, who was responsible for foreign relations and national security. The shÅgun and lords were all daimyÅs: feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, and territories. The shÅgun also administered the most powerful han, the hereditary fief of the House of Tokugawa. Each level of government administered its own system of taxation.
The emperor, nominally a religious leader, held no real power; this was vested in the shÅgun. The shogunate had the power to discard, annex, and transform domains. The sankin-kÅtai system of alternative residence required each daimyÅ to reside in alternate years between the han and the court in Edo. During their absences from Edo, it was also required that they leave family as hostages until their return. The huge expenditure sankin-kÅtai imposed on each han helped centralize aristocratic alliances and ensured loyalty to the shÅgun as each representative doubled as a potential hostage.
Tokugawa's descendants further ensured loyalty by maintaining a dogmatic insistence on loyalty to the shÅgun. Fudai daimyÅ were hereditary vassals of Ieyasu, as well as of his descendants. Tozama ("outsiders") became vassals of Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara. Shinpan ("relatives") were collaterals of Tokugawa Hidetada. Early in the Edo period, the shogunate viewed the tozama as the least likely to be loyal; over time, strategic marriages and the entrenchment of the system made the tozama less likely to rebel. In the end, it was the great tozama of Satsuma, ChÅshÅ« and Tosa, and to a lesser extent Hizen, that brought down the shogunate. These four states are called the Four Western Clans, or Satchotohi for short.
The number of han (roughly 250) fluctuated throughout the Edo period. They were ranked by size, which was measured as the number of koku of rice that the domain produced each year. One koku was the amount of rice necessary to feed one adult male for one year. The minimum number for a daimyÅ was ten thousand koku; the largest, apart from the shÅgun, was a million.
Relations with the Emperor
Regardless of the political title of the Emperor, the shÅguns of the Tokugawa family controlled Japan. The administration (ä½"制, taisei) of Japan was a task given by the Imperial Court in Kyoto to the Tokugawa family, which returned to the court in the Meiji Restoration. While the Emperor officially had the prerogative of appointing the shÅgun, he had virtually no say in state affairs. The shogunate appointed a liaison, the Kyoto Shoshidai (Shogun's Representative in Kyoto), to deal with the Emperor, court and nobility.
Towards the end of the shogunate, however, after centuries of the Emperor having very little say in state affairs and being secluded in his Kyoto palace, and in the wake of the reigning shÅgun, Tokugawa Iemochi, marrying the sister of Emperor KÅmei (r. 1846â€"1867), in 1862, the Imperial Court in Kyoto began to enjoy increased political influence. The Emperor would occasionally be consulted on various policies and the shogun even made a visit to Kyoto to visit the Emperor.
Shogun and foreign trade
Foreign affairs and trade were monopolized by the shogunate, yielding a huge profit. Foreign trade was also permitted to the Satsuma and the Tsushima domains. Rice was the main trading product of Japan during this time. Isolationism was the foreign policy of Japan and trade was strictly controlled. Merchants were outsiders to the social hierarchy of Japan and were thought to be greedy.
The visits of the Nanban ships from Portugal were at first the main vector of trade exchanges, followed by the addition of Dutch, English and sometimes Spanish ships.
From 1603 onward, Japan started to participate actively in foreign trade. In 1615, an embassy and trade mission under Hasekura Tsunenaga was sent across the Pacific to Nueva España (New Spain) on the Japanese-built galleon San Juan Bautista. Until 1635, the Shogun issued numerous permits for the so-called "red seal ships" destined for the Asian trade.
After 1635 and the introduction of Seclusion laws, inbound ships were only allowed from China, Korea, and the Netherlands.
Shogun and Christianity
Followers of Christianity first began appearing in Japan during the 16th century. Oda Nobunaga embraced Christianity and the Western technology that was imported with it, such as the musket. He also saw it as a tool he could use to suppress Buddhist forces.
Though Christianity was allowed to grow until the 1610s, Tokugawa Ieyasu soon began to see it as a growing threat to the stability of the shogunate. As ÅŒgosho ("Cloistered ShÅgun"), he influenced the implementation of laws that banned the practice of Christianity. His successors followed suit, compounding upon Ieyasu's laws. The ban of Christianity is often linked with the creation of the Seclusion laws, or Sakoku, in the 1630s.
Institutions of the shogunate
RÅjÅ« and wakadoshiyori
The rÅjÅ« (è€ä¸) were the senior members of the shogunate. They supervised the Åmetsuke, machi-bugyÅ, ongokubugyÅ (é 国奉行) and other officials, oversaw relations with the Imperial Court in Kyoto, kuge (members of the nobility), daimyÅ, Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and attended to matters like divisions of fiefs. Normally, four or five men held the office, and one was on duty for a month at a time on a rotating basis. They conferred on especially important matters. In the administrative reforms of 1867 (KeiÅ Reforms), the office was eliminated in favor of a bureaucratic system with ministers for the interior, finance, foreign relations, army, and navy.
In principle, the requirements for appointment to the office of rÅjÅ« were to be a fudai daimyÅ and to have a fief assessed at 50000 koku or more. However, there were exceptions to both criteria. Many appointees came from the offices close to the shÅgun, such as soba yÅnin (å´ç"¨äºº), Kyoto Shoshidai, and Osaka jÅdai.
Irregularly, the shÅguns appointed a rÅjÅ« to the position of tairÅ (great elder). The office was limited to members of the Ii, Sakai, Doi, and Hotta clans, but Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was given the status of tairÅ as well. Among the most famous was Ii Naosuke, who was assassinated in 1860 outside the Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle (Sakuradamon incident).
The wakadoshiyori were next in status below the rÅjÅ«. An outgrowth of the early six-man rokuninshÅ« (å…人衆, 1633â€"1649), the office took its name and final form in 1662, but with four members. Their primary responsibility was management of the affairs of the hatamoto and gokenin, the direct vassals of the shÅgun.
Some shÅguns appointed a soba yÅnin. This person acted as a liaison between the shÅgun and the rÅjÅ«. The soba yÅnin increased in importance during the time of the fifth shÅgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, when a wakadoshiyori, Inaba Masayasu, assassinated Hotta Masatoshi, the tairÅ. Fearing for his personal safety, Tsunayoshi moved the rÅjÅ« to a more distant part of the castle. Some of the most famous soba yÅnin were Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tanuma Okitsugu.
ÅŒmetsuke and metsuke
The Åmetsuke and metsuke were officials who reported to the rÅjÅ« and wakadoshiyori. The five Åmetsuke were in charge of monitoring the affairs of the daimyÅs, kuge and imperial court. They were in charge of discovering any threat of rebellion. Early in the Edo period, daimyÅs such as YagyÅ« Munefuyu held the office. Soon, however, it fell to hatamoto with rankings of 5,000 koku or more. To give them authority in their dealings with daimyÅs, they were often ranked at 10,000 koku and given the title of kami (an ancient title, typically signifying the governor of a province) such as Bizen-no-kami.
As time progressed, the function of the Åmetsuke evolved into one of passing orders from the shogunate to the daimyÅs, and of administering to ceremonies within Edo Castle. They also took on additional responsibilities such as supervising religious affairs and controlling firearms. The metsuke, reporting to the wakadoshiyori, oversaw the affairs of the vassals of the shÅgun. They were the police force for the thousands of hatamoto and gokenin who were concentrated in Edo. Individual han had their own metsuke who similarly policed their samurai.
San-bugyÅ
The san-bugyÅ ("three administrators") were the jisha, kanjÅ, and machi-bugyÅ, which oversaw temples and shrines, accounting, and the cities, respectively. The jisha-bugyÅ had the highest status of the three. They oversaw the administration of Buddhist temples (ji) and Shinto shrines (sha), many of which held fiefs. Also, they heard lawsuits from several land holdings outside the eight KantÅ provinces. The appointments normally went to daimyÅs; ÅŒoka Tadasuke was an exception, though he later became a daimyÅ.
The kanjÅ-bugyÅ were next in status. The four holders of this office reported to the rÅjÅ«. They were responsible for the finances of the shogunate.
The machi-bugyÅ were the chief city administrators of Edo and other cities. Their roles included mayor, chief of the police (and, later, also of the fire department), and judge in criminal and civil matters not involving samurai. Two (briefly, three) men, normally hatamoto, held the office, and alternated by month.
Three Edo machi bugyÅ have become famous through jidaigeki (period films): ÅŒoka Tadasuke and TÅyama Kagemoto (KinshirÅ) as heroes, and Torii YÅzÅ (ja:鳥居耀è"µ) as a villain.
TenryÅ, gundai and daikan
The san-bugyÅ together sat on a council called the hyÅjÅsho. In this capacity, they were responsible for administering the tenryÅ, supervising the gundai (郡代), the daikan (代官) and the kura bugyÅ (è"µå¥‰è¡Œ), as well as hearing cases involving samurai.
The shogun directly held lands in various parts of Japan. These were known as shihaisho (æ"¯é…所); since the Meiji period, the term tenryÅ (å¤©é ˜, "Emperor's land") has become synonymous. In addition to the territory that Ieyasu held prior to the Battle of Sekigahara, this included lands he gained in that battle and lands gained as a result of the Summer and Winter Sieges of Osaka. By the end of the seventeenth century, the shogun's landholdings had reached four million koku. Such major cities as Nagasaki and Osaka, and mines, including the Sado gold mine, also fell into this category.
Gaikoku bugyÅ
The gaikoku bugyÅ were administrators appointed between 1858 and 1868. They were charged with overseeing trade and diplomatic relations with foreign countries, and were based in the treaty ports of Nagasaki and Kanagawa (Yokohama).
Late Tokugawa shogunate (1853â€"1867)
The late Tokugawa shogunate (Japanese: 幕末 Bakumatsu) was the period between 1853 and 1867, during which Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy called sakoku and modernized from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji government. It is at the end of the Edo period and preceded the Meiji era. The major ideological and political factions during this period were divided into the pro-imperialist Ishin Shishi (nationalist patriots) and the shogunate forces, including the elite shinsengumi ("newly selected corps") swordsmen.
Although these two groups were the most visible powers, many other factions attempted to use the chaos of the Bakumatsu era to seize personal power. Furthermore, there were two other main driving forces for dissent; first, growing resentment of tozama daimyÅs, and second, growing anti-Western sentiment following the arrival of Matthew C. Perry. The first related to those lords who had fought against Tokugawa forces at Sekigahara (in 1600) and had from that point on been exiled permanently from all powerful positions within the shogunate. The second was to be expressed in the phrase sonnÅ jÅi ("revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians"). The end for the Bakumatsu was the Boshin War, notably the Battle of Tobaâ€"Fushimi, when pro-shogunate forces were defeated.
List of Tokugawa shÅguns
Family Tree
Over the course of the Edo period, influential relatives of the shogun included:
- Tokugawa Mitsukuni of the Mito Domain
- Tokugawa Nariaki of the Mito Domain
- Tokugawa Mochiharu of the Hitotsubashi branch
- Tokugawa Munetake of the Tayasu branch.
- Matsudaira Katamori of the Aizu branch.
- Matsudaira Sadanobu, born into the Tayasu branch, adopted into the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira of Shirakawa.
See also
- Keian uprising
Notes
References
- Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
 This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.
Further reading
- Bolitho, Harold. (1974). Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBNÂ 978-0-300-01655-0; OCLC 185685588
- Totman, Conrad. The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862â€"1868. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1980.
- Totman, Conrad. Politics in the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1600â€"1843. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967.
- Waswo, Ann Modern Japanese Society 1868â€"1994
- The Center for East Asian Cultural Studies Meiji Japan Through Contemporary Sources, Volume Two 1844â€"1882
External links
- Japan
- Tokugawa Political System
- SengokuDaimyo.com The website of Samurai Author and Historian Anthony J. Bryant
Posting Komentar