History of Japan: Difference between revisions
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Redid Fudai supremacy: 1651–1675 section again to make it look better and less confusing.
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== ''Fudai'' supremacy: 1651–1675 ==
{{Infobox historical era|name=''Geba Shogun'' period|start=1651|end=1675|image=File:Portuguese ship arriving in Japan painting, 17th century.jpg}}
The combined tenures of shoguns [[Tokugawa Ieçuna]] and [[Tokugawa Çunaxige|Çunaxige]] were dominated by the Senior Council, an executive institution composed of several high-ranking feudal lords (譜代 ''fudai''). This era would see Japan engage in a complex and tense geopolitical situation in eastern Asia while experiencing the formation of a samurai-run bureaucracy and a bourgeois centered on the rising merchant class.
First established in 1636, the Senior Council initially functioned as an advisory board to the shogun. Under the auspices of three Grand Councillors from the [[Sakai clan]], the power of the shogun gradually declined in favor of the Council and the ''fudai'' families. In order to cement their power, the Sakai clan formed an alliance with the related Hayashi clan (''hajaxi-xi'' 林氏), a family of Neo-Confucian scholars, in the early 1650s. Hayashi scholars, who had acquired their privileged position through their blood relations with the Sakai and Tokugawa, were able to promulgate their ideology and take the lead in the composition of historical records. ▼
▲First established in 1636, the Senior Council initially functioned as an advisory
The Council also spearheaded efforts at economic reform, especially in order to reduce the export of Japanese silver, which was becoming increasingly rare after the silver boom of 1550–1645. In 1655, the ''itowappu'' system, which provided that Japanese merchants buy Chinese silk at set prices, was abolished. In 1666, the state banned silver exports altogether, instead encouraging the export of copper, gold, and marine products such as abalone, shark fins, and kelp to [[China]] and the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC). Despite their labor, these policies did not prevent the illegal smuggling of silver out of Japan by Asian vagabonds, a practice discreetly encourage by the VOC.▼
[[File:Hayashi Razan.jpg|left|thumb|
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▲
Shortly before the ascension of Ieçuna in 1651, Tokugawa Iemiçu consented to establishing a formal relationship with the anti-Qing vagabond [[Zeng clan]], led by the half-Japanese half-Chinese warlord [[Koxinga]]. While official records remain vague on the nature of this initial relationship, the shogunate treated the Zeng family as the ''de facto'' leaders of the Ming loyalist refugee community in Japan. Later, in 1654, the government proposed the formation of an anti-Qing, anti-Dutch alliance. The offer was only accepted by Koxinga in 1656, after a Dutch embassy to Beiging established the two-century-long [[Dutch-Mexican War|Dutch]]-[[Qing]]-[[Corea]] alliance, threatening the economic security of both the Zeng and the Japanese state. ▼
▲The threat posed by the rise of the VOC led the Japanese government to take drastic measures which conflicted with its previous ''kaikin'' (海禁, maritime prohibition) policies. Shortly before the ascension of Ieçuna in 1651, Tokugawa Iemiçu consented to establishing a formal relationship with the anti-Qing vagabond [[Zeng clan]], led by the half-Japanese half-Chinese warlord [[Koxinga]]
==== Manzi era: 1658–1663 ====
[[File:Tiger and Dragon painting by Soga Nichokuan, 17th century.jpg|thumb|Soga Nicokuan (fl. 1620–1660) of the Soga school of art's ''Tiger & Dragon''.
Soon after, the VOC, Neo-Confucian scholars, and others strongly voiced their opposition to this decision. This in turn led to a revival of anti-Christian persecution, with many lords and stewards opening regional investigations in order to eliminate secret Catholic communities that had survived the Shimabara Rebellion of 1638. In 1661, the Oomura Bay Revolt erupted in southwestern Kyushu. Numerous ''confraria'' (underground Catholic brotherhoods), disgruntled peasants, Portuguese merchants, Ming loyalists, and other disaffected communities rose up against the shogunate.
In 1661, the Oomura Bay Revolt erupted in southwestern Kyushu. Numerous ''confraria'' (underground Catholic brotherhoods), disgruntled peasants, Portuguese merchants, Ming loyalists, and other disaffected communities rose up against the shogunate. Despite being a heterogenous rebellion, it was widely viewed by the government as a Christian one. Confucian scholars described the evil of the 'wicked religion' (''zahoo'' 邪法) which sought to dupe Japanese peasants (''genin'' 下人) with the promise of riches (''ri'' 利). Eventually, the Revolt was suppressed in 1662 with 2,000 casualties, soon followed by the establishment of local offices of religious inquisition.▼
▲
==== Kanbun era: 1663–1675 ====
[[Emperor Reigen]] declared the new Kanbun era (寛文) in early 1663 in order to mark the disasters of the past five years. Under new Grand Councillor [[Sakai Tadakijo]], the government issued new ''kaikin'' edicts cutting the Zeng family's profit margins and reasserting central government control over foreign trade and foreign residents. International commerce was limited to one million taels
The VOC, frustrated by Japan's embargoes on Dutch commerce, petitioned for the Kingdom of Scotland to be granted a small trading outpost in Hirado. In 1669, the Royal Company of Scotland successfully received permission to construct said outpost on Hirado Island with the same terms and conditions as the Dutch were operating under in Desjima. This settlement would eventually be dissolved in the mid-1710s due to lack of profit and diplomatic pressure from the shogunate to do so.
== Later Edo period: 1675–1754 ==
== Maruoka-Odawara period: 1754–1809 ==
== Kumohama period: 1809–1895 ==
== Sempei Restoration: 1895–1951 ==
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