is a mid-19th century
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese compilation of documents or "survey of intercourse" related to the foreign relations of the
Tokugawas and the
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
.
[Cullen, L. M. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds,'' p. 174.]
These documents, descriptions and commentary encompass Japanese bilateral and international relations; and the work has been parsed into sections by country across 350 volumes. The text is organized chronologically within each sections.
[Hokkaido University Library]
catalog, book description 通航一覧 1-8 / 林復斎
This historical survey was compiled in 1853 by the shogunate's chief foreign relations advisor, ''Daigaku-no-kami''
Hayashi Akira
(also known as ''Hayashi Fukusai'') was an Edo period scholar-diplomat serving the Tokugawa shogunate in a variety of roles similar to those performed by serial Hayashi clan neo-Confucianists since the time of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was the here ...
(also known as Hayashi Fukusai). With the help of others, Akira was able to prepare volume which includes material from 1566 through 1825.
* 1853 (''
Kaei
was a after ''Kōka'' and before ''Ansei''. This period spanned the years from February 1848 through November 1854. The reigning emperor was .
Change of era
* February 28, 1848 : The era name of ''Kaei'' (meaning "eternal felicity")Satow, Erne ...
6''): Akira completed ''Tsūkō ichiran''. The work was created under orders from the bakufu to compile and edit documents pertaining to East Asian trade and diplomacy; and, for example, it includes a detailed description of a Ryukyuan tribute embassy to the
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
Chinese court in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
The purpose of this project was to develop a policy guide based on two and a half centuries of diplomatic precedents.
For example, ''Daiyūin tono ojikki'' (''Chronicle of Shogun Iemitsu'') by Narushima Motonao (1778-1862) is cited; and one referenced excerpt presents an arguably convincing analysis:
* 1846 (''
Shōhō
was a after ''Kan'ei'' and before ''Keian''. This period spanned the years from December 1644 through February 1648. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 412./ref>
Change of era
* 1644 : The ...
3, 10th month''): " ... sending a
ilitaryexpedition from Japan
o China
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), pl ...
would not be successful and not only would be humiliating for the Japanese but would insure a long-term enemy of a foreign land, and it would cause eternal harm. Even if Japanese troops were to win victories and gain terrain, it would be like rocky soil, of no advantage to the country, in fact inviting disasters in years to come."—attributed to
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned of his position as shogun in late 1867, while aiming ...
.
[Masuda, Wataru. (2000). ''Japan and China: Mutual Representations in the Modern Era,'' p. 148.]
The text was reprinted in
moveable type
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation ...
and published in eight volumes in 1912–1913. The twenty-three volume appendix on coastal defenses, ''Tsūkō ichiran zokushū'', was published at the same time.
See also
*
Joseon Tongsinsa
The Joseon Tongsinsa were goodwill missions sent intermittently, at the request of the resident Japanese authority, by Joseon dynasty Korea to Japan. The Korean noun identifies a specific type of diplomatic delegation and its chief envoys. From ...
*
Imperial Japanese embassies to China
The Japanese missions to Imperial China were diplomatic embassies which were intermittently sent to the Chinese imperial court. Any distinction amongst diplomatic envoys sent from the Japanese court or from any of the Japanese shogunates was lost ...
*
Ryukyuan missions to Edo
Over the course of Japan's Edo period, the Ryūkyū Kingdom sent eighteen , the capital of Tokugawa Japan. The unique pattern of these diplomatic exchanges evolved from models established by the Chinese, but without denoting any predetermined re ...
Notes
References
*
Cullen, Louis M. (2003)
''A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds.''Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
. , (cloth); , (paper);
*
Smits, Gregory. (1999). ''Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics.'' Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
.
* Masuda, Wataru. (2000). ''Japan and China: Mutual Representations in the Modern Era.'' London:
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
. ; ;
*
Toby, Ronald P. (1991)
''State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu.''Stanford:
Stanford University Press
Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...
. ;
External links
* Hokkaido University Library
catalog, book description 通航一覧 1-8 / 林復斎
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsuko Ichiran
Edo-period works
History of the foreign relations of Japan
19th-century documents
Japanese diplomatic documents
Edo-period history books