Tokugawa Yoshimune | |
|---|---|
徳川 吉宗 | |
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| Shōgun | |
| In office 3 September 1716 – 20 October 1745 | |
| Monarchs | |
| Preceded by | Tokugawa Ietsugu |
| Succeeded by | Tokugawa Ieshige |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1684-11-27)27 November 1684 |
| Died | 12 July 1751(1751-07-12) (aged 66) |
| Spouse | Masako-Joō |
| Children | Tokugawa Ieshige Tokugawa Munetake Tokugawa Genjo Tokugawa Munetada Yoshihime |
| Parent |
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| Signature |  |
Tokugawa Yoshimune[a] (徳川 吉宗; 27 November 1684 – 12 July 1751) was the eighthshōgun of theTokugawa shogunate ofJapan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son ofTokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson ofTokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson ofTokugawa Ieyasu. Yoshimune is known for repealing the ban onWestern literature.
Yoshimune was not the son of any formershōgun. Rather, he was a member of acadet branch of theTokugawa clan. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, well aware of the extinction of theMinamoto line in 1219, had realized that his direct descendants might die out, leaving the Tokugawa family at risk of extinction. Thus, while his sonTokugawa Hidetada was the secondshōgun, he selected three other sons to establish thegosanke, hereditary houses which would provide ashōgun if there were no male heir. The threegosanke were theOwari,Kii, andMito branches.
Yoshimune was from the branch of Kii. The founder of the Kii house was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's sons,Tokugawa Yorinobu. Ieyasu appointed himdaimyō of Kii. Yorinobu's son,Tokugawa Mitsusada, succeeded him. Two of Mitsusada's sons succeeded him, and when they died, Tokugawa Yoshimune, Mitsusada's fourth son, becamedaimyō of Kii in 1705. Later, he becameshōgun.
Yoshimune was closely related to the Tokugawashōguns. His grandfather, Tokugawa Yorinobu, was a brother of secondshōgunTokugawa Hidetada, while Yoshimune's father, Tokugawa Mitsusada, was a first cousin of thirdshōgunTokugawa Iemitsu. Yoshimune thus was a second cousin to the fourth and fifthshōguns (both brothers)Tokugawa Ietsuna andTokugawa Tsunayoshi, as well as a second cousin toTokugawa Tsunashige, whose son becameshōgunTokugawa Ienobu.
Tokugawa Yoshimune was born in 1684 in the richKii Province, a region which was then ruled by his father, Tokugawa Mitsusada. Yoshimune's childhood name was Tokugawa Genroku (徳川 源六). At that time, his second cousinTokugawa Tsunayoshi was ruling inEdo asshōgun. Kii was a rich region of over 500,000koku, but it was still in debt and had a lot to pay back to the shogunate.
In 1697, Genroku underwent the rites of passage and took the name Tokugawa Shinnosuke (徳川 新之助). In 1705, when Shinnosuke was just 21 years old, his father Mitsusada and two older brothers died. Thus, the rulingshōgunTokugawa Tsunayoshi appointed himdaimyō of Kii. He took the name Tokugawa Yorikata (頼方) and began to administer the province. Nonetheless, great financial debt which the domain had owed to the shogunate since his father's and even grandfather's time continued to burden the finances. What made things worse was that in 1707, atsunami destroyed and killed many in the coastal areas of Kii Province. Yorikata did his best to try to stabilize things in Kii, but relied on leadership from Edo.
In 1712, Shogun Ienobu died, and was succeeded by his son, the boy-shōgunTokugawa Ietsugu. Yorikata decided that he could not rely on conservativeConfucianists likeArai Hakuseki in Edo and did what he could to stabilize Kii Domain. Before he could implement changes,shōgun Ietsugu died in early 1716. He was only seven years old, and died without an heir. Thebakufu thus selected the nextshōgun from one of the cadet lines.[2]
Yoshimune succeeded to the post of theshōgun inShōtoku-1 (1716).[3] His term asshōgun lasted for 30 years. He is considered among the best of the Tokugawashōguns.[4]
Yoshimune established thegosankyō to augment (or perhaps to replace) thegosanke. Two of his sons, together with the second son of his successor Ieshige, became the founders of the Tayasu, Hitotsubashi and Shimizu lines. Unlike thegosanke, they did not ruledomains. Still, they remained prominent until the end of Tokugawa rule, and some latershōguns were chosen from the Hitotsubashi line.
Yoshimune is known for his financial reforms. He dismissed the conservative adviserArai Hakuseki and he began what would come to be known as theKyōhō Reforms.
Yoshimune also tried to resurrect the Japanese swordsmithing tradition. Since the beginning of the Edo period, it was quite difficult for smiths to make a living and to be supported bydaimyōs, because of the lack of funds. But Yoshimune was quite unhappy with this situation, causing a decline of skills. And so, he gathered smiths fromdaimyō fiefs for a great contest, in 1721. The four winners who emerged were all great masters, Mondo no Shō Masakiyo (主水正正清), Ippei Yasuyo (一平安代), the 4th generation Nanki Shigekuni (南紀重国) and Nobukuni Shigekane (信国重包). But it did not work well to arouse interest, quite like tournaments in modern Japan.
Yoshimune also ordered the compilation ofKyōhō Meibutsu Chō (享保名物帳), listing the best and most famous swords all over Japan. This book allowed the beginning of the Shinshintō period ofNihontō history, and indirectly contributed to the Gassan school, who protected the Nihontō tradition before and after the surrender of Japan.
Although foreign books had been strictly forbidden since 1640, Yoshimune relaxed the rules in 1720, starting an influx of foreign books and their translations into Japan, and initiating the development of Western studies, orrangaku.[5] Yoshimune's relaxation of the rules may have been influenced by a series of lectures delivered before him by the astronomer and philosopherNishikawa Joken.[5] Engravement or official sanction of Chinese medical volumeTaiping Huìmín Héjì Júfāng 『太平恵民和剤局方』 appears to have happened around this time.
In 1745, Yoshimune retired, took the titleŌgosho and left his public post to his oldest son. The title is the one that Tokugawa Ieyasu took on retirement in favor of his son Hidetada, who in turn took the same title on his retirement.
Yoshimune died on the 20th day of the 5th month of the yearKan'en-4 (12 July 1751).[6] His Buddhist name was Yutokuin and he was buried inKan'ei-ji.
The years in which Yoshimune wasshōgun are more specifically identified by more than oneera name ornengō.[3]
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Media related toTokugawa Yoshimune at Wikimedia Commons| Royal titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Lord of Kishū: Tokugawa Yoshimune 1716–1745 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Shōgun: Tokugawa Yoshimune 1716–1745 | Succeeded by |
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All Tokugawashōguns share descent fromIeyasu, who is recognized as the dynasty's founder. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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