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Sonnō jōi (尊王攘夷; "revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians") was ayojijukugo (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry andslogan of apolitical movement inJapan in the 1850s and 1860s, during theBakumatsu period. Based onNeo-Confucianism andJapanese nativism, the movement sought to overthrow theTokugawa shogunate and restore the power of theEmperor of Japan.
| Sonnō jōi | |||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 尊王攘夷 | ||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||
| Kanji | 尊王攘夷 | ||||||||||
| Kana | そんのうじょうい | ||||||||||
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Sonnō jōi is theJapanese reading of the Chinese idiomZunwang Rangyi (尊王攘夷;lit. "Revere the King, Expel the Barbarians"). During theSpring and Autumn period of China, ChancellorGuan Zhong ofQi initiated a policy known asZunwang Rangyi, in reference to theZhou kings.[1] Adopting and adhering to it,Duke Huan of Qi assembled the Chinese feudal lords to strike down the threat of barbarians from China.[2] For it,Confucius himself praised Guan Zhong for the preservation of Chinese civilization through the example of thecontrast in the hairstyles andclothing styles between them and barbaric peoples.[1] Through theAnalects of Confucius, the Chinese expression came to be transmitted to Japan assonnō jōi.[3]
The origin of the philosophy as used in Japan can be traced to the Confucian classic the Gongyang Commentary of theChunqiu. The Tokugawa shogunate promulgated the Zhu Xi school of Neo-Confucianism (Shushi-gaku), which interpreted theChunqiu using this concept. 17th-century Confucian scholarsYamazaki Ansai andYamaga Sokō wrote on the sanctity of theImperial House of Japan and its superiority to the ruling houses of other nations. These ideas were expanded byKokugaku scholarMotoori Norinaga, and seen in Takenouchi Shikibu's theory of absolute loyalty to theEmperor of Japan (尊皇論,sonnōron), that implied that less loyalty should be given to the ruling Tokugawa shogunate.
Mitogaku scholarAizawa Seishisai introduced the termsonnō jōi into modern Japanese in his workShinron in 1825, wheresonnō was regarded as the reverence expressed by the Tokugawa Shogunate to the emperor andjōi was theproscription of Christianity.
Sonnō jōi was ananti-imperialist expression popularized in response toWestern imperialism, before Japan adopted imperialism itself against its neighbors.[4]
With the increasing number of incursions of foreign ships into Japanese waters in the late 18th and early 19th century, thesakoku ("national seclusion") policy came increasingly into question. Thejōi "expel the barbarians" portion ofsonnō jōi, changed into a reaction against theConvention of Kanagawa of 1854, which opened Japan to foreign trade. Under military threat fromUnited States NavyCommodoreMatthew C. Perry's so-called "black ships", the treaty was signed under duress and was vehemently opposed insamurai quarters. The fact that the Tokugawa Shogunate was powerless against the foreigners despite the will expressed by the Imperial court was taken as evidence byYoshida Shōin and other anti-Tokugawa leaders that thesonnō (revere the Emperor) portion of the philosophy was not working, and that the Shogunate must be replaced by a government more able to show its loyalty to the Emperor by enforcing the Emperor’s will.
The philosophy was thus adopted as a battle cry of the rebellious regions ofChōshū Domain andSatsuma Province. The Imperial court inKyoto sympathized with the movement.Emperor Kōmei personally agreed with such sentiments, and – breaking with centuries of imperial tradition – personally began to take an active role in matters of state: as opportunities arose, he fulminated against the treaties and attempted to interfere in the shogunal succession. His efforts culminated in March 1863 with his "Order to Expel Barbarians" (攘夷勅命). Although the Shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the Shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan, the most notable incident being the killing of the traderCharles Lennox Richardson during theNamamugi Incident. Other attacks included the shelling of foreign shipping inShimonoseki.[5]Rōnins (masterless samurai) also rallied to the cause, assassinating Shogunate officials and Westerners.
This turned out to be the zenith of thesonnō jōi movement, since theWestern powers responded by demandingreparations for the assassinations and other acts by samurai against Western interests. In 1864, four Western nations launched a campaign against Shimonoseki, overrunning the meager defences and briefly occupying the region. While this incident showed that Japan was no match for Western military powers, it also served to further weaken the Shogunate, permitting the rebel provinces to ally and overthrow it, bringing about theMeiji Restoration.
The slogan itself was never actually a government or rebel policy; for all its rhetoric, Satsuma in particular had close ties with the West, purchasing guns, artillery, ships and other technology.
After the symbolic restoration ofEmperor Meiji, thesonnō jōi slogan was replaced withfukoku kyōhei (富国強兵), or "enrich the nation, strengthen the armies", the rallying call of theMeiji period and the seed of its actions duringWorld War II.[citation needed]
