The Bakuhan System bring
the collapse to Tokugawa Shogunate
(view from a scholar)
(In this blog, I pretend myself as a
scholar in the late Tokugawa Period and early Meiji period. I put some of my
own ideas to conclude why Tokugawa Shogunate went down road. In my research, a
lot of reasons contribute to the collapse of Tokugawa period, but I regard the
problem of political system as the most significant one. When a country lacks a
healthy political system, then every single aspect of the society will not gain
a positive development.)
(This means "Bakumatsu"--the end of the Tokugawa Regime)
The Tokugawa
period, which was also known as the Edo period, was a time when Japan enjoyed a
quick development in science, culture and economy fields.However, the
contemporary political system which named Bakuhan System did not catch the
rhythm of such a quick development, thus leading to the final collapse of Tokugawa
Shogunate. I do not mean Bakuhan System is worse than any other systems but
Bakuhan System was exposed to have a lot of weaknessin the late Tokugawa
period. In general, the end of Tokugawa regime was due to internal and external
causes.[1]
When it stepped
into nineteenth century, since commerce developed, surplus production made
farmers transform into rural entrepreneurs or landless labourers.[2]Most of my neighbors chose to leave countryside and move
to city to search for fortune. We all realized that the form of commerce is
changing but Japan is still under the Bakuhan System, which believes that
farmers have the duty to grow crops and nobles do not tolerate low classes have
a lot of possessions.[3]I guess the dominator like daimyo
are feared of low classes possess wealth, because the accumulation of wealth
and the increased number of merchants made it possible for low classes to
compete with them.[4]In the meantime, government partly
released the strict policy on prohibiting contacts with foreigners, I realized
it because I can have access to some books from abroad. The acute conflictions
between daimyo (a kind of society classes, whose status was lower than
shoguns) and shoguns (the person who had the real authority) became
obvious. Meanwhile, the new thoughts impacted my belief in Bakuhan System, I find
some of my colleagues are influenced either, because some of them joined the
anti-Tokugawa group to conspire the collapse of Tokugawa Shogunate.
During fifties in nineteenth century, western countries such as Russia, British and America had great interests on establishing contact with Japan government at that time, the event of Black Ships conducted by United States was one of their efforts to force Japan open its ports.[5]I can tell that Tokugawa regime is undergoing a hard time to deal with foreign pressures and internal conflictions. Because they ask people for money and every day I heard about the war burst somewhere. Japanese had no choice but to conduct a revolution. In 1868 the Bankuhan System was pulled down by opposites and led to the birth of Meiji Restoration.
Here is an vedio about how Tokugawa period step to Meiji Restoration:
"Japanese History of Edo period to Meiji Restoration(6/6)"
[1]“Edo period” Wikipedia.Last modified November 19,
2013. Accessed November 24, 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period
[2] Harold Bolitho.
“The Tokugawa period” In The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1993, p.67-77
[3]Harold
Bolitho. “The Tokugawa period” In The
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1993, p.67-77
[4] E. S. Crawcour.
“Changes in Japanese Commerce in the
Tokugawa Period” In The Journal of Asian Studies, 22:4 (1963):
387-400. Association for
Asian Studies Presshttp://www.jstor.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/stable/2049854
[5] Harold Bolitho.
“The Tokugawa period” In The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of Japan. Cambridge University Press, 1993, p.67-77
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