Charles Descantons de Montblanc

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Family castle in Ingelmunster

Charles Descantons de Montblanc (born May 12, 1833 in Paris ; † January 22, 1894 there) was a Belgian count who was a key figure in French and Belgian relations with Japan in the period immediately after the opening of Japan . In Japanese he called himself Hakuzan-haku ( 白山伯 ), the literal translation of "Count Montblanc".

Life path

His father Charles Albéric Clement Descantons de Montblanc , who together with his sister Suzanne Agathe Félicité inherited the chateau of Ingelmunster ( West Flanders ) from the childless Baron Charles Louis Marie Ghislain de Plotho in 1825 , was only ennobled by Louis Philippe of France on June 30, 1841 . On July 20, Leopold I , King of the Belgians , was raised to the nobility . In contrast to his younger brothers Albéric and Ernest , the eldest son Charles did not opt for one of the two nationalities throughout his life.

First contacts in Japan

It is unclear whether the count was in the Philippines and possibly Japan in 1858 or 1861 . He probably learned Japanese from Saitō Kenichirō, whom Montblanc (1861? Or 1863/4?), Described as eccentric, had employed in Japan and took home. When the Japanese European Mission under Ikeda Nagaoki (1837–1879) was in Paris in 1864 , he offered himself as a consultant. However, the position went to Alexander von Siebold . Soon after, Charles went (again) to Japan, but the exact dates of his trip are debatable.

Connection to Satsuma-han

Godai Tomoatsu

At the beginning of September 1865 he came into contact with Shibata Takenaka , who was supposed to procure military aid and machines for the shipyard in Yokosuka that was to be built in France and England . However, since this Bakufu envoy also turned him away, he turned to the representatives of the Satsuma - han , who had been in London since June, immediately following the still existing travel ban on a ship belonging to the British company Thomas Glover Co.

Three members of this delegation reached Ostend on September 14th after meeting Montblanc or Saitō the day before their departure from England. They spent two days in Ingelmunster.

At the beginning of October an agreement was signed between Belgium, represented by Montblanc, and Satsuma-han, which provided for the establishment of a trading company. The group then traveled to Paris, where they sought eligibility to participate in the 1867 World's Fair - alongside Bakufu - with Montblanc as an intermediary. From February 7, 1866, Montblanc was the trade representative for Satsuma, but was in competition with the English Thomas Glover Co., which would fight him for years and have it slandered by journalists who were paid by it. The hostility of this campaign, which intensified during and after the 1868 rebellion, can still be found today in some biographies about Montblanc.

Iwashita Masahiro came to France at the beginning of 1867 as Satsuma's envoy to prepare with Montblanc for participation in the world exhibition. However, due to lack of money on the part of the Han, the ratification of the trade agreement and the delivery of the desired machines did not take place.

Second trip to Japan

In August 1867, "General" Montblanc, who had obtained a credit line of 400,000 francs for the Han , went with nine retired officers as military advisers to Nagasaki, where they arrived on October 19. His book Le Japon tel qu'il est was published before he left. It seems that Montblanc's federalist ideas, like those of Ernest Satow , had some influence on the ideas of the Satsuma Chōshū insurgents. In November, Montblanc, who said he was commissioned by the French Ministry of the Navy, was received by the daimyo in Kagoshima . In Nagasaki , the Bugyō ( 奉行 ) of the still existing Bakufu tried to arrest him. Montblanc, who was in the company of the British Consul Marcus Flowers , pressed a pistol to the judge's neck and returned to his samurai bodyguard. On December 5th, he traveled to the vicinity of Kyoto , where he met with Prince Shimazu and advised him over the chaotic days that followed.

On March 3, 1868, the new imperial government informed the French ambassador in Edo Léon Roches that they wished to replace the representative in Paris and instead Montblanc, who "had been in the service of one or the other Japanese prince", as consul general and charge d'affairs in Paris. On December 12, 1869, the final decision was made to make him kōmu benri shoku ( 公務 弁 理 職 ).

Paris

At the end of December 1869, Montblanc began their return journey. In March he presented his credentials to the French Foreign Ministry. On April 20, he was only confirmed as consul general, whereupon he opened a representative office in rue du Tivoli . On November 2nd, Sameshima Naonobu was appointed in his place . Montblanc then withdrew into private life, mostly living in Paris. He was still active as an ethnologist and orientalist . From 1875 to 1885 he was chairman of the Société de études japonaises chinoises tartares et indo-chinoises .

He was buried on January 27, 1894 in Ingelmunster .

Works

  • Le Japon tel qu'il est , Paris 1867 full text
  • Les isles Phillipines . in: Méde las société de études japonaises chinoises tartares et indo-chinoises, Vol. 2 (1877). Pp. 41-98

Literature and Sources

  • Albert Baron de Basompierre: Charles de Montblanc et la restauration japonaise de 1868 . In: Revue général Belge 89 (1953), pp. 229-244
  • Masahiro Terasako: Le Japon vu par Charles de Montblanc . In: 人 文学 論 集 25 (2007), pp. 69–80
  • WF Vanden Walle: An Extraordinary Destiny . In: W. F Vanden Walle, David de Coonman (Eds.): Japan & Belgium: Four Centuries of Exchange . Brusseles / Aichi 2005, ISBN 2-9600491-0-1 , pp. 140-155
  • WF Vanden Walle: Count de Montblanc and the 1865 Satsuma Mission to Europe . In: Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica, Vol. 27 (1996), pp. 151-176

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Bassompierre (1953), p. 232, other sources give: 1832–1898, cf. Van den Valle (2005), fn. 1, 5 24-26
  2. ↑ Basompierre (1953), p. 232, other sources give: 1858 or 1861, possibly with a research assignment from the French Foreign Ministry, cf. Van den Valle (2005), pp. 142 and fn. 18-26
  3. ↑ a b Travel report: Godai Tomoatsu ( 五代 友 厚 ): Kaikoku nikki ( 廻 国 日記 ). in: Godai Tomoatsu denki shiryō . Tokyo 1933
  4. ↑ Vanden Walle (2005), p. 141 and footnote for biographies
personal data
SURNAME Descantons de Montblanc, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 白山伯 (Japanese); Shirayama-haku
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian diplomat in Japan
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1894
Place of death Paris