Hasekura Tsunenaga
Hasekura Tsunenaga ( Japanese 支 倉 常 長 ; * 1571 ; † 1622 ) was a samurai and follower of Date Masamune , the daimyo of Sendai . Between 1613 and 1620 he led an embassy to Mexico and then to Europe . Then he returned to Japan. Hasekura was the first official Japanese envoy to America, and it was the first time that relations between France and Japan were established.
Life
Little is known of the life of Hasekura Tsunenaga, except that his nickname was Rokuemon ( 六 右衛門 ) and that he was a veteran of the Japanese invasions in Korea under Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1592 and 1597.
Spanish advances
The Spaniard began after the travels of Andrés de Urdaneta in the 16th century on their base in the Philippines with trans -Pacific travel between Mexico ( " New Spain ") and China . Manila finally became their base in Asia in 1571.
Spanish ships were regularly shipwrecked due to bad weather on the coasts of Japan, which resulted in first contacts with this country. The Spaniards wanted to spread Christianity in Japan and expand their economic influence. Efforts by the Spaniards to expand their influence in Japan met with resolute resistance from the Jesuits , who had evangelized here since 1549, as well as the Portuguese and the Dutch , who neither wanted Spain to participate in the Japanese trade.
In 1609 the Spanish galleon San Francisco encountered bad weather on its way from Manila to Acapulco and sank off the coast of Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo . The sailors were rescued and treated kindly, the captain Rodrigo de Vivero even met with Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu . On November 29, 1609, a contract was signed under which the Spaniards were allowed to set up a trading post in eastern Japan, mining specialists from Mexico should come to Japan, and Spanish ships should be allowed to visit Japan if necessary. A Japanese embassy was to be sent to the Spanish court.
The Legation Project
context
The Franciscan Luis Sotelo , who was missionary in the area of Edo (Tokyo), convinced the Shogun to send him as ambassador to New Spain (Mexico). In 1610 he sailed with the returning Spanish sailors and 22 Japanese on board the Japanese warship San Buena Ventura , which had been built for the Shogun by the English adventurer William Adams. In Nueva España, Luis Sotelo met with Viceroy Luis de Velazco , who agreed to send an ambassador to Japan. The famous explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno was chosen for this task . He was also given the task of exploring the "gold and silver islands" believed to be east of Japan.
Vizcaino arrived in Japan in 1611 and had many meetings with the shogun and other feudal lords. These meetings were overshadowed by his low respect for Japanese customs, the growing resistance of the Japanese to Catholic proselytizing, and the intrigues of the Dutch against Spanish aspirations. Vizcaino finally left Japan in search of the "Silver Island", but suffered severe damage from bad weather and was forced to return to Japan.
The mission
The Shogun decided to build a galleon in Japan to bring Vizcaino and a Japanese embassy, accompanied by Br. Luis Sotelo, back to Nueva España. Date Masamune, the daimyo of Sendai, was appointed to lead the project. He appointed one of his followers, Hasekura Tsunenaga, to head the mission. The galleon, originally called Date Maru by the Japanese and later by the Spanish San Juan Bautista , was built in just 45 days with the support of technical experts from Bakufu , 800 shipbuilders , 700 blacksmiths and 3,000 carpenters . The samurai Yokozawa Shogen was appointed captain of the ship San . The aim of the Japanese embassy was to reach a trade agreement with the Spanish crown and the Pope . In his own account of the journey, Br. Sotelo emphasizes the spiritual dimension of mission:
“I used to serve as ambassador to Idate Masamune, who ruled the kingdom of Oxu (which is the eastern part of Japan), who, although not yet born again as a Christian through baptism, is already instructed and eager in the faith that the Christian faith should be preached in his kingdom, along with another nobleman at his court, Philip Franciscus Faxecura Rocuyemon to the Roman Senate and the one who held the Holy See at that time, His Holiness Pope Paul V. "
The spelling Faxecura Rocuyemon follows the then Japanese pronunciation ( Late Middle Japanese ) with / h / as [ .phi ] , / s / as [ ɕe ] and a free / s / as [ ever ].
Transpacific trip
After completion, the ship ran on October 28, 1613 to Acapulco in Mexico. There were around 180 people on board, including 10 samurai of the Shogun (selected by the Navy Minister Mukai Shogen Tadakatsu ), 12 samurai from Sendai, 120 Japanese traders, sailors and servants as well as about 40 Spaniards and Portuguese. After about three months of voyage, the ship arrived in Acapulco on January 25, 1614 and the embassy was received with great ceremony. The aim of the mission, however, was to travel on to Europe. The embassy spent some time in Mexico and then went to Veracruz on board Don Antonio Oquendo's fleet . The fleet then left for Europe on June 10th. Hasekura had to leave behind most of his Japanese companions who were to wait in Acapulco for his return.
Trip to europe
Spain
The fleet arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on October 5, 1614 .
- “After overcoming a number of dangers and storms, the fleet finally arrived safely in the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda on October 5th, where the Duke of Medina-Sidonia awaited the arrival. He sent carriages to meet them to honor them, received them and had prepared splendid accommodation for these pagan men. "
“The Japanese ambassador Hasekura Rokuemon, sent by Joate Masamune, king of Boju, entered Seville on October 23, 1614. He was accompanied by 30 Japanese with swords, their captain of the guard and twelve archers and halberdiers with colored lances and ceremonial swords. The captain of the guard was a Christian and was called Don Thomas, the son of one of the Japanese martyrs . "
The Japanese embassy met with King Philip III on January 30th . in Madrid. Hasekura presented the king with a letter from Date Masamune and an offer of contract. The king replied that he would do what he could to grant these requests. Hasekura was baptized by the court chaplain on February 17th and was given the baptismal name Felipe Francisco .
France
After a trip across Spain, the embassy sailed on three Spanish frigates across the Mediterranean to Italy . Because of bad weather, they were forced to seek refuge for a few days in the French port of Saint-Tropez , where they were received by the local nobility and caused a sensation among the population. The visit to the Japanese legation is recorded in the city chronicle as being led by "Philip Francis Faxicura, Ambassador to the Pope of Date Masamunni, King of Woxu in Japan".
Many details of their behavior that were remarkable at the time were recorded:
“They never touch the food with their fingers, but instead use two small chopsticks that they hold with three fingers. They blow their noses with soft, silky hand-sized paper that they never use twice and that they throw on the floor after use, and they were amazed that our people around them tried to excel at picking them up . Their swords cut so well that they can cut soft paper if you just put it on the edge and blow on it. "
Hasekura Tsunenaga's visit to Saint-Tropez in 1615 is the first recorded example of Franco-Japanese relations.
Italy
The Japanese embassy traveled to Italy, where it received an audience with Pope Paul V in Rome in November 1615 . Hasekura gave the Pope a letter on paper containing gold, which expressed the interest of Date Masamune in a trade agreement between Japan and Mexico and the sending of Christian missionaries to Japan. The Pope promised to send missionaries , but left the decision on the trade agreement to the Spanish king. The Pope wrote a letter to Date Masamune, a copy of which can still be seen in the Vatican today.
The Roman Senate gave Hasekura the honorary title of Roman citizen. He brought the relevant document back to Japan - it has been preserved in Sendai to this day. The Italian scribe Scipione Amati , who accompanied the legation in 1615 and 1616, published a book in Rome entitled "History of the Kingdom of Voxu". In 1616, the French journalist Abraham Savgrain published a report on Hasekura's visit to Rome: Récit de l'entrée solemnelle et remarquable faite à Rome, par Dom Philippe Francois Faxicura ("Report on the ceremonial and remarkable entry of Dom Philippe François Faxicura into Rome") .
Sotelo also described the visit to the Pope in his book De ecclesiae Iaponicae statu relatio from 1634 :
“When we came here through the help of God in the year of our salvation in 1615, we were welcomed not only kindly by His Holiness the Pope, the holy college of cardinals and a gathering of bishops and nobles and even the joy and general happiness of the Roman people but we and three others (who the Japanese Christians had specifically assigned to explain their situation with regard to the Christian religion) were heard, given a break and then, as expected, quickly dismissed. "
(Sotelo, De ecclesiae Iaponicae statu relatio ) "
Second visit to Spain
On his return to Spain, Hasekura met the king a second time, but the king refused to sign a trade agreement because the Japanese embassy did not appear to him as the official embassy of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ruler of all of Japan. In contrast to the goals of the legation, the latter had issued an edict in January 1614 which ordered the expulsion of all missionaries from Japan and allowed the persecution of the Christian faith in Japan . The embassy left Seville for Mexico in June 1617. They had spent two years in Europe. Some of the Japanese stayed in Spain, in a town near Seville called Coria del Río , where their descendants were named Japón .
Return to Japan
In April 1618, the San Juan Bautista arrived in the Philippines from Mexico. Hasekura and Luis Sotelo were on board. The ship was bought here by the Spanish government to strengthen the defense against the Dutch. Hasekura returned to Japan in August 1620. Drastic changes had happened in Japan during his absence. Since 1614 attempts were made to eradicate Christianity in Japan. During the " Sakoku " period that followed, Japan moved outward towards its complete isolation. Because of the persecution, the trade agreement with Mexico was not approved. The embassy therefore seemed to have little success in the end. Hasekura's eyewitness accounts of Spanish power and colonial methods in Mexico may have triggered Tokugawa Hidetada's decision to break off trade with Spain in 1623 and diplomatic relations in 1624.
What exactly happened to Hasekura afterwards is unknown, although numerous accounts of his final years have circulated. Some say that he voluntarily renounced Christianity, others that he died a martyr for his faith, and still others that he continued to practice Christianity in secret. Hasekura Tsunenaga died in 1622; his grave can still be seen today in the Buddhist temple Enfuku-ji (円 福寺) in Kawasaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Many years later, in 1634, Sotelo gives a report that allows Hasekura to return to Japan as a hero who spread the Christian faith there:
“My other colleague, Ambassador Philip Faxecura, after reaching the aforementioned King [Date Masamune], was highly honored by him and sent to his own lands to rest after such a long and tiring journey, where he would meet his wife, his Made children, servants, and many other vassals into Christians, and advised other noble members of his kin to accept the faith, which they did. While engaged in these and other pious works, a full year after his return, after teaching many and setting an excellent example, he passed away in the faith after thorough preparation. He gave his children the task of spreading the faith and protecting the religious orders in his kingdom. The king and all the nobles were deeply saddened by his passing, but especially the faithful and religious, who knew very well the virtue and spiritual zeal of this man. This is what I heard from letters from the same religious who gave him the sacraments and who were present at his death, as well as from others. (Luis Sotelo, De ecclesiae Iaponicae statu relatio ) "
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See also
- Epoch of the Namban trade
- Mancio Ito , first Japanese embassy to Europe in 1584
- Shusaku Endo , author of the novel The Samurai , a fictional narrative of the mission of Hasekura
literature
- Boxer, CR The Christian Century in Japan, 1549-1650 . Berkeley, Calif .: University of California Press, 1951. ISBN 1-85754-035-2 (1993 reprint edition).
- Marcouin, Francis and Keiko Omoto. Quand le Japon s'ouvrit au monde . Paris: Découvertes Gallimard, 1990. ISBN 2-07-053118-X .
Web links
- Víctor Valencia Japón: De Japón a Roma pasando por Coria 1614-1620 .
- A samurai in the Vatican , documentation about Hasekura Tsunenaga, Arte
Remarks
- ↑ Nempe fuisse me quondam Idate Masamune, qui regni Oxu (quod est in Orientali Iaponiæ parte) gubernacula tenet, nec dum quidem per baptismum regenerato, sed tamen Catechumeno, & qui Christianam fidem in suo regno prædicari cupiebat, simul cum alio SUAE Curiæ optimate Philippo Francisco Faxecura Retuyemon [sic] ad Romanam Curiam & qui tunc Apostolicæ sedis culmen tenebat SS. Papam Paulum V. qui ad cœlos evolavit, Legatum expeditum. ( Page 1 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ↑ «Se llegó por fin a salvo, después de algunos peligros y tempestades al puerto de Sanlúcar de Barrameda el 5 de Octubre, donde residiendo el Duque de Medina Sidonia y avisado del arribo, envió carrozas para honrarlos, recibirlos ell y acomodar en ya sus gentiles hombres, habiéndoles preparado un suntuoso alojamiento; y después de haber cumplido con esta obligación como correspondía, y de regalarlos con toda liberalidad, a instancias de la ciudad de Sevilla hizo armar dos galeras, las cuales llevaron a los embajadores a CORIA, donde fueron hospedados por orden de la dicha Ciudad por Don Pedro Galindo, veinticuatro, el cual se ocupó con gran diligencia en tener satisfecho el ánimo del Embajador con todos los placeres y regalos posibles, procurando este entretanto que preparasen ropas nuevas a su séquito y ayudantes para resplandecer con pomp Seville. Mientras se resolvía esta cuestión, la Ciudad determinó enviar a Coria a Don Diego de Cabrera, hermano del padre Sotelo, a Don Bartolomé López de Mesa, del hábito de Calatraba, a Don Bernardo de Ribera, a Don Pedro Galindo ya multitud de jurados y otros caballeros para que en su nombre besaran la mano al Embajador y lo felicitaron por su llegada a salvo. Sobre esto, quedó el Embajador contentísimo, agradeció mucho a la Ciudad que por su generosidad se complacía en honrarle, y departió con los dichos caballeros mostrando mucha prudencia en su trato ». "A veintiuno de Octubre del dicho año la Ciudad hizo otra demostración de la mayor cortesía para el recibimiento del Embajador y del Padre Sotelo mandando carrozas, cabalgaduras y gran número de caballeros y de nobles queata lo escoltaron form. Una Saliendo el Embajador de Coria, vio con sumo placer el honor que se le había preparado, la pompa de los caballeros y la gran cantidad de gente que lo acompañó durante su camino hacia Seville ». «Cerca de Triana y antes de cruzar el puente, se multiplicó de tal manera el número de carrozas, caballos y gentes de todo género, que no bastaba la diligencia de dos alguaciles y de otros ministros de la justicia para poder atravesarlo. Finalmente compareció el Conde de Salvatierra. Asistente de la Ciudad, con gran número de titulados y con los restantes veinticuatro y caballeros; y el embajador desmontando de la carroza, montó a caballo con el Capitán de su guardia y Caballerizo, vestido sobriamente, a la usanza del Japón, y mostrando al Asistente lo obligado que quedaba de la mucha cortesía y honores que la Ciudad se servía de usar con él, fue puesto en medio del dicho Asistente y Alguaciles Mayores y prosiguiéndose la cabalgata con increíble aplauso y contento de la gente, por la Puerta de Triana se dirigieron al Alcalzar Real. » (Scipione Amati, Historia del regno di Voxu , 1615)
- ↑ "Miércoles 23 de octubre de 1614 años entró en Sevilla el embaxador Japon Faxera Recuremon, embiado de Joate Masamune, rey de Boju. Traía treinta hombres japones con cuchillas, con su capitán de la guardia, y doce flecheros y alabarderos pintad yanças sus cuchillas de abara. El capitán era christiano y se llamaba don Thomas, y era hijo de un mártyr Japón. Venía a dar la obediencia a Su Santidad por su rey y reyno, que se avía baptizado. Todos traían rosarios al cuello; y él venía a recibir el baptismo de mano de Su Santidad. Venía en su compañía fray Luis Sotelo, natural de Sevilla, religioso de San Francisco recoleto. Salieron a Coria a recebirlo por la Ciudad, el veinticuatro don Bartolomé Lopez de Mesa, y el veinticuatro don Pedro Galindo; y junto a la puente los recibió la Ciudad. Entró por la puerta de Triana, y fué al Alcázar, donde la Ciudad lo hospedó, y hizo la costa mientras estubo en Sevilla. Vido la Ciudad, y subió a la Torre. Lunes 27 de octubre de dicho año por la tarde, el dicho embaxador, con el dicho padre fray Luis Sotelo, entró en la Ciudad con el presente de su rey con toda la guardia, todos a caballo desde la puente. Dió su embaxada sentado al lado del asistente en su lengua, que interpretó el padre fray Luis Sotelo, y una carta de su rey, y una espada a su usanza, que se puso en el archibo de la Ciudad. Esta espada se conservó hasta la revolución del 68 que la chusma la robó. La embaxada para su magestad el rey don Felipe Tercero, nuestro señor, no trataba de religious, sino de amistad. (Biblioteca Capitular Calombina 84-7-19 .Memorias…, fol. 195) "
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↑ Excerpts from the original:
- "Il ya huit jours qu'il passa a St Troppez un grand seigneur India, take Don Felipe Fransceco Faxicura, Ambassadeur vers le Pape, de la part de Idate Massamuni Roy de Woxu au Jappon, feudataire du grand Roy du Japon et de Meaco. Il avoit plus de trente personnes a sa suite, et entre autre, sept autres pages tous fort bien vetus et tous camuz, en sorte qu'ilz sembloyent presque tous freres. Ils avaient trois fregates fort lestes, lesuqelles portoient tout son attirail. Ils ont la teste rase, execpte une petite bordure sur le derrier faisant une flotte de cheveux sur la cime de la teste retroussee, et nouee a la Chinoise…. »
- «… Ilz se mouchent dans des mouchoirs de paper de soye de Chine, de la grandeur de la main a peu prez, et ne se servent jamais deux fois d'un mouchoir, de sorte que toutes les fois qu'ilz ne mouchoyent, ils jestoyent leurs papiers par terre, et avoyent le plaisir de les voir ramasser a ceux de deca qui les alloyent voir, ou il y avoit grande presse du peuple qui s'entre batoit pour un ramasser principallement de ceux de l'Ambassadeur qui estoyent hystoriez par les bordz, comme les plus riches poulletz des dames de la Cour. Ils en portient quantite dans leur seign, et ils ont apporte provision suffisante pour ce long voyage, qu'ilz sont venus faire du deca…. "
- «… Le ses epees et dagues sont faictes en fasson de simmetterre tres peu courbe, et de moyenne longueur et sont sy fort tranchantz que y mettant un feuillet de papier et soufflant ilz couppent le papier, et encore de leur papier quy est beaucoup plus deslie que le notre et est faict de soye sur lesquels ils escrivent avec un pinceau. "
- "... Quand ilz mangeoient ils ne touchent jamais leur chair sinon avec deux petits batons qu'ils tiennent avec trois doigts." (Francis Marcouin and Keiko Omoto: Quand le Japon s'ouvrit au monde. Paris: Découvertes Gallimard, 1990. ISBN 2-07-053118-X . Pp. 114–116)
- ↑ Quo tandem cum anno Salutis 1615. iuvante deo pervenissemus, à SS. Papa magno cum Cardinalium Sacri Collegij Antistitum ac Nobilium concursu, nec non & Rome. populi ingenti lætitia & communi alacritate non modo benignè excepti, verùm & humanissimè tam nos quam etiã tres alij, quos Iaponii Christiani, quatenus eorum circa Christianam Religionem statum Apostolicis auribus intimarent, specialiter destinaverant, auditi, optabus exped, & proutiti. ( Page 1 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ↑ Collega alter legatus Philippus Fiaxecura [sic] postquam ad prædictum Regem suum pervenit, ab ipso valdè est honoratus, & in proprium statum missus, ut tam longâ viâ fessus reficeretur, ubi uxorem, filios, Christian domesticos cum multis ali effecitallis hominibus consanguineis & propinquis suasit ut fidem reciperent; quam utique receperunt. Dum in his & aliis piis operibus exerceretur ante annum completum post eius regressum magna cum omnium ædificatione & exemplo, multa cum præparatione suis filiis hæreditate præcipua fidei propagationem in suo statu, & Religiosorum in eo regno pretunctus commendat. De cuius discessu Rex & omnes Nobiles valdè doluerunt, præcipuè tamen Christiani & Religiosi, qui huius viri virtutem & fidei Zelum optimè noverant. Ab ipsis Religiosis, qui eidem sacramenta ministrarunt, eiusque obitui interfuerant; & from aliis sic per literas accepi. ( P. 16 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hasekura Tsunenaga |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hasekura Rokuemon Tsunenaga; 支 倉 六 右衛門 常 長 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese samurai and diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1571 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1622 |