Matsudaira Sadanobu

松 平 定 信 Matsudaira Sadanobu
Born	Died
January 15, 1759	June 14, 1829
family
Father:	Tokugawa Munetake
Adoptive father:	Matsudaira Sadakuni ( 松 平 定邦 )
Siblings:	Matsudaira Sadakuni ( 松 平 定 国 ), Tokugawa Haruaki
Offices
Prince of Shirakawa	1783 - 1812
Presidency of the Council of Bakufu	1787 - 1793
Adviser to the Shogun	1788 - 1793

Matsudaira Sadanobu ( Japanese 松 平 定 信 ; * January 15, 1759 , † June 14, 1829 ) was daimyo of the Japanese principality ( han ) Shirakawa during the Tokugawa period . He was distinguished by bureaucratic and financial policy innovations that led his principality, which he headed from 1783 to 1787 , out of a massive economic crisis. In this experience, he was based during his relatively short tenure ( 1787 - 1793 ) as chairman of the Council ( goroju ) of the Bakufu and consultants ( 輔佐 , hosa ) of the shogun . During this phase, as part of his Kansei reforms , he restored the government's political power base and fought a financial crisis of the state and its employees.

youth

The seventh son of Tokugawa Munetake (1715-1771), Sadanobu was born on January 15, 1759 in Edo . His father was the first head of the Tokugawa branch family Tayasu , one of the go-sankyō ( 御 三 卿 ). These families go back to Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751) and formed the closest circle of the clan. If necessary, they served as an expanded selection area for the successor to the Shogun . Since Munetake himself was denied this position, it was in his interest that at least one of his descendants should take up this position. The training that Sadanobu received from an early age was correspondingly intensive.

The head of the Tayasu family was in turn the son of the eighth Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune . Thrift and frugality were central aspects of his Kyōhō reforms , which through Munetake had significant effects on the way of life and upbringing in the Tayasu house. This undoubtedly also shaped Sadanobu and pointed the way for his later political work.

Avoided succession as Shogun

In 1774, three years after his father's death, the 15-year-old Sadanobu's hopes of succeeding the supreme warlord came to an abrupt end. Since his brothers Sadakuni and Haruaki were already in other positions, Sadanobu was the next available candidate for a successor to his cousin Ieharu . However, Tanuma Okitsugu (1719–1788) saw himself in his supremacy in the council ( 老 中 , rōjū ). of Bakufu threatened. In order to maintain his influence with the successor of Ieharus, he had Sadanobu adopted by the daimyo of the fiefdom of Shirakawa, Matsudaira Sadakuni , as his successor and betrothed to his daughter. Tanuma was now certain of the control of the next shogun, as he passed the succession to the young Ienari, a nephew of Sadanobus from the closest branch of the Hitotsubashi family . On the other hand, this meant for Matsudaira Sadanobu that the title of Shogun, like his father, would be denied for life. On the 23rd day of the 11th month 1775, he moved to the property of the Prince of Shirakawa, also located in Edo, to prepare for his upcoming duties as daimyo.

Education and worldview

Sadanobu began his apprenticeship from his father at the young age of 5. In addition to a comprehensive education in politics and ethics, as well as reading Chinese history volumes, there was also first contact with the Confucian teachings . Furthermore, he showed a keen interest in the political scene at court from an early age and gained valuable experience here for his later career.

Even the time up to his assumption of office as daimyo, which he spends on the Shirakawa estate between the ages of 15 and 24, was characterized by an intensive and wide-ranging study. He reads a large number of Japanese and Chinese history texts, classics and other literary works, practices calligraphy , painting and poetry, and writes several thousand poems and numerous essays himself. His first political writings were also created in this phase.

In the philosophical area, Sadanobu orientated himself strongly to the teachings of Neoconfucianism and its principles of the cosmological order, according to which the hierarchy of society is regarded as immanent and given by nature. The resulting views of the higher social position of the rural population compared to the traders and craftsmen according to the four-class system ( Shi-Nō-Kō-Shō ), as well as the frugality and frugality that were conveyed to him as Yoshimune's legacy in the Tayasu house the political way of thinking of Sadanobu significantly shaped. This also becomes clear in his later Kansei reforms, since those innovations are primarily directed against the influential position of the traders, which they achieved under the mercantilist policy of his predecessor.

Political career

Characteristic of Matsudaira Sadanobu's political career was primarily his conservative reform policy, the aim of which was to restore the “golden times” of his grandfather. He repeated many measures that he had already applied in Shirakawa in his Kansei reforms on the level of Bakufu. It was not uncommon for him to display remarkable political calculations, which enabled him to gain recognition for various improvements that he had merely adapted or adopted from predecessors.

The resentment in the population, which was marked by uprisings and therefore favoring political change, which played a role both when he took office as daimyo and when he was appointed councilor of Bakufu, should also be mentioned in advance.

Fief of Shirakawa

In 1783, large parts of the country were threatened by the great Tenmei famine. Due to persistent rainfall and a series of natural disasters, a large part of the rice harvest was destroyed. The result was unrest and discontent among the population. This is also the case in Shirakawa-han, a fudai fiefdom with an average annual yield of 110,000 koku , in which almost the entire rice harvest was lost, which increased the price of rice up to six times.

The tense situation culminated in an uprising on August 26th. The ruling prince Matsudaira Sadakuni, weakened by a long-standing illness, was no longer able to cope with the situation and thus made room for his heir Sadanobu, who was then 24 years old, who will officially take office on October 16.

As part of a government aid program, more than 12,000 koku rice have now been bought from neighboring fiefs and given out to the population in rationing. This ensured the supply for about 200 days. Even though the planning of this program, according to records, began before Sadanobu's rule, he claimed the credit for averting the famine.

Furthermore, during this time Sadanobu carried out support measures for the peasant population, suspended taxes, paid off half of all debts and imported medicine to prevent possible epidemics. It was his concern to strengthen this population group, which represented the income basis of his fief. He resettled farming families, raised bans against abortion and infanticide and provided financial support for marriage and births. None of these measures originally came from Sadanobu. However, it is not always possible to determine whether they have already been carried out successfully. In any case, he could take credit for himself.

In the aftermath of the famine, he subjected his entire fief to a multi-year austerity policy and halved the pay of his followers. Sadanobu himself acted as a moral model by reducing his own lifestyle to the bare essentials, in line with the upbringing of his father. By the end of the decade, his reforms also made themselves felt financially. The household income of the fief until 1790 was a plus of 10,000 koku , which could be invested in economic and industrial expansion.

Ascent to bakufu

By the mid-1780s, Bakufu began to develop general dissatisfaction with Tanuma Okitsugu's policies . The circumstances of the death of Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu in August 1786 were subsequently used to intrigue against Tanuma and to force his resignation. Ieharu's successor was the fourteen-year-old Tokugawa Ienari , who was under the tutelage of his advisors until 1793 due to his minority. Matsudaira Sadanobu was supported during this time by the "three sublime houses [n]" ( go-sanke ) and proposed as the new chairman of the rōjū . However, this was initially rejected by the remaining supporters of Tanuma.

Similar to his assumption of office in Shirakawa-han four years earlier, Sadanobu owed his final appointment in 1787 to an uprising, this time in the capital Edo on the 20th day of the 5th month of 1787. And again this is due to massive crop failures, which amounted to almost a third of the total yield in rice cultivation. That uprising provided the necessary pressure for a political reorientation and induced some of its critics in the council to withdraw their objections. His appointment was finally made on June 19 of the same year.

His appointment as advisor to the Shogun on March 4 of the following year finally gave him the power he needed to replace Tanuma Okitsugu's last companions on the council with his own confidants, thus paving the way for his reform policy, which he under the motto “Back zu Yoshimune ”based on the kyōhō reform of his grandfather.

Kansei reforms

Bureaucratic innovations

In the state administration, Sadanobu began restructuring just a few months after taking office. Authorities below the council level were purged and more than 50 officials were dismissed. Strengthened by his appointment as regent, he gradually replaced the remaining followers of Tanuma with his own, much younger, confidants. He tried to remove imbalances in the power structures of Bakufu, which had arisen through the politics of Tanuma Okitsugu. He put the actual executive power back in the hands of the council by deposed the grand chamberlain ( 側 用人 , sobayōnin ). As intermediaries between the council and the Shogun under Tanuma, these had become central actors in the government.

Economic changes

Matsudaira Sadanobu saw the greatest need for action in the areas of the economy and public finances. Under the rule of his predecessor, which was characterized by mercantilism and expansionism, the merchant class had grown enormously in influence. Especially those rice traders and guilds in Edo who were responsible for trading tax rice ( 札 差 , fudasashi ) and were able to control the price of rice were a thorn in his side. Not only did the peasant population, who, according to Confucian views of the time, bore the entire tax burden, suffered from them, but also the subordinates of the bakufu were dependent on them. After the forced relocation to the cities under Tokugawa Ieyasu , the daimyō and their warrior officials were separated from their rural sources of income. On the one hand, they could not easily become a threat to the government, but on the other hand they were completely dependent on their remuneration through the bakufu . This was traditionally paid in rice, which again made the civil servants dependent on the rice traders. In most cases, however, this was not enough to pay for the expensive city life, which in Sadanobu's eyes was also to blame for the merchants, as the manipulation of the rice exchange rate also increased the price of goods. Above all, lower -ranking samurai were affected, such as the Hatamoto or Go-kenin , whose scholarships were relatively low. Accordingly, many public servants borrowed from traders and moneylenders with loans at a common interest rate of 18% per year. In the long run, this problem also affected Bakufu itself, as the debts of the followers fell back on the government in the event of insolvency.

The goals of his reform were clearly defined: The country's financial resources had to be released from the grip of the rice traders, money transactions and the market should come under state control again, the indebted samurai had to be relieved and the rural population strengthened.

In order to stabilize the rice market, Sadanobu initially set up three new authorities ( 会所 , kaisho ). The tasks of these offices were to control the granting of loans and the circulation of money. The administration was transferred to a group of government traders ( 御用 達 , go-yō-tachi ), whose cooperation with Bakufu was secured by providing the start-up capital as part of an investment company.

In addition, these authorities built warehouses in the territories around Edo in 1788 and provided appropriate rice reserves, which could be released to regulate the rice rate in times of great market fluctuations. Consequently, this would also have an impact on the general price of goods and thus on the cost of living for the population. In 1790 such rice granaries were built nationwide and a reserve of 0.5% of the income was imposed on the daimyo. On the one hand, this was intended to protect the rural population against famines such as those whom Sadanobu previously faced in Shirakawa and, on the other hand, to compensate for price fluctuations.

The credit system was also reorganized by granting low-interest government loans to the dealers who then resold them at higher interest rates. The interest rate on loans to followers of the bakufu was limited to 12%.

Supported by this system, the newly installed kaisho and with the expenditure of just 30,000 ryō from the state coffers, Sadanobu ordered the cancellation of all debts ( 棄 捐 , kien ) that were older than 20 years on the 16th day of the 9th month 1789 , and the gradual repayment of all recent debts. Through this measure, the Bakufu and his followers were freed from debts in the range of approximately 1.2 million ryō .

As further measures Sadanobus, which canceled the efforts of his predecessor Tanuma, he eliminated numerous raw material monopolies and dissolved trade guilds ( 株 仲 間 , kabu nakama ).

In this context, the thrift edicts should also be mentioned , which he issued to educate the population to be more restrained and to limit debts. Among other things, unusual clothing, elaborate hairstyles and lewd literature were banned.

The effect that Sadanobu achieved with his reforms was impressive, at least in the short term: While the state budget posted a deficit of 1,000,000 ryō when he took office in 1787 , he was even able to post an increase of 75,000 ryō from 1790 .

Foreign policy course

In addition to the above-mentioned restrictions on foreign trade, it was Sadanobu's intention to stop the other expansion efforts and the open enthusiasm for the West that were practiced under Tanuma Okitsugu . Western literature and contact with Europeans in Japan were more restricted.

This was also felt by the writer and scholar Hayashi Shihei , who in his texts advocated building a Japanese fleet and intervening in foreign policy on the Asian continent. He was placed under house arrest by Sadanobu in 1792 and his works were banned.

Trade relations and export agreements with the Empire of China and Holland were broken off or severely restricted, which led to the fact that in the years after 1790 foreign trade via Nagasaki came to an almost complete standstill. Sadanobu also strengthened the control and fortification of the coasts and stopped, also under the aspect of his previously mentioned savings measures, the colonization of the northern island of Ezo, today's Hokkaidō . The later arrival of the first military envoy from Russia under Adam Laxman confirmed Matsudaira Sadanobu's restoration of a stricter isolation of Japan.

Resignation and Legacy

On May 25, 1793, Sadanobu submitted a resignation from his position as advisor to the Shogun after 6 years. However, on July 23, he was relieved of both his duties as a hosa and his position as chairman of the council.

As a daimyo of Shirakawa, he finally resigned in 1812 and thus left the political stage.

His work received recognition and appreciation during his lifetime. In Shirakawa-han he was worshiped in numerous shrines and in 1855 with the divine title shukoku daimyōjin ( 守 国 大 明 神 ), the "great deity and protector of the country". Mizuno Tadakuni (1794-1851), who carried out the third major reform of the Tokugawa period during the tempō era , understood his measures as a reference to the politics of Sadanobu. An appreciation that is equivalent to that for Tokugawa Yoshimune by Sadanobu himself.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 27th day in the 12th month in the 8th year of the hōreki era; see. Ooms, Herman (1975): Charismatic Bureaucrat: A Political Biography of Matsudaira Sadanobu, 1759-1829 . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, p. 3
2. ↑ Tsukahira, Toshio G. (1966): Feudal Control in Tokugawa Japan: The Sankin Kōtai System . Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 201
3. ↑ Also: Tayasu Munetake; Source: Zöllner, Reinhard (2006): History of Japan - From 1800 to the present . Paderborn: According to Ferdinand Schöningh, p. 70, Sadanobu's father is Tayasu Yoshitake. Since this is an isolated case in my sources, however, I will stick to 'Munetake' in this article.
4. ↑ Consisting of Tayasu ( 田 安 ), Hitotsubashi ( 清水 ) and Shimizu ( 一 橋 ); see. Ooms (1975), p. 17
5. ↑ Naming through the current era name kyōhō ( 享 保 ; 1716–1736)
6. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 18; Zöllner (2006), p. 70.
7. ↑ See Ooms (1975), p. 17: Table 1
8. ↑ Zöllner (2006), pp. 70f
9. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 20
10. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 23
11. ^ Hauser, William B. (1974): Economic Institutional Change in Tokugawa Japan. Osaka and the Kinai Cotton Trade . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press p. 47
12. ↑ Hauser (1974), p. 47
13. ↑ Naming by the current era name tenmei ( 天明 ; 1781–1789); See Zöllner (2006), p. 71
14. ↑ Unit for volume capacity in the Japanese system of measurement. Corresponds to 186.4 liters; See Sheldon, Charles David (1958): The Rise of the Merchant Class in Tokugawa Japan . New York: JJ Augustin Inc. p. 179
15. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 50
16. ↑ Ooms (1975), pp. 51f
17. ↑ Ooms (1975), 56f
18. ^ Hall, John Whitney (1955): Tanuma Okitsugu. Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press ( Harvard Yenching Monograph Series , 14), p. 136
19. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 59
20. ^ Sansom (1987), p. 194
21. ↑ Zöllner (2006), p. 37; consisting of Kii ( 紀 伊 ), Owari ( 尾張 ) and Mito ( 水 戸 )
22. ↑ Ooms (1975), pp. 75f
23. ^ Hall (1955), p. 140
24. ^ Hall (1968), p. 191
25. ↑ Ooms (1975), pp. 78-82
26. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 4f
27. ↑ Sheldon (1958), pp. 122f
28. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 91.
29. ^ Sansom (1987), p. 197.
30. ↑ Unit of the former Japanese gold currency; Sheldon (1958), p. 180
31. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 83
32. ^ Hall (1968), p. 220
33. ^ Hall (1955), p. 86
34. ^ Hall (1955), p. 100
35. ^ Henderson, Dan Fenno (1968): Daimyo Rule in Castle Town and Village . in: John Whitney Hall - Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan , p. 220
36. ↑ Ooms (1975), p. 152

Remarks

1. ↑ This office is often translated as “regent”, especially in English-language literature. In this article, the terms 'advisor' and 'advisor' are used because on the one hand they are closer to the meaning of the word and on the other hand do not lead to confusion. For example with Hall, John Whitney (1968): The Japanese Empire . 14th edition. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag ( Fischer Weltgeschichte , 20), p. 175/251, which in the German version uses “Regent” as a translation for the office of Tairō ( 大老 ).
2. ↑ Sadakuni was adopted by the daimyo of Matsuyama. It should be noted that in the following he also takes the name Matsudaira and can therefore easily be confused with the prince of Shirakawa and adoptive father of Sadanobu, who is also called Matsudaira Sadakuni. Haruaki was to succeed his father.
3. ↑ Often translated in the literature as advice or council of elders
4. ↑ "Sword nobility, agriculture, handicraft, trade"
5. ↑ As fudai referred to those feudal lords who were already before the Battle of Sekigahara to the vassals of the Tokugawa and therefore have a close bond with the Bakufu.

bibliography

• Hall, John Whitney (1968): The Japanese Empire . 14th edition Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag ( Fischer Weltgeschichte , 20)
• Hall, John Whitney (1955): Tanuma Okitsugu. Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press ( Harvard Yenching Monograph Series , 14)
• Hauser, William B. (1974): Economic Institutional Change in Tokugawa Japan. Osaka and the Kinai Cotton Trade . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Henderson, Dan Fenno (1968): "Daimyo Rule in Castle Town and Village", in: Hall, John Whitney - Studies in the Institutional History of Early Modern Japan
• Ooms, Herman (1975): Charismatic Bureaucrat: A Political Biography of Matsudaira Sadanobu, 1759-1829 . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
• Sheldon, Charles David (1958): The Rise of the Merchant Class in Tokugawa Japan . New York: JJ Augustin Inc.
• Totman, Conrad (1993): Early Modern Japan . Berkley (et al.): University of California Press
• Tsukahira, Toshio G. (1966): Feudal Control in Tokugawa Japan: The Sankin Kōtai System . Cambridge: Harvard University Press
• Zöllner, Reinhard (2006): History of Japan - From 1800 to the present . Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh

predecessor	Office	successor
Matsudaira Sadakuni	Daimyo of Shirakawa 1783 - 1812	Matsudaira Sadanaga