The Downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate - Essay Example

College The Tokugawa Shogunate was a Japanese military government that existed in 1600 to 1868. It was headed by the Shoguns and every member had to be from the clan of Tokugawa. They ruled the castle of Edo during the Edo period that was named after them. However, after some period, the empire came to a sudden and dramatic halt that has shocked many historians. Various educators and historians have come up with various reasons as to how the empire fell. As time passes by, various historians have had changing views as to why the empire fell. This can be pointed to the changes in research methods and analysis that are becoming more and more professional, and better equipped. With these kinds of tools, various historical researchers find different evidence that they support as to how the empire fell. Some historians argue that the empire fell due to the social problems that the Tokugawa Shogunate faced during this time amongst them. Other scholars however insist that the empire fell due to the economic problems that the Tokugawa Shogunate empire faced in their last moments. This paper is a critical review of some of the historian’s view of the reason as to why the kingdom fell. The paper does not focus more on the reasons why the empire fell but looks at the conditions that surrounded the fall and how historians have been changing their views over the past years regarding the fall of the Tokugawa Empire. Other historians have criticized some of these historical interpretations. However, a keen look at some of the arguments that led to the fall of the empire reveals that most historians have a similar view as to why the empire fell with slight differences. From most of their interpretations, the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate is attributed to their obsolete methods in economical, political and foreign affairs, other than the civil wars and battles over various positions in the colony among the Samurai. During the reign of the Tokugawa, there was a hierarchy of living. Politicians and those in government were considered to be at the top of the hierarchy while farmer’s carpenters and other laborers were considered to be at the bottom of the hierarchy. Due to this, the Samurai soldiers were fond of numerous killings and would be found cutting off people lower in the hierarchy without any reason1. Due to this, some of the people in the lower hierarchy would resists and come to war with the people in the upper and centre of the hierarchy. This was a common phenomenon since the early periods of the empire. Some early Japanese historians attributed this to the fall of the Tokugawa Empire. However, to Sir George Sansom, this is completely wrong. He points out that the oppressions of the Samurai people had been there since the beginning and that this did not point out to the fall of the empire. Published in 1932, Sir George’s history of the Japanese people has been widely used in the US to teach history students. Even though he disagree that the empire fell due to the oppressions felt on the people, he is fast in pointing out that the Tokugawa period was characterized by oppression and feudal rule. He clearly points out that people considered lower in the hierarchy were highly mistreated and some of them killed without mercy. He however points that soldiers solved such disputes and that it had nothing to do with the fall of the empire2. George points out that the Tokugawa government kept to themselves and never opened up to the west that was bringing change to the rest of the world. Because of this, the government was left alone and continued to practice the old methods of governance, which had poor financial knowledge. Due to this, the economy of the empire did poorly as compared to that of its neighbors who had agreed to accept the west. There was therefore a cultural arrest of the Samurai people due to poor governance. Sir George therefore points out that poor governance led to the downfall of the Tokugawa Empire. This was depicted in many films and plays that was done on japans history and has been a major point of debate among historians with many scholars strongly dismissing this view3. According to professor Honjo, the Tokugawa started the dismantling of the original economical structure in the mid 1800, they started by replacing the rice currency with paper money a move that was projected to help do away with batter trade and come up with a more advanced mode of trade. This was also meant to modernize the country and to make it better. Since the Tokugawa had an outdated number of institutions, this modernization led to a lot of sociopolitical chaos that later led to very many factions competing for power. Many of the people especially in the higher government positions openly fought for the various available positions that were available4. Because of this constant struggle for power, the empire had to finally fall and people wanted to go back to their old system of power but this was not possible. Professor Honjo therefore blames the west for the fall of the Tokugawa Empire stating that the leadership could not cope with the complex system of governance that was introduced and as a result, the system had to fall. Had the Samurai continued with their old system of governance, there would have been no political rifts among the people and the empire could have moved on. The west was also interested in trading with the Samuria people and would do anything just to open it up. This was because Edo was populous and had over one million people making it the most populous city in the world at the time. Due to this, they financed Empire Mutsuhito to win over the people and take the Tokugawa land, which was a vital trade area. Stephen Turnbull is one of the greatest historians in Japanese affairs. With experience in different Japanese issues, Stephen points out that the main reason to the downfall of the Tokugawa empire of Japan is political and economic instability. He points out that weak governance that resulted from the Tokugawa distancing them from the outside world led to the people of lower Samurai fighting for their rights. Poor governance led to the people lacking basic commodities and rights due to the failures of the political class. In trying to do away with the west, the Tokugawa Empire was faced with many challenges that were social and economical. These problems were a major factor that led to rebellion among the lower Sumerian people. Stephens’s main point of view is that without western intervention, the Samurais would not have rebelled against its leadership. Western civilization was therefore the main reason to the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In 1860, there was a sudden interest in Tokugawa Shogunat. This was a triggered by the high population. Because of this, foreigners came into the land and brought with them new ideas, money and culture. This greatly affected the lifestyle of the people and resulted in people becoming disorganized. Due to this, the emperor at the time Komei, sensed danger and decided to chase away all the foreigners who had invaded Tokugawa Shogunate. However it was too late for him to stop the change that was already in place and as a result, they had to fall. Fewer warships were able to move through the waters of Tokugawa Shogunate as they were hijacked and the crew killed. Due to this, the western force decided to finance the Meiji Restoration, which was later to concur the empire-by-empire Mutsuhito who was considered a western puppet. This is the revelation according to Barrington Moore. The historian argues that even though Tokugawa Shogunate was a feudal state, it ended due to modernization that came from the influence of the western nations. He argues that any political power that highly depends on agriculture and agricultural products to drive its economy may as well be considered feudal. Due to this, Tokugawa Shogunate had to fall as most of the modernization from the west did away with some aspect of agriculture controlling the economy such as the use of rice currency5. According to Ray A. Moore, Tokugawa Shogunate did not fall because of the many intrinsic factors that faced it as depicted by many scholars. Western intrusion brought many complex political struggles that lasted for a long time between the bakufu and some of the bakufu critics. One of the reasons behind this is that when the western visitors moved into Tokugawa, they brought with them the concept of families owning property. This was unheard of in the Tokugawa Empire and as a result, there were some resistance. Most of senior politicians rejected this as it meant that the farmers who were the sole producers of the nation’s wealth would now own a lot of wealth as compared to the other people. However the efforts to stop families from owning wealth was in vain as most of the families soon started the idea of owning different properties. This resistance led to the political leadership turning on their visitors and chasing them out of their land. Because of these struggles, the Tokugawa Shogunate had to fall6. Over time, various scholars have come up with different views as to how the Tokugawa Shogunate fell. Most of the scholars in the early 20th century believed that the main reason why the Tokugawa Shogunate fell was due to the uprising of the lower class. They argued that due to the oppressions and killings that the lower class saw, they had to act to protect themselves from the oppression of the poor. This was a crude way of looking at the problems and can be attributed to the scholarly experience that the historians had at the time. With time however, scholars have to know that there was much relation between economic stability and political stability7. They analyzed the Tokugawa Shogunate and most scholars of the mid 20th century linked the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate to economic and political instability. Most of the scholars however linked the economic and political instability to the west. These scholars argue that the west was so much interested in the Edo market that they would do anything to have it. Because of this, they brought with them different cultures of the economy that had to totally transform the people. Later scholars linked the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the west. They argue that since the western nations were unable to convince the Tokugawa Shogunate leadership to adopt the new trade culture, they decided to fund outside forces to help defeat the Tokugawa Shogunate to bring the west into the Edo market8. From the above information, it is evident that the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate can be pointed towards economic and political instability. From the views of different scholars, it can be argued that even though the Tokugawa Shogunate Empire experienced a lot of instability from the people in the lower hierarchy due to the oppressions that they were exposed to, it is very unacceptable to link this to their downfall. Scholars argue that western civilization had a lot of negative effect on the empire’s economic as well as political system. From the above, it is also evident that as new generation of scholars pass, each generation comes up with a new view of how all these took place. However much they may try to explain the events that led to the downfall, it is clear that the Tokugawa Shogunate downfall came due to the weak economical and political system that came due to the destabilization from the western nations. References Gordon, Andrew. 2003. A modern history of Japan: from Tokugawa times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press. Maclay, Arthur Collins. 1889. Mito Yashiki, a tale of old Japan; being a feudal romance descriptive of the decline of the Shogunate and of the downfall of the power of the Tokugawa family. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. McOmie, William. 2006. The opening of Japan, 1853-1855: a comparative study of the American, British, Dutch and Russian naval expeditions to compel the Tokugawa Shogunate to conclude treaties and open ports to their ships. Folkestone: Global Oriental. Nichi-Bei Kyo?kai (Tokyo, Japan), C. Shibama, James D. Johnston, and Shigehiko Miyoshi. 1921. The first Japanese embassy to the United States of America, sent to Washington in 1860 as the first of the series of embassies specially sent abroad by the Tokugawa shogunate. Tokyo: America-Japan Society. Wigmore, John Henry. 1967. Law and justice in Tokugawa Japan: materials for the history of Japanese law and justice under the Tokugawa Shogunate 1603-1867. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. Wigmore, John Henry. 1983. Law and justice in Tokugawa Japan: Materials for the history of Japanese law and justice under the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603-1867. Part VIII-B, Persons : Legal precedents. Tokyo: Japan Foundation. Wigmore, John Henry. 1941. Law and justice in Tokugawa Japan, being materials for the history of Japanese law and justice under the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603-1867. Tokyo: Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. Wigmore, John Henry. 1971. Law and justice in Tokugawa Japan: Materials for the history of Japanese law and justice under the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1603-1867. Part V, Property : Civil customary law. Tokyo: Univ. of Tokyo Press, [for] The Japan Foundation. Read More