An'ei
Appearance
An'ei (Japanese:安永) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) after Meiwa and before Tenmei. This period scanned the years 1772 through 1781. The reigning emperors were Go-Momozono-tennō (後桃園天皇) and Kōkaku-tennō (光格天皇).
Change of Era
- An'ei gannen (安永元年) or An'ei 1 (1772): The era name was changed to An'ei (meaning "peaceful eternity") to mark the enthronement of Emperor Go-Momozono and in hopes of turning attention from the serial catastrophic devastation from fires and storms in Meiwa 9. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in the 11th month of Meiwa 9.
Events of the An'ei Era
- An'ei 4 (1775): Epidemic diseases spread across the country -- in Edo alone, an estimated 190,000 perished.[1]
- An'ei 4 (1775): Swedish pyhsician and botanist Carl Peter Thunberg arrives at VOC outpost or "factory" in Nagasaki bay; and ultimately, his scientific activities will result in the first detailed, descriptive survey of the flora and fauna of the Japanese archipelago.
- An'ei 7 (1778): Kyoto suffers a massive flood.[2]
- An'ei 7 (1778): Volcanic island of Sakurajima erupts one mile away from Kagoshima on Kyushu, Satsuma province -- 16,000 dead.[3]
- An'ei 8 (1779): Dutch surgeon and cultural-anthropologist Isaac Titsingh arrives at Dejima for the first of three terms as Opperhoofd or captain of the VOC station; and ultimately, his seminal research will become a noteworthy step in that process in which the Japanese begin to describe and characterize themselves in their own terms. Titsingh's correspondence with William Marsden, a philologist colleague in the Royal Society in London, provides some insight into his personal appreciation of the task at hand. In an 1809 letter, he explains:
- "To form a proper idea of the spirit, the character, and the customs of a Nation, almost unknown in Europe, I deemed it preferable to represent them in their own dress, rather than to enter myself into particular details, always infected by the manner of considering the facts, notwithstanding the utmost endeavors to be guided by truth in the most essential parts. [T]o obtain this end, I applied during my stay in Japan to some friends, reputed as men of learning, and free from all national prejudices. [T]hey procured me such works on various topicks, as enjoy'd with them the highest regard. [H]aving succeeding in this, a litteral translation appeared to me more congenial with the purpose, and likely to be more satisfactory to the desire for more distinct notions on a people almost unknown, though fully deserving the attention, since a number of years so profusely lavished on the Chinese."[4] -- Isaac Titsingh
- Bakufu policy in this era was designed to marginalize the influence of foreigners in An'ei Japan; however, an unintended and opposite consequence of sakoku was to enhance the value and significance of a very small number of thoughtful observers like Thunberg and Titsingh, whose writings document what each scholar learned or discovered first-hand. Thunberg's and Titsingh's published accounts and their unpublished writings provided a unique and useful perspective for Orientalists and Japanologists in the 19th century; and the work of both men continues to be rigorously examined by modern researchers today.[5]
- An'ei 9 (1780): Heavy rains and floods in the Kantō necessitate extensive government relief in the flood-stricken areas.[6]
References
Notes
- ^ Hall, John. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, p. 121.
- ^ Hall, p. 121.
- ^ Hall, p. 121.
- ^ Titsingh, letter to Marsden dated 3 February 1809 in Frank Leguin, ed. (1990). Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh, Vol. I, p. 470, Letter No. 204 (not page number, but letter number -- pagination is continuous across the two volumes); see also Nihon Ōdai Ichiran for a congruent excerpt in another 1809 letter from Titsingh to Marsden.
- ^ See Screech, T. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, p.73.
- ^ Hall, p. 121.
Further reading
- Hall, John Whitney. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Lequin, Frank, ed. (1990). Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben. ISBN 90-5063-045-6
- Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-700-71720-X
- Thunberg, Carl Peter. (1804), Flora Japonica. Upsala.
- Thunberg, Carl Peter. (1796). Voyages de C.P. Thunberg au Japon par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance, les Isles de la Sonde, etc. (“Voyages of C.P. Thunberg to Japan, along the Cape of Good Hope, the Islands of Sunda etc”). Paris. -- Pertinent sections of Thunberg's work has been brought together in Richard Hildreth's "Japan as It Was and Is" (1855, pp. 387-423). A 1905 reprint from the collection of the University of Michigan has been made available online, digitized July 18, 2006. Click here to read original text in English.
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1822). Illustrations of Japan; consisting of Private Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning dynasty of The Djogouns, or Sovereigns of Japan; a description of the Feasts and Ceremonies observed throughout the year at their Court; and of the Ceremonies customary at Marriages and Funerals: to which are subjoined, observations on the legal suicide of the Japanese, remarks on their their poetry, an explanation of their mode of reckoning time, particulars respecting the Dosia powder, the preface of a work by Confoutzee on filial piety, &c. &c. by M. Titsingh formerly Chief Agent to the Dutch East India Company at Nangasaki. Translated from the French, by Frederic Shoberl with coloured plates, faithfully copied from Japanese original designs. London. Ackerman.
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1820). Mémoires et Anecdotes sur la Dynastie régnante des Djogouns, Souverains du Japon, avec la description des fêtes et cérémonies observées aux différentes époques de l'année à la Cour de ces Princes, et un appendice contenant des détails sur la poésie des Japonais, leur manière de diviser l'année, etc.; Ouvrage orné de Planches gravées et coloriées, tiré des Originaux Japonais par M. Titsingh; publié avec des Notes et Eclaircissemens Par M. Rémusat. Paris: Nepveu. -- Sample page and snippets from a digitized copy of this book are now uploaded online
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Supplément aux annales des daïri, appended to [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. --Two digitized examples of this rare book have now been made available online: (1) from the library of the University of Michigan, digitized January 30, 2007; and (2) from the library of Stanford University, digitized June 23, 2006. Click here to read the original text in French.
See also
An'ei | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
Gregorian | 1772 | 1773 | 1774 | 1775 | 1776 | 1777 | 1778 | 1779 | 1780 | 1781 |
Preceded by: |
Succeeded by: |