Crisis of togugawa bakuhan system- transition from feudalism to capitalism
Saturday, 1 June 2024 4:02 PM
The crisis of the tokugawa bakuhan system, a remarkable phenomena leading to the transition
from a feudal into a modern industrial society, can be broadly explained as a result of conjunction
of two processes: the internal crisis of feudal society and pressure from the western nations.
According to EH Norman Japan during tokugawa was feudal as there was centralised political
structure and tokugawa family depended on serf labour. However, Andrew Gordon argues that it
was centralised but cant be said to be feudal in nature.
The Tokugawa leaders set out to create institutions that would stabilize political and social
conditions. They succeeded remarkably well. Isolated for the most part from the rest of the world,
the Tokugawa system endured until 1868. After 1640, most foreigners except the dutch and
chinese, who had limited trading rights, were expelled. Shogunate also forbade any japanese to
leave the country. In this way japan was secluded from the rest of the world.
During this period there were very few battles to be fought: the Warring States Period had given
way to an era of ordered living.
Society, while stable, did not remain static. Although on the surface the Tokugawa political
system held intact for over two and a half centuries, the entire social and economic basis of that
system was quietly transformed. All classes of Japanese warriors, peasants, merchants underwent
profound change in nature and structure. Tokugawa society grew in unexpected directions until at
last a political revolution was inevitable.
The meiji Restoration thus meant the abolition of the dual system with Emperor as sovereign and
the Shogun as ruler, and the return to the earlier system when the Emperor as both sovereign and
ruler.
Tokugawa
Tokugawa feudalism dates from the early 17th century when Tokugawa Ieyasu established the
hegemony of his family over a large part of Japan and exerted indirect control throughout the
three great islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. He emerged in the preeminent position of
shogun [generalissimo, the highest military office in land], capable of disposing daimyos who
would not accept his overlordship, after the decisive battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The Shogunate
implied a distinctly separate seat of government in Edo, with the Emperor and his court in Kyoto
shorn of all actual power. The government by the shogun was often referred to as the shogunate
or bakufu. From this position of strength the tokugawa family spent the next several decades
building a new system of government. This was accomplished by institutionalising the control
measures devised by themselves.
Tokugawa administered the country along two lines:
- First, about one quarter of land, mostly concentrated in central Honshu, was directly under
tokugawa family and administration was directly through samurai retainers. It constituted
of all imp mines, major seaports including osaka and nagasaki and old capital city of
kyoto. Main revenue was through rice tribute.
- Second, remainder of the country was governed indirectly through the daimyo, a lord
possessing a han [domain], who were in allegiance to the tokugawa after 1600. The actual
power of tokugawa depended on stabilizing the coalition of daimyo through national
unification.
Daimyos:
There were three types of daimyos:
- Shimpan- members of tokugawa branch families.
- Fudai- those who pledged their loyalty to tokugawa before sekigahara battle. They were
considered trustworthy and were in central council and important positions.
- Tozama- who took tokugawa as lord after the battle. They were excluded from any
positions in shogunate. Among these were satsuma and chosu who fought against
tokugawa in battle supported by hizen and tosa. It was these two domains which led to the
fall of tokugawa.
There were various methods to ensure loyalty of daimyos and stabilize them:
- Rearrangement of domains
- alternate attendance system [sankin kotai]: to control daimyo and to ensure continuous
drain of economic resources of daimyos to reduce their power.
- Seclusion: this meant isolation of Japan. It was devised to cut off lords from foreign trade
and also to eliminate Christianity. With this, ties with outside world was almost severed.
Trading ties were only allowed with Dutch.
- Ideology: neo Confucian doctrines were given official sanctions.
Travel was discouraged by strict passport system, marriage alliances between daimyos were to be
ratified by the bakufu. Daimyo were forbidden to have direct contacts with court in kyoto. Most
formidable of the tozama was satsuma who was surrounded by clans equally hostile to tokugawa.
It was also a pioneer in manufacture of modern arms and despite bans, it maintained trading
