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Forty-seven Rōnin
The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, was a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their former master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is among the three major vengeance (''adauchi'' 仇討ち) incidents in Japan, along with the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta. The story tells of a group of samurai after their ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform ''seppuku'' (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official (''kōke'') named Kira Yoshinaka, after the court official insulted him. After waiting and planning for a year, the ''rōnin'' avenged their master's honour by killing Kira. Anticipating the authorities' intolerance of the vendetta's completion, they were prepared to face execution as a consequence. However, due to considerable public support in their favor, the authorities compromised by ordering the rōnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōke
A during the Edo period in Japan generally referred to the position of the "Master of Ceremonies", held by certain -less samurai ranking below a daimyō. Historically, or in a more general context, the term may refer to a family of old lineage and distinction. Perhaps the most famous Master of Ceremonies in history was Kira Yoshinaka aka , the real-life model of the villain avenged in the tale of the forty-seven rōnin of Akō Domain, Akō. Overview The office of ''kōke'' is typically translated "Master of Ceremonies" or "Master of Court Ceremony". The men who ''kōke'' position performed such roles as that of the courier carrying the ''shōgun''s messages to the Imperial court in Kyoto, or one of a reception committee for hosting the Imperial Envoys at Edo. They also represented the shogun in certain functions held at Nikkō, Tochigi, Nikkō and other shrines or temples, and regulated courtly ceremonies and rites observed in the Edo Castle. The office was instituted in 1608, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tales Of Old Japan
''Tales of Old Japan'' (1871) is an anthology of short stories compiled by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, Lord Redesdale, writing under the better known name of A.B. Mitford. These stories focus on various aspects of Japanese life before the Meiji Restoration. The book, which was written in 1871, forms an introduction to Japanese literature and culture, both through the stories, all adapted from Japanese sources, and Mitford's supplementary notes. Also included are Mitford's eyewitness accounts of a selection of Japanese rituals, ranging from harakiri (seppuku) and marriage to a selection of sermons. Table of contents * The Forty-Seven rônins * The Loves of Gompachi and Komurasaki * Kazuma's Revenge * A Story of the Otokodaté of Yedo * The Wonderful Adventures of Funakoshi Jiuyémon * The Eta Maiden and the Hatamoto * Fairy Tales ** The Tongue-cut Sparrow ** The Accomplished and Lucky Tea-kettle ** The Crackling Mountain ** The Story of the Old Man who Made Withered T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale
Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (24 February 1837 – 17 August 1916), was a British diplomat, collector and writer, whose most notable work is ''Tales of Old Japan'' (1871). Nicknamed "Bertie", he was the paternal grandfather of the Mitford sisters. Early years Mitford was the son of Henry Reveley Mitford (1804–1883), of Exbury House, Hampshire, and great-grandson of the historian William Mitford. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Classics. While his paternal ancestors were landed gentry, whose holdings included Mitford Castle in Northumberland, his mother Lady (Georgiana) Jemima Ashburnham was the daughter of the 3rd Earl of Ashburnham and Lady Charlotte Percy. After his parents separated in 1840, his father, an erstwhile attaché at Florence, resided in Germany and France; his early years were thus spent on the Continent. Like his cousin Swinburne, he was named Algernon after his great-grandfather Algernon Percy, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sengaku-ji
is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Sōtō school of Japanese Zen located in the Takanawa neighborhood of Minato-ku, near Sengakuji Station and Shinagawa Station, Tokyo, Japan. It was one of the three major Sōtō temples in Edo during the Tokugawa shogunate, and became famous through its connection with the Akō incident of the forty-seven Rōnin in the 18th century. History Sengaku-ji was founded as a small chapel by founding ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1612 and was initially located in Sotosakura, near modern Kasumigaseki. After it was destroyed in the ''Kan'ei'' Fire of 1641, third ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Iemitsu ordered the five ''daimyō'' clans of Mori, Asano, Kutsuki, Niwa and Mizutani to rebuild the temple at its present location in Takanawa, but on a much larger scale. As this temple became the Edo ''bodaiji'' for the Asano clan, after the ''seppuku'' Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori for having broken protocol and drawing a sword in the Edo Castle, his funer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Titsingh
Isaac Titsingh FRS ( January 1745 – 2 February 1812) was a Dutch diplomat, historian, Japanologist, and merchant.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Isaak Titsingh" in . During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the Dutch East India Company (). He represented the European trading company in exclusive official contact with Tokugawa Japan, traveling to Edo twice for audiences with the shogun and other high bakufu officials. He was the Dutch and VOC governor general in Chinsura, Bengal.Stephen R. Platt, ''Imperial Twilight: the Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age'' (NY: Knopf, 2018), 166-73. Titsingh worked with his counterpart, Charles Cornwallis, who was governor general of the British East India Company. In 1795, Titsingh represented Dutch and VOC interests in China, where his reception at the court of the Qing Qianlong Emperor stood in contrast to the rebuff suffered by British diplomat George Macartney's mission in 1793, just ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Era Name
The or , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being "", meaning "origin, basis"), followed by the literal "" meaning "year". Chinese era name, Era names originated in 140 BCE in Imperial China, during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han. As elsewhere in the Sinosphere, the use of era names was originally derived from Chinese imperial practice, although the Japanese system is independent of the Chinese, Korean era name, Korean, and Vietnamese era name, Vietnamese era name systems. Unlike its other Sinosphere counterparts, Japanese era names are still in official use. Government offices usually require era names and years for official papers. The five era names used since the end of the Edo period in 1868 can be abbreviated by taking the first letter of their Hepburn romanization, romanized names. For example, S55 means Shōwa 55 ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genroku
was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. The Genroku period spanned the years from September 1688 to March 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period was known for its peace and prosperity, as the previous hundred years of peace and seclusion in Japan had created relative economic stability. The arts and architecture flourished. There were unanticipated consequences when the shogunate debased the quality of coins as a strategy for financing the appearance of continuing Genroku affluence. This strategic miscalculation caused abrupt inflation. Then, in an effort to solve the ensuing crisis, the introduced what were called the Kyōhō Reforms. Change of era The was 1688. The new era name was created to mark the beginning of the reign of Emperor Higashiyama of Japan, Higashiyama. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Jōkyō 5, on the 30th day of the 9th month. A sense of optimism is suggested in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. Ieyasu became the ''shōgun,'' and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo), Edo (Tokyo) along with the ''daimyō'' lords of the ''samurai'' class. The Tokugawa shogunate organized Japanese society under the strict Edo society, Tokugawa class system and banned most foreigners under the isolationist policies of ''Sakoku'' to promote political stability. The Tokugawa shoguns governed Japan in a feudal system, with each ''daimyō'' administering a ''Han system, han'' (feudal domain), although the country was still nominally organized as provinces of Japan, imperial provinces. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced rapid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabuki
is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to have originated in the early Edo period, when the art's founder, Izumo no Okuni, formed a female dance troupe that performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629. Kabuki developed throughout the late 17th century and reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. In 2005, kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value. In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunraku
is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers), the (chanters), and musicians. Occasionally other instruments such as drums will be used. The combination of chanting and playing is called and the Japanese word for puppet (or dolls, generally) is . It is used in many plays. History 's history goes as far back as the 16th century, but the origins of its modern form can be traced to around the 1680s. It rose to popularity after the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1724) began a collaboration with the chanter Takemoto Gidayu (1651–1714), who established the Takemoto puppet theater in Osaka in 1684. Originally, the term referred only to the particular theater established in 1805 in Osaka, which was named the after the puppeteering ensemble of , an early 18th-century puppeteer from Awaji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chūshingura
is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early , the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media. With ten different television productions in the years 1997–2007 alone, ''Chūshingura'' ranks among the most familiar of all historical stories in Japan. Historical events The historical basis for the narrative began in 1701. The ruling ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Tsunayoshi placed Asano Takumi-no-kami Naganori, the ''daimyō'' of Akō, in charge of a reception of envoys from the Imperial Court in Kyoto. He also appointed the protocol official (''kōke'') Kira Kōzuke-no-suke Yoshinaka to instruct Asano in the ceremonies. On the day of the reception, at Edo Castle, Asano drew his short sword and attempted to kill Kira. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
