When was the Meiji period in Japan?

In Asia in the mid-19th century, Japan was in the last shogunate-Tokugawa shogunate era. The tyranny of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji period

aroused many people who were engaged in farming from time to time. Externally, the policy of "locking up the country" was implemented, and foreign missionaries, businessmen and civilians were prohibited from entering Japan. Only businessmen from the Netherlands and China (the Qing Empire) were allowed to continue their activities in Nagasaki, the only port that was originally open to the outside world. In addition, the Tokugawa shogunate also prohibited Christian belief.

At the same time, in some economically developed areas of Japan, cottage industries or handicraft workshops began to appear. The system of "employing workers" appeared in the workshop, forming a capitalist production system. With the rapid expansion of commodity economy, the strength of the merchant class, especially the financial operators, has gradually increased. Businessmen felt that the old system was serious-it hindered their development, so they began to call for the reform of the political system. Bourgeois-colored celebrities (vassals), warriors, and businessmen who demanded system reform formed a political alliance, and together with the grassroots farmers who opposed the shogunate, they formed the strength foundation of the "anti-curtain faction."

in p>1852, brigadier general Matthew? Matthew Calbraith Perry led his fleet into Puhe, on the bank of Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay), and asked to negotiate with the Tokugawa shogunate, which is known as the "Black Ship Incident" (also known as "Black Ship Founding"). In 1854, Japan and the United States signed the "Japan-US Goodwill Treaty" in Kanagawa, agreeing to open two ports, Shimoda and Hakodate, to the United States except Nagasaki, and granting the United States most-favored-nation treatment. Due to the signing of a series of unequal treaties, the Tokugawa shogunate once again became the target of Japanese social crusade. The Japanese feudal camp was divided, and the elements demanding reform among the middle and lower samurai formed an innovative force, calling for respecting the king and resisting foreigners. The representative figures of the innovative forces are Yoshida Shōin, takasugi shinsaku, ōkubo Toshimichi, Kido Takayoshi, Saigō Takamori, Yokoi Xiaonan, and Yoshijiro Omura, mainly concentrated in the southwestern strong vassals such as Changzhou (now Yamaguchi Prefecture), Samo (now Kagoshima Prefecture), Tosa (now Kochi Prefecture), and Feiqian (now Saga Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture). These vassal states had a deep contradiction with the shogunate in history, accepted overseas influence earlier, and were more active in importing modern science and technology and promoting middle and lower samurai.

at the end of the shogunate, capitalism sprouted in the economy, and at the same time, the so-called rich peasants and rich businessmen appeared. Under the slogan of respecting the king and resisting foreign aggression, the innovative forces among the lower-level samurai and the people with lofty ideals who were born in a noble family, joined forces with the powerful vassals in the southwest and the royal officials who were in conflict with the shogunate, and launched a struggle to reform the screen government and resist foreign aggression, which was promoted by the people and developed into an armed rebellion.

meiji period-after the curtain fell

in June of 1863, the shogunate was forced to declare that it was a foreign country, and then the American and French warships attacked Shimonoseki and the British fleet attacked Samoan. In the spring of 1865, takasugi shinsaku, the leader of the anti-foreigners faction of Changzhou Francisco, put forward the strategy of opening a port to discuss the curtain, decided not to mention anti-foreigners, turned to armed opposition, and formed a secret military alliance with Samo Francisco. At the same time, Britain also weighed the advantages and disadvantages, changed its strategy, and helped the rebels. The shogunate, on the other hand, took refuge in France and launched the second war of conquering Changzhou Francisco in July 1866. At this time, the people's uprising was surging and dealt a heavy blow to the shogunate. Changzhou-Francisco joined forces to fight bravely and forced the shogunate to withdraw in September of the same year.

In p>1867, when Emperor Xiaoming died, Prince Muren (Emperor Meiji) ascended the throne, and the rebels actively allied themselves with dispatch troops. On November 8, the emperor issued a secret order to discuss the curtain. On the 9th, the shogunate general Tokugawa Yoshinobu called for "returning the major policies", but at the same time he assembled elite troops in Osaka in an attempt to rebel. On January 3, 1868 (the year of Wuchen), the Emperor issued the "Great Order of Restoration of the Imperial Government", abolishing the shogunate and making Tokugawa Qingxi "resign from his post and take over the land". On the 8th and 1th, Tokugawa Yoshinobu declared the "imperial decree of restoring ancient ways" illegal in Osaka. On January 27th, 5, troops of the Emperor's Army, with Saskatchewan and Nagano as the main forces, fought a fierce battle with 15, troops of the Shogunate Army near Kyoto (the battle of bird feather and Fujian), and Tokugawa Yoshinobu defeated Edo. The Wu-Chen War began. The Emperor's army made a large-scale crusade to the East, forcing Tokugawa Yoshinobu to hand over Edo City on May 3, 1868, and to pacify the rebel vassals in Northeast China in early November. In the spring of 1869, the Imperial Army went to Hokkaido, and on June 27, it captured the last stronghold of the shogunate remnants (in Hakodate), and the Wuchen War ended.

meiji period-the reform of the new government

the new government headed by the emperor issued the five oaths with political programmatic nature on April 6, 1868, and the book of government on June 11. On September 3rd, the Emperor issued a decree to rename Edo Tokyo. On October 23, the year number was changed to Meiji. May 9, 1869

Moved the capital to Tokyo during Meiji period. And promulgated a series of reform measures: in June, 1869, the Meiji government enforced the policy of "returning the official titles" and "abolishing the vassals and setting up counties", divided Japan into three prefectures and 72 counties, and established a centralized political system. Reform the identity system, abolish the identity system of "scholar, agriculture, industry and commerce" in the traditional era, change the past nobles such as officials and princes to "Chinese", and change the samurai below the name to "gentry"; In order to reduce the financial burden associated with "returning the edition", the feudal salary was gradually abolished; In addition, the samurai's "Knife Scraping Order" and the "Household Registration Law" which established the basis of the household registration system were also promulgated. In terms of social culture, we advocate learning western social culture and habits and translating western works. In the calendar system, the lunar calendar is stopped and the sun calendar is used instead (except the year number). Introducing modern western industrial technology; Reform the land system, abolish the original land policy, permit land sales, and implement a new local tax policy; Abolish the checkpoints set up by the vassals; Unified currency, and set up the Bank of Japan (the central bank of the country) in 1882; Cancel the guild system and monopoly organizations in the industrial and commercial sector to promote the development of industry and commerce. In terms of education, modern compulsory education is developed. The whole country is divided into eight university districts, each with one university, 32 middle school districts and one middle school. Each middle school district has 21 primary school districts and each primary school district has eight primary schools, making a total of eight public universities, 245 middle schools and 53,76 primary schools. Educational institutions promulgated "Kao Yu Yi Yu" to instill ideas such as Kao Dao, loyalty to the monarch and patriotism (some people think that this move is intended to strengthen the social system with centralized supreme power and pave the way for future external expansion). In addition, we also send overseas students to study in advanced countries such as Britain, America, France and Germany. On the military side, reform the military establishment, the army refers to German training, and the navy refers to the British navy. In 1872, the draft order was issued, and all adult men over the age of 2 were required to perform military service. The general service was 3 years, and the reserve was 2 years. Later, the general service and reserve were increased to 3 years and 9 years respectively, totaling 12 years. In 1873, the number of combat troops mobilized could reach 4,. In addition, the Meiji government also developed the state-owned arms industry; In the middle and late Meiji era, the military budget increased sharply, accounting for about 3% ~ 45% of government funds. In terms of transportation, improve local transportation and build new railways and highways. In 1872, the first railway-Tokyo (Xinqiao) to Yokohama (Sakuragi-CHO) was opened to traffic; By 1914, the total railway mileage in Japan had exceeded 7 kilometers. In the judicial aspect, following the western system, French criminal law was enacted in 1882, French-German mixed civil law was enacted in 1898, and American commercial law was enacted in 1899. Religion, for political reasons, the government strongly encourages Shintoism, because it promotes the idea of loyalty to the emperor, which is helpful for the emperor to rule the country. At the same time, other religions are allowed to exist. In 1873, Japan lifted the ban on Christian missionary work.

in p>1871, the Meiji government sent a large-scale envoy headed by right minister Iwakura Tomomi to visit Europe and America to inspect the capitalist country system. Under the slogan of making Qiang Bing a rich country, prospering through industrialization, and being civilized, the government actively introduced western science and technology, carried out large-scale primitive accumulation by means of high land tax, and established a number of state-owned enterprises focusing on military industry, mines, railways and shipping. At the same time, introduce modern equipment such as silk reeling and textile, establish demonstration factories and popularize advanced technology; Recruit foreign experts, send overseas students abroad, and train senior scientific and technological talents. Because the excessive financial burden once caused the financial crisis, in the early 198s, the government sold a batch of state-owned enterprises and mines to privileged capitalists (so-called political businessmen) who colluded with the government, encouraged Chinese, landlords, businessmen and upper-class gentry to invest in banks, railways and other enterprises with generous protection policies, and cultivated a number of chaebols. Since the mid-198s, the climax of the industrial revolution began to appear, centering on the textile industry.

Meiji period-autocratic imperial system and foreign aggression and expansion

Meiji government deified the absolute authority of the emperor politically, established a "Chinese family" system to safeguard the special status of the old vassal

Meiji period and officials, and included the reform heroes and chaebols among the Chinese to cultivate the privileged class; Economically support feudal chaebol and parasitic landlords; Advocating Shinto, Imperial Taoism and Confucianism ideologically, and introducing German idealism philosophy. In 1882, he issued the "Military Command", advocating Bushido. In 189, imperial rescript on education was released, and militarism education centered on loyalty to the emperor was promoted. After Meiji Restoration, Japan changed from a feudal country ruled by Mufan lords to a feudal capitalist country. Warlords and bureaucratic aristocrats with strong vassal origins, such as Samo and Changzhou, who closely colluded with the chaebol, held the political handle for a long time and promoted "vassal politics" in the process of establishing the modern emperor system. In the 197s and 198s, there was a movement of freedom and civil rights in Japan, which opposed autocratic politics and fought for bourgeois freedom and democratic rights. The Meiji government disintegrated this movement through violent repression and political differentiation, and promulgated the Meiji Constitution in 1889 and opened the National Assembly in 189, thus establishing an autocratic constitutional monarchy, that is, the modern Japanese Mikado system.

in terms of foreign relations, with the increasing national strength, we have been constantly negotiating and demanding the revision of the treaty. The treaty was revised in 1894 and finally abolished in 1911. In the early years of Meiji, Japan planned to invade and expand its Asian neighbors. In 1874, he invaded Taiwan Province, China. Armed invasion of North Korea in 1875 forced North Korea to sign the Jianghua Treaty the following year. In 1879, Ryukyu was annexed and changed to Okinawa Prefecture. By the end of 198s, the mainland policy with the main goal of invading China and Korea was basically formed. Since the mid-199s, it has been waging wars of aggression against foreign countries.

Meiji Period-Historical Significance

Japan, which gradually became rich after Meiji Restoration, used its strong national strength to gradually abolish the unequal treaties signed with western powers and recover its national sovereignty, and got rid of the crisis of becoming a colony

Meiji Period; Then, with the rapid improvement of economic strength, military strength was also rapidly strengthened. In 1895 and 194-195, they defeated the two powerful countries in the past, the Qing Empire and Tsarist Russia, in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the Russo-Japanese War, respectively, and attracted the attention of western powers, becoming the dominant Asian power for a while; Fukuzawa Yukichi's theory of "leaving Asia and entering Europe" also became the orthodox theory at this time.

In the early days of the Reform, due to the policies of the Meiji government, the social status of samurai declined greatly. With the gradual reduction of salary, the financial security of samurai has also been weakened. All these led to the dissatisfaction of the gentry with the Meiji government, and the armed resistance occurred one after another. Saigō Takamori, the hero of the Reform, launched the Southwest War in 1877 with Kagoshima County as the center, which became the last and largest battle against the gentry. After the defeat, the remaining members of the gentry went underground, combined with the "Movement for the Establishment of Elected Houses" led by Banyuan's retreat, and formed political opposition through the development of the "Freedom and Civil Rights Movement". In 1889, the Constitution of the Great Japanese Empire was published, becoming the first written constitution in Asia. In 189, the Japanese Parliament (Imperial Parliament) officially began to operate.

As for the social and cultural changes, with the intellectuals studying abroad (Ito Bowen, Otaru Chongxin, Nitobe Inazo, etc.) absorbing and introducing western culture and laws and regulations into Japan, and the introduction of many modern things, the trend of "civilization" has gradually formed, which has had a great impact on the traditional and conservative Japanese society. Not only has there been a westernized change in material needs and living habits, but with the extensive implementation of the education system and social organizations, there has also been a tendency to modernize ideas and concepts (such as punctuality, hygiene and western etiquette); The influence of literature and art is not small (especially modern literature and European-style architecture).

On the other hand, although the Meiji government was determined to reform, the overall emphasis on promoting the country's prosperity left many problems, such as the excessive power of the emperor, the long-term control of state affairs by powerful people from vassal areas, the formation of a powerful "vassal politics" system, the serious land merger, and the monopoly of market economy by emerging chaebols. These negative problems interact with some intractable social problems that occur and accumulate in the future, and finally directly or indirectly push Japan onto the road of aggression and expansion.

Meiji Period-Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration was a political revolution in Japanese history. It overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate, returned the major government to the emperor, carried out great reforms in politics, economy and society, and promoted Japan's modernization and westernization. The main leaders of Meiji Restoration were some young warriors, who took the slogan of "Rich Qiang Bing" in an attempt to build a country that could keep pace with the West. In 1871, the county was abolished and all feudal regimes were destroyed. In the same year, a new standing army was established. In 1873, the national compulsory military system was implemented and the agricultural tax was reformed. In addition, the currency was unified. In the mid-197s, these reforms were opposed by two sides: on the one hand, frustrated warriors rallied farmers who were dissatisfied with agricultural policies and rebelled many times; On the other hand, they are civil rights theorists influenced by western liberalism, who demand constitutionalism and parliament, and everything is decided by public opinion. Under the pressure from all sides, the Meiji government implemented the cabinet system in 1885, began to make a constitution the following year, formally promulgated the constitution in 1889, and convened the first parliament in 189. At the same time of political reform, economic and social reforms are also carried out. The main goal of Meiji government is to realize industrialization. Military industry and transportation have been greatly developed. The first railway was built in 1872, and a new bank was established in 1882. In order to meet the needs of modernization, a large number of western science and technology are introduced. By the beginning of the 2th century, the goal of Meiji Restoration had been basically accomplished, and Japan was advancing on the road of a modern industrial country.