An'ei

.

Change of era

*; 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. Hall, John Whitney. (1955). "Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, " p. 121.]
* "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. [see above] ]
* "An'ei 7" (1778): Volcanic island of Sakurajima erupts one mile away from Kagoshima on Kyushu, Satsuma province – 16,000 dead. [see above] ]
* "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." [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.] – 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. [Screech, Timon. (2006). "Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822," p. 73.]
* "An'ei 9" (1780): Heavy rains and floods in the Kantō necessitate extensive government relief in the flood-stricken areas. [see above] ]

Notes

References

* 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. [http://books.google.com/books?id=S4MCAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA383&dq=HILDRETH+JAPAN&hl=en#PRA1-PA387,M1 ... Click link for digitized copy of pertinent sections of Thunberg's work which was reprinted in Richard Hildreth's "Japan as It Was and Is" (1855, pp. 387-423)]
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652] , "Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon." Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [http://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran ... Click link for digitized, full-text copy of this book (in French)]

ee also

* "Bunsei" – Philipp Franz von Siebold
* "Genroku" – Engelbert Kaempfer

External links

* National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ – historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]
* National Archives of Japan: [http://jpimg.digital.archives.go.jp/kouseisai/category/emaki/hizenshusanbutsu_e.html "Hinozenshu sanbutsu zuko," scroll showing illustrated inventory of industries in Hizen, "An'ei" 2 (1773)]