Kaei

Kaei(Gia vĩnh)was aJapanese era name(Niên hiệu,nengō,lit. "year name" )afterKōkaand beforeAnsei.This period spanned the years from February 1848 through November 1854.^[1]The reigning emperor wasKōmei-tennō(Thiên hoàng Koumei).

Change of era

February 28, 1848Kaei gannen(Gia vĩnh nguyên niên):The era name ofKaei(meaning "eternal felicity" )^[2]was created to mark the beginning of the reign of the EmperorKōmei.

The era name is derived from an aphorism in theBook of Song:"A wise Emperor receives much help, One who esteems comfort is on the outside" (Tư hoàng hưởng nhiều hữu, gia lặc vĩnh vô ương).

Events of theKaeiEra

July 1848(Kaei 1):Ranald MacDonald,(b. 1824, Astoria, Oregon) left the whalerPlymouthin a small boat and landed on Rishiri Island. He was arrested and sent from Rishiri to Nagasaki where he was incarcerated; MacDonald began teaching English to 14 scholars, including Einosuke Moriyama, who later became an interpreter for the Japanese government whenMatthew C. Perryentered Japan in 1854 (thus, in Japan, MacDonald is regarded as "The first native-speaking English teacher in Japanese history).^[3]
1849(Kaei 2): Medical practice of vaccination introduced by Dutch physician, Dr. Mohnike, atDejima.^[4]
July 1853(Kaei 6): CommodoreMatthew Perry,commanding theUnited States Navy's East Indies fleet, arrives in Japanese waters with four ships.^[5]
1854(Kaei 7): Commodore Perry returns toEdo Bayto force Japanese agreement to theTreaty of Kanagawa;and the chief Japanese negotiator wasDaigaku-no kamiHayashi Akira(1800–1859), who was head of the Tokugawa bakufu'sneo-Confucianacademy inEdo,theShōhei-kō(Yushima Seidō).^[6]

"Immediately, on signing and exchanging copies of the treaty, Commodore Perry presented the first commissioner, Prince Hayashi, with an American flag stating that this gift was the highest expression of national courtesy and friendship he could offer. The prince was deeply moved, and expressed his gratitude with evident feeling. The commodore next presented the other commissioners with gifts he had especially reserved for them. All business now having been concluded to the satisfaction of both delegations, the Japanese commissioners invited Perry and his officers to enjoy a feast and entertainment especially prepared for the celebration." --from American eyewitness account of the event^[7]

May 2, 1854(Kaei 7, the 6th day of the 4th month): Fire broke out in the Sentō, and the conflagration spread to the Imperial palace. Both were destroyed. The emperor took refuge at Shimokam and afterwards went to Shōgon-in.^[8]
November 4–7, 1854(Kaei 7): GreatNankaidōearthquakes andtsunamiskill 80,000 people. An earthquake and tsunami struckShimodaon theIzu peninsula;and because the port had just been designated as the prospective location for a U.S. consulate, some construed the natural disasters as demonstration of the displeasure of thekami.^[9]
1854(Kaei 7, 27th day of the 11th month): The era name was changed to Ansei (meaning "tranquil government" ), which was meant to herald the beginning of a peaceful period. The impetus and explanation for this change of era names was said to have been the burning of the Palace in Kyoto in the preceding summer.^[2]

Gallery

Branched ( "Edasen" chi tiền )Moncoins ofTokugawa coinage,of the Kaei period.

Notes

^Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kaei"Japan Encyclopedia,p. 444,p. 444, atGoogle Books;n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum,seeDeutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived2012-05-24 atarchive.today.
^^a ^bSatow, Ernest Mason. (1905).Japan 1853–1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari,p. 11.
^Ranald MacDonald, The Narrative of His Life, 1824-1894
^Whitney, Willis Norton. (1885). "Notes on the history of medical progress in Japan",Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,pp. 839-843.
^Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956).Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869,p. 323.
^Sewall, John. (1905).The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas,p. lxiv; Cullen, Louis. (2003).A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds,p. 178 n11.
^Sewall, p. lxxiii; Hawks, Francis. (1856).Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854 under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy,Vol. I, pp. 377-380.
^Ponsonby-Fane, p. 323; Satow,pp. 9-10.
^Hammer, Joshua. (2006).Yokohama Burning: the Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II,p.65.

References

Cullen, Louis M.(2003).A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.ISBN 9780521821551;ISBN 9780521529181;OCLC 50694793
Hammer, Joshua. (2006).Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II.New York:Simon & Schuster.ISBN 9780743264655;OCLC 67774380
Hawks, Francis. (1856).Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854 under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy,Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson by order of Congress, 1856; originally published inSenate Executive Documents,No. 34 of 33rd Congress, 2nd Session.OCLC 366454
Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005).Japan Encyclopedia.Cambridge:Harvard University Press.ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5;OCLC 48943301
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B.(1956).Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.OCLC 559477127
Satow, Ernest Mason.(1905).Japan 1853–1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari.Tokyo: Naigwai Shuppan Kyokwai.OCLC 643621953
Sewall, John S. (1905).The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas,Bangor, Maine: Chas H. Glass & Co.OCLC 296627697
Whitney, Willis Norton. (1885). "Notes on the history of medical progress in Japan",Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,[reprinted from Vol. 12, pp. 245–270.] Yokohama: R.J. Meiklejohn & Company....Link to digitized version of this lecture text

External links

National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar"-- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
National Archives of Japan...Click link for map of Edo reproduced in the 6th year ofKaei(1853)^{[permanent dead link‍]}

Preceded by Kōka(Hoằng hóa)	Era ornengō Kaei(Gia vĩnh) 28 February 1848 – 27 November 1854	Succeeded by Ansei(An chính)

[1] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kaei"Japan Encyclopedia,p. 444,p. 444, atGoogle Books;n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum,seeDeutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived2012-05-24 atarchive.today.

[s11-2] Satow, Ernest Mason. (1905).Japan 1853–1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari,p. 11.

[3] Ranald MacDonald, The Narrative of His Life, 1824-1894

[4] Whitney, Willis Norton. (1885). "Notes on the history of medical progress in Japan",Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,pp. 839-843.

[pf323-5] Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956).Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869,p. 323.

[6] Sewall, John. (1905).The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas,p. lxiv; Cullen, Louis. (2003).A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds,p. 178 n11.

[7] Sewall, p. lxxiii; Hawks, Francis. (1856).Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854 under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy,Vol. I, pp. 377-380.

[8] Ponsonby-Fane, p. 323; Satow,pp. 9-10.

[9] Hammer, Joshua. (2006).Yokohama Burning: the Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II,p.65.

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