(Vientiane History Special Author: Growing Up But Not Adults)
【November 20, 1883】 The biography of Tokuhime: A 22-year-old widowed mother-in-law became a nun and ended the Japanese shogunate era without blood
Born on February 5, 1836 in Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain, Japan, to a privileged family, his father was a branch of the Shimazu family.
The thirteenth shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, was ill and married two Godaisho (equivalent to empresses) and died, leaving no heirs. Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandfather, the eleventh shogun, married the daughter of the Shimazu family and had 55 children.
Therefore, the Tokugawa family planned to marry another "Godaisho" of the Shimazu family.
(Tuk-hime in the TV series)
At this time, in order to compete for the heir of the shogunate, Tokugawa Keiki and Tokugawa Ieshige were fiercely competitive. The lord of the Satsuma domain, Shimazu Kibin, supported Tokugawa Keiki and wanted a Shimazu family's "Godaisho" to take over the Ōo (harem), thus gaining a favorable situation.
After much deliberation, Qi Bin chose Du Ji. In 1853 (at the age of 17), Qibin recognized Tuk-hime as his adopted daughter and took her to the Shimazu family, where she underwent several months of rigorous training in manners and etiquette.
Due to the low status of the Shimazu family, Tokuhime was sent to Edo (present-day Tokyo) and became the adopted daughter of the Noble Konoe family of Kyoto. Everything is ready, just waiting for the big wedding, into the Lord's Big O.
(Japan's most popular Ōkawa drama "Tukhime")
However, after the "black ship" of the American fleet on May 4, 1853, on February 13, 1854, nine American warships arrived as promised. The shogunate was terrified and had no choice but to conclude the Kanagawa Treaty with the United States, opening the door to the country.
The Tokugawa family changed the era name to Ansei, and the big wedding had to be postponed. Soon, the palace was strangely on fire again, and it had to be postponed again. The following year, the Edo earthquake struck again, and the wedding had to be postponed again.
After three years of waiting, in November 1856 (at the age of 20), the grand wedding was finally held. The dowry line ran from Shibuya to Edo Castle, and the dowry was very luxurious, dotted with the sunflower pattern of the Tokugawa family and the peony pattern of the Konoe family. Tuk-hee enters Da'ao and becomes the new hostess of Da'ao.
However, Tokuhime failed to accomplish the Shimazu family's political mission, and the struggle for succession ended with Tokugawa Ieyasu winning. In 1958, just over a year after their marriage, her husband died, and Tokugawa Iemo succeeded him as the 14th shogun. According to the convention, the 22-year-old Du Ji fell into the nun, the french number Tianzhangyuan, still presided over the Da'ao.
With his adopted son on one side and his adoptive father on the other, Tu Ji was in a dilemma. Fortunately, soon after, his adoptive father Qi Bin died of illness, and the situation was broken, and Du Ji was able to concentrate on Da'ao. Her relationship with Tokugawa Ieshige also improved.
At this time, the various Japanese feudal states demanded "honoring the king" and opposing the shogunate's "opening of the door" and "surrender to foreign countries". The shogunate decided to marry the emperor to ease the situation. In 1862, Tokugawa Iemo married Emperor Takaaki's sister as Godaisho.
26-year-old Du Ji, facing a complicated "mother-in-law" relationship. The "daughter-in-law" princess from the royal family has completely different living habits from The Tu ji from the samurai family. The two began a "palace fight", and finally Du Ji played a high game and surrendered the 16-year-old princess.
In 1866, at the age of 20, Tokugawa Ieshige died of a beriberi heart attack in Osaka Castle. According to the convention, the princess was also sent as a nun, and the legal name was Jingkuanyuan. Tokugawa Keiki succeeded him as the fifteenth shogun, which put Tokuhime in a very awkward position.
Immediately after the death of Emperor Takamei and the succession of the tough Meiji Emperor (1867), the situation in Japan was complicated. In November, threatened by the Fallen Alliance, Tokugawa Keiki issued a "Great Deal", agreeing to return power to the Emperor, losing the legitimacy of his rule.
War was inevitable, and in 1868, in the War of The Eighty-Year War, the shogunate was defeated and the general situation was gone. The Allies advanced into Edo Castle, and the Tokugawa clan faced the scourge of annihilation. Ōo, led by Tokuhime, went so far as to offer to trade his life for the survival of the Tokugawa clan.
Eventually, Katsukai, of the Tokugawa shogunate, negotiated peace with Saigo Takamori of the Fallen Curtain Alliance, and agreed to hand over Edo Castle to the new government without resistance or bloodshed. History calls it "Bloodless Kaijo", and the shogunate era ended.
In the Meiji era, Tokuhime did not return to Kagoshima and continued to work as a hostess at the Tokugawa family. She was a member of the Tokugawa family through and through. She devoted herself to the education of the Children of the Tokugawa family and sent them to study in the United Kingdom.
Grand Duke Du ji was selfless and devoted all his private property to the low-level palace ladies of Da'ao. On November 20, 1883, Du Ji died of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 47.
A generation of legendary "empresses" who influenced Japanese history died with only 30,000 yen, or about 4,000 yuan.
(The 551st work of the Vientiane History and Biography Writing Camp, and the 22nd work of the camper "Growing Up")