Today, let's talk about the most famous Japanese emperor who appears in the history books, the Meiji Emperor, and the Meiji Restoration movement under his guidance, which gradually made this humble small oriental country gradually go global.
Today's main hit: November 3, 1852 Emperor Meiji was born
Emperor Mutsumi Meiji
In the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan, an island country located in eastern Asia, the domestic natural economy occupied a deep-rooted position, the hierarchical differentiation was serious, the peasants and craftsmen occupied the lower position of society, the closed country under the feudal society made the development of Japan, which lacked natural resources, difficult, the tokugawa shogunate ruled for nearly two hundred and sixty years, social development was like a pool of stagnant water, losing the vitality of development, at the same time, the budding of capitalism in Japan was gradually slowly knocking on the door of capitalism.
In 1852, Emperor Meiji was born in kyoto Prefecture, although born in the imperial family, as a descendant of the imperial family, but has a habit of not loving to read, most children love to play, the same is true of His Majesty the Emperor, from learning to write to academics, there is a habit of inattention, Japanese imperial education and Chinese orthodox education have similarities, are from the traditional Four Books and Five Classics and other Confucian classic teachings to learn from the articles for learning, and the little emperor is different, according to the "Meiji Emperor Chronicle", September 14, 1860 He began to study the Book of Filial Piety, and after reading the book of about 2500 words, it took 3 months; after that, he immediately studied the Zhongyong. The book is 4500 words and has been read for 7 months. At such a speed, at the moment, elementary school students, I am afraid that 10 months of study is enough to end several textbooks.
Fortunately, he was born in the imperial family, named Mujin in 1860, and was made crown prince, while still learning traditional Confucian teachings, but there were several big things happening in Japan at that time.
In 1853, the American Perry and the black ship fleet opened the door of Japan's dust, the break of the closed state, the signing of unequal treaties, which heavily stimulated this East Asian island country, the capitalism led by the West entered Japan, the social class contradictions became increasingly acute, the national crisis deepened, are sending a signal of change to this country, at the same time, the young Mujin and the Royal Education Group also realized that only learning traditional Japanese, Confucian classics such as Han Wen could not save the country and the water and fire, so although Mu Ren lived deep in the palace, he still felt the pressure from the changes and shocks of the times.
Japanese and Westerners after Perry's knocks
In 1867, the 16-year-old Munehito succeeded to the throne, and the first major event of the Meiji Emperor's presidency was to encounter the onslaught of two forces from the country, on the one hand from the feudal shogunate that ruled Japan for two hundred and sixty years, and on the other hand, the new petty bourgeois faction, but the choice of the times pushed him to the side of the fallen curtain, under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, merchants, craftsmen, lower peasants, and samurai had no rights, and their dissatisfaction with the current state of society made them urgently demand change, and the reformists united with each other. Local councils were held to fight within the imperial court in exchange for support from the emperor, and with the support of Emperor Meiji, the famous "Fall of the Curtain Movement" mentioned in the history books took place, the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate gradually collapsed, the shogunate rule ended, and in the following year 1868, the fallen shogunate faction entered Edo and renamed it Tokyo, and on September 8, 1868, the name of the country was changed to Meiji, and a dynasty that could change the modern history of Japan began.
Looking at the development of the world in the nineteenth century, the wave of capitalism swept the world, and the industrial revolution in Europe was in full swing, for an island nation that aspired to prosperity and strength, it was undoubtedly like grasping the life-saving straw, meiji ii (1869), under the personal instigation of The Meiji Emperor, the famous "Japanese Meiji Restoration Movement" in the modern history of the world began.
Adhering to the principle of "ten thousand tall buildings rise from the ground, glory can only rely on themselves." If you don't have anything to do, find an ally to help you. "Ideas and ideas, Meiji Emperor at this moment is incomparably aware of the importance of learning, he went all out to implement the policy of "seeking knowledge and the world", in November of the same year he sent a famous large-scale expedition to Europe to investigate and visit, and when the two-year European delegation returned, it brought advanced European and American bourgeois doctrines, political theories, culture and technology, which were nothing more than new things for the Japanese who had not yet opened up the country to see the world, and also made the leaders realize the great role of learning the West in promoting modernization. Emperor Meiji immediately decided to learn from the West in a big way in order to make the country rich and strong and to embark on the road to a strong country at an early date. Here it has to be said that Japan is really a nation that loves to learn, and it is necessary to learn from whichever is strong, and from the large-scale sinicization and innovation of the Era of the Tang Dynasty to the European-style reform of learning from the West, the speed of its ideological decision-making change is jaw-dropping.
Life in Westernized Japan
Emperor Meiji's reforms had to admit that they were to the point of the hot issues of the times, that is, the livelihood of peasants and craftsmen and lower-class samurai, so he responded to the voice of the people, promulgated a land decree, solved the land problem, and at the same time established education, developed European education, learned Western ideology and education culture, and established a modern education system, the most famous of which was the university of Tokyo, which was merged and restructured in 1877, and still dominates the top of the world university rankings. In the political democratization, the legalization of the emperor's rights, the gradual development of the economy into industrialization, the promotion and popularization of Western-style education, all of which continued to develop under the control and promotion of the Meiji Emperor, this oriental island nation gradually had new vitality, and at the same time on the road of capitalist industrialization to a new level, the Meiji era is known as a "golden age" in the history of Japan, and the meiji emperor of the ming dynasty is also named after it.
However, behind this great figure, it also laid the foundation for Japan and even east Asia and even the whole world in the next few decades, when Emperor Meiji was in power, he further deified the emperor and strengthened the imperial power, established a parliamentary democratic system under the imperial power, concentrated the power on the emperor alone, and at the same time promulgated the "Military Edict", which implemented the spirit of Bushido and the idea of loyalty to the king, and the so-called bushido spirit and loyalty spirit of the Japanese soldiers later evolved into aggression against other countries. The idea of loyalty to the emperor was established and deepened here. The stubbornness of thought is still a seed in the revival of Japanese militarism, and caution is still needed in peacetime.
Under his great reforms, the overall strength of the Japanese state rose rapidly, but what followed was that the ambition for aggression was also gradually expanding; when the Tang Dynasty sent tang envoys to spread the sinology culture that emphasized peace as the most important thing, in modern Japan, it became the theory of aggression and expansion, followed by the expansion of armaments authorized by the emperor, and the ruling group gradually put the country on the track of foreign expansion, supported the puppet regime in Korea, tried to gradually annex Korea, induced the Qing government to send troops to Korea, provoked the Battle of Jiawu, and so on. When the plan of the ruling clique to break away from Asia and enter Europe is above the sovereignty of other countries, its barbaric and aggressive nature is exposed. When it invaded Korea, defeated the Manchu Qing, and defeated the powerful Russia, its desire for aggression continued to swell, and thirty years later, they invaded the land that did not belong to them again, but this time the result was a failure, and the invaders were always unpopular.
In 1912, the legendary emperor who led the Japanese nation to rapid development ended his life due to illness, he brought about the development and progress of a country, the praise of "winning the name of the deceased", but after his death, it was the ghost of militarism that spread like a lone ghost; he led the change of a country, but it stimulated the country's desire to invade, and finally buried a reckoning half a century later, they are not always great achievements, the change of the times needs to push him on the trend, What remains is also an immortal feat.
Finally, to talk about a story that many people have heard, when preparing for the establishment of the Japanese Navy, Japan in the Meiji Restoration vigorously raised military funds to strengthen national strength, for this reason, the Meiji Emperor deliberately reduced his clothes and food one day, and drew a part of the money from the silver to prepare for the navy, and at the same time, the Manchu Qing government, which was modernized and developed, Empress Dowager Cixi still built a large number of buildings to build the Summer Palace, and did not hesitate to extract parts from military expenses to maintain its luxurious life.