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Kaei (嘉永, Kaei?) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,?, lit. "year name") after Kōka and before Ansei. This period spanned the years from 1848 through 1854. The reigning emperor was Kōmei-tennō (孝明天皇, Kōmei-tennō?).
Change of era
- Kaei gannen (嘉永元年, Kaei gannen?); February 28, 1848: The era name of Kaei (meaning "Eternal Esteem") was created to mark the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Kōmei.
The era name is derived from an aphorism in The Book of the Song Dynasty: "A wise Emperor receives much help, One who esteems comfort is on the outside" (思皇享多祐、嘉楽永無央).
Events of the Kaei Era
- Kaei 2 (1849): Medical practice of vaccination introduced by Dutch physician, Dr. Mohnike, at Dejima.[1]
- Kaei 6 (July, 1853): Commodore Matthew Perry, commanding the United States Navy's East Indies fleet, arrives in Japanese waters with four ships.[2]
- Kaei 7, the 6th day of the 4th month (May 2, 1854): 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.[2]
- Kaei 7 (1854): Commodore Perry returns to Edo Bay to force Japanese agreement to the Treaty of Kanagawa; and the chief Japanese negotiator was Daigaku-no kami Hayashi Akira (1800-1859), who was head of the Tokugawa bakufu's neo-Confucian academy in Edo, the Shōhei-kō (Yushima Seidō).[3]
- "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[4]
References
- ^ Whitney, Willis Norton. (1885). "Notes on the history of medical progress in Japan," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, pp. 839-843.
- ^ a b Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869, p. 323.
- ^ Sewall, John. (1905). The Logbook of the Capatin'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.
- Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5218-2155-X (cloth), ISBN 0-521-52918-2 (paper)
- 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 in Senate Executive Documents, No. 34 of 33rd Congress, 2nd Session. [reprinted by London:Trafalgar Square, 2005. ISBN 1-8458-8026-9 (paper)]
- Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.
- Sewall, John S. (1905). The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas, Bangor, Maine: Chas H. Glass & Co. [reprint by Chicago: R.R. Donnelly & Sons, 1995] ISBN 0-5482-0912-X
- 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
fr:Ère Kaei ja:嘉永 sv:Kaei
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