Japan in the mid-19th century

Emperor Meiji was born on September 22, the fifth year of Kayaga (1852), and was the second prince of Emperor Komei.

The mother is the Empress Dowager Yingzhao.

But the real biological mother is Quan Danyan Zhongshan Zhongneng's daughter, Dianshi Qingzi.

In the year of Wan Yanyuan (1860), he was designated as the crown prince and given the name Mu Ren.

In December of the second year of Keio (1866), when he was fifteen years old, he inherited the throne due to the death of his father, the Emperor.

On January 9 of the following year, a ceremony was held.

Encouraged by the revolutionaries, the imperial restoration was resolutely implemented on December 9.

In July of the fourth year of Keio (1868), Edo was renamed Tokyo.

The enthronement ceremony was held on August 27, and the reign name was changed to Meiji on September 8.

In October, Emperor Meiji arrived in Tokyo to take office.

In December, he returned to Kyoto and held a wedding ceremony with Miko Ichijo (Empress Shoken).

In the second year of Meiji (1869), Emperor Meiji arrived in Tokyo again and designated Tokyo as the capital in order to win over people.

Then, driven by the Meiji government, unprecedented major reforms were launched one after another, such as the return of the feudal system, the abolition of feudal lords and prefectures, and the establishment of military conscription orders.

Among them, the one most related to the status of the emperor is the formulation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan.

The Meiji Government formulated the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Meiji Constitution) in 1889 (Meiji 22). This first modern written constitution in East Asia was an imperial constitution modeled on the Prussian Constitution.

Article 1 of the Meiji Constitution stipulates: "The Empire of Japan is ruled by the Emperor of the eternal line." The Meiji Constitution is based on the principle of emperor's sovereignty, and the emperor has overall legislative, judicial, and administrative power.

In addition, the official structure of the administrative ministries, the command of the army and navy, the announcement of declarations of war, the conclusion of treaties, etc., all belong to the emperor's power.

From then on, the emperor transformed into a sacred and inviolable "god-man".

At 0:43 a.m. on July 30, Meiji 45 (1912), Emperor Meiji passed away due to uremia at the age of 61 (imaginary age).

His life can be said to be synonymous with the birth of Japan's modern nation.

Emperor Meiji is the most special emperor among Japanese emperors.

Before him, female emperors could ascend the throne in a grand manner. In ancient Japan, there were six female emperors.

Japan's era names were modeled after China's system.

As long as there are auspicious signs and other factors, an emperor can allow the change of multiple era names.

But since Emperor Meiji, an emperor can only have one reign title.

Therefore, the title of the emperor can also be replaced by the era name, such as Emperor Meiji, Emperor Taisho, Emperor Showa, etc.

In the past, the power of the emperor fell either in the hands of local wealthy families or relatives and nobles, or in the hands of the samurai regime.

The emperor can be said to be just a puppet. By the time of Emperor Meiji, he had overall power.

The Imperial Code is the basic law of the imperial system and was enacted under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1889 (Meiji 22).

Under the Meiji Constitution, the Imperial Code is different from general laws and is the highest law along with the Constitution.

The current royal family model was revised at the same time as the Japanese Constitution was enacted and is implemented as a general law.

The biggest difference from the old model is that the royal inheritance is limited to direct descendants (born by the first wife), and does not recognize concubines (born by other than the first wife).

Emperor Meiji and Emperor Taisho were both concubines.

This change was made to respect the institution of marriage.

Secondly, the current model recognizes the crown princess as a commoner.

Before the war, the crown princess must be selected from the royal family or the three noble families.

Before the Edo period, Japan allowed the existence of female emperors.

However, imperial standards after the Meiji period stipulated that only men of the male line could inherit the throne.

Japan’s modernization process must be traced back to the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

The Meiji Restoration changed Japan's traditional society in both political and economic aspects, but culturally and in terms of Japanese concepts, it completely dragged the Japanese back to the emperor's belief based on primitive witchcraft and nationalism as the basis.

Your own fundamental pillar.

Because of this, although Japan later grew into a world power, the powerful Japan was destroyed by the Second World War when it invaded Asia.

Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan implemented a closed-door policy under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

From the central to local governments, serious financial crises occurred. Although the shogunate carried out some reform measures, it was fundamentally impossible to eliminate the shortcomings of the shogunate system.

From the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century, the shogunate's finances ran a large deficit. In the 1930s and 1940s, the deficit reached 600,000 taels per year.

After their income decreased, some samurai left their masters and looked for other jobs.

Their loyalty is difficult to maintain.

The samurai-dominated shogunate system was in danger of disintegration.

On July 8, 1853, Commodore Perry, the commander of the East India Fleet appointed by the U.S. government, led a squadron on an expedition to Japan and forcibly sailed into Uraga in Edo Bay with the U.S. government's directive to Japan to establish friendly trade.

port.

"Perry and his gang ignored the dissuasion of the Japanese shogunate and went on a rampage, even threatening war. Perry led three to four hundred sailors to force ashore and forced the credential of the President of the United States to the representative of the Japanese shogunate. Faced with the oncoming force

The shogunate was frightened and indecisive due to the unkind U.S. fleet. At this time, Perry led people to conduct a deep-water survey in Edo Bay to demonstrate. The shogunate refused to negotiate.

I couldn't afford to offend or fight, so I had to agree to accept the credentials on the condition of a reply the following year." (Wan Feng: "Modern History of Japan", pp. 34-35, China Social Sciences Press, 1981).