Matsudaira Yasuhide
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese daimyo
of the late Edo period
, who ruled the Tanakura and then Kawagoe Domain
s. He served as gaikoku bugyō
and rōjū
in the Tokugawa administration.
Matsudaira Yasuzumi; his childhood name was Mantarō. He succeeded Yasuzumi upon the latter's retirement early in 1848, taking the name of Yasunao. Yasunao served in a variety of minor posts in the Tokugawa shogunate, before being appointed to the concurrent posts of gaikoku bugyō
and Kanagawa bugyō
in early 1860.
From 1860 to 1861 he was involved in boundary negotiations with Russia
, and was a member of the Tokugawa Shogunate's embassy to Europe.
Yasunao was adopted as the successor to Matsudaira Yasuhiro, lord of the Tanakura Domain, in late 1864. Shortly after his succession, he received the title of Suō no Kami and changed his name to Yasuhide.
Yasuhide was slated for transfer to the Utsunomiya Domain in the spring of 1865; however, this was canceled. Soon afterward he was appointed to the position of rōjū
.
In 1866, he was again slated for transfer, this time to the Shirakawa Domain; however, because of the current ruling family's financial situation, this move was also canceled; Yasuhide was instead moved to the Kawagoe Domain
. In Kawagoe, he is remembered for having opened the domain's school, the Chōzenkan (長善館). Yasuhide was relieved of his duties as rōjū
during the disintegration of the Tokugawa government in early 1868. After the start of the Boshin War
, he was briefly ordered into solitary confinement by the Meiji Government for a month in the spring of 1868; the next year, he retired in favor of his adopted heir, Yasutoshi.
|-
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of the late Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, who ruled the Tanakura and then Kawagoe Domain
Kawagoe Domain
The was a feudal domain of Japan during the Momoyama and Edo periods of the history of Japan. It was located in Iruma District, now part of Saitama Prefecture, in Musashi Province . The domain had its headquarters at Kawagoe Castle in the present-day city of Kawagoe.The domain had its beginning in...
s. He served as gaikoku bugyō
Bugyo
', often translated as "commissioner" or "magistrate" or "governor," was a title assigned to government officers in pre-modern Japan; other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given commissioner's tasks or jurisdiction....
and rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...
in the Tokugawa administration.
Biography
Matsudaira Yasuhide was born in Edo to the high-ranking hatamotoHatamoto
A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...
Matsudaira Yasuzumi; his childhood name was Mantarō. He succeeded Yasuzumi upon the latter's retirement early in 1848, taking the name of Yasunao. Yasunao served in a variety of minor posts in the Tokugawa shogunate, before being appointed to the concurrent posts of gaikoku bugyō
Gaikoku bugyo
were the commissioners or "magistrates of foreign affairs" appointed at the end of the Edo era by the Tokugawa shogunate to oversee trade and diplomatic relations with foreign countries...
and Kanagawa bugyō
Bugyo
', often translated as "commissioner" or "magistrate" or "governor," was a title assigned to government officers in pre-modern Japan; other terms would be added to the title to describe more specifically a given commissioner's tasks or jurisdiction....
in early 1860.
From 1860 to 1861 he was involved in boundary negotiations with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and was a member of the Tokugawa Shogunate's embassy to Europe.
Yasunao was adopted as the successor to Matsudaira Yasuhiro, lord of the Tanakura Domain, in late 1864. Shortly after his succession, he received the title of Suō no Kami and changed his name to Yasuhide.
Yasuhide was slated for transfer to the Utsunomiya Domain in the spring of 1865; however, this was canceled. Soon afterward he was appointed to the position of rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...
.
In 1866, he was again slated for transfer, this time to the Shirakawa Domain; however, because of the current ruling family's financial situation, this move was also canceled; Yasuhide was instead moved to the Kawagoe Domain
Kawagoe Domain
The was a feudal domain of Japan during the Momoyama and Edo periods of the history of Japan. It was located in Iruma District, now part of Saitama Prefecture, in Musashi Province . The domain had its headquarters at Kawagoe Castle in the present-day city of Kawagoe.The domain had its beginning in...
. In Kawagoe, he is remembered for having opened the domain's school, the Chōzenkan (長善館). Yasuhide was relieved of his duties as rōjū
Roju
The ', usually translated as Elder, was one of the highest-ranking government posts in Tokugawa Japan. The term refers either to individual Elders, or to the Council as a whole; under the first two shoguns, there were only two Rōjū...
during the disintegration of the Tokugawa government in early 1868. After the start of the Boshin War
Boshin War
The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....
, he was briefly ordered into solitary confinement by the Meiji Government for a month in the spring of 1868; the next year, he retired in favor of his adopted heir, Yasutoshi.
|-
Published work
- Matsudaira Yasuhide 松平康英 and Onoma Ritsuken 尾間立顕 (1919). Bakumatsu ken'ō shisetsu danpan shiki 幕末遣欧使節談判私記 (A Private Record of Discussions Pertaining to the Diplomatic Mission to Europe in the Bakumatsu Period). Tokyo: Min'yūsha 民友社, 1919. (published posthumously)
Further reading
- Kawagoe Shiritsu Hakubutsukan 川越市立博物館 (1991). Matsudaira Suō no Kami to Kawagoe-han: dai 3-kai kikakuten: kaiki 1991-nen 3-gatsu 19-nichi--5-gatsu 12-nichi, kaijō Kawagoe Shiritsu Hakubutsukan tokubetsu tenjishitsu 松平周防守と川越藩 : 第三回企画展 : 会期一九九一年三月一九日—五月一二日・会場川越市立博物館特別展示室. Kawagoe-shi: Kawagoe Shiritsu Hakubutsukan 川越市立博物館.