Ansei Purge
The Ansei Purge was a process in which Tairô Ii Naosuke and his allies purged from their positions more than 100 shogunal officials, Imperial courtiers, and daimyô opposed to his faction.
This came in the wake of the signing of the Harris Treaty on 1858/6/19, a deeply unpopular move among many prominent figures in the realm not only in terms of disagreements as to what the shogunate's foreign policy approaches or stances should be, but also because the treaty was signed without imperial approval. Further, many of those who opposed the signing of the treaty also actively supported Tokugawa Yoshinobu rather than Tokugawa Yoshitomi (Iemochi) as the shogunal successor, plotting behind the back of the shogunate to gather support among court nobles, daimyo, and others, as well as imperial orders explicitly backing Yoshinobu and calling for the negation of the treaty. Yoshitomi was officially named shogunal heir on 1858/6/25.[1]
The purges began as early as 1858/7/4, with a determination being made to dismiss Tokugawa Nariaki (former lord of Mito han, Tokugawa Yoshikumi (lord of Nagoya han), and Matsudaira Yoshinaga (lord of Fukui han) from official positions within the shogunate. Rôjû Kuze Hirochika suggested postponing the official declaration of these dismissals on account of Shogun Tokugawa Iesada's illness; Iesada died two days later, on 7/6.[2]
While the Purge helped Naosuke consolidate power in the hands of his supporters, it also contributed significantly to the anger of his opponents, leading eventually to his assassination in 1860 in the Sakuradamongai Incident.
Figures who fell victim to the purge included Hotta Masayoshi and Matsudaira Tadataka, who were forced to step down as rôjû; Yamauchi Toyoshige (Yôdô) and Tokugawa Yoshikumi who were forced to abdicate their positions as lords of Tosa han and Nagoya han respectively; and Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, Tokugawa Nariaki, and Matsudaira Shungaku, who were confined to their homes, among many others.[3]
References
- Marco Tinello, "The termination of the Ryukyuan embassies to Edo : an investigation of the bakumatsu period through the lens of a tripartite power relationship and its world," PhD thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia (2014), 271n430, 273-274.
- Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 2 (1937); vol 3.
