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Created page with "::''Not to be confused with the ''rôjû shuza'', or head seat (首座, ''shuza'') of the Shogunal Elders. See ''rôjû''.'' *''Established: 1609'' *''Japanese'':..."
::''Not to be confused with the ''rôjû shuza'', or head seat (首座, ''shuza'') of the Shogunal Elders. See ''[[roju|rôjû]]''.''
*''Established: [[1609]]''
*''Japanese'': 朱座 ''(shuza)''
The ''Shuza'', or Cinnabar Guild, was one of the earliest ''[[za]]'' established in the [[Edo period]], holding a monopoly on the import and distribution of cinnabar, or vermillion (J: ''shu''). The guild was originally established in [[1609]], in conjunction with the [[Invasion of Ryukyu|invasion]] of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] by [[Satsuma han]]; at that time, Ryûkyû, along with [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese merchants at Nagasaki]], were the exclusive source of cinnabar coming into Japan.
Chiefly used as a pigment, e.g. in personal seals, cinnabar derives from a kind of mercury ore. Japan eventually developed its own domestic sources of the material, and the ''shuza'', which had previously focused exclusively on imports, now took over the domestic cinnabar industry as well, as it developed. The shogunate confirmed the ''shuza'' in its authority over the sale and distribution of the material in [[1738]], and again in [[1759]]; under [[Tanuma Okitsugu]], efforts were made by the shogunate to strengthen the guild's control of this business, cracking down on illegal sales by those outside of the guild in [[1777]] and [[1782]].
{{stub}}
==References==
*[[John Whitney Hall]], ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 77.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Economics]]
*''Established: [[1609]]''
*''Japanese'': 朱座 ''(shuza)''
The ''Shuza'', or Cinnabar Guild, was one of the earliest ''[[za]]'' established in the [[Edo period]], holding a monopoly on the import and distribution of cinnabar, or vermillion (J: ''shu''). The guild was originally established in [[1609]], in conjunction with the [[Invasion of Ryukyu|invasion]] of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] by [[Satsuma han]]; at that time, Ryûkyû, along with [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese merchants at Nagasaki]], were the exclusive source of cinnabar coming into Japan.
Chiefly used as a pigment, e.g. in personal seals, cinnabar derives from a kind of mercury ore. Japan eventually developed its own domestic sources of the material, and the ''shuza'', which had previously focused exclusively on imports, now took over the domestic cinnabar industry as well, as it developed. The shogunate confirmed the ''shuza'' in its authority over the sale and distribution of the material in [[1738]], and again in [[1759]]; under [[Tanuma Okitsugu]], efforts were made by the shogunate to strengthen the guild's control of this business, cracking down on illegal sales by those outside of the guild in [[1777]] and [[1782]].
{{stub}}
==References==
*[[John Whitney Hall]], ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 77.
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Economics]]