1646

Shôhô 3 (正保三年)

Timeline of 1646

• Shôhô 2/12 (Jan 1646) - Chinese merchant Lin Gao delivers two letters to Nagasaki bugyô Yamazaki Gonpachirô, from Cui Zhi, on behalf of Ming loyalist Zheng Zhilong, requesting aid in pushing out the Manchus and restoring the Ming Dynasty. Nothing comes of it.
• 1646/9 - Tokugawa Yorinobu of Kishû han, uncle to Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, receives a request for aid in restoring the Ming.
• 1646/10 - Ming loyalists led by Zheng Zhilong and his son Zheng Chenggong (Coxinga) lose Fuzhou, their last foothold on the Chinese mainland.

Other Events of 1646

• The English Civil War, begun in 1642, comes to an end.
• Ban on onna-kabuki is reissued.
• Members of the Sanshikan are no longer required to serve three-year terms as hostages in Satsuma (end of a system put into place in 1630).
• Special box seats with bamboo blinds are installed at all the Edo kabuki theatres, allowing high-ranking samurai and others to visit discreetly, without being seen.
• Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu restores the practice of sending shogunal envoys to Ise Shrine to make offerings to the gods.
• The Urasenke and Omotesenke schools of tea ceremony are founded.

Births and Deaths

• Date Shigezane dies (b. 1568).
• The monk Kakugyô dies (b. 1541).
• Sakata Tôjûrô I is born (d. 1709).
• Tokugawa Tsunayoshi is born (d. 1709).
• Poet Wang Siren dies (b. 1575).
• Yagyû Munenori dies (b. 1571).

Previous Year 1645

1646

Following Year 1647