Tobunken Seminar “The Zheng Regime and the Tokugawa Bakufu: Asking for the Japanese Intervention”

Dear colleagues and friends of the Tobunken, the University of Tokyo
Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo is pleased to host a lecture by Professor Patrizia Carioti ( University of Naples, L'Orientale) on "The Zheng Regime and the Tokugawa Bakufu: Asking for the Japanese Intervention." Pre-registration via the form below is required for participation.

Date and time: June 17, 2022 (Fri) 15:30-17:00

Venue: Online via Zoom

Speaker: Professor Patrizia Carioti (The University of Naples, L'Orientale/The University of Tokyo)

Title: The Zheng Regime and the Tokugawa Bakufu: Asking for the Japanese Intervention

Chairperson: Kazuo Morimoto (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo)

Link for the pre-registration: https://forms.gle/ooSAFnwshfY2RiJ79 (open until the end of June 15)

Abstract:
The relations between the Zheng and the Tokugawa Japan, as we know, are an intrinsic part of the long history of the Zheng power itself, and regard all the possible aspects: economic, political, military, and personal nature as well, if we consider the lives of Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong. The commercial relations were indeed essential, because, as we know, through his Kokusen’yasen, Zheng Chenggong could exert direct influence on Nagasaki flux of import-export, and therefore on the Japanese inner market too, and to a certain extent, on the Japanese economy as well. The violent competition between the Zheng and the VOC, which involved the entire context of maritime East Asia, was a true ‘duel’ in Nagasaki, with serious consequences on the Japanese market as well. Yet, the commercial influence exerted by the Zheng maritime organisation in Japan was also used as a political instrument to attempt to involve the bakufu in the Ming-Qing transition, and gain military support on the loyalist side. This political intercourse, in fact, was revealed to be a very significant aspect of the long and complex relations between the Zheng regime and the Tokugawa leadership. The numerous efforts made by the Zheng, and by the Ming loyalists, to obtain Tokugawa military involvement on their side or at least the Japanese financial support for organising the counterattack against the Manchu, represented a key element of the multifaceted international contest of mid-17th century East Asia. Those years, as we know, were crucial for the outcome of the Ming-Qing conflict. In response to the numerous appeals received from the Zheng, and more in general from the Ming resistance groups, the political stances taken by the Edo bakufu toward the Ming-Qing conflict were ambiguous and contradictory. Nevertheless, the intercourse between the Zheng – and more in general the entire Ming resistance – and the Tokugawa leadership, is certainly of extreme interest.

Contact person: Kazuo Morimoto (morikazu[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)