An'ei

An'ei (安永) was a Japanese era name (年号 nengō, "year name") after Meiwa and before Tenmei. This period spanned the years November 1772 through March 1781.[1] The reigning emperors were Go-Momozono-tennō (後桃園天皇) and Kōkaku-tennō (光格天皇).

Change of era

Events of the An'ei era

"To form a proper idea of the spirit, the character, and the customs of a Nation, almost unknown in Europe, I deemed it preferable to represent them in their own dress, rather than to enter myself into particular details, always infected by the manner of considering the facts, notwithstanding the utmost endeavors to be guided by truth in the most essential parts. [T]o obtain this end, I applied during my stay in Japan to some friends, reputed as men of learning, and free from all national prejudices. [T]hey procured me such works on various topicks, as enjoy'd with them the highest regard. [H]aving succeeding in this, a litteral translation appeared to me more congenial with the purpose, and likely to be more satisfactory to the desire for more distinct notions on a people almost unknown, though fully deserving the attention, since a number of years so profusely lavished on the Chinese."[3] Isaac Titsingh
Bakufu policy in this era was designed to marginalize the influence of foreigners in An'ei Japan; however, an unintended and opposite consequence of sakoku was to enhance the value and significance of a very small number of thoughtful observers like Thunberg and Titsingh, whose writings document what each scholar learned or discovered first-hand. Thunberg's and Titsingh's published accounts and their unpublished writings provided a unique and useful perspective for Orientalists and Japanologists in the 19th century; and the work of both men continues to be rigorously examined by modern researchers today.[4]

Notes

  1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "An'ei" Japan Encyclopedia, p. 31, p. 31, at Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hall, John Whitney. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, p. 121.
  3. Titsingh, Letter to Marsden dated 3 February 1809 in Frank Lequin, ed. (1990). Private Correspondence of Isaac Titsingh, Vol. I, p. 470, Letter No. 204 (not page number, but letter number pagination is continuous across the two volumes); see also Nihon Ōdai Ichiran for a congruent excerpt in another 1809 letter from Titsingh to Marsden.
  4. Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822, p. 73.

See also

References

External links

Preceded by
Meiwa
Era or nengō
An'ei

17721781
Succeeded by
Tenmei
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