Lecture reading 10 - Yonaoshi in Aizu

Question 1

What was the crowning victory by the Meiji government to eliminate resistance to the imperial coup d’etat?

Answer 1

Subjugation of Aizu.

Question 2

What did the war and mobilisation bring to Aizu?

Answer 2

Destruction of property, disruption of trade and agriculture, imposed great hardship. Armies seized food from already poor harvest, leading to food shortages. Also seized animals and goods, sexually assaulted women.

Question 3

What did the collapse of the political order present?

Answer 3

Opportunity.

Question 4

What did the peasant uprisings turn into?

Answer 4

Rebellions.

Question 5

What did the uprisings and rebellions attempt to bring about?

Answer 5

Radical changes in political and economic arrangements in the village.

Question 6

What did the peasants name the movement?

Answer 6

‘Yonaoshi’ (‘world renewal’).

Question 7

Describe the attack in Gojouki village.

Answer 7

Two thousand peasants demolished houses and offices of village headmen, local moneylenders, and merchants. Afterwards, representatives gave assent to a list of proposals for changes in land tenure, debt relationships, and village leadership.

Question 8

How did the attacks in other areas follow the established pattern in Gojouki?

Answer 8

Attacks against high-status villagers, then adoption of a program of radical reform.

Question 9

What was the distinctive character of yonaoshi?

Answer 9

Attacks, followed by formulation of program of change.

Question 10

Why were large crowds mobilised in the uprisings?

Answer 10

To demonstrate the collective nature of violence.

Question 11

What was the immediate purpose of these crowds?

Answer 11

To destroy tangible wealth and confiscate or destroy pawned goods, mortgage deeds, tax records, etc.

Question 12

What was a political act in the uprisings?

Answer 12

Attacking the village headman whose family had likely governed the village for generations.

Question 13

What did peasants reject?

Answer 13

Traditional village leadership and economic arrangements through which elite dominated the local economy.

Question 14

How did peasants give concrete expressions to their aims?

Answer 14

Convened assemblies and passed resolutions.

Question 15

What were the peasants concerned with? (four points)

Answer 15

1. Proper constituency of movements
2. Reform of village government
3. Settlement of pawned goods and outstanding debts
4. Just treatment of mortgaged land and debt-tenancy

Question 16

List two ways in which the assemblies were significant.

Answer 16

1. Peasants gave popular sanction through formal organisational structures to changes they wished to carry out.
2. The fact that mobilisation occurred at a higher level than the village (department level) shows that the peasants possessed a more sophisticated political awareness and broader vision than is commonly ascribed to Tokugawa peasants.

Question 17

What was the most radical action of the uprisings?

Answer 17

Wresting of village office from hereditary headmen.

Question 18

What made the headmen the sole individuals qualified to represent the community in political appeals and financial transactions?

Answer 18

They possessed great power over political and social affairs of the village.

Question 19

What does the ousting of the headmen show?

Answer 19

Dissatisfaction with system of village government in which authority was part of the patrimony of the family that boasted the longest lineage and possessed the largest fields.

Question 20

What did the ousting mark?

Answer 20

The transfer of power to a class representative of the majority of the village community - new concept of representation.

Question 21

What did peasants also attempt to legislate?

Answer 21

More just economic relations within local market economy.

Question 22

What was the government’s stance on the uprisings?

Answer 22

Did not protect headmen or punish attackers. Movement was a series of local rebellions against village leaders rather than domainwide uprising in government.

Question 23

How did the headmen recover their former positions?

Answer 23

Using considerable wealth and political skills.

Question 24

What did the headmen’s strategems involve?

Answer 24

Ranged from acts of public repentance and genuine conciliation to bribery and civil suits.

Question 25

What made the headmen uniquely qualified to serve as headmen?

Answer 25

Headmen’s families’ history of service to past rulers of the domain and their paternalistic concern for the welfare of the peasants.

Question 26

What was the yonaoshi movement?

Answer 26

Revolutionary movement by small proprietors who rejected notion that the traditional political and economic hierarchy adequately protected their interests.

Question 27

Why was the yonaoshi movement genuinely revolutionary?

Answer 27

The ideology of Tokugawa rule rested on the assumption that the obligation of superiors to render benevolent attention to the needs of their charges transcended class interests.

Question 28

What did peasants ultimately want to do?

Answer 28

Protect their own interests.

Question 29

What was the ‘world’ of the revolutionary movement, and how is this shown?

Answer 29

‘World’ was the village, not the state.

The peasants did not demand for radical changes such as equal legal status with samurai or representation in the national government.

Question 30

How did the revolutionary movement remain within the bounds of traditional peasant demands? (four points)

Answer 30

The peasants demanded:

1. tax reductions due to poor harvest and requisitioning of food
2. changes in tax collection procedures
3. government to abolish monopolies on wax, lacquer, and other special products
4. compensation for services to the imperial army

Question 31

What were the limits of this ‘revolution’?

Answer 31

It was a revolt by small cultivators and poorer members of the village community against the political and economic elite.

Question 32

What was the peasants’ primary concern and what was the consequence for this?

Answer 32

To protect their status as small proprietors against forces that threatened their survival. Consequently, peasant violence turned against high-status peasants rather than state authority.