Hist 381 McClain on "How the Tokugawa Ruled":

Tokugawa superstructure of power based on "twin cornerstones" of:

1. "unassailable armed strength +

2. "monopoly over office of the shogun." (21)

The Shogunate increasingly expected the daimyo to rule in a manner consistent with its own practices: "Follow the laws of Edo in all things."(27)

The shogunate "also issued a steady stream of ethical admonitions, practical advice, and legal proclamations intended to serve as guides to everyday conduct..."(28)

And also "developed sophisticated bureaucracies to help them maintain peace, guide agricultural development and other forms of economic activity, and generally rule more effectively."

They relied on the Roju or Council of Elders composed of reliable Fudai daimyo, and also Junior Councillors composed of lesser status Fudai daimyo.

And they appointed City Magistrates for the major urban centers, and offices like Financial Commissioners as well.(28-29)

So, they exercised extensive controls over their Vassals....But

Were the Shoguns like European Monarchs?

As the video suggests, NO, the shoguns were not absolute monarchs; they were not autocrats in the traditional sense. Why not? They had no claim to universal or absolute rule.

--Their authority was technically limited to only their own lands, not those of each (250) daimyo. --They did extend their authority through their incredibly effective Vassal Controls which featured:

-----Oath of Fealty,

-----Alternate Attendance,

-----Hostage System,-----limits on castle building and/or improvements,

-----Military House Codes,

-----Codes to govern Temples, Shrines, the Imperial House in Kyoto,

-----Control over major urban centers like Edo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Nagasaki

 

So their "centralized" controls were considerable. But they were never absolute.

The Shoguns had limited resources and "samurai bureaucrats showed little appetite for dictatorially controlling economic and social developments." (47) It may have looked like the "Age of the Samurai" but maybe it really was the Age of the Commoner, the merchants, the artisans, the bourgeoisie, even the well-to-do peasants, for they were the ones who shaped the "commercial, social and cultural life in a multitude of significant ways." (47)

 

 

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