Ansei Purge - Ansei no Taigoku

In 1858 (Ansei 5), the Edo Shogunate's Chief Elder, Ii Naosuke, suppressed the Sonjou movement. This political incident marked a period in the Sonjou movement at the end of the Edo period. After the death of Councillor Abe Masahiro in June 1857, real power in the Shogunate was transferred to Councillor Hotta Masayoshi (Lord of Sakura Domain), who supported the policy of opening up the country. Behind him were the Fudai Daimyo (hereditary lords) of the Tamari no Mazume clan, whose leadership was held by Ii Naosuke, Lord of Hikone Domain. Here, the conflict between the faction of daimyo who lived in the Great Corridor and the Tozama daimyo who lived in the Great Hall, represented by Tokugawa Nariaki, who had been advocating expulsion of foreigners since the arrival of Perry, and others, and the hereditary daimyo who lived in the Tamema, was brought into focus. However, the conflict between these two factions intensified further with the issue of the succession of the 13th shogun, Tokugawa Iesada, who was in poor health, and the focus of political struggle gradually shifted to external issues. In other words, a faction of clans and outside daimyo who advocated suppressing the dictatorship of the bakufu and a system of consensus among powerful domains tried to make Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu (the seventh son of Nariaki, who later became Tokugawa Yoshinobu) the successor to Shogun (Hitotsubashi faction), while a faction of fudai daimyo who wanted to take dictatorship of the bakufu supported Tokugawa Yoshitomi (later Iemochi), the lord of Kishu domain (Nanki faction). Both factions worked to manipulate the Imperial Court, and in the midst of this secret struggle, the schemes of the Nanki faction proved successful, with Ii being appointed as Tairo, who acted unilaterally and decided that Yoshitomi, who was recommended by the Nanki faction, would be the successor to Shogun, and he signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan without obtaining imperial sanction (June 1858) against Harris, who had repeatedly threatened and urged him to do so. The Hitotsubashi faction, who had lost the battle over the succession, launched a concerted attack on Ii on the grounds of the signing of the unconstitutional treaty. The Confucian justifications of "revere the emperor" and "expel the barbarians" were combined into the "sonno-joi" theory, which became an anti-shogunate slogan. When Tokugawa Nariaki and Yoshinobu, father and son, Tokugawa Yoshikumi (Owari), and Matsudaira Yoshinaga unexpectedly went to the castle to question Ii, patriots such as Yanagawa Seigan, Umeda Unpin, Yori Mikisaburo, and Ikeuchi Daigaku gathered in Kyoto and stirred up the anti-shogunate movement. Emperor Komei was also furious and indicated his intention to abdicate, and in August 1858 he issued an imperial edict expressing his dissatisfaction with the signing of the treaty, known as the "Bogo no Himitsu Imperial Edict," to the Mito domain. Within the Imperial Court, there was also conflict between the higher-ranking pro-shogunate nobles and the lower-ranking pro-sonno-joi nobles, with the latter taking collective action by "retsuzan."

Realizing that this situation posed a crisis for the shogunate, Ii adopted a policy of drastic repression, forcing opposing nobles and daimyo into retirement, dismissing shogunate officials, and arresting and executing patriots. Among the nobles, the Minister of the Right Takatsukasa Sukehiro and the Minister of the Left Konoe Tadahiro were forced to resign from their posts and become nuns, the former Chancellor Takatsukasa Masamichi and the former Minister of the Interior Sanjo Sanetsumu were forced to become nuns, and Prince Shoren'in (Prince Asahiko Shinno), the Minister of the Interior Ichijo Tadaka, Nijo Nariyuki, Konoe Tadafusa, Koga Takemichi, Nakayama Tadayasu, and Ogimachi Sanjo Sanenaru were forced to become nuns. Among the daimyo, Nariaki was ordered to be promptly disciplined, Keijo and Keiei were ordered to retire and be promptly disciplined, and among the shogunate officials, the talented Grand Inspector Toki Yorimune, the Finance Magistrate Kawaji Toshiaki, the Inspector Udono Nagatoshi, and the Kyoto Town Magistrate Asano Nagayoshi were demoted as members of the Hitotsubashi faction, and further the Construction Magistrate Iwase Tadanari, the Naval Magistrate Nagai Naomune (also read as "Naomune"), and Kawaji were ordered to retire and be disciplined. More than a dozen other people were punished. The number of people punished who were not even patriots reached 75, including Mito domain elder Ajima Tatewaki (who committed seppuku), its right chief leader Chine Iyonosuke, its Kyoto caretaker Ukai Kichizaemon, Echizen domain samurai Hashimoto Sanai, Confucian scholar Yori Mikisaburo, Choshu domain samurai Yoshida Shoin (all sentenced to death), Mito domain samurai Ukai Kokichi (executed by beheading), Takatsukasa family chief Kobayashi Yoshisuke (exiled), Confucian scholar Ikenuchi Daigaku, Takatsukasa family retainer Mikuni Daigaku, and Shoren-in palace retainer Itami Kurodo (all sentenced to central exile).

Ii, who carried out the Ansei Purge, reasoned that since the shogunate was delegated power by the Imperial Court, it was natural to take "the right course of action at the time of crisis" in times of crisis due to external pressure, and that he alone would bear the burden of any serious crimes that did not require imperial sanction. He staked his political life on the position of Tairo. For this reason, his political actions were carried out swiftly, boldly, and as an expression of his strong political will. However, as that political will was rooted in the conservative, traditional maintenance of the shogunate-han system, objectively speaking, this only deepened and expanded the contradictions. Ii was assassinated outside the Sakuradamon Gate in March 1860 (Man'en 1), covered in the blood of the Ansei Purge.

[Akira Tanaka]

"Ii Naosuke" by Yoshida Tsuneyoshi (1985, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "The Ansei Purge" by Yoshida Tsuneyoshi (1996, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "The Ansei Purge - Ii Naosuke and Nagano Shuzen" by Matsuoka Hideo (Chuko Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1858年（安政5）江戸幕府の大老井伊直弼(いいなおすけ)による尊攘運動(そんじょううんどう)への弾圧事件。幕末の尊攘運動に一時期を画した政治的事件である。1857年6月の老中阿部正弘(あべまさひろ)の死去のあと、幕閣の実権は老中堀田正睦(ほったまさよし)（佐倉藩主）に移り、彼は開国政策を支持した。その背後には溜間詰(たまりのまづめ)の譜代大名(ふだいだいみょう)がおり、その指導権は彦根藩主井伊直弼が握っていた。ここにペリー来航以来攘夷主義を主張していた徳川斉昭(とくがわなりあき)以下、松平慶永(まつだいらよしなが)（松平春嶽(しゅんがく)）、島津斉彬(しまづなりあきら)らに代表される大廊下詰(おおろうかづめ)家門大名、大広間詰外様大名(とざまだいみょう)の一派と溜間詰譜代大名との対立がクローズアップされた。ところが、病弱であった第13代将軍徳川家定(いえさだ)の継嗣(けいし)問題を契機にこの2派の対立は一段と激化し、政争の焦点はしだいに対外問題へと移った。つまり、幕閣の独裁を抑え、雄藩合議制を主張する家門・外様大名の一派は一橋慶喜(ひとつばしよしのぶ)（斉昭の第7子。のちに徳川慶喜）を将軍継嗣にしようとし（一橋派）、他方、幕閣独裁をとろうとした譜代大名の派は紀州藩主徳川慶福(よしとみ)（のち家茂(いえもち)）を擁立した（南紀派）。両派とも朝廷工作を進め、その暗闘のなかで南紀派の策謀が功を奏し、井伊が大老に就任し、彼は独断専行、南紀派の推す慶福を将軍継嗣に決定するとともに、威嚇と督促を重ねるハリスに対しては、勅許を得られないまま日米修好通商条約に調印した（1858年6月）。継嗣問題に敗れた一橋派は、この違勅調印を理由に一斉に井伊攻撃に立ち上がった。儒教的名分としての「尊王」と「攘夷」は、ここに「尊攘」論として結合し、反幕スローガンとなったのである。徳川斉昭・慶喜父子、徳川慶恕(よしくみ)（尾張(おわり)）、松平慶永らが不時登城して井伊を詰問すれば、梁川星巌(やながわせいがん)、梅田雲浜(うめだうんぴん)、頼三樹三郎(らいみきさぶろう)、池内大学(いけうちだいがく)らの志士は京都に参集して反幕的機運を盛り上げた。孝明天皇(こうめいてんのう)も激怒して、譲位の意向を示し、1858年8月には、条約調印に不満を示す勅諚(ちょくじょう)、いわゆる「戊午(ぼご)の密勅」を水戸藩に下した。朝廷内部にも上級佐幕派公卿(くぎょう)と下級尊攘派公卿とが対立し、後者は「列参」＝集団行動をとった。

　こうした事態に幕府の危機をみてとった井伊は、徹底的な弾圧政策をとり、反対派の公卿、大名を隠退させ、幕吏を罷免し、志士を検挙処断した。公家(くげ)では、右大臣鷹司輔煕(たかつかさすけひろ)、左大臣近衛忠煕(このえただひろ)を辞官落飾(らくしょく)、前関白鷹司政通(まさみち)、前内大臣三条実万(さねつむ)を落飾させ、青蓮院宮(しょうれんいんのみや)（朝彦親王(あさひこしんのう)）、内大臣一条忠香(いちじょうただか)、二条斉敬(にじょうなりゆき)、近衛忠房、久我建通(こがたけみち)、中山忠能(なかやまただやす)、正親町三条実愛(おおぎまちさんじょうさねなる)らを慎(つつしみ)に処し、大名では、斉昭を急度慎(きっとつつしみ)、慶恕、慶永に隠居、急度慎を命じ、幕吏中の俊秀大目付土岐頼旨(ときよりむね)、勘定奉行(かんじょうぶぎょう)川路聖謨(かわじとしあきら)、目付鵜殿長鋭(うどのながとし)、京都町奉行浅野長祚(あさのながよし)らを一橋派として左遷し、さらに作事奉行岩瀬忠震(いわせただなり)、軍艦奉行永井尚志(ながいなおゆき)（「なおむね」とも読む）および川路には隠居・慎を命じ、その他処罰された者は十数名に及んだ。志士以下の処罰者は75名に達したが、そのなかには水戸藩家老安島帯刀(あじまたてわき)（切腹）、同右筆頭取(ゆうひつとうどり)茅根伊予之介(ちのねいよのすけ)、同京都留守居鵜飼吉左衛門(うかいきちざえもん)、越前(えちぜん)藩士橋本左内(はしもとさない)、儒者頼三樹三郎、長州藩士吉田松陰(よしだしょういん)（以上死罪）、水戸藩士鵜飼幸吉(こうきち)（獄門）、鷹司家諸大夫小林良典(こばやしよしすけ)（遠島）、儒者池内大学、鷹司家家来三国大学(みくにだいがく)、青蓮院宮家来伊丹蔵人(いたみくろうど)（以上中追放）らがいる。

　この安政の大獄を断行した井伊は、政治は朝廷から幕府が委任されているのだから、外圧の危機に際して「臨機の権道」をとるのは当然であり、勅許を待たない重罪は甘んじて自分一人が負うという論理のうえにたっていた。大老の職に自らの政治生命を賭(か)けたのである。それだけにその政治行動は迅速果敢、強烈な政治意志の発現として断行された。しかし、その政治意志が幕藩体制の保守的伝統的維持に根ざしている以上、客観的にはそれはかえって矛盾の深化、拡大をもたらすものであった。そして、井伊は安政の大獄の返り血を浴びる形で、1860年（万延1）3月、桜田門外に暗殺された。

［田中　彰］

『吉田常吉著『井伊直弼』（1985・吉川弘文館）』▽『吉田常吉著『安政の大獄』（1996・吉川弘文館）』▽『松岡英夫著『安政の大獄――井伊直弼と長野主膳』（中公新書）』

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