Tokugawa Mitsukuni

Japanese: 徳川光圀 - とくがわみつくに

A feudal lord in the pre- and mid-Edo period. The second lord of the Mito Domain, one of the Gosanke (three branches of the Shogun). His childhood name was Chomaru, later Chiyomatsu, and after coming of age he was given the name Mitsukuni. He did not become Mitsukuni until his late 50s. His pen names were initially Tokuryo, then Kanshi, and later Shiryu. His pen names included Nisshinsai, Jozanjin, and Sotsuzenshi, but the more famous ones were Bairii and Seizan in his later years. Giko was a posthumous name. To understand Mitsukuni, it is best to divide his life into four periods.

[Yoshihiko Seya]

1st Period

Birth and Mito period. Born on June 10, 1620, in the residence of Mito Castle's senior vassal, Yukitsugu Miki, Mitsukuni was selected as the heir to the Mito clan at the age of six. He was the third son of the first feudal lord, Tokugawa Yorifusa (Ieyasu's 11th son). His mother was Tani Hisako, whose posthumous name was Lady Yasusada. Mitsukuni was recognized as Yorifusa's son and entered Mito Castle at the age of five, so his birth was unfortunate.

[Yoshihiko Seya]

Second Period

The period of the heir. It lasted for about 28 years from 1633 (Kan'ei 10), when he was selected as the heir and moved to the Mito domain residence in Koishikawa, Edo, until he became the domain's lord at the age of 34 in 1661 (Kanbun 1). At the age of 18, Mitsukuni was deeply moved by the "Biography of Boyi" in the "Records of the Grand Historian," which awakened him to learning and led him to aspire to become a history editor. He was a delinquent and caused trouble for his father and his retainers. At the age of 27, he married Princess Taihime, the daughter of the former regent Konoe Nobuhiro, but after his wife died at the age of 31, he never took a second wife. In February 1657 (Meireki 3), immediately after the Great Edo Fire, Mitsukuni opened a history bureau in the inner mansion in Komagome, Edo (within the campus of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Tokyo). This was the first step in his history editorship.

[Yoshihiko Seya]

Third Period

His time as feudal lord lasted 29 years, from the age of 34 until his retirement in 1690 (Genroku 3) at the age of 63. During this time, he improved the castle town of Mito by laying a water supply system, establishing a samurai cemetery, and relocating shrines and temples to the suburbs. He also moved the historical bureau to his Koishikawa residence, naming it Shokokan, and began full-scale compilation of the Dai Nihonshi (Great History of Japan), inviting scholars from around the country.

[Yoshihiko Seya]

4th Period

The Nishiyama Period. After he retired, he built a mountain villa in Nishiyama, north of Mito (Hitachiota City) the following year, and lived there for about 10 years until his death on December 6, 1600, at the age of 73. He handed over the position of lord of the domain to Tsunaeda, the son of his elder brother Matsudaira Yorishige, the lord of Takamatsu Domain, but continued to play a political role as Tsunaeda's guardian. In addition, he opened the Shokokan in Mito Castle with the aim of completing the Chronicles and Biographies of the Dai Nihonshi, which resulted in many scholars gathering in Mito and becoming the basis for the academic development of Mito. He also traveled frequently around the domain to inspect the conditions of the people, and in particular made an effort to excavate and protect cultural properties. These were the characteristics of his later years.

Mitsukuni's main achievements are politically significant for his forbidding suicide by following one's father, Yorifusa, at his death, which is said to have inspired the shogunate's ban on suicide by following one's father, and his thorough reform of shrines and temples. In cultural history, his various compilation projects, such as the "Dai Nihonshi," the excavation of the Samuraizuka burial mound, and his efforts to protect many cultural properties, including the Nasu no Kuni no Miyatsuko monument, are of great contemporary significance. The widely publicized "Mito Komon Manyuki" and similar works were likely created between the end of the Meiji period and the Taisho period, based on Mitsukuni's fame.

[Yoshihiko Seya]

"The Story of Mito Yoshikuni" by Sato Susumu (1911, Hakubunkan) " ▽ "New Edition of Mito Mitsukuni" by Nagoshi Tokimasa (1986, Mito Historical Society)" ▽ "Mito Mitsukuni" by Seya Yoshihiko (1985, Ibaraki Shimbun)"

[Reference] | Dai Nihonshi

Tokugawa Mitsukuni's signature
©Shogakukan ">

Tokugawa Mitsukuni's signature

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

江戸前・中期の大名。御三家水戸藩第2代の藩主。幼名は長丸(ちょうまる)、のち千代松(ちよまつ)、元服して名を光国といった。光圀となったのは50歳代後半からである。字(あざな)は、初め徳亮(とくりょう)、また観之(かんし)、のち子竜(しりゅう)。号は日新斎(にっしんさい)、常山人(じょうざんじん)、率然子(そつぜんし)などがあるが、晩年の梅里(ばいり)、西山(せいざん)が有名。義公(ぎこう)は諡(おくりな)である。光圀を理解するには、その生涯を4期に分けるのがもっとも適当であろう。

［瀬谷義彦］

第1期

出生と水戸時代。寛永(かんえい)5年6月10日、水戸城下の重臣三木之次(ゆきつぐ)の屋敷で生まれ、6歳で水戸家の世子(せいし)（跡継ぎ）に決定するまで。初代藩主徳川頼房(よりふさ)（家康の第11子）の三男。母は谷久子、諡は靖定(せいてい)夫人。光圀が頼房の子と認められ、水戸城入りをしたのは5歳のころで、その出生は不遇であった。

［瀬谷義彦］

第2期

世子の時代。世子に決まり、江戸・小石川の水戸藩邸に移った1633年（寛永10）から61年（寛文1）34歳で藩主となるまでの、およそ28年間。18歳のとき『史記』の「伯夷(はくい)伝」を読んで感動し、学問に目覚め、修史の志をたてるまでは、非行が多く父や家臣らを困らせた。27歳のとき前関白近衛信尋(このえのぶひろ)の娘泰姫(たいひめ)と結婚したが、31歳で夫人を亡くしてからは、生涯後妻を迎えなかった。1657年（明暦3）2月、江戸大火の直後、光圀は史局を江戸・駒込(こまごめ)の中屋敷（東京大学農学部構内）に開設した。修史事業の第一歩である。

［瀬谷義彦］

第3期

藩主の時代。34歳から1690年（元禄3）63歳で引退するまでの29年間である。この間、上水道の敷設、士族の墓地の創設、社寺の郊外移転などによって、城下町水戸の整備を図ったほか、小石川邸内に史局を移して彰考館と命名し、全国から学者を招いて、『大日本史』編纂(へんさん)を本格的に進めた。

［瀬谷義彦］

第4期

西山時代。引退してから翌年水戸の北方西山の地（常陸太田(ひたちおおた)市）に山荘を建てて、元禄(げんろく)13年12月6日、73歳で没するまでのおよそ10年間。藩主の職は兄の高松藩主松平頼重(よりしげ)の子綱条(つなえだ)に譲ったが、なお政治的には綱条の後見的役割を果たしたほか、『大日本史』の本紀、列伝の完成を目ざして、彰考館を水戸城中にも開き、その結果多くの学者が水戸にも集められ、水戸の学問的発展の基となったこと、盛んに領内を巡り民情視察を行ったこと、とくに文化財の発掘保護に努めたことなどは、晩年の特色である。

　光圀のおもな業績は、父頼房の死に際して殉死を禁じ幕府の殉死禁令に示唆を与えたといわれること、徹底した社寺の改革などが政治的に重要である。文化史上では、『大日本史』など各種の編纂事業、侍塚(さむらいづか)古墳の発掘調査、那須国造(なすくにのみやつこ)碑はじめ多くの文化財の保護に努めたことなど、現代的意義が大きい。世に喧伝(けんでん)される「水戸黄門(こうもん)漫遊記」の類は、光圀の名声をもとに、明治末期から大正にかけて創作されたものであろう。

［瀬谷義彦］

『佐藤進著『水戸義公伝』（1911・博文館）』▽『名越時正著『新版水戸光圀』（1986・水戸史学会）』▽『瀬谷義彦著『水戸の光圀』（1985・茨城新聞社）』

[参照項目] | 大日本史

徳川光圀花押

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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