Matsuura Seizan

Japanese: 松浦静山 - まつら・せいざん

Year of death: June 29, 1841 (August 15, 1841)
Year of birth: 1760.3.7 (1760.3.7)
A feudal lord in the mid-Edo period, and lord of Hirado Domain in Hizen Province (Nagasaki Prefecture). His childhood name was Eizaburo, and he later went by the name of Iki no Kami. His given name was Kiyoshi, and his pen names included Seizan, Sesshu, Ryusui, and Kan'onsai. His biological father was Matsuura Masa. When Masa died young, he became his grandfather Masanobu's adopted son (the eldest grandson, Shoso), and succeeded to his title in February 1775 (An'ei 4) at the age of 16. He entered Hirado for the first time in March of the same year, and at that time he approved the "Ten Articles of Admonition," proposing a reform of the domain's administration and also working to improve the domain's finances. In 1787 (Tenmei 7), he established the "Kokuyohoten," which set out the basics of finances, and in 1795 (Kansei 7), he established the "Shiokicho," which stipulated the governance of the town, county, and court areas, and furthered the development of the political system. Known as a daimyo who loved learning, he displayed a strong desire for knowledge in all areas of nature and humanities, including Japanese and Chinese history, anecdotes, waka poetry, court customs, herbal medicine, local products, natural history, folklore, and Dutch studies. Seizan acquired this knowledge from books, both ancient and modern, by asking local elders on his way to Edo during his alternate attendance, and through his interactions with other scholar-daimyo such as the herbalist Kimura Kenkado, the scholar and teacher Minagawa Kien, and fellow scholar-daimyo Sanada Yukitsugu, lord of Matsushiro Domain, and Ozeki Masunori, lord of Kuroba Domain. In 1775, he opened the domain school Ishinkan, and in the following year he established Rakusaidō in Hirado and Kan'onsai in Edo as libraries, and in 1784 he established Kinkisai as a historian and compiled the "family traditions." He also excelled in martial arts, and was licensed to practice the Shinkage-ryū school, while at the same time strengthening the military equipment within the domain and not neglecting naval defense. He held the position of feudal lord for over thirty long years until he retired in 1806, but after retirement he devoted himself to his studies at his villa in Honjo, Edo, and at the urging of Shoheiko School president Hayashi Shosai, he began to write on the evening of the day of the rat in November 1821, and over the next twenty years he wrote down his vast knowledge, eventually completing the great 278-volume work "Koshi Yawa." He passed away in Edo at the advanced age of 82, and was buried at Honjo Tenshoji Temple. His posthumous name was Toyokoinden Seizan Ryusui Daikoji. <References> "A Brief Biography of Matsuura Kiyoyoshi, Posthumous Third Rank, Iki no Kami," compiled by the Matsuura Count's Family Editing Office.

(Kazuhiko Kasaya)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天保12.6.29(1841.8.15)
生年：宝暦10.1.20(1760.3.7)
江戸中期の大名,肥前国平戸藩(長崎県)藩主。幼名英三郎,のち壱岐守を称した。諱は清。号は静山,雪洲,流水,感恩斎など。実父は松浦政。政が早世したため祖父誠信の養嗣子となり(嫡孫承祖),安永4(1775)年2月に16歳で襲封。同年3月に平戸に初入部するが,そのおりに「訓戒十条」を認めて藩政の刷新を打ち出し,また藩財政の改善に取り組んだ。天明7(1787)年には財政の基本を定めた「国用法典」,寛政7(1795)年には町方,郡方,浦方の統治を規定した「仕置帳」を制定して政治制度の整備をすすめた。好学の大名として知られ,和漢の歴史,逸話,和歌,有職故実,本草,物産,博物,民俗,蘭学など自然・人文の万般にわたって旺盛な知識欲を発揮した。静山はこれらの知識を古今の書籍に求め,また江戸への参勤交代の道すがら土地の故老に尋ね,あるいは本草学者木村蒹葭堂,考証学者で静山の師である皆川淇園,同じ学者大名たる松代藩主の真田幸貫,黒羽藩主の大関増業らとの交流の中で身につけていった。安永8年に藩校維新館を開き,翌9年には文庫として平戸に楽歳堂,江戸に感恩斎を設け,さらに天明4年には修史所としての絹煕斎を置いて「家世伝」の編纂をすすめた。また武芸にも秀で,自ら心形刀流免許を得るとともに,他方では藩内の武備を強化して海防にも怠らなかった。文化3(1806)年に致仕するまで三十余年の長きにわたって藩主の座にあったが,隠居後は江戸本所の別邸にあって学問に専心し,昌平黌総裁林述斎の勧めで文政4(1821)年11月の甲子の日の夜に筆を起こし,その膨大な知識を以後20年にわたって書き綴り,ついに278巻の大著『甲子夜話』をなした。82歳の高齢で江戸に卒去し,本所天祥寺に葬られた。法号は豊功院殿静山流水大居士。<参考文献>松浦伯爵家編修所編『贈従三位壱岐守松浦清卿略伝』

(笠谷和比古)

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