Meiji Restoration (Japanese language: 明 (めい)治 (じ)維 (い)新 (しん) Meiji ishin[*]) refers collectively to the broad process of transformation that dismantled the bakuhan system and led to the establishment of centralized unified power through Imperial restoration.1 "Meiji Restoration" is an academic name; at the time it was called Go-Isshin (Japanese language: 御一新) and other names.2 The start of the Meiji Restoration is 1868, while its end point is disputed, with several theories: the 1871 Abolition of the han system, the 1873 land tax reform, the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, or the 1889 promulgation of the constitution.
However, because the shogunate government concluded these treaties without the Emperor Kōmei's imperial sanction,3 anti-shogunate forces rose in opposition, and a period of turmoil followed in which they confronted the shogunate government. Then the Tokugawa shogunate, which had lasted over 260 years, was defeated in 1866 by the Satchō Alliance led by Sakamoto Ryōma, and in 1867 the return of power and Imperial restoration took place.
The Meiji government sought reforms mainly to catch up with the Western powers. It pursued a series of reforms including the school system, the conscription ordinance, and the land tax reform, and under the banner of rich country, strong army, modeled on modern states of Europe and the United States, suppressed democratization and human rights movements, and under the leadership of the emperor, worked to foster unilateral capitalism and strengthen the military.
Central Administration
Because the collapse of the bakuhan system made it necessary to hurry the establishment of a centralized state, the new government revived names based on the ritsuryō system.
Due to the Great Proclamation of Imperial Restoration, the abolition of the shogunate, regency, and kampaku and the personal rule of the Japanese emperor were decided, and a government system was implemented that divided officials under the Japanese emperor into Sōsai (総裁), Gijō (議定), and sanyo (参与). However, because Emperor Meiji was still young, a system to assist him was needed. Accordingly, on April 21 of the first year of Meiji, the Seitaisho (政体書) was promulgated (Seitaisho system), and the following year the 2 Kan 6 Shō system, modeled on the 2 Kan 8 Shō of the ritsuryō system, was launched. As concrete administrative organs, the Dajōkan (太政官) and Jingikan (神祇官) were established, and under the Dajōkan the ministries (省) were set up, copying the ritsuryō system; however, afterward numerous changes were needed, such as the separation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs into the Ministry of Education and the reorganization of the Ministry of Justice into the Ministry of Justice, so the system was not stabilized. In addition, the legislative bodies—Sain (左院, later Genrōin (元老院)), Uin, and conferences of local officials—were repeatedly established and abolished. The Meiji central reforms were finally stabilized with the launch of the cabinet system in 1885.
Furthermore, regarding the legislature, Kido Takayoshi and others insisted from the early Meiji period on opening a parliament, but because the reforms of the government system, the level of popular development (民度), and national education were immature for establishing a parliamentary system, it was premature. Therefore, centered on Ōkubo Toshimichi, a reform system centered on bureaucrats from the Satsuma and Chōshū domain factions, known as the yūshi senshu (有司専制),4 was maintained. However, due to the rise of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and the maturation of reforms through the improvement of various institutions, the Imperial Edict on the Establishment of the National Diet was issued in 1881. At the same time, under Itō Hirobumi, the movement to enact a constitution took full shape, and the Privy Council was established to deliberate on it. In 1889 the Meiji Constitution was promulgated, and in 1890 the Imperial Diet was launched, so that constitutional monarchy was introduced for the first time in East Asia.5
Initially, it was argued that Kyoto had many old abuses, and a proposal to move the capital to Osaka was advocated centered on Ōkubo Toshimichi. However, there was much opposition to moving from Kyoto, and because of the surrender of Edo Castle, it was decided to make Edo Tokyo. Through Emperor Meiji's second visit to Tokyo, the Dajōkan was also moved to Tokyo, and Tokyo became the de facto capital.
Regional Administration
In the local administration of the Meiji government, apart from moving the Tokugawa house to Suruga Domain and making Kyoto, Nagasaki, and Hakodate government-controlled "fu" (府), the previous han system was in principle maintained. However, to advance the construction of a modern state aimed at a rich country and strong army, it was necessary to strengthen the government's local rule through centralization.
First, through the 2nd year of Meiji's return of domains and people, former domain lords voluntarily returned the han (land) and han (people) to the emperor, and were reappointed as chihan-ji (知藩事, chihan-ji), which enabled the separation of domain territory from the lords; together with the important regions and prefectures that had been former shogunate direct territories, this became the "fu-han-ken system" (府藩県体制). However, as centralization advanced and reforms were to be carried out nationwide, the existence of the domains became an obstacle, and because financial hardship continued on the domain side as well, a succession of domains voluntarily requested abolition. On August 29, 1871, under leaders from Satsuma and Chōshū domains, the Abolition of the han system and establishment of prefectures was carried out, and the system of prefectures and urban prefectures was installed (initially 3 fu and 302 ken, soon reorganized into 3 fu and 72 ken), and a system of dispatching governors from the central government was implemented. In this regard, because the names of the ryō-system provinces were not used, many cities came to have the same names as their prefectures. However, apart from Shimazu Hisamitsu of Satsuma Domain, there was no notable opposition.6
Reform of Various Systems
After the abolition of the han system (abolishing domains and converting all of them into prefectures) and the reform of the Dajōkan system, a centralized system was established, and thus the preparations to reform the systems of the old shogunate era were finally in place. Almost simultaneously, court reform was also carried out: the old court offices and palace women were abolished, and attendants centered on the shizoku raised Emperor Meiji to be an emperor suited to a reforming monarch. Emperor Meiji, who had been sickly in the late shogunate period, recovered his health possibly due to upbringing by the shizoku, learned the mindset of a Western-style constitutional monarch, and became a figure suited as the head of the "Meiji state." In particular, he attended all the Privy Council deliberations during the drafting of the constitution, and also played an important role as a mediator of national politics when prime ministers frequently resigned and were replaced in the immature period of constitutional politics before and after the opening of the Diet.
Regarding the status system, the distinction of "four classes" under the Edo shogunate was abolished; former samurai were made shizoku and all others commoners, pursuing "equality of the four classes"; while the former kuge, daimyō, and some Buddhist monks were newly made the privileged class of kazoku, and at the same time placed under the control of the Imperial Household Ministry.
Major reforms included the school system reform, land tax revision, the conscription ordinance, adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the improvement of the judicial system, and the Haircutting Edict. However, because these reforms were carried out rapidly, many contradictions arose, and it is said that they incurred the dissatisfaction of the shizoku and peasants and later led to the Seikanron. Iwakura and Ōkubo, who returned from the Western mission, did not support the Seikanron, and with the establishment of the Home Ministry under Ōkubo, the organization of the various reforms was accomplished.
Also, in the same period, the movement toward civilization and enlightenment in the private sector, together with the spread of meat-eating and the opening of railways, fostered the atmosphere of the new era of "Meiji."
In the economic and industrial field, under the slogans of rich country, strong army and promotion of industry, state-run factories including the Tomioka Silk Mill were built, and government-led industrial development began, introducing Western industrial technology. In the financial system as well, the yen was introduced as the currency unit (1871), and through national banks under the National Bank Ordinance, the Bank of Japan was established in 1882 as a central bank holding the exclusive right to issue currency, and the capitalist financial system was also consolidated. In the distribution sector, postal systems, the development of telegraph networks, and railway and shipping transport were improved (through competition between the private postal steamship company Mitsubishi and the state-backed Kyodo Unyu company, which became Nippon Yusen). The capital activities also had as a background the investment activities based on the assets of the kazoku, who received stipends in place of their lost positions.
In these reforms, in the process of actively adopting the advanced systems of Western civilization, foreigners called "hired foreigners" were employed in various fields such as technical instruction, education, the government system, and military organization, helping in the construction of the modern state.
Religious Policy
Buddhism
Religiously, because this was a reform returning to the ancient unity of religion and government, on the 17th day of the first lunar month of 1867, the institutional regulations placed God at the head of seven items, and in the third lunar month the edict on separation of Shinto and Buddhism was issued. The main meaning of the edict on the separation of kami and buddhas was not the rejection of Buddhism but the separation of the two from the mixture of Shinto and Buddhism that had prevailed (shinbutsu shōchū) until the Edo period; however, the restorationist mood of the time led even Buddhism, as a foreign religion, to strong rejection in the form of the persecution of Buddhism.
Christianity
Christianity, which had been regulated as an anti-state religion opposing the order of the shogunate by the 1612 Christian prohibition edict and suppressed,7 continued to be banned by the Meiji government as well, and a total of 140 Christian leaders were forcibly relocated, divided among Hagi (66), Tsuwano (28), and Fukuyama (20). Afterward, on December 7 of the 2nd year of Meiji (1869), about 3,000 Christians were dispersed and relocated to Kanazawa and ten other domains. However, in November of the 4th year of Meiji (1871), Iwakura Tomomi as special plenipotentiary
Related to the policy of making Shinto the state religion, even though the ban on Christianity was lifted, there was opposition from the government's protectionist faction, which was based on the skeptical view that the Western powers would not agree to treaty revision immediately, and also from religious circles and the general public, who strongly voiced opposition to lifting the ban on the "heretical sect" (邪宗門)8; the dispute was prolonged, but on February 24, 1873, the prohibition notice boards (高札)9 were removed and the decision was notified to each province; when the relocated Christians returned to their villages, the matter was finally concluded.
Foreign Policy
Because the greatest goal of the new government was to catch up with the Western powers, the revision of the unequal treaties concluded in the late shogunate period was regarded as urgent. The Iwakura Mission had the study of Western systems as its purpose, but also had an aspect of preliminary preparation for treaty revision. In fact, negotiations were prepared, but the Western powers, which did not regard Japan as a modern state, were not willing to deal with it, and it was still premature. Therefore, first, from the aspect of domestic policy, to eliminate the antipathy toward foreigners held by the people, attacks on foreigners were banned by law, the international law was accepted, measures were taken so that foreigners could travel freely within the country,10 and various policies such as Europeanization were attempted; however, the revision of the treaties itself required persistent efforts spanning half a century.
Impact and Criticism of the Reforms
Because it was mainly an autocratic government by the former Satsuma and Chōshū domains and some kuge, it was mocked as a "domain faction government." However, among mid-level officials and above there were many from the former shinpan domains and former shogunate retainers, so it is difficult to say that a few forces led it.
Although the reforms of the Meiji Restoration produced contradictions due to the new systems, because it succeeded in achieving a constitutional system in a short period, in Asia there were attempts to carry out reform and independence movements modeled on the Meiji Restoration. However, most remained reforms in form only or "reforms from above" grasping only one aspect, and there were few successful examples.
Traditionalists were indignant about the problem of the sacred imperial system being forced to yield to modern civilization.
Department of Japanese History, College of General Education, University of Tokyo (September 1, 1998). An Introduction to Japanese History. Jiyeongsa. p. 267. ↩
Ienaga Saburō et al. (1996). New Japanese History. Munwongak. p. 171. ↩
Kang Chang-il, Ha Jong-mun, 101 Scenes of Japanese History in One Volume, Garam Planning, November 20, 1998, p. 271. ↩
A term originating from the Petition for the Establishment of Elected Assemblies (民選議院設立建白書) submitted in 1874 by Itagaki Taisuke and Gotō Shōjirō, criticizing the transcendentalist government centered on the han-batsu bureaucrats (Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, Hizen). It was later used as a slogan demanding criticism of the government and the establishment of a parliament in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. ↩
Strictly speaking, the first constitutionalism in Asia was the promulgation of the 1876 "Midhat Constitution" of the Ottoman Empire, but the constitution was abolished shortly afterward. ↩
The reasons for the lack of opposition are considered to be: the central military system had already been established, making it difficult for individual domains to resist; even when the finances of the domains fell into crisis, the domain governors could do nothing about it; and the status and property of former domain lords as kazoku were guaranteed. ↩
History of the Japanese Protestant Church / Kim Su-jin / Hongsung-sa. ↩
Means "evil religion." Generally refers to Christianity. It arose under the Toyotomi regime and the Tokugawa shogunate, and was used as a political rather than a religious term. ↩
A wooden board set up high along the roadside on which prohibitions, decrees, and the crimes of condemned prisoners were written. (Bang.) ↩
Academic journal Gunsa (軍事), Park Young-jun, "Military History before and after the Meiji Restoration," June 1994. ↩
Meiji Restoration (Japanese language: 明 (めい)治 (じ)維 (い)新 (しん) Meiji ishin[*]) refers collectively to the broad process of transformation that dismantled the bakuhan system and led to the establishment of centralized unified power through Imperial restoration.1 "Meiji Restoration" is an academic name; at the time it was called Go-Isshin (Japanese language: 御一新) and other names.2 The start of the Meiji Restoration is 1868, while its end point is disputed, with several theories: the 1871 Abolition of the han system, the 1873 land tax reform, the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, or the 1889 promulgation of the constitution.
Background
The Tokugawa shogunate monopolized rights concerning foreign relations and, to manage, control, and restrict the entry and exit of Japanese people and trade, long maintained a seclusion system. However, after the Opium Wars from 1856 to 1860, the wave of Western imperialism advancing into East Asia grew even stronger. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States East India Squadron came to Japan carrying a letter from United States President Millard Fillmore demanding the opening of the country. (Black Ships arrival.) In response, the shogunate concluded the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, and in 1858 signed humiliating commercial treaties with the , , , , and ().
However, because the shogunate government concluded these treaties without the Emperor Kōmei's imperial sanction,3 anti-shogunate forces rose in opposition, and a period of turmoil followed in which they confronted the shogunate government. Then the Tokugawa shogunate, which had lasted over 260 years, was defeated in 1866 by the Satchō Alliance led by Sakamoto Ryōma, and in 1867 the return of power and Imperial restoration took place.
The Meiji government sought reforms mainly to catch up with the Western powers. It pursued a series of reforms including the school system, the conscription ordinance, and the land tax reform, and under the banner of rich country, strong army, modeled on modern states of Europe and the United States, suppressed democratization and human rights movements, and under the leadership of the emperor, worked to foster unilateral capitalism and strengthen the military.
Central Administration
Because the collapse of the bakuhan system made it necessary to hurry the establishment of a centralized state, the new government revived names based on the ritsuryō system.
Due to the Great Proclamation of Imperial Restoration, the abolition of the shogunate, regency, and kampaku and the personal rule of the Japanese emperor were decided, and a government system was implemented that divided officials under the Japanese emperor into Sōsai (総裁), Gijō (議定), and sanyo (参与). However, because Emperor Meiji was still young, a system to assist him was needed. Accordingly, on April 21 of the first year of Meiji, the Seitaisho (政体書) was promulgated (Seitaisho system), and the following year the 2 Kan 6 Shō system, modeled on the 2 Kan 8 Shō of the ritsuryō system, was launched. As concrete administrative organs, the Dajōkan (太政官) and Jingikan (神祇官) were established, and under the Dajōkan the ministries (省) were set up, copying the ritsuryō system; however, afterward numerous changes were needed, such as the separation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs into the Ministry of Education and the reorganization of the Ministry of Justice into the Ministry of Justice, so the system was not stabilized. In addition, the legislative bodies—Sain (左院, later Genrōin (元老院)), Uin, and conferences of local officials—were repeatedly established and abolished. The Meiji central reforms were finally stabilized with the launch of the cabinet system in 1885.
Furthermore, regarding the legislature, Kido Takayoshi and others insisted from the early Meiji period on opening a parliament, but because the reforms of the government system, the level of popular development (民度), and national education were immature for establishing a parliamentary system, it was premature. Therefore, centered on Ōkubo Toshimichi, a reform system centered on bureaucrats from the Satsuma and Chōshū domain factions, known as the yūshi senshu (有司専制),4 was maintained. However, due to the rise of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and the maturation of reforms through the improvement of various institutions, the Imperial Edict on the Establishment of the National Diet was issued in 1881. At the same time, under Itō Hirobumi, the movement to enact a constitution took full shape, and the Privy Council was established to deliberate on it. In 1889 the Meiji Constitution was promulgated, and in 1890 the Imperial Diet was launched, so that constitutional monarchy was introduced for the first time in East Asia.5
Initially, it was argued that Kyoto had many old abuses, and a proposal to move the capital to Osaka was advocated centered on Ōkubo Toshimichi. However, there was much opposition to moving from Kyoto, and because of the surrender of Edo Castle, it was decided to make Edo Tokyo. Through Emperor Meiji's second visit to Tokyo, the Dajōkan was also moved to Tokyo, and Tokyo became the de facto capital.
Regional Administration
In the local administration of the Meiji government, apart from moving the Tokugawa house to Suruga Domain and making Kyoto, Nagasaki, and Hakodate government-controlled "fu" (府), the previous han system was in principle maintained. However, to advance the construction of a modern state aimed at a rich country and strong army, it was necessary to strengthen the government's local rule through centralization.
First, through the 2nd year of Meiji's return of domains and people, former domain lords voluntarily returned the han (land) and han (people) to the emperor, and were reappointed as chihan-ji (知藩事, chihan-ji), which enabled the separation of domain territory from the lords; together with the important regions and prefectures that had been former shogunate direct territories, this became the "fu-han-ken system" (府藩県体制). However, as centralization advanced and reforms were to be carried out nationwide, the existence of the domains became an obstacle, and because financial hardship continued on the domain side as well, a succession of domains voluntarily requested abolition. On August 29, 1871, under leaders from Satsuma and Chōshū domains, the Abolition of the han system and establishment of prefectures was carried out, and the system of prefectures and urban prefectures was installed (initially 3 fu and 302 ken, soon reorganized into 3 fu and 72 ken), and a system of dispatching governors from the central government was implemented. In this regard, because the names of the ryō-system provinces were not used, many cities came to have the same names as their prefectures. However, apart from Shimazu Hisamitsu of Satsuma Domain, there was no notable opposition.6
Reform of Various Systems
After the abolition of the han system (abolishing domains and converting all of them into prefectures) and the reform of the Dajōkan system, a centralized system was established, and thus the preparations to reform the systems of the old shogunate era were finally in place. Almost simultaneously, court reform was also carried out: the old court offices and palace women were abolished, and attendants centered on the shizoku raised Emperor Meiji to be an emperor suited to a reforming monarch. Emperor Meiji, who had been sickly in the late shogunate period, recovered his health possibly due to upbringing by the shizoku, learned the mindset of a Western-style constitutional monarch, and became a figure suited as the head of the "Meiji state." In particular, he attended all the Privy Council deliberations during the drafting of the constitution, and also played an important role as a mediator of national politics when prime ministers frequently resigned and were replaced in the immature period of constitutional politics before and after the opening of the Diet.
Regarding the status system, the distinction of "four classes" under the Edo shogunate was abolished; former samurai were made shizoku and all others commoners, pursuing "equality of the four classes"; while the former kuge, daimyō, and some Buddhist monks were newly made the privileged class of kazoku, and at the same time placed under the control of the Imperial Household Ministry.
Major reforms included the school system reform, land tax revision, the conscription ordinance, adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the improvement of the judicial system, and the Haircutting Edict. However, because these reforms were carried out rapidly, many contradictions arose, and it is said that they incurred the dissatisfaction of the shizoku and peasants and later led to the Seikanron. Iwakura and Ōkubo, who returned from the Western mission, did not support the Seikanron, and with the establishment of the Home Ministry under Ōkubo, the organization of the various reforms was accomplished.
Also, in the same period, the movement toward civilization and enlightenment in the private sector, together with the spread of meat-eating and the opening of railways, fostered the atmosphere of the new era of "Meiji."
In the economic and industrial field, under the slogans of rich country, strong army and promotion of industry, state-run factories including the Tomioka Silk Mill were built, and government-led industrial development began, introducing Western industrial technology. In the financial system as well, the yen was introduced as the currency unit (1871), and through national banks under the National Bank Ordinance, the Bank of Japan was established in 1882 as a central bank holding the exclusive right to issue currency, and the capitalist financial system was also consolidated. In the distribution sector, postal systems, the development of telegraph networks, and railway and shipping transport were improved (through competition between the private postal steamship company Mitsubishi and the state-backed Kyodo Unyu company, which became Nippon Yusen). The capital activities also had as a background the investment activities based on the assets of the kazoku, who received stipends in place of their lost positions.
In these reforms, in the process of actively adopting the advanced systems of Western civilization, foreigners called "hired foreigners" were employed in various fields such as technical instruction, education, the government system, and military organization, helping in the construction of the modern state.
Religious Policy
Buddhism
Religiously, because this was a reform returning to the ancient unity of religion and government, on the 17th day of the first lunar month of 1867, the institutional regulations placed God at the head of seven items, and in the third lunar month the edict on separation of Shinto and Buddhism was issued. The main meaning of the edict on the separation of kami and buddhas was not the rejection of Buddhism but the separation of the two from the mixture of Shinto and Buddhism that had prevailed (shinbutsu shōchū) until the Edo period; however, the restorationist mood of the time led even Buddhism, as a foreign religion, to strong rejection in the form of the persecution of Buddhism.
Christianity
Christianity, which had been regulated as an anti-state religion opposing the order of the shogunate by the 1612 Christian prohibition edict and suppressed,7 continued to be banned by the Meiji government as well, and a total of 140 Christian leaders were forcibly relocated, divided among Hagi (66), Tsuwano (28), and Fukuyama (20). Afterward, on December 7 of the 2nd year of Meiji (1869), about 3,000 Christians were dispersed and relocated to Kanazawa and ten other domains. However, in November of the 4th year of Meiji (1871), Iwakura Tomomi as special plenipotentiary
Related to the policy of making Shinto the state religion, even though the ban on Christianity was lifted, there was opposition from the government's protectionist faction, which was based on the skeptical view that the Western powers would not agree to treaty revision immediately, and also from religious circles and the general public, who strongly voiced opposition to lifting the ban on the "heretical sect" (邪宗門)8; the dispute was prolonged, but on February 24, 1873, the prohibition notice boards (高札)9 were removed and the decision was notified to each province; when the relocated Christians returned to their villages, the matter was finally concluded.
Foreign Policy
Because the greatest goal of the new government was to catch up with the Western powers, the revision of the unequal treaties concluded in the late shogunate period was regarded as urgent. The Iwakura Mission had the study of Western systems as its purpose, but also had an aspect of preliminary preparation for treaty revision. In fact, negotiations were prepared, but the Western powers, which did not regard Japan as a modern state, were not willing to deal with it, and it was still premature. Therefore, first, from the aspect of domestic policy, to eliminate the antipathy toward foreigners held by the people, attacks on foreigners were banned by law, the international law was accepted, measures were taken so that foreigners could travel freely within the country,10 and various policies such as Europeanization were attempted; however, the revision of the treaties itself required persistent efforts spanning half a century.
Impact and Criticism of the Reforms
Because it was mainly an autocratic government by the former Satsuma and Chōshū domains and some kuge, it was mocked as a "domain faction government." However, among mid-level officials and above there were many from the former shinpan domains and former shogunate retainers, so it is difficult to say that a few forces led it.
Although the reforms of the Meiji Restoration produced contradictions due to the new systems, because it succeeded in achieving a constitutional system in a short period, in Asia there were attempts to carry out reform and independence movements modeled on the Meiji Restoration. However, most remained reforms in form only or "reforms from above" grasping only one aspect, and there were few successful examples.
Traditionalists were indignant about the problem of the sacred imperial system being forced to yield to modern civilization.
Department of Japanese History, College of General Education, University of Tokyo (September 1, 1998). An Introduction to Japanese History. Jiyeongsa. p. 267. ↩
Ienaga Saburō et al. (1996). New Japanese History. Munwongak. p. 171. ↩
Kang Chang-il, Ha Jong-mun, 101 Scenes of Japanese History in One Volume, Garam Planning, November 20, 1998, p. 271. ↩
A term originating from the Petition for the Establishment of Elected Assemblies (民選議院設立建白書) submitted in 1874 by Itagaki Taisuke and Gotō Shōjirō, criticizing the transcendentalist government centered on the han-batsu bureaucrats (Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, Hizen). It was later used as a slogan demanding criticism of the government and the establishment of a parliament in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. ↩
Strictly speaking, the first constitutionalism in Asia was the promulgation of the 1876 "Midhat Constitution" of the Ottoman Empire, but the constitution was abolished shortly afterward. ↩
The reasons for the lack of opposition are considered to be: the central military system had already been established, making it difficult for individual domains to resist; even when the finances of the domains fell into crisis, the domain governors could do nothing about it; and the status and property of former domain lords as kazoku were guaranteed. ↩
History of the Japanese Protestant Church / Kim Su-jin / Hongsung-sa. ↩
Means "evil religion." Generally refers to Christianity. It arose under the Toyotomi regime and the Tokugawa shogunate, and was used as a political rather than a religious term. ↩
A wooden board set up high along the roadside on which prohibitions, decrees, and the crimes of condemned prisoners were written. (Bang.) ↩
Academic journal Gunsa (軍事), Park Young-jun, "Military History before and after the Meiji Restoration," June 1994. ↩