Talk:Tokugawa Ietsugu

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Japan To-do:

[edit] Died of natural causes?

Did Tokugawa Ietsugu die of "natural causes" at age seven or was it an illness or something?

ANSWER: When I first encountered this Wikipedia text, the phrase "natural causes" had been written by some earlier contributor. I let it stand without further editing My understanding, such as it was, cames from Isaac Titsingh's 1820 French text in the New York Public Library's rare book collection. A 2006 re-working of the 1822 English translation of Titsingh's work informs my edit of this specific article -- that is, I rely on Timon Screech's Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822.

At pages 97-98, the Screech-edited text explains:

  • "Minamoto no Ietsugu, son of Ienobu, was not of an age to govern when he succeeded his father. As he had no title on account of his extreme youth, he was called Nobumatsu kimi. The govenment was placed in the hands of counsellors of state during the minority of the prince. At the begining of the sixth year of Shōtoku (1716), the prince fell dangerously ill. Orders were immediately issued that public prayers should be said in the principal temples for his recovery, but they proved unavailing. The most skillful physicians also employed all the resources of their art, to no purpose. The young prince died on 30th of the fourth month of the same year [Shōtoku 2]. The whole empire went into mouring. He was buried near the temple of San'en-ji, and he priests gave him the name of Yūshō-in.


Ooperhoofd 10:06, 10 May 2007 (UTC)