Enlightenment from Tokugawa Ieyasu's legacy:

Rule 1: If you travel long distances with heavy burdens in your life, you should not rush for success.

article 2: if it is common to be bound, you will not be dissatisfied.

article 3: always think about poverty, and there will be no greed.

article 4: patience is the cornerstone of doing nothing for a long time.

article 5: anger is the enemy.

article 6: only knowing victory without knowing defeat will be harmful to your health.

article 7: always think about yourself, never criticize others.

article 8: if it's too late to make up, it's too late to save.

According to legend, before his death, Tokugawa Ieyasu left a legacy for his descendants, which began with "Life has a long way to go". After that, his regime was passed down for 14 generations, and this legacy has always been worshipped by future generations, with far-reaching influence, and it was not until the Meiji Restoration 3 years later that it was gradually forgotten by people.

But in 198s, Tokugawa Ieyasu's twenty-first generation historian Tokugawa Yixuan questioned Tokugawa Ieyasu's legacy. He put forward the view that "Tokugawa Ieyasu's teachings are all forgeries", that is to say, this "teachings" was not written by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

He thinks it's strange that "Qingchang style" prevailed in the era of Tokugawa Ieyasu's rule, but this "legacy" is too neat. And Tokugawa Ieyasu's style is simple, but this "legacy" is flashy and has a different style. Although Tokugawa Yoshinobu is a direct descendant of the Tokugawa family, he published his views on the basis of a comprehensive study of the history of his family.

But other scholars don't think so, because if this legacy is forged, who is the forger? After all, for a long time, this "legacy" of Tokugawa Ieyasu has been "guiding" the Japanese, and it is this "legacy" that makes Tokugawa Ieyasu sacred to the Japanese people for a long time.

So it shouldn't be an outsider's forgery, otherwise who would do it for a person and family who has nothing to do with himself? If it's someone inside the Tokugawa family, even if it's not Tokugawa Ieyasu's handwriting, it can be said that it's derived from Tokugawa Ieyasu's thoughts on the interests of the whole family. Therefore, this legacy can also be said to be Tokugawa Ieyasu's "legacy".

Extended information

Tokugawa Ieyasu (Japanese: とくがわぃぇやす, English: Tokugawaiyasu; January 31, 1543-June 1, 1616), was born in Okazaki City, Sanhe (now Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture). During the Japanese Warring States Period, Sanhe was famous and his baby name was Takechiyo. The first generation general of the Edo shogunate, one of the three outstanding Japanese Warring States (the other two are Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi). An outstanding politician and strategist in Japanese history.

comprehensive evaluation

Tokugawa Ieyasu's greatest achievement in his life lies in his reorganization and strengthening of the feudal order in Japan after Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, pushing the Japanese feudal society to a new stage. The Tokugawa shogunate he founded has maintained a peaceful reunification in Japanese history for more than 26 years, which provided a slightly better social environment for the development of Japanese feudal economy than in the manor system era.

However, the Japanese feudal system reorganized and strengthened by Tokugawa Ieyasu is still based on the self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy. The strict identity system keeps everyone in a narrow frame, which seriously hinders the progress of society.

He promoted overseas trade not for the free development of non-governmental trade and the road of modern mercantilism, but for the political and economic needs of the shogunate, maintaining feudal political rule, which was limited to the official trade controlled by a few officials, famous and privileged businessmen, and was immediately banned or restricted once it exceeded the political needs of the shogunate.

In addition, in his later years, Tokugawa Ieyasu pursued the ideological rule of integrating Confucianism and Buddhism, and this influence even continued after the Meiji Restoration.

The key to success

During the Warring States Period in Japan, the struggle for political power between feudal lords and famous men was fierce, and the realization of national reunification was an inevitable trend of historical development in this period. In this situation, Tokugawa Ieyasu must have a clear understanding of the overall situation of reunification and adopt flexible policies and strategies according to local conditions. At this point, it can be said that he complied with the times and took appropriate measures.

After the change of Benneng Temple, Toyotomi Hideyoshi got there first and took control of the situation first, which made Tokugawa Ieyasu lose a chance to seize the national political power. At that time, although the overall situation was unfavorable to him, the relationship and strength between him and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were not comparable to those of Nobunobu Oda. In order to improve his situation, he took limited actions.

In p>1584, at the request of Nobuo Oda, Tokugawa Ieyasu fought with Toyotomi Hideyoshi for a long time, which was a limited act for a limited purpose. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated a team in Toyotomi Hideyoshi and killed Toyotomi Hideyoshi's brave general Ikeda Hengxing, forcing Toyotomi Hideyoshi to make peace on terms quite favorable to him, which had great influence on the whole country. Toyotomi Hideyoshi had to treat Tokugawa Ieyasu differently.

when Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to Korea, it did not include Tokugawa Ieyasu's troops in the naval battle. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea caused heavy losses to the Toyotomi regime and the famous names in the southwest, while Tokugawa Ieyasu accumulated financial resources and strengthened its strength in the peace construction. These changes were one of the important reasons for the collapse of Toyotomi's regime, and also an important turning point for Tokugawa Ieyasu to seize the national regime later.

Attention to internal governance is another important factor for Tokugawa Ieyasu's success. Tokugawa Ieyasu's internal governance was integrated with reorganization and strengthening the feudal order. Before gaining national political power, every time you occupy a place, you must always rectify the rule of the new territory, instead of blindly pursuing the expansion of the territory by force.

After seizing the national political power, in order to consolidate the political power, in addition to maintaining Toyotomi Hideyoshi's political achievements, a series of measures were taken to reorganize and strengthen the feudal order.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Tokugawa Ieyasu

Baidu Encyclopedia-Tokugawa Ieyasu Biography