After the brief reigns of Tokugawa Ienobu and his young son Ietsugu, the Bakufu selected a new shogun from the Kii Branch of the Tokugawa Clan. Tokugawa Yoshimune inherited a national government in the midst of multiple crises and introduced the Kyoho Reforms to try and set the ship of state back on its proper course.
The Early Edo Period was a time of newfound stability for the formerly chaotic Japanese archipelago. Although the samurai were the official ruling class of the nation, however, in many ways they were not the principle beneficiaries of the new national status quo.
The tenure of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was marked by a fervent support of Neo-Confucian reforms, some of which were extremely radical and some of which were downright wacky. It was during his reign that the events surrounding the tale of the forty-seven ronin occurred.
The Kings of Joseon were faced with many difficult decisions throughout the 1600s as their nation faced Manchurian invasion, internal military coups, and a tumultuously factional political class.
As the Ming Dynasty faced utter collapse in the face of famines, plagues, and peasant rebellions, the Qing Dynasty of Manchuria would surge and, eventually, take its place as the ruling dynasty of China.
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