Isaac Titsingh
Encyclopedia
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
– 2 February 1812 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a Dutch surgeon, scholar, merchant-trader and ambassador.
During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC). He represented the European trading company in exclusive official contact with Tokugawa
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He traveled to Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
twice for audiences with the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
and other high bakufu officials. He was the Dutch and VOC Governor General in Chinsura, Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. Titsingh worked with his counterpart, Charles Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis KG , styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as The Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army officer and colonial administrator...
, who was Governor-General of the English East India Company. In 1795, Titsingh represented Dutch and VOC interests in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where his reception at the court of the Emperor Qianlong stood in stark contrast with rebuffs to England's ambassador George Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...
just prior to celebrations of Qianlong’s sixty year reign. In China, Titsingh effectively functioned as ambassador for his country at the same time as he represented the VOC as a trade representative.
Japan, 1779-1784
Opperhoofd
Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head'.The Danish equivalent Overhoved, which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch word, is also treated here....
or Chief factor in Japan in 1779-1780, 1781–1783, and 1784. The singular importance of the head of the VOC in Japan during this period was enhanced by the Japanese policy of sakoku
Sakoku
was the foreign relations policy of Japan under which no foreigner could enter nor could any Japanese leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633–39 and remained in effect until...
-imposed isolation. Because of earlier religious proselytizing during this period, no European or Japanese could enter or leave the Japanese archipelago on penalty of death. The sole exception to this "closed door," was the VOC "factory" or trading post on the island of Dejima
Dejima
was a small fan-shaped artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634. This island, which was formed by digging a canal through a small peninsula, remained as the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world during the Edo period. Dejima was built to...
in Nagasaki bay on the southern Japanese island of Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
. In this time of seclusion, Titsingh is believed to have been the first Freemason in Japan.
In this highly-controlled context, the VOC traders became the sole official conduit for trade and for scientific-cultural exchanges between Europe and Japan. The VOC Opperhoofd
Opperhoofd
Opperhoofd is a Dutch word which literally means 'supreme head'.The Danish equivalent Overhoved, which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch word, is also treated here....
was accorded the status of a tributary of the Shogun; and twice he had to pay during an obligatory once-a-year visits of homage
Dutch missions to Edo
The Dutch East India Company missions to Edo were regular tribute missions to the court of the Tokugawa Shogun in Edo to reassure the ties between the Bakufu and the Opperhoofd...
to the Shogun in Edo. In such rare opportunities, Titsingh's informal contacts with bakufu officials and Rangaku
Rangaku
Rangaku is a body of knowledge developed by Japan through its contacts with the Dutch enclave of Dejima, which allowed Japan to keep abreast of Western technology and medicine in the period when the country was closed to foreigners, 1641–1853, because of the Tokugawa shogunate’s policy of national...
scholars in Edo may have been as important as his formal audiences with the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieharu
Tokugawa Ieharu
Tokugawa Ieharu Tokugawa Ieharu Tokugawa Ieharu (徳川家治 (June 20, 1737 – September 17, 1786) was the tenth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1760 to 1786.Ieharu was the eldest son of Tokugawa Ieshige, the ninth shogun.-Events of the Ieharu's bakufu:...
.
India, 1785-1792
In 1785, Titsingh was appointed Director of the VOC trading post at Chinsura in Bengal. Chinsura is up-river from Calcutta on the Hooghly River, an arm of the Ganges. He seems to have savored the intellectual life of the European community. Titsingh was described as “the Mandarin of Chinsura” (see Mandarin (bureaucrat)Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...
and scholar-bureaucrat) by William Jones
William Jones (philologist)
Sir William Jones was an English philologist and scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages...
, the philologist and Bengal jurist.
Batavia, 1792-1793
Titsingh’s return to BataviaJakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
(now Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
) led to new positions as Ontvanger-Generaal (Treasurer) and later as Commissaris ter Zee (Maritime Commissioner).
While at Batavia, he met with Lord Macartney who was en route to China. Titsingh's comments were important factors in McCartney's decision to abandon a planned expedition to Japan in 1793. Mccartney's report to London explained:
- "... the expediency of attempting an intercourse with the Japanese subsists in its full force. Tho from the conversations I had at Batavia with a Dutch Gentleman of a very liberal disposition who was several years resident in Japan, Isaac Titsingh, I collected nothing that could induce me to depend on a favorable reception there, I learned nothing to deter me from the trial. The risk would, at least, be personal, as we have hitherto there no trade to lose. And no moment, if any, could be so propitious for opening up a new trade with them , as when, from the present general confusion of affairs of the Dutch East India Company, their connection with the Japanese is greatly on the decline.
China, 1794-1795
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
. In Peking, the Titsingh delegation included Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest
Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest
Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest Dutch-American merchant who is mostly known for his participation in the last Dutch embassy to China under the tributary system.- Early career :...
and Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes
Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes
Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes was a French merchant-trader, ambassador and scholar. He was the son of French academician and sinologue, Joseph de Guignes...
, whose complementary accounts of this embassy to the Chinese court were published in the U.S. and Europe.
Titsingh's gruelling, mid-winter trek from Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
to Peking allowed him to see parts of inland China which had never before been accessible to Europeans. His party arrived in Peking in time for New Year's celebrations. By Chinese standards, Titsingh and his delegation were received with uncommon respect and honors in the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
, and later in the Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace
Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace, known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan , and originally called the Imperial Gardens, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing...
). Unlike the unsuccessful British embassy of the previous year under Lord George Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...
, Titsingh made every effort to conform with the demands of the complex Imperial court etiquette—including kowtow
Kowtow
Kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. An alternative Chinese term is ketou, however the meaning is somewhat altered: kòu originally meant "knock with reverence", whereas kē has the general meaning of "touch upon ".In Han...
ing to the Emperor.
Neither the Chinese nor the Europeans could have known that this would be the last appearance by any European ambassador at the Imperial court until after the Opium Wars
Opium Wars
The Opium Wars, also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, divided into the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842 and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860, were the climax of disputes over trade and diplomatic relations between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire...
of the next century.
Titsingh is believed to have been the first Freemason in China, and the only to be received in the court of the Qianlong emperor.
Return to Europe, 1796-1812
Titsingh's library and his collection of art, cultural and scientific material was dispersed; and some entered the collections of the French state. Among the Japanese books brought to Europe by Titsingh, was a copy of by Hayashi Shihei
Hayashi Shihei
was a Japanese military scholar and a retainer of the Sendai Domain.His name is sometimes misread as Rin Shihei....
(1738–93). This book, which was published in Japan in 1785, deals with Chosen (Korea) and the kingdom of Ryukyu (Okinawa) and Ezo (Hokkaido). In Paris, the text represented the first appearance of Korean han'gŭl in Europe. After Titsingh's death, the printed original and Titsingh's translation were purchased by Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat (1788–1832) at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
. After Rémusat's death, Julius Klaproth
Julius Klaproth
Julius Heinrich Klaproth , German linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, Orientalist and explorer. As a scholar, he is credited along with Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, with being instrumental in turning East Asian Studies into scientific disciplines with critical methods.-Chronology:Klaproth was...
(1783-1735) at the Institut Royal in Paris was free in 1832 to publish his edited version of Titsingh's translation.
Legacy
Titsingh’s experiences and scholarly research were the genesis for published articles and books. The Batavian Academy of Arts and Sciences (Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen) published seven of Titsingh's articles about Japan.Titsingh's accounts of brewing sake and soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
production in Japan were the earliest to be published in a Western language. His work was more widely disseminated throughout Europe by the beginning of the 19th century.
Titsingh's published compilation of a preliminary Japanese lexicon was only the early evidence of a project which continued for the rest of his life.
His legacy is ensured by posthumously printed works.
Selected works
OCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 90+ works in 150+ publications in 7 languages and 1,600+ library holdings.
• 1781 --"Bereiding van saké en soya," in Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Transactions of the Batavian society of arts and sciences), Vol. III, Batavia.
• 1814 -- "Ieso-Ki, ou Description d'Yeso
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, par Arai-Tsi-kogo-no-Kami
Arai Hakuseki
was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo Period, who advised the Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi . Hakuseki was his pen name...
, Instituteur du Ziogoen (empereur militaire) Tsoena-Josi
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, thus making him the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu....
, écrite en 1720. Ieso-Ki ou Description d'Yeso, avec l'histoire de la révolte de Sam-say-In
Shakushain's Revolt
was an Ainu rebellion against Japanese authority on Hokkaidō between 1669 to 1672. It was led by Ainu chieftain Shakushain against the Matsumae clan, who represented Japanese trading and governmental interests in the area of Hokkaidō then controlled by the Japanese .The war initially began as a...
, par Kannamon, interprète japonais, écrite en 1752. Notice de deux cartes japonais, manuscrites, communiquées par M. Titsingh," in Annales des voyages, Vol. XXIV, Paris.
• 1819 -- Cérémonies usitées au Japon pour les mariages et les funérailles (Ceremonies Performed at Marriages and Funerals in Japan). Paris: Nepveu. OCLC 185485254.
• 1820 -- Mémoires et anecdotes sur la dynastie régnante des djogouns, souverains du Japon (Memories of and Anecdotes about the Reigning Dynasty of Shoguns, Sovereigns of Japan), avec la description des fêtes et cérémonies observées aux différentes époques de l'année à la cour de ces princes, et un appendice contenant des détails sur la poésie des Japonais, leur manière de diviser l'année, etc.; Ouvrage orné de Planches gravées et coloriées, tiré des Originaux Japonais par M. Titsingh; publié avec des notes et éclaircissemens Par M. Abel Rémusat. Paris: Nepveu. OCLC 255146140.
• 1822 -- Illustrations of Japan; consisting of Private Memoirs and Anecdotes of the reigning dynasty of The Djogouns, or Sovereigns of Japan; a description of the Feasts and Ceremonies observed throughout the year at their Court; and of the Ceremonies customary at Marriages and Funerals: to which are subjoined, observations on the legal suicide of the Japanese, remarks on their poetry, an explanation of their mode of reckoning time, particulars respecting the Dosia powder, the preface of a work by Confoutzee on filial piety, &c. &c. by M. Titsingh formerly Chief Agent to the Dutch East India Company at Nangasaki. Translated from the French, by Frederic Shoberl
Frederic Shoberl
Frederic Shoberl , also known as Frederick Schoberl, was an English journalist, editor, translator and writer. Schoberl edited Forget Me Not, the first literary annual, issued at Christmas "for 1823" and translated The Hunchback of Notre Dame.-Biography:Shoberl was born in London in 1775, and...
with coloured plates, faithfully copied from Japanese original designs. London: R. Ackermann. OCLC 5911523.
• 1834 -- [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō
Hayashi Gaho
, also known as Hayashi Shunsai, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar, teacher and administrator in the system of higher education maintained by the Tokugawa bakufu during the Edo period...
, (1652)] Nihon Ōdai Ichiran
Nihon Odai Ichiran
is a 17th century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings.According to the 1871 edition of the American Cyclopaedia, the translation of Nihon Ōdai Ichiran in 1834 was one of very few books about Japan; and it was...
( Nipon o daï itsi ran); ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon, tr. par M. Isaac Titsingh avec l'aide de plusieurs interprètes attachés au comptoir hollandais de Nangasaki; ouvrage re., complété et cor. sur l'original japonais-chinois, accompagné de notes et précédé d'un Aperçu d'histoire mythologique du Japon, par M. J. Klaproth
Julius Klaproth
Julius Heinrich Klaproth , German linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, Orientalist and explorer. As a scholar, he is credited along with Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, with being instrumental in turning East Asian Studies into scientific disciplines with critical methods.-Chronology:Klaproth was...
. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society...
. OCLC 84067437.
See also
- An'ei -- Japanese era names
- Kuze HirotamiKuze Hirotami, also known as ', was a late-18th century Nagasaki bugyō or governor of Nagasaki port, located on southwestern shore of Kyūshū island in the Japanese archipelago. Kuze was one of the Nagasaki bugyō between 1775 and 1784....
- Kutsuki MasatsunaKutsuki Masatsuna, also known as Kutsuki Oki-no kami Minamoto-no Masatsuna, was a hereditary Japanese daimyo of Oki and Ōmi with holdings in Tamba and Fukuchiyama. His warrior clan was amongst the hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa family in the Edo period...
- Foreign relations of imperial ChinaForeign relations of Imperial ChinaImperial China had a long tradition of foreign relations. From the Qin Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty, the Culture of China had an impact upon neighboring and distant countries, while gradually being transformed by outside influences as well....
- Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
-- Issak Titsingh was elected to membership in the Society in 1797; and his nomination letter has been posted with other membership records at the Royal Society web site. here. Those signing that nomination letter were: William MarsdenWilliam MarsdenWilliam Marsden DCL FRS was an English orientalist, linguist, numismatist and pioneer in the scientific study of Indonesia...
, Henry CavendishHenry CavendishHenry Cavendish FRS was a British scientist noted for his discovery of hydrogen or what he called "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable air, which formed water on combustion, in a 1766 paper "On Factitious Airs". Antoine Lavoisier later reproduced Cavendish's experiment and...
, Alexander DalrympleAlexander DalrympleAlexander Dalrymple was a Scottish geographer and the first Hydrographer of the British Admiralty. He was the main proponent of the theory that there existed a vast undiscovered continent in the South Pacific, Terra Australis Incognita...
, Joseph Correa de SerraJosé Correia da SerraJosé Francisco Correia da Serra was a Portuguese Abbot, polymath - philosopher, diplomat, statesman, politician and scientist. In some circumstances, he was also known as Abbé Correa.-Biography:...
, Maxwell GarthshoreMaxwell GarthshoreMaxwell Garthshore was a fellow of the Royal Society.He was elected to membership in the society on March 23, 1775.-Further reading:* Dictionary of National Biography...
, William LarkinsWilliam LarkinsWilliam Larkins was a member of the Royal Society elected 14 April 1796He was formerly an accountant in Bengal for the British East India Company.-References:...
, John LloydJohn Lloyd (scholar)John Lloyd FRS was a British naturalist.-Selected works:* Letter from John Lloyd, Esq. F.R.S. to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. KB PRS. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 86 , pp. 34–37....
, Henry CrathorneHenry CrathorneHenry Crathorne was a member of the Royal Society.His membership was proposed in 1774 by Lord Leeds, Lord Chesterfield, Lord Leicester, Alexander Aubert and Lord Greville; and he was promptly elected.-References:...
, Charles WilkinsCharles WilkinsSir Charles Wilkins, KH, FRS , was an English typographer and Orientalist, notable as the first translator of Bhagavad Gita into English, and as the creator of the first Devanagari typeface....
. - Andreas Everardus van Braam HouckgeestAndreas Everardus van Braam HouckgeestAndreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest Dutch-American merchant who is mostly known for his participation in the last Dutch embassy to China under the tributary system.- Early career :...
-- map of overland journey from Canton to Pekin