Sonnō jōi
Japanese national slogan
Sonnō jōi (尊王攘夷; "revere the emperor, expel the barbarians") was a yojijukugo (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the power of the Emperor of Japan.
Etymology
Sonnō jōi is the Japanese reading of the Chinese idiom 尊王攘夷 zūn wáng rǎng yí coined by Chancellor Guan Zhong of Qi during China's the Spring and Autumn period of China in reference to the Zhou kings. Adopting and adhering to it, Duke Huan of Qi assembled the Chinese feudal lords to strike down the threat of Yi foreigners/"barbarians" from China. For it, Confucius himself praised Guan Zhong for the preservation of Chinese civilization through the example of the contrast in hairstyles and clothing styles of them the Hua (華) from the Yi (夷) peoples east of them who were foreign or "barbaric" to the Hua. Through the Analects of Confucius, the Chinese expression came to be transmitted to Japan as sonnō jōi.
Philosophy
The origin of the philosophy as used in Japan can be traced to the Confucian classic the Gongyang Commentary of the Chunqiu. The Tokugawa shogunate promulgated the Zhu Xi school of Neo-Confucianism (Shushi-gaku), which interpreted the Chunqiu using this concept. 17th-century Confucian scholars Yamazaki Ansai and Yamaga Sokō wrote on the sanctity of the Imperial House of Japan and its superiority to the ruling houses of other nations. These ideas were expanded by Kokugaku scholar Motoori Norinaga, and seen in Takenouchi Shikibu's theory of absolute loyalty to the Emperor of Japan (尊皇論, sonnōron), that implied that less loyalty should be given to the ruling Tokugawa shogunate.
“Sonnō jōi” enters the record as japanese national slogan. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sonnō, Japanese and national can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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