Relationship between the Monzeki Temple and the Tokugawa Shogunate in the late Edo Period : Based on the Myōmoku-kin loan of the Monzeki Temple during the Bunsei era

The monzeki temple was an existence that supported the sacredness of the Tokugawa shogunate. At the same time, it was the religious force that the shogunate wanted to control. This paper examines the relationship between the monzeki temple and the Tokugawa shogunate in the late Edo period, based on the loan finance (myōmoku-kin loan) operated by the temple. In 1819, the shogunate put forward the principle that the details of myōmoku-kin loan should be reported to the shogunate as a prerequisite for the loan protected by the power. Regardless of this trend, some of the monzeki temple’s loan were still unconditionally protected by the power. However, they will soon be sentenced to the application of the principle without exception. At the same time, investigation was conducted on the loan. The problem arose when the shogunate's protection of the loan was suspended during the investigation. As a result, there were collective movements of the monzseki temple that the shogunate must resume suspended protection. The temple at the time recognized that the protection of the shogunate was essential for stable operation of the loan. In the late Edo period, relationship between the monzeki temple and the Tokugawa shogunate was deepening for different reason than before. There is the perception of the monzeki temple that the loan business can no longer guarantee its stable operation without the power. The relationship between the monzeki temple and the shogunate was solidified not by the need of the shogunate, but by the the need of the temple.