The theory of āone monarch, many peopleā is an ideology and argument that only one monarch has innate authority and power and that, in principle, there is no discrimination or difference in status among the other subjects and people.
In Japan, it originated in the Ritsuryo system and was advocated by Yoshida Shoin and Itagaki Tousuke. The Meiji government initially inherited some aspects of the old system, such as the establishment of the nobility system and the incorporation of samurai status into the samurai class, but then reformed the privileged status system by abolishing the han system, issuing military draft ordinances, and enacting the Chichiroku Disposition. In addition, a liberation decree was issued to equalize the discriminated Buraku until the Edo period.
Since the Meiji Restoration After the Meiji Restoration, the theory of āOne King, Ten Thousand Citizensā remained the underlying ideology of the Asano government, which intermittently strengthened the authority of the emperor and reduced the privileges of statuses other than the imperial family. The samurai system was dismantled at an early stage, and the nobility system, which relied on the House of Peers and had a number of privileges, was also subject to criticism. Itagaki Taisuke, who had doubts about the hereditary system of privileges and status, resigned his nobility and presented a āletter of resignation,ā but he was finally not allowed to accept the title, which he did with the courtesy of three visits. Taisuke Itagaki wrote in his āIssai Kashoku-ronā that the purpose of his defeat of the shogunate was to restore the freedom of the people and realize a sovereign and a people. The theory of āone monarch, ten thousands of peopleā was promoted as a cause for overthrowing the clan system and introducing democracy, and functioned as an ideology that opposed not only class privilege but also economic power such as zaibatsu. In the early Showa period, young officers and innovative bureaucrats emerged as supporters of the āone monarch, ten thousand peopleā theory, as well as the intellectuals in the field.
Since the Constitution of Japan came into effect Although no longer explicitly advocated since the occupation following Japanās defeat in World War II, the Japanese Constitution abolished the noble family system, and systematically fixed statuses other than the Emperor and the Imperial Family have been abolished.
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