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56-590: Isaac Titsingh FRS ( c. January 1745 – 2 February 1812) was a Dutch diplomat, historian, Japanologist, and merchant. During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the Dutch East India Company ( Dutch : Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) ). He represented the European trading company in exclusive official contact with Tokugawa Japan , traveling to Edo twice for audiences with

112-1607: A "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge , including mathematics , engineering science , and medical science ". Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence, is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Benjamin Franklin (1756), Charles Babbage (1816), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Jagadish Chandra Bose (1920), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1945), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955), Satyendra Nath Bose (1958), and Francis Crick (1959). More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), David Attenborough (1983), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Raghunath Mashelkar (1998), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venki Ramakrishnan (2003), Atta-ur-Rahman (2006), Andre Geim (2007), Bai Chunli (2014), James Dyson (2015), Ajay Kumar Sood (2015), Subhash Khot (2017), Elon Musk (2018), Elaine Fuchs (2019) and around 8,000 others in total, including over 280 Nobel Laureates since 1900. As of October 2018 , there are approximately 1,689 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members, of whom 85 are Nobel Laureates. Fellowship of

168-746: A "voyageur philosophique", Titsingh had been a member of the following societies: the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen , the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen , located in Haarlem , the Asiatic Society of Bengal located in Calcutta and the Royal Society of London . His posthumous work and legacy, especially his collections were to some extent blurred later as he

224-685: A Chair (all of whom are Fellows of the Royal Society ). Members of the 10 Sectional Committees change every three years to mitigate in-group bias . Each Sectional Committee covers different specialist areas including: New Fellows are admitted to the Society at a formal admissions day ceremony held annually in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation which reads: "We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote

280-569: A European of his time when compared to his colleagues in Dejima. Titsingh arrived in Nagasaki on 15 August 1779, where he took over the factory from Arend Willem Feith . He established cordial and amicable relations between the interpreters and Japanese; before his arrival there had been constant fights over trade issues and a deep hostility towards the Japanese interpreter, who seemed in trade issues corrupt to

336-622: A councillor of the Dutch East India Company, Ambassador to China and to Japan. Died at Paris the 2nd of February 1812, aged 68 years.] Titsingh had a son, Willem, born about 1790 of Titsingh's Bengali mistress. He took his son to Europe in 1800 so that he could be recognised as legitimate. When Titsingh moved to Paris, Willem went with him and attended the French Maritime Academy, graduating in 1810. Titsingh's library and his collection of art, cultural and scientific material

392-593: A great extent by his editors and publishers. This was due to the fact that after the bankruptcy of Titsingh's son Willem Titsingh sold the collections and manuscripts, which then were spread all over 19th century Europe. 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. His accounts of brewing sake and soy sauce production in Japan were

448-534: A member of the Royal Society . In 1801 he went back to Amsterdam, and thence to Paris, where he lived until his death. Titsingh died in Paris on 2 February 1812, and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery . His gravestone reads: " Ici repose Isaac Titsingh. Ancien conseiller des Indes hollandaises. Ambassadeur à la Chine et au Japon. Mort à Paris le 2 février 1812, agé de 68 ans." [Here lies Isaac Titsingh, formerly

504-499: A new class, the sengoku-daimyō , who arose from the ranks of the shugodai and jizamurai . Among the sengoku daimyō ( 戦国大名 ) were many who had been shugo-daimyō , such as the Satake , Imagawa , Takeda , Toki , Rokkaku , Ōuchi , and Shimazu . New to the ranks of the daimyo were the Asakura , Amago , Nagao , Miyoshi , Chōsokabe , Hatano, and Oda . These came from the ranks of

560-594: A planned expedition to Japan in 1793. Mccartney's report to London explained: Titsingh was appointed Dutch ambassador to the court of the Emperor of China for the celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. In Peking (now Beijing ), the Titsingh delegation included Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest and Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes , whose complementary accounts of this embassy to

616-466: A practice called sankin-kōtai . In 1869, the year after the Meiji Restoration, the daimyo, together with the kuge, formed a new aristocracy, the kazoku . In 1871, the han were abolished , and prefectures were established. In this year, around 200 daimyo returned their titles to the emperor, who consolidated their han into 75 prefectures. Their military forces were also demobilized, with

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672-801: A result be seen as the founder of European Japonology. Within this scope and his ambitions for a friendly exchange of knowledge, he urged the VOC officials to send learned employees, who could speak Japanese to the trading post in Dejima, to better the European-Japanese relations in Dejima, which can be found in his letter of 28 August 1785. Titsingh had also translated as one of the first Europeans Japanese verses into Latin verses, which can be found together with an essay on Japanese poetry in his collection work on Japanese customs and culture in Bijzonderheden over Japan/Illustrations of Japan. Because of his position as

728-725: Is confirmed by the Council in April, and a secret ballot of Fellows is held at a meeting in May. A candidate is elected if they secure two-thirds of votes of those Fellows voting. An indicative allocation of 18 Fellowships can be allocated to candidates from Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and up to 10 from Applied Sciences, Human Sciences and Joint Physical and Biological Sciences. A further maximum of six can be 'Honorary', 'General' or 'Royal' Fellows. Nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by Sectional Committees, each with at least 12 members and

784-421: Is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society (a proposer and a seconder), who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, which was criticised for supposedly establishing an old boy network and elitist gentlemen's club . The certificate of election (see for example ) includes a statement of the principal grounds on which

840-828: The Mori of Chōshū , the Shimazu of Satsuma , the Date of Sendai , the Uesugi of Yonezawa , and the Hachisuka of Awa . Initially, the Tokugawa regarded them as potentially rebellious, but for most of the Edo period, control policies such as sankin-kōtai , resulted in peaceful relations. Daimyo were required to maintain residences in Edo as well as their fiefs, and to move periodically between Edo and their fiefs, typically spending alternate years in each place, in

896-558: The Mōri , Shimazu and Hosokawa , were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the kuge , other daimyo were promoted from the ranks of the samurai , notably during the Edo period. Daimyo often hired samurai to guard their land, and paid them in land or food, as relatively few could afford to pay them in money. The daimyo era ended soon after the Meiji Restoration , with

952-571: The Shiba , Hatakeyama , and Hosokawa clans , as well as the tozama clans of Yamana , Ōuchi , Takeda and Akamatsu . The greatest ruled multiple provinces. The Ashikaga shogunate required the shugo-daimyō to reside in Kyoto , so they appointed relatives or retainers, called shugodai , to represent them in their home provinces. Eventually, some of these in turn came to reside in Kyoto, appointing deputies in

1008-426: The post-nominal letters FRS . Every year, fellows elect up to ten new foreign members. Like fellows, foreign members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 , there are around 165 foreign members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS . Honorary Fellowship is an honorary academic title awarded to candidates who have given distinguished service to

1064-883: The shogun and other high bakufu officials. He was the Dutch and VOC governor general in Chinsura , Bengal . Titsingh worked with his counterpart, Charles Cornwallis , who was governor general of the British East India Company . In 1795, Titsingh represented Dutch and VOC interests in China , where his reception at the court of the Qing Qianlong Emperor stood in contrast to the rebuff suffered by British diplomat George Macartney 's mission in 1793, just prior to celebrations of Qianlong's sixty-year reign. In China, Titsingh effectively functioned as ambassador for his country at

1120-691: The shugodai and their deputies. Additional sengoku-daimyō such as the Mōri , Tamura , and Ryūzōji arose from the jizamurai . The lower officials of the shogunate and rōnin ( Late Hōjō , Saitō ), provincial officials (Kitabatake), and kuge (Tosa Ichijō) also gave rise to sengoku-daimyo . The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 marked the beginning of the Edo period . Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu reorganized roughly 200 daimyo and their territories into han , which were assessed by rice production. Those heading han assessed at 10,000 koku (50,000 bushels) or more were considered daimyo. Ieyasu also categorized

1176-528: The 18th century. In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Seki Takakau, OCLC / WorldCat encompasses roughly 90+ works in 150+ publications in 7 languages and 1,600+ library holdings. Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society ( FRS , ForMemRS and HonFRS ) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made

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1232-589: The 18th century. Titsingh became a member of the Amsterdam Chirurgijngilde (English: Barber surgeon's guild) and received the degree of a Doctorate of Law from Leiden University in January 1765. In March 1764, Titsingh was appointed as a freeman and 1766 went within his employment to Batavia, now Jakarta . Titsingh was the commercial opperhoofd , or chief factor , in Japan from 1779 to 1780, from 1781 to 1783, and again in 1784. The singular importance of

1288-628: The Chinese court were published in the US and Europe. Titsingh's gruelling, mid-winter trek from Canton (now Guangzhou ) 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 , and later in

1344-449: The Dutch traders. During his first audience with Ieharu in Edo from 25 March 1780 until 5 April 1780, he met a lot of Japanese daimyo with whom he later established vivid letter correspondence. He became incredibly prominent within the elite society of Edo and became friends with several current and retired daimyo of the area. After a short return to Batavia in 1780, Titsingh returned to Nagasaki on 12 August 1781, due to his successes with

1400-585: The Dutch-Japanese trade in Dejima. There were no Dutch shipments from Batavia in 1782 due to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War and thus the trading post in Dejima was cut off from communication with Java during this year. In this year Titsingh stayed in his position as opperhoofd and concerned himself with befriending Japanese scholars, deepening relations with Japanese friends and researching on all scopes of Japanese customs and culture. He also achieved, due to

1456-508: The Edo shogunate, some rising to the position of rōjū . The fact that fudai daimyo could hold government positions, while tozama in general could not, was a main difference between the two. Tozama daimyō held mostly large fiefs far away from the capital, with e.g. the Kaga han of Ishikawa Prefecture , headed by the Maeda clan , assessed at 1,000,000 koku . Other famous tozama clans included

1512-522: The Japanese and the Europeans. For example, he imported Dutch books on European knowledge to Japan. In addition, he collected authentic source materials on Japan, which consisted of the first ever European collection on Japan, entailing printed books, manuscripts, prints, maps, city plans and coins. This collection was thus to form the basis of a then unique history of Japan. This Cabinet Titsingh, consisted hence of two-dimensional materials. Isaac Titsingh can as

1568-439: The Royal Society has been described by The Guardian as "the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar " with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows (FRS), honorary (HonFRS) and foreign members (ForMemRS) are elected annually in late April or early May, from a pool of around 700 proposed candidates each year. New Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows for one of

1624-655: The Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future". Since 2014, portraits of Fellows at the admissions ceremony have been published without copyright restrictions in Wikimedia Commons under a more permissive Creative Commons license which allows wider re-use. In addition to the main fellowships of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS & HonFRS), other fellowships are available which are applied for by individuals, rather than through election. These fellowships are research grant awards and holders are known as Royal Society Research Fellows . In addition to

1680-671: The Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace ). Titsingh is believed to have been the first Freemason in China, and the only to be received at the court of the Qianlong Emperor. On 1 March 1796 the Dutch East India Company, already in decline, was nationalized by the new Batavian Republic . In that year, Titsingh returned to Europe. For some time he lived in Britain, at London and Bath , and was

1736-411: The absence of Dutch shipping that year, important trade talks and great concessions with the Japanese on a long-debated increase to copper exports from Japan to the Dutch traders. Titsingh stayed a total of three years and eight months in Japan before finally leaving Nagasaki at the end of November 1784 to return to Batavia, where he arrived on 3 January 1785. In 1785, Titsingh was appointed director of

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1792-555: The adoption of the prefecture system in 1871. The shugo daimyō ( 守護大名 ) were the first group of men to hold the title daimyō . They arose from among the shugo during the Muromachi period (approximately 1336–1573). The shugo-daimyo held not only military and police powers, but also economic power within a province . They accumulated these powers throughout the first decades of the Muromachi period. Major shugo-daimyō came from

1848-546: The award of Fellowship (FRS, HonFRS & ForMemRS) and the Research Fellowships described above, several other awards, lectures and medals of the Royal Society are also given. Daimyo From the shugo of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period to the daimyo of the Edo period , the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyo also varied considerably; while some daimyo clans, notably

1904-597: The cause of science, but do not have the kind of scientific achievements required of Fellows or Foreign Members. Honorary Fellows include the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (2022), Bill Bryson (2013), Melvyn Bragg (2010), Robin Saxby (2015), David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (2008), Onora O'Neill (2007), John Maddox (2000), Patrick Moore (2001) and Lisa Jardine (2015). Honorary Fellows are entitled to use

1960-580: The daimyo according to their relation to the ruling Tokugawa family: the shinpan were related to the Tokugawa; the fudai had been vassals of the Tokugawa or allies in battle; and the tozama had not allied with the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara (did not necessarily fight against the Tokugawa). The shinpan were collaterals of Ieyasu, such as the Matsudaira , or descendants of Ieyasu other than in

2016-717: The daimyo and their samurai followers pensioned into retirement. The move to abolish the feudal domains effectively ended the daimyo era in Japan. This was effectively carried out through the financial collapse of the feudal-domain governments, hampering their capability for resistance. In the wake of the changes, many daimyo remained in control of their lands, being appointed as prefectural governors ; however, they were soon relieved of this duty and called en masse to Tokyo, thereby cutting off any independent base of power from which to potentially rebel. Despite this, members of former daimyo families remained prominent in government and society, and in some cases continue to remain prominent to

2072-522: 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. Titsingh was very keen on having his scholarly questions answered and showed an enormous inexhaustible thirst for knowledge. Looking at his private correspondence three mottos of his behaviour and values can be identified:

2128-515: The fellowships described below: Every year, up to 52 new fellows are elected from the United Kingdom, the rest of the Commonwealth of Nations , and Ireland, which make up around 90% of the society. Each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use

2184-530: The good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from

2240-442: The head of the VOC in Japan during this period was enhanced by the Japanese policy of Sakoku , the self-imposed isolation of Japan that lasted from 1633 to 1853. Because of religious proselytizing by Europeans during the 16th century, the Tokugawa shogunate introduced a policy in the early 17th century that no European or Japanese could enter or leave the Japanese archipelago on penalty of death. The sole exception to this "closed door"

2296-539: The main line of succession. Several shinpan , including the Tokugawa of Owari ( Nagoya ), Kii ( Wakayama ), and Mito , as well as the Matsudaira of Fukui and Aizu , held large han . A few fudai daimyō , such as the Ii of Hikone , held large han, but many were small. The shogunate placed many fudai at strategic locations to guard the trade routes and the approaches to Edo . Also, many fudai daimyo took positions in

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2352-423: The only philosopher employed by the VOC in its almost two hundred years existence and the most sophisticated of all VOC employees in the trading post history of the VOC in Japan (1600–1853). Due to his extensive private correspondence on religious as well as human topics and his endeavours in the exchanges between the outside world and his own, he can be considered as a true philosopher of the 18th century. Compared to

2408-441: The other VOC employees he was a polyglot, who spoke eight languages ( Dutch , Latin , French , English , German , Portuguese , Japanese and Chinese ). His enthusiasm to introduce the European society to Japanese customs and culture was rooted in his overall passion for Japan and everything Japanese. Therefore, he became a prominent figure, transmitter and interpreter in a two-way cultural, learning and knowledge exchange between

2464-509: The post nominal letters HonFRS . Statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough (1983) and John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne (1991). The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British royal family for election as Royal Fellow of the Royal Society . As of 2023 there are four royal fellows: Elizabeth II

2520-546: The proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations made each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process and appoints 10 subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees, to recommend the strongest candidates for election to the Fellowship. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates

2576-606: The provinces. The Ōnin War was a major uprising in which shugo-daimyō fought each other. During this and other wars of the time, kuni ikki , or provincial uprisings, took place as locally powerful warriors sought independence from the shugo-daimyo . The deputies of the shugo-daimyō , living in the provinces, seized the opportunity to strengthen their position. At the end of the fifteenth century, those shugo-daimyō who succeeded remained in power. Those who had failed to exert control over their deputies fell from power and were replaced by

2632-592: The rejection of money, as it did not satisfy his enormous thirst of knowledge; an acknowledgment and consciousness of the brevity of life and wasting this precious time not with featureless activities; and his desire to die in calmness, as a "forgotten citizen of the world". In this light he displayed the values of a European philosopher of the 18th century, who was as well interested in his fellow Japanese scholars. Therefore, he also acknowledged their intellectual competences and sophistication and contributed to an intense exchange of cultural knowledge between Japan and Europe in

2688-533: The same time as he represented the Dutch East India Company as a trade representative. Isaac Titsingh was born in Amsterdam , the son of Albertus Titsingh and his second wife, Catharina Bittner. His baptism took place at the Amstelkerk in Amsterdam on 21 January 1745. His father was a successful and prominent Amsterdam surgeon. He thus possessed the means for Titsingh to be brought up with an "enlightened education" of

2744-406: The social position of the Dutch merchants and the treatment of the Dutch vis-à-vis the Japanese, who showed a higher degree of respect and recognition than in the centuries before. Nevertheless, the average opperhoofd was not interested in the customs or culture of the Japanese. Titsingh showed an almost incredible interest and distinguished himself as an attentive observer of Japanese civilization for

2800-655: The text represented the first appearance of Hangul , the Korean writing system, 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 . After Rémusat's death, Julius Klaproth (1783–1835) at the Institut Royal in Paris was free in 1832 to publish his edited version of Titsingh's translation. Isaac Titsingh can be described as being

2856-606: The trading post at Chinsurah in Bengal. Titsingh was described by William Jones , the philologist and Bengal jurist, as "the Mandarin of Chinsura". Titsingh's return to Batavia led to new positions as Ontvanger-Generaal (Treasurer) and later as Commissaris ter Zee (Maritime Commissioner). While at Batavia, he met with George Macartney who was en route to China. Titsingh's comments were important factors in McCartney's decision to abandon

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2912-407: Was accorded the status of a tributary of the shogun; Titsingh twice had to pay an obligatory annual visit of homage to the shogun in Edo. Given the scarcity of such opportunities, Titsingh's informal contacts with bakufu officials of Rangaku scholars in Edo may have been as important as his formal audiences with the shogun, Tokugawa Ieharu . During the 18th century there was an improvement of

2968-423: Was dispersed; and some entered the collections of the French state. Among the Japanese books brought to Europe by Titsingh was a copy of Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu ( 三国通覧図説 , An Illustrated Description of Three Countries ) by Hayashi Shihei (1738–93). This book, which was published in Japan in 1785, deals with Joseon (now Korea ), the Ryukyu Kingdom (now Okinawa ), and Ezo ( now Hokkaido ). In Paris,

3024-421: Was not a Royal Fellow, but provided her patronage to the society, as all reigning British monarchs have done since Charles II of England . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1951) was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination and a period of peer-reviewed selection. Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership

3080-402: Was the VOC " factory " (trading post) on the island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay, on the southern Japanese island of Kyūshū . During this period of seclusion, Titsingh is believed to have been the first Freemason in Japan. In this highly controlled context, the traders became the sole official conduit for trade and for scientific-cultural exchanges between Europe and Japan. The VOC opperhoofd

3136-526: Was unable to find Japanese or Chinese translators and scholars in Europe that could help him with the translation of his gathered sources. As his own knowledge of the Sino-Japanese written characters was limited he could only edit the translations of the Japanese accounts that were already prepared by himself and others in Dejima during his stay abroad. The majority of his work thus was published posthumously and consisted of only small parts of his broader overall work. Moreover, some parts were altered and modified to

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