Carried Home
An idea packed in a small bag that unpacked as another country's law.
Why this image
On a ship's deck at night an old leather suitcase lies open, and out of it grows a young tree whose two branches hold the two pans of a balance, one cobalt, one terracotta. What the Pilgrims saw in Leiden they took with them: marriage at the town hall, before the magistrate, became civil marriage in America 1. Two Japanese students who came in 1863 to study under Professor Simon Vissering 4, their names now on a plaque on the Golius house on the Rapenburg 3, took home what is visible in Japanese law: Tsuda Mamichi wrote the first Japanese book on Western law and helped codify Japan's legal system after 1868 2. Not painted, but the same traffic the other way: Siebold's collection from Deshima travelled back with him to Leiden 5.
What it draws on · 5
het burgerlijk huwelijk
What they saw in Leiden, they took with them. In the Dutch Republic people married at the town hall, before the magistrate; in England people married only in church. Edward Winslow had himself been married that way in Holland — 'by the magistrates in their Statthouse', Bradford noted — and in Plymouth the Pilgrims carried the practice on. That is how civil marriage began in America, directly on the Dutch model, and with it an early seed of the separation of church and state.
Sources · 4
- Leiden In Motion: De Diversity Walk — Stichting Güney / Turksarchief.nl
- Jeremy D. Bangs, 'Strangers and Pilgrims, Travellers and Sojourners: Leiden and the Foundations of Plymouth Plantation'
- William Bradford, 'Of Plymouth Plantation' — over het huwelijk van Edward Winslow
- University of Chicago Magazine — 'Going Dutch': Nederlandse rechtspraktijk en Plymouth
wat zij meenamen
What they did take with them is visible in Japanese law. Nishi Amane became a tireless advocate of Western civilisation and entered the Japanese senate in 1882; Tsuda Mamichi wrote the first Japanese book on Western law and helped codify Japan's legal system after 1868. In 2024 Jan Rezelman gathered their Leiden years into a book, presented at the Sieboldhuis.
Sources · 3
- Loge La Vertu — 'Leiden, Japan en de vrijmetselarij'
- Sleutelstad — 'Jan Rezelman schreef boek over Japanse vrijmetselaars in Leiden' (17 december 2024)
- Japanmuseum SieboldHuis — lezing 'Twee Japanners bij Loge La Vertu, een uniek verhaal 1863-1865'
het huis aan het Rapenburg
The house on the Rapenburg named after Golius today carries a plaque with two Japanese names: Nishi Amane and Tsuda Mamichi. In 1862 the Japanese government chose them to study Western political science, constitutional law and economics in the Netherlands; they left in 1863 and in Leiden took private lessons from Professor Simon Vissering. After his return Nishi Amane brought Western philosophy to Japan.
Sources · 3
- Universiteit Leiden — 'Rondje Rapenburg': plaquette met twee Japanse namen aan Rapenburg 12
- Britannica — Nishi Amane (1829-1897)
- National Diet Library Japan — Tsuda Mamichi; studie bij Simon Vissering in Leiden (1863)
Japan aan het Rapenburg
The link with Japan on the Rapenburg is younger than the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it is visible. At Rapenburg 19 is the Japan Museum SieboldHuis, in the house of Philipp Franz von Siebold, who brought plants and objects back from Japan. At Rapenburg 12 a plaque carries the names of Nishi Amane and Tsuda Mamichi, who came to Leiden in 1863 to study under Professor Simon Vissering and, after they returned, had an enormous influence on the transformation of Japan.
Sources · 3
- Leiden In Motion: De Diversity Walk — Stichting Güney / Turksarchief.nl
- Universiteit Leiden — 'Rondje Rapenburg' (adres 19, Von Siebold; adres 12, plaquette)
- Britannica — Nishi Amane; National Diet Library Japan — Tsuda Mamichi
Siebold op Deshima
The Bavarian physician Philipp Franz von Siebold stayed on Deshima from 1823 to 1829 and collected everything he could lay hands on: prints, lacquerwork, ceramics, fossils, herbaria, mounted animals, coins, clothing and old maps. The collection travelled back with him to Leiden.
Sources · 2
- Japanmuseum SieboldHuis — sieboldhuis.org/about
- SieboldHuis — Engelstalige Wikipedia
Shares its places with · 14
The Only WindowJapan Museum SieboldHuis · Loge La Vertu
Only the YieldJapan Museum SieboldHuis · Mansions on the Rapenburg
The SilenceLoge La Vertu · Mansions on the Rapenburg
Remain What You AreLoge La Vertu · Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
The BequestThe House of Jacob Golius
Stars in ArabicThe House of Jacob Golius
East Through BooksThe House of Jacob Golius
The Same RouteJapan Museum SieboldHuis
Under One RoofLoge La Vertu
Named After a CoastMansions on the Rapenburg
Cloth That BoughtMansions on the Rapenburg
Half SailedLeiden American Pilgrim Museum
Facing FarLeiden American Pilgrim Museum
The DepartureLeiden American Pilgrim Museum
Painted with an image model from the facts on this page, and chosen by hand. City in Motion.