: Most discussions of Yamaga Soko's philosophical development as a Confucian scholar in Tokugawa Japan suggest that in his later years he moved away from Confucianism and toward a religio-philosophical celebration of Japan's supposed uniqueness. It is shown here, however, that Soko's nativism, set forth in his Chucho jijitsu, was later eclipsed by his final philosophical work, the Gengen hakki, wherein he articulated a kind of naturalistic numerology, based vaguely on the Yijing. This shift in Soko's thought can be (...) viewed as a return to Neo-Confucianism, the earliest philosophical paradigm that he had embraced. Moreover, the successive shifts in his thinking can be understood in terms of the vicissitudes of his life, first in his exile to the Kansai area, near the ancient imperial capital of Kyoto, and then later in his pardon and return to Edo, the shogun's capital. Perhaps most importantly, this final shift in Soko's thought reveals that this prominent early modern thinker did reach his philosophical climax not in defiant opposition to Neo-Confucianism, nor in a sustained celebration of Japan's political traditions and their superlative nature, but instead in a return to modes of metaphysics akin to those typically deployed by Neo- Confucians themselves in their attempts to understand the changing nature of the cosmos and their political place within its flux. (shrink)

武士教訓の特質とは―定説化された士道・武士道論の枠組みに飛び込み、そこからの脱却をはかる意欲的論考―.

This paper examines the content of the Japanese Samurai spirit, which is comparable to the Korean Seonbi spirit, focusing on its relationship with Confucian thought. Specifically, the paper discusses the distinctive nature of Nitobe Inazo's ‘Bushido’, which spoke of Samurai morality based on universal Confucianism, Tsuda Sokichi's Bushido theory which totally rejected the influence of such Confucianism, and the spread of Confucianism which began in earnest with the end of warfare in the Edo period through Nakae Tojyu and Yamaga (...) Soko. First, I argue that Nitobe's Bushido developed Bushido based on Confucianism, which refers to universal morality, but that it also encompassed values specific to Japan due to the historical circumstances of the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars. Next, I pointed out that Tsuda's Bushido theory, which he criticized, was an argument based on historical grounds that put the actual lives of warriors in the foreground, but was limited in that it unilaterally emphasized only the historical particularities of Japan and downplayed the role of Confucianism as a universal ideology. Next, the creation of a new Samurai spirit through Confucianism in the Edo period, or the content of the Confucian Shido theory, through Tojyu's viewpoint of Bunbu Ittoku and Soko's emphasis on external dignity, revealed that although the Sonbi spirit and the Samurai spirit are based on the same Confucianism, the two are as dissimilar as the conflicting images represented by Bun and Bu. (shrink)

The consciousness of the Japanese Volk -- Foundational attitudes in world consciousness -- A heart that loves the eternal now -- Faith in national polity -- Cultivating character: on Yamaga Sokō -- The way of the patriot (1): on Yoshida Shōin -- The way of the patriot (2): on Takasugi Tōkō -- The way of the patriot (3): on Takahashi Deishū -- Faith and the ultimate act of loyalty: on Kusunoki Masashige -- Bushido as viewed by the Japanese Volk: (...) on Gandhism, Mohism, and Bushido -- Learning the way and moral indignation: on Ōshio Chūsai -- The essence of governance: on Saigō Nanshū's political thought -- The spirit of kendo -- Kendo and mental principles: on Miyamoto Musashi -- Womanhood in Japan. (shrink)

This study traces the impact of Ch'en Pei-hsi's Hsing-li tzu-i on the rise of philosophical lexicography in Tokugawa Japan . It suggests that the appearance of copies of the 1553 Korean edition of Pei-hsi's Tzu-i, brought to Japan in the wake of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea , crucially influenced both understandings of and reactions to Neo-Confucianism in Tokugawa Japan. Pei-hsi's Tzu-i, the study relates, served as the literary template for several early Tokugawa works, including Fujiwara Seika's Kana seiri , (...) and Hayashi Razan's Shunkansho and Santokusho . The Tzu-i also went through several Japanese editions, beginning with the 1632 Sino-Japanese edition, based on Razan's kambun rendition of the Tzu-i, a vernacular explication of the text by Razan, the Seiri jigi genkai, published in 1659, an annotated edition of the 1632 Sino-Japanese edition, printed in 1670, and the 1668 publication of a later, significantly variant, Chinese edition of Pei-hsi's Tzu-i. ;Razan's Seiri jigi genkai promoted Neo-Confucian learning as expounded in the Tzu-i, but also called attention to etymologically problematic terms of that learning. The dissertation suggests that Razan's Genkai influenced both the literary form and the philosophical content of Yamaga Soko's Seikyo yoroku , Ito Jinsai's Gomo jigi , and Ogyu Sorai's Benmei , thus linking Razan's critical promotion of Pei-hsi's Tzu-i to a series of conceptually based "School of Ancient Learning" critiques of Neo-Confucianism. (shrink)