Accepted Paper
Paper short abstract
This report examines the non-class character of early modern Japanese Confucianism, focusing primarily on the Kazusa School of Confucianism in the late 18th century, and demonstrates how this prepared the ground for the “popularization of Confucianism.”
Paper long abstract
This report examines the non-class character of early modern Japanese Confucianism, focusing primarily on the Kazusa School of Confucianism in the late 18th century, and demonstrates how this prepared the ground for the “popularization of Confucianism.”
According to prior research, the popularization of Confucianism refers to “Confucianism gaining a popular-based reception among the lower-ranking samurai and wealthy peasantry.” This researcher likely emphasized acceptance among the “lower-ranking samurai and wealthy peasantry” because Confucianism possessed aspects as a political ideology, and its bearers were the scholar-officials.
However, in early modern Japanese Confucianism, the ideological emphasis was placed on ethics and morality rather than politics from the outset, with numerous examples asserting that Confucianism was useful for all people. In other words, early modern Japanese Confucianism was ideologically free from class constraints.
Historically, its spread among wealthy farmers began earlier. By the late 17th century, the Aizu Tōju School began activities centered on local intellectuals and wealthy farmers. In the early 18th century, Yoshitake Hōmei instructed the village headmen of the Karatsu domain. It was also during this period that Inaba Usai introduced the ideas of the Ansai School to Kazusa, marking the beginning of Kazusa's Confucian tradition.
Conversely, the distorted perception that Confucianism, being a political ideology, was a “dragon-slaying skill”—that is, a skill lacking practical utility—began to spread from the mid-18th century onward. This was a result of Ogyū Sorai emphasizing the political ideological aspects of Confucianism.
During the same period, the Kazusa School of Confucianism underwent new developments under Inaba Mokusai. Peasants instructed by Mokusai took on the responsibility of upholding Confucian morality proactively.
These activities demonstrate the non-class-based character of early modern Japanese Confucianism and are considered to have paved the way for the “popularization of Confucianism.”
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed): | 本報告では、18世紀後半の上総道学を主たる対象に、近世日本儒教の非階級的性格を論じ、それが「儒学の大衆化」を準備したことを明らかにする。 儒学の大衆化とは、先行研究によれば「下級武士、豪農層に儒学が大衆的基盤で受容されること」とされる。恐らくこの研究者は、儒教が政治思想としての側面を持ち、その担い手が士大夫であった点を重視して、「下級武士、豪農層」での受容を強調したのだろう。 しかし、近世日本儒教では、当初から、思想的重点が政治よりも倫理や道徳に置かれ、儒は万人に有用であるとされる例が多い。すなわち、近世日本儒教は、思想的には階級的制約から自由であった。 歴史的事実としても、豪農層への普及はより早い時期から存在した。17世紀後半には、会津藤樹学派が地方知識層や豪農層を中心として活動をはじめ、18世紀前半には、吉武法命が唐津藩庄屋層を指導した。稲葉迂斎によって上総に闇斎学派の思想が紹介され、上総道学の歴史が始まるのもこの時期である。 逆に、18世紀半ば以降、儒教は政治思想であるが故に「屠龍の技」、すなわち実用性を欠いた技能であるとする屈折した認識が広まっていくのは、荻生徂徠が儒の政治思想面を強調した結果であった。 同じ時期に、上総道学は稲葉黙斎（1732～1799）によって新たな展開を見せる。黙斎の教導を受けた農民たちは、主体的に儒教道徳を担っていく。 これらの活動は、近世日本儒教の非階級的性格を示すもので、同時に「儒学の大衆化」を準備したものだと考えられる。 |
Laying the Groundwork for the Nineteenth-Century “Popularization of Confucianism”