Yamazaki Ansai
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese philosopher
and scholar. He began his career as a Buddhist monk, but eventually came to follow the teachings of Neo-Confucian
Zhu Xi
. He combined Neo-Confucian ideas with Shinto
to create Suika Shinto.
on January 24, 1619, Yamazaki Ansai was the son of a former rōnin
-turned-doctor and the last of four children. In his youth, he was strongly influenced by both his mother and grandmother. While his mother “urged him to develop a noble heart worthy of a samurai’s son,” his grandmother supported him in his study of the Chinese language. In his preteens, he was sent by his father to serve as an acolyte at a Buddhist temple on Mount Hiei
. In his early teens, Ansai returned home, and after several years was finally permitted to enter the Myōshin-ji
temple of the Rinzai Zen sect in Kyoto for further study. Due to his incredible scholarly aptitude, in his early twenties he was granted entrance to the Gyūkō-ji temple in Tosa
. During his time at Tosa, he was strongly advised by his fellow monks to concentrate his studies on the teachings of Neo-Confucian scholars, thereby slowing beginning the process of Ansai’s conversion to Neo-Confucianism
and ultimate rejection of Buddhism
. Ansai was particularly captivated by the writings of the Song dynasty scholar, Zhu Xi
(Chu Hsi), which later became the basis of Ansai’s moral philosophy/teachings. At twenty eight, he returned to Kyoto, and under the patronage of Nonaka Kenzan, was able to continue his Neo Confucian studies, as well as begin to publish his own materials. With the production of his first work Heresies Refuted (Heikii, 1647), an outright rejection of Buddhist faith, Ansai fully embraced “the One True Way” of Neo Confucianism.
, to give lecturers on Neo-Confucianism in front of a large numbers of daimyos. In 1655, he established a private school in Kyoto, began his first lecture cycle in the spring of the same year, and finished it at the end of 1656.
Ansai’s group of Confucian disciples was collectively referred to as the Kimon school. His lecturers focused on Ansai’s own, hand selected canon. His canon consisted mostly of the classic Confucian writings that Zhu Xi had emphasized: the Elementary Learning, the Reflections on Things at Hand, and the Four Books (the Great Learning
, the Doctrine of the Mean
, the Analects of Confucius
, and the Mencius
). However, he also included Cheng Yi
’s Commentary on the Book of Changes. In the 1660’s and 1670’s, Ansai (following the example of Zhu Xi) personally edited the six books that compromised his canon.
As a teacher, Ansai was described by his students as “extremely strict, sometimes scary, and short tempered.” Generally speaking, Ansai had a reputation for being “single minded, doctorinate, and intolerant.” Kaibara Ekken
, a contemporary of Ansai’s, had attended several of his lectures, and found Ansai to be: “severe, dogmatic, and more interested in strict moral discipline than in investigation of the principles for practical learning.” Such prominent Neo-Confucian scholars as Kinoshita Jun’an, Asami Keisai, Miyake Shōsai, and Satō Naokata were included amongst Ansai’s followers of the Kimon
school.
texts). In 1665, after building up a reputation in both Edo and Kyoto as an extraordinary teacher, was invited by Hoshina Masayuki (the daimyo of Aizu
) to become his teacher. Ansai accepted the position and spent the next seven years of his life as the personal teacher of Neo-Confucian philosophy to Masayuki. For tutoring Masayuki for six out of the twelve months of the year, Ansai was given a salary of 100 gold ryō, two seasonal garments, and one haori coat.
Although Ansai and Masayuki were said to share a close relationship, Ansai refused to become his vassal, declaring that Confucian scholars should remain autonomous of another individual's influence. Masayuki proved to be Ansai’s intellectual equal, helping him compile five different works: two gazetteers for the Aizu domain, and three Confucian texts: Gyokusan kōgi furoku (Appendix to Zhu Xi’s lecture at Yushan), Nitei jikyōroku (Record of the two Cheng’s political teachings), and the Irakusanshiden shinroku (Record of the mind-heart). During his years of service to Masayuki, Ansai compiled more writings of Zhu Xi during his off time in Kyoto. These included: Jinsetsumondō (Questions and answers on explanations of “humaneness”), Shōgaku mōyōshu and Daigaku keihatsu shū (Collections of [clarifications by Zhu Xi] on the Elementary Learning and the Great Learning
).
Due to this relationship, Ansai is considered to be one of the scholars most closely associated with the Tokugawa Bakufu. Also, Ansai was able to receive the secret teachings of the Yoshida
and Ise
Shinto traditions, which he would use in attempting to reconstruct a “pure Shinto”, that would reflect the Way of Neo-Confucianism.
) as nothingness or emptiness, was a metaphysical, and not an ethical ideal). Due to this, Buddhism contained no theory of mind-heart, and thus, was inadequate for cultivating the mind (both of which were integral to Ansai’s ethical thought). From Ansai’s Neo-Confucian perspective, the mind was full (being inherently imbued with the concepts of the Five Relationships and the Five Virtues
), not empty (as he believed Buddhism perceived it). In the latter part of his life, when Ansai was attempting to prove the ontological unity of Shinto and Confucianism, he proclaimed that before the arrival of Buddhism to Japan, early Shinto and Confucianism were actually the same. He blamed the influence of Buddhist thought for creating a false dichotomy between the two systems (which in Ansai’s view differed only in name).
(school of principle). Compared to the kigaku (school of material force), rigaku’s primary focus was on moral cultivation and spirituality. Its followers considered ri (Chinese li
: reason, rational principle, or law) to be a transcendent principle. Although Ansai was part of this larger movement, in no way did he see himself as an “innovator” of Neo-Confucianism. Rather, he saw himself as a “servant of Truth,” a “transmitter of the Way
,” and believed nothing of what he taught to be novel, since everything about the Way had already been said by the Confucian Sages. In particular, Ansai believed he was a “faithful transmitter” of the writings of both Zhu Xi, and the Korean Neo-Confucian Yi T’oegye
(1507–1570), with special emphasis on Zhu’s teachings. Because of this, most of Ansai’s Neo Confucian writings tended to be publications of Zhu Xi’s works, with his own commentaries.
Although some of Ansai’s teachings varied slightly from Zhu Hsi’s, the foundation of Ansai’s thought was deeply grounded in
Zhu’s most fundamental premises. The foremost of these was Zhu Xi’s cosmological belief that the principles of reason and morality (li), were the same as mankind’s original nature (i.e. that the principles that guide and move the universe, are exactly same as those that inform man’s ethical behavior). Therefore, by pursuing li, an individual was simultaneously “developing the potential of one’s inner nature to guide on in behaving correctly.” If an individual could endure it, he would be able to bring his own natural inclinations into perfect harmony with principles of universal morality. Zhu Xi saw this fulfillment of potential as the ideal state of human existence, and only possible to achieve if one were to obey one’s allotted moral duty, given their relative position in society. Depending on their social role, the duties of the individual differed, as did the principles upon which they were grounded. However, Zhu Xi did not view this as problematic, since each of these principles was merely a different manifestation of the same general principle of morality, found in every human being. Hsi believed that fulfilling one’s proper social role was a means of understanding the universal principle of human morality (li). He referred to such a process as the “plumbing of principle”. To perfect one’s natural, innate potential was at the same time to realize one’s self as an autonomous being.
, and the interconnect between the two (all based in Zhu Xi’s thought).
(the vital material force) resides. By channeling qi, one is able to stimulate humaneness, which consequently triggers the other virtues. Through knowledge, virtue grows. Through virtue, one can act in proper accord with the outside world (and the cosmos in general). Thus, knowledge is the source by which an individual realizes his innate, human potential (as described by Zhu Xi).
, Nihongi, Shoku Nihongi
, Fudoki
, etc.), Ansai was able to “uncover” numerous Neo-Confucian values within Shinto texts. On November 23, 1672, he created the Record of the Fuji no mori Shrine (Fuji no mori yuzuemandokoro no ki), an essay that generally summarizes Ansai’s views on Shinto and its connection to Neo-Confucian metaphysics
.
) were equivalent to the Five Evolutive Phases, and that the pledge of Amaterasu
to protect the divine lineage of her ancestors, along with Yamato-hime’s prophecy of “keeping right what is right and left what is left,” are expressions of the values of the Way (loyalty, selflessness, steadfast and vigilant mind).
Although Ansai claimed he was trying to discover Confucian values within Shinto, his discoveries had a profound effect on his personal philosophy. From his interpretation of a passage from the Nihongi, where Ō-ana-muchi converses with his own spirit, Ansai believed that every person’s body is a shrine, that houses a living spirit. In effect, every person’s physical heart contained a living god, and out of reverence to the gods, one should worship the self. He believed this to be analogous the Confucian practice of self-cultivation.
). By divine mandate, the bakufu had been entrusted to protect the political realm, in the name of the emperor. This political order, for Ansai, reflected the greater cosmic unity of heaven and man. Due to his belief in this unity, Ansai challenged the traditional Confucian notion of the Mandate of Heaven
, where a ruler was held accountable for the welfare of his subjects, and could lose his legitimacy if he did not act in proper accord. However, Ansai believed that challenging political authority was paramount to disrupting the harmonic balance between heaven and man. Therefore, a subject must pledge his undying, unconditional loyalty to his master. This idea caused a great controversy amongst Ansai’s followers in the Kimon school, as well as amongst his Suika Shinto disciples.
existed and Ansai believed in them. Second, Ansai employs an allegorical interpretation of the text, by analogically equating symbols he found within in Shinto texts as expressions of Confucian truths. Third, Ansai interpreted the texts on a moral level, drawing ethical paradigms out of Shinto myths. The last level was anagogical, where by Ansai argued for the supremacy of the Japanese nation (relative to all others), using his own interpretations of Shinto texts. Although often Ansai is criticized for his ‘torturous rationalizations” found in Suika Shinto, Ooms argues that what distinguishes Ansai from other Neo-Confucian scholars of his time was the “systematic structure of his thought.”
The institutions that Ansai had created (the Kimon school and Suika Shinto) did not last for very long (in their original forms, as Ansai had intended). However, the power of Ansai’s ideas and the influence he exerted on a large number of his students have had vast repercussions. Ansai’s Suika Shinto transformed Shinto into a political ideology that was later incorporated by ultra-nationalist thinkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. In his scholarly research of Shinto texts, Ansai was able to break the monopoly on Shinto doctrine, by freeing it from the private storehouses of specialist, Shinto circles (Yoshida
, Ise
), and thereby making it available for future generations to freely study and interpret.
Although the Kimon school suffered from various schisms (both during and after Ansai’s time), its lineage has lasted until present times. After Ansai’s death, his students continued to preach some form of his Confucian or Suika Shinto thought, to both commoners and Bakufu officials alike. A large number of Kimon scholars later filled the ranks of the Bakufu College during the Kansei Reforms
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and scholar. He began his career as a Buddhist monk, but eventually came to follow the teachings of Neo-Confucian
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi
Zhū Xī or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
. He combined Neo-Confucian ideas with Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
to create Suika Shinto.
Early Years/Buddhism
Born in KyotoKyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
on January 24, 1619, Yamazaki Ansai was the son of a former rōnin
Ronin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....
-turned-doctor and the last of four children. In his youth, he was strongly influenced by both his mother and grandmother. While his mother “urged him to develop a noble heart worthy of a samurai’s son,” his grandmother supported him in his study of the Chinese language. In his preteens, he was sent by his father to serve as an acolyte at a Buddhist temple on Mount Hiei
Mount Hiei
is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, Japan.The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tiantai sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788. Both Nichiren and Honen studied at the temple before...
. In his early teens, Ansai returned home, and after several years was finally permitted to enter the Myōshin-ji
Myoshin-ji
is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan. The Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism is the largest school in Rinzai Zen. This particular school contains within it more than three thousand temples throughout Japan, along with nineteen monasteries. The head temple was founded in the year 1342 by the...
temple of the Rinzai Zen sect in Kyoto for further study. Due to his incredible scholarly aptitude, in his early twenties he was granted entrance to the Gyūkō-ji temple in Tosa
Tosa Province
is the name of a former province of Japan in the area that is today Kōchi Prefecture on Shikoku. Tosa was bordered by Iyo and Awa Provinces. It was sometimes called .-History:The ancient capital was near modern Nankoku...
. During his time at Tosa, he was strongly advised by his fellow monks to concentrate his studies on the teachings of Neo-Confucian scholars, thereby slowing beginning the process of Ansai’s conversion to Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
and ultimate rejection of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. Ansai was particularly captivated by the writings of the Song dynasty scholar, Zhu Xi
Zhu Xi
Zhū Xī or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
(Chu Hsi), which later became the basis of Ansai’s moral philosophy/teachings. At twenty eight, he returned to Kyoto, and under the patronage of Nonaka Kenzan, was able to continue his Neo Confucian studies, as well as begin to publish his own materials. With the production of his first work Heresies Refuted (Heikii, 1647), an outright rejection of Buddhist faith, Ansai fully embraced “the One True Way” of Neo Confucianism.
Middle Years: Neo-Confucianism and Kimon
After his first publication, Ansai spent the remaining thirty-five years of his life writing, publishing, editing, annotating, and punctuating Confucian and Shinto texts (that accumulated to over two thousand pages). The decade following Tosa (1647–1657), Ansai lived, studied, and taught in Kyoto. There, he edited and published a great number of texts (mostly commentaries on the works of Chu Hsi). Ansai also frequently went to EdoEdo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, to give lecturers on Neo-Confucianism in front of a large numbers of daimyos. In 1655, he established a private school in Kyoto, began his first lecture cycle in the spring of the same year, and finished it at the end of 1656.
Ansai’s group of Confucian disciples was collectively referred to as the Kimon school. His lecturers focused on Ansai’s own, hand selected canon. His canon consisted mostly of the classic Confucian writings that Zhu Xi had emphasized: the Elementary Learning, the Reflections on Things at Hand, and the Four Books (the Great Learning
Great Learning
The Great Learning was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism. The Great Learning had come from a chapter in the Classic of Rites which formed one of the Five Classics. It consists of a short main text attributed to the teachings of Confucius and then ten commentary chapters accredited to one...
, the Doctrine of the Mean
Doctrine of the Mean
The Doctrine of the Mean , is both a concept and one of the books of Confucian teachings. The composition of the text is attributed to Zisi the only grandson of Confucius, and it came from a chapter in the Classic of Rites...
, the Analects of Confucius
Analects of Confucius
The Analects, or Lunyu , also known as the Analects of Confucius, are considered a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held....
, and the Mencius
Mencius
Mencius was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng , Shandong province, only thirty kilometres ...
). However, he also included Cheng Yi
Cheng Yi (philosopher)
Cheng Yi , courtesy name Zhengshu , also known as Mr. Yichuan , was a Chinese philosopher born in Luoyang during the Song Dynasty. He worked with his older brother Cheng Hao . Like his brother, he was a student of Zhou Dunyi, a friend of Shao Yong, and a nephew of Zhang Zai...
’s Commentary on the Book of Changes. In the 1660’s and 1670’s, Ansai (following the example of Zhu Xi) personally edited the six books that compromised his canon.
As a teacher, Ansai was described by his students as “extremely strict, sometimes scary, and short tempered.” Generally speaking, Ansai had a reputation for being “single minded, doctorinate, and intolerant.” Kaibara Ekken
Kaibara Ekken
or Ekiken, also known as Atsunobu was a Japanese Neo-Confucianist philosopher and botanist.Kaibara was born into a family of advisors to the daimyo of Fukuoka Domain in Chikuzen Province . He accompanied his father to Edo in 1648, and was sent in 1649 to Nagasaki to study Western science...
, a contemporary of Ansai’s, had attended several of his lectures, and found Ansai to be: “severe, dogmatic, and more interested in strict moral discipline than in investigation of the principles for practical learning.” Such prominent Neo-Confucian scholars as Kinoshita Jun’an, Asami Keisai, Miyake Shōsai, and Satō Naokata were included amongst Ansai’s followers of the Kimon
Kimon
Cimon , was an Athenian statesman, strategos, and major political figure in mid-5th century BC Greece, the son of Miltiades, victor of Marathon. Cimon played a key role in creating the powerful Athenian maritime empire following the failure of the Persian invasion of Greece by Xerxes I in 480-479 BC...
school.
Bakufu Involvement and Shinto Beginnings
In 1658, Ansai moved to Edo, where he spent the next 7 years of his life, continuing his studying of Neo-Confucian texts, as well as beginning his research on a never completed historiography of Japan (based upon ShintoShinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
texts). In 1665, after building up a reputation in both Edo and Kyoto as an extraordinary teacher, was invited by Hoshina Masayuki (the daimyo of Aizu
Aizu
is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...
) to become his teacher. Ansai accepted the position and spent the next seven years of his life as the personal teacher of Neo-Confucian philosophy to Masayuki. For tutoring Masayuki for six out of the twelve months of the year, Ansai was given a salary of 100 gold ryō, two seasonal garments, and one haori coat.
Although Ansai and Masayuki were said to share a close relationship, Ansai refused to become his vassal, declaring that Confucian scholars should remain autonomous of another individual's influence. Masayuki proved to be Ansai’s intellectual equal, helping him compile five different works: two gazetteers for the Aizu domain, and three Confucian texts: Gyokusan kōgi furoku (Appendix to Zhu Xi’s lecture at Yushan), Nitei jikyōroku (Record of the two Cheng’s political teachings), and the Irakusanshiden shinroku (Record of the mind-heart). During his years of service to Masayuki, Ansai compiled more writings of Zhu Xi during his off time in Kyoto. These included: Jinsetsumondō (Questions and answers on explanations of “humaneness”), Shōgaku mōyōshu and Daigaku keihatsu shū (Collections of [clarifications by Zhu Xi] on the Elementary Learning and the Great Learning
Great Learning
The Great Learning was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism. The Great Learning had come from a chapter in the Classic of Rites which formed one of the Five Classics. It consists of a short main text attributed to the teachings of Confucius and then ten commentary chapters accredited to one...
).
Due to this relationship, Ansai is considered to be one of the scholars most closely associated with the Tokugawa Bakufu. Also, Ansai was able to receive the secret teachings of the Yoshida
Yoshida
-People:Yoshida is the 12th most common Japanese surname.*Akihiko Yoshida , game artist*Ami Yoshida , vocalist*Bungo Yoshida , bunraku puppeteer*Hidehiko Yoshida , judoka and MMA fighter...
and Ise
Ise
In geography, Ise may refer to:*Ise, Mie, a city in Japan**Ise Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie*Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria*Ise, Norway, a village in Norway*Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan...
Shinto traditions, which he would use in attempting to reconstruct a “pure Shinto”, that would reflect the Way of Neo-Confucianism.
Later Years: Schism in the Kimon school
After Masayuki’s death in 1672, Ansai returned to Kyoto, where he spent the last decade of his life. In his later years, Ansai’s scholarly focus dramatically shifted toward his project of synchronizing Shinto and Confucian thought. Ansai’s introduction of Shinto into his teachings ultimately caused a schism among his students, dividing them into two groups: those who followed Ansai’s Confucianism, and those who followed his Shinto. Very few were able to do both. In 1680, when Ansai put forth a radical re-interpretation of the Great Learning that defied traditional Confucian thought, he had a falling out with two of his best students, Satō Naokata and Asami Keisai, who could not accept Ansai’s new interpretation. Ultimately, Ansai expelled Naokata and Keisai. After this, most of his students coalesced around the two defrocked pupils, thinning out the ranks of Ansai’s still loyal followers. With his formerly great school in ruins, Ansai died on September 16, 1682, and was buried at the Korotani mountain in Kyoto.Split with Buddhism
Ansai’s rejection of Buddhism was based upon what he perceived as a fundamental insufficiency/flaw in Buddhist moral principles. In Neo Confucianism, Ansai had found the “Truth”: the universal and eternal cosmic Way that could not be found in Buddhism. His critique was based upon two, interconnected fallacies that he perceived in Buddhist thought. First, Ansai believed that Buddhism lacked a normative system for informing ethical behavior (stemming from his interpretation that the Buddhist notion of nature (seiSei
Sei can refer to:*Sei whale*Sei Ashina, an actress*Seri language, sei is the ISO 639-code of that language*6 , sei is the Italian word for six *Endpoint_interface, service endpoint interface...
) as nothingness or emptiness, was a metaphysical, and not an ethical ideal). Due to this, Buddhism contained no theory of mind-heart, and thus, was inadequate for cultivating the mind (both of which were integral to Ansai’s ethical thought). From Ansai’s Neo-Confucian perspective, the mind was full (being inherently imbued with the concepts of the Five Relationships and the Five Virtues
Five Virtues
In Sikhism, the Five Virtues are fundamental qualities which one should develop in order to reach Mukti, or to reunite or merge with God. The Sikh Gurus taught that these positive human qualities were Sat , Daya , Santokh , Nimrata , and Pyar .-Sat:Sat is the virtue of truthful living, which means...
), not empty (as he believed Buddhism perceived it). In the latter part of his life, when Ansai was attempting to prove the ontological unity of Shinto and Confucianism, he proclaimed that before the arrival of Buddhism to Japan, early Shinto and Confucianism were actually the same. He blamed the influence of Buddhist thought for creating a false dichotomy between the two systems (which in Ansai’s view differed only in name).
Influence of Zhu Xi
Ansai’s teachings were seen to be part of a larger Neo-Confucian trend of the early Tokugawa period, referred to by Abe Yoshino as the rigakuRigaku
Rigaku Corporation is an international manufacturer and distributor of scientific, analytical and industrial instrumentation specializing in X-ray related technologies, including X-ray crystallography, X-ray diffraction , X-ray reflectivity, X-ray fluorescence , automation, cryogenics and X-ray...
(school of principle). Compared to the kigaku (school of material force), rigaku’s primary focus was on moral cultivation and spirituality. Its followers considered ri (Chinese li
Li (Neo-Confucianism)
Li （理）is a concept found in Neo-Confucian Chinese philosophy.It refers to the underlying reason and order of nature as reflected in its organic forms....
: reason, rational principle, or law) to be a transcendent principle. Although Ansai was part of this larger movement, in no way did he see himself as an “innovator” of Neo-Confucianism. Rather, he saw himself as a “servant of Truth,” a “transmitter of the Way
The Way
The Way may refer to a spiritual path:* The Way or "Tao" of Taoism* An early term for early Christianity * The Way of the Cross, a Catholic devotion to the Passion of Christ....
,” and believed nothing of what he taught to be novel, since everything about the Way had already been said by the Confucian Sages. In particular, Ansai believed he was a “faithful transmitter” of the writings of both Zhu Xi, and the Korean Neo-Confucian Yi T’oegye
Yi Hwang
Yi Hwang is one of the two most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty, the other being his younger contemporary Yi I . A key figure of the Neo-Confucian literati, he established the Yeongnam School and set up the Dosan Seowon, a private Confucian academy. Yi Hwang is often...
(1507–1570), with special emphasis on Zhu’s teachings. Because of this, most of Ansai’s Neo Confucian writings tended to be publications of Zhu Xi’s works, with his own commentaries.
Although some of Ansai’s teachings varied slightly from Zhu Hsi’s, the foundation of Ansai’s thought was deeply grounded in
Zhu’s most fundamental premises. The foremost of these was Zhu Xi’s cosmological belief that the principles of reason and morality (li), were the same as mankind’s original nature (i.e. that the principles that guide and move the universe, are exactly same as those that inform man’s ethical behavior). Therefore, by pursuing li, an individual was simultaneously “developing the potential of one’s inner nature to guide on in behaving correctly.” If an individual could endure it, he would be able to bring his own natural inclinations into perfect harmony with principles of universal morality. Zhu Xi saw this fulfillment of potential as the ideal state of human existence, and only possible to achieve if one were to obey one’s allotted moral duty, given their relative position in society. Depending on their social role, the duties of the individual differed, as did the principles upon which they were grounded. However, Zhu Xi did not view this as problematic, since each of these principles was merely a different manifestation of the same general principle of morality, found in every human being. Hsi believed that fulfilling one’s proper social role was a means of understanding the universal principle of human morality (li). He referred to such a process as the “plumbing of principle”. To perfect one’s natural, innate potential was at the same time to realize one’s self as an autonomous being.
Reverence
Like Zhu Xi, Ansai firmly believed that an individual’s moral duties reflected his specific social position (meibun). However, instead of focusing on the “plumbing of principle” (which he believed the average person was incapable of achieving) Ansai believed in order to properly achieve meibun, what was primary was an attitude of reverence (kei or tsutsushimi): steadiness of the mind and guarded behavior. Since Zhu considered reverence to be the necessary precondition for the “plumbing of principle”, Ansai believed that reverence was the essential element of Zhu’s moral thought. To this end, he placed great emphasis on a particular passage of Zhu Xi’s: “Reverence within, righteousness without.” Reverence was the means by which one achieved the desired end of self-cultivation, necessary to fulfill the moral duties prescribed to an individual by their rigid, social obligations. Realizing one’s social obligations and maintaining an orderly, hierarchical society were the highest duties that an individual and mankind (respectively) had to fulfill. This notion stems from Ansai’s morality, cosmologyCosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
, and the interconnect between the two (all based in Zhu Xi’s thought).
Ontology and Morality
Like Zhu Xi, Ansai believed that the principles that guided the cosmic order were the same as the ethical principles that informed mankind’s original nature (i.e. the same set of principles guided the cosmic, as well as the human world). Not only was there an inherent connection between the macrocosm (cosmos) and microcosm (humans), but they mutually influenced each other in a reciprocal and parallel manner. Just as the cosmic principles actively affect mankind (by informing humans of their natural, moral imperatives), so did human beings actively affect the cosmic order through their collective behavior. This is why Ansai believed it was a moral imperative for human beings to achieve unity with the cosmos. By understanding the ethical principles, they could simultaneously understand cosmic principles and positively affect not only themselves, but the universe as well. He linked morality with the Five Evolutive phases, to show that not only are cosmic and moral principles natural and inevitable, but that they mutually influence one another.Cosmology and Filial Piety
Because cosmologically everything was interconnected, Ansai believed that the actions of individual (in a similar manner to modern chaos theory) affect the entire universe. He stressed the Confucian concept of Great Learning, in which a person’s actions (the center of a series of concentric circles) extend outward toward the family, society, and finally to the cosmos. The Five Virtues (all contained in the idea of reverence and inherent in man’s original nature) direct the Five Relationships, between: parent and child (humaneness), lord and vassal (righteousness/duty), husband and wife (propriety), elder and younger (wisdom), and friend and friend (faithfulness). There are five steps which Zhu Xi advocated to perfect these relationships (and virtues): “study wisely, question thoroughly, deliberate carefully, analyze clearly, and act conscientiously.” For Ansai, learning was the means to the ends of morality. However, of all of the relationships (and virtues) that Ansai emphasized, the relationship between the lord and vassal (duty) was the most important. Departing from Zhu Xi (who saw humaneness as the most important virtue), Ansai believed that maintaining the social order (through duty to one’s lord) was the highest responsibility that one had to fulfill.Knowledge leads to Morality
To achieve reverence (the means toward personal cultivation) Ansai proposed quiet sitting. Through quiet sitting, Ansai believed that an individual could gain access to the storehouse of hidden knowledge (inherent in all individuals). This storehouse is where qiQi
In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as life energy, lifeforce, or energy flow. Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts...
(the vital material force) resides. By channeling qi, one is able to stimulate humaneness, which consequently triggers the other virtues. Through knowledge, virtue grows. Through virtue, one can act in proper accord with the outside world (and the cosmos in general). Thus, knowledge is the source by which an individual realizes his innate, human potential (as described by Zhu Xi).
Interests in Shinto
In a failed attempt at creating a historiography of Japan, Ansai became intensely interested in Shinto’s religious elements. From his own experience, Ansai believed that certain Shinto customs and rituals (such as funeral practices) reflected Confucian values. His Yamato shōgaku (Japanese Elementary Learning), published in 1658, although more focused on general social customs, marks a turning point in Ansai’s thought, with its inclusion of various Shinto elements. In the later part of his life, Ansai began a project of combining Neo-Confucian morality (based on Zhu Xi) with the religious elements of Shinto. Since Ansai believed in the ontological unity of everything, he believed that in the Shinto tradition, he could discover the Way, rooted in Japanese society. Ansai’s Confucian interpretation of Shinto mythology came to be known as Suika Shinto. Suika means the act of praying to call the gods down, to receive this worldly benefits. Drawing on the secret traditions of both Yoshida and Ise Shinto (as well classic Shinto myths, such as the KojikiKojiki
is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...
, Nihongi, Shoku Nihongi
Shoku Nihongi
The is an imperially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the Six National Histories, coming directly after the Nihon Shoki and followed by Nihon Kōki. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as the primary editors...
, Fudoki
Fudoki
are ancient records of the culture and geography of provinces of Japan. They contain agricultural, geographical, historical and mythological records, as well as folklore.Compilation of Fudoki began in 713 and was completed over a 20-year period....
, etc.), Ansai was able to “uncover” numerous Neo-Confucian values within Shinto texts. On November 23, 1672, he created the Record of the Fuji no mori Shrine (Fuji no mori yuzuemandokoro no ki), an essay that generally summarizes Ansai’s views on Shinto and its connection to Neo-Confucian metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
.
Confucian Ethics Embedded in Shintoism
From the Shinto texts, he found particular moral values that he believed had counterparts in Confucianism. For example, he believed that the Confucian notion of reverence was the same as the Shinto idea of prayer (kitō). Righteousness (in Confucianism) was equivalent to the Shinto idea of honesty or forthrightness (massugu or shōjiki). In the opening chapters of the Nihongi, Ansai explained that the five generations of earthly gods (kamiKami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
) were equivalent to the Five Evolutive Phases, and that the pledge of Amaterasu
Amaterasu
, or is apart of the Japanese myth cycle and also a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is the goddess of the sun, but also of the universe. the name Amaterasu derived from Amateru meaning "shining in heaven." The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is "the great August kami who...
to protect the divine lineage of her ancestors, along with Yamato-hime’s prophecy of “keeping right what is right and left what is left,” are expressions of the values of the Way (loyalty, selflessness, steadfast and vigilant mind).
Although Ansai claimed he was trying to discover Confucian values within Shinto, his discoveries had a profound effect on his personal philosophy. From his interpretation of a passage from the Nihongi, where Ō-ana-muchi converses with his own spirit, Ansai believed that every person’s body is a shrine, that houses a living spirit. In effect, every person’s physical heart contained a living god, and out of reverence to the gods, one should worship the self. He believed this to be analogous the Confucian practice of self-cultivation.
Shinto's Influence of Ansai's Thought
Ansai’s interpretations of Shinto texts also (surprisingly) lead to his affirmation of the political order of the Tokugawa Bakufu. He believed that just as much as the emperor, the bakufu were part of the sacred political order (and that these warriors were exemplified in the archetype of SusanooSusanoo
, also known as is the Shinto god of the sea and storms. He is also considered to be ruler of Yomi.-Myths:In Japanese mythology, Susanoo, the powerful storm of Summer, is the brother of Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, and of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. All three were born from Izanagi, when...
). By divine mandate, the bakufu had been entrusted to protect the political realm, in the name of the emperor. This political order, for Ansai, reflected the greater cosmic unity of heaven and man. Due to his belief in this unity, Ansai challenged the traditional Confucian notion of the Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...
, where a ruler was held accountable for the welfare of his subjects, and could lose his legitimacy if he did not act in proper accord. However, Ansai believed that challenging political authority was paramount to disrupting the harmonic balance between heaven and man. Therefore, a subject must pledge his undying, unconditional loyalty to his master. This idea caused a great controversy amongst Ansai’s followers in the Kimon school, as well as amongst his Suika Shinto disciples.
Methodology
In his book, Tokugawa Ideology, Herman Ooms describes Ansai’s analysis of Shinto texts as being grounded in “hermeneutic operations”, preceding along four levels of interpretation. The first level is literal. From Ooms' perspective, Ansai believed the Shinto texts he read to be records of historical fact. The kamiKami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
existed and Ansai believed in them. Second, Ansai employs an allegorical interpretation of the text, by analogically equating symbols he found within in Shinto texts as expressions of Confucian truths. Third, Ansai interpreted the texts on a moral level, drawing ethical paradigms out of Shinto myths. The last level was anagogical, where by Ansai argued for the supremacy of the Japanese nation (relative to all others), using his own interpretations of Shinto texts. Although often Ansai is criticized for his ‘torturous rationalizations” found in Suika Shinto, Ooms argues that what distinguishes Ansai from other Neo-Confucian scholars of his time was the “systematic structure of his thought.”
Influence/Legacy
Yamazaki Ansai was part of a larger movement in the early Tokugawa era that revived and helped proliferate Neo-Confucian thought in Japan. He was the first to introduce the writings of the Korean Neo-Confucian scholar Yi T’ogeye to Japan, and was instrumental in popularizing Zhu Xi’s thought (partly due to his connections with the government). His political theory was appropriated by the Tokugawa Bakufu, as a means to legitimate the suppression of political contestation.The institutions that Ansai had created (the Kimon school and Suika Shinto) did not last for very long (in their original forms, as Ansai had intended). However, the power of Ansai’s ideas and the influence he exerted on a large number of his students have had vast repercussions. Ansai’s Suika Shinto transformed Shinto into a political ideology that was later incorporated by ultra-nationalist thinkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. In his scholarly research of Shinto texts, Ansai was able to break the monopoly on Shinto doctrine, by freeing it from the private storehouses of specialist, Shinto circles (Yoshida
Yoshida
-People:Yoshida is the 12th most common Japanese surname.*Akihiko Yoshida , game artist*Ami Yoshida , vocalist*Bungo Yoshida , bunraku puppeteer*Hidehiko Yoshida , judoka and MMA fighter...
, Ise
Ise
In geography, Ise may refer to:*Ise, Mie, a city in Japan**Ise Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie*Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria*Ise, Norway, a village in Norway*Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan...
), and thereby making it available for future generations to freely study and interpret.
Although the Kimon school suffered from various schisms (both during and after Ansai’s time), its lineage has lasted until present times. After Ansai’s death, his students continued to preach some form of his Confucian or Suika Shinto thought, to both commoners and Bakufu officials alike. A large number of Kimon scholars later filled the ranks of the Bakufu College during the Kansei Reforms
Kansei Reforms
The were a series of reactionary policy changes and edicts which were intended to cure a range of perceived problems which had developed in mid-18th century Tokugawa Japan....
.
Yamazaki Ansai Timeline
- 1619 Born in Kyoto
- 1641 Enters Gyūkōji temple in Tosa
- 1647 Leaves Tosa, returns to Kyoto, publishes Heresies Refuted
- 1655 Founds a private school in Kyoto, beginning of the Kimon
- 1658 Moves to Edo, publishes Japanese Elementary Learning
- 1665 Accepts position as private tutor to Hoshina Masayuki
- 1672 Returns to Kyoto, publishes Record of the Fuji no mori Shrine
- 1680 Falling out with Satō Naokata and Asami Keisai, schism in Kimon school
- 1682 Death, buried on Korotani mountain in Kyoto
Important Works
- Heresies Refuted (Heikii) (1647)
- Japanese Elementary Learning (Yamato shōgaku) (1658)
- Reflections on Things at Hand (punctuated and published) (1670)
- Record of the Fuji no mori Shrine (Fuji no mori yuzuemandokoro no ki)(1672)
- Bunkai Hitsuroku
- Han Yü’s treatise Chü yu ts’ao(published, with commentary)
- Kōhanzensho
See also
- Neo-ConfucianismNeo-ConfucianismNeo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....
- Chu Hsi(Zhu XiZhu XiZhū Xī or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
) - ShintoShintoor Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...