Preprandial Chat

Aizawa Seishisai’s Preprandial Chat Translated by
Todd Munson
No. 2 (Summer 2000)

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विस्तारः (द्रष्टुं नोद्यम्)

The goal of this translation series is to distribute scholarly articles on the history of Japanese education to an international readership.

HISTORY OF JAPANESE EDUCATION TRANSLATION SERIES 1 (Summer 1999) Umihara Töru, Yoshida Shöin and Shöka Sonjuku: The True Spirit of Education Translated by Charles Andrews

2 (Summer 2000) Aizawa Seishisai, Preprandial Chat Translated by Todd Munson

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

This essay is the second in a translation series edited by the Center for Research on the History of Japanese Education at Indiana University. The purpose of the series is to make important work by outstanding Japanese scholars of the history of Japanese education available in English. W e plan to translate journal articles, book chapters, and historical documents such Aizawa Seishisai’s Preprandial Chat, The work was translated by Todd Munson as part of his Master’s essay in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, and was edited and revised by Professor Jurgis Elisonas.

Aizawa Seishisai (also Yasushi; 1781-1863) was a scholar-official of the Mito domain, home to a syncretic ideology of xenophobic loyalism that held great currency among disaffected samurai during the final decades of the Tokugawa period (1600-1868). In the influential work Shinron (“New Theses”) of 1825,Aizawa expressed the key issues of the Mito school in impassioned prose. “Men of high purpose” (shishi) during the late Tokugawa era seized upon his ideas as they moved toward radical action, and for this reason Aizawa is considered a founding father of restorationist ideology.

Taishoku kanwa —a talk over pre-dinner appetizers referred to here as a “Preprandial Chat”—was neither widely read nor taken as a call for radical action. Nevertheless, it is worth attention for several reasons. It provides a brief but cogent summary of the major points of Mito thought. It also holds an important place in the history of education in the Mito domain since its composition is directly related to the founding of the Mito domain school, Ködökan.

The daimyo of Mito, Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860), was a foremost advocate of reform within the context of the bakuhan system. He hoped that an official domain school might stem the tide of moral and cultural degeneration and return the realm~not just Mito— to the halcyon days of the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate. In the sixth month of 1837 Nariaki commissioned Fujita Töko (1806-1855) to draft a charter for the proposed domain school. Less than a year later the 491 word charter, known as Ködökanki (Charter of the Academy for Broadening the Way), was inscribed in stone in the school garden in the name of Tokugawa Nariaki, who had written the first draft. The school opened on a provisional basis in the summer of 1841 and the formal opening ceremony was held in 1857.

Nariaki commissioned Aizawa Seishisai—co-head of the domain school—to prepare Preprandial Chat in 1843 in order to make the concepts of the Ködökanki comprehensible to “beginning students and the unlettered.” Submitted in 1841,the final text was neither published nor circulated in manuscript form until after Nariaki’s death in 1860. It received a small readership after Aizawa’s nephew had it printed and distributed it at the Ködökan. Thus, the value of Preprandial Chat lies not in its profound effect on contemporaries, as Shinron clearly had, but in its straightforward description of Mito thought, a complex and syncretic ideology recast in plain language for the laym an~a sort of “young reader’s guide” to Mito learning.

The preface to Preprandial Chat is followed by the main body of the text, which is in the form of a question-and-answer session between Aizawa and an unnamed young student. The questions, adhering closely to the text of the Ködökanki, traverse a predictably narrow range,but Aizawa’s answers sketch in broad strokes nearly the entire range of Mito thought. As such, the Preprandial Chat is likely the shortest route of access to Mito thought of the Tenpö period (1830-1844).

Richard Rubinger
Director, Center for Research on the History of Japanese Education

Preprandial Chat

Preface

In the year of earth senior and the dog of the Tenpö era [1838],the Counsellor my Prince founded the Academy for Broadening the Way, inscribed its Charter upon a stone, and enunciated the fundamental principles for the cultural refinement of his people. His subject Yasushi,of inferior learning, thankfully received his gracious command, and along with Aoyama En’u supervises the instruction and ascends daily to the academy to perform his official duties. Although I am but a base scholar, a clumsy “tile-breaker and dauber of paint” 1 and do not even amount to a meager assistant, my aspiration nonetheless is to preserve the teachings of the sages in some small way. In moments of leisure after retiring from m y duties, I receive guests. The “youthflxl and inexperienced”2 occasionally seek me out. At other times,friends new and old also come by to engage in discussion. As day passes into night, I light a candle, and our discussion often extends to our Prince and his intentions in founding the academy.

One day, I gave a lecture before m y Prince. Quite composed, he spoke: “Recently,I crafted the Charter for the Academy for Broadening the Way. However, its meaning its multifaceted,and the substance of the text must therefore be difficult to grasp. Discuss this with E n,u and others,and th en ~ u sin g common language~ m ake its basic concepts comprehensible to beginning students and the unlettered.” I then reverently withdrew, and upon withdrawing reflected upon m yself~ u p o n m y hardened ignorance and biased leanings— and wondered if I was worthy of a fraction of his confidence in me. However,the import of m y Prince’s words was such that I could not

refuse. That is to say, I conferred w ith E n’u and others, and we presented our respective opinions for adoption or rejection. Accordingly, I took up m y recent conversations with various acquaintances and those termed “youthful and inexperienced,,,recorded them in w riting and thus fulfilled my responsibility. It may be that m y ideas are useless and

unworthy of adoption; still, it is not necessarily always the case that rubbish has no use. Indeed,“the W ay is like a great road.”3 It emanates from H eaven’s constant laws, and inheres in the immutable teachings that men m ust follow. Because the five relationships exist, therefore the five teachings also exist.4 The people “use them every day without realizing it;,,5 even if the teachings have not been written down,w hen the people seek out the W ay amongst themselves there will inevitably be an abundance of teachers.6 When a great road falls into disuse, however, brambles grow. When the five teachings are not spread, the people cannot seek them out themselves. Therefore,the W ay cannot broaden a man, but rather that which broadens the W ay is man_7 Thus it is the responsibility of wise rulers and capable assistants to unify government and edification, and in so doing to broaden the Way. Yasushi, though unworthy, is bly faithful to his position and awaits the spread of the ruler’s moral edification among the people.

In the Twelfth

Month of the year

of w ater senior and

the tiger of the

Tenpö era [1841]

Aizaw a Yasushi set

his hand to this.

Preprandial Chat

respectfully composed by Aizawa Yasushi

Having retired from the academy for the day, I was leaning against a stool and looking over some written works when by chance someone came by to engage in conversation. The discussion came around to matters doctrinal, and this person stated, “N ot long ago,our Prince established in this domain an academy,entitled it the Academy for Broadening the Way, inscribed its Charter in stone, and thus propounded his grand design. Although I read the Charter, and seem to comprehend a fraction of its very illustrious m eaning,I still cannot understand it in detail.I was hoping that you might explain its particulars.”

I replied, ‘T hough I am ignorant, for some reason I received the command to supervise the instruction and humbly acceded to it. As my scholarship is shallow, I am surely unequal to the task. However,as I long as I am debasing the teaching profession for as much as a day, I cannot very well refuse to answer your questions. I shall certainly not insist on the correctness of m y paltry opinions, but will merely respond as best I can within the narrow range of my views. I ask of you,please engage a true scholar of wider learning to judge whether I am right or wrong in these matters.”

M y guest spoke. “There are,then,a few questions that I wish to ask you. The first concerns the meaning of the phrase from the classics which states that “men can broaden the W ay.,,81 have heard that it means this: As the Way inheres in our nature,9 when one exhausts one’s nature w ith one’s heart the W ay is thus broadened. However,

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the heart-nature is not mentioned in the Charterwhy does it seem to differ from the prevalent interpretation?”

I replied, “It states in the Doctrine of the Mean that “accordance with one’s nature is called the Way; to cultivate the W ay is called the Teaching,” 10 so it is of course reasonable that to cultivate the W ay is,to wit, to accord w ith one’s nature. However, that passage from the D octrine of the M ean is a discussion of the foundations upon which the W ay is built. What does “broaden the W ay” mean, then? It means that although the foundations of the W ay are indeed based upon according with one’s nature, it is diffused in the world by means of the virtuous actions of men. To discuss the foundations of the W ay is a separate m atter altogether. In these latter days,learning has descended upon all classes. Even in discussing the W ay,men fix their gaze only upon themselves,thinking that the Way refers only to governing one’s own heart-nature. However, the Way of antiquity isjust as it is written in the Charterthe “great constant norm of Heaven and Earth.,,11 Because H eaven and Earth exist,human ethics are naturally present,12 and because human ethics exist, the five relationships are naturally present. Therefore, as parent and child exist, parental intim acy exists; as ruler and subject exist, duty exists. All of this is the Great W ay of the realm, the correct path13~ n o t the private words of one man. As there exist sages above, government and edification are conducted, and the Way is practiced in the realm; as they exist below,language is established,ability is cultivated, and the W ay is transmitted tofuture generations.

“The Way is like a great road.” In places where the public travels,a road is naturally formed when a place is trodden upon often enough. So “broadening the W ay” refers to this: Along a natural road, post-stations are established, inns built, pack-horses

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and couriers employed,and travel to the very corners of the four seas allowed to proceed without delay. In other words,it refers to the wide-ranging effort to encourage all m en in the realm tofollow upon the Great W ay of human ethics. As all of this is the product of human effort, it is thus stated by the sages that “men can broaden the W ay.”

‘N ow ,our Prince founded the Academy for Broadening the W ay in the endeavor to clarify the Great W ay that exists naturally in Heaven and Earth and to ensure that the people’s travels go smoothly without their getting lost along various branch ro ad s~ th is is,in other words, what is meant by “m en can broaden the W ay.” W ith the Great W ay made clear, officials and commoners alike will all understand the direction in which to proceed without becoming lost along crooked pathways. W hen this occurs, thenI believe— the people will be able to expend their individual heart-natures and realize their potential according to their respective measure of talent and virtue.”

He asked, “How the Deities built the foundation of the realm in ancient times has been recorded in the Kojiki,Nihon shoki,Kogo shüi, and other sources, but I can find in none of these texts any explanation of the “W ay of human ethics” and the like. In the Charter it states that “It is that from which men must not deviate for even an instant,,,

evidently referring to the Way of human ethics. At the same time, it states that the Deities established the ultimate standards, and it is this way that they follow ed~w hat is the meaning of this?,,

I stated,“Though I a junior scholar, late in acquiring an educationreally ought to shy away from impertinently meddling about when it comes to the facts of the Age of the Gods,I will state m y trifling views and answer your question; but you should ask a

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man of em inence whether or not I am correct. In the simple days of antiquity, the Deities bestowed m oral principles without using words, instead demonstrating their meaning through action. By showing their teachings through their actions, the gods thus made them the laws of the people. The five ethical principles~ the five articles of ruler-ruled, parent-child? husband-wife, elder-younger, and firiend-fiiendare also called the five codes. First,to speak of the duty of ruler and ruled: W hen Amaterasu Ömikami,residing in the High Plain of Heaven, bestowed Heavenly rank upon Her Imperial Descendant, Amatsu Hikohikohono Ninigi no M ikoto, She granted Him the three sacred treasuresthe curved beads of Yasakani, the “Eight-Hand” Mirror and the sword Grass Scythesaying, “This Reed-plain-1500-autumns-fair-rice-ear Land is the region which my descendants shall be lords of.,,14 Thus these sacred treasures were established eternally as signs of Heavenly rank,and the great duty of ruler-ruled and parent-child was demonstrated thereby. Reverence for Heavenly rank is endless along with Heaven and Earth. The fact that from the day that Heaven and Earth opened forth until the present day, not one person has ever violated Heavenly ran k ~ n o w , that is duty between ruler and ruled. These teachings do not rely upon words; they inhere in nature.

‘And w hat of intimacy between parent and child? When Amaterasu Ömikami bestowed the sacred treasures to Ninigi, She took the Precious M irror in Her hand and said, “My child, when you look upon this Precious M irror, let it be as if you were looking on me.” 15 The Precious Mirroralongside Ninigi in His bed, and with Him in His h a ll~ th u s becam e the repository of the divine spirit of the Heavenly Ancestress, and from this intimacy between parent and child was revealed. The ruler who succeeds as Heir to the Sun is invariably the descendant of the Sun Goddess, and from the antiquity

6of the Age of Gods to the present day the Imperial line has not changed. The Precious M irror, repository of the divine spirit of the Heavenly Ancestress, resides eternally in Ise. Even to d ay ~ w h en the ruler who is Heir to the Sun worships at the Grand Shrines at Is e ~ th e form reflected in the Precious M irror is in fact the bodily reliquary of Sun Goddess, so the Jewel is consubstantial with the body of the Sun Goddess. Even in a million years, the intimacy between these consubstantial bodies will never be exhausted; there is no stronger example of the intimacy between parent and child than this.

‘Since the beginning of Heaven and Earth, from the time that Izanagi no Mikoto preceded Izanami no M ikoto in reciting the song “Ananiyashi,” the distinction between husband and wife has been clear. When Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, dwelling in Heaven, engendered Amaterasu Ömikami, Tsukiyomi no M ikoto, and Susanoo no M ikoto, They entrusted to Their offspring the responsibilities of rule, stating that “Amaterasu Ömikami will rule the High Plain of Heaven, Tsukiyomi no Mikoto will rule the Kingdom of Darkness, and Susanoo no Mikoto will rule the broad and tranquil oceans.” Here is the order between elder and younger. The various deities Omoikane, Tajikarao, Koyane, Futodama, Take M ikazuchi,Sarutahiko, and the like,unified Their hearts, assisted the heavenly deities, used Their respective strengths to the utmost of Their capabilities, and through Their friendship,promoted benevolence16~ th is is what is known as the faithfulness of friends.

‘In this way, the teachings of the five ethical principles are rooted in the beginnings of Heaven and Earth and have never changed to the present day. One who is human cannot exist in the world for a single day while deviating from the Way of ruler ruled, parent-child, husband-wife, elder brother-younger-bother, and friend-fiiend. So

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today the holiest ruler whom we revere and Amaterasu Ömikami are one and the same substance. The great shoguns quelled the disorder of hundreds of years, and put the multitudes at ease; the descendants of Our Lord of Eastern Radiance17 spread the rule of the Heavenly Court across the realm ,and spare the people calamities such as military revolt and banditry. The great provincial lords are the palisades of the Heavenly Court; as delegates of the Great Shogun,they rule their various domains. Now, of those bom w ithin these seas,of those who would be counted among the numbers of our people, is there one who does not receive the benevolence of the Emperor, the shogun,and the provincial lords? Therefore, could anyone for even an instant iail to desire to exhaust the W ay of the five ethical principles, and recompense a fraction of the blessings of the state? W hen the Charter says,“The Divine Sages followed this W ay,,,I believe this is the meaning to which it refers.”

He asked, “What you have just said makes m e think that I am roughly able to roughly understand the statement, “The Precious Crown by means of this is immutable; the kokutai by means of this is dignified; the masses by means of this are at peace; the barbarians and savages by means of this were conquered.,,18 But I should still like to ask you to explain its specific details.”

I stated,“Regarding the immutability of the Precious Rank, it is as I have stated: Amaterasu Ömikami bestowed the Three Sacred Treasures, and in so doing rectified the duty between ruler and ruled; stated of the Precious M irror that “when you look upon it, see my reflection,” and in so doing strengthened the intimacy between parent and child. Thus She perfected the dual precepts of loyalty and filial piety, and the hearts of men

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became unified and unmoving. Even after myriad generations have passed, the holiest one whom we have revered as our ruler since the beginning of the world w ill not change. Because the holiest ruler whom we revere today is consubstantial with Amaterasu Ömikami,it goes without saying that the customs and manners of the people are in themselves deepened, there are none who have designs on the Heavenly Rank, and the Precious Crown is immutable.

‘As for the dignity of the kokutai: Even if countless nations exist beyond the four seas, there can be but one in all of Heaven and Earth who is the most holy. In other countries, the family name of those bearing the title of “sovereign” often changes and is not fixed. In none of the myriad nations is there a Imperial line like that of our own Heavenly Court, endless and immutable along with Heaven and Earth. This happy paradigm has its origin at the beginning of Heaven and Earth, when the great principles of ruler-ruled and parent-child were rectified,and the customs and manners of the people were deepened. Accordingly,as Japan is so superior to the myriad nations,is not its kokutai to be revered?

‘As for the peaceful security of the masses: In antiquity, heresy and heterodoxy did not exist; rather, what the ancients called “the true spirit of the Deities” 19 existed as indeed the Deities had taught it, as I stated earlier. Because the great principles of parent child and ruler-ruled were not in disorder,there never were great disturbances of the sort that occurred in a foreign land, such as those of the “five barbarians” and the “sixteen kingdoms.,,20 However, because fc4he constant norm of Heaven is a cycle of orderly rule and disorder,” 21 during the long period of tranquility persons of high rank drowned themselves in pleasure, the teachings of the Deities declined, and the W ay of ruler-ruled

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and parent-child went awry. The Högen and Heiji disturbances occurred,and the authority of the Court waned. There were also disturbances in the Juei,Jökyü,Genkö, and Kenmu eras, and the four seas boiled over with disorder.22 Thereafter warfare was incessant. O ur Lord of Eastern Radiance subsequently quelled the disorder, and for the first time people were spared the weapons of warfare. Men could take саге of their

fathers and m others, their wives and children, and end their lives in tranquility. Because the teachings of the gods were rectified, and the great principles of ruler-ruled and parent child had in fact not been extinguished, the world finally returned from disorder to

rectitu d e ~ is this not what is meant by “the masses by means of this are at peace?” ‘Moreover, the barbarians submitted, just as the prayer for worshipping the Great Imperial Progenitrix states: “And you entrust the distant lands [to the Imperial Grandchild] as if casting myriad ropes about them and drawing them hither.,,23 Susanoo no Mikoto crossed over to Shiragi; during the reign of the Emperor Sujin,the people of M imana submitted; the Empress Jingü conquered Sankan, and then the Western barbarians submitted; and the Emperor Keikö sent Yamato Takeru no M ikoto to conquer the Emishi. By the reigns of Kanrnu,Heizei, and Saga, famous generals such as Sakanoue no Tamuramaro and Fun’ya no Watamaro had been employed to subdue the Emishi and drive them across the seas, and the Northeast regions w ere pacified. To cite a single example, during the reign of the Empress Saimei conquest extended as far as the Shukushin, and Imperial authority reverberated to distant lands.24 In later ages,the assaults of the Jurchen, the M ongols and the like posed no serious concern. The Taikö Hideyoshi struck at Korea, and his glory resounded across the oceans.

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‘Now then, as for the damage inflicted by barbarian ways upon the teachings of the Deities: When the Indian W ay came to be practiced in the Land of the Gods,the people’s hearts were for the first time not purely unified. Luxurious and pretentious customs from the W estern Land infiltrated the Land of the Gods,temples and pagodas were constructed, and since manors were donated to temples and exempted from taxation, Court revenue decreased by half. As the men of antiquity themselves stated, all within the four seas was reduced to poverty. The priests of Enryakuji, Köfukuji, Onjöji25 and the like, made violent petitions and often violated the palace precincts; for this reason, the Court itself knew no peace. In the northern regions the adherents of the Single

Directed sect ran rampant, and for this reason many of the successive provincial rulers of Kaga and Echizen were either ruined or fell into decline. Even someone of Lord O da,s ingenuity had to work his head off in battling the Single-Directed sectarians of Nagashima, Ishiyama,and soforth.26 Despite the fame for loyalty won throughout the realm by the warriors of M ikaw a,during the disturbances at Toro and Harisaki they took up bows and arrows against their lords and fathers.27 And then, the adherents of the pernicious faith of the W est arrived.28 By means of their duplicity, the barbarians attempted to lead the people astray and convert the Land of the Gods into their tributary state. However, Oda subdued the evil priests in the various provinces from the Enryakuji on down, perceived the wicked plans of the W est, and attempted to drive back the advocates of perniciousness. Although he iailed to do so, they were at last driven across the oceans following Toyotom i’s rise to prominence.

4By the time of Our Lord of Eastern Radiance, the ban on the pernicious faith was made ever stricter; by the K an’ei period [1624-45],all efforts were exhausted to eradicate

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it, and its roots w ere at long last extirpated. At that time it was said that foreign barbarians told each other that “Japanese people have three eyes each,” and that they trembled with fear.29 Thus the teachings of the gods were again rectified. Because the

Way of Human ethics is the Great Way of Nature, never to be abolished from Heaven and Earth, the realm could once again return to rectitude. Must we not say, therefore, that there is a connection between this and subduing the barbarians? Hence the immutability of the Precious Crown, the dignity of the National Essence, the peaceful security of the m asses, and the repulsion of the barbarians~these are not empty words, but rather all m ay be seen in the course of actual events.”

He asked, “It says in the Charter that ‘“the policies of governance and edification of Yao,Shun,and the Three Dynasties were adopted to assist in the design of Imperial rule.”30 However, in the Western Land they revere rhetoric,while in the Land of the Gods we venerate essence; thus, our customs have always been different. Also, it is said that because the customs of the Western Land and the Land of the Gods have become mixed,the pure manners of old have been lost. What do you think of this notion?”

I stated, “In Heaven and Earth there is but one Great Way, not two. Essence and rhetoric and are like the tw o wheels of a cart, and it is precisely because there is no deviation between the two that it should be called the Great Way. Therefore even Confucius stated that “W hen rhetoric and essence are blended you get the nobleman.’’31 The essence of the Land of the Gods is complemented by the rhetoric of the W estern Land; in other w ords, this is the meaning of ‘Чаке up good from others, and with this perform goodness.,,32 Now then, rhetoric has its own flaws, as does essence; so one may

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speak of “duly blending rhetoric and essence,” but it is apt to be very difficult to put that into practice. Be that as it may, the essence of the Land of the Gods,the rhetoric of the Western L an d ~ th ese do not affect the W ay of the Five Relationships one whit.

‘As I have stated earlier, however, in the Land of the Gods the substance of the five ethical principles has always existed, but a name for them has not. The flaw is that where there is no nam e, the people are apt to lose track of the substance. Therefore,due to the adoption of the names established by Yao, Shun,and Confucius, we are able to understand the natural substance that has existed since the origin of the Land of the Gods; this is what is meant by “assist in the design of Supreme rule.”

‘As for the phrase “govern and edify”: “govern” refers to governing a state by means of a system of laws and institutions, while “edify” means edification in rites and music.33 W hen a system of laws and institutions exists, but edification in rites and music does not, it as if one,s limbs worked but the basis of one,s inner-nature was lacking. If edification in rites and music exists but a system of laws and institutions does not, it is as if the basis of one’s inner nature existed, but the limbs did not function. Unless governance and edification are both present,governance becomes trivial,edification a lifeless thing,and neither is of practical use. The governance and edification of the Land of the Gods resembled a state where the foundation had been established, but the means of making it function were lacking. And what of the governance and edification of the Western Land? The foundation, that is,the duty of ruler-ruled and soforth, is not equal to that of the Land of the Gods,but the tools are in place. Therefore, it is no wonder that “adopting this and assisting in the design of Supreme rule” has made this Way all the

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more great and all the more brilliant; this is what is called “blending rhetoric and essence.”

He asked, “What is meant by the passage, “During the M iddle Ages and after, heresy and pernicious doctrines deluded the people and deceived the world. Vulgar learning and twisted scholarship rejects what is ours, and adheres to what is theirs.”

I stated, “The damage wrought by heretical doctrines from India,the W est, and so forth,is as I have already outlined, and is well known. “Delude the people and deceive the w orld,,’ indeed! People are required to do nothing more than fulfill the way of human morality, and it is plain before one’s eyes that human morality concerns the trio of ancestors, self,and descendantsthat is, the past,present, and fu ture and that the human race w ill multiply inexhaustibly. Ignorant of these truths and depending instead on airy conjectures, they postulated a separate theory of the Three Worlds, and stated that the obligation to one’s lord and father are m erely transient connections. It naturally followed that obligation became weak and the W ay of loyalty and filiality was rendered insignificant.

‘Furthermore, they put forth the notion of “original prototypes and derivative manifestations,,,in which the illustrious gods w ere explained away as derivations of foreign devils,34 and the people’s feelings of reverence for the gods were diverted elsewhere. “In Heaven there are not two suns; on Earth there are not two kings.”35 As this statement points out, it stands to reason that there cannot be two who are the most holy, but they cleverly argued that “there is under heaven one holier than the supreme

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ruler, holier than the deities of creation.” Thus they deranged the masses. Is this not the enormity of “delude the people, deceive the world?”

‘A s for the meaning of “vulgar learning and twisted scholarship rejects what is ours, and adheres to what is theirs”: The only ones who read books during the era of war were priests of Gosan temples and the like.36 Because they knew nothing of the kokutai to start with, it is no wonder that the only lands they revered were the likes of China and India. In more recent times, otherssuch as adherents of old O gyu~referred to China by such names as “The Middle Flower” and “The M iddle Kingdom,” while referring to themselves as “Eastern Barbarians” or “East of the Sun,” something that subjects of the Land of the Gods never ought to say.37 Also, when Arai and others term ed the Kanto shogun “King,” they were in effect referring to the Heavenly Court as though it had been eclipsed.38 In their attachment to a Chinese title, they violated the serious intention with which Our Lord of Eastern Radiance reverently worshipped the Court. Both Ogyü and Arai w ere heroes,and their works contain much of value; however, they could not escape the malady of rejecting what is ours and adhering to that of another.

cAnd in our own times, there is the school known as “Imperial Learning.,,39 They extol the sacred nature of the Land of the Gods,and this it must be said is both clear and far-sighted. A great deal of what they say is exceedingly beneficial to public morality. W hile what they stand for is certainly not “rejecting what is ours and adhering to that of another” and in some ways is meritorious, for the m ost part adherents of this school are ignorant of the basic outline of “governance and edification” and unenlightened regarding the D eities’ methods of government. They situate human ethics outside of the Heavenly Investiture, hold narrow views,propose peculiar theories,equate the w ay of humanity

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with that trod by horses and cattle,approach Lao Tzu,Chuang Tzu,and Mo Tzu in meaning, persist in clinging to personal biases, slander Yao and Shun,trifle about with great men, and scorn the words of the sages. W hen it comes to the point where the adoption of their teachings causes damage upon the profound intent to assist in the design of Imperial rule in this our Heavenly Land, then that damage surely compares with that wrought by the proponents of “rejecting what is ours and adhering to that of another.”

‘Accomplishments such as painting and poetry are another aspect of the field of learning. However, by shelving the Great W ay of the Deities away in som e lofty tower, and playing about instead with dazzling but empty rhetoric, by em bracing vanities, by sneering at society and indulging in their egos, and wasting their lives traveling about in search of pleasure, adherents of such arts fall into the style of Chuang Tzu and damage the Way of human ethics. Theirs is not the W ay of the benevolent or the noble man. In addition,there is what is called the School of Statecraft.40 Although it is of some benefit to the enterprise of the state, its epigones are intent upon only gathering short-term petty profit for themselves; relying upon their own personal and narrow knowledge, they do not base themselves upon the Great W ay of the sages. Therefore, this group is by no means free from the evil of putting profit first and duty afterwards.41 Then there are those who advocate moral training strictly for personal gain, lack devotion to the truth of recompensing the country and loving the people, and neglect the people and the state. Although their trust in themselves is fine, their teachings approach the W ay of Yang Tzu.42 This is the commoner’s mode of action and is not the W ay of the knight or gentleman. Its evil is thus: Youths still w et behind the ears produce high-flown and complex arguments, far from any practical use, and have no idea how to apply

16themselves to practical enterprise. This is contrary to sages’ W ay of completing one’s self and things.43

‘There is also the “School of Textual Criticism,’544 that reflects upon antiquity and maintains that later ages are deluded. A discourse on the Chinese classics based on ancient readings is beneficial for scholars, but the problem is that the adherents of this school compete with each other to be the most clever and original,and do not actually discuss the great deeds and flourishing virtue of the sages.45 W asting time on useless arguments, this group ends up in the same place as those who argued about the “separateness of hardness and w hiteness/546 something of no practical benefit whatsoever. W hat all this amounts to is allowing people to treat the writings of the sages as though they were mere parlor games.

‘A lso,in recent tim es,w hat is known as “Dutch Learning” has come into wide practice. By rights, it is nothing m ore than translating texts from Dutch into Japanese, the duty of official interpreters in Nagasaki; as such it brings no harm to society. In this way overseas conditions are ascertained, and the foreigners’ technical accomplishments can be put to use in assisting the state. However, those who know nothing of the Great Way of the Sages and have no settled views, idly look to Dutch studies and delight in clever arguments. In the name of the “Exhaustive Investigation of Principle,,’ they inquire into empty theories of grasses and trees, birds and animals, insects, fish, and soforth,and they dissect corpses. Unaware of the ebb and flow of yin and yang on Heaven and Earth, they debate capriciously the form of the sun, the moon, and the constellations, regarding them as inanimate objects equal to m ere toys. Worst of all,they secretly believe in the pernicious religion of the West, which is strictly forbidden in our state. Unabashedly

17

spreading the word that this religion actually is not pernicious at all,they mislead the stupid masses. As it states in the work of m ilitary science,“do not let anyone talk of the enem y’s good points.’^47 Those who pay no heed to the august intention to strengthen the state’s defense against barbarians, although they dwell in that state,those who agitate public sentiment and gradually come to revere the foreign barbarians in secret~they should be branded traitors to the state.

‘Thus students in their discussions put forth various differing theories. Although each of these theories has its own strong points,they are bereft of the great foundation and in the dark regarding the G reat Way of the Divine Sages. Such obscurations of the W ay are m any, and a great deal of them approach what is called “rejecting w hat is ours, and adhering to that of another” as well. It says in the classics, “Even in “small ways” there is something worth being pursued. But if taken toofar,there is danger of their proving a hindrance; therefore, the nobleman does not follow th e m ,548 Similarly, those who pursue biased, private theories not based on the Great W ay follow w hat are all “small ways,” go toofar, and without fail become bogged down. This is,in other words, “twisted scholarship.” Therefore, heresy and pernicious doctrines, vulgar learning, and twisted scholarship~ the negative influence that flows from this evil is exceedingly plentiful; consequently, in the august words of the Righteous Prince,49 those who cling to a particular bias represent a “heresy within the world of scholarship•”

‘Accordingly,could anything be more natural in the present day than m y Prince’s desire to uncover the delusion of the world and his profound intention to clarify the Great W ay? A t this tim e,provided that those who aspire to study endeavor to ground themselves in the Great Way of the Divine Sages,employ their hearts profoundly, open

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themselves to insight, plant the great roots of study, and do not err at the crossroads, then they m ay undertake whatever studies they wish, even the course pursued by the adherents of the types of “twisted scholarship” listed above. For if the strong points of each are realized and put to the use of the state, then what harm can they cause? of course, even what are called “small ways” all exist within the Great Way. As long as the foundation is not abandoned, both the Great and small Ways can therefore proceed side by side without contradicting one another.

‘Although in the Charter “the middle ages and thereafter” is a passage that refers to a time prior to “Our Lord of Eastern Radiance quelled the disorder and returned the realm to rectitude,” every item I have enumerated earlier as a cause of great harm to the state has been broadly discussed; consequently,as I do not wish to become bogged down any further in the surrounding passages,I thus mention to you these general principles of twisted scholarship and heretical doctrines up until recent times,and in so doing answer your question.”

H e asked, “Because even children and errand-boys know that Our Lord of Eastern Radiance quelled the disorder and returned the realm to rectitude, it is unnecessary for you to explain it. But what does “revere the Emperor, repel the barbarians” refer to?”

I stated, “Our Lord of Eastern Radiance had the virtue of respectful modesty. He accumulated vast riches and held all within the four seas in his grasp, but he did not intrusively wield the authority of his wealth and power. He often ventured to the capital to attend at Court, and rectified the duty between ruler and ruled. During the era of military disturbances, all those from the holiest ruler down to the nobles and courtiers had

19

suffered in absolute poverty. Our Lord of Eastern Radiance ordered the expansion of the cramped quarters of the Palace, made repairs,augmented the rice paddies dedicated to the Emperor,ensured an abundance of supplies, restored lost arcana and objects of art to the throne, revived the office of court musician, and selected the legislation for the Court.50 Even the old practice, long since abandoned, of rebuilding the Grand Shrines of Ise every twenty years was reinstated for all eternity.

‘Moreover,during the time of turbulence, the Court lacked income, and great rituals such as the Accession Ceremony and Great Thanksgiving Ceremony were not perform ed because only a few families such as Öuchi and M öri contributed to the expenses of the accession rites.51 It is true that in the time of Lords Oda and Toyotomi these funds were not lacking as such, but it was Our Lord of Eastern Radiance w horevering the Court even m ore ensured that these great ceremonies be held in all perpetuity. Later, the Classification of Rites and Ceremonies^ com piled by the Righteous Prince, was presented to the Court.52 Accordingly,the Court was in complete possession of ritual and ceremony, and I have heard that because the shogunate supplied the funds, long-abandoned ceremonies were completely revived and conducted during each and every reign. These are all examples of what is meant by “revere the Emperor.”

‘Even in times of peace, Our Lord of Eastern Radiance did not forget the age of disorder. He warned constantly that should Japan neglect the m ilitary arts during times of peace, it would invite foreigners to encroach upon Japan. On hearing of warlike activities in barbarian countries, he urged, select experts in the m ilitary arts to keep the foreigners in check! Internecine strife, whether one wins or loses,affects only the prosperity of the house in question; losing a conflict to a foreign country, however, would

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be the shame of the entire country of Japan {Nipponkoku\ he cautioned. Thus Our Lord of Eastern Radiance was deeply suspicious and perceptive of the plans of W estern heretics to encroach upon the Land of the Gods and issued extremely strict prohibitions against them. Lord Taitokuin and Lord Taiyüin continued these policies53 and by the K an,ei era had executed them all. Thus the roots of permanent damage were eradicated. Our national prestige reverberated toforeign countries, all thanks to the profound plans and far-reaching vision of Our Lord of Eastern Radiance. This what is meant by the term “repel the barbarians.,,

He asked, “of all the numerous sages of ancient times, only Yamato Takeru no M ikoto was revered by the Majestic Prince5 4 why was this so?”

I stated, “Because the import of the Majestic Prince5s reverence has not been handed down in any written sources, I do not know the reason why this was so and can only make a feeble estimate. However, if I m ay be allowed to proffer my own humble opinion, let m e state the phrase “the barbarian tribes disturb our bright great land,”55 which refers to something that distressed Shun greatly. In the ancient period of the Heavenly Court, the Kumaso and the Hayato numbered among the barbarians that harmed the people,but none matched the Emishi in vehemence. They abounded in the areas of Hitachi,M utsu,Shimotsuke,Közuke,Echigo, and Dewa,and the good people had not a single day of peace. Yamato Takeru no M ikoto,prince of the Emperor Keikö, was a man of peerless bravery. Wielding the divine power of the Precious Sword Grass Scythe, he subjugated the Emishi in Hitachi and Mutsu and brandished Imperial authority

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there. Consequently, the barbarians were driven out for generations to come, the Emil were finally subdued, and for a long time their m ischief ceased

‘The M ajestic Prince was the son of Our Lord of Eastern Radiance, a mani transcendent bravery who occupied the territory of Hitachi and pacified the Northeas Therefore, I would venture to surmise that the M ajestic Prince proceeded with tb resolute intention to build an eternal palisade of the Heavenly Court by suppressing thl barbariansall in the manner of the valiant accomplishments of Yamato Takeru в M ikoto. Moreover, the Yoshida Shrine— an Eminent D eity’s Great Shrine, one whöi Yamato Takeru no Mikoto is worshipped as a d eity ~ w as close to the Great Castle.56 Lj it any wonder, then,that the Majestic Prince endeavored to recall this deity’s meritorious virtue and authority, and strove to emulate Yamato Takeru no M ikoto? In so doing,th* Majestic Prince preserved our sacred land, and the people were greatly contented. Maj we not suggest that he felt such reverence and longing because of his feeling for actual affairs? Because of this, the W ay of the Gods was revered, the sinister w ay of the barbarians stamped out, armaments prepared,and the means to repel the primitives completed. Such accomplishments as these all arose from the M ajestic Prince’s high1 aspirations. Accordingly, I venture to suggest that his love for the ancients w as not like that manifested by those whey-faced scholars who merely mimic the appearance and words of others.”

He asked,“W hen the Righteous Prince was eighteen, he read the biography of Po I and was deeply moved, came to love study,resolved to compile a history, and fulfilled duty by handing over his realm ~ these are things that people know .57

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Accordingly, he revered Confucian teachings ever m ore,clarified human ethics, rectified moral obligations, and became a palisade of the state: this,too,is all quite evident. However, whereas the M ajestic Prince longed for Yamato Takeru no M ikoto, the Righteous Prince was moved by the tale of Po I. It is said that “filiality is following one’s aim,”58 but there is no trace of similarity between Yamato Takeru no M ikoto and Po I. Furthermore, because there is a distinction between the deities of the Land of the Gods and the sages of foreign lands, was the august will of the Majestic Prince somehow unusual?”

I stated,“Akhough Yamato Takeru no Mikoto and Po I do not appear to be the same, the Righteous Prince felt that in actuality they proceeded along the same track. Because the Righteous Prince was established as an heir,his older brother having been passed over, he was moved by the duty of Shu Ch,i,s bequeathal of the realm, and was deeply interested in its resemblance to his own experience. Thus he loved study because he would carry out in actuality what he had studied of the W ay of the Sages; accordingly, he revered this W ay, and established the Ming loyalist Chu Shim-shui as an instructor and ritually deferred to him as a disciple.59

‘The compilation of a history, too, had as its basis his grand aspiration to clarify supreme duty in the realm and clarify human ethics for the realm ’s future generations. In no w ay did it resemble the work of scholars who put empty theories on paper. Accordingly, in his reverence for the W ay of the Sages, he put the W ay of “conquering one’s self and ruling the people” into practice, recording instructional provisions for the warriors and the people. M aking the five relationships the foundation,in his compilation of the Great History the Righteous Prince added the Consort Jingü to the list of female

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Emperors, established the Emperor Ötomo in the historical records,and legitimized t| Sons of Heaven of the Juei and Engen periods.60 These classifications ensured that: future generations, the realm ’s subjects would not mistake supreme duty; these were и empty theories jotted down by the stroke of a pen, but were the actual clarification human ethics.

‘In this way, the Righteous Prince became a palisade of the state. of great benei to the realm w as that all of this was a concrete effort to carry out the will of the Majesti Prince. Therefore, the Righteous Prince studied the W ay of the Gods, wiped out sue evil customs as establishing Buddhist temples within shrine precincts and fostering tb belief that Buddhas were “original prototypes” of the Deities, returned to the Singula Way of the G ods,61 revived the Yoshida Shrine,followed in the footsteps of Yamati]

Takeru no M ikoto and completed the work He had left behind, and undertook militan preparations. In all of these affairs, the Righteous Prince clarified supreme duty, polish® his honorable principles and sharpened his w arrior’s courage. When viewed as a whok we see that the Righteous Prince was only expressing his adherence to the Majestit Prince’s intentions.

‘From this same sort of far-sightedness, the Righteous Prince, wishing to enact moral reform within the domain,decided to establish an academy in order to provide his subjects with an education. Until that time, the very term “academy” was still quite rare. The Righteous Prince asked Shun-shui about the plan of the Ch’ueh Li Shrine and had a small version constructed. Afterwards, when the shogunate built the Taiseiden, this small version was copied directly as a model, and it became a revered locale for scholars all across the realm .62 As for academies, it is thus: In antiquity there was the university

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in the capital and provincial schools in the various provinces for the education of officials’ sons.63 However, during the days of the great disturbances, they fell out of use and were no longer maintained. W hen he had quelled the disorder, Our Lord of Eastern Radiance summoned Fujiwara Seika and Hayashi Döshun,64 inquiring into the heart of the sages’ teachings and personally debating the meaning of such terms as “all-pervading unity,” “equilibrium and harmony,,’ and “principles and force.” 65 He sought out old copies of such works as the Shoku Nihongi and had them emended, and ordered the printing of a great number of works such as the Ch un Shu Chih Yao, which were made using movable copper type.66 W hen one views all of this,the extent to which Our Lord of Eastern Radiance loved study m ay be readily surmised.”

‘In addition, the Academic Institute67 was established at the Shinobugaoka m ansion of the Hayashi family. It has since been moved to the district of Yushima,and its regulation has been broadened. That Our Lord of Eastern Radiance loved study is the source of everything of this nature; thus,both Lord Taitokuin and the Reverent Prince of Owari revered Confucian teachings, the Southern Dragon Prince of Kii and our own Majestic Prince worshipped the W ay of the Gods,and the Righteous Prince revered the Heavenly Court and engaged in the Conflician arts.68 That they required the teachings of the sages had its reasons; it was not a momentary enthusiasm. Therefore in the present day should we not, as retainers, spread the teachings as they are recorded in the Charter, elevate the virtue of Our Lord of Eastern Radiance, the Majestic Prince, and the Righteous Prince, and be obedient to the profound meaning behind the foundation of this academy?”

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He asked, “In ancient times aem es of superior merit were many. of these, the one that is singled out by our Prince is Take Mikazuchi no Kami because, the Charter states, “He assisted in Heavenly endeavors during the time of confusion and darkness, and His powerful spirit resides in this land,” However,the Way that we are presently to broaden is the Great Way of the realm. In order to broaden the Great W ay of the realm, and to recompense the blessings that have flowed from its roots, it does not seem as though we should limit ourselves only to those deities whose powerful spirits reside in this land.”

I stated,

“This Way is as I have described previously: As Heaven and Earth exist, human ethics exist; as human ethics exist,the Great Way of Nature exists. This, in other words,is the Way of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, during the beginnings of Heaven and Earth, as Amaterasu Ömikami bestowed the Sacred Instruments to Her Imperial Descendant, the Way of loyalty and filiality was demonstrated and the Great Way of ruler-ruled and parent-child was clarified. When the Emperor Jinmu unified the realm and ascended to the throne at Kashihara Palace,the proprieties of ruler and ruled were thus rectified further; when Jinmu established a ritual site in Tomiyama, and expressed his filiality to the Heavenly Imperial ancestors, the feeling of obligation that a child owes its father increasingly prospered. Therefore, in the present day, subjects of the realm serve their fathers and serve their lords. Who is there that would not revere the enlightening teachings of the Emperor Jinmu, teachings that originated with the Heavenly Imperial Ancestress? In order to recompense the blessings of these enlightened teachings, then, it is quite obvious that we must return to the roots and worship the Emperor Jinm u and Amaterasu Ömikami.

26’However, in the present, we are most thankful for the holiest ruler. A heavenly descendant of the Sun Goddess, the Emperor holds the Heavenly Rank, and because the Emperor worships the Imperial Ancestress Amaterasu, ‘4he hearts and virtues of all within the seas are made the same.”69 If we expend our efforts for the Heavenly Court with sincere respect, then that respect will of itself pass from us to the Imperial Ancestress Amaterasu.

4 Also,as it states in the Book of Rites,“The Emperor w orships Heaven and Earth, while the lords worship the mountains and rivers of their own domains,” and ‘4he feudal lords are not descendants of the Emperor,,,70 the Counsellor m y Prince respectfully renders his utmost services to the Imperial House. In pacifying the eastern lands and bestowing enlightened teachings,m y Prince was recompensing fundamental blessings and acting out of dutiful propriety. Our Prince’s territory is H itachi,and because the shrine of Kashima is the foremost shrine of Hitachi, he worships this deity.

‘What were the valorous accomplishments of this deity? As may be seen in the histories, when Amaterasu Ömikami was about to bestow it to Her Imperial Descendant, the land was not yet at peace. This deity, sent as an emissary to Önamuchi no Kami, consecrated this area and dedicated the land. The Imperial Descendant then made His advent in Tsukushi, and Sarutahiko no Kami arrived in Ise.71 Details of the august achievement of the Deity of Kashima are lacking in the historical sources, but it is believed that at this tim e He conquered the eastern territories. And th u s~ a s they are consubstantialF utsunushi no Kami resides in Shimösa no Kuni,while Take M ikazuchi no Kami dwells in Hitachi. However, when viewing the multitude of deities worshipped in the regions of Hitachi and M u tsu ~ th e Deities of Kashima and K atori,72 the

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Descendant of the Kashima Deity, and the Descendant of the Katori Deity атщ th e m f r o m the Deities of Kashima and Katori down to their descendants, counties! generations of deities have expended great effort in pacifying the eastern territories in the cause of the Heavenly Court.

‘A lso,when the Emperor Jinmu subdued the m iddle lands, Take Mikazuchi no Kami bestowed the Sword of Futsu no M itam a upon Kumano Takakuraji, and offered it to the Exnperor,w hoinvigorated w ith the spirit of a thousand arm iescrushed the powerful enemy and met with great success. Accordingly the meritorious deeds of this deity do not merely extend to the eastern territories alone. The advent of the Heavenly Descendant, the Great Progenitor’s pacification of the middle lands, and the vast greatness of the magnificent deeds of this d eity ~ a ll of these exploits extend to the entire

realm.

cAnd so, our Prince’s worship of this deity bears the meaning of the pacification of the eastern lands,becoming a palisade of the Heavenly Court, and recompensing the blessings of Amaterasu and the Great Progenitor. As long as his officials and his people, too, turn back to those origins and recom pense those ancestral blessings, reflect upon those w ho assisted in Heaven’s norm ative processes in antiquity, m ake identical their hearts and their virtues, and revere the Heavenly Court, then it stands to reason that this reverence is transmitted to the Heavenly Imperial Progenitrix as well. Accordingly, understanding the fact that this W ay is the Great Way of Heaven,Earth, and Nature for which the ultimate standards were established by the Deities in antiquity; understanding that the teachings of the loyalty and filiality of the Heavenly Ancestress and the Great Progenitor cover the four comers of the realm ,and that the meritorious deeds of Take

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M ikazuchi no Kami are many; following the will of the deities and clarifying the Great W ay in the realm; endeavoring to realize the profound intention demonstrated in the manifest teachings of the Heavenly A ncestress~this,in other words,m ust be the true intention of worshipping this deity. Thus, even though the object of our worship is the deity of one province, if one thereby reveres the Imperial Family,and clarifies that Great Way in the realm, those actions will be of great m erit,making one worthy of following in the path of Take M ikazuchi no Kami. I surely believe that is why to worship this deity and not others is the profound intention of our Prince.”

He asked, “The establishment of a shrine to Confucius is described in detail in the Charter. Nevertheless, I wish you would explain comprehensively and precisely for the benefit of beginning students.”

I stated,“The Way of Y ao,Shun, and the Three Dynasties is the W ay that clarifies human ethics; thus, to the extent that human ethics exist in the ten thousand countries across the four oceans,the W ay reaches every one of them. As it is applied to quotidian affairs and practised constantly,it being impossible to deviate from it for even an instant, so it is also called the “Comprehensive Way of All Under Heaven.”73 In other w ords,it is the Great W ay of Heaven and Earth. Although even foolish men and women may be able to partake of the W ay and put it into practice, when there are no teachers the W ay is impossible to understand, and people approach the level of the birds and beasts. Therefore, through Y ao,s “rectification,straightening, helping, and giving of wings,’,

Shun’s deepening of the five codes and use of the five classes of ceremonies, and through 29

the diffusion of the five teachings of filiality, duty, distinction,order, and faithfulness, people were able to rise above the level of the birds and beasts.74

‘Confiicius then took the splendorous works of the sages and brought them to perfect completion.75 He handed down the teachings of Yao and Shun as though they were his ancestors,76 brought to their teachings an even greater clarity, and thus furnished a model of human ethics for later generations. This is what the Charter means by “In this,

the Way of Yao, Shun, and the Three Dynasties is blended.” The teachings of Confücius were introduced to the Land of the Gods in the reign of the Emperor Ojm. The Analects was the first text to be transm itted and then the classics of the sages gradually came to be taught~ these are things that everyone knows. Because the W ay is the Comprehensive W ay of All U nder Heaven,it w ill naturally be put into practice within the fom seas and in the myriad countries wherever and so long as human ethics exist.

‘Barbarian lands,however, are countries of a deviant spirit. In what they consider to be their doctrines, there is m uch of a deprived and perverted nature,with human ethics obscured. The Land of the Gods and the Land of the Han both are located on the Eastern Sea, facing the direction of the rising sun. So they are situated where yang is generated; thus both are countries of the correct spirit, and their teachings are correct. As I have explained previously, they have been endowed with the teachings of the five relationships since the beginnings of Heaven and Earth. In the antiquity of the Land of the Gods,the people were simple and pure, and w ere naturally in accord with the Great Way of the Deities. Nevertheless, to proceed from essence to rhetoric is a constant of Heaven and Earth. Consequently, because the names of what are called the “nam ed teachings”77—loyalty, filiality, benevolence, duty, and soforth w ere not yet established,

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the people easily became lost along the many side-paths. Thus by the various names used in the Land of the H an~ loyalty, filiality, benevolence, duty, and soforththe illustrious virtue of Confucius was taken as a model, and human ethics were clarified. This is the m eaning of ‘Чаке up good from others,and w ith this perform goodness,,’ and, in other

w ords,is “revere that virtue, and contribute to those teachings.’,78

‘However, the Great Way of the Sages has expanded broadly. Down to the present day,serving one’s lord and father, supporting one’s retainers,making harmony between husband and wife, brothers, and friends, being able to differ from the birds and the beasts~ these are things that have happened for a reason, not by chance. In founding a school and worshipping Confucius, our Prince shows that their origins are not forgotten.

This is what the Charter means by “endeavoring to inform the people that this did not happen by chance.” Therefore, to worship at shrines of the Deities, as well as temples of the Sage,to know the basis of the D eities,teachings,to clarify human ethics, and then to endeavor to put these studies into actual practice~ this must be his profound intention of worshipping the Deities.”

He asked, “the deity of Kashima is a military deity,Confucius a sage of civil virtue. So it would appear that whereas the shrine houses the deity worshipped by warriors, the temple of the Sage is where the literati should worship. Why, then, are civil and military officials alike now made to worship at both shrine and temple equally?”

‘I stated, ‘4vhat is now known as “civil and military” refers to the civil and military arts. For men of old,“civil and military” referred to the Civil and M ilitary Ways. Skills in the use of the sword, spear, bow, gun, and soforth,are the military arts.

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Understanding ceremony and decency,following the path of the warrior, seeking to exemplify fidelity to principle, becoming the “shield and buttress’’79 of the state~ th is is the M ilitary Way. Reading literature, interpreting the classics, learning the ancient texts by rote; skill in prose, poetry, calligraphy, arithmetic, and the likethese are all civil arts.

M aking loyalty, filiality, benevolence, and duty the foundation; being well versed in the G reat Way of the Deities; discerning the conditions of the state; “being head and heart to one’s prince” 80~ t h i s is the Civil Way. Therefore, when discussing the arts, we differentiate between the civil arts and military arts. When the Way is discussed, how ever,the Civil W ay and the M ilitary Way m ay be likened to the two wheels that m ake a cart fimction: a cart cannot goforward if one wheel is disconnected from the other.

‘Accordingly,in antiquity, what was known as the Arts of the Way81 w ere learned by men as a single entity. W hen the arts are present but the Way is lacking,it is similar to archery of Yi. Rather than an art,it turned into an impairment.82 Now, of the six arts of old,ceremony, music, calligraphy, and arithmetic were civil; archery and charioteering w ere military. Accordingly, in learning the arts, the civil and the military were learned in combination w ith the other. Thus it was stated by Confucius that “A man of civil affairs m ust possess military training.,,83 Moreover, the four teachings of the Conflician school are letters,ethical conduct,loyalty,and faithfulness.84 “Letters” include poetry and calligraphy, as well as the six arts. Archery and charioteering being two of the six arts, w hat is military is comprehended within the civil,and civil and m ilitaiy affairs do not branch off into two separate pathways. Although the deity of Kashima is a m ilitary deity, H is assistance in Heavenly affairs during N inigi9s advent and the bestowal of the

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Heavenly Ancestress,manifest teachings must be spoken of as civil virtue. Although Confucius was the sage of civil virtue, we may also see that he possessed m ilitary virtue: H e discussed augmenting armaments, foiled the violent assault by the ruler of C h’i at the m eeting in Chia-ku,destroyed the three cities, and advocated the punishment of C h’dn H eng.85 As this is all widely known, however, I need not comment upon it.

‘Similarly, with respect to the need to combine of the civil and the military, our Sovereign Realm and the Land of the Han are the same in principle. Therefore, in the present,our Prince follows the Way of the Land of the Gods, adopts the teachings of The W estern Land, and teaches his disciples without discussing “civil learning” or “military arts.” Rather, he informs us to worship at shrine and Confucian temple equally,to turn back to the origins and recompense our ancestral blessings. Unifying the civil and the military, our Prince thus completely realizes the useful talents of men. Accordingly, it is stated in the Charter that “the civil and the military are not divergent.”

He asked, “I was roughly able to understand what is meant by “civil and m ilitary affairs do not diverge.” As for the meaning of “loyalty and filiality are not two”: As people have stated since the days of antiquity, both loyalty and filiality can be practiced perfectly in ordinary times,but in times of flux, it is difficult to accomplish both loyalty and filiality fully. So it is difficult to say that they are “not two,’’ is it not so?”

I stated, “Loyalty is the W ay of revering one’s lord. As may be seen in the Classic of Filial Piety,revering one’s lord is what is known as,in other words, serving one’s lord with the heart of revering one’s father.86 Filiality has two aspects: love and reverence.87 To show love and reverence to one,s parents for having been reared in their

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lap m ay be an obvious matter,but our bodies are also the reliquaries of our parents,88 our flesh and blood received from our fathers and mothers. Thus we m ust also think of our bodies and those of our parents as identical. In order to revere them, we establish ourselves and follow the W ay ~ th is is what is meant by transforming the bodily reliquary of our parents into sage and nobleman.89

‘Accordingly, the Son of Heaven rules over the realm, the great lords rule over their respective domains,the high stewards and warriors serve their lo rd s~ a ll of them fulfill the Heavenly vocation that appertains to them. In other words, this is the filiality of establishing one,s self. W hen confronting an upheaval, however,even casting away one’s life for the sake of one’s lord and neglecting the duty of a child to his father mayif the actions are appropriate for the circumstancesbe construed as the filiality of establishing one’s self. M aster Tseng said that “cowardice on the battlefield is contrary tofiliality.’’90 Similarly, tossing aside one’s rank and salary, and resigning one’s post in order to discharge filial duties toward one’s father and mother,may~~should it accord with the intention to serve the objective of one’s lord’s administration to rule the state w ith filialityalso be said to be a form of loyalty.

‘Thus all actions of this sort, should one appropriately respond to conditions in confronting radical changes, are not separate from the W ay of Loyalty and Filiality. In other words, it may be said that loyalty and filiality together form a perfect whole. As I have explained above, both loyalty and filiality have loving reverence as their foundation; because that foundation is wholly singular, when the teachings of the Heavenly Ancestress were bestowed through the Three Sacred Treasures, the duty of ruler and ruled was rectified. of the three treasures, the Precious M irror served as the divine

34

repository of the Heavenly Ancestress, and thereby the Way of Filiality was made more profound. These teachings hold that loyalty and filiality both are comprehended within the three treasures. Therefore, when discussing these matters it is made quite clear that both loyalty and filiality derive from that singular foundation. These are the manifest teachings that have existed since heaven and earth opened forth. Consequently, it is my humble belief that this is what may be m eant by “loyalty and filiality are not two.”

He asked,“the meaning of “scholarship and affairs do not differ in their utility” is surely as it appears thus; however, in the present day,there are quite a few persons of no learning who are able to engage in affairs. Persons of learning, on the other hand,are foolish and careless,and thus unable to engage in affairs. W hat is the reason for this?”

I stated, “In antiquity, governance and edification w ere united; in governing the country, “the people were led by virtue, and uniformity was sought to be given to them by ritual.,,91 In addition, by means of administrative and judicial measures, good deeds were rewarded and bad deeds were punished. As it is in pharm acology~w ith its divisions of “lord, vassal, assistant, and envoy,,9 2 virtue and ritual are aided by administrative and judicial measures, and it is in the unity of virtue and ritual, laws and punishments, that governance and edification are accomplished. Benevolence is something one tenders forth from him self to the realm, thereby putting at ease the people within the four seas. As it is the Great W ay of the realm, what is known as “scholarship” means both to study of the Way of “cultivating the self and ruling the people,” as well as to train in the practical action of ritual and administrative and judicial measures. Therefore both scholarship and practical action are united.

35

them as the Huns of the north are from the Viets of the south. They mimic the words of earlier Confücians,saying things like “if one’s whole heart is governed, then the state will be governed.”96 M erely holding themselves in high regard, such men do not study that which must be put into practical action,do not inquire into human feelings and social conditions, and know nothing of the interests of the people. Accordingly,scholarship and practical action have become utterly separated, and neither is of any use.

‘Now then,m y Prince has endeavored tofound a school to nourish talent. Surely he will not cultivate any good-for-nothings. Those who would be scholars must therefore inquire into the utility of that which is to be put into practical action. Just as the disciples of Confucius studied matters of use to the realm according to their respective talents in various fields such as virtuous actions, speech, administrative talents, and literary learning,97 those who would be scholars m ust endeavor to recompense [the blessings of the state98] and thus fully realize their wisdom and virtue. Let those who enjoy polite accomplishments use their spare energies to study poetry and literature and relate their opinions. The likes of those who examine human sentiments also should be left to that which interests them. However, the foundation of all this is worshipping the Deities, revering the sages, and understanding that the W ay of the Deities is the W ay of the Sages, and that the Way of the Sages is the W ay of the Deities. It is not losing track of the true direction of the Great Way, studying the Civil and M ilitary W ay, mastering its arts, gathering the peoples5 sentiment and promulgating their collective strength, exhausting loyalty and filiality, recompensing the blessings of the state, and never forgetting for even a moment the advent of the spirits of the Deities. However, because attempting to train

37m en how to utilize their talent in practice is no easy matter, one whose scholarship is as shallow as mine is surely not up to the task.

‘Also,education and administration are to be carried out without ranking one ii im portance above the other. To speak of recompensing the ancestral origins of these twf things, and of leading the lower ranks, surely should not be trusted to lowly retainers Thus it was the ruler’s sincere intention that he administer governance and edificationhim self; accordingly, it states in the Charter’s conclusion, 6"who is the person whsfounded this academy and controls governance and edification?” and there our Pnnce!nam e is written.

‘This,in other w ords,fulfills the Righteous Prince’s posthumous intention. Hetoo,admonished his retainers w ith the words “as one who endeavors to study the Wayothe Sages, I am also a scholar•” Because these are the admonishments of the rules him self,I must hesitate w hen attempting to discuss them in m y own words. To гетаівsilent and not answer, however, would approach neglecting m y official duties, so I havanswered your queries to some small extent. I fear there is a great deal of conjecture annonsense, and so I beseech you again to engage a scholar of eminence and ask him if mjanswers are correct.”

Respectfully related by

Aizawa Yasushi.

Preprandial Chat,end.

38

Postscript

In days past I composed the “Preprandial Chat” at the behest of the former Prince, who had wished to have it printed and distributed within our borders.” The Prince passed away,however, and that plan was not realized. My nephew, Terakado, was trained at the Academy for Broadening the W ay,and asked of me if he could print this w ork in his house. As I recall it,I told him that this work was composed by the decree of m y Prince for use as an instructional aid, and was not suitable for private publishing. Still the young man pleaded with me,so I reconsidered; as he currently holds a teaching post,I told him that should he print it for the benefit of his colleagues I would not be entirely opposed to it. Thus I followed his request.

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1 Kiga gaman: Meng-tzu ПГО:4; see Legge, tr.,in The Chinese Classics, 11:271: “Mencius said, “There is a man here, who breaks your tiles, and draws unsightly figures on your w alls;~his purpose may be thereby to seek for his living, but will you indeed remonstrate him?””

2 A phrase taken from the I-ching,meng hexagram. See English translation by Legge in i Ching: Book of Changes (Secaucus, NJ: University Books,1972),64-5: “I do not (go and) seek the youthful and inexperienced, but he comes and sees me.”

3 The locus classicus of the phrase is Meng-tzu VTB:2; see Legge, tr., The Chinese Classics, 11:426: “Mencius replied, “The way of truth is like a great road. It is not difficult to know it. The evil is only that men will not seek it. Do you go home and search for it, and you will have an abundance of teachers.,’”

4 The “five relationships” (gohin) are the five Confucian categories: parent-child, ruler-ruled, husband-wife, elder-younger, and friend-friend. The “five teachings” (gokyo) are as follows: intimacy (shin) between parent and child,duty (gi) between ruler and ruled, distinction (betsu) between husband and wife,order (jo) between younger and elder, and faithfulness (shin) between friends.

5 I-ching, “Hsi tz’u shang chuan.”

6 Meng-tzu VTO:2.

1 Lun-yü XV:28.

8 Ibid.

9 Based on Chu Hsi’s gloss of the passage from the first chapter of Chung-yung (“The Doctrine of the Mean”)that states “To lead with one’s nature is called the ‘Way.,,Chu Hsi’s argument is thus: If a person accords with his own spontaneous nature, never amidst his daily activities will he lack a way along which to proceed. This is what is called the Way. When one investigates the true

40

nature of one’s heart, the principles of virtue that exist within that nature are clarified; thus, “the Way is broadened.”

10 Chung-yung I.

11 Tenchi no taikei; “Ködökanki,” in Mitogaku,230-232: “What is the Way? It is the “great constant norm of Heaven and Earth.,,,,This, in turn, is a reference to Chung-yung XXXII.

12 Tenka areba shizen ni jinrin sonawari: a phrase from the Hsü Kua (“Providing the Sequence of the Hexagrams”)of the I-ching. See Legge, tr., I Ching, 435-436.

13 Tenka no ömichi (Great Way of the realm): Meng-tzu I皿 :2; seiro (correct path): ibid., IVA:10.

14 From the Nihon shoki, chapter 9,verse 2:16. See Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan From the Earliest Times to AD 697. W.G. Aston, trans. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1956), 77. See also Nihon shoki. Sakamoto Tarö et al.? eds. (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1994-95), 1:132.

15 Nihon shoki, chapter 9,verse 2:23. Cf. Aston, 83,and see Nihon shoki, 142. 16 Tomo о motte jin о tasukeshv. from Lun-yü ХП:23.

17 Töshögu: the posthumous title of the deification of the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu (1543- 1616; r . 1603-1605).

18 “This” refers to “the Way.”

19 Kamunagara.

20 The “foreign land” is China. The “five barbarians” refers tofive groupsthe Turkish Hsiung nu,the Turkish Hsien-pei, a Mongolian people from the northeast, and two groups of Tibetans— who invaded northern China from 281 to 304. “Sixteen kingdoms” refers to the period when a number of “barbarian” and Chinese groups contended for the throne in North China during the

41

following century, establishing a series of short-lived kingdoms and transient “dynasties” before the T’o-pa tribe of Hsien-pei defeated its many rivals and founded the Northern Wei dynasty in 439 A.D.

21 Meng-tzu IIIB:9; see The Chinese Classics, 11:279.

22 The Högen disturbance was a military conflict involving the imperial family,the Fujiwara family, the Minamotofamily, and the Taira family following the death of the retired Emperor Toba in 1156. The Heiji disturbance, a conflict between Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Taira no Kiyomori that climaxed in January 1160,resulted in the temporary end of Minamoto influence in the Court and the ascendancy of the Taira. The “Juei disturbance” refers to the Taira-Minamoto War during the decade of the 1180s. The Jökyü Disturbance refers to the attempt by the retired

emperor Go-Toba in 1221 to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate, the Genkö Incident refers to the civil strife from 1331 to 1333 that led to the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, and the “Kenmu disturbance” refers to the period from 1333 to 1336 when the Emperor Go-Daigo attempted to restore direct imperial rule following the overthrow of the Kamakura shogunate.

23 Adapted from Donald L. Phillipi’s translation of the ritual prayer (norito) for the “Grain Petitioning Festival,,; see his Norito: A Translation of the Ancient Japanese Ritual Prayers (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990),20.

24 The Korean kingdom of Silla; quoted from chapter 8,verse 1:56 of üicNikon shoki. See Nihon shoki, 1:98,and Aston, 57, : “At this time, Sosa no wo no Mikoto, accompanied by his son Iso takeru no Kami, descended to the Land of Silla, where he dwelt at Soshi-mori. There he lifted up his voice and said:~*‘I will not dwell in this land.” He at length took clay and made of it a boat, in which he embarked, and crossed over eastwards until he arrived at Mount Tori-каши no Take, which is by the upper waters of the river Hi in Idzumo.”

The submission of the people of Mimana during the reign of Emperor Sujin is recounted in the fifth chapter of th t Nihon shoki; see Nihon shoki, 1:302-304,and Aston,164: “65th year, 7th month. The Land of Imna [Mimana] sent Sonakarcheulchi and offered tribute. Inma is more than 2000 ri to the north of Tsukushi, from which it is separated by the sea. It lies to the southwest of Кё-гіп”

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Sankan (Korean: Samhan) refers to the states of Mahan, Chinhan, and Pyönhan said to have existed in the southern part of the Korean peninsula between the first and thira centuries A.D. “Western barbarians” (seiban) is a general term for Koreans that appears often in ancient sources such as the Nihon shoki.

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro and Fun,ya no Watamaro were military leaders of the early Heian period who led a series of successful campaigns against the Ezo people of northeastern Honshu.

The Shukushin (also pronounced Mishihase) were a group of aboriginals recounted in the Nihon shoki as having inhabited northern Japan; not to be confused with the Tungusic tribe of China, from whom the name is assumed to have been arbitrarily borrowed.

25 Strongholds of the Tendai (C. T,ien-t’ai) sect of Buddhism. Enryakuji is the head temple of the Tendai sect, located on Mt. Hiei, on the outskirts of Kyoto. In September 1571,Oda Nobunaga ordered the complex destroyed, and the entire monastery complex was burnt to the ground. Onjöji (more commonly known as Miidera),located in the city of Ötsu,Shiga Prefecture, began as a branch temple of Enryakuji, but the two temples fell into conflict in the tenth century and fought a series of bitter conflicts. The Onjöji temple buildings were destroyed several times over,

but were rebuilt with funds solicited from the court, the aristocracy, and the shogunate. Köfükuji,one of the two head temples of the Hossö sect of Buddhism, is located in Nara city. Kofukuji also relied on imperial patronage tofund its efforts, and maintained a substantial army of warrior-monks tofight repeated battles against Enryakuji and other rivals during the Heian period.

26 Ishiyama was the location of the head of the Ikkö sect,Honganji temple. The Ishiyama Honganji came into conflict with Oda Nobunaga in 1570,and proved to be the initial test in his quest for national unification, as Honganji5s major areas of strength coincided precisely with Oda,s primary sphere of interest in central Japan. Between 1570 and 1580 Nobunaga led a series

of three attacks against the Ikkö warrior-monks on various fronts, including Nagashima in Ise (now part of Mie Prefecture) before ultimately forcing submission and the surrender of the Ishiyama Honganji.

43

27 During the Ikkö uprising of 1563 in Mikawa, home of Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) Ieyasu, several hereditary vassals of the Matsudaira clan fought Ieyasu on the side of the Ikkö sect. Toro and Harisaki were two strongholds of Ikkö Buddhism in Mikawa.

28 Christianity was first introduced to Japan by the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier in 1549. While Oda Nobunaga largely favored the missionaries, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was suspicious of their increasing influence in Kyushu and ordered them expelled. The first Tokugawa shoguns brought the persecution of Christians to a fever pitch, carrying out mass executions and almost completely closing the country toforeign influence.

29 The reference is to Hsieh tu shih chü,a work of the late Ming writer Su Nai-yü.

30 Yao and Shun were legendary emperors and the quintessential culture heroes revered by Confucius and his followers. The “Three Dynasties” were those of the Hsia,Yin, and Chou, idealized by later Confbcians; “the Western Land” (seido) in this passage and those following refers to China.

31 Lun-yü Vl:\6.

32 Meng~tzu IIA:8.

33 Reigaku kyöka: see Ogyü Sorai,“Benmei,,,in Ogyü Soraizenshü, 1:52.

34 Honji suijaku: the theory that Shinto deities are Japanese incarnations or manifestations {suijaku) of Indian Buddhist divinities who are their original prototypes {honji、.

35 Li-chi (“The Book of Rites”),“Tseng-tzu wen.” See Li Chi Cheng Chu (Taipei: Hsueh hai ch’u pan she, 1992),245.

36 Zen Buddhist temples that were at the center of Confucian scholarship during the Sengoku period (1467-1568).

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37 Ogyü Sorai (1666-1728),Confiician scholar and shogunal adviser. Ogyü made a career of attacking Neo-Confucianism in essays such as Benmei and Bendö (both 1717), maintaining that Sung Confiician thought was a corruption of the Chinese “classics” upon which it was based. Insisting upon the primacy of the “Way of the Early Kings” as recounted in Confucian texts such as the Six Classics,he advocated rulership based on the policies of governance laid down in ancient Chinese sources.

38 Arai Hakuseki (1657-1725), Confucian scholar and adviser to the sixth and seventh Tokugawa shoguns,Ienobu ( r .1709-1712) and his young son Ietsugu ( r .1713-1716). Aizawa here refers to the Korean embassy of 1711,when Hakuseki recommended changing the shogun’s title in the diplomatic correspondence from “great ruler” (taikun) to “king” {кокио\ thus placing the shogun on an level equal with the Korean king.

39 Kökokugaku. Refers to the “National Learning” school of classical Japanese literary study, specifically that of Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801).

40 Keizaigaku. Although the word keizai has been employed as the Japanese equivalent of Western “economics” since the Meiji Period, its earlier usage—found in the works of Ogyu Sorai and otherswas that of rulership or statecraft.

41 Meng-tzu IA:1.

42 Philosopher scorned in Meng-tzu ПШ:9 and ѴПА:26 for his advocacy of selfishness at the expense of others’ needs.

43 Onore о nashi, mono о nasu no michi\ a phrase from Chung-yung XXV; see Legge, The Chinese Classics,1:418-9.

44 Köshö no gaku: Edo period school whose adherents searched for objective interpretations of primary historical sources and literary works using a process of textual analysis based on rational, scientific inquiry. Represented by Hanawa Hokiichi, Yashiro Hirokata,and Kariya Ekisai, among others.

45

45 Seitoku (“flourishing virtue,,):I-ching, “Hsi tz,u shang chuan.”

46 A reference to the Chinese logician Kung-sun Lung (ca. 320-250 B.C.), whose most famous argument, “a white horse is not a horse,’’ uses logic to claim that it is perfectly allowable to assert an incoherent statement.

47 From the middle chapter of “San Lueh,” attributed to Huang Shih-kung. SeePai-pu ts,ung-shu chi-ch ’eng (Taipei: I wen, 1965), case no. 92, 6:18.

48 Lun-yü XIX:4; Legge, The Chinese Classics, 1:340-1. The translation is a modification of Legge’s found on that page.

49 Gikö: posthumous name of Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1700).

50 This refers to the Kinchü narabi ni huge shohatto (6(Laws Governing the Impeiial Court and Nobility”),issued by the Tokugawa shogunate in Genwa 1(1615).

51 The Öuchi family ruled several provinces in the Chügoku region during the Sengoku period. Their domain was usurped in 1555 by the Mori, who remained daimyo of south westernmost Honshu throughout the Tokugawa period.

52 Reigi ruiten: a compendious work containing a classification and collectbn of matters pertaining to Imperial ceremony and ritual culled from ancient records. Completed in 1701 and later presented to the bakufu and the court.

53 Taitokuin: posthumous name of Tokugawa Hidetada (1579-1632, second Tokugawa shogun; r. 1605-1623); TaiyOin: posthumous name of Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651, third Tokugawa shogun; r . 1623-1651). Hidetada continued the policies of his father Ieyasu, working with the daimyo to eradicate missionary activities and Christian communities. Iemitsu’s reign saw the

insurgency of 35,000 residents of the Shimabara peninsula, who had framed their resistance with Christian symbolism and therefore drew the bakufu’s ire.

46

54 Ikö; posthumous name of Tokugawa Yorifiisa (1603-1661),first daimyo of Mito, who had been granted the territory in 1610 by his father Ieyasu.

55 Shang-shu (“The Book of History”),“Shun-tien.” See Legge, The Chinese Classics, ПІ:44.

56 Daijö: A respectful term for Mito castle. Located in Mito City, the castle was built during the Sengoku period and later served as the seat of power for the Tokugawa branch family founded by Tokugawa Yorifiisa. The castle was destroyed in an air raid during the Second World War, Yoshida Shrine, located in Miyauchi-chö in Mito City,is a “specially designated shrine” (shikinaisha) dedicated to Yamato Takeru no Mikoto.

57 Po I was a self-denying son celebrated in the “biographies” section of Records of the Grand Historian for choosing toflee into the wilderness rather than accept an inheritance against his father’s will: Upon his father’s death, the realm was ceded to Po Vs younger brother, Shu Ch,i, rather than to Po I. Shu Ch,i attempted to rectify this and turn the realm over to Po I,whofled rather than accept it. See Shih-chi, 2121-2129. The “history” referred to is the Dai Nihon shi.

“Fulfilling duty .. ,,,refers to the fact that Mitsukuni adopted the son of his elder brother, who eventually succeeded him as the lord of Mito domain.

58 Chung-yung XIX.

59 Chu Shun-shui (1600-1682; Japanese: Shu Shunsui), was a Chinese Ming loyalist whofled the rule of the Ch’ing dynasty and settled in Nagasaki in 1659. He was later invited by Mitsukuni to live in Edo under his patronage, and lectured on Confucianism and other topics.

60 Jingü is recorded in the Nihon shoki as having been regent for 69 years in the late 4л-еаг1у 5th centuries; she never formally took the throne. Ötomo was the eldest son and designated heir of Tenji; soon after Tenji’s death in 672,however, he was challenged for the throne by his uncle Prince Öama (later the Emperor Tenmu) and forced to commit suicide. Although the Nihon shoki

makes no mention of Ötomo’s enthronement, Sithe compilers of the Dai Nihon shi asserted that he had formally acceded as Emperor Ötomo shortly before the rebellion.” Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan,s.v. “Emperor Köbun•”

47“Juei” refers to the period during the Taira-Minamoto War when there were briefly two emperors on the throne. After the Taira were forced to abandon Kyoto in 1183,they took the young Emperor Antoku with them,while the rival emperor Go-Toba was installed in his place. Antoku was killed in the naval battle of Dannoura in 1185, when Taira no Kiyomori’s widow took him in her arms and plunged into the sea. While the court in Kyoto changed the era name from Juei to Genreki in 1184,the compilers of the Dai Nihon shi continued to refer to the period as Juei and thus recognized Antoku,s reign as the legitimate one.

Engen (1336-1340) was an era-name employed by the Southern Dynasty. The “Son of Heaven of the Engen period” refers to the Emperor Go-Daigo,indicating that the ruler of the Southern Dynasty was considered the legitimate emperor by the compilers of the Dai Nihon shi.

61 Yuiitsu Shintö; also known as Urabe Shinto or Yoshida Shinto. A monistic school of Shinto headed since the thirteenth century by the Yoshida family, hereditary priests of the Yoshida Shrine and Hirano Shine in Kyoto. Systematized by Yoshida Kanetomo (1435-1511).

62 Ch’ueh Li was the birthplace of Confucius and home to a Confucian shrine; the shrine built in Mito was a 1:30 scale model of the original. The Taiseiden was a replica of the M ito’s Ch,ueh Li shrine, built in Yushima in Edo in Bunsei 10 (1798).

63 Daigakuryö: Confucian institution for government administration established in the seventh century under the reign of the Emperor Tenji. Reorganized under the Taihö Ritsuryo in 702, and expanded further during the Heian period. The school was open to children of the higher nobility, who were then awarded office upon successful completion of a test administered by the Shikibushö (Ministry of Ceremonial),under whose jurisdiction the school operated.

64 Fujiwara Seika (1561-1619),Neo-Confucian scholar. Teacher of Hayashi Razan (1583-1657), who served under the first four Tokugawa shogun and founded the Hayashi school of Neo Confucianism.

65 Ikkan (“all-pervading unity”):Lun-yü XV:15; see Legge, The Chinese Classics, 1:169. Chuwa (“equilibrium and harmony’,):Chung-yung I; see Legge, 1:384. The locus classicus of the term keiken (“principles and force”)is the eleventh section of the “Huan” chapter of the Gong-yang,

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meaning something roughly akin to “following the rules and then breaking them” (particularly apt for Tokugawa Ieyasu).

66 The Chun shu chih yao, composed during the early Tang dynasty,was a fifty-volume compendium of the essential points of statecraft culled from various ancient sources.

67 Gakumonsho: In 1630 Tokugawa Hidetada granted Razan funds for a school at Shinobugaoka near Edo; after Kazan’s death, his son operated the family’s school and Confucian shrine with additional funds from the bakufti. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi ordered it moved to Yushima, where it was conferred the status of official bakufli training academy.

68 Taitokuin: Tokugawa Hidetada (1578-1632),third son of Ieyasu; second Tokugawa shogun. Owari keikö (“Reverent Prince of Owari”): Tokugawa Yoshinao (1600-1650), ninth son of Ieyasu; the founder of the Owari branch of the Tokugawa family. Kii nanryökö (“Southern Dragon Prince of Kii,,): Tokugawa Yorinobu (1602-1671),tenth son of Ieyasu; the founder of the Kii branch of the Tokugawa family.

69 Shang-shu, “T,ai-shih chung.” See Legge, The Chinese Classics, 111:292. 70 Li-chi, “Wang-chih” (see Li Chi Cheng Chu,159) and “Chiao t’e hsing” (see ibid” 329).

71 Tsukushi refers here to the island of Kyushu. According to Japanese mythology, the gods Take Mikazuchi no Kami and Futsunushi no Kami were sent ahead of Ninigi to subdue the eastern territories. Sarutahiko no Kami was a deity who acted as a harbinger for Ninigi, arriving at the River Isuzu at Samada in Ise during Ninigi,s descent from Heaven.

72 Katori Shrine, in the city of Sawara, Chiba Prefecture, is dedicated tofutsunushi no Kami. Kashima Shrine,in the Kashima district of Ibaraki Prefecture, is dedicated to Take Mikazuchi no Kami. As Aizawa notes, it was these two deities who together descended to the Japanese islands to prepare the way for Ninigi no Mikoto. Both shrines, in addition, are traditionally associated with the military.

73 Chung-yung I.

49

74 “Rectification,straightening, helping and giving of wings”:Meng-tzu ПІА:4; see Legge, The Chinese Classics,11:252. “Five codes,” “five classes of ceremonies,” and “five teachings”: Shang-shu, “Shun-tien.” The classes of ceremonies were those of worship, those appropriate to calamity and mourning, those appropriate to guests of state, those appropriate to war, and festive ceremonies. “Birds and beasts”:Meng-tzu IIIA:4.

75 Meng-tzu VB:1•

76 Chung-yung XXX.

77 Meikyö: from Chin-shu (“History of the Chin Dynasty”),“Yüen~chi chuan.” See Fang Hsüan Ling et al.,Chin Shu (Beijing: Chunghua Shuchü, 1974),5:1363.

78 Meng-tzu IIA:8; Legge, The Chinese Classics, 11:204-205; “Ködökanki,” in Mitogaku, 231. 79 Shih-ching, Mao 7.

80 Ibid.

81 Dögei: from ChouAi (“The Rites of Chou,’),“Ti-kuan ssu»chien.,, See Ssu pu tsung к ‘an, U:96.

82 In Chinese mythology, Yi was a famously skillful archer who shot down nine of ten suns and saved the world,but was later killed by his minister Han Cho. See Lun-yü ХГѴ:6; Legge, The Chinese Classics, 1:277,esp. note 6.

83 Shih Chi (“Records of the Grand Historian”),“Kong-tzu shih chia.” See Shih Chi, 1915. Lun-yuVlI:24.

50

85 Confucius discussed the need for sufficient arms in Lun-yü ХП:7. The meeting at Chia-ku is recounted in “Kong-tzu shih chia” chapter of the Shih Chi; see Shih-chi, 1915-1916. The reference to Ch5en Heng is from Lun-yü XIV:22.

86 Hsiao-ching (“Classic of Filial Piety”),“Shih-jen chang.”

87 Hsiao-ching, “T,ien_tzu chang.”

88 Shin wa fubo no itai ni shite: from Li-chi, “Chi-yi.” See Li Chi Cheng Chu, 610. 89 Hsiao-ching, “K,ai-tsung ming-yi chang.”

90 Li-chi,“Chi-yi.” “Master Ts8ng” refers to Tseng Shen,who~with Tzu-hsia and Tzu-chang was among the most prominent of Confucius5 junior disciples.

91 Lun-yü 11:3; Legge, The Chinese Classics, 11:146.

92 An ancient method of classifying medicines. “Lord” (кип) was the main medicine, gentle in nature, while the three supporting medicines of “vassal,assistant,and envoy” (shin,sa, shi) were administered in proportion to the severity of the illness. See Shen K’uo,“Meng hsi pi t,an,,,in Paipu ts ,ung shu chi ch,eng, ser, 46,case 18,vol.3,pt. 5 .,フ2.

93 See Ogyu Sorai, “Bendö,” in Ogyü Sorai zensM, 1:21.

94 Lun-yü XEX:13; Legge, The Chinese Classics,1:344.

95 Lun-yü ѴП:17; ibid., 1:200.

96 From the preface to Chu Hsi’s commentary on Meng-tzu; see “Meng-tzu chi-chu hsü,” in Ssu shu chi-chu (Taipei: Shih-chieh chu-chü, 1974), 2.

97 Lun-yü XI:2; Legge, The Chinese Classics,1:237-8.

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98 The headnote accompanying this passage states that the phrase “the blessings of the state” (kokka no on o) was present in the original text.

99 Nariaki died in 1860.

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