In search of the way : thought and religion in early-modern Japan, 1582-1860 / Richard Bowring.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bowring, Richard, 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy--Japan--History.

Philosophy.

History.

Japan--Religion--1600-1868.

Japan.

Religion.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 329 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

This is a history of intellectual and religious developments in Japan during the Tokugawa period, covering the years 1582-1860. It begins with an explanation of the fate of Christianity, and proceeds to cover the changing nature of the relationship between Buddhism and secular authority, new developments in Shinto, and the growth of 'Japanese studies'. The main emphasis, however, is on the process by which Neo-Confucianism captured the imagination of the intellectual class and informed debate throughout the period. This process was expressed in terms of a never-ending search for the Way, a mode and pattern of existence that could provide not only order for society at large, but self-fulfilment for the individual. The narrative traces how ideas and attitudes changed through time, and is based on the premise that the Tokugawa period is important in and of itself, not merely as a backdrop to the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

Contents:

I 1582-1680

1 From Hideyoshi to Ietsuna 3

1.1 The shogunate 3

1.2 The relationship between shogunate and daimyo 4

1.3 Foreign affairs 6

1.4 Fiscal difficulties 8

1.5 Chronology 9

2 The fate of Christianity 12

2.1 Hideyoshi and the Jesuits 12

2.2 Persecution and trade 17

2.3 The intellectual response 19

2.4 Later anti-Christian writings 26

3 Creating a new order 30

3.1 Strategies of legitimation 30

3.2 Reconfiguring the Buddhist tradition 33

3.3 The commissioners for religious affairs 36

3.4 Buddhism in everyday life 40

3.5 The arrival of 'Obaku Zen' 42

4 The Confucian turn 46

4.1 Early interest in Cheng-Zhu thought 46

4.2 The Great learning and its importance 47

4.3 Fujiwara Seika 52

4.4 'Manifesting luminous virtue and 'Having affection for the people' 54

4.5 'Resting in the utmost good' 59

4.6 The Hayashi lineage 62

5 Two individualists 69

5.1 Nakae Toju, the teacher 69

5.2 'Weighing in the balance' 72

5.3 Adapting to conditions 75

5.4 The divine gift of filial piety 77

5.5 Kumazawa Banzan, the 'daimyos minister' 79

5.6 Disillusionment 82

5.7 Autre temps, autre mæurs 84

6 The Way of the Kami 88

6.1 The politics of Shinto 88

6.2 The situation in Mito and Okayama 90

6.3 A Shinto-Confucian synthesis 93

6.4 Yamazaki Ansai 97

6.5 Kaibara Ekiken and Shinto 103

7 The Way of the Warrior 106

7.1 Whither the samurai? 106

7.2 Yamaga Soko 109

7.3 Rejecting Cheng-Zhu thought 111

7.4 The Way of the Warrior 117

8 The Way of Man 121

8.1 Ito Jinsai 121

8.2 Back to Confucius 123

8.3 Rejecting principle 127

8.4 Human nature 130

8.5 The primacy of feeling 133

II 1680-1786

9 From Tsunayoshi to Ieharu 139

9.1 The shogunate 139

9.2 Genroku 139

9.3 The Kyoho reforms 141

9.4 The Tanuma Period 142

9.5 Chronology 144

10 The encouragement of learning 146

10.1 The dissemination of information 146

10.2 The beginnings of 'science' 149

10.3 The study of nature 152

10.4 The Way of the Merchant 156

10.5 Two types of education 160

10.6 A Utopian curiosity 162

11 Recasting the Chinese mould 166

11.1 Historiography 166

11.2 Wherein does sovereignty lie? 169

11.3 The legacy of Ansai 172

11.4 Family rituals 174

11.5 Loyalty to whom? 176

12 Matters of faith 181

12.1 Buddhist reform 181

12.2 Institutional changes 185

12.3 Street preachers and pilgrims 189

12.4 Faith deconstructed 194

13 The Way of the Former Kings 198

13.1 Ogyu Sorai 198

13.2 How best to govern the state 207

13.3 Dazai Shundal 209

13.4 Yamagata Daini 214

14 Contesting Confucian values 216

14.1 The Man'yoshu 216

14.2 The Ancient Way 218

14.3 The Way of Wit and the Way of Lust 223

III 1786-1860

15 From Ienari to Iemochi 233

15.1 The shogunate 233

15.2 The Kansei reforms 233

15.3 Bunka-Bunsei (1804-1830) 235

15.4 Tenpo and beyond (1830-1860) 236

15.5 Chronology 237

16 Competing visions of the future 239

16.1 Matsudaira Sadanobu 239

16.2 The rise of 'Dutch studies' 242

16.3 The view from Osaka 246

16.4 The Way of the Market 251

17 In search of times past 255

17.1 What is poetry? 255

17.2 Shaping an ancient tongue 260

17.3 Chinese culture denied 264

17.4 Critics of the Ancient Way 269

18 A new kind of Shinto 275

18.1 Making ancient history accessible 275

18.2 A different kind of afterlife 280

18.3 Living spirits 283

18.1 Reaching out to the countryside 286

19 A time for action 290

19.1 'Young Turks' at Mito 290

19.2 The 'Institute to Promote the Way' 296

19.3 Three iconic figures 300

20 Retrospect 304.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198795230

0198795238

OCLC:

966971145