6 The Way of the Kami
Richard Bowring
Abstract
This chapter deals with the politics of religion in the early years of the Tokugawa period. It does so by taking up two very different examples, one in the domain of Mito and the other in the Okayama domain. In the former, Buddhist temples were rationalized in order to save both money and space and we see the first attempts to clarify the distinction between Buddhism and Shintō, which had up to that point been inextricably intertwined. This process went much further in Okayama, although in neither case was the attempt really successful. The main aim of the chapter, however, is to analyse the unusual phenomenon of arguments in favour of a synthesis between Shintō and Confucianism. This had already begun with the work of Hayashi Razan but was further developed by Yamazaki Ansai, whose influence proved to be crucial and long-lasting.
7 The Way of the Warrior
Richard Bowring
Abstract
This chapter discusses the very different role of the Confucian scholar in China, Korea, and Japan. At its core is the work of Yamaga Sokō and his invention of the Way of the Warrior (shidō) as part of the process by which the fighting man was tamed and given a role as leader in a time of peace. Military values were transformed into examples of upright behaviour expected of a ruling class. Although much of this was expressed in Confucian terms, Sokō took issue with the more egalitarian aspects of Song Confucianism (in particular the work of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi) and argued for a much more authoritarian approach. This was just one of the many ways in which the Japanese were forced to adapt a foreign ideology to their own ends.
Keywords: Yamaga Sokō, meaning of the term ‘samurai’, role of Confucian scholars, bureaucratization, Akō domain, military values, rejecting Zhu Xi
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