Global Journal of Human Social Science, D: History, Archaeology and Anthroplogy, Volume 23 Issue 3

Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 28 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 D © 2023 Global Journals “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword”: Popular Ethics in Edo Period Japan Xi establis he d a kind of rationalist philosophy which adopted the principle espoused by Ch’eng I that “the Supreme Ultimate is the principle of all things in Heaven and Earth.” 20 This “Supreme Ultimate” is the li (Principle) behind the qi (Ether) of yin and yang and the five elements (fire, water, wood, metal a nd earth). In this regard, then it is the ultimate source that transcends, and undergirds, everything else not just in heaven and earth, but even Heaven and Earth itself. 21 All things are said to consist both of metaphysical Principle and physical Ether. Principle determines the nature of a thing and Ether its form. Thus, since all things descend from the Supreme Ultimate, all things by nature are equal. But, in terms of physicality, there is a hierarchy of form, not just in the physical realm (e.g., humans are endowed with the highest Ether) but also in the social realm (i.e., a fourfold stratification of s oc iety). It becomes obvious then that Zhu Xi’s concept of a hi era rchy of class divisions was not presented as a social construct but rather as a cosmic category. 22 In other words, it was the different material forces of Ether 23 Chinese Neo-Confucians focused on the individual’s attainment of freedom from human desires and one’s concomitant u nifi cation with the Principle of heaven. This was said to be achievable through subjective (moral cultivation) and objective (intellectual investigation) approaches. that resulted in differing individuals being born into one of the four classes. Class division was not simply an a posteriori social category, but rather an a priori metaphysical category. 2 4 M aruyama highlights how in Zhu Xi’s Confucian universe “this individual moral effort is an absolute precondition for the realization of all political and social values.” 25 20 Masao Maruyama, Studies in the Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan (Trans. Mikiso Hane; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1974), 21. 21 Maruyama notes that “because in Chu Hsi’s philosophy Principle is inherent in all individual things and yet transcends them all, retaining its monistic character, Chu His philosophy has been interpreted variously as monistic (based on Principle alone), dualistic (based on Principle and Ether), or pluralistic” ( Studies in the Intellectual History , 22). 22 Statements such as these reflected widely held beliefs: “samurai are superior to the common people; it thus natural that the samurai rule.” And “ peasants produce the five grains and as such they are the basis of the country; artisans create tools; the merchants just exchange with others produce in order to gain profit, therefore they are of the lowest class” (Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 83). 23 Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 83. Yusa (p. 83) notes further that “Zhu Xi taught that this principle ( li in Chinese, ri in Japanese) is activated by the material force ( qi in Chinese, ki in Japanese) in each individual.” 24 Maruyama, Studies in the Intellectual History , 24. The ultimate goal is to become a sage, which occurs when “if by ‘preserving the heart’ and ‘investigating the Principle’ and by using the subjective and objective methods, he succeeds internally in eliminating all human desires and returning to his Original Nature, and externally, in fusing with the law of the world” (Ibid., 25). 25 Maruyama, Studies in the Intellectual History , 25. In other words, personal change is the basis for all societal change. Yusa notes that Japanese Neo-Confucians, by contrast, minimized the individualistic dimension of Confucian thought and instead prioritized the utilitarian benefits of Zhu Xi’s division of society into a descending hierarchy of four basic classes (i.e., samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants). b) Anti-Buddhism and the Rise of Tokugawan Neo- Confucianism It was not just political utility nor purely philosophical reasons, however, that fostered “official” interest in Neo-Confucianism. A rising tide of anti- Buddhist feeling by the mid-17 th century provided additional mo tivation. Yusa notes that among political circles “the Lords of Okayama, Aizu, and Mito provinces all embraced Confucianism in their dislike of Buddhism.” 26 But anti-Buddhist sentiment was evident even on the level of the common populace, specifically w ith respect to the perceived abuses of the Danka system. In 1614 Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Danka (patron) system, tw o years after he banned Christianity. 27 It forced every family unit to register with a Buddhist temple as a way of proving that they were not Christian. 28 In 1660 the Danka system had not only become an official registry associated with Buddhist temples, but now the registered family units also had to take on the burden of financial support of the priests’s living expenses and for the repair, upkeep, and construction of the temples. Additionally, families were required to attend temple ceremonies, especially the annual festival honoring the founder of the temple. Visits to ancestral graves were obligatory for the spring and fall equinox and for the midsummer bon when it was thought that the living could reunite with the dead ancestors. By 1700, temples obliged family groups to erect graveston es , which expanded the land holdings of the temples. In this time Buddhism became a funeral religion centred on memorial services for the ancestors. This turned Buddhist temples into formally established institutions. 29 26 Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 83. 27 Shogunate officials were “concerned about two things: one was the fear of Western countries taking over Japan, and the other was that Japanese Christians might unite themselves across the social classes and so become a social force that would challenge the foundation of the new shogunate” (Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 78). 28 “During the Edo period for a family not to observe these rituals raised the authorities’ suspicions that members of the family might be crypto-Christian or followers of the forbidden Nichiren sub-sect of Fujufuse ” (Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 82). 29 By 1700, due to the Danka system, “Buddhist priests thus found themselves the caretakers of the dead” (Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 82). As a funeral religion, Buddhism eventually instituted 13 different commemorative rituals for the dead, each of which was conducted by a Buddhist priest. These thirteen rituals were observed on the 7 th , 27 th , 37 th , 47 th , 57 th , 67 th , 79 th , and 100 th days after death along with the 1 st , 3 rd , 7 th , 13 th , and 33 rd anniversaries.