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

© 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 31 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 D “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword”: Popular Ethics in Edo Period Japan rejection of that earlier faith…for example, the view that the samurai was an anachronism in light of economic change became a subject of grave concern, beginning with Ogy ū Sorai and especially Dazai Shundai. 40 Dazai (1680–1747; Edo), under the influence of Sorai, taught that Neo-Confucian dualism (Principle and Ether) was nothing more than a philosophical construct created for the purpose of maintaining the ideological hegemony of a handful of Sung philosophers. He saw little relevance for Neo-Confucianism in Japan’s present circumstances. Najita summarizes Dazai’s ideological program: “he viewed social and natural things primarily in materialistic terms, denying an inna te ethical connection between men and things and emphasizing instead, on empirical grounds, the epistemological distinction between the natural order and the secular social realm of language and political events.” 41 Alt hough both Sorai and Danzai challenged Neo-Confucian dualism from within the interpretive tradition of “ancient studies,” Kaibara (Kaibura) Ekken (1630–1714) did so from outside that ideological tradition. 42 V. F ruits of “ A ncient L earning”: 18 th C entury P opular E thics Both approaches served to facilitate the growth of variegated fruits within the movement that came to be identified as popular ethics. It was not just Ansai’s attempts at doctrinal unity between Shinto and Confucianism, nor Sorai’s (and Dazai’s) separation of socio-politics from Confucian metaphysics that constituted a movement towards a recovery of the learning of the ancients. Along with economic prosperity in the 18 th century came leisure time for commoners, especially among the merchant class. This leis ure time facilitated a freeing of literature and art from ethical and political constraints. The merchant populace in Osaka and the imperial city of Kyoto were particular hotbeds for the development of popular ethics. 43 40 Najita, “Method and Analysis,” 20–21. 41 Najita, “Method and Analysis,” 12. 42 Najita (“Method and Analysis,” 13) summarizes Ekken’s contribution: “we find from a Neo-Confucian stance a Kaibara Ekken rejecting dualism as an unreliable analytical tool. In his revealing ‘record of grave doubts’ ( Taigiroku ), Kaibara objected most to the argument that since men and things in nature are alike in their essence, principle in nature and in the universe must be ethical in the way men are. Kaibara’ substitute formula was fundamental and provocative: nature was not ethical like men in society but men were governed by the same essences as nature, which was simply a natural ‘principle’.” 43 For Osaka, see Najita, Visions of Virtue , 28. For Kyoto see, Yusa, Japanese Religious Thought , 84. The confluence of philosophical influences in Kyoto through the teachings of Ansai, It ō and Sorai formed a “river of change” that would eventually culminate in a popular ethics movement nationwide that eroded the very foundations of Tokugawan socio-political hegemony. a) Fruit: Popular Ethics and the Merchant Class Class struggle is always grounded first in ideological struggle. Since in Neo-Confucianism the merchant class occupied the lowest rung of the socio- political hierarchy, the merchants in Kyoto had a particular affinity for socio-political change, and thus for philosophical “revolution.” The rise of the merchant class provided the most basic challenge on both political and philosophical grounds to the samurai-class based, elitist Tokugawa hegemony. The return to ancient or pure Confucianism, and then to National Learning, by the merchant class not only challenged the Neo-Confucianism of the Tokugawa shogunate by providing a different model of governance, but also by affirming a new philosophical rationale that could elevate the merchant class from its minimalistic social status. It comes as no surprise then that “ancient learning” ( Kogaku ) found such fertile soil in Kyoto, ninety-five percent of whose populace was comprised of merchants. The economically prosperous merchants of Kyoto turned their attention directly to the ancient teachings of Confucius and Mencius. Confucius’s subjective emphasis on individual passion rather than only on the objective intellectual pursu its solely for societal betterment or for personal status reasserted “the central aim of Confucian ‘learning for one’s own sake’ and the methodical, cumulative course of personal growth from elementary to higher learning.” 44 b) Fruit: Popular Ethics and National/Native Learning (Kokugako) One can see how a popular ethic would have benefited merchants in particular on at least three fronts. First, personal integrity and ethics form the foundation upon which a lasting and vibrant business environment is built. Second, social and business engagements across societal stratifications become philosophically possible within a society built upon popular ethics. Third, societal power eventually accrues into the hands of those who control the economic purse-strings. But along with economic clout comes a natural desire to accrue social respectability and standing before the existing elite. “Ancient learning” lent credibility to the merchant class in affirming not only the value of commercial profit but especially of their value to Japanese society. Kyoto does not only figure strongly in the development of “ancient learning” (the Confucian Kogaku of It ō and Sorai; 1 7 th century), and in the popular ethics movement among the merchant class, but also in the formation of Kokugako , the anti-Confucian school of National Learning (18 th century), also called “native”/National Learning. 45 44 Tucker, “Kaibura Ekken,” 254. 45 Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions , 88. While being influenced by