Overview of Modern Overseas Confucianism-Asia-Japan

An Overview of Modern Overseas Confucianism-Asia-Japan

Confucianism was introduced to Japan in the Yamato period, and after the early development in the Hatori, Nara, and Heian eras, it became a vassal of Zen Buddhism in the Kamakura and Muromachi eras, and then reached its full bloom in the Edo period and was Japaneseized, which is to say that it has had a very long history. In modern times, Confucianism has encountered new crises and challenges in Japan. The Meiji Restoration, which took place in 1868, was the starting point of the capitalist era in Japan. The Meiji Restoration not only began to disintegrate the traditional social and political order, but also the traditional cultural and moral order, and Confucianism was in the midst of a fierce conflict with Western culture. At first, the new Meiji regime actively advocated the cultural policy of "civilization and enlightenment". On the one hand, it was to learn from the advanced West, the economic and political system, and the ideology and culture of Western capitalism, and on the other hand, it was to be critical of the old ideology of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism. In the "Announcement of the School System" published in August 1872, it was said that Confucianism "rushes to the end of the words and chapters of recitation, and is trapped in the divergent path of empty reasoning and vain talk, and although its theories seem to be noble, there are very few people who can put them into practice". Under the new school system, most of the private schools and "terakoya" that practiced Confucianism were closed down, and the feudal schools of the various clans were also discontinued. 1877 was the year when the bourgeois Enlightenment swept through Japan's intellectual circles. The main content of the Enlightenment was the introduction of Western philosophical, ethical, political, legal, historical, and educational ideas, and a comprehensive criticism of the Confucianism-based feudal ideology. They introduced the positivism of the French thinker Comte, advocating "actual learning" and criticizing Confucianism as "false learning"; they introduced the ideas of the British utilitarian philosopher Muller, advocating utilitarianism and happiness and criticizing Confucianism for its asceticism and self-restraint. The ideas of Muller, a British utilitarian philosopher, were introduced to advocate utilitarianism and happiness and criticize Confucianism for promoting "self-restraint" and asceticism; the ideas of French Enlightenment thinkers were introduced to advocate "natural human rights" and the theory of "social contract", advocating "independence and self-respect" and opposing the feudalistic principles of Confucianism. They introduced the French Enlightenment thinkers' theory of "natural human rights" and "social contract", advocating "independence and self-respect" and opposing the Confucian concepts of hierarchy and morality of obedience as manifested in the Confucian feudal system. Among the Enlightenment scholars, Fukuzawa Yukichi was the one who criticized Confucianism most sharply and systematically. He criticized Confucianism's theories of fame and loyalty and filial piety in "The Book of Exhortation" and "A Brief Introduction to the Doctrine of Civilization", and went on to criticize Confucianism as "half a study of politics" and "a factor contributing to the stagnation of society". It is a factor in social stagnation.

Although the Japanese Enlightenment thinkers criticized Confucianism, they borrowed its concepts when introducing new ideas from the West because they had been influenced by Confucianism since their childhood, and their mode of thinking was still y imprinted with Confucianism. It is worth noting that although some Enlightenment scholars criticized the ethical concept of Confucianism, there were still a considerable number of Enlightenment scholars who focused their criticism of Confucianism on the natural philosophy of Confucianism only, and did not completely deny the general significance of Confucianism's ethical concept, which not only reflected the incompleteness of the Enlightenment scholars' critique of Confucianism, but also served as a precursor to the revival of Confucian morality by the Japanese ruling class after that.

However, the Enlightenment movement in the early Meiji period, after all, impacted the ideology of Confucianism and other East Asian cultures, and played an indelible role in the cultivation of the Japanese people's scientific view of nature and political subjective consciousness. The resulting liberal civil rights movement began in 1874 and raged for more than a decade, with liberal civil rights thinkers advocating human rights and their complete liberation, as well as fiercely attacking Confucianism. The criticism of the most representative liberal civil rights thinker, Ueki Emori, was mainly directed at the patriarchal family system, which was the social foundation of Confucianism. In his Treatise on Brothers, he said that the idea of the order of seniority and juniority, which had been emphasized since ancient times, "can be called a branch lineage of authoritarian thought. In The Treatise on Men, Women and Couples, he denounced the custom of men's superiority over women and exclaimed, "Women, abandon Confucianism and tear up the Four Books, the Five Classics and the Primary Schools and so on. They are your enemies".

At the same time, in addition to this serious critique of Eastern culture, there is also a trend of abandonment of tradition, wholesale Westernization, and a shallow and conservative understanding of Western culture, which will bring about some of the social ills, so that people who are not conservative also feel that "the world is going down".

The East-West cultural conflict is fundamentally a clash of deep-seated cultural mentalities of different peoples. It is most prominent in the most sensitive ethical and moral areas. With the introduction of modern Western ethical doctrines such as utilitarianism and happiness into Japan, the moral philosophy and behavioral norms of Confucianism are no longer unquestionably preconceived, so that people are stranded in a state of perplexity and confusion in the midst of the collision of different concepts and norms, and some people begin to miss the stability and order of the past, thinking that what is happening now is the expansion of evil and the retrogression of history, and calling for a return to the ethics of Confucianism. Motoeda Nagafu (1818-1891) and Nishimura Shigeki (1828-1902) were representative of the traditionalists. The former sought to resurrect Confucianism as it was, while the latter was committed to renovating the old. They argued with the Europeanization school about the moral education policy of the school, which became the focus of national attention at that time. MOTA Nagafu, a Confucian scholar from Kumamoto, Kyushu, was called to be the "Scholar-in-Charge" (Confucianism teacher) of the Emperor in 1871. Using the Meiji Emperor as a signboard and the increasingly conservative political attitudes of the Meiji *** due to the upsurge of the liberal civil rights movement, Motooda drafted the "Teaching Principles," which attacked "civilization and enlightenment" and advocated Confucian morality, which prevailed for a while. In 1883, the Ministry of Miyauchi issued the Genkaku Kyoiku (Compendium of Early Childhood Education), written by Tian Yongfu. The "Outline for Young Learners" began with the phrase "filial piety and behavior" and ended with the phrase "reluctant behavior. Each article begins with a quotation from the "Book of Filial Piety" and the "Four Books and Five Classics," followed by a description of examples from Chinese and Japanese history, and is illustrated with pictures. The promulgation of the "Outline of Early Childhood Education" indicated that the ethical concepts of Confucianism had already occupied an important position in the moral education of the school, and in 1884, Motoiada Yongfu published the article "Theory of the National Teaching", advocating the use of Confucianism as the "National Teaching", and said, "Expanding the morality of Confucius, supplementing it with the concepts of European studies and the concepts of materialism, and using it as the National Teaching. " In 1885, Ito Hirobumi became Japan's first Prime Minister, and in order to In 1885, Ito became the first prime minister of Japan, and in order to revise the unequal treaties signed with the Western powers, Ito continued to pursue the policy of Europeanization. In 1885, Ito became the first prime minister of Japan and continued the policy of Europeanization in order to revise the unequal treaties signed with the Western powers. The traditionalist Nishimura Shigeki, who was the representative of the traditionalist school in the debate on the policy of moral education, paid attention to the modern philosophical theories of the West to transform Confucianism to adapt it to the new situation of the increasing popularity of modern Western thought. 1886, he wrote "Theory of Japanese Morality", which regarded the revival of Confucianism and morality as the fundamental national policy. He believed that there were two kinds of "teachings" in the world, namely, "worldly teachings" and "extra-worldly teachings". Confucianism and Western philosophy are "worldly religions" that focus on "reason", while Buddhism and Christianity are "worldly religions" that focus on "faith". Buddhism and Christianity, on the other hand, are "lay religions" that are "faith-based". Since "worldly religions" can only gain the faith of the lower class people, "worldly religions" are more suitable to be "national religions". Shigeki Nishimura recognized that Western philosophy was superior to Confucianism, Buddhism and Christianity in terms of "subtlety of doctrine" and "precision of research". However, he thought that Western philosophy was not suitable for Japan's "national religion" because it emphasized knowledge, lacked the art of stabilizing people's hearts, and had the disadvantage of belittling the monarch and parents, i.e., it lacked the ethical content that was suitable for Japan's national conditions. On the other hand, Confucianism, with its "teaching of loyalty and filial piety", is not as good as other religions in "safeguarding the heavenly throne of the world: correcting the status of the ruler and the ministers, and beautifying the customs of the nation", but he also admitted that Confucianism has many shortcomings and is not adapted to the present age, for example, it is not as rigorous as Western philosophy in terms of theory, and Confucianism is not as good as Western philosophy. Western philosophy is not as rigorous as the theory, most of the Confucians are conservative, Confucianism and Taoism have excessive respect for the honor of the genus of the faults, there is a preference for men over women, thick ancient and thin, not "reason as a teacher" but "recognize people as a teacher" and so on. Therefore, he advocated "adopting the essence of the two religions (Confucianism and Western philosophy) and discarding the dregs," thus "synthesizing" the "truth of heaven and earth," as "the foundation of Japanese morality. The foundation of Japanese morality". The revamped Confucianism, "Theory of Japanese Morality," was more suitable to the political needs of the liberal civil rights movement and the strengthening of the emperor's rule than the comprehensive restoration of Confucianism of Motoita Nagatsugu, and it soon became a textbook for all levels of secondary schools, and the policy of restoration of Confucianism and morality was completed when the Emperor of Meiji announced the Edict on Education in 1890. The Edict on Education did not talk much about education itself, but mainly about Confucian ethics and the obligations of Japanese citizens to the Emperor. Thus, it actually stipulated that Confucianism was to be the policy of moral education in schools, and that it was to be used as a moral code for the Japanese people and as a means of fostering "loyal subjects and good citizens. Confucianism's conception of nature and epistemology became imprecise in the face of modern scientific developments in the West, and thus lost its appeal and validity, and was defeated in the cultural conflict between East and West. Confucianism, as a system of thought, no longer occupies the position of an official school in capitalist Japan as it did in the Edo period, but its ethical concepts have been reformed and processed to win the cultural conflict between the East and the West.

However, fundamentally, the Confucian ethic, which has long been influential in Japan's history, is not conducive to the development of a capitalist economy. The Confucian ethic emphasizes righteousness over profit, and the Japanese Enlightenment thinkers were committed to criticizing the sense of cheap business, but they failed to find an effective way to gain universal acceptance. Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), known as the "founder" of modern capitalism in Japan, utilized his original knowledge of Confucianism and reinterpreted it to find a point of convergence between the traditional ethic and the modern capitalist ethic. As a young man, he was formally trained by the Confucian scholar Ogaka Tadasu, and later became active in politics. In 1873, due to his disagreement with the ruling regime, he joined commerce and industry and became a reputable banker and entrepreneur. From 1873 to 1916, when he retired, he continued to teach the Analects of Confucius to his employees, and wrote books such as Lectures on the Analects of Confucius and Lectures on the Analects of Confucius and the Abacus to publicize his "Theory of the Unity of Morality and Economy". Eiichi Shibusawa reinterpreted the Analects of Confucius, which says, "Wealth and riches are the desires of men, but if you don't live by them, you won't live with them". First, he positively evaluates the first half of the sentence, and then reinterprets the second half, arguing that if one is "to be moral," then one should not reject it as a generalization. If the pursuit of profit and the increase of capital by an individual or an enterprise is beneficial to the strengthening of the nation, it is honorable, that is, it is in line with the "greater good". In this way, he used the national interest as a medium to unify morality and economy, "righteousness" and "profit", "scholar's soul" and "business talent". He used the national interest as a medium to unify morality and economy, "righteousness" and "profit", "scholar's soul" and "business talent", and thus transformed the old "righteousness and profit" concept of cheap businessmen into an ethical concept conducive to the development of capitalist industry and commerce. This theory of "the Analects of Confucius and the Abacus" was accepted by most people in the society, and had a profound impact on the development of Japanese industry and commerce.

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan regained its national independence, but then embarked on the road of militarism, Japanese militarism in the process of its pernicious development, and Confucianism also formed an unbreakable bond, mainly manifested in the domestic, the militarists to use the spirit of Bushido with the Confucian virtues as the basic content of the poisoning of the Japanese people's minds; in foreign countries, the construction of the "king's way of happiness" as the invasion of Asian countries, the "king's way of happiness". In foreign countries, they used the construction of a "kingdom of paradise" as a propaganda tool for invading Asian countries. The Japanese militarists' evil use of Confucian morality and Shibusawa Eiichi's theory of "the Analects of Confucius plus the Abacus" provide examples of the negative and positive value of Confucian thought.

After the Second World War, some changes occurred in the study of Confucianism in Japanese academia, and most of the original institutions serving militarism were canceled. After the founding of New China, some Japanese academics, from the friendly purpose of the study of Confucianism are not a few. With the improvement of China's international status and the development of Sino-Japanese relations, Sino-Japanese exchanges have become more and more frequent, and Japanese research on China has also been increasingly strengthened. According to the 1978 publication of the "Japan National University Staff Record" records, Japan in 1977, the country's more than four hundred and thirty universities, engaged in the teaching of Chinese literature, history and philosophy of the lecturer above the researcher * * * * one thousand three hundred and twenty-two, respectively, to open nearly two thousand and five hundred courses of research on China, such as the addition of other aspects of the researchers in the 3,000 to 3,500 or so, the influence of the 1,000, authoritative scholars such as Yoshikawa Koujiro. There are about 3,000 to 3,500 researchers in other fields, about 1,000 influential scholars, and some authoritative scholars such as Koujiro Yoshikawa, Shigeki Kaizuka and Yoshio Abe. Many of these people came to China, some of them also participated in the war of aggression against China in the past, and after the war some of them participated in the Japanese cultural exchange activities. Some scholars who experienced the suffering of the war became the democratic and progressive force in the post-war academic and cultural circles of Japan, such as Kiyoshi Inoue, Hikotaro Ando, etc., and some young and middle-aged researchers gradually grew to become a force to be reckoned with. According to the relevant information for incomplete statistics, Japan's Confucianism research situation is as follows: the main Confucianism research institutions are Svenkai, Daito Bunka University of Oriental Culture of the "Japanese Confucianism Research Group", Oriental Culture Promotion Association Lecture, Chinese Literature, History and Philosophy Research Society, the Institute of Oriental Culture of the Society of the Infinite, the Institute of Oriental Culture, the Institute of Oriental Culture, the Oriental Culture Research Institute, The Oriental Society, the Chinese Society of Japan, and the Huaide Hall Lecture, etc. These organizations study general history, special topics, as well as specialists and monographs. The contents of Confucian studies include translation of Confucian scriptures, annotation of Confucian scriptures, thematic study of Confucian scriptures, special study of a particular Confucian scholar, study of the relationship between Confucianism in China, Japan and Korea, study of the general history of Confucianism, study of the history of interrupted Confucianism, study of certain chapters of a particular scripture of Confucianism, thematic study of a particular aspect of Confucianism (e.g., ethics, philosophy, political thought, educational thought), and preparation of a series of books or a large series of books. Confucianism research methodology not only pay attention to the study of Confucian writings, but also pay attention to China for fieldwork, many people have come to China, such as Inoue Qing came to China nearly thirty times, the longest time in China up to twenty-five years; in addition to often organized or participated in the seminars on Confucianism at home or internationally. For the study of Confucianism in Japan *** also give some support and funding, such as the Ministry of Education had allocated 1 million yen for the "comprehensive study of Zhu Zi", in 1967, the Ministry of Education allocated 2.5 million yen to engage in the "Chinese class book quoted in the scriptures and the classification of the integration of all the sons In 1967, the Ministry of Education allocated 2.5 million yen for the compilation of "Classification and Integration of Chinese Classical Texts and Sons", and in 1964 and 1966, Shunri Inoue was granted 200,000 yen for the "Study on the Introduction of Mencius to Japan and its Acceptance by Japan" and the "Historical Study on the Acceptance of Mencius in Japan". Most scholars at home and abroad believe that Japan is the country with the largest number of translations of ancient Chinese books and the most advanced country in the world in Confucianism besides China.

After the introduction of Marxism to Japan, a group of early socialists and Marxist thinkers, represented by Jun Tosaka and Hiroshi Nagata, also attempted to conduct a new study and evaluation of Confucian thought from a Marxist point of view in order to critically inherit the historical legacy and to fight against the despicable behavior of the Japanese ruling class, which was utilizing the thought of Confucius for reactionary propaganda. They wrote books such as "A Treatise on Japanese Ideology" and "A History of Japanese Philosophy and Thought". In "A History of Japanese Philosophy and Thought", Hiroshi Nagata, based on the principle that "past cultures should neither be denied nor praised" as he said in the preface of the book, conducted a new research on Confucius and Confucianism, and systematically introduced the spread of Confucius' thought in Japan and the influence of Confucianism on Japan. He has conducted new research on Confucius and Confucianism, and introduced the spread and influence of Confucius' thought in Japan, as well as the characteristics of Confucianism in various stages of Japan's history, and has become an outstanding force in the research team of Confucianism in Japan.