The Development of Confucianism in Japan

Confucianism has been the traditional mainstream thought of Chinese society since the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when Dong Zhongshu put forward the idea of "Dismissing the Hundred Schools of Thought and Exclusively Respecting the Confucians". In the long river of China's cultural development, it has flowed far and wide. Its influence is not only reflected in the guidance of Chinese culture for thousands of years, but also permeates the construction of other countries' culture. Since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty by Emperor Li Shimin, Confucianism as a bridge of cultural exchange was quickly adopted by Japan, and since then Confucianism has been reproducing new signs of compatibility and concurrency with Japan's local culture, greatly contributing to the prosperity of Japanese culture.

Dong Zhongshu

Though Japan learned to incorporate Confucianism, it did not completely promote it. Confucianism only played a specific role in the development of Japanese culture, which seems to be compatible but never parallel. Ancient Japan for Confucian culture and the Chinese political system of tolerance is mainly reflected in the political to the Confucian idea of the king of the land and the king of the people as the core, modeled on the Chinese political system to establish a system of laws and regulations. It also promulgated the earliest Japanese household register, the Gengwu Nianzhi, and formally implemented the Bantian collection and granting law centered on the household register. During the reign of Emperor Tenmu, a centralized system similar to the Chinese bureaucratic system was established, following the centralized system inherited from Emperor Tenchi. The centralized system was similar to the bureaucratic system in China, which was an attempt to change the status quo where the rich dominated the politics. This was later known as the Hidetori Jogyo Gohara Order, a Japanese legal code. In addition, emissaries were sent to study the Chinese political system.

In the following decades, based on the Hidetori Jogyo Hara Order, the Dabo Ruling and the Pension Ruling were formulated and enacted on the basis of the Tatang Yonghui Ruling. In the middle of the 8th century AD, this system was brought to its peak.

But it did not last long, as Emperor Hwanmu, at the end of the 8th century, was forced to abolish the legion system of the Dabo Ruling due to the huge financial burden it imposed on the court, and instead relied on the kenji system and the kokuga system, which relied on the armament of the local gentry.

Emperor Hwanmu

In the transfer of military power, the central government gradually withdrew from the stage, and the powerful clans gradually rose to power, and the power of the taijunggwan was almost divided by the powerful clans, and the rule system existed in name only. Even at this particular time, Japanese politics retained its own traditions, such as that of the Shinto priests, which have been passed down to the present day.

The taijinkan was created on the basis of the three-province system of the Tang Dynasty, but its authority was much greater than that of the three provinces, and all bills, except those of great importance, could be issued as soon as the taijinkan had considered and approved them. As a good example, Japan also imitated China's establishment of the university, but it had great limitations and was only open to eunuchs and nobles, so commoners' children could not participate in it, which led to very few commoners being able to make a name for themselves.

In the Middle Ages, Japan had already developed a complete feudal political system, and Confucianism had little influence on its politics. Therefore, the Confucian culture flowed into the educational activities of the Zen monks in the five mountains and ten temples, and then gradually spread through the Zen monks' propagation activities among all classes in Japan. This began the era of popularization of Buddhism in Japan.

Tang Dynasty Architecture in Japan

The Zen monks were the most educated group in Chinese studies at that time, and were a new sect. Relying on shoguns, daimyo and other martial power holders, they gained a very high position in the martial society; they were also actively involved in popular indoctrination activities like other sects.

It so happened that during this period, both the samurai and the common people were interested in the Chinese characters that had been introduced to their native land. The former sought to acquire knowledge about political order and military formations through the study of kanji, while the latter valued more practical skills such as medicine. Both exuded a strong interest in Confucian culture, which is full of admonitions.

So this was the most crucial and respected period for the Zen monk as a preacher. He catered to the needs of all classes, teaching the cultural messages they loved and sought.

But Confucianism, after all, was only an ideology that was spread among the classes, and had little to do with the mainstream of orthodox thought in Japan. In other words, during this period, Confucianism was only an enrichment to the development of Japanese culture, and it was a culture that was not linked to politics, so people did not try to rule the country and build up the nation by studying Confucianism. Even if the samurai class actively studied Confucianism, it was only to provide some theoretical resources for themselves.

Traditional Japanese dress

The acceptance of Confucianism in Japan in the distant past was peaceful, but in the modern period, most Confucians had a strong ambition to rule the country and the world. It is because of the political intention of these Confucians that Confucianism was able to develop vigorously in Japan, and laid the foundation for the promotion of Confucianism in modern Japanese society. In addition, this was the period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as the ruling class, the most untouchable is the right to rule, but Confucianism has its ability to educate, strict feudal hierarchy to the ruling class to provide the ideological basis for education. What's more, Confucianism's concepts of benevolence, righteousness, and propriety y bound the people's thinking, so that they did not have the power to formulate a counter-argument during the long period of seclusion and the period of such a big class gap.

Buddhism, however, has had an unassailable place in Japan's history. Even Confucianism, which flourished, has yet to dismantle the roots of Buddhism.

The Shogunate adopted Confucianism as its official ideology, but compared with the Buddhist monks, who were responsible for important tasks such as the administration of household registration, the rights of the Confucians were limited to cultural endeavors and the teaching of the people. Until the popularization of clan schools, monks still retained a great deal of influence in culture and education, which is another great proof that Buddhism has such a strong position.

Confucianism in this period was not as influential as Buddhism, but it made a difference. The Shogunate was managed through a hierarchy. As the largest and most labor-intensive peasant class, how to pacify and stabilize the ruling position became the Shogunate's main concern at this time, and Confucianism played a key role in the group management at this time, the implementation of the five-person management system, which is also known as China's guilt-by-association system. Through this five-man system, effective management of the largest class was realized, and the stability of the regime was greatly enhanced.

The Japanese Samurai

The so-called guilt-by-association system meant that peasant households living together were managed in groups of five families. There was to be no harboring, etc. If one family made a mistake and the remaining four families did not report it, then the last five families were punished together.

Although Confucianism has been developed to varying degrees in Japan, there is no concrete evidence of its influence, and only the intellectuals can be truly educated in Confucianism, while the common people can only accept Confucianism as it is relayed from the intellectuals. This is a great limitation, the understanding of Confucianism is really in the hands of the intellectuals, and the education received by the common people is also a choice of the ruling class or the intellectuals, which makes the degree of acceptance and understanding of Confucianism in Japan and even in other countries different.

Conclusion

Japan is a small island nation, and the geographical limitation of not having borders with other countries led to the dominance of the ruling class in the discourse. The will of the ruling class at different times was the foreign attitude of the whole Japan. Before the formation of the early feudal society, Japan actively absorbed foreign cultures.

Japanese folk prints

For example, Confucianism, but because of the political environment and the limited level of people's cognition, the absorption of Confucianism was also a rigid copy without in-depth selection. During the formation of feudal society, the borrowing of Confucianism was only the relocation of the ideological and cultural fields and the imitation of the political system. In the final stage of the Shogunate's rule, Confucianism was only adopted for the purpose of maintaining the rule, and there was not enough in-depth understanding of Confucianism to form a set of political order similar to that of China in Japan.

References:

The Hidetori Jogyo Gohara Decree

The Laws of Eternal Emblems