The Development of Japanese Confucianism

Early Japanese Confucianism (Bird Collection, Nara, Heian Period);

Early Japanese Confucianism was mainly attached to Buddhism. From Shoto Kutaishi's political reform to Emperor Kotoku's political reform, and then to the formulation of "Dabao Law" in the first year of Dabao, it is a sign that the early Confucian thought of governing the country and protecting the people was adopted by Japanese politics.

Confucianism as a vassal of Zen Buddhism

(Kamakura, Muromachi era);

In the middle of the Kamakura period (1 192- 1333), Song Xue, a new development of Confucianism in China, was introduced to Japan.

Since the Kamakura era, a large number of Confucian classics of China and Song Dynasty have been brought to Japan by Buddhist monks and Japanese monks in China. Zen monks in China also promoted the spread of Confucianism in Japan. After they arrived in Japan, they mainly introduced the works and thoughts of Zhu, Er Cheng and others, which promoted the spread and development of Confucianism in Japan.

The dominant social relations between the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Ashikaga era (Muromachi era) did not require Confucianism as the ruling ideology, but only regarded it as an education subordinate to Buddhism and preserved it with Shinto and Laozi and Zhuangzi. Although Confucianism became one of the necessities of Zen monks prevailing at that time, it was still included in Buddhism, which shows that Confucianism was only a subordinate product of Buddhism in this period.

However, because the spread of Buddhism is linked to politics, it is also easily affected by political turmoil, and the changes that have a great influence on the heyday of Buddhism come from the Warring States period when Japan entered Xiake.

/kloc-in the early Muromachi era in the 0/4th century, there were some Japanese precedents for learning and teaching Confucianism among Japanese Zen monks and nobles. For example, learning from Zhu's "Monks of Five Mountains" occupied almost half of Japanese Confucianism at that time. At the same time, the emergence of some upper-level officials and aristocratic scholars who studied Confucianism made the neo-Confucianism at this stage slowly penetrate into the court.

It was not until the/kloc-6th century that the situation of Zen monks monopolizing Confucianism was gradually broken. After the "Wuyue monks", three schools of studying Confucianism in Song Dynasty were formed: Doctor School, Sanan School and Hainan School. This shows that Confucianism is no longer confined to the upper class, but is developing towards popularization.

By the end of Muromachi era, in Kansai and Tosa, Confucianism gradually occupied the main position and became the ideological basis for ruling this region.

Third, the heyday of Confucianism and its japanization (Edo era);

The edo period (1603- 1867) was the last feudal period in Japanese society. After the Warring States Rebellion, Tokugawa Ieyasu established its own political system-shogunate system. After entering the Edo era, Confucianism rose to the dominant position, and Confucianism entered its heyday in Japan at this stage.

During the Tokugawa shogunate, Japanese scholars admired Confucianism, especially The Analects of Confucius. However, because Japan is not bound by the imperial examination system, the interpretation of The Analects of Confucius is much freer than that of China.

At the same time as the development of Confucianism, different schools of Confucianism research appeared in Japan. There are different academic viewpoints among different schools, so academic contention among different schools has been launched, which is like a hundred flowers blooming, making academic research further developed.

Generally speaking, the development of Confucianism in the Edo period can be divided into three periods:

The first period is the prosperous period of Zhu studies;

The second period is the rise of Yangming School and the opposition of Zhuzi School.

The third period is the period of competition between the rise of ancient school and the study of Zhuzi.

Fourth, Japanese Confucianism in the capitalist era.

By the Meiji period, Japanese Confucianism was completely different from China's native Confucianism, and the most important thing was that Confucianism was transformed into a right-hand man who assisted the imperial movement. Japanese politicians such as Ito Bowen, Yamagata Aritomo and the Western Zhou Dynasty advocated the combination of Confucianism and martial arts, and respected Confucius and the emperor. Confucius and Bushido go together, and Shinto and Confucianism blend together. The so-called "Harmony with Soul and Talent" is just like China's "Chinese Style and Western Style", which must be "Harmony with Soul" in the bones, and Confucianism is used to support the "Imperial Way". Mencius, an authentic descendant of Confucius in China, is unwilling to be mentioned by the Japanese because of his obvious people-oriented thought.