Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook

Hayashi Razan

304 Hayashi Razan 林 羅山 (1583–1657) Hayashi Nobukatsu received training from an early age in Zen Buddhism at Kennin-ji in his native Kyoto, but soon turned his attention to neo-Confucian thought, which had been greatly enhanced by the arrival of numerous texts from Korea. He studied briefly with Fujiwara Seika*, who in turn recommended him to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616) as a capable scholar-retainer. In line with tradition, Ieyasu insisted that Nobukatsu present himself as a Buddhist monk. Although Nobukatsu had been devoted to the study and popularization of neo-Confucianism, he agreed to move permanently to Ieyasu’s castle-town in Edo, shave his head, wear Buddhist robes, and go by the Buddhist name of Dōshun. Through strong determination, tempered by a compromising temperament , Dōshun established a lineage of neo-Confucian thought for himself and his disciples by presiding over instruction at Shōheikō, a neo-Confucian academy sponsored by the Tokugawa shogunatež. To later historians, he came to be known by his “Confucian” name, Razan. Razan’s philosophical ideas are in large part a reformulation of the basics of the neo-Confucian philosophy of Zhu Xi, especially as articulated in Zhu’s Commentaries on the Four Books. Equally important in Razan’s understanding of neo-Confucian philosophy was a work from the late Song dynasty by Chen Beixi, The Meanings of Neo-Confucian Terms. The text had first entered Japan in the 1590s by way of a Korean edition. Its systematic, conceptual explication of neo-Confucianism made it both a useful primer for beginning students and a powerful tool for establishing an orthodox understanding of neo-Confucian thought. Razan’s most extensive philosophical text, a commentary on Beixi’s text, reveals the extent to which he was influenced by the conceptual, language-oriented approach. While for the most part loyal to Zhu Xi’s thought, Razan departs from it in significant ways. One of the most obvious is in his lack of interest in the notion of “the ultimate of nonbeing and yet the supreme ultimatež,” which even Zhu Xi seems to have feared was too abstract and metaphysical for most students. Razan does not reject the formulation entirely, but clearly follows Beixi in relegating it to secondary status in his thought. Moreover, Razan had little use for the practice of “quietsitting ,” a neo-Confucian meditative regimen meant to facilitate understanding of the originally good human nature of humanity. Otherwise, Razan’s thinking is largely consonant with that of orthodox neo-Confucians . Thus he understands the world metaphysically as the product of principlež and generative force or źkiŻ. Like Zhu Xi, Razan equivocates over the relationship haya s h i r a z a n | 305 between the two, sometimes implying that principle exists prior to ki, but most frequently returning to his insistence that principle cannot exist without ki. The original goodness of human nature is associated with principle, while tendencies toward evil are more a reflection of ki. He argues that through study and learning, especially of neo-Confucian texts, people can fully realize the goodness of their natures and overcome any bad inclinations accruing from ki. More than metaphysics, Razan emphasized neo-Confucian understandings of basic ethical notions like humanenessž. This virtue, which defines the essence of humanity, Razan understood as an expression of love and compassion. Although an advisor to several shōgun and the samurai ruling elite of his day, Razan emphasized courage more as an ethical virtue associated with doing what is right rather than as a virtue of the battlefield reflecting one’s fearlessness in armed conflict. In this sense, his service to the Tokugawa contributed significantly toward the increasing cultural sophistication of a warrior regime. [jat] A vernacul ar guide to confucianism Hayashi Razan 1659, 584–5; n.d., 151–78; 1629, 142–3 Language The minds of the sages and the worthies are manifest in their words; their words are found in their writings. Unless one understands the meanings of their words, how can one comprehend their minds? Even they never considered abandoning exegetical learning and the writing of commentaries.… Without “orthodox interpretations,” people tend to use “this” to explain “that,” or offer contemporary examples to explicate ancient matters.… Yet unless one understands the meanings of words, the works of the Confucian sages and worthies will be very difficult to read. Unless one reads the works of the sages and worthies, their remarks will be difficult to understand. Unless one understands their remarks, then how...