Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook

Kamo no Mabuchi

466 Kamo no Mabuchi 賀茂真淵 (1697–1769) Born in Hamamatsu to a family with ancestral connections to Shinto, Kamo no Mabuchi’s early education took place in local scholarly circles that combined Shinto studies with the study of źwakaŻ poetry. In 1728 Mabuchi enrolled as a student of the famous Shinto scholar Kada no Azumamaro (1669–1736), later moving to Kyoto to be closer to his teacher. After Azumamaro’s death, Mabuchi moved to Edo to work with his nephew Kada no Arimaro (1706–1751), a scholar of Japanese studies in the employ of Tayasu Munetake, second son of the shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune. In 1742 Mabuchi was invited to join a debate between Arimaro and Munetake on the nature and function of waka. Impressed by Mabuchi’s performance , Munetake hired him four years later as a replacement for Arimaro, a post he held for fourteen years. During this time he wrote commentaries on such texts as the Man’yōshū, The Tale of Genji, and Tales of Ise and produced scholarly works on the ancient Japanese language. He was also an active waka poet himself, noted for his revival of the Man’yōshū style and long-neglected poetic forms. After retiring from his post with Munetake, he taught in his private academy while continuing to produce various commentaries in addition to a series of more philosophical essays seeking to connect ancient Japanese language and literature to an ideology of Japanese cultural purity. The most significant of these essays, excerpted here, was composed in response to a treatise by one of Ogyū Sorai’s* students who had propounded a philosophy of the Way as a creation of the ancient Chinese sage kings, arguing that prior to the importation of Confucianism Japan lacked norms for governing society. Mabuchi counters this idea by proclaiming the existence of a native “Japanese Way” and asserting that ancient Japan was a society free of duplicity and governed in harmony with the rhythms of nature, all of which was later corrupted by the rationalistic mindset of foreign value systems. [pf] The meaning of our country Kamo no Mabuchi 1765, 7–10, 12–13, 17, 20–4; (239, 243–5, 247–9, 252–3, 256–9) A certain person said to me, “I have no interest in such trivial matters as poetry (źutaŻ). What interests me is the Way of China, which seeks to bring order to the world.” I just laughed and did not bother responding. Later, I encountered him again. “When I was explaining the principles of all things, you just laughed,” he said. “There must be some reason for your reaction.” “What you speak of must be the Confucianism of China,” I replied. “That is a human ka m o n o m a bu c h i | 467 creation that arbitrarily makes the heartž of heaven and earth into something very small.” He then grew very angry and said, “How can you call this greatWayž small?” …… When one hears a little about this Way, it does not seem worthy of discussion, but because it explains things theoretically and in great detail, people readily listen and feel they understand. What is most important is that the land be governed well, and that people revere preservation of the succession from one generation to the next. Even if people say that there is such-and-such a principle ž, in the actual world, although people may appear to be the same, their hearts differ. Therefore, one should realize that although on the surface they may appear to follow the Way, in their hearts they do not. When Confucianism was transmitted to this country it was explained that in China this principle was used to govern properly, but this was all just a lie. I would like to send those who are still deluded about this to China and show them what it is like. They would be as shocked as Urashima Tarō when he returned to his home village.1 This country was originally governed well in accordance with the heart of heaven and earth, without such petty theorizing, but when these teachings that seemed plausible were suddenly introduced, they spread widely because people of antiquity, being straightforward, naively took them to be true. From ancient times things had generally flourished reign after reign, but following the introduction of Confucianism, in the reign of Emperor Tenmu, a great disturbance occurred. Subsequently at the Nara court, caps, robes, furniture, and other things were changed to the Chinese...