Japanese modern Confucian studies

Author: Liu Yuebing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: The greatest strength of this major work lies in its analysis, organization, and discussion of the history of modern Japanese thought from the perspective of the need to learn. In reality, such research methods no longer exist in Japan today. Most Japanese researchers view the history of modern Japanese thought after the Meiji Restoration as essentially a process of absorbing, digesting, and internalizing Western modern thought, thereby making it Japanese. While Liu Yuebing offers a sharp critique of the one-sidedness of this research method, he also provides a brilliant and clear explanation of various facts, such as how the Confucian tradition, particularly the Zhu Xi and Yangming schools during the Edo period, served as the foundation for the formation of modern Japanese thought before the Meiji Restoration, and how this tradition continued to exert a significant influence on Japanese society until the defeat in the 20th year of the Showa period. The publication of this book holds great significance not only for Japanese researchers of modern Japanese thought but also for scholars worldwide, offering a profound intellectual impact. The book aims to reveal certain aspects of the existence, ideological characteristics, and relationship with the contemporary intellectual history of modern Japanese Confucianism, particularly from the Meiji Restoration to the end of World War II, through case studies of specific historical figures. In addition to the introduction, it is divided into five chapters. Chapters 1 to 3 primarily focus on the relationship between Confucianism and intellectual history, while chapters 4 and 5 focus on the form and characteristics of Confucianism itself. Modern Japanese Confucianism represents an independent stage and form in the history of Japanese Confucianism, representing the inheritance and development of traditional Confucianism in a new historical era. Especially its efforts to reinterpret traditional Confucianism in light of Western thought not only enriched the content of both the intellectual history and the history of Confucianism of that time but also, whether viewed statically as a prerequisite and foundational element in intellectual history or dynamically as a, are an indispensable and highly significant topic in the study of intellectual history.