Research on the History of Japanese Political Thought

Author: [Japan] Maruyama Masao / Wang Zhongjiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-01-01
Features: Maruyama Masao, through a series of works such as Studies in the History of Japanese Political Thought, laid the foundation for the new political science in post-war Japan and established a research paradigm shared by post-war Japanese social sciences beyond the field of political science. This paradigm involves analyzing the political and social behavior patterns of the Japanese people by delving into their deep psychological and spiritual structures, thereby seeking ways to deepen the understanding of social sciences from the perspectives of human beings and culture rather than economic structures. His books and other related works provoked strong responses in post-war Japan, making Maruyama Masao a spiritual leader in establishing new thinking paradigms in the Japanese intellectual world. This book, along with other related works, is dedicated to finding the modern resources of Japanese intellectual history, thereby challenging the conventional view that Japan's modernization was triggered by the West and that Japanese modernist thought was a product of Western influence. At the same time, in the Japanese academic circles where Neo-Confucianism was regarded as a feudal and decadent ideology, Maruyama Masao's fresh perspective undoubtedly provided new possibilities for examining Neo-Confucianism.