Japanese Neo-Confucian scholar Ikeda Tsunetaka Research--Chinese-Japanese Cultural Studies Series

Author: Wang Qing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Wang Qing's book A Study of Ogyuu Sorai, a prominent scholar in the late 17th to early 18th centuries in Japanese academic history, is the first specialized academic work by Chinese scholars to systematically organize and analyze Ogyuu Sorai (1666-1728). For the humanities and even Confucian studies in China, the academic contributions of Ogyuu Sorai may not be widely known among scholars. However, whether examined from the perspective of Japanese intellectual history, East Asian intellectual history, or the history of Sino-Japanese cultural relations, Ogyuu Sorai undoubtedly represents a significant academic presence. The absence of his scholarship and its interpretation would certainly leave any of these fields incomplete. Wang Qing's book fills this gap in Chinese academic research, making a substantial contribution to the comprehensive and accurate understanding of human thought's wisdom, as well as grasping the threads of world and East Asian cultural history.
From the perspective of intellectual history, the Edo period (17th to mid-19th century) in Japan saw the gradual emergence and interplay of various intellectual currents: the "Shintoism" centered on indigenous beliefs, the "Chinese Learning" centered on Confucianism, the "National Learning" that rebelled against Chinese Learning, the "Rangaku" introduced from Europe with a focus on human medicine, and the complex "Buddhism" composed of multiple sects, which had already become a fundamental belief among the Japanese people. These currents developed independently yet interacted, creating a rich and diverse era in ancient Japanese intellectual thought, laying the ideological foundation for Japan's "modern transformation" in the mid-19th century. Ogyuu Sorai was the shining and final flag of "Edo Confucianism."
The "Confucianism" of the Edo period was a broad concept, with its core consisting of a vast academic system built on the interpretation of Chinese "Confucian classics." However, its interpretations were highly diverse and dynamic. Generally speaking, since the 5th century CE, Confucianism had been introduced into Japan, evolving through classical Confucianism centered on the court during the Nara and Heian periods, and later through the "Five Mountains Confucianism" centered on temples during the Kamakura, Muromachi, and Momoyama periods. After more than a thousand years, it began to show a tendency toward "popularization" and gave rise to factional disputes in this period. During the two centuries of the 17th and 18th centuries, "Edo Confucianism" produced various schools, such as the "Zhuxi School" led by Fujiwara Shinko and Hayashi Roshan, the "Yongming School" led by Nakagawa Tojuro, the "Koyi School" led by Ito Jinza, and the "Kogenteki School" led by Ogyuu Sorai. These schools had sub-schools, each with distinct doctrines, creating a complex and interwoven intellectual landscape. All these schools reflected the diverse perspectives and experiences of individuals living in the same society, their reflections on their own existence, their scrutiny of historical inheritance, and their designs for the future. Ogyuu Sorai was one of the most outstanding figures on this intellectual stage, embodying the wisdom of his predecessors while attempting to break free from their rigidity, yet ultimately remaining bound by tradition.
On one hand, he criticized the "heart and nature" worship of Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism but, on the other, advocated the "way of the sage-kings," delving deeper into the "ancient learning" worship. He rejected the speculative "private wisdom" of Neo-Confucianism, emphasizing the necessity of experience, yet refused to revise the ancient worldview with any notion of historical progress. He began to recognize that "the way of nature and reason in self-cultivation is harsh for all," showing a toward hedonism, yet he also stressed the "way of the sage-kings" and the "way of governing the world," insisting on maintaining Confucianism's moral governance as ideology.
Ogyuu Sorai's scholarship was filled with such complex and rich "antinomies," making his work a mirror of his time. Dr. Wang Qing, in her grasp of Japanese intellectual history, has focused on Ogyuu Sorai, pinpointing the fundamental issues of "Edo Confucianism." She situates Ogyuu Sorai within the broader intellectual context of the Edo period, examining him comprehensively within the theoretical frameworks of various schools of "Edo Confucianism." From the perspectives of linguistic philosophy, human nature theory, and political theory, she interprets his scholarship, striving to reveal the essential characteristics of his thought. Dr. Wang Qing's research on this topic has significantlyed the gap in Chinese academia, which has remained relatively unfamiliar with "Edo Confucianism," and has accordingly established an academic platform for international dialogue on this subject.
As the first Chinese reader of Dr. Wang Qing's book, I was deeply moved by the academic wisdom and courage she demonstrated in her research. Not only did I benefit greatly from her work, but I also realized that a new generation of scholars in Chinese humanities has grown up, possessing both a solid foundation in disciplinary texts and insightful scientific thinking, capable of engaging in healthy international academic dialogue on the same themes. This fills me with great joy.
Due to my academic specialization, I often read scholarly discussions on multiculturalism by esteemed scholars from various countries, gaining much insight. However, overall, there remains an undeniable. A significant portion of what is termed "foreign culture research" in China still falls short of the level of "introduction." While such introductions are certainly necessary, researchers should ideally have an accurate understanding of the subject they introduce and a basic, comprehensive grasp of it. Only with such foundational knowledge can they begin their scholarly work. These expectations should not be considered overly demanding, but unfortunately, many "foreign culture studies" suffer from the fact that even the researchers themselves fail to fully grasp the subject they are discussing, yet they proceed to demonstrate their expertise as if on a "stage."
There is another, more "cautious" type of "foreign culture research," which avoids such pretensions and instead almost entirely follows the findings of foreign researchers, taking their results without proper reflection or even without reinterpreting them, yet assuming the role of "researcher" or even "great scholar," speaking as the direct voice of foreign researchers and offering unsolicited opinions, intimidating younger scholars. From my perspective, this state of affairs is particularly pronounced in the study of Japanese classical culture. Among these, the study of "Edo Confucianism" cannot be overlooked. Due to the limited attention and research by Chinese scholars on this subject, its mainstream discourse has long been confined within the frameworks of Japanese scholars like Ito Tetsujirō and Maruyama Masao. Yet, critics have enthusiastically embraced this as a "Marxist model" for analyzing Japanese culture.
Dr. Wang Qing's book, however, challenges this superficial mainstream academic discourse with wisdom and years of rigorous research, demonstrating exceptional innovative spirit and academic courage. In her work, she explicitly argues that Chinese academia's general evaluation of the "Kogaku" (Ancient Learning) school of Ogyuu Sorai, especially the "Sorai School," has largely followed the views of the renowned Japanese intellectual historian Maruyama Masao in his Studies in the Intellectual History of Tokugawa Japan. She views the "Sorai School" as merely the "dawning of modern thought in Japan." Dr. Wang Qing states: "Through an in-depth study of the extensive original texts of the 'Sorai School,' I discovered that Maruyama's references to the 'Sorai School' were selective and biased. His research on the 'Sorai School' was essentially a tool for constructing his theory of the origins of Japanese modernity." She argues that Maruyama used the "Sorai School" to narrate a myth: "'Sorai School' = anti-'Zhuxi School' = modern thought."
Based on textual evidence, Dr. Wang Qing meticulously analyzes the similarities and differences between Chinese and Japanese Confucian thought, the inheritance and characteristics of traditional Japanese Confucianism and Edo-period Zhuxi Confucianism, and the true role and value of Edo-period Zhuxi Confucianism in the ideological landscape of the time. This establishes a genuine cultural context for objectively understanding Ogyuu Sorai's scholarship. On this foundation, she clarifies the academic significance and intellectual features of the debates between the "Sorai School" and the "Zhuxi School," thereby exposing the "artificial image" of Ogyuu Sorai constructed by Maruyama and reconstructing his "authentic scholarly reality" on empirical grounds. Moreover, she further reveals the essential consciousness behind this "artificial image," arguing that Maruyama's perspective was shaped by "modernism = and Japanese centrism," and that the significance of his Sorai School research lay not in the accuracy of his evaluation but in his portrayal of the Sorai School as a pioneer of "human liberation" in modern thought to counter the authoritarian rule of Japan's fascist regime during World War II. Maruyama's intentions were undoubtedly to uphold modern democracy and oppose Japanese fascism, and in this sense, his theories still hold relevance today. However, his premise was to view Western modernization as the sole model and archetype, a product of a Eurocentric historical view.
Reading to this point, I have been deeply moved by the author's profound knowledge, insightful thinking, and fair-minded exposition in her book. I believe this is a work of significant academic value in Chinese humanities for interpreting Japanese classical culture. Dr. Wang Qing, the author of this book, has demonstrated remarkable expertise in the field of Japanese intellectual history, particularly in the history of Confucianism. In 1985, Peking University's Department of Classical Documents established the first master's program in "International Sinology (Sinology)" in China, and Wang Qing was one of its first master's students. She earned her "Master of Arts" degree from Peking University with a research topic on the Zen Buddhist Confucian monk Gitō Shūshin (Gitou-Syushin, 1325–1388) in the Five Mountains culture of Japan, demonstrating a strong academic foundation and focus. During this time, her interest in Japanese studies grew. Later, she pursued her doctoral studies at the National Tsukuba University in Japan, studying under the renowned intellectual historian and social historian Yasumaru Yoshio, earning her Ph.D. with a dissertation titled A Study of Ogyuu Sorai.
Upon returning to China in 1998, Dr. Wang Qing joined the Postdoctoral Research Program at Peking University's Institute of Comparative Literature and Comparative Culture, continuing her research on Edo-period intellectual history. After completing her postdoctoral studies, she began deeper academic research at the Institute of Oriental Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. As a near-whole-life witness to Dr. Wang Qing's academic growth—she was in her later undergraduate years at Peking University when I served as the department head, and I also supervised her master's thesis. Even during her time in Japan, we exchanged academic information. When she became a postdoctoral fellow at Peking University, I served as her co-supervisor. After she started working at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, we met frequently at various seminars. Her relentless pursuit of knowledge, rigorous scholarly approach, and insightful academic insights left a deep impression on me. Over the past two decades, as Chinese humanities have undergone significant development, Dr. Wang Qing has, through her tireless efforts, grown from a young undergraduate into a highly accomplished scholar in East Asian cultural studies,ing both domestically and internationally. This fills me with profound emotion.
Reading her book, I was struck by the insights I gained from it and, at the same time, reflected on her academic journey, giving rise to my own thoughts. I have written this as a preface.