| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this study is to examine the faith and ethics kept by wealthy farmers and merchants in the Tokugawa era, and to see if their common morals penetrated the general public.
Family precepts and wills in the Tokugawa era were collected from the main regions in Japan, which were classified into the Kanto, the Kinki, and the devout Shinshu sectarian areas. These documents were analyzed in light of the faith and ethics kept by wealthy farmers and merchants. Their sense of duty as village officials was also analyzed in order to examine if their common morals penetrated the general public. The following results were obtained through the analysis :
(1) the Kanto region and its peripheral areas :
Heaven, Got, Buddha, and the sprits of the ancestors were worshipped in a complex manner, with the strong incantational faith. A sense of common morality was thought to be necessary for the prosperity of the families. From the 1760's on, the wealthy farmers and merchants avoided becoming village officials. Consequently, their common morals scarcely infiltrated people's minds.
(2) the Kinki region and its peripheral areas :
These areas had a characteristic that was in-between of the Kanto and the devout Shinshu sectarian areas. Wealthy farmers and merchants in the Kinki areas did not avoid becoming village officials and their common morals seemed to infiltrate the general public. Confucianism also exerted a great influence on people.
(3) the devout Shinshu sectarian areas :
People here kept their strong faith in the Amitabha Tathagata, a symbolic representation of goddess. There was, however, little incantational faith in these areas. The practices of common morality and faith were so inseparable that the religious education was extensively provided in the temples. Wealthy farmers and merchants took charge of village officials with sincerity.
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