2018 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Transculturation in the Introduction of Confucian Rituals in 18th Century Japan
| Project/Area Number |
16K02996
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
Chard Robert 東京大学, 東洋文化研究所, 客員教授 (30571492)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | Confucianism / Ritual |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the third and final year of this research project on the introduction of Confucian ritual in Japan during the 18th century, the emphasis has continued on using primary source documents in libraries and archives in Japan to explain Confucian ritual forms and their purpose in moral education in domain schools. These sources demonstrate a shift away from the emphasis on Confucian ritual forms as religious manifestations intended to affect people in a religious way, as was generally the case in the 17th and early 18th centuries, toward more formulaic and conventional symbols of the bona fides of the domain schools as proper educational institutions, even as Confucian texts and teachings gradually declined relative to the other elements of the curriculum, such as Japanese and Western learning. Paradoxically, ritual forms such as Confucius temples and the sacrifices to Confucius sometimes became grander and more formal than ever during this time, as rulers and statesmen deployed considerable resources to emphasize the importance of the educational project, which was intended to effect moral transformation in a period when economic decline and a perceived breakdown in social order led to a widespread sense of crisis. More than ever, the phenomenon of transculturation is evident in these developments, as the deployment of Confucian cultural forms served a function conditioned far more by the contemporary Japanese environment than by the significance they had in China.
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Research Products
(2 results)
