2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
From Transculturation to Culture-Specific Ethics: The Implementation of Confucian Ritual Forms in 19th Century Japan
| Project/Area Number |
19K00937
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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) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | Confucianism / Ritual |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the first year of this research project on the implementation of Confucian ritual in Japan during the 19th century, the emphasis has been on locating primary source documents in libraries and archives in Japan which shed light on the survival of Confucian ritual forms and their purpose in domain schools. Even in a period where native learning, and foreign learning, had become dominant in the curricula of domain schools, Zhu Xi-based Confucian teaching and Confucian ritual forms continued to play a role in many of the schools. This was in part a legacy of the prohibition on non-Zhu Xi learning since the Kansei restrictions imposed by Matsudaira Sadanobu late in the 18th century, which was linked to a major restoration of the Yushima Seido temple. As part of this same legacy, Confucius temples were maintained in many domain schools, even as the religious elements in them had ceased to be an essential symbol of the identity as educational institutions. To account for this apparent contradiction, the concept of transculturation is useful: the schools' intended function was very much planned and directed by domain authorities according to local needs. The economic and social crises of the 18th century had eased in many domains, but moral transformation to maintain social order remained an important aim of domain schools, even if no longer monopolised by Confucian learning. This demonstrates that the domains were not engaging in passive reception of external culture.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project progressed according to plan until the last part of the year, when international travel and access to libraries and archives was closed off in the latter part of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Other than this, the investigation is progressing well. Textual evidence from archives shows that Confucian ritual forms were maintained in many domain schools, even as ever more Japanese and Western educational content was introduced alongside the study of Confucian canonical texts, showing that they were perceived to fulfil a significant function in terms of the school's identity and moral purpose.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The project will continue along the lines established in the first year, in particular continued investigation of archival documents from domain school sites around Japan, which are expected to reveal more about the maintenance of Confucian ritual in different domains during the 19th century, and the place this ritual had in relation to the school curricula. The decline in the importance of Confucian visual forms from the 17th century through the 18th century becomes even more marked in the 19th century, and yet these forms are maintained in some schools, which reflects the aims of the domain authorities in how they hoped to maintain good governance through the officials trained in these schools.
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| Causes of Carryover |
There was an unspent balance in the funds allocated for the year. The COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of one major international research trip, and made library and archive research in Japan impossible during the last part of the year. The research trips cancelled or postponed in the year will be completed in the next year, according to the original research plan.
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