2023 Fiscal Year Annual Research 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 Toyo Bunko |
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Principal Investigator |
Chard Robert 公益財団法人東洋文庫, 研究部, 研究員 (30571492)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | Confucianism / Ritual |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The overall topic of this research has been an investigation of the use of material Confucian symbols in the official schools of early modern Japan. The Bakufu took direct control of the Shoheizaka Gakumonjo school at the Yushima site in the late Edo period, inspiring domain schools to continue the established temple-school complex form, providing a venue for the Sekiten sacrifices to Confucius and other related rites. These symbolic expressions evolved as Bakufu demands on education and contact with the outside world led to substantial changes in educational content and goals. The current research project examined the changing role of education in this period through research on the visible cultural displays such as temples and rituals.
In the fifth and final year of this research project, the main activity has remained the collection and analysis of primary source materials from domain schools that shed light on the Confucius temples, Sekiten rituals, and their role in the education system. Questions addressed include the motivations for maintaining the traditional design of the temple-school structure, the educational aims of the schools, ideas on inculcating talent and morality, and the social backgrounds of the students at the schools. Considerable effort and resources were devoted to maintaining the various visible trappings of the school-temple system at a time when the older Confucian-based educational content was on the decline, one reason being that the educated population in the early Meiji period had been deeply trained in the old Confucian learning.
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