Nakae Tōju 中江 藤樹 | |
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 Nakae Tōju | |
| Born | (1608-04-21)April 21, 1608 Takashima,Ōmi Province, Japan |
| Died | October 11, 1648(1648-10-11) (aged 40) Takashima, Ōmi Province, Japan |
Nakae Tōju (中江 藤樹;Japanese pronunciation:[toꜜː.dʑɯ],[1] 21 April 1608 – 11 October 1648) was a writer andConfucian scholar of earlyEdo period Japan popularly known as "the Sage ofŌmi".[2]
Nakae was the eldest son of a farmer in Ōmi Province. When he was nine years old, he was adopted by his grandfather, Yoshinaga Tokuzaemon, who was asamurai with a stipend of 150koku servingYonago Domain inHoki Province. In 1617, thedaimyō of Yonago,Kato Sadayasu was transferred toŌzu Domain inIyo Province and Nakae relocated toShikoku with his grandparents. In 1622, his grandfather died and Nakae inherited a position with a stipend of 100koku. However, in 1634, at the age of 27, he left his position without officially resigning due tofilial piety for his mother and health reasons. After hiding for a time inKyoto, he returned to his home village of Ogawa in Ōmi (currently part ofTakashima, Shiga, where he opened a private academy for Confucian studies. This was theTōju Shoin (藤樹書院). The Tōju Shoin takes its name from a giantwisteria which grew behind Nakae's house. His students nicknamed him Mr Wisteria Tree, or "Tōju" in thekanbun pronunciation of itskanji.
In 1637, Nakae married Hisashi, the daughter of a retainer ofIse-Kameyama Domain. Nakae gradually became obsessed with theCheng–Zhu school, but was also highly influenced byYangmingism, which argued for the primacy of human intuition or conscience over intellect: moral improvement arises out of conscience-based action (similar toAristotle's ethics). Nakae added a more religious aspect to Wang's "School of Intuition of Mind", calling the human conscience the "divine light of heaven". Nakae's works also supplied his followers (such asKumazawa Banzan [1619–1691]) with "the moral foundation for political action".[3] His wife died in 1846 and the following year he remarried to Kuri, the daughter of a retainer ofŌmizo Domain. In early 1848, he rebuilt the Tōju Shoin on a larger scale; however, he died less than half a year later at the age of 41. His grave is at the temple of Tamarin-ji in Takashima.[2]
The Tōju Shoin building was destroyed by a large fire in 1880 along with 34 nearby farmhouses. The current structure is a reconstruction built in 1882, but on a smaller scale than the original. It was designated aNational Historic Site in 1922, with the area under protection expanded in 2007.[4] It is about a 15-minute walk fromAdogawa Station on the JRKosei Line.[2]
Nakae was unusual in teaching that humanism transcended social status or gender, and that his teachings would be useful to women as well as men. While accepting the then standard view of women as usually lacking such virtues as compassion and honesty, he argued: "if a wife's disposition is healthy and pious, obedient, sympathetic and honest, then ... every member of her family will be at peace and the entire household in perfect order."[5] His teachings spread widely not only to samurai but also to farmers, merchants, and craftsmen, and has been spontaneously called "Ōmi saint" since the middle of the Edo period.[2] His later disciples includedYoshida Shoin.[2]
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Nakae Tōju,OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 130+ works in 200 publications in 5 languages and 740+ library holdings.[6]
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