| Part ofa series on |
| Shinto |
|---|
 |
|
Kokugaku (Kyūjitai:國學,Shinjitai:国学; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school ofJapanesephilology andphilosophy originating during theEdo period.Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study ofChinese,Confucian, andBuddhist texts in favor of research into the earlyJapanese classics.[1]
What later became known as thekokugaku tradition began in the 17th and 18th centuries askogaku ("ancient studies"),wagaku ("Japanese studies") orinishie manabi ("antiquity studies"), a term favored byMotoori Norinaga and his school. Drawing heavily fromShinto andJapan's ancient literature, the school looked back to a golden age ofculture and society. They drew upon ancientJapanese poetry, predating the rise ofmedieval Japan's feudal orders in the mid-twelfth century, and other cultural achievements to show the emotion of Japan. One famous emotion appealed to by thekokugakusha is 'mono no aware'.
The wordkokugaku, coined to distinguish this school fromkangaku ("Chinese studies"), was popularized byHirata Atsutane in the 19th century. It has been translated as 'Native Studies' and represented a response toSinocentricNeo-Confucian theories.Kokugaku scholars criticized the repressive moralizing of Confucian thinkers, and tried to re-establish Japanese culture before the influx of foreign modes of thought and behaviour.
Eventually, the thinking ofkokugaku scholars influenced thesonnō jōi philosophy and movement. It was this philosophy, amongst other things, that led to the eventual collapse of theTokugawa shogunate in 1868 and the subsequentMeiji Restoration.
Thekokugaku school held that the Japanese national character was naturally pure, and would reveal its inherent splendor once the foreign (Chinese) influences were removed. The "Chinese heart" was considered different from the "true heart" or "Japanese Heart". This true Japanese spirit needed to be revealed by removing a thousand years of Chinese learning.[2] It thus took an interest in philologically identifying the ancient, indigenous meanings of ancient Japanese texts; in turn, these ideas were synthesized with earlyShinto andastronomy.[3]
The termkokugaku was used liberally by early modern Japanese to refer to the "national learning" of each of the world's nations. This usage was adopted intoChinese, where it is still in use today (C:guoxue).[4] The Chinese also adopted thekokugaku term "national essence" (J:kokusui, C: 国粹guocui).[5]
According to scholar of religionJason Ānanda Josephson,kokugaku played a role in the consolidation ofState Shinto in theMeiji era. It promoted a unified, scientifically grounded and politically powerful vision of Shinto againstBuddhism,Christianity, andJapanese folk religions, many of which were named "superstitions."[6]
| Part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in Japan |
|---|
 |
Literature
|
Related topics |
From these citations, we can see that the term "national learning" (J. kokugaku; C. guoxue) originated in Japan.
