The Study on The "Serious"Thought of Yamazaki Ansai

• Main Authors: Li Mei-Hui, 李美慧
• Other Authors: Liou Charng-Huei
• Format: Others
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/89065874112259261683

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 日本研究所 === 87 === TITLE OF THESIS: The Study on the “Serious” TOTAL PAGES: 178 Thought of Yamazaki Ansai NAME OF INSTITUTE: Graduate Institute of Japanese Studies, Tamkang University GRADUATE DATE: January 1999 DEGREE CONFERRED: Master Degree NAME OF STUDENT: Li Mei-Hui ADVISOR: Dr. Liou Charng-Huei 李 美 慧 劉 長 輝 ABSTRACT: It is usually to be said that Japanese is good at taking in different cultures and creatively making use of tradition, but not shackled by it. According to the records in 『Koziki 』and 『Nihonnsyoki』, Chinese philosophical classics, such as the Confucian Analects are first brought to Japan by Wang-Jin in the late third century. Afterwards, the Confucianism, being the center of Chinese culture, started having a certain impact on the Japanese culture. Moreover, it turned out to be the official ideology in the Japanese society of early modern ages. As the above mentioned, Japanese Confucianism originated from China, but it is not a reproduction of Chinese Confucianism. In other words, there must have been some changes to be made in order to fit into the unique Japanese culture and local customs. It is well known that Chinese Confucianism was constructed to be a complete intellectual system and gained great achievements in philosophical and academic aspect through the confucians, for instance Chu-Hsi ,in the Sung and Ming dynasty by ingeniously taking in the theories of Buddhism, etc. On the other hand, during the E-do time in Japan, due to the thriving of Confucianism and the social background at that time, Neo-Confucianism, represented by Chu-Hsi , also played a significant role in the process of Japanese culture. Thus, this thesis mainly talks about the thought of Yamazaki Ansai who is a thinker on both Confucianism and Shinto among all the confucians in E-do time. Then, it studies how he inherited the spirit of Neo-Confucianism and further developed his own theory. In Chapter Two, it portrays a general view of Yamazaki Ansai’s background and investigates the differences between the thoughts of Ansai and Chu-Hsi. In Chapter Three, it focuses on the analysis of Chu-Hsi and Ansai’s “Li” and “Chi” concepts so as to clarify the same and differences of the two thinkers’ theories. In Chapter Four, the dominant chapter of this thesis, first it draws an outline of Ansai’s “Seriousness”. Then, according to Ansai’s comments, it further discusses how Ansai’s thoughts differ from Chi-Hsi’s in the aspect of ethical theory. In Chapter Five, it talks about the reasons why Ansai as a confucian approached Shinto and the relation between Ansai’s theoretical system of Shinto and “Seriousness”. In Chapter Six, as to the conclusion, it summaries the analysis of the previous four chapters. Through the above chapter, the thesis hopes to elucidate the meanings of Ansai’s thoughts in Japanese Confucianism.