Abstract
The Japanese Confucian scholar Dazai Shundai (1680–1747) followed Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728), his famous teacher, in arguing that the Confucian Way is not inherent in human nature, but rather must be learned through external teachings, specifically the ritual, music, and other creations of the sage kings of ancient China. Shundai portrayed human nature in much more negative terms than Sorai, though, leading him to see such cultivation through Confucian teachings as a process of struggle with people’s natural inclinations, as opposed to Sorai’s notion of Confucianism as a gentle and nurturing force. This article explores how Shundai formulated his theory of human nature in relation to the ideas of various earlier Confucian thinkers, and argues that his pessimism regarding human nature is reflected in his willingness in certain circumstances to accept a more limited vision of Confucian cultivation on the level of both the individual and the state.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
This letter is discussed at some length in Yamashita 1992. Yamashita points out how Shundai not only displayed personal hostility toward Sorai, but also challenged certain of Sorai’s philosophical ideas.
- 3.
For a similar argument by Sorai, see Ogyū 1973a: 23–24.
- 4.
Sorai makes this point by distinguishing between the methods of teachers and of litigants. True teachers, he argues, educate people by transforming them over a long period of time, and only address themselves to those who have faith in them. Litigants, in contrast, engage in disputes with those who are skeptical of them, and thus attempt to quickly win such people over with detailed argumentation (Ogyū 1973a: 25–26).
- 5.
Shundai’s interpretation of this passage, and how his reading of it relates to his theory of the three types of nature, is discussed at length in Hara 2008.
- 6.
For Shundai’s discussion of Han Yu, see Shundai 1972b: 69.
- 7.
Sorai is playing on the multiple meanings of “zai 材,” which can mean not only “capabilities,” but also “lumber.”
- 8.
I translate rei 礼 (C: li) as “ritual” (rather than “ritual propriety”) when discussing Sorai and Shundai’s use of the term, as for them it refers to actual rituals themselves, not to the virtue of propriety associated with these rituals.
- 9.
This passage from Zhu Xi is cited in Dazai 1972b: 99.
- 10.
In his commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean, Sorai interprets “genuineness” as the “unity of inner and outer” (naigai itsu 内外一) (Ogyū 1978: 442). Shundai is slightly modifying Sorai’s wording, but retains the same basic idea.
- 11.
Bitō argues that Shundai’s emphasis on personal moral cultivation, as well as his view of the Confucian Way as existing in nature, represent in some ways a return to Zhu Xi’s ideas. He sees Shundai’s views on the relationship between the internal heart and external actions, though, as clearly opposed to Zhu Xi (Bitō 1972: 507).
- 12.
Shundai argues that Confucianism has its own kind of “non-action,” distinct from that of Daoism. In Confucian non-action, a political system is put in place, and then things are allowed to run their course within the bounds of this system.
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Flueckiger, P. (2014). Human Nature and the Way in the Philosophy of Dazai Shundai. In: Huang, Cc., Tucker, J. (eds) Dao Companion to Japanese Confucian Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2921-8_8
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