ASIA 315 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Genroku, Protestant Reformation, Kokugaku
Document Summary
After yamazaki ansai the breakdown of the near hegemonic position of zhuxi learning. Rationalism (different interpretations can all be rational) Humanism (does not care about animals or spirits) We have a responsibility to maintain the balance at our very persons, so we could reach perfect goodness. Plato: spend your life to try to reach perfect goodness. Ren: to do good, to be good to another person (practical understanding of goodness; found in interaction; goodness in action) More books written in 1600-1700 than all written before 1600. This mindedness continues throughout the tokugawa period. Mariyama: some japanese principles persist throughout history. The way things are will be the way things stay (attractive to a dictator) Chinese prefer to think of themselves as the middle kingdom; they are the civilization surrounded by barbarians translates into an interest din japan (rise of collective identity) (related to kokugaku) A quest for self-cultivation and even sage hood.
