Date/Place

The 1st ICIS International Forum“Shoin Studies in East Asia”

[Date and Time]2008/1/26

[Place]Kansai University Tokyo Center

[Host]Institute for Cultural Interaction Studies, Kansai University(ICIS)
"Establishment of World Organization for Kanbun Studies"Nisho Gakusha University

[Program&Poster]download

Section 1 Shoin Studies: A Survey

A Survey of Shoin Studies in East Asia

Juji Azuma（Faculty member of ICIS, Kansai University）

Juji Azuma（Faculty member of ICIS, Kansai University）　Shoin (a private academy) was the stronghold where intellectual traditions and morals of the early modern times were formed. The purpose of shoin studies is to undertake a comprehensive survey of its educational func t ions f rom a broa d multinational East Asian point of view, and explain the formation and development of traditional education in East Asia. In particular, it is a collaborated analysis of the facilities, management, format and content of lectures, and, the formation of different schools of shoin, by researchers from different regions and academic fields, with a perspective of cultural interaction in East Asia. This is also the contemporary significance of the studies, an explanation of the “flavor” of the region, which people have preserved up to the present day.

The Current Situation and Topics of Shuyuan Studies in China

Hongbo Deng（Professor, Hunan University）

Hongbo Deng（Professor, Hunan University）　The first half of the speech discusses in detail the history and current situation of shuyuan in China, Japan and Korea including the cases of Touju Shoin and others. It shows the great role shuyuan played as a medium of cultural interaction mainly in Confucianism. In the second half of the paper, it is indicated that the role of shuyuan was changed along with the reorganization of the education system in the late Qing dynasty. The change was divided into “the embryonic period”, “the flowering period” and “the withering period”. The shuyuan studies from the early period of the Republic of China up to now are also introduced. A common phenomenon among the East Asian countries since the 1980’s has been the boom in shuyuan studies. Shuyuan provides a possibility of study of cultural interaction in East Asia.

The Current Situation and Topics of Seowon Studies in South Korea

Sok-kyu Sol（Korean Studies Advancement Center, Research Director）

Sok-kyu Sol（Korean Studies Advancement Center, Research Director）　The paper first shows that, in terms of their occurrence and development in Korea, seowon were specifically different from public schools such as Sungkyunkwan and country schools. It explains the relationship between a shrine, which is specialized in r e l igious r i t e s and ceremonies, and a seowon. The building of seowons and shrines, starting from the mid-sixteenth century, reached its peak during the reign of Sukuchoｎ (1674-1720), and then exceeded 900 in the midnineteenth century. On the other hand, the movement became the grounds for negative attitudes towards seowon of the Joseon Dynasty in the modern age. Not only during the colonial time, but also after the restoration of the independence, along with the yangban bureaucrats and party strife, seowon were regarded as an important factor hampering social development. However, with the argument of “internal development” during the second half of the 1960’s and arrangement of related documents since the 1980’s, seowon studies have made a great progress.

The Current Situation and Topics of Traditional Education Studies in Vietnam

Minoru Shimao（Associate Professor, Institute for Languages and Cultures, Keio University）

　Minoru Shimao（Associate Professor, Institute for Languages and Cultures, Keio University）　 The imperial examination sys t em wa sofficially launched during the Tran Dynasty (from the thirteenth to the fourteenth century) and consolidated during the Le Dynasty in the fifteenth century together with the school system. It was conducted in seven places across the country during the reign of King Tu Duc (late 19th centry). The examination in the Nguyen Dynasty was held once every three years until 1919. In the countryside, school building greatly prospered during the latter half of the Le Dynasty. There were Confucian associations, joined by examinees and successful candidates in the villages, and memorials to those who passed the examination. Besides, those who passed the low levels of examination (Level 1, 2 and 3) could teach Chinese classics at home, while those retired examiners and other former bureaucrats opened schools in the countryside. “The Three-Character Scripture”, “The Five-Character Verse for Children” and “A Children’s Primer” were used as textbooks, among others.

Aspects of Shoin Academy I

On Yuelu Shuyuan

Hongbo Deng（Professor, Hunan University）

Hongbo Deng（Professor, Hunan University）　Yuelu Shuyuan, which was founded in the Song Dynasty and is now a college of Hunan University, was one of the so-called “Four Prestigious Colleges” in China. In particular, the college entered its golden age when the founder of Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi, visited it and had numerous discussions with the principal lecturer of the college, Zhang Shi. The college, a royal road to the scholarship of Zhu and Zhang, later also established its academic position in adopting schools of thought such as that of the Wang Yangming and other classics. It was even financially supported by the Qing authorities. The college was reorganized under the new education system to become the Hunan Advanced College in 1903, and the Hunan University in 1926. During the late Qing Dynasty, the college made great efforts in teaching not only the traditional Confucian classics, but also Western learning. In 1979, the college was restored by the university. An institute for shuyuan culture was founded. A database for Yuelu Shuyuan is also under construction.

On Dosan Seowon

Sok-kyu Sol（Korean Studies Advancement Center, Research Director）

Sok-kyu Sol（Korean Studies Advancement Center, Research Director）　In the sixteenth year of King Myeongjong (1561), Dosan Seowon was founded in what is present day Andong, Gyeongsang Province. It was not only the scholarly heritage of the founder Yi Hwang, but also the stronghold of the southern faction in the Joseon Dynasty. Like the other seowon academies, Dosan Seowon combined the functions of both rites and education. Rites consisted of receiving and offering memorials. The receiving memorial was held twice a year in spring and autumn, while the offering memorial was attended by ritual officials from the royal court. As the backbone of the academy, the southern faction was long left out of the Korean central politics. With the assassination of an abbot of the academy in 1626, however, the southern-centered school of Yi Hwang was united to form a tide of public opinion in Yeongnam. Although since the nineteenth century the political and social role of seowon academies has been relatively diminished, a recovery of their ritual and educational functions has been underway since 2001, marked by the founding of the Korean Studies Advancement Center, as well as others.

Comment

Masaya Mabuchi（Professor, Gakushuin University）

Masaya Mabuchi（Professor, Gakushuin University）　Based upon the two reports on Yuelu Shuyuan and Dosan Soewon, the different types of shoin academies in China and Korea are sorted out. First, while Western learning and other scholarships were introduced in Chinese shuyuan　academies , preservation of traditions was emphasized in their Korean counterparts. Moreover, contrary to the lack of regional exclusiveness among the Chinese shuyuan academies, the regional exclusiveness of Korean seowon academies was strong. Furthermore, compared to the thin political atmosphere on the Chinese side, it is indicated that the political atmosphere on the Korean side was tense. Lastly, while the imperial examination system in China was open to all men, in Korea it was substantially limited to the yangban intellectuals who had access to the system.

Aspects of Shoin Academies II

On the Kaitokudo Academy

Kunihiro Yuasa（Professor, Osaka University）

Kunihiro Yuasa（Professor, Osaka University）　Kaitokudo Academy was founded in Osaka in 1724 by a group of influential merchants, the so-called “Five Comrades”, for accommodating Miyake Sekian. It was once closed. The Kaitokudo Memorial Society was set up in 1910 and Kaitokudo was reconstructed in the Higashi District of Osaka in 1916. The reconstructed Kaitokudo was burned down in 1945 during the American air attacks on Osaka, except for its library. The surviving books were donated to Osaka University in 1949. A specific portrait of the academy, such as its name, members, management structure and textbooks, is introduced. Me anwhile , i t s bookpublishing business and its relationship with the Edo government, and Nakai Iken’s classical studies and achievements in natural sciences, are also introduced to show the diversified studies of the academy.

On the Hakuen Shoin

Demin Tao（Director of ICIS, Kansai University）

Demin Tao（Director of ICIS, Kansai University）　With the relation between the ideological trend in the latenineteenth century and the Hakuen Shoin as a theme, two special cases are presented. As the first case, on April 1, 1840, a banquet was held at the Hakuen Shoin to celebrate the obtainment of Ogyu Sorai’s representative works Benmei and Bendou, which were published in China. Since the prohibition on unorthodox learning was issued in 1790, the school of Sorai had been treated coldly in Japan. This situation has changed when the publication of these two books became a cause for celebration. As the second case, from the beginning of the Meiji period, Fujisawa Nangaku repeatedly filed petitions with the government for his idea of emphasizing moral education. After the Sino-Japanese wars in 1894-95, he sent a letter to the then education minister Saionji Kinmochi. Although his arguments were not accepted in the end, it showed how severe the ideological struggles were in the circles of education in the aftermath of the issuing of the Imperial Prescript on Education.

Special Speech

The Signifi cance of Academies of Chinese Classics in the Early Meiji Period

Yoshio Togawa（Professor emeritus, Nishogakusha University）

Yoshio Togawa（Professor emeritus, Nishogakusha University）　The study of Chinese classics was focused on composition. Japanese language education based upon the theoretic way of thinking was conducted in academies of Chinese classics. In the early Meiji period, the Kaisei High School in Tokyo was reorganized into Tokyo University. Although the university was centered on Western learning aiming at the mastering of modern Western scholarship, acquisition of the Japanese language, whose principal part was the study of Chinese classics, was assigned to its curriculum. Nakamura Masanao, Mishima Chushu and others, as lecturers in the study of Chinese classics, were engaged in the teaching of Chinese classics in Tokyo University. However, when the university became the Imperial University, the subject of Chinese composition was abolished from its curriculum. With the formation of the concept of a national language, the practice of Chinese in Japanese language was abandoned.

Comment

Keiichi Sawai（Professor, Keisen University）

Keiichi Sawai（Professor, Keisen University）　Japanese shoin academies are different from their counterparts in China and Korea, and it is hard to claim that many of them are private educational institutes. On the other hand, we can say that Japanese Han academies were private schools similar to those in China and Korea. Based on these differ ences and similarities , we want to set “the commercialization of knowledge” as the axis of the problem surrounding the circulation of knowledge. The development of Confucianism in Japan was carried out by urban samurai warriors, while that in China and Korea was done by the gentry in the countryside. From this point of view of different socio-economic situations, we can deal with the issue of “the commercialization of knowledge” in East Asia.