Abstract
Ogyū Sorai was born in the second month of Kanbun 6 (1666) in Niban-chō in Edo as the second son of the physician Ogyū Hōan 方庵 (1626–1706). Hōan’s father, Genpo 元甫 (d. 1633), was a private doctor who had studied with Manase (Imaōji) Genkan 曲直瀬 (今大路) 元鑑 (1577–1626), also known as Dōsan III. Sorai’s father, in his turn, may have studied with Manase Gen’en 元淵 (1636–1686), also known as Dōsan V. When Sorai was 5 years old, in 1671 (Kanbun 11), his father Hōan became the physician in ordinary (sobai 側医) of Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi 綱吉 (1646–1680–1709), who at that time still was daimyō of Tatebayashi; before that, in 1669, he had studied for some time in Kyoto, possibly with Gen’en, possibly with other physicians of his school. No doubt, the network of the Manase (Imaōji) helped him to improve his medical skills and knowledge, and to find employment.
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Notes
- 1.
The founder of the Manase family of doctors was Manase Dōsan 曲直瀬道三 (1507–1594), who studied a new kind of Chinese medicine, called Li Zhu yixue 李朱医学 (“Medicine of Messrs. Li and Zhu.”) , and established himself as a physician and teacher of medicine in Kyoto. In 1592 (Tenshō 20) he received the clan name Tachibana and the family name Imaōji from Emperor Go-Yōzei. His successors as heads of the family customarily called themselves “umpteenth-generation Dōsan.” Genkan and Gen’en moved between Kyoto, where they served the court, and Edo, where they served the bakufu. In 1658, Gen’en was assigned a residence in Edo.
- 2.
See e.g. his Kō Chūseki no Jō ni utsuru o okuru no jo 送岡仲錫徙常序 (“Preface for the sending-off of Oka Chūseki, who is moving to Hitachi”), Sorai-shū 11:11b-14a (pp. 113–114); Tōyō Bunko vol. 880, pp. 301–318. N.B. Kō Chūseki is his student Okai Kenshū 岡井嵰洲 (1702–1765) . Jo , here translated as “preface,” is a set genre in Kanbun literature. Typically, it is used to introduce a person and to explain your relation with him when he is departing on a journey and similar occasions.
- 3.
“Sages” is translation of shengren 聖人 (J. seijin), i.e. the ancient Chinese, and hence Confucian creators of human culture. They range from Fu Xi to the Duke of Zhou, or, according to some, to Confucius. (WJB)
- 4.
Bunrirei is the second fascicle of Kun’yaku jimō . The text was printed in 1738 and reprinted in 1766.
- 5.
It seems that, when Hōan was in Kyoto, his family lived in the Kojima mansion in Edo, and that, when he was banished, he moved to the village where his wife’s other father, Torii, was living.
- 6.
Sorai mentions this in Kenroku gaisho 鈐録外書 6.
- 7.
See his Gunji kagi no jo 郡司火技叙, Sorai-shū 9:7a-8b (p. 87); Tōyō Bunko vol. 880, pp. 94–111.
- 8.
For details, see above, the Introduction by Kojima.
- 9.
For details, see the Introduction by Aihara.
- 10.
As a rule, a Chinese character has various possible readings in Japanese, and the same Japanese word can be written with different characters. Sorai relates these readings to the meaning and function of the character in the original Chinese context.
- 11.
One “ration” 扶持 (fuchi) was supposed to be sufficient to feed, clothe, and house one person.
- 12.
The Five Histories are the histories of the Six Dynasties that ruled the north of China between 220 (end of the Han Dynasty) and 589 (beginning of the Sui Dynasty). Of these, Song Shu 宋書 (“History of the Song”) and Chen Shu 陳書 (“History of the Chen”) were punctuated by Teikan; Nan-Qi Shu 南斉書 (“History of the Southern Qi”) and Liang Shu 梁書 (“History of the Liang”) were punctuated by Sorai; and Jin Shu 晋書 (“History of the Jin”) was punctuated by Teikan and Sorai together. The books were published between 1701 and 1706.
- 13.
The difference between a stipend expressed in rations (fuchi) and a fief (ryōchi) is that stipends were paid out in rice, while a fief was a designated piece of land, part of the yield of which one could consider one’s own. Rations were expressed in “so many men,” while fiefs were expressed in koku, i.e. the amount of rice needed to feed an adult man during one year. The stated income of koku indicated an average, putative yield, and of course, the farmer and his family, too, had to eat, so the 200 koku was not all Sorai’s to consume. (WJB)
- 14.
Kenbyō jitsuroku 憲廟実録 (“The chronological history of the reign of Tsunayoshi”) in 31 fasc. was composed by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, Ogyū Sorai, and Dazai Shundai. It only exists in manuscript form; no printed editions ever appeared.
- 15.
Hōgen 法眼 is a Buddhist title. It was given to physicians, because they were officially categorized as Buddhist monks, and were also supposed to shave and dress like monks. (WJB)
- 16.
See Chō-han’i Nakamura Gen’yo o okuru no jo 送長藩医仲邨玄与序 (“Preface for Seeing off the Physician Nakamura Gen’yo of the fief Chōshū”), Sorai-shū 10:3a-7a (pp. 97–99); Tōyō Bunko vol. 877, pp. 249–272.
- 17.
See his Hin Miyake-shi boshi 嬪三宅氏墓誌 (“Grave Inscription for my Wife Miyake”), Sorai-shū shūi, pp. 344–345. N.B. The ordinary funeral rites in Japan were Buddhist. That Sorai followed the Confucian rites as reformulated by Zhu Xi (1130–1200) was exceptional, though not unknown.
- 18.
This is Ya-sei no Raku e yuku o okuru no jo 送野生之洛序 (“Preface for Sending-off Student [Naka]no to the Capital”), Sorai-shū 10:11a-13b (pp. 101–102); Tōyō Bunko vol. 877, pp. 36–56.
- 19.
See Sorai-shū 18:8a-9b (pp. 186–187).
- 20.
These texts were composed in a spoken variety of contemporary Chinese (vernacular Chinese or baihua 白話). Shuihuzhuan and Xiyouji are prose works (“novels”) and were composed under the Ming, while Xixiangji is a zaju 雑劇, i.e. a theatre play, dating from the Yuan. All texts have been translated into English. (WJB).
- 21.
In the Middle Ages, the “court erudites” were the families of Kiyohara and Nakahara. They had their own variety of kundoku , but there were others. Kundoku is basically the reading-off of the characters of a Chinese sentence in the Japanese order, while adding Japanese readings (on-yomi or kun-yomi) to the characters and inserting particles, verb endings, and auxiliaries as needed. It was a kind of translation, but it only worked for the standard kind of classical Chinese; the baihua texts contained characters, particles, and idiom for which there simply existed no conventions. (WJB)
- 22.
The title could be translated as “Augmented Commentary on the Six Admonishments.” The Six Admonishments stemmed from the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. They were “Be filial to your parents, respect elders and superiors, live in harmony with your neighbours, instruct and discipline your children and grandchildren, be content with your occupation, commit no wrongful acts.” The emperor wanted these admonishments to be proclaimed six times per month in the villages; they were supposed to morally improve the people. For details, see Kornicki, “From Liuyu yanyi to Rikuyu engi taii.” (WJB)
- 23.
Kankoku Rikuyu engi jo 官刻六諭衍義叙 (“Preface to the Official Edition of the Extended Commentary on the Six Admonishments”), Sorai-shū 9:1a-2a (p. 84); Tōyō Bunko 880, pp. 70–80.
- 24.
Daoxue 道学 (“The Teaching of the Way”) is the general name of Confucian studies, learning, practice, and indoctrination. Yangming xue 陽明学 (“Yangming Learning”) is so called after its originator, Wang Yangming (1472–1528). Wang xue zuopai 王学左派 (“Left-wing Wang Learning”) and Liangzhi xiancheng pai 良知現成派 (“Innate Knowledge Will be Realized in Practice Wing”) are later derivations, associated with the name of Wang’s disciple Wang Gen 王艮 (1483–1541).
- 25.
The Ōbaku Sect 黄檗宗 is a Zen sect that was brought to Japan in the course of the seventeenth century, through Nagasaki, by Chinese monks seeking refuge from the Manchu occupation. Its main temple eventually became the Manpukuji 万福寺 in Uji. (WJB)
- 26.
See Ittō banshō no jo 一刀万象序 (“Preface of One sword, ten thousand forms”) , Sorai-shū 8:5a-6b (p. 77); Tōyō Bunko 877, pp. 125–143、Shibi jiyō jo 紫薇字様叙 (“Preface of The imperial style of writing”), Sorai-shū 9:2b-3b (pp. 84–85); Tōyō Bunko 877, pp. 332–343.
- 27.
NKSM mentions Kitamura Tokusho 北村篤所 (1647–1718) as the second author.
- 28.
See e.g. Sorai’s Ya-sei Raku e yuku o okuru no jo (see above, note 18), or his U Ki-shi ni okuru no jo 贈于季子序 (“Preface sent to Uno Shirō”), Sorai-shū 11:3a-5a (pp. 109–110); Tōyō Bunko vol. 880, pp. 173–197.
- 29.
See his Ken-sensei hachijū no jo 県先生八十序 (“Preface on Master Ken’s Eightieth Birthday”), Sorai-shū 9:21b-24a (pp. 94–95), Tōyō Bunko 880, pp. 198–217.
- 30.
The titles are Shigi sakumon ichidō 私擬策問一道 and the Shigi sakumon kijin ichidō 私擬策問鬼神一道 (Sorai-shū 17:1a-3b; pp. 173–174), which would translate as “one” (ichidō) “policy question” (sakumon) that “I privately made” (shigi). Sakumon (Ch. cewen) formed one part of the Chinese examinations; they were questions about the interpretation of the Classics or about matters of policy. The words kijin in the second title means “ghosts and spirits.”
- 31.
See Sorai-shū 16:1a-2a (pp. 160–161) for 滕煥図字説, and Sorai-shū 10:1a-3a (pp. 96–97), and Tōyō Bunko 877, pp. 57–73 for 次公字敘贈行.
- 32.
See Sorai-shū 10:7b-11a (pp. 99–101); Tōyō Bunko 877, pp. 91–115.
- 33.
Yulin is the style of Li Panlong.
- 34.
Monsa ni-shu 問槎二種 is a collection of poetry in Chinese (5 fasc., 5 vols; Sorai’s preface and postface are dated Shōtoku 2); it was compiled by Irie Jakusui, Ajiki Rikken 味木立軒 (1650–1725; KGS 167) et al. Several copies of the printed edition are extant. In most of them, the Monsa kishō 問槎畸賞 is included. Monsa kishō itself (3 fasc., 3 vols) is an independent poetry collection, compiled by Sorai’s disciples Yoshida Yūrin 吉田有鱗 (no details known) and Akimoto Tan’en, and contains poems by Yamagata Shūnan, Andō Tōya and others. It was finished in Shōtoku 1. For the circumstances of the compilation of these two anthologies, see underneath.
- 35.
Note that the facility was not intended for the vassals of the Yanagisawa; it was intended specifically for the pages of Tsunayoshi.
- 36.
The characters 蘐 (ken) and 茅 (bō) are two ways of writing kaya (sedge), a reed like plant used for covering roofs.
- 37.
The Korean embassy (Tsūshinshi 通信使) visited Edo in the eleventh month of Shōtoku 1 (1711), a in order to congratulate the new shogun. These embassies always were an occasion for Japanese scholars to exchange poems with the members of the embassy, in the hope of getting praised. (WJB)
- 38.
Fushun-sanjin ni atau 与富春山人, 7th letter; see Sorai-shū 22:4b-5b (pp. 230–231).
- 39.
“Reactionism” is the translation of fukko shugi, so “the intent to restore antiquity”; “Archaism” is the translation of giko shugi, i.e. “the attempt to imitate antiquity.” (WJB)
- 40.
Text in Nihon Jurin Sōsho vol. 3, separately paginated.
- 41.
Yuelü quanshu originally counted forty-two fascicles, of which only thirty-two have survived. It discusses matters of tuning and temperament, introduced the twelve-tone scale, but it also contains the scores of “village drinking songs.” The text is contained in Sigu Tiyao 四庫提要. It was compiled by Zhu Zaiyu 朱載堉 (see Mor. VI: 14424:790, and VI: 15399–273). (WJB)
- 42.
These books had been brought to the press thanks to the exertions of Honda Tadamune, who at the time held the office of wakadoshiyori, i.e. member of the second-highest governing body of the Tokugawa bakufu.
- 43.
Text in Sorai-shū 17:8b-10b (pp. 176–177).
- 44.
See his Kijin jippen batsu 畸人十篇跋 (“Postface of Ten Pieces about Eccentrics”) ; text in Sorai-shū ishū, pp. 358–360 (N.B. The Ishū is in manuscript, so not paginated).
- 45.
These are Shō Shikin shinnshu seido o tou ni kotau 答松子錦問神主制度 (“In answer to Shō Shikin’s questions about the system of Shinto priests”), text in Sorai-shū 28: 17a-21b (pp. 308–310), and An Tanpaku ni fuku-su, dai-go sho 復安澹泊第五書 (“Answer to An Tanpaku, fifth letter”), text in Sorai-shū 28:10b-12b (pp. 304–305). The first text is dated Kyōhō 8/9/22 (1723).
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Sawai, K. (2019). An “Intellectual-Historical” Biography of Ogyū Sorai. In: BOOT, W., TAKAYAMA, D. (eds) Tetsugaku Companion to Ogyu Sorai. Tetsugaku Companions to Japanese Philosophy, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15475-2_10
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