Bushido and Tsumachi Humanism in Japan

Japanese history 1600-2000

The Works of James L. McClane (America)

Wang Xiang, Zhu Huiying and others.

Hainan publishing house

/kloc-During the 0/7th century, the Japanese samurai witnessed the epic war years fading away and becoming distant history. When the samurai changed from a brave warrior to a dull aristocrat and lived in a bustling city, many people began to seriously think about what it means to be a samurai in the new era of peacetime. Neo-Confucianism, which strictly emphasizes obligations and responsibilities, provides them with some behavioral guidelines.

Musashi Miyamoto's "The Book of Five Wheels" is the first book to expound the new samurai ethics. Musashi Miyamoto used to be a samurai who took part in the battle of Guanyuan, and later became a "ronin" (a samurai without a master). So he traveled all over the country, became a strange Zen, became a painter with high achievements, and also practiced a new swordsmanship of "two days first class" (that is, the swordsmanship of two knives, one is too big and the other is too big). Although he often fights with people, his view is to condemn the worship of death and preach that samurai must always strive for success. In his book, he gives technical advice and explains how samurai beat their opponents. And stressed:

On the other hand, he put forward different views on the ethical standard of samurai, that is, Lu Shansu, which promoted the formation of Bushido.

He founded his own school in 1660 to study Confucianism and Sun Tzu's art of war. As a scholar, Amber Su Xing was attracted by China's early Confucian works, such as The Book of Changes and The Spring and Autumn Annals. Formed the imagination of an ideal Confucian scholar-reading poetry books to serve the country and reaching a higher moral standard. Therefore, he advocated that Japanese samurai should follow the example of Confucian sages in the past and devote themselves to becoming moral and political leaders. The noblest expression of samurai creed is that it shines as a moral model while being an official of samurai and lords.

In the past, Japanese society advocated that samurai should sacrifice themselves when their lords died, that is, "self-sacrifice." Especially in the middle of17th century, self-sacrifice became a common practice. Those warriors who are particularly favored by directors take it for granted that they end their lives with martyrdom. "It has become fashionable for a master to commit suicide by caesarean section after his death," wrote a celebrity. Therefore, Amber Su Xing condemned this emotional behavior.

However, there is another samurai, Yamamoto Changchao, who doesn't think so. In Ye Yin, he openly said that "people who are proficient in art are all like fools". Then praise the ancient ideal of personal loyalty, emphasize absolute loyalty and praise death. The way of samurai is the way of knowing death.

As can be seen, Japan's view of Bushido spirit is constantly changing:

Town people, that is, urban residents, are mainly businessmen and craftsmen.

From the middle of17th century, some famous scholars began to set up private schools in Sandu and local castle towns, mainly to recruit the children of wealthy citizens and rich peasants as full-time students. There is also a school called Temple House, which enrolls local or rural children. Some temples are run by Buddhist and Shinto monks. By the beginning of the 9th century, the number of private schools and temples had increased dramatically. Many Japanese children receive some formal school education. The typical course of private schools is to introduce Confucian classics to students who have just entered the school. /kloc-In the middle of the 0/9th century, Japan's overall literacy rate may be higher than that of any country in the world, except perhaps Britain and the Netherlands.

As businessmen become richer and more educated. Some of them began to rethink some doctrines of Neo-Confucianism, and finally compared them to pack animals (18th century, a book pointed out that Ma Chi was the last of the four. As long as you behave yourself, just like a cow enjoys hanging out with a group of people, you will be happy all your life.

The single flat peach put forward the idea of how to understand history and help ordinary people in the Dream Generation. He believes that all objective knowledge and human values come from the universality of science. In other words, he believes that compassion, justice, etiquette and loyalty are all part of human social order, and they did not exist before the universe. Therefore, it is concluded that human culture, as an inseparable part of the order of nature and the universe, does not give members of any class the privilege of being above their compatriots.

In his view, businessmen's wisdom about economic affairs is as important to improve the lives of Japanese compatriots as the so-called political wisdom of samurai leaders.

There is also Meiyan Ishida, who uses the moral philosophy of "Mind Learning" to explain the role of businessmen and defend them. Affirmed their value. "Heaven" entrusts every social stratum with a unique and respectable responsibility to promote individual welfare.

With scholars such as Yamagata Flat Peach and Ishida Meiyan affirming the usefulness of businessmen, the practical ethics of "Maji Humanism" has also been developed.

Businessmen's status in Japanese society has improved and their wealth has increased, which makes them want the whole family to have wealth and reputation for a long time. So in Japan, there are many "family precepts".

Family precepts have obvious ideal colors. First of all, it is pointed out that hard work is absolutely a prerequisite for success. Laziness is never a good thing. In addition, it also teaches future generations that the success of business depends on winning the favor of customers. Such as "everything must be honest", "the price of goods must be fair and standard, not too high" and "treat all tourists, no matter how much they buy". It is also necessary to be cautious and frugal and leave the family business to future generations.

Finally, all family precepts recognize the legitimacy of the Tokugawa era. This is based on the fear of reality: in the18th century, the Japanese authorities once reprimanded the most famous businessman in Osaka, Seigoro Tantani, for living in luxury, expelled him from Osaka and confiscated his property.

The family instructions of these businessmen seem to have played a very good role in helping Japan maintain its advantage in the global industrial competition.