From Imperial Families to Common People: Acceptance of The Analects in Japan and its Positive Impact
Amamura Yui-ji1, Amamura Kai2
1. College of International Relations, Fukuoka International University, Fukuoka, Japan; 2.Research and Application Center of Chinese Characters, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062
Abstract：The Analects was brought to Japanese royal family as teaching material for the crown prince in the spring of 285 by Wang Renying, a sinologist of Paekche on the Korean Penninsula. It has great impact upon the Japanese archipelagos ever since. After hundreds of years of study, Japanese royal families developed a strong desire to have direct encounter with The Analects from Chinese mainland. Four years after the first batch of Sui ambassadors returning to Japan, Prince Shotoku himself compiled Seventeen-Article Constitution (in 604), in which the first article began with “harmony is most precious”. This sentence marks the beginning of Japan’s modification of The Analects. According to Yōrō Code, The Analects (with annotation by Zheng Xuan and He Yan) was taught in school in Nara period. It can be found in the books such as Nihonkoku Genzai Shomokuroku that The Analects with annotation of Han and Tang Dynasties was held for generations by Kiyohara family which had myoūgyoū dō as its family business. Early in Edo period, Kiyohara Hidekata was openly challenged by public lectures on Zhu Xi's Variorum for Analects by Hayashirazann, a young scholar of humble origin. In middle Edo period, Ninomiya Sontoku disseminated The Analects to farmers with Night Stories of Ninomiya Sontoku. The Analects and Abacus by Shibusawa Eiichi, the founder of “Confucian capitalism” in Japan, defined the trend of Japan’s social system. For 1700 years, The Analects has tremendous impact upon Japan, and Japan has been adapting The Analects to its own circumstances. The Analects is, therefore, the gene of Japanese culture.
（日）海村惟一, 海村佳惟. 从皇室到民间：日本受容《论语》的路径及其效能[J]. 《深圳大学学报》（人文社科版）, 2017, 34(5): 20-24.
Amamura Yui-ji, Amamura Kai. From Imperial Families to Common People: Acceptance of The Analects in Japan and its Positive Impact. , 2017, 34(5): 20-24.
2017, Vol. 34 
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