- Established: 1718, Tei Junsoku
- Japanese: 明倫堂 (Meirindou)
The Meirindô was the chief Confucian academy in Kumemura, the center of Chinese learning in the Ryûkyû Kingdom. Located on the grounds of the Kumemura Confucian temple, and established by Tei Junsoku in 1718, it was the premier institution where young scholar-aristocrats studied for the Confucian examinations which would help earn them official positions in government.
Education at the Meirindô focused on the Four Books and Five Classics of the Neo-Confucian canon, and on the composition of formal documents for foreign relations.
The Kume sôyaku, the top official overseeing the village, visited the school every three or four days (on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 23rd, 26th, and 29th of each month) to supervise the instruction, and to offer encouragement to the students.[1]
References
- ↑ Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô 31 (2006), 248.