Kameda Bosai
- Born: 1752
- Died: 1826
- Other Names: 翼 (Yoku), 長興 (Choukou), 穉龍 (Chiryuu), 文左衛門 (Bunzaemon), 善身堂 (Zenshindou)
- Japanese: 亀田鵬斎 (Kameda Bousai)
Kameda Bôsai was a prominent calligrapher and Confucian scholar of the late Edo period.
He was born in the Kanda neighborhood of Edo in 1752, and went through a number of names before becoming most known by the pseudonym Bôsai. He studied under the scholar Inoue Kinga, and along with Yamamoto Hokuzan, Bôsai criticized Ogyû Sorai's kobunjigaku (studies of the classics, including analysis of the meanings of ancient words) for its opposition to Neo-Confucianism. This came at a time when, as part of the Kansei Reforms, Matsudaira Sadanobu had tried to suppress all forms of Confucian doctrine other than orthodox Zhu Xi Neo-Confucianism.
As a calligraphy master, Bôsai is considered to have been one of the best in grass-script (cursive) in the entire Edo period.
His works include Rongo sakkai ("Precise Commentaries on the Analects") and Zenshindô shishô ("Collected Poems of Zenshindô").
Bôsai died in 1826, at the age of 75. He is buried at Shôfuku-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo.
References
- Plaques at gravesite.[1]