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| + | [[File:Razan-grave.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Razan's grave at the Hayashi family cemetery in Ichigaya-yamabushi-chô, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo]] |
| *''Born: [[1583]]'' | | *''Born: [[1583]]'' |
− | *''Died: [[1657]]'' | + | *''Died: [[1657]]/1/23'' |
| + | *''Other Names'': [[林]]道春 ''(Hayashi Dôshun)'' |
| + | *''Japanese'': 林羅山 ''(Hayashi Razan)'' |
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− | Hayashi Dôshun was the first of the [[Hayashi clan]] shogunal advisors during the [[Edo period]], and advised the first four shoguns, from [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] to [[Tokugawa Ietsuna]]. | + | Hayashi Razan was the first official [[Confucian]] advisor to the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], playing a significant role in foreign relations as well. The first of the [[Hayashi clan]] shogunal advisors during the [[Edo period]], he advised the first four shoguns, from [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] to [[Tokugawa Ietsuna]], and established the position as hereditary. |
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| + | He studied the [[Neo-Confucianism]] of [[Zhu Xi]] under [[Fujiwara Seika]]. |
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| + | As early as [[1611]], Razan began to represent Ieyasu and Japan as a central political and cultural authority, to which other countries send [[tribute]]. This took place in a letter to the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] court, sent on behalf of the shogunate and via [[Honda Masazumi]] and the governor of Fujian, seeking to normalize relations. Razan met with [[Korean embassies to Edo|ambassadors from Korea]] in [[1617]]. Still, he struggled against the influence of Buddhist monks [[Tenkai]] and [[Ishin Suden|Ishin Sûden]], feeling that Neo-Confucianism should guide policy, and Buddhism should not. Attempting to strengthen his position, he conducted research into Japanese history, producing works such as ''Honchô jinja-kô'' ("Thoughts on Shrines of Our Realm"), and beginning the ''[[Honcho tsugan|Honchô tsugan]]'' ("A General History of Our Realm"), modeled on Zhu Xi's ''[[Tongjian gangmu]]'' ("Outline and Details of the Comprehensive Mirror"); the latter work, in 310 volumes, would be completed by Razan's son [[Hayashi Gaho|Hayashi Gahô]] in [[1670]]. |
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| + | In [[1630]], he founded a Hayashi clan school which would later become the [[Shoheizaka gakumonjo|Shôheizaka gakumonjo]], a major center of Confucian learning for shogunate and [[han|domain]] officials. He added a Confucian shrine, the Senseiden, to the complex in [[1632]]. |
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| + | Razan is credited with the editing or compilation of numerous works, including the [[1643]] ''[[Kan'ei shoka keizuden]]'', a compilation of samurai genealogies completed alongside his son Hayashi Gahô. He was also involved in promoting the publication of ''Honzô Kômoku'', a Japanese version of the Chinese botanical and pharmacological encyclopedia ''[[Bencao Gangmu|Běncǎo Gāngmù]]''. Razan also composed a treatise against [[Christianity]] entitled ''Hai Yaso'' ("Rejecting Jesus").<ref>Watanabe Hiroshi, ''A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600-1901'', International House of Japan (2012), 156.</ref> |
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| + | Razan died in [[1657]]. His son Gahô inherited his positions as shogunal advisor, and as head of the Confucian school. |
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| {{stub}} | | {{stub}} |
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
− | *Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 294n171. | + | *Arai Hakuseki, Joyce Ackroyd (trans.), ''Told Round a Brushwood Fire'', University of Tokyo Press (1979), 294n171, 314n74. |
| + | *Wm. Theodore de Bary, Carol Gluck, and Arthur Tiedemann (eds.), ''Sources of Japanese Tradition'', Second Edition, vol. 2, Columbia University Press (2005), 68. |
| + | <references/> |
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| [[Category:Edo Period]] | | [[Category:Edo Period]] |
| [[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]] | | [[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]] |