Kaibara Ekiken

• Born: 1630/11/14
• Died: 1714/8/27
• Japanese: 貝原益軒 (Kaibara Ekiken)

Kaibara Ekiken was an Edo period writer, Confucian scholar, educator, herbalist and physician.

He was the fifth son of Kaibara Kansai, a samurai in the service of Kuroda Mitsuyuki, lord of Fukuoka han. Ekiken traveled to Kyoto to study, and returned to Fukuoka in 1664.

Ekiken was originally a student of Wang Yangming's brand of neo-Confucianism, but turned to following the teachings of Zhu Xi years later; late in his life, he had questions and doubts about Zhu Xi's teachings, and compiled these into a text titled Taigiroku (大疑録, lit. "Great Doubts Record").

References

• "Kaibara Ekiken." Digital-ban Nihon jinmei daijiten デジタル版 日本人名大辞典. Kodansha, 2009.