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Hiraga Gennai was a polymath, a ''[[rangaku]]'' scholar and writer of popular fiction.

Hiraga Gennai was a polymath, a ''[[rangaku]]'' scholar and writer of popular fiction.

Born Shiraishi Kunimune, son of a low-ranking samurai official in [[Takamatsu han]] on [[Shikoku]], he was educated in herbal medicine, among other subjects from a young age. In [[1752]], he was sent to [[Nagasaki]], where he studied a variety of "Dutch studies" subjects, including oil painting and Western science. Changing his name to "Hiraga" at the age of 21 to suggest a more esteemed heritage, he soon afterwards (1754) decided to eschew his hereditary responsibilities to his family, and his ''[[han]]'', and to instead pursue his scholarly interests. Having already become head of the family after his father's death, he passed that position to a cousin, and made a formal request to the daimyô to be excused as well from his inherited position as overseer of rice storehouses.

Gennai was born Shiraishi Kunimune, son of Shiraishi Shibazaemon<!--白石茂左衛門-->, a low-ranking samurai official in [[Takamatsu han]] on [[Shikoku]]. He was educated in herbal medicine, among other subjects, from a young age. In [[1752]], he was sent to [[Nagasaki]], where he studied a variety of "Dutch studies" subjects, including oil painting and Western science. He changed his name to "Hiraga" at the age of 21 to suggest a more esteemed heritage, after one of his [[Sengoku period]] ancestors. Gennai soon afterwards (1754) decided to eschew his hereditary responsibilities to his family, and his ''[[han]]'', and to instead pursue his scholarly interests. Having already become head of the family after his father's death in [[1749]], he passed that position to a cousin or brother-in-law, and made a formal request to the daimyô to be excused as well from his inherited position as overseer of rice storehouses in his native area of Shido-ura<!--志度浦-->. The following year (1755), he continued to experiment with things he learned in Nagasaki, producing pedometers and compasses.

Excused from his responsibilities to Takamatsu han, but still forbidden from entering the service of any other ''han'', Gennai became a ''[[ronin]]'', and journeyed to [[Edo]] to pursue his scholarly interests There, he studied at the official shogunate school of [[Confucianism|Confucian learning]], and at [[Kamo no Mabuchi]]'s private ''[[kokugaku]]'' academy. In Edo, he engaged in a wide variety of studies and experiments, producing a variety of maps, a number of experiments in ceramics, embossed paper, and other materials, and writings on topics ranging from botany and sheep husbandry to mining, asbestos manufacture, and electric generators. He became quite prominent in scholarly circles in Edo, associating with scholars, thinkers, writers, and artists including [[Sugita Genpaku]], [[Katsurakawa Hoshu|Katsurakawa Hoshû]], [[Morishima Churyo|Morishima Chûryo]], [[Ota Nanpo|Ôta Nanpo]], [[So Shiseki|Sô Shiseki]], [[Shiba Kokan|Shiba Kôkan]], and [[Koikawa Harumachi]].

Excused from his responsibilities to Takamatsu han, but still forbidden from entering the service of any other ''han'', Gennai became a ''[[ronin]]'', and journeyed to [[Edo]] to pursue his scholarly interests, departing Takamatsu in 1756/6. There, he studied under herbalist [[Tamura Chinsui]], as well as at the official shogunate school of [[Confucianism|Confucian learning]], and at [[Kamo no Mabuchi]]'s private ''[[kokugaku]]'' academy. In Edo, he engaged in a wide variety of studies and experiments, producing a variety of maps, a number of experiments in ceramics, embossed paper, and other materials, and writings on topics ranging from botany and sheep husbandry to mining, asbestos manufacture, and electric generators. He became quite prominent in scholarly circles in Edo, associating with scholars, thinkers, writers, and artists including [[Sugita Genpaku]], [[Katsurakawa Hoshu|Katsurakawa Hoshû]], [[Morishima Churyo|Morishima Chûryo]], [[Ota Nanpo|Ôta Nanpo]], [[So Shiseki|Sô Shiseki]], [[Shiba Kokan|Shiba Kôkan]], [[Koikawa Harumachi]], and [[Nakagawa Jun'an]] of [[Obama han]], a fellow student of Chinsui's.

江戸中期の物産学者,戯作者,浄瑠璃作者。源内は通称,本名は国倫,号は物産学や油絵では鳩渓,戯作では風来山人,天竺浪人など,浄瑠璃では福内鬼外と使いわけた。讃岐国(香川県)志度浦の生まれ。父白石茂左衛門は高松藩の足軽相当の小吏で志度の御蔵番。寛延2(1749)年父の死で家督相続,戦国時代の先祖にちなんで平賀に改姓。宝暦2(1752)年第1回の長崎留学。本草学研究の他にもさまざまなオランダの文物に刺激されることがあったらしい。帰郷して間もなく,同4年,藩に蔵番退役願を出して許可され,さらに家督を妹婿に譲る。同5年中に量程器(万歩計)や磁針器などを製作。同6年3月高松を発して,大坂を経て江戸に出,本草学者田村元雄(藍水)の門に入る。同門に小浜藩医中川淳庵がおり,淳庵を介してその同僚の杉田玄白を知り生涯の盟友となる。 宝暦7年,師元雄を説いて湯島で第1回薬品会を開催,以後同志同好の者の珍種奇品持ち寄りによるこの共同品評会を毎年のように催す。同12年4月には源内主催で第5回東都薬品会を開き,全国的ネットワークによって内外1300種の動植鉱物を集めて陳列。翌年,全5回の出品物の中から360種の主要品目を選んで,これに実証的な解説をつけ,挿図をそえて『物類品隲』として刊行。日本博物学史上のひとつの画期的な業績と評される。また,同11年にはすでに正式に高松藩を辞職,神田白壁町に住む一浪人の身となっていたが,13年,談義本『根南志具佐』と『風流志道軒伝』を刊行,江戸の風刺戯作の先駆けとなった。 明和1(1764)年秩父山中の中津川で石綿を発見,これによって火浣布(耐火織物)を作り,以後秩父での鉱山経営の試みは晩年まで続くが,これは源内の「国益」開発思想のひとつの実践であった。明和年間,玄白らと毎春のように長崎屋で江戸参府中のオランダ商館長一行および通詞らと問答し,蘭訳の西洋博物書を次々に入手,自分の物産=博物学の拡充を企てた。明和7年には自作浄瑠璃「神霊矢口渡」の初演ののち,田沼意次の命を得て阿蘭陀翻訳御用として再度長崎に遊学。しかし蘭書翻訳は成らず,洋風油絵「西洋婦人図」や舶載緬羊による羅紗試織をみやげに帰東。翌安永2(1773)年には秋田藩に招かれて領内鉱山の再開発に従事,その間に同藩の小田野直武や藩主佐竹曙山に洋風画法を伝授した。以後,同5年のエレキテル(摩擦静電気発生装置)の復原には成功したが,秩父鉱山は挫折し,「憤激と自棄」(門人平秩東作の評)のつのる中に多くの戯文を弄し,ついに安永8年11月激昂して人を殺傷。1カ月後に伝馬町の獄で「非常ノ人」の「非常ノ死」(玄白の源内墓碑銘)をとげた。<著作>『平賀源内全集』(復刻,1970),中村幸彦編『風来山人集』(日本古典文学大系55巻)<参考文献>芳賀徹『平賀源内』

In [[1757]], at the urging of his teacher Tamura Chinsui, he organized a conference or convention on medicines, at the [[Shoheizaka gakumonjo|Yushima Seidô]], which was so successful that it came to be repeated on an annual basis. These exhibitions of herbs and medicines, brought from all across the country by physicians and scholars, are counted as a major development in the history of precursors to the "museum" in Japan.

 

Gennai became a prominent and popular fiction writer beginning around [[1763]], the year he published ''[[Nenashigusa]]''<!--根南志具佐--> and ''[[Furyu Shidoken den|Fûryû Shidôken den]]''<!--風流志道軒伝-->. He discovered asbestos at the Nakatsugawa on [[Mt. Chichibu]], and experimented with the production of fireproof garments. Around the same time, he began writing on mining, a project of writing thoughts on "national development" which continued into his last years. Along with Sugita Genpaku, he made visits to Edo's [[Nagasaki-ya]] every spring, meeting with representatives of the [[Dutch East India Company]] and obtaining books and other materials for further pursuing an encyclopedic knowledge of the West.

 

After his puppet play ''[[Shinrei yaguchi no watashi]]''<!--神霊矢口渡--> had its stage debut, at the orders of [[Tanuma Okitsugu]], Gennai returned to Nagasaki to study, specifically towards becoming a translator of Dutch books. He did not translate very many materials, but tried his hand at oil painting, and returned to Edo in 1772 having obtained wool and felt, new materials to experiment with. The following year, he was invited to [[Akita han]] to help with the redevelopment of their mining operations. While there, he trained daimyô [[Satake Shozan|Satake Shôzan]] and domainal official [[Odano Naotake]] in ''[[ranga]]'' (Western-style oil painting); the pair would lead others in painting in oils, developing their own school/style today called [[Akita ranga]].

 

Gennai went into a depression beginning in [[1776]]. Though his reproduction of a Dutch electricity generator, among other projects, were successful, the Chichibu mines, and various other projects, were not, and Gennai experienced periods of great frustration and exasperation, flying into fits of rage at times. He toyed around with a number of popular publications, perhaps hoping they would be a productive distraction, but in 1777/11, he killed someone in a fit of rage. He died a month later in prison; Sugita Genpaku's epitaph on Gennai's grave reads "An extraordinary death for an extraordinary man."

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