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In defending the idea that Japan not be considered "barbarian" relative to China, Keisai points out that many parts of China were previously considered barbarian lands before being incorporated into China (''kara''). Some Chinese Imperial capitals, he points out, were even located in formerly barbarian lands, and great Chinese Confucian scholars such as [[Zhu Xi]] came from areas formerly considered barbarian lands. As a result, instead of the use of terms such as "civilization" (華) or "Middle Kingdom" (中国) and "barbarian" (夷), he advocates the use of the terms ''wagakuni'' (我が国, "our country") and ''ikoku'' (異国, "foreign" or "different countries") to refer to one's own land, and to other lands, respectively, without the implication of this civilized/barbarian connotation.
In defending the idea that Japan not be considered "barbarian" relative to China, Keisai points out that many parts of China were previously considered barbarian lands before being incorporated into China (''kara''). Some Chinese Imperial capitals, he points out, were even located in formerly barbarian lands, and great Chinese Confucian scholars such as [[Zhu Xi]] came from areas formerly considered barbarian lands. As a result, instead of the use of terms such as "civilization" (華) or "Middle Kingdom" (中国) and "barbarian" (夷), he advocates the use of the terms ''wagakuni'' (我が国, "our country") and ''ikoku'' (異国, "foreign" or "different countries") to refer to one's own land, and to other lands, respectively, without the implication of this civilized/barbarian connotation.
Keisai's thought differed importantly, too, from that of the ''[[kokugaku]]'' (nativist, or National Learning) scholars in that he did not suggest a syncretic explanation for the alignment of Confucianism and [[Shinto]], as manifestations of a single universal Way, suggesting instead that the two corresponded by coincidence.
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==References==
==References==
*[[Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi]], ''Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1992), 30-32.
*[[Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi]], ''Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1992), 30-35.
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[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]
[[Category:Scholars and Philosophers]]
