THE MORAL IMPERATIVE AND LEVERAGE FOR REBELLION: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF WANG YANG-MING DOCTRINE IN JAPAN (JAPAN, RELIGION, CULTURE AND PERSONALITY, CHINESE INFLUENCE).

摘要

Contemporary exponents of Wang Yang-ming Neo-Confucianism in Japan are the central starting point for the study and analysis presented in the thesis. Focussing on a study of present adherents, an exploration is made of the past of Wang Yang-ming Neo-Confucianism, or Yomeigaku in Japan, in order to expose the dynamics of cultural processes and continuities. Yomeigaku is approached here in its form of 'folk tradition'.;Chapter III is about Confucianism in Japan, principally Yomeigaku. It briefly outlines the historical antecedents and the Tokugawa legacy of contemporary Yomeigaku. Attention is paid to the spread since the Edo period of Confucianism, the development of Yomeigaku and its place vis-a-vis other doctrines and strains of thought.;Chapter IV is about Yomeigaku since the Meiji Restoration and is focused on strains and predicaments in contemporary practice. Cases are presented from the world of corporate business, the military, politics, higher education, the search for religious meaning, and instances in popular culture, in particular literature.;Three recurrent themes are kept central in these chapters: the 'Japanization' of Confucianism, the religious usage of Confucianism, and the influence of Confucian thought. I present a cultural anthropological approach to Yomeigaku in the recurrent questions of 'Japanization', religious usage, and resultant social action. I stress the importance of social structure, the ie, and of action taking place at the interface of collective and individual responsibility.;The place of Yomeigaku in the Confucian tradition generally and in Ming China in particular, is outlined in the Second Chapter. I present a brief biographical sketch of Wang Yang-ming, as well as an exposition of the chief doctrines and the subsequent schools developing around the teachings. Special attention is paid to the religious elements in the Wang Yang-ming tradition.;Mentorship and the way in which through it, gratitude, benevolence and obligation (on) are expressed, is a central concern. Mentorship is a form of secondary socialization, and orientation on the institution and its ramifications helps, as in this study of Yomeigaku, the understanding of the processes of transformation of Confucianism by the Japanese. Critical are forms of sacrificial behavior and the transmutation, through mentorship and agegrading, to non-nuclear family realms and ultimately to the emperor as the symbol of the highest gratitude.;My analytical approach, finally, reflects my interest in the existential issues that arise from the study of a social and religious teaching such as Yomeigaku.