Ogyū Sorai 荻生徂徠 (1666–1728) criticized Neo-Confucianism and explained “Dao” from the perspective of history, leading him to explore the relationship between “the Way of the sage” 聖人之道 and ancient Japan from an open historical perspective as well as to examine various issues in the ancient history of Japan. Moreover, his theory caused his disciples to likewise think about and explore ancient Japanese history. Their thinking conflicted with the view held by Kokugaku 國學 (native Japan studies) scholars, who had developed their respective school from Japanese literary studies, a conflict which catalyzed their debates on “Dao” and Japanese ancient history. However, Kokugaku scholars largely formulated their theory of ancient Japanese history through their criticisms of Dazai Shundai’s 太宰春台 (1680–1747) thought, who was a disciple of Sorai but—when compared to his mentor—differed markedly in his understanding of both “the Way of the sage” and its historical connections. Therefore, the present paper aims to explore the debates between the scholars of the Sorai School and pivotal Tokugawa Kokugaku scholar Motoori Norinaga 本居宣長 (1730–1801) to demonstrate how Norinaga developed his theory on the basis of Shundai’s view in the latter’s Bendosyo 辯道書. Secondly, Ichikawa Kakumei 市川鶴鳴 (1740–1795), who wrote the book Maga no hire 末賀能比禮 to critique Norinaga, is also discussed in this paper. Within existing research, he is only understood as a member of the Sorai School, and the characteristics of his thought have thus not been clearly expounded. This paper compares his thought and that of Sorai, and then analyzes his view of ancient Japanese history and his criticism of Norinaga. Finally, this paper discusses how Kamei Shōyō 龜井昭陽 (1773–1836), who is also regarded as adhering to the Sorai School, started his writing of Japanese ancient history and his criticisms of Norinaga’s historical theory in Moushi 蒙史. By doing so, this paper demonstrates how in the mid and late Edo period, Confucian scholars of the Sorai School unfurled their imagined ancient Japanese history, thereby bringing to light another form of ancient Japanese history research in the Edo period that has been obscured and forgotten.
Motoori Norinaga; Japan; ancient history; Sorai School; Kamei Shōyō
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