伊藤仁斎の「王道」論

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Ito Jinsai (伊藤仁斎, 1627-1705) was one of the representative Confucianists in the early Tokugawa period. In his youth, he mainly learned Chu Shi philosophy without a teacher. But, thereafter he was very sceptical about Chu Shi system, and bitterly criticized the doctrines of Chu Shi. In the end, he established his own philosophy that is generally called Jinsaigaku (仁斎学) or Kogigaku (古義学). Jinsai's philosophy was mainly made up of his moral thought. In other words, he was concerned about the morality that ordered man's everyday life. On the contrary, at the first glance, he looks unconcerned with political and socio-economic affairs. As it is a well-known fact that he did not succeed his father's trade, it is not very surprising that up to now Jinsaigaku is hardly studied from the viewpoint of the history of socio-economic thought. But, Jinsai said, in Dojimon (童子問), his famous work, "Odo (王道), that is to say, the righteous government is the foundation of Confucianism." According to this statement, it is possible to take the view that he took an interest in political affairs too. Moreover, he said, "the most fundamental policy is to control people's wealth." He, no doubt, attached importance to socio-economic affairs, although he did not carry on commerce. And, it is doubtless that socio-economic thought was one component part of Jinsaigaku. The key subject of this article is to survey characteristics of his socio-economic thought. To conclude, he virtually recognized that economic conditions influence human nature and social order. In other words, it is dependent upon economic conditions whether people are able to live a moral life or not. The core of Jinsaigaku, however, was not his socio-economic thought, but moral thought. Consequently, any consideration of Jinsai's philosophy cannot overlook his moral thought. But, in case of Jinsaigaku, his moral thought was compatible with socio-economic thought. That is, the former had an effect upon the latter. According to Jinsai's view of morality, all men, who involved warriors, peasants, artisans and merchants in the Edo period, have the moral potential by nature. Therefore he appreciated not only warrior's action, namely, politics but also peasant, artisan and merchant's action, that is to say, economical activities. In a word, economical activities are unimpeachable. Jinsai was not a merchant nor a government administrator. He was a moralist in the street. But he, no doubt, had a noticeable understanding of economy and economical activities. From this point of view, Jinsaigaku has to be revaluated hereafter.
財団法人史学会の論文
1984-12-20

伊藤仁斎の「王道」論

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