Private Academies of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan: The Decline ...

PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPAN 83shogunate who quickly faded into obscurity once the new orderwas established. He soon left the government because ofdisagreements with Iwakura Tomomi and in 1872 opened aprivate academy for kangaku in order to make a living. Two orthree years later his health declined, and besides caring for himMasako probably assumed an increasingly important role in hisjuku. In 1878 the Miwadas returned to Mototsuna’s home inMatsuyama, where he died the following year, leaving Masakopenniless and with a small boy.Masako refused to live with Mototsuna’s family or remarry,the usual solutions for a woman in her situation. Instead sheopened a kangaku juku in Matsuyama in 1880. In this castle townthere was plenty of competition from kangaku scholars associatedwith the former domain school. Moreover, Masako started off ina rented room with no money for books. Nevertheless she wassuccessful. According to her own reminiscences, Masako basedher teaching on the books her students brought with them, givingeach student individual attention. 38 The juku was open to girls,but at first only boys attended. They were over twelve years oldand had graduated from elementary school. Apparently theypractised martial arts at the juku as well, although they wouldnot have been taught them by Masako. After only a year Masakowas able to pay back her father’s loan and move to largerpremises. From this time she named her juku Meirin gakusha.Together with her pupils she celebrated the academy’s firstanniversary.In 1882 Masako submitted an application to run a school to theprefectural authorities. 39 According to this document, the aim ofthe school was to study texts (dokusho gakuka). The course lastedthree years and was divided into six levels. The books to bestudied are given for each level:6 (lowest level): Four books, Five Classics, Kōchō shiryaku.5:Kokushiryaku, Nihon gaishi, Nihon seiki, Jūhatsu shriryaku.4:Ekichiroku, Mōshi (Meng zi, Mencius), Shiki.3:Analects, Greater Learning, Book of Rites, Bunsho kihan.2:Spring and Autumn Annals, Sashiden [Zuo shi zhuan; Zuoshi’s commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals], Book ofOdes, Hatsu taika dokuhon.1:Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Doctrine of the Mean.