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

PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPAN 99Efforts to commemorate Ikeda Sōan and Seikei shoin continueto this day (Chapter 6). Thus it appears that Ikeda’s desire to beremembered by posterity, even though he lead a quiet andsecluded life, has been granted.THE COUNTRY SCHOLARS: TSUNETŌ SEISŌAND MURAKAMI BUTSUSANIf kangaku juku continued to be important in Tokyo, where most ofthe new schools for Western education were concentrated, theyplayed an even greater role in rural areas, where educationalprovision lagged behind for a long time. Fukuoka prefecture is agood example.One of the most enduring juku was Zōshun’en, established in1824 in Buzen by Tsunetō Seisō (1803–61). 68 Born into a family ofConfucian scholars, many of them doctors, he is said to haveloved books and poetry from an early age. In 1819 he enteredHirose Tansō’s Kangien, where he studied for five years andbecame prefect (jukuchō). Even after he left he continued to keepin touch with his teacher. Seisō travelled to Nagasaki, where helived with Takashima Shūhan. He continued to travel after hehad established his juku.Seisō modelled his juku, at first named Jienkan, after Kangien. 69Even the layout of the buildings followed that of Kangien. TheTsunetō living quarters were in the middle of the grounds, with aseparate study. Next to the study was the schoolroom and behindit a two-storey building with dormitories. Behind these was alecture hall and more dormitories. Opposite the study, shieldedby a mud wall built by students, was a kitchen for the students.Outside the compound a three-storey building served forreceiving guests and holding poetry parties. The living quartersand study still remain (see Figures 4 and 5).The organization of the juku also owed much to Kangien.Students were divided into groups according to their ability andregular tests were held. There were ten groups, the tenth being fornewcomers whose level of knowledge was unclear. The othernine were divided into a lower rank (gekaisei; groups 9, 8), middle(chūkaisei, 7, 6) and upper rank (jōkaisei, 5 and above) for lessons.The curriculum was narrower than at Kangien, consisting mainlyof the Confucian classics and works on Japanese history, as thefollowing list of texts used shows: 70