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

120 PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPANcastle town of Kumamoto, then in Edo under Shionoya Tōin. 7After his return, he followed in his father’s footsteps and taughtat the Jishūkan domain school. During the last years of theShogunate and around the time of the Restoration he travelled toEdo and Kyoto in the service of his lord. When the domainschool was closed in 1870, he retired from public life and devotedhimself to his studies. He started teaching in his own home, andwhen student numbers increased he rented an additionalbuilding. But during the war of 1877 both burnt down and hemoved to Ikura in Tamana district (now Tamana city). When heopened Ronseidō there, he had only two students, but the numbersoon increased to over 70. Most of them came from nearby, butsome came from Saga and Kurume. 8Other well-respected masters came from more humblebackgrounds. Uchimura Rokō (1821–1901) from Matsue was thethird son of an oil merchant and during his teenage years hestudied by night against the will of his parents while helpingwith the business during the day. 9 After his father’s death hestudied in Osaka, and in 1851 he even entered the Shōheikō in Edo,although commoners were not normally admitted. In 1864 hewas employed by the school of his domain. He opened his juku,Sōchōsha, in 1874, after the domain school had been abolished,and also taught at new public schools during the following years.Fujisawa Tōgai (1794–1864) came from a family of farmers inTakamatsu domain (now Kagawa prefecture), but was allowed tostudy in Osaka by his feudal lord. 10 He became a disciple ofNakayama Jōsan, a scholar in the tradition of Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728). From the age of 25 he studied in Nagasaki for three years.He settled in Osaka in 1824 and began to teach there. Thefollowing year he established Hakuen shoin in Awajichō. Tōgaialso lectured at the Gansuidō (in Hiranogōchō, Osaka) and becamea retainer of Takamatsu domain, while continuing to live in Osaka.His son Nangaku (1842–1920) inherited his father’s position andduties. 11 After the Restoration he took part in domain reformsand was supervisor (tokugaku) of the domain school. In 1872 hereopened Hakuen shoin and from then on devoted himself toprivate teaching and scholarship. 12Even when a scholar came from a samurai family, it was oftenfrom the lower ranks of samurai. Yasui Sokken’s family was sopoor that they had to work as farmers despite their samuraiorigins. Shigeno Yasutsugu’s family had only received the statusof a country samurai (gōshi) in his father’s generation. Yamada