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

LIFE AT THE JUKU 143moment. From now on I cannot face your families with myhonour intact […] 76One can imagine how heavily the responsibility for his boardersweighed on a conscientious master; unlike at a large boardingschool, he bore that responsibility alone.Benzai often drew up rules and admonitions and displayedthem on the walls, sometimes in response to a particularoccurrence like the one just cited, or to a more general event likethe change of season. The following announcement, dated thefifth month 1877, shows how a special regime was implementedto cope with the summer heat. It was displayed again in 1885(and perhaps in other years). 77 The schedule was based on themethods of Benzai’s own master, Shiyonoya Tōin, and was to beadopted until further notice. An exercise in reading aloud was totake place twice a day at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. for one hour each.Benzai described the procedure as follows:The order of seating must not be disturbed. You sit correctlyby your desk. The shoulders and back must rise straight,the navel and nostrils must be correctly positioned. Do notquestion the difficulty of the text; just work on reviewingthe ancient writings. Do not engage in details, do notindulge in a great amount; do not allow your hands toshake or your legs to move. Do not wield a fan. Do notscratch yourself, stand or fidget, yawn or stretch yourself. Donot ask questions and distract your neighbour. You mustnot query the words of the text nor glue yourself to thepaper, bending the head and contemplating. Do not becomelike mosquitos buzzing faintly at the bottom of a jar. Do notbecome like drunkards or fools with unhealthy voices andflushed faces. Read clearly and resonantly as if you aremining gold or pulling a brocade rope without raising orlowering your voice. If the mind is glad and the spiritrelaxed, if worries and melancholy are dispelled, how canyou not win over the sprouting evil.[…]In the rainy season in 1879, Benzai displayed another noticeintended to help his students; this time he gave advice onhygiene on the basis of Western medicine. 78 Othernotices weremore general, like the one he displayed in 1885, when he was