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

144 PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPANbusy looking after his sick mother and wanted to encourage themto study independently: “Study is one’s own affair. It is not thatof other people. Whether you study or not will only benefit orharm yourself; the effort you make is only for yourself.” Hepraises his students for studying even when they are not beingwatched. 79A notice displayed in 1885 stressed the importance of adheringto rules. Students who broke them, wrote Benzai, showed a lackof will to study, a contempt for their teacher and should not be atthe juku, wasting time and money. At the same time Benzai didnot wish to be repressive to the point of stifling his students’expression. A notice in summer 1885 said:If I ask you, you will know why I ordinarily take you totask. But even if you say that I am stupid, I am not withoutfeelings. Do you think I do not know what makes peoplehappy or not, what makes them worry or otherwise? Ofcourse you like congratulations, hate punishment, desirepraise, abhor blame; that is the way people usually feel. Tolike and dislike, desire and abhor in this way is alwaysreflected in the face. Why would even I want to be shownthis frequently? Only, the relationship between me and youis not like the association of a brief drinking party. I havereceived you on trust and am always concerned that I mustnot injure other people’s children. You must not pity me inmy old age and regard this as tea gossip. If you have justgrounds for criticism, you may criticize as much as youwish. […] 80In 1885 Benzai displayed a poem in kanbun of sixty-two stanzasof five characters each. Because it is much more difficult thanTekiken’s composition, we must assume that it was for thebenefit of older and more learned students. It displayed a similarcombination of general moral exhortations and down to earthones:The students all enter the school together; we bring out oursharp intellect/Bright and early we rise and at night we goto sleep; determined to study we pledge ourselves/In thefield of scholarship there are many joyful places; howshould we then cease to wield our ink brushes and cultivate