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

PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPAN 71from a family of village headmen; 18 his father died when he waseight and was brought up by his mother. He was educated in hishome and at a terakoya in his village at first, then, when abouteleven, he learnt to read the Confucian classics in the juku of aConfucian scholar in a neighbouring village. In 1843 he enteredthe juku of Yamada Hōkoku (1805–77), who was then the head ofthe domain school in Matsuyama. Hōkoku was an adherent ofyōmeigaku, the teachings of the Ming philosopher WangYangming (1472–1528), but he taught according to the principlesof the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism (shushigaku), and whileChūshū studied with him he read most of the Confucian canon.He became the prefect (jukuchō) in 1848 and had most of theresponsibility for running the juku while his teacher was engagedin domain affairs.Chūshū was ambitious and wished to further his studies bytravelling to study with other great scholars of his time. SinceEdo was a long way off he settled for the domain of Tsu in Ise,then renowned for its scholarship. There Chūshū studied withSaitō Setsudō (1797–1865), an adherent of the Eclectic School(setchūgaku), from 1852 to 1856. During this time he met withyoung scholars from other domains, including Yoshida Shōin,and travelled extensively. In 1854, when Commodore Perryappeared in the Bay of Edo for the second time, Chūshū travelledto Edo.In 1857 Chūshū was employed by Matsuyama domain, but hewas able to continue his travels to study. In 1858 and 1859 hespent several months studying in Edo at the Shōheikō, meetingwith many famous Confucian scholars of his time. Afterreturning to Matsuyama he became very busy with the affairs ofhis domain, including the domain school. Nevertheless, he beganto run his own kangaku juku on land given to him by the domain.Little is know about his juku, but it appears to have been asuccess, since new buildings were added to accommodate theincreasing numbers of students. He continued to travel in theservice of his domain. During the ten years he served hisdomain, Chūshū benefitted from the advice and guidance of histeacher, Yamada Hōkoku, and like his teacher became anadherent of the Yōmeigaku school.In 1872, the year after the abolition of the domains, Chūshū wasemployed by the Ministry of Justice, first at the Tokyo lawcourts, then from 1873 to 1875 at the newly established court ofNiihari in Tsuchiura (Ibaraki prefecture). The two years outside