Abstract
We shall, based on historical records of the time, demonstrate the existence of Shonindo in the Edo period. Chapter sections are numbered sequentially. The first section comprises 4.1 What Is Shonindo? Here we shall provide a definition of Shonindo. The second section, 4.2 The Early Edo Period: Shonindo in the seventeenth century, is divided into six sub-sections. The first sub-section, 4.2.1, provides a bird’s-eye view of the seventeenth century as its premise. Sub-sections 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.2.5 take up four historical records, the Keicho Kenmon Shu, the Choja Kyo, the Shison Kagami, and the Kanemochi Choho Ki. We shall analyze the religious faith and keywords found in each record, clarify their distinctive characteristics, and list representative examples by faith. In the final sub-section, 4.2.6, we shall provide a chronological analysis of the four records to clarify their merits. The third section, 4.3 The Middle Edo Period: Shonindo in the eighteenth century, is a wide-ranging case analysis. In sub-section, 4.3.1 we provide a bird’s-eye view of the eighteenth century serving as the premise of this period. We examine 24 historical records in sub-sections 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.3.5, 4.3.6, 4.3.7, 4.3.8, 4.3.9, 4.3.10, 4.3.11, 4.3.12, 4.3.13, 4.3.14, 4.3.15, 4.3.16, 4.3.17, 4.3.18, 4.3.19, 4.3.20, 4.3.21, 4.3.22, 4.3.23, 4.3.24, and 4.3.25 and, as we did immediately above, analyze the religious faith and keywords found in each record, clarify their distinctive characteristics, and list representative examples by faith. In the final sub-section, 4.3.26, we shall provide a chronological analysis of the 24 records to clarify their merits. These records are the Kadōkun, the Tosei Shogun Dan, the Choninbukuro, the Chonin Koken Roku, the Akindo Yawaso, the Fukujin Kyokunbukuro, the Chonin Tsune no Michi, the Akindo Heizei Ki, the Tohi Mondo, the Kagyo Dotoku Ron, the Ken’yaku Seika Ron, the Ishida Sensei Goroku, the Kyokunzo Nagamochi, the Akindo Sugiwai Kagami, the Zenkun, the Shobai Kyokun Kagami, the Fuki no Ji ga Tame, the Akindo Koganebukuro, the Wagatsue, the Seken Senshin Ron, the Yowatarigusa, the Shuju Kokoroegaki , the Kagyo Sozoku Chikaragusa, and the Kanemokaru no Denju. The fourth section, 4.4 The Late Edo Period: Shonindo in the nineteenth century, is divided into 13 sub-sections. The first sub-section, 4.4.1, is a bird’s-eye view of the nineteenth century. We examine 11 historical records in sub-sections 4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.4.4, 4.4.5, 4.4.6, 4.4.7, 4.4.8, 4.4.9, 4.4.10, 4.4.11, and 4.4.12 and, as we did in the previous sections, analyze the religious faith and keywords found in each record, clarify their distinctive characteristics, and list representative examples by faith. In the final sub-section, 4.4.13, we shall provide a chronological analysis of these 11 records to clarify their merits. These records are the Tosei Kanyo Ki, the Shison Takaragusa, the Sekitoku Sodan, the Wagami no Tame, the Hinpuku Taihei Ki, the Minka o Sodategusa, the Tosei Kanyo Ki Nihen, the Fuki Jizai Shu, the Shoka Kokoroegusa, the Genkin Oyasu Uri, and the Shusei no Ishizue. Finally, in Sect. 4.5, we shall look at the entire Edo period and summarize how mercantile ethics were affected.
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Notes
- 1.
In the middle of the Muromachi period (1338–1573) the Ashikaga government lost governmental control and the Onin War (1467–1477), the greatest civil war in Japanese history, broke out in 1467.
- 2.
The Battle of Sekigahara (1600) was memorable for the victory of Ieyasu Tokugawa, who afterward established the seat of his shognate in Edo.
- 3.
The Shimabara/Amakusa Rebellion was the one where unemployed samurai and common people composed of many Christians revolted against the local daimyo’s harsh taxation.
- 4.
Nihon Eitaigura is a success story of merchants widely read in the Edo period.
- 5.
Cf. Masao Suzuki (2000), Edojo wa Kousite Tukurareta (How Edo Castle was built), Chikuma bunko, Tokyo.
- 6.
Paekche (18 BC–660 AD) was a kingdom located in southwest Korea and was one of The Three Kindoms of Korea together with Goguryeo and Silla.
- 7.
Shimai , Soshitsu (1539–1615) was a leading manufacturer of sake and a trader in Hakata (Fukuoka), Kyushu. He established a strong relationship with daimyo .
- 8.
Hayashi , Razan (1583–1657) was a disciple of Seika Fujiwara . Ieyasu Tokugawa appointed him an adviser to the bakufu .
- 9.
Fujiwara, Seika (1561–1619) was a pioneer of Cofucianism in early modern Japan.
- 10.
Gamo , Kunpei (1768–1813) was a Confucian. He wrote the Sanryo Shi (History of the Mausoleums of the Japanese Imperial family) in 1891.
- 11.
Ekiken Kaibara wrote 10 teaching books called the “Ten Kun” (Ten teachings) series including such as Kadōkun, Yojyo Kun, etc. He passed away at the age of 84 years merely two years after Kadōkun was published.
- 12.
In the colloquial environment of the times, a person who is good-natured and loyal was compared to a white rat, while one evil-natured one was referred to as a black rat.
- 13.
Happily, present-day Japan is famous for the naturalness with which lost items, including cash, are almost without exception immediately returned to their owner if at all possible.
- 14.
Cf. Takaharu Mitsui (1941) Chonin Shiso to Chonin Koken Roku.Tokyo: NHK.
- 15.
Minoru Shibata (1906–1997) was a professor emeritus of Kyoto University and a great-grandson of Kyuo Shibata (1783–1839), whose teachings enjoyed a good reputation during his lifetime.
- 16.
Japanese mythology narrates that Amaterasu is the deity from which the Imperial family is descended. Amaterasu is enshrined at the Grand Shrine of Ise .
- 17.
In Japanese mythology, Susano , said to be a younger brother of Amaterasu, is enshrined at the Grand Shrine of Izumo .
- 18.
According to Shinto, death is impure and people who visit a grave are defiled. This is the origin of throwing salt, representing cleaning and purification, over oneself after a funeral or cemetary visit.
- 19.
Sekimon Shingaku is a new moral doctrine that Baigan Ishida (1685–1744) adovocated.
- 20.
The Tsurezuregusa is one of Japan’s most famous classical works. It consists of essays on life and Buddhism by Kenko Yoshida . It was written in 1330–1331.
- 21.
Kokkeibon is a genre of popular comedy fiction in the Edo period.
- 22.
Dangibon is a genre of popular comedic novel in the Edo period.
- 23.
1 Kan = 1000 Momme, 1 Momme = 3.75 grams. 1000 Kan is therefore 3.75 million grams. At 47 cents per gram (October 30, 2018), 1000 kan = $1.76 million, or JPY 200 million.
- 24.
Osukuni originally meant the region that produces foodstuffs for the Emperor. Later, it came to mean the entire region or nation that the Emperor reigns over.
- 25.
Joruri is a type of dramatic recitation accompanied by a samisen (a three-stringed musical instrument).
- 26.
Kukai (774–835) was a Buddhist monk and the founder of Shingon Buddhism.
- 27.
This labor camp was called the Yoseba, which was established to rehabilitate former prisoners of the bakufu .
- 28.
The Shingaku (the teachings of practical morality) that Baigan Ishida founded is also called Sekimon Shingaku . Toan Tejima , who was a direct disciple of Baigan, propagated the term “Sekimon Shingaku.”
- 29.
Zenosuke Tsuji (1877–1955) is a professor emeritus of Japanese history of Buddhism at Tokyo University.
- 30.
The 1750s: 1750, 1751, 1753, 1754, 1755, 1756, 1758, 1759. The 1760s: 1761, 1762, 1764, 1766, 1768, 1769. The 1770s: 1771, 1773, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1779. cf. Rekishigaku Kenkyukai (ed.) (2001), The Chronologocal Table of Japanese History, Iwanami, Tokyo.
- 31.
In the early Edo period, at first 40% of the total amount of production was taken in tax by the government, then the tax increased to to 50%, 80% at a maximum. Cf. Britannica International Encyclopaedia Sho Komoku Jiten (Japanese edition).
- 32.
Cf. Kyoto Prefecture (1970) Shinise to Kakun (Multi-generational enterprises and Family Precepts ), Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto. Yoshida , Jitsuo (2010) Shoka no Kakun (Merchant Families and Family Precepts), Seibunsha, Osaka.
- 33.
Cf. Fujita , Satoru (2015) Bakumatsu kara Ishin e (From the last days of Shogunate to the Meiji Restoration ), Iwanami, Tokyo.
- 34.
Pesant revolts before a visit of Commodore Perry in the nineteenth century: 1801, 1804, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1818, 1819, 1822, 1823, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 1849, 1850, 1853. Cf. Rekishigaku Kenkyukai (ed.) (2001) The Chronologocal Table of Japanese History, Iwanami, Tokyo.
- 35.
Cf. Rekishigaku Kenkyukai (ed.) (2001) The Chronologocal Table of Japanese History, Iwanami, Tokyo.
- 36.
Cf. Yokohama Boeki Shinnpou (ed.) (1909) Yokohama Kaiko Sokumenshi (Historical Aspects of the Opening of the Port of Yokohama), Yokohama Boeki Shinnpo Sha, Yokohama.
- 37.
Eejanaika Odori Movement was a uproaring festivities demonstrated by commoners in the latter half of 1867–1868. Cf. Britannica International Encyclopaedia Sho Komoku Jiten (Japanese edition).
- 38.
Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1653–1724) was an author of Joruri and Kabuki.
- 39.
Imagawa study books were popular textbooks at the terakoya . This suggests that the bakufu thought that an elementary level of education was sufficient for the farmer class.
- 40.
The Book of Change, one of the nine Chinese classics, is a tome on divination. Ibuka , the founder of Sony, told the author that the “logic” of the Eki is similar to that of DNA.
- 41.
The Makashikan is a Chinese Buddhist scripture written in 594.
- 42.
Isso Kamada (1721–1804) is a preaher of Sekimon Shingaku descended from Baigan Ishisa. Ryuo Kamada (1754–1821) is an adapted son of Isso Kamada. He proposed an evolutionary theory based on his original idea.
- 43.
Disinheritance required permission from the the authorities in the Edo period.
- 44.
The Seji Kenbun Roku (1816) leveled harsh criticisms against merchants in chapter 5 (pp.229–230). We surmise that the author of that book had never read Baigan Ishida’s books on merchant morality.
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Horide, I. (2019). Case Analysis of the Shonindo. In: The Mercantile Ethical Tradition in Edo Period Japan. Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, vol 20. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7338-1_4
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