Onmyodo Studies

From Nativism to Numerology: Yamaga Sok's Final Excursion into the Metaphysics of Change Author(s): John Allen Tucker
Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Apr., 2004), pp. 194-217 Published by: University of Hawai'i Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1400237 . Accessed: 11/02/2014 16:11
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FROM NATIVISM TO NUMEROLOGY: YAMAGA SOKO'S FINAL EXCURSION INTO THE METAPHYSICS OF CHANGE
AllenTucker John
ofHistory, East Carolina Department University Introduction
of1682,YamagaSokO(1622-1685),then and within three Intheautumn sixty years In it,he envisioned ofhisdeath, hada telling dream. on vera two-line notewritten milion thanHottaMasatoshi (1631-1684).1Masapaper,authored by noneother hadserved theprevious letsuna toshi, (1641-1680), incidentally, Tokugawa shogun, the first as a councilor and then later as a se1670s, during junior (wakadoshiyori) of niorcouncilor After to secure the accession (1646Tsunayoshi helping (r6ju). in1681,great was named, elder(tair6), thehighest bakufu 1709) in1680,Masatoshi office other thanshogun.2 The noteSokOenvisioned related thatHottahad "borto SokO'srecord, rowedone of Sok6's works and read it."According Hottaconof human withhyperbole, that "the could not have been tinued writing declaring "Was it the workof a god (kamitsukuri)"?3 agency,"thenasking, SokO'sNenpu from his where this and other dreams later are fifty years biography), (Chronological does not the text two Masatoshi recorded,4 identify reportedly praised.However, Sok5 scholars, concur thatitwas the Gengenhakki HoriIsao and TaharaTsuguo, ofthings and our impulses to action), the theorigins a treatise (Exploring outlining of their to the befoundations and relevance world of human metaphysical change Not surprisingly, the Gengenhakki was modeledon theancient Chinese havior. a work classic,theBookof Changes(Yijing), by EastAsianphiwidelyrecognized and of all Shintoists, Confucians, Daoists, Buddhists, losophers stripes-including of of themost authoritative theoretical the dialectics Neo-Confucians-as exposition change.5 abouttheGengen hakki. Four That wouldnothavebeenSoko'sfirst dream years lord in thefinal week of 1678, he had dreamed that Matsudaira Tadafusa, earlier, in work oftheShimabara ceremonial the Hakki as attired "a domain, robes, praised of the cosmos."6These dreams since the unfolding reveal, addressing everything of the how the hakki some prompted significantly enough, composition Gengen bakufu of Soko's finalillusions of philosophical with of grandeur, images replete to service as a as a prelude to an invitation him,probably praising powerbrokers to theshogun.Unfortunately forSokO,reality neverapproximated scholar-advisor
thereis no evidence thatMasatoshior Tadafusa held him in highregard his reveries: or knew of,much less admired,his Gengen hakki. the latter work along withhis Gengen hakkigenkai, a colloquial Nevertheless explicationof the oftenenigmatickanbuntext,were Soko's last major pieces. Yet
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scholars have recognized the importance ofthe Gengenhakki onlya fewmodern that it "theculmination oeuvre. Tahara states of expressed Soko's Tsuguo vis-a-vis on philosophical matters." Taharaadds that the Gengenhakki was Soko's thought his Hirose most theoretical edi"worldview."7 work," Yutaka, expounding "SokO's torof the YamagaSok6 zensho,characterized the Gengenhakkias a late work "the highest Neither Taharanor Hiroseatpeak in his philosophy."8 conveying inSoko's the motifs of the hakki with those to developed tempted synthesize Gengen in 1669, the true most famous Central finished ChOchd (The Empire),9 writing, jijitsu in relation a decade before theHakki. Taharadid interpret thelatter to the Takkyo inexile)(1668),a work ofthe around thetime questions completed d6mon(Child's In from intertextual of the hakki and analyses Gengen Choch6jijitsu. refraining Tahara hints that there are few and that discontinuities similarities, Choch6jijitsu, are more salient.10 The present article thatthe Gengenhakki expandsTahara'shint, suggesting one distinguishing advancesa novelparadigm, final views from theemperorSokO's nativistic in articulated the thanthe centered, ChOcho perspectives jijitsu.Rather the Gengenhakki a moreuniversalistic, and numerolatter, naturalistic, expounds oftheontological rationale ofchange.By"universalistic," this article analysis logical to thetendency to address refers issuesinexceptionally comprehensive, categorical terms such as "humanity" "humannature" (hito), (sei),"the moralway" (michi), and "thepeople" (tami), rather thanones intrin(sei),"rulers" (kun), "government" to a tradition with as the Shinto deities IzaAmaterasu, sicallyparticular parochial oremperors suchas Jinmu. is meant a modeofthenagi,Izanami, By"naturalistic" that no ri), the"natural (shizen appealsto "natural orizing principles" way" (shizen no michi), or other in notions a concern for the natural order. (shizen) grounded By in is this the to craft a from case, "numerological" meant, tendency metaphysics numeric thebinary categories, typically ontological pair"one" (ichi)and "two"(ni) and others them. this offers thematic by generated Methodologically, article analyses ofthetexts, crucial differences (1) foreign ideas,(2) cosmology, revealing regarding and (6) thephilosophy of history. (3) esoteric (4) sagehood,(5) governing, notions, Theseanalyses the extent to which the hakki from theprosuggest Gengen departed views of the while imperial, proto-nationalistic, providential jijitsu ChOcht moving toward a novelapproach to thephilosophical ofhistory. foundations This finalshift, fromnativistic themesto what was arguably a more Neoof in was the third Sok5's career. The first Confucian-style metaphysics history, occurred around1662, when,after Xi's Zhu and (1130-1200) reading Li Zuqian's theJinsilu on things at hand), (Reflections (1137-1181) Neo-Confucian anthology, in Neo-Confucianism of favor the more ostensibly rejected practical teachings Soko of Confucius and the Duke of Zhou.11 Thisfirst shift was made infamous by the
in the Seikyoydroku of Confucianism) (Essentials publicationof Soko's new thinking in 1666 and his consequent exile, by bakufudecree, to the Ak5 domain, untilpardoned a decade later,in 1675. The second shift, the Chocho jijitsu, completedby 1669, the year Soko finished involved his move away froma largelyexclusive concern with the categoriesof
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Confucian and their to thesamurai relevance estateand toward a surphilosophy and for least for Soko--reverence prisingly explicit completely unprecedented-at in ancient as delineated and medieval texts culture, Japanese imperial especially suchas theNihonshoki ofJapan) ki and theJinn6 of the (Chronicles (Record sh6ot ofdivine succession sovereigns).12 Thethird shift was fully evident theGengen by 1678,theyearSoko punctuated hakki. Itseemsquitesignificant that theGengen relevant toJapanese hakki, although in its of no offers references to the or narratives, history philosophy change, legends, of traditional so in that are assumptions Japanese imperial history conspicuous the Ifanalyzedinrelation to Soko'sintellectual this final shift Chhcho jijitsu. biography, returned that hisearliest of characterized Sok5to thediscourse stage philosophical under (1630-1640),when,following development tutelage HayashiRazan (1583for 1657),he embraced Neo-Confucianism, example, authoring, colloquialversions of Zhu Xi's Commentaries on theFourBooks(Sishu In the ChOcho jizhu). jijitsu, to Shinto references and however, deities,religio-political themes, providential of imperial are mostsalient.In manyrespects, the Choch6 history interpretations in as an text stands one most understandSoko's therefore, atypical jijitsu, corpus, in in relation to the of his Ako circumstances exile and hisprosable, contextually, in the time of its at indefinite residence that tozama domain, composition: pects tiny from from Edo butnotfar theimperial remote aucapitaland theresidual political with it. associated thority his lifeSok5 was drivenprofessionally to familiar by a motive Throughout with a ruler-patron to sponsor Confucians Confucius himself: his beginning finding in As research and his both a Neo-Confucian scholarly implement insights governing. and latein life, this ambition was a prime force and Confucian behind scholar, early of hisphilosophical of the orientation. His production Soko's variousredefinitions than the of newfound for ChOcho rather facile result a appreciation jijitsu, imperial was arguably whilein exile,thathischances culture, by his realization, prompted of becoming a bakufu scholarhad ended,and thatifhe wereto have any hope of finding itwould be one who was moreconversant withthenativistic a patron on oftheYamato centered the culture heartland, traditionally imperial capitalKyoto, and the Kansai,wherehe residedin exile, than was typical among Edo-based powerbrokers. and allowedto return totheshogun's Once pardoned capital, Sokoagain,as his of the As a result hisorientation dreams show,entertained hopes serving Tokugawa. from nativism to shifted, numerological quite pragmatically, Choch6jijitsu-style ofchangeinhistory, that to cometoterms with wouldenablehim analyses analyses ofhislife, oftherealm, thebakufu theperplexing those and those vicissitudes facing of itsfirst Soko drafted the thecompletion as itapproached Significantly, century.
Gengen hakki duringthe finalyears of letsuna's shogunate,which spanned three decades, and the opening years of Tsunayoshi's.His compositionof thistreatise, future change as well as the past, no doubt capable of interpreting purportedly his ongoing desire to assistthe bakufuduringa criticaltime of transition. reflected Soko had perhaps heard that Tsunayoshi was an enthusiasticpatron of Yijing
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in the group and hoped his Gengenhakki would gain himinclusion scholarship assembled the new to the of scholars ancient treatise on being by shogun study change.13 offers a different view.Emphasizing HoriIsao,Sokb'spostwar biographer, synthe thesisrather thanrupture, hakki as "thefinal and most Horiinterprets Gengen statement of Soko's learning." ultimate the Gengenhakki Horilinks metaphysical the and theChuch6 that former the theoretical jijitsu, provided suggesting principles of Soko's "Japanese thusadvancing what Hori sees as Soko's overall thought," as theTrueCentral (Nihonchhch6 Hori's advocacyof "Japan Empire-ism" shugi). arevaluableinsofar as they someless-than-evident continuities, emphasize analyses thanobvious,yetoften rather discontinuities. the Gengen overlooked, Although hakki affirms no systematic links to Soko'searlymartial or his so-called philosophy forexample,thatit can be "ancientlearning" Hori proposes, (kogaku) thought, bothin newways.14 viewedas developing in Western consistent withtrends reHori'sviewsare somewhat scholarship and In her his classic "The of Naturalization ConSoko study garding Chich6jijitsu. inTokugawa ofSinocentrism," fucianism The Problem KateNakaihasshown Japan: and that seventeenthConfucian scholars made "theway many eighteenth-century ofthesagesacceptable to theJapanese outlook and temperament the bymodifying in itsoriginal morealien elements of Confucianism Chineseforms." As evidence, Nakai points to theworks of HayashiRazan,AraiHakuseki (1657-1725), Kumazawa Banzan (1619-1691), YamazakiAnsai (1618-1682), Asami Keisai (1652thelatter, she notes: 1711),and YamagaSoko. Regarding seventeenthandeighteenth-century this (that Confucians, Among position Japan's given inupholding thewayofthesages, itwasJapan, not that China, superior performance deserved theappellation ofChogoku isassociated most [Central Kingdom]) particularly with Soko.15 Yamaga in Illustrating (Autobiography Soko's view,Nakai quotesSokb's Haisho zampitsu which states: exile), Ourcountry issmall with inanyregard, China andthat itwas [so]itcouldnot compare that I havecometorecogthus, too,inChina thesageshadbeenborn....But recently nizethat such views areinerror. ofscholars "tobelieve what Itisthe deeprooted failing hear andnot what what isnear andadhere towhat isfar."16 see,toreject they they itdoes notmention the Gengenhakki, Nakai'sstudy is consonant with Although views insofar as it in that culminated the Hori's implies JapanSoko's thinking centered claimsof the Chhch6 And whileNakai'sworkis valuableforits jijitsu. ifwe examineSoko's was naturalized, analysesof ways in whichConfucianism ChOchojijitsuin relation to shifting nuanceswithin his oeuvre,especially those
advanced in the Gengen hakki,a different perspectiveon Soko's thoughtand his efforts towardnaturalizing Confucianism comes intofocus. While notingSokO's workas a naturalizer of Confucianism, thisarticleemphasizes his attempt to naturalizeby "rewriting" a classic, the Yijing,resulting in the
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In theprocess, ofa similar the Gengen hakki. thisarticle work, composition quesof to which theChhch6 Sokb's final tions theextent jijitsu expressed understanding theChoch6 on Japanese culture. Italso suggests that and itsbearing Confucianism in on twocounts: oftheSokocorpus was atypical (1) itwas without precedent jijitsu in his to the and it was unechoed later works. Crucial hisearlier (2) virtually writings, inWestern which mentioned is theGengen a text latter studies,17 hakki, rarely point with the of intellectual life much conclude Chocho jijitsu, coverage Sok6's typically accountduring does. Soko authored that as theHaishozampitsu autobiographical in when he not have either his imminent could hislast exile, anticipated pardon year in hisphilosophical to it.As the Genor thereorientations perspective consequent hisexileand Sok5remained a creative scholar however, longafter proves, genhakki oftheHaishozampitsu. thecomposition the Gengenhakki is one unknown scholars, hardly amongJapanese Although in in the twentieth Inoue works theSoko corpus.Early oftheleaststudied century, itwas drafted after that distanced itfrom SokO's bynoting previous writings Tetsujir5 that the text was of his "later Inoue stated it a reflection hispardon, thought." making of Soko's As an enthusiastic admirer celebration like the Yijing.18 "quitemysterious," in the Gengenhakki worth little ofJapan's line,Inouefound highlighting. imperial of"Chinaworship," the to a kind returned that After Soko ultimately all, itimplies for countered. Inouepraised trait Soko having ofJapanese whoseinfluential studies with thanconcurring Rather Inoue, prewar milineedsofthe imperial well with the ideological meshed history philosophical conon on has focused his (Classified Soko Yamaga gorui scholarship postwar tary, that the and Haisho ofYamagaSoko),Seiky6 versations zampitsu,19 is, cory6roku, inrelation and to Sok5'scritique ofZhuXi'sNeo-Confucianism pusas itcrystallized which that oftheSeiky6 hisexile due to publication brazenly yoroku, expounded texts such nationalistic Given the reaction postwar against ideological critique. whichpraised the ChOch6 of our national no hongi(Essentials as Kokutai polity), work with the stilllater the latter that it is not different, along surprising jijitsu,20 in hakki The is anyover relative silence. hakki have been Gengen passed Gengen to is best distinctive but its nationalistic but a text, approach philosophizing thing whichis one parexcellence.Itseems in relation to theChOch6 jijitsu, appreciated to thelackofatcontributed of the latter has thepostwar that inadvertently neglect allowedtheformer. tention contends that on theGengen whilefocused Thepresent hakki, article, primarily theideologically inrelation toSoko'soeuvre, itis bestunderstood including charged intheoin to shifts relation to be viewed that both need and crucial jijitsu, Choch6 searchfora Confucian withSoko's typically reticalnuance thatcorresponded with in tandem different texts SokO's emerged put,thesevery Simply patron-ruler.
exile and pardon, with each meant to appeal to a prospectivepatron.Ideally, in but when thatwas not SokO's view, thatwould have been the Tokugawa bakufu,21 discourse to the nativistic his interests shifted his an option, that is, during exile, of the ChOchojijitsu. Later,followinghis pardon, Soko, conscious of the renewed one different a profoundly formulated of serving the bakufu, perspective, possibility
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a Chinesetext, the Yijing. indigenizing through reconceptualization numerological In theprocess, Sok5advanceda new metaphysics, one with farmoreuniversalistic in the ChOch6 and naturalistic thanare apparent implications jijitsu.Recognition of the importance of the Gengenhakkiin the Soko oeuvreis significant since it for a greater the in facilitates and evident dynamism flexibility appreciation Soko's traits led him that nativism toward development, ultimately awayfrom philosophical moreecumenical a broader, on history, and change.Recogniculture, perspective hakki is also significant tionoftheGengen sincethetext itself theextent to suggests whichsome earlymodern intellectuals not Confucianism, simply indigenized by to be thetrue China,as Soko's Chhch6 did,butbyauthorJapan jijitsu proclaiming oftheConfucian the Gengenhakki. In theproas with classics, ingreformulations notonlymade Confucianism intellectuals morenativistic, cess, theseindigenizing in their thatis, Confucianized,22 cosmopolitan, theybecame moretheoretically ofthemetaphysics ofreality, and change. understandings history, oftheChuchojijitsu and Gengenhakki23 Thematic Analyses toward Attitude Things Foreign/Nativist is itsreaction One ofthemostnoteworthy the aspectsofthe ChOch6 against jijitsu for"foreign kindof respect thatis, Chinesephilosophy, that characphilosophy," scholar.The previous from Sok6's terizedSoko's earlycareeras a private quote in well illustrates thisreaction. Sok5 recorded Haishozampitsu similar sentiments his he he to there confessed that had been thepreface long ignorant Chcch6jijitsu: ofthecivilization oftheCentral Flower hishomeofthebeauties (Chakabunmei), with land.Instead he had been infatuated "classicsoftheforeign (China). dynasty" with exotica for that such infatuation leads to reverence Soko warned, however, Similar statements recur theChhcho heterodoxies.24 one Indeed, throughout jijitsu. ofthat for from of the mostcharacteristic features textis itsretreat Confurespect East Asianphilosophy, cianism bySoko'sdaya well-established qua Confucianism, for nativistic themes related to history, and admiration and itsmovetoward religion, in In the albeit as couched Confucian such hakki, terminology. Gengen philosophy, is hardly from the"cosmopolitan" modeofphilosophizing a withdrawal apparent. of celebrations the orJapanese absent are overt as Central Kingdom, Equally Japan truth. theGengen hakki texts as thebasisofultimate reveals that Sok6'sadRather, in for Confucian this case that associated with the miration and its Yijing learning, of had resurfaced with analyses change, metaphysical strength. As notedearlier, there are significant continuities between the Horiclaimsthat hakki. in and As he cites one made the evidence, remark, Gengen jijitsu Chhch6
Gengen hakkigenkai: ofShinto, which theancient Theancestral (honch5) formulated, mysteries sagesofJapan in the the forms Butfor ideas and were represented symbols convey ages they (keish6). borrow us to notions from nottransmitted, no forcing foreign sages (gaikoku seijin)in order to illuminate them.25
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After Farfrom thisremark theopposite. continuities, all, the suggests establishing from the Nihon the and shoki, Kojiki, quotespassages Chhch6jijitsurepeatedly ofJapan, to provethesuperiority whichit lauds(via traditional other ancient texts or Chureferences to China)as Choka(Central Flower), Empire), ChOcho(Central while alluded the China is to as (Central typically Kingdom), dynasty" goku "foreign the Gengenhakki SokOrefers to genkai, (gaich6).Butin thepassageabove, from "this whilereferring to Chinaas gaias, literally, humbly Japan dynasty" (honch6), Inneither koku theGengen hakki nor theGengen hakki (the country). foreign genkai of do claimssurface as the true embodiment the ethical, Japan regarding imperial of theCentral civilization thatis, as thetrueChina.In thisrespect, the Kingdom, hakki a moveawayfrom theproto-nationalistic, expresses Gengen emperor-centered oftheChhch6 assertions jijitsu. whilethe ChOch6 Mostimportantly, that rather thanChina jijitsu argues Japan of thetrueway,in the was the realChoka because it preserved thetransmission of hakki the Sok5 admits that thesymbolic above, Gengen genkai passage teachings in the Gengenhakki, once transmitted addressed ofShinto, as mysteries had been via notions borrowed from lostand could onlybe illuminated (Chinese) foreign deWen,theDuke ofZhou,and Confucius. Furthermore, sagessuchas Fuxi,King in in reference to the hakki SokO's the above, spite "foreign sages" passage Gengen hakki and Gengen typically appealsto the"sages" (seijin), genkaihe most implying thesame"foreign" from IntheGengen term Chinese hakki bythis figures antiquity. no and Gengenhakki there are references to ancient the virtually genkai Japanese intheChOcho deities discussed jijitsu. regularly In one rareinstance a deity does appear:explaining thesymbol ju (discussed the humanpresencebetweenheavenand earth, later), representing Sok6 notes times thispresence thatin ancient was affirmed via the deity Ame-no-toko-tachiYetthisisolated from no-mikoto.26 far levelof a convincing reference, establishing the extent to whicha substantive consciousness of Shinto continuity, highlights divinities and their to culture had timeof the importance Japanese atrophied by in final This diminution a from relative shift his Soko's writings. perspective signifies a glorification oftheimperial court and itsreligious doctrines toward themoreuniofChinese versal philosophy. categories In one ofthemost remarks ofthe Gengenhakki, Soki admits that telling ignoof rant will that his "forms" imitate those the this Within people charge Yijing.27 (sh6) the Gengenhakki citedby Horito establish context, genkaimakesthe statement continuities between the ChOch6 and hakki. Yet,whenviewedin jijitsu Gengen a than basis of theoretical issued rather SokO's context, remark, providing continuity, ifnotplagiarizing, from an awareness he might be accused ofparaphrasing, a that hiscomposition ofthe Gengenhakki Chineseclassic.Thataside,Soko justifies by if its he that the to the of content: declares mysterious universality operations appeal
of change, the formsand of heaven did not allow such theoreticalrepresentation all history, animages conveyingthe natureof change would not have penetrated fromthose in the Yijing,in practical cient and modern.Althoughthe formsdiffer essence of it. Here SokO explains the titleof the operationtheyconvey the internal
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inwhichhe crafted that he "followed theessential and themanner it,bystating text, the of and ofthesagelylearning truth (gengen), exploring origins things (seigaku), intheir theincipient factors evident (hakki)."28 unfolding (springs) making from extent which Sok-'s textemerged the to While skeptics question might to the universalhiscomments sucha methodology, meta-national, ostensibly point from themoreparochial removed ofthe Gengenhakki, characteristics isticnature referred to was Confucianism, as all, the "sagelylearning" ChOch6jijitsu.After was as it Chinese. the Sok-'s muchan EastAsianphilosophy Also, by day "things" of the larger world. but realities were notnecessarily Japanese "things," explored his for texts was not that Soko's comments Moreover, respect foreign suggest from for butresulted theuniversal elein infatuation with exotica, respect grounded this universal these texts. rearticulation of communicated ment Sok5's Similarly by to render italso sought to provide was notsimply meant itmoreindigenous: element a moreuniversal on reality, with and history. theindigenous perspective change, Cosmology Inthefirst oftheChoch6 "Before theemerHeaven,"Sok6describes chapter jijitsu, and and and of heaven the thegreat earth; deities, rites, ceremonies; finally gence of and that the between male and distinction female. is, Sok5's principle yin yang, in terms is set forth of the "natural of naturalistically, principles cosmogenesis shizenno d6ri) butmost on thebasisofnativist heavenand earth" (tenchi obviously from the Nihon shoki. At turn of NeoSoki associates every passages categories with with Confucian Shinto Kuni-no-toko-tachi-nodeities, cosmology beginning and continuing mikoto of through Izanagiand Izanamiand the"sevengenerations the age of the kami."Thus,forexample,Soki explainsIzanagiand Izanamias and harmony of yinand yangand itscomplete ofthewarmth expressions totality. Thesetwodivinities, theCentral Soki claims, established and Chugoku, Kingdom, As theprimordial madecorrect theethical relations between maleand female. male Izanami and female, and were the foundations of and and the beIzanagi yin yang of as the five Insofar defines heaven and earth as the Soko relationships. ginning ultimate" of yinand yang, thecosmositself is defined in relation to Izanagi "great and Izanami.29 naturalism in theChOcho itis Thus,whileConfucian figures jijitsu, subsumed within thecategories with theShinto associated and cited pantheon, only as a meansofexplicating, at another ofthedeities and thedivine level,thenature land. no references The Gengenhakki to theNihonshoki, theKojiki, or the presents of kami. Divided into it the three with the "above statement, chapters, opens age belowthere is earth, there is heaven, and inbetween arethemyriad Tahara things." wordsdescribethe kindof "universe" statesthatthese' thatSok6 thencontemIfso, that is noteworthy "universe" because itdiffers from that plated.30 decisively in which offered theopeninglinesofthe ChOcho jijitsu, quotethe Nihonshokiin
that "first there is heaven, then earth,and fromthem spiritualluminosity, relating referred to as Kuni-no-toko-tachi-no-mikoto, was born."'31By contrast the Gengen hakkioffers its simple, naturalistic without allusion or reference to any cosmology
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itis obviously works modeled ofChinesecosmology, after text, particular although with the Book of and of (Shujing) continuing through anynumber beginning History Mostconspicuously absentare references to the Shinto Neo-Confucian writings. intheChOch6 mentioned deities so regularly jijitsu. The Gengenhakki that "the Soko's new metaphysics by noting genkaiclarifies withlifebecause theyare endowedwiththe generative myriad crystallize things oftheearth."32 The Gengen ofheaven(ten and receive thenourishment no ki), force in this worldview hakki the harmonious prevalent bydescribing explains continuity or ethically refined never forces that thekunshi, "heavenas round," person, adding founds On theother is level,and thusthekunshi hand,earth anytransformations. the as one and defines correct model laws Soki (sei) (hW). government sage (seijin) and thus remain still with who can movewithout cease, equal constancy, complete oftheway,Soko ofthemyriad theuniversality thetransformations Affirming things. all time, without everbeingdisand modern, ancient notesthatit has penetrated to abandontheway he asserts that itis impossible to theAnalects, carded.Alluding theway without can comprehend forlong.Whileheavenand earth and continue to say,with itare sages.33 Needless and comprehend thosewho can discuss words, the in of that remark thelatter he, authoritatively way,is a speaking Sok6 suggests in uniof and the That his characterization aside, way sagehoodcastthem sage.34 level at a transnational, ones applicable naturalistic terms, versalistic, cosmopolitan of the than themore rather ChOcho jijitsu. perspective provincial witha numerological accountof his naturalistic Sok6 supplements cosmology in the of one completely theorigins things, although unprecedented jijitsu, Choch6 Shao Yong of the numerology advancedby the Song Neo-Confucian reminiscent that IntheGengen earlier.35 "one" Soko suggests hakki, (1011-1077) sixcenturies while to "one and birth number) "two"(a yinnumber) (a yang two," givesbirth gives Each becomecomplete." and eight With and four." to "three that, "five, six,seven, of total transformaa to thus number rise more, sixty-four producing gives "eight" riseto overfivehundred in turn tions.The sixty-four produceeighteach, giving ofpast,present, the transformations arithmetic more.Bysuch progressions, myriad that once we can infer and future represented. changeare exhaustively Sok6claims willeverbe we nor later of neither thenumerological generations categories change, about beclouded things.36 but from was notabsent Naturalistic Soko'sChOch6 jijitsu, cosmological thought as an Rather it functioned was itthepredominant there. neither auxiliary message and their ofShinto theidentities deities levelofdiscourse, supposedimenhancing a naturalistic and at affirms In the however, Gengenhakki, perialprogeny. Sok6 for it as an amplification priviwithout offering cosmology, points numerological claims.In efor historical nationalistic notions, cdnceptions, legedreligio-political
fect Soko's Gengen hakki leaves the Shinto kami and divine sovereigns,so celebratedin the ChOchojijitsu,out, at least at the mostexplicitlevel. While one could the surface claim thattheyare an implicit presence in the text,theirabsence from level of discourseseems striking, prominencein especiallywhen one considerstheir the ChOchojijitsu.
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Nativist and theEight Esoteric Symbols Symbolism: Religiosity 4 of "The Sacred thesourceofthe the ChOcho reveals Treasures," Chapter jijitsu, their moral three and why must with reverbe regarded treasures, they significance, with "warmth ence. The jewel is associated and humaneness," themirror with the of of extension and the with and sword "decisive "investigationthings knowledge," ofthese Thetransmission three treasures manifested the"utmost courage." allegedly oftheheavenly to thelegitimate and was crucial ruleof sincerity" spirits, imperial used these thecountry. treasures to supposedly Reigning sovereigns internallyclarify in governing and externally as resources theirminds, and educating the people. ofthem totheunbroken thepossession lineestablishing imperial Japan Soko relates he notes that the as the trueCentral that is, Kingdom. Though "foreign empire," of had items such as the nine the Xia which were later China, tripods dynasty, passed in no waycompare that downto theYinand Zhou,he explains with thetreasthey intheChOch6 uresoftheCentral Sokothus esoteric presents Kingdom.37 symbolism to of establish the as the Central and to superiorityJapan jijitsuprimarily Kingdom, the China, dynasty," bycomparison. denigrate "foreign In part 2 ofthe Gengenhakki, ofa different esoteric Soko explores symbolism in his supposedly sort:he offers an exposition of the eightcomponents universal of of rearticulation notions is most evident here: system change.Soko's Yijing-style in the Yijing there are eight broken lines,that trigrams, composedof solidand/or to produce recombine Rather thantrigrams, offers sixty-four hexagrams. Soko eight esoteric reminiscent offragments ofthekana syllabary, to conveytheessymbols ofchangein history. sential forms
Sten
Figure1
The first withheaven,itseponym, theactive 1), read ten,is associated (figure in Soko's metaphysics. force it is represented as operative originating Numerically "one." Commenting on it,Soko relates that "thesage looksupward in order to establishwhat is above." He adds thatwhenever be exist,theremustfirst things theattribute ofthesymbol.38 activity,
Figure2-chi
Thesecond(figure with whatis abiding and enduring, 2), readchi,is associated
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theearth. on it,Soko notesthat "thesage looksdownin order to esCommenting will be rest." tablish whatis below,"and he adds, "wherethere is activity, there Thusare above and belowdetermined.39
rju
3 Figure
ofa single vertical line.Soko Thethird 3), pronounced symbol ju, consists (figure that"justas thevertical linelinks whatis above and below,so does the explains The Genas the ruler-teacher for serve (kunshi) humanity." centrality, sage,through that is a standard with serves hakki further notes "there which, activity, great gen in the myriad are natural: to reign The Genkaiadds thatthesestandards things." which sincethe of and earth have are "the standards heaven prevailed they great foundations of are the More rites, music, penal law, they specifically, beginning." First what the follow. standards are and administrative The sages government. great order is thenatural is heavenand earth, thensages.That, there (shiSokoexplains, zen noj6).40
4 Figure
I3r
Y7
of a singlehorizontal line.The The fourth 4), read 6, consists symbol (figure as is represented of heavenand earth intersection Hakkistates that "thehorizontal of the the plentitude a straight line."41 The Genkaiexplainsthat6 symbolizes heavenand earth, thespace between utterly precluding things throughout myriad emptiness.42
ko
5 Figure
to intercourse The fifth Soko 5), read k6, refers amongthings. symbol (figure in and because of intercourse established the that the exchange way explains sages without have and ofheaven, theproduction earth, humanity, excepalways, things on one another.43 relied tion,
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ju
6 Figure
to "changing The sixth and overcoming 6), readjO, refers symbol (figure things. itinterms ofregulations whenthesagesestablished themean, discussed Thus, they in meaning He notesthat to themean,butdis(rei)."44 ju is similar (h6) and rites "to them that means by emphasizing jo tinguishes change"and "to overcome," whilethemeanpertains to great standards (daikei).45
zui
7 Figure
to following The seventh whatis right. The 7), read zui, refers symbol (figure for and so it. the need formulated The hakki realized this that Gengen explains sages ina person, itmust be taught to the for thestandard to be manifest according way.46 refers to 'preserving and nourishing,' Itadds that"following whichin turn refer to "47 over oneself.' and 'reflecting beingvigilant
sei
8 Figure
The eighth to whatcan neither be seen nor 8), readsei, refers symbol (figure Ifforced heardbutis nevertheless thebeginning and end ofall things. to speakof it is the essence called The Genkai that this (makoto).48 (sei), it, sincerity explains is the most subtle and all seven the of others. symbol yetessential, encompassing itrepresents Mostsimply, thesincerity ineveryday life.49 practiced Whatis clearfrom this brief of the oftheGengen hakki exposition eight symbols is thatSoko did not,in any obviousway,author thetext as an explication ofthe or as an amplification ofthe Choch6jijitsu "three treasures" or anyoftheancient ifSoko's accountsare followed, works crucialto it. Rather, he tookthe Japanese his as the and basis, and, Yijing's eighthexagrams by exploring origins incipient causes of things, he formulated a uniquemetaphysical of change.The symbolism whileno doubtapplicable wouldhavebeenequallyrelevant toJapan, to forlatter, such as China.In itsrelative the Gengenhakki moves eigndynasties universality, thenarrower intheChocho offered Also, considerably awayfrom perspective jijitsu. whiletheChoch6 extols the of nature and jijitsu unchanging Japan's imperial polity Allen Tucker 205 John
itspolitical in the enduring evident reverence accordedthe ethics, symbolically three the hakki is assumes that there continual treasures, Gengen imperial change in the worldand seeksto explainit metaphysically via an appeal to categories, the majorforces capturing change.Thusas the ChOch6 informing jijitsumarshals to the esoteric of the the symbols explain supposedpermanence imperial polity, a hakki assumes world of flux and seeks to make of it sense pervasive Gengen metaphysically. Sagesand DivineSages to thei"sages" refer Rather he Soko does nottypically IntheChuch6 jijitsu, (seijin). most often cites theexamples ofthekami andtheheavenly deities (tenjin), including and others, or the exampleof emperors Susa-no-o, Amaterasu, Izanagi,Izanami, suchas Jinmu, and so forth. When to sagacity ofanysort, Sok5 refers Kanmu, Sujin, he speaksof "spiritual or "divinesages" (shinsei). When used anthrosagacity" shinsei refers to the and of ancient who pomorphically, emperors again gods Japan in sucha way,according defined thepolity to Soko,as to merit foritthestatus of the other On when used as an shinsei refers to the wisdom hand, attribute, Chigoku. mademanifest characterized at one point bythesamefigures, bySoki as embody"the standards for and and mindof "the essential nature myriad ing generations" heavenand earth."50 Soko'sfrequent use ofshinsei as a reference to thesupposed "divine tradition marks a distinct hisfocus break with on imperial sages"ofJapanese or sagely of of his theseikyo, characteristic Confucianism, teachings Seiky6 y6roku, first and foremost propounded bythesage Confucius. teachings IntheGengen Sok- turns shinsei tocitethe hakki, awayfrom Japan's celebrating wisdom oftheseijinor "sages"as sources ofmetaphysical Thiswas true authority. notonlyin SokO'sreferences to figures suchas Fuxi, theDuke ofZhou,and Conbutalso in hisreferences to theancient eventhosewho had fucius sagesofJapan, articulated akinto the Yijing whenformulating the"original supposedly something in that This reverence for of Shinto" were later shift lost.51 mysteries authority figures, first the"divine theancient then sages in theSeikyo sages" intheChOch6 y6roku, and finally backto the"sages" intheGengen thesucceshakki, exemplifies jijitsu, in SokO'sphilosophizing earlier. Mostnoteworthy, ofcourse, sive shifts mentioned as from the of "divine is the shift celebration Japan's supposed away sagacity," in and toward a more unthe universalistic, cosmopolitan explored jijitsu, ChOch6 is thatinthe wisdomin the Gengenhakki. ofexceptional Noteworthy derstanding as "sages" rather than and Chinesefigures latter textSoko speaks of Japanese to of China. that of were those those Japan decidedly superior implying
at length, as does the Gengen hakkigenkai. The Chocho jijitsudiscusses governing while the so in former does the However, unmistakably indigenousterminology, of more purelyConfucian distinctive latter resorts to the universalistic terminology discourse. For example, chapter2 of the ChOcho jijitsu,titled"The CentralKingdom" ("Chigoku"), cites the rule established by Izanagi and Izanami over the
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660-585 B.C.E.), 97followed byJimmu Sujin(supposedly (supposedly archipelago, as proof that due to its un30 B.C.E.),Keiko(71-130), and so forth, Japan's polity, is of that to that lineofimperial broken succession, superior dynasties," is, "foreign results from theallegedfact that theimperial lineprovided for China.Thissuperiority thantheselfish wishes(watakushi) ofan indirather thepublicgood ofall (6yake) itthetrue "Central thusmaking vidual, Kingdom."52 In chapter thatsamuraiclans seized Soko admits 3, "Imperial Orthodoxy," thatthey Goshirakawa's (1155-1158), but insists Emperor reign powerfollowing theimperial the between thus ruler never ceased to revere line, preserving right duty was maintained because and human and subject.Thisright duty spirits heavenly wisdommanifest so that thepeoplewouldnotforget madetheir virtuous emperors Incontrast, inforeign that Sok5asserted their dynasties-here duty. right indicating lineshad been overthrown and replaced bothChinaand Korea(Chisen)-imperial Inthis thederivative ofshogunal overthirty Sok5affirms times.53 chapter legitimacy of is necessarily butnotin a waythat rule. rule, supportive Tokugawa Conceivably of theorigins of samurai his historical survey powercould as easilybe construed as justification of a position thatwas open, ultimately, to talent, that the provided without revered theemperor. talented, qualification, "Sacred thatimperial in theCentral 6, Rule," emphasizes Chapter government was not for the selfish benefit of one but instead for person Kingdom provided of the people. Thus it exemplified-and the commoninterests hereSoki clearly draws on Confucianism-"humane 7, Chapter "Sacred Knowlgovernment."54 claims that the deities elevated heavenly capable peopleto assistingovernedge," the Chuch6 Therefore, concludes, jijitsu ingthe realm. people in placingtheright is most in the element 8, important government governing. Chapter "SagelyGovof the and ritual and theintrinsic (saisei itchi) ernment," explains unity government of to the from to Jimmu relationship government people.According Soko, Emperor have demonstrated utmost forward, emperors sincerity by instituting policiesthat thepeople.Chapter benefited and Ceremonies," describes thevarious 12, "Rituals acts of reverent carried on ancient deities such as Amaterasu, Jinmu, worship by and others, whodemonstrated that oftheeight million kami of Jonin, Sujin, worship thelandwas thefoundation ofimperial rule. IntheGengen Soki offers a leaner ofgovernment. Inessence,he hakki, analysis a function makesright of and managing government understanding changeinone's ofthe Gengen Soki explains that Thus,in theopening hakki, dailyduties. chapter thetext"penetrates themyriad transformations oftheworldso thatifa ruler thortherealmbelow heaven(tenka willbe as understands kokka) it,governing oughly overhis hand."55 herebecause,as he SokO'spointis made softly easy as turning there can be no facile formula for when therealm understood, was, surely governing
at least fromthe perspectiveof the bakufu,in a potentialstate of perpetualflux. Ratherthan offer characterizations, easy solutionsor stereotypical especially those based on appeals to uninterrupted imperialrule,Soko advised his readersto master his textthoroughly, everypossible change or transformation. supposedlyexhausting Iftheydid, he assuredthemthatgoverning would be an easy task.
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of self-cultivation, SokOadds thattheessentials families, managing governing to the realm, and bringing the world heaven follow the rootsand below peace to ofthislogicso that thetransformations these branches can be integral projects with The overall theeight whilethedetails are inferred. numbers, picture emerges inthesixty-four derived from them. The minute details relate to thefiveaddressed willnever divisions. Once thelogic(j6ri) oftheseis clear,a person be hundred-plus outlines of outofstepwith theworkings of heaven(tenki). to Soko,the According of"thenatural the"forms are expressions and numbers" way" (shizenno (sh6zO), Ifthat havebeenestablished.56 werenotthecase, thewaywouldnever michi). and thatforeign no seijin)devisedthe trigrams Sok6 admits sages (gaikoku and explainedtheir and endingsin forms, mappedtheir beginnings hexagrams, of Wen's the such as Fuxi's charts the Fukki) (Jpn: King hexagrams, writings trigrams, and unbroken and Confucius' DukeofZhou'sbroken lines, "Appended Judgments." therealm, and all below Ifstudents thesewell,then understand families, governing Itwas for evena sage like willrequire little effort. this Sokoadds,that heaven reason, more to the For wished to haveseveral Confucius years study Yijing. contemporaries notfeelthesame howcan they theseearlier who can readand understand writings, way? withthe farfuller as compared account of governing, Sokd's tersetreatment his awareness that the shoreflected in theChOch6 offered Tokugawa jijitsu, likely ortheir senior werequitewellaccustomed, councilors, byhisday,to defining guns, the Gengen that own politics and policies.Atthesame time,his suggestion their to successoftheforces ofchangecritical an understanding hakki afforded students the other those who ruled. On was meant to appeal to fulgovernment hand, surely theruling and itssilenceregarding with theChOch6 Sokoapparently bakufu, jijitsu a new ofa different intent on founding one possibly toappealtoa patron meant sort, and the more he the outline there and complete provided, especially regime needing ofimperial rule. advancedbySokd'scelebration ideological sanctity ofHistory: Natural Providence, Laws,and Numerology Philosophy itcan easilybe conas such,although of history The ChOch6 jijitsuis nota work on the virtues of a historical sidered culture, Japanese political essay,pontificating unbroken rule line and its that related to the which supposedly imperial especially in of hisof terms An elementary the sinceantiquity. sources, text, literary analysis indicates muchaboutSokd's and critical methodology, suppositions, toriographical his in uncrititime exile. about habitual, Soko's First, largely history during thinking that of Nihon shoki of the section the of the citation cal, suggests his "age gods" of of that ancient historical is a that exegesis contemporary portion Choch6jijitsu sections of from similar butequallyreal,are Soko's borrowings text.Lessexplicit, sacred a work the Chikafusa's Kitabatake shotAki, fourteenth-century asserting Jinno
these litof the southernline of the imperialcourt.Consideredtogether, legitimacy butJapanese impewas not simplyhistory, erarysources reveal thatSoko's interest ofthe imperialline.While the Chorialhistory, especiallythatrelatedto the divinity affirms a as such, it implicitly cho jijitsudoes notexplicate itsphilosophyof history
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forces viewwheredivine role,superplaya crucial, ongoing distinctly providential it to extols an imhuman often events, supplications. Specifically responding vising of over to its historical on its due and insists, integrity, superiority that theocracy perial China. has was nothistory thetext IntheGengen Soko'spurpose hakki, perse, though to the nature of insofar as it an obvioushistorical attempts analyze change edge be called,following TaharaTsuguo, Soko's byappeal to whatmight systematically In the "natural beliefin a universe hakki, however, laws."57 by Gengen governed to humanity, are theoretias they these"natural laws,"especially applyhistorically the while their relationvia forms, dynamic eight numerologically callyrepresented Most enigmatic diagrams. shipsare mappedout in a seriesof complex,initially nor to Shinto their refer is neither the that deities, diagrams explications noteworthy notions. orother cultural theNihon theage ofthekami, shoki, distinctively Japanese ofthedialectic ofhistorical a moreuniversalistic outline Instead they understanding change. of metaphysical The Gengenhakki'sanalysesof the cosmos and the forces flow from of an based on a implicit philosophy history changeand transformation This lawsoftheuniverse. ofthesupposednatural structure and natural recognition in characterization of the and the is made Soko's numerals, explicit recognition with of as a kind "natural associated them, symbolism." metaphysical categories as Maruyama Thissort ofworldview also characterized Masao, Neo-Confucianism, others have noted.58 Needlessto say,in outlining a metaand many TetsuoNajita, order" an approach oftransformation basedon the"natural Sokocontinued physics of to philosophizing that was characteristicNeo-Confucianism. ofSoko's affirmation of "principle," The same is true "subforce," "generative of Neo-Confucian and "function," all ofwhichwerestaples as stance," discourse, is has shown.59 most notion of the Theodore de Wm. Bary Perhaps striking Soko's inthefourth no sh6),broached oftheformless" Thisno"symbol diagram. (mush6 tionis reminiscent ofthe Neo-Confucian of the "the concept wuji(Jpn: mukyoku), ofnonbeing," source of ultimate theformless transformation metaphysical potential intheworld. Itis hardly coincidental that Neo-Confucians often thewuji represented his"symbol oftheformless." to as an empty Needless circle, justas Sokodoes with of is his not that of and Zhu the Sokd's own, Xi, cosmology change say, Cheng Attheleast, itstill oranyother Neo-Confucians. must be allowed however, brothers, ofJapanese from thesuperiority culture overthat ofChina, that far extolling political to a kind ofphilosophizing muchakinto theNeo-Confucianism Soko has resorted he hadearlier one ofSoko'smost earlier stated rejected. Ironically, pointed critiques, intheSeiky6 was directed at Zhou notion of the which Soko Dunyi's wuji, y6roku, claimed"criminally violated theway" due to itsheretical thatis,due to its nature, nothaving been broachedby theancient sages. Itwould seem,withthe Gengen
hakki's veryoriginalnumerology and symbolism, thatSoko was now open to the same criticism thathe had once directedat Neo-Confucians. in Neo-Confuciandiscourse is signaled Soko's participation Equally important, to he to the extent which was rewrite the classics, eitherby commentary by willing
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on existing as he haddoneearly in life, orbyauthoring a work on modeled classics, an ancient classicbutbreathing newvitality intoitvia revision recand,ultimately, Zhu Xi,for ninediagrams, theYellow onceptualization. example, prefixed including River to hiscommentary on the Yijing, titled Zhou Yi Map and theLo River Writing, of the Zhou Book of Zhu Xiconwhile Thus, benyi (Original meaning Changes).60 to respect tinued theancient material to classic,he was notabove adding significant itthat of wouldshape a reader's it. is that in the Sok6, understanding Noteworthy was hardly for a simple return to theancient as he hakki, literature, Gengen calling in had naively done intheSeiky6 he was Zhu Xi a new rather, beyond going y6roku; on an ancient newvitality classicbycompletely direction, it,as conferring rewriting of himself were a the task. he though sage capable itmust be noted that theYijing hasbeenidentified as the"single ancient Finally, as the"wellspring ofauthority for text" that served and inspiration" many early Song in to it rewrite the found a source Neo-Confucians. byattempting Yijing, surely SokO, thesakeofrevising ofenormous thetext, evenfor it, inspiration.61 Byengaging Soko ofdiscourse, a kind continued (1017Neo-Confucianism, byZhouDunyi pioneered 1073),ZhangZai (1020-1077),Shao Yong(1011-1077),ChengHao (1032-1085), and ChengYi (1033-1107). As muchas a scienceofchange, was meant to suggest the Gengenhakki that in the contemporary to interpret transformations Sok5 stood uniquely qualified to In as the text was meant as a effect, world, they especially pertained governing. of the forces transforcredential SokO's authority interpretive establishing vis-a-vis structure mostlikely to be perplexed thebakufu. and thepolitical mation bythem, with oftheChhch6 to thementality Suchan infatuation changewas foreign jijitsu, its on of line. Stasis not the nature the did unchanging imperial given emphasis withpoliticalrealities; relations the well characterize bakufu instead, shogunate that itsauthority wouldlastno longer thanitsability to managechangeefrealized inpart inan effort and authored the hakki realized the same fectively. Gengen Soko with thebakufu, whichhad a need to negotiate to ingratiate himself changeskillin of In final shift can be via the fully. essence, thinking captured recognition SokO's oftheimperial oftheChhcho thechangelessness theme thedominant line,in jijitsu, oftheGengen different theceaselessflux tothefundamentally theme relation hakki, of inthepolitical to manageitvia study ofreality, and theability realm, especially it as outlined structures thetheoretical bySokO. underlying Dreams and theGengenhakki Sok6'sLater observes thatSoko, late in life, believed" HoriIsao, Soki's biographer, "strongly from be considered the modern in his dreams and even becamewhatmight perof both at While two these cited dreams, superstitious."62 spective"profoundly
of thisarticle,pertainedto the Gengen hakki,manyothers,recorded the beginning in the finalfive years of SokO's life,more explicitly relatedto his "heart's desire" as "obtainingan official (kokorono onegai), which Hori identifies positionwiththe Forexample, earlyin 1681, SokO,sixty-one, dreamed he had receiveda bakufu."63
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In latespring from a poemand a painting.64 theTokugawa of shogun including gift that he received a fanfrom theshogun's thesameyear, with family, Sokodreamed written on it. The a four-line to that hinted, poem according Soko's Nenpu, poem himto prayerful Thisprompted "his heart's wouldbe satisfied." desire celebration, thatthe dreamsignaledfulfillment of whatwas literally his believing apparently In late was conscious dream as well,official bakufu disturbed 1682, service.65 Soko overthe (1536-1598) yieldedcontrol by a dreamin whichToyotomi Hideyoshi to him.Soko deemedthe dream"unfortunate" realm(tenka) because he did not In 1685 (3/28), think himself theyearSokodied,he dreamed capable ofthetask.66 he was wearing with oftheTokugawa on thesleeve,syma kimono theAoi crest bolicofhisattaining service to thebakufu.67 until hisdemisefrom thesefinal malaria (8/10), During years, Soko engagedin dreamanalysis, and political with divination,68 prayer, maneuvering the help of who to wished for him an official Giventhat well-placed disciples gain position. thesesameyears witnessed therelative of the it hakki, is difficult completion Gengen to imagine work that ofitsrelevance without his anythought Sokocrafting regarding service to the the hakki and dreams all possible Tokugawa. Making Gengen Soko's themorepoignant is thefact inthespring that of1680 Tsunayoshi becameshogun, the transition, and made himself succeedingletsuna. Soko, it seems,anticipated to assist initvia thecreation ofa text to outline the ofall ready purporting unfolding in the universe. things fit WhiletheGengen hakki wellwith ofbecoming a bakufu offiSoko'sdreams itsclearly with wouldnothaveserved cial, hisChOcho jijitsu, pro-imperial leaning, well hischancesofobtaining official in Edo. Rather, theChocho employment jijitsu makesmostsense,givenSoko's overallprofessional ambition and his pragmatic to realizing Akoare takenintoconit,whenhisyearsin exile in distant approach foritwas during that whenSoko's hopesofeverreturning to Edo sideration, time, must haveseemeddimindeed, that theChOcho was jijitsu completed. Epilogue Somestudies ofTokugawa Neo-Confucianism itfor havefaulted itsallegedinability to deal with H. D. Harootunian change.Forexample, suggests: intheseventeenth Neo-Confucian writers hadabsorbed into their century thinking only themoral the of Sincethey assumptions underlying Tokugawa arrangement power. theTokugawa as theperfection for which wasdesigned, accepted regime society they couldnot admit the of or possibility change process.69 Atthevery and later in the Choch6jijitsu as evident least,Soko's middle thought,
and Gengen hakki,suggesta different view. The Chocho jijitsurevealsthatforSoko, the with an emphasis on the imperialline and realm, political reconceptualizing itssanctity was immemorial, hardlybeyond his theoretical imagination, despite the dream. More sigapparent fact that service to the bakufuwas his long-standing however,the Gengen hakki,which mightbe dubbed "Soko's Book of nificantly,
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that whilephilosophizing as a Neo-Confucian, from Soko,apart Changes," suggests whatone might think aboutthevalue oftheanalyses was engagedin themselves, ofchangethat weregrounded in recognition of metaphysical analyses theoretically transformative and meant ofeffectively as a means development primarily managing itmight it.Inthis, be added,Soki was hardly alone:Yamazaki Ansaiand most ofthe in Kimon his school of Neo-Confucianism were intense students of the keyfigures as Yijing well.70 Notes 1 - Recorded on thetwentieth lunarmonth. See YamagaSoko, day ofthe ninth in shisdhen (hereafter Nenpu(Chronological biography), Yamaga Sok6zenshO, 393. vol. ed. Hirose Yutaka Iwanami 1941),p. 15, Shoten, YSZ), (Tokyo: 2 - Masatoshi two yearslaterin 1684, whileinsidethe shogun's was murdered InabaMasayasu castlein Edo,bya junior (1640-1684). councillor,
3 - Soko, Nenpu, p. 393.
see HoriIsao, Yamaga 4 - Foran accountofSokO'sdreams, sesho, Sok6,Jinbutsu instudies vol. 33 (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1959),pp. 304-316. Other no Nihon no Kinsei clude Koyanagi ichimen," jugaku: Shigeta, "YamagaSokO K-keiSo Shied. Tokugawa nenshukuga kinen, Tokugawa Kokeiso shichiju KinenKai (Tokyo:Iwanami 1939), and Furukawa Shoten, Shukuga chij0nen vol.2 Nihon niarawareta no "Nikki bunkakenkyu, Tetsushi, Nihonjin yume," 1959). (Tokyo: Shinchosha, Sono 5 - Hori,Yamaga "YamagaSoko no makoto: Sok6,p. 308; TaharaTsuguo, 436 shisdno rironteki (2) (1988): kdsei," DaigakuBungakubu kiy6 Hokkaid6 in The ofthe Yijing include 5. Recent studies I Ching Tokugawa Wai-ming Ng, ofHawai'iPress, and Culture (Honolulu: 2000),and Kidder University Thought Princeton Smith et al., SungDynasty UsesoftheI Ching (Princeton: University in Tokugawa 1990). Ng, TheI Ching Press, Thought, pp. 96-132, emphasizes ofkokugaku and scholars theYijing was acceptedbyBuddhists, that Shintoists, literature. oftheir orthodox as an integral "nativism" part lunar on thetwenty-sixth 6 - Sokd,Nenpu,p. 209. Recorded day of thetwelfth month. whenSokd 7 - Tahara,"YamagaSoko no makoto," p. 3. It is notclear exactly the existed lunar a wrote theGengen but hakki, manuscript punctuated by fifth to Nobumasa copy. of 1678, whichhe allowed his discipleTsugaru month of either theGengen that is no "clean note there scholars copy" (josha) SokO of have which would ortheGengen hakki the existence hakki signified genkai, of bothare Extant versions of the texts. all revisions thatSokOhad finished ofthe draft as "incomplete Therewas a punctuated described manuscripts." Gengenhakki genkaias of early1684, theyearbefore SokO'sdeath.Nobu212 East& West Philosophy
month ofthat are from the YSZedimasa copied itin thethird year.Citations based on owned the Hirado branch of tions, by primarily Sok6'smanuscripts, thatNobumasa theYamagafamily, and secondarily on thetexts copied,held For issues related to datingthe Gengenhakki, see family. by the Tsugaru 287-288. Hirose, YSZ,14:395-396, 425; Hori,Yamaga Sok6,pp. 8 - Hirose, kaidainarabi YSZ,14:395. bonrei," "Gengenhakki 9 - Hirose, kaidainarabi bonrei," YSZ,13: 3. jijitsu "Chhch6 10 - Tahara, "YamagaSoko no makoto," pp. 3-45. 11 - Soko,Nenpu,YSZ,15 :79. Sokorelates that on thenineteenth dayoftheeighth lunar of1662,he readthejinsilu. month IntheYamaga zuihitsu (Miscellaneous his records the]insilu, YSZ, 11:421-422, Soko essays), misgivings regarding those related to the of Zhou (1017-1073) statement, especially validity Dunyi's "infinite and yet ultimate" this that datemarks Horisuggests great (wujiertaiji). Soko's "conversion to ancientlearning." Also see BitOMasahide,"Yamaga tenkai, jo, Shiso,no. 560 (1971): 22-37; ge, ibid.,no. 561 Soko no shisoteki (1971): 82-97, esp. 90-93. 12 - KondoKeigo,in "YamagaSoko no Shinto setsu:ChOcho seiritsu ko,"in jijitsu ZokuzokuYamazaki Ansaino kenkyo, Shintoshi vol. 16 kenkyo (Tokyo: sosho, Shintoshi this"conversion" inSoko's Gakkai, 1996),p. 336, identifies (tenkai) theimportance ofSok6'sexileexperience relative to it. thought, emphasizing Kondoevendescribes theexileexperience as "themonumental of experience life." Earlier identified thistenkai, itas a significant Hori emphasizing Soko's break toward a form Soko'searlier awayfrom "China-worshiping" philosophy ofNihonchoch6shugi. See Hori,Yamaga 242-243. Sok6,pp. 13 Ng, TheI Ching in Tokugawa and Culture, that Thought pp. 66-67. Ng relates the was "the most enthusiastic among Tokugawa Tsunayoshi shoguns, sponsor ofI Ching in 1683,Emperor (r.1663scholarship" (p. 66). He addsthat Reigen the Onmyodo, or Bureauof Divination, based in Yijing 1687) reestablished and practice, with "ordered the Also,Tsunayoshi study Tsunayoshi's blessings. of Zhu Xi's of the Zhou Book of reprinting" Zhouyibenyi(Original meaning Yi's Yi and zhuan on Book of the "to Changes) Cheng (Commentary Changes) theorthodox ofthetext. Between 1693 and 1700,Tsuspread interpretation" 240 seminars chaired on theYijing, Confucian scholars such nayoshi including as Ogy0 Sorai as well as daimyo, Shinto and Buddhist bureaucrats, priests, monks. 14 - Hori,Yamaga Sok6,pp. 288-294.
15 - Kate Wildman Nakai, "The Naturalizationof Confucianism in Tokugawa Japan: The Problem of Sinocentrism,"Harvard Journalof Asiatic Studies 40 (1) (June1980): 187. Similarviews on SokO and the Chucho jijitsuare in David Magarey Earl, Emperorand Nation in Japan: Political Thinkers of the of WashingtonPress,1964), pp. 37-51. TokugawaPeriod(Seattle:University
Allen Tucker John
213
in Tokugawa of Confucianism A modern 16 - Nakai,"The Naturalization Japan." is in YamagaSok6, Nihonshis6taikei, of the Haishozampitsu vol. edition 32 (Tokyo:IwanamiShoten,1970), pp. 7-28 (340-347). Shuz5 Uenaka's of the textappearedin Monumenta translation-study Nipponica32 (1977): based on Sok6's own 125-152. The kanbuntextof the Haisho zampitsu, as a copyofthetext the as well prepreserved by Yamagafamily, manuscript is of one of Sokc's descendants served the highdisciples, by Tsugaru family, in YSZ,12:567-599. found does not and Culture, 17 - Forexample,Ng, The I Chingin Tokugawa Thought of views on it some does discuss theGengen mention SokO's hakki, although the Yijing. 18 - Inoue TetsujirO (1855-1944), Nippon kogakuha no tetsugaku (Tokyo: is a reprint ofthe1915 revised, edition; Fuzambo, 1921),p. 53 (this expanded in 1902). no tetsugaku was first published Nippon kogakuha in thepostwar was the works 19 - One ofthefirst period bySok6to be published 14 of Nihon in vol. the zensho, shiso tetsugaku Seikyo yoroku, D6toku, Juky6 Ikutari and puband Shimizu hen d6tokuron ippanhen,ed. SaigusaHiroto TaharaTsuguoand Morimoto lishedby Heibonsha. JunichirO, eds., Yamaga the includes Iwanami vol. 32 taikei Nihon 1970), Shoten, (Tokyo: shis6 Sok6, Nishida of the and the Haisho gorui. Yamaga zampitsu, portions Seikyo yoroku, Ansai/ Banzan/ Yamazaki Seika/ Nakae T6ju/ Kumazawa Fujiwara Taichir6, Daini, Nihonno shis5 vol. 17 (Tokyo:Chikuma YamagaSoko / Yamagata and the Haishozampitsu. theSeikyo Tahara, Shobo,1970), includes y6roku Iwanami vol. 12 Nihon no 1971), Shoten, meicho, ed., Yamaga (Tokyo: Sok6, of the theBuky6 includes theHaishozampitsu, and Yamaga portions sh6gaku, seemsto have been presaged matter The postwar focuson thissubject gorui. in of the treatment Soko Masao, Nihonseiji shis6shi kenkyh Maruyama by 1952), pp. 38-50, and MikisoHane, (Tokyo:TokyoDaigakuShuppansha, PrinceofTokugawa in theIntellectual Studies (Princeton: trans., Japan History in recent tonUniversity Press, 1974),pp. 40-50. One ofthemost publications Haisho is TsuchidaKenjiro, theSoko literature ed., Seiky6 / zampitsu y6roku 2001). Kodansha Shuppansha, (Tokyo: of the no hongi:CardinalPrinciples Kokutai Owen Gauntlett, 20 - John trans., MA: Harvard National Press, 1949),pp. University ofJapan (Cambridge, Entity 118, 129. reveals"how anxioushe thatthe Haishozampitsu 21 - Shuzo Uenakaobserves of the shogun"(Uenaka,"LastTestament [Soko]was to become a retainer Monumenta in Exile:Yamaga Soko's Haisho Zampitsu," Nipponica32 [2]
[Summer1977]: 125, 127, 137-138). Indeed, the Haisho zampitsu suggests in 1651, when he was thirty, thatSokOwas on thevergeof bakufu appointment but thatthe sudden death of the shogun,lemitsu, put an end to his prospects. Uenaka statesthat Soko's "greatestambitionin lifewas to become a direct of the bakufu." retainer
214
and Culture, 22 - Ng, The I Chingin Tokugawa p. 209, explainsthatit Thought thetext[Yijing] as a purely Confucian classic,but "avoid[s]narrowly defining a as textual tradition and it, rather, see[s] metaphysical system representing No doubtthe Yijing different is a seminal work aspectsof Chineseculture." that toannounce However, capableofmultiple interpretations. obliged Ngfeels his broader on the rather it than as a Conperspective seeing Yijing "purely the extent to whichthe textis first fucianclassic" suggests and foremost a more text. Confucian, Neo-Confucian, specifically 23 - Allcitations aretotheYSZ,vol. 13, ed. Hirose Iwanami 1940). Shoten, (Tokyo: Fortheyomikudashi version of the Chhch6 see the jijitsu, pp. 7-224; punctuated text is found on pp. 225-375. The YSZtext is based on Sokd's kanbun in 1669,whenhe was forty-eight, written manuscript, preserved bytheYamaga in In Hirado. his referred Chhcho to the as theChofamily Nenpu, jijitsu Sok6 another nameforit.Ten yearsafter he wroteit,in apparently ch6 jitsuroku, thetext and gave thenew manuscript to hisdisciple, 1678, Sok6 punctuated ofTsugaru LordMatsuura domain.In 1681,whenSokowas sixty, thetext was the The latter was the edition of published by Tsugaru daimyo. onlyTokugawa theChhoch6 jijitsu. 24 - YamagaSoki, Chochijijitsu, YSZ,13: 7 (226). 25 - Sok6,Gengen hakki YSZ,14:446. genkai, 26 - Ibid.,p. 455. The annotation thatthisshould read Kuni-no-tokosuggests tachi-no-mikoto. evenwhenSoko refers to a deity inthis text he does so Thus, without the name. using proper
27- Ibid.
28 - Gengen hakki alludesto theXizi(Appended genkai, pp. 448, 446-449. Hakki on the Yijing judgments) commentary (Hong Ye et al., eds., Zhou Yi yinde Chubanshe, 1986], p. 41). Therethe commentary [Shanghai: Shanghai Guji states that and actions words are the"hinges and springs" (Chin: ki)of ji; Jpn: therefined and that honor and person (junzi), disgrace dependon them.Earthissection of theXiziexplained thecreation ofthe Yijing as the result lier, of sages surveying all under heavenand thenrepresenting what symbolically had The text advises those who the to consider its they perceived. study Yijing advice before and acting. Thisallusionis significant because of its speaking inthetitle to Soko'stext, and because itwas likely meant to indiprominence cate theorigins and significance oftheGengen hakki. Other suchallusions to the Yijing, less occur in hakki. although important, regularly theGengen
29 - SokO, Chocho jijitsu, YSZ, 13: 11-15 (229-232). 30 - Tahara, "Yamaga Soko no makoto,"p. 5. 31 - Choch jijitsu,p. 11 (229). 32 - Gengen hakkigenkai,p. 431.
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215
33 - Gengen hakki,pp. 397-398.
34 - Tahara, "YamagaSoko no makoto," p. 11. 35 - ChangLiwen, "AnAnalysis ofChu Hsi's System ofThought of I," in Chu Hsi and Neo-Confucianism, ed. Wing-tsit Chan (Honolulu:University of Hawai'i ZhuXisynthesized that ShaoYong's Press, 1986),pp.292-311. Chang suggests basedon forms and numbers with Yi'sanalyses basedon interpretations Cheng and "into a whole." Also is that rightness principle comprehensive noteworthy Zhu Xi supposedly devisedninediagrams to his the Zhou book, prefixed yi to amplify thesignificance ofthe Yijing. of Shao Yonginclude Studies benyi, AnneD. Birdwhistell, Transition to Neo-Confucianism: Shao Yung on Knowland of Stanford (Stanford: Press, 1989), and edge Symbols Reality University TheRecluseof Loyang: Don J.Wyatt, Shao Yung and theMoralEvolution of of Hawai'i (Honolulu: 1996). Press, Early SungThought University
36 - Gengen hakki,p. 398. 37 - ChOch6jijitsu,pp. 252-254. 38 - Gengen hakki,p. 399. 39 - Ibid. 40 - Genkai,p. 456. 41 - Gengen hakki,pp. 399-400. 42 - Genkai,pp. 458-459. 43 - Ibid.,pp. 460-461. 44 - Gengen hakki,p. 400. 45 - Genkai,pp. 461-462. 46 - Gengen hakki,p. 400. 47 - Genkai,p. 463. 48 - Gengen hakki,p. 400. 49 - Genkai, p. 464.
50 - Choch6 pp. 12, 14 (230-231). jijitsu,

51 - Genkai,p. 446. 52 - Gengen hakki,pp. 232-244.
53 - ChOcho jijitsu, pp. 32-43 (244-252).

54 - Ibid.,pp. 67-90 (267-283). 55 - Gengen hakki,p. 399. 56 - Ibid. 57 - Tahara, "Yamaga Soko no makoto,"p. 1.
216
58 - Maruyama, Nihonseijishis6shi Studies in pp. 200-207; Hane,trans., kenkyC, of theIntellectual Tetsuo Visions History Tokugawa pp. 195-205; Najita, Japan, of Virtue in Tokugawa Merchant of The Osaka Academy Japan: Kaitokud6 of 25. Press, 1987), p. (Chicago:University Chicago The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in 59 Wm. Theodorede Bary,"Introduction," KimHaboush(NewYork: ed. de Bary andJaHyun Columbia Korea, University 1985),pp. 7-23. Press, "AnAnalysis ofThought ofChu Hsi's System of I," p. 293. For 60 - ChangLiwen, Zhu Xi's nine diagrams, see Tanaka Kybtaro, Shueki comp., hongi(Zhouyi benyi)(Taipei: Hualian Chubansha,1976), pp. la-9b. Also see Wing-tsit in Chu Hsi: New Studies and Diagrams," (Honolulu:UniChan, "Analogies 271-292. of Press, 1989), Hawai'i pp. versity The Don Recluse of 61 J.Wyatt, p. 3. Loyang,
62 - Hori, YamagaSok6, p. 307. 63 - Ibid.,p. 308.
that on thethird 64 - Nenpu,pp. 315-317. Sok6 recorded, month, day ofthefirst that he would record more and an dream" he had had "auspicious (zuimu), theentry for Thedetailed ofthedream aboutitlater. appearsunder description It is that recorded the of the same month. Soko theeleventh noteworthy day dream on the"third day" as especially day": latein hislifehe saw the"third and pardoned sincehe had been sentintoexile (10/3/1666) (7/3/ significant, months. to of the relevant seems have 1675) on the"third imagined day" Sok6 himwouldoccuron thethird events for that day. important was recorded on 5/21. 65 - Nenpu, p. 334; thedream on 12/23. 66 - Ibid., p. 402; recorded on 3/28. 67 - Ibid., p. 487; recorded includes no explicit divination as a text, 68 - The Gengenhakki, instructions, but, thelatter to Zhu does the Yijing, thenagain,neither was, according although was a meansof using the meant as a divination manual.Ifthere Xi,primarily that it an divine made sure remained esoteric to Soko hakki matters, Gengen aspectof thework.Thathe would do so makessense,ifone of his ulterior ifthedivination was was to securebakufu motives employment: methodology there the wouldhavebeen no realneedto employ laidbarefor all to see, then who had the as to another mastered author of the text opposed divinatory technique.
The Growth of PoliticalConsciousness 69 - H. D. Harootunian,TowardRestoration: of California in Tokugawajapan (Berkeley:University Press,1970), p. 21. 1570-1680 (Princeton: 70 - Herman Ooms, TokugawaIdeology: EarlyConstructs, 203-204. Princeton Press,1985), pp. University
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From Nativism to Numerology: Yamaga Sok's Final Excursion into the Metaphysics of Change Author(s): John Allen Tucker

ofHistory, East Carolina Department University Introduction

Allen Tucker John

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

East& West Philosophy

Thesecond(figure with whatis abiding and enduring, 2), readchi,is associated

East& West Philosophy

East& West Philosophy

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

Allen Tucker John

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

33 - Gengen hakki,pp. 397-398.

50 - Choch6 pp. 12, 14 (230-231). jijitsu,

53 - ChOcho jijitsu, pp. 32-43 (244-252).

East& West Philosophy

Allen Tucker John

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