Ranzan Ono

Japanese: 小野蘭山 - おの・らんざん

Year of death: 27th January 1810 (2nd March 1810)
Year of birth: August 21, 14th year of Kyoho (September 13, 1729)
A naturalist of botany in the mid-Edo period. His real surname was Saeki, his childhood name was Otomaru, his given name was Shokuhaku, his pen name was Ibun, his nickname was Kinai, and his pen names were Ranzan and Kutsugi. He was born in Kyoto as the second son of the low-ranking official Ono no Motomochika. His mother was a daughter of the Tonomura family. At the age of 13, he became a disciple of Matsuoka Joan and studied botany. At the age of 25, he gave up on the path to government service and became an independent botany scholar, opening a private school in Kyoto called Shuhoken and gaining fame. In 1799 (Kansei 11), at the age of 71, he was ordered by the shogunate to move to Edo and give lectures on botany at the Medical School. He was also put in charge of the Medical School's botanical gardens, and traveled six times to various provinces to collect medicinal herbs. He created records of medicinal herbs for Tsuneno, Koshunzuso, Kishu, Suruga Seshu Shishu, Joshu Myogisan, and Bushu Mitakesan. He also revived the Medical School Pharmaceutical Society, which had been in decline, and became its appraiser together with Kurimoto Zuisen'in. Influenced by his teacher Joan, Ranzan became involved in horticultural atlases in his early days, and published Kai (Flowers) in collaboration with Shimada Mitsufusa. The illustrations were highly original, and the text was later translated into French by the Frenchman Sabatier. The notes of his lectures at the Medical School were compiled by his grandson Ono Mototaka into 48 volumes of Honzo Gangmoku Keimo (Primitive Materia Medica) (1803-06). This is a major natural history book that clarifies the flora, fauna, and mineralogy of various parts of Japan, including their dialect names, and is permeated with unique views distinct from the Chinese Honzo Gangmoku. He left behind many anecdotes due to his tireless efforts and vast knowledge, and although he would only talk about martial arts when he met people, he would answer any questions about martial arts with kindness and care. He had more than 1,000 disciples, and his school formed the mainstream of martial arts studies that flourished at the end of the Edo period. <Works> "Mushi Kobo", "Juppon Ko", "Kyosansetsu", "Inn-Zen Summaries" <References> Masaharu Endo "The Development of Japanese Medicinal Herbalism - Ono Ranzan's Academic Lineage" ("Studies on the History of Practical Studies in Japan and China")

(Masaharu Endo)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文化7.1.27(1810.3.2)
生年：享保14.8.21(1729.9.13)
江戸中期の本草博物学者。本姓は佐伯氏,幼名は乙丸,名は職博,字は以文,通称は喜内,号は蘭山,朽匏子。地下官人小野職茂の次男として京都に生まれる。母は殿村氏の女。13歳で松岡恕庵に入門し本草学を学ぶ。25歳のとき仕官の道をあきらめ,本草家として独立し京都に私塾・衆芳軒を開き名声を高める。寛政11(1799)年71歳で幕命により江戸に移り医学館で本草を講じる。また,医学館薬園預りとなり,6次にわたり諸国に採薬。常野,甲駿豆相,紀州,駿州勢州志州,上州妙義山並武州三峯山の各採薬記をつくる。さらに衰退していた医学館薬品会を再興し,栗本瑞仙院と共にその鑑定役となる。初期の蘭山は師恕庵の影響を受けて園芸図譜にかかわり,島田充房との共著『花彙』を出版。その図は独創に富み,また本文はのちフランス人サバチエによって仏訳された。医学館における講義録は孫の小野職孝によって『本草綱目啓蒙』48巻(1803～06)にまとめられる。これは日本各地の動植物,鉱物相を方言名も含めて明らかにしており,中国の『本草綱目』とは別個な独自の見解に貫かれた一大博物誌である。不断の精進と博覧強記ぶりで数々の逸話を残し,人と会っても本草以外の話はしなかったが,本草についてはどんな質問にも懇切丁寧に答えたという。門人は1000人を超え,その門流が幕末本草学隆盛の主流を形成した。<著作>『筵小牘』『十品考』『広参説』『飲膳摘要』<参考文献>遠藤正治「日本的本草学の展開―小野蘭山の学統―」(『日中実学史研究』)

(遠藤正治)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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