The Structure of "Iki" - The Structure of Iki

Japanese: 《“いき”の構造》 - いきのこうぞう

…Like “sui” and “tō”, it was a kind of aesthetic ideal of life in the Edo period. However, while “sui” and “tō” are limited to certain regions and times, “iki” was used throughout the Edo period and is still used today. Originally, the kanji for “iki” was used, but later it was also written as “iki”, becoming a more aesthetic ideal. “iki” also means “courage”, and is used to praise the mental action that shows a firm decision in dealing with things. From the early Edo period, it began to be used in pleasure quarters to praise the mental cleanliness of men and women, and thereafter it continued to exist as an important element in forming the mental aspects of ideals such as “sui” and “tō”, and in the late Edo period, it was used to mean a charm that is not unpleasant and is spiteful, becoming a popular phrase. …

[From Shuzo Kuki]

...Philosopher. Born in Tokyo to the Baron Kuki family, he graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University in 1912 at the same time as Tetsuro Watsuji. In 1922 he went to Europe to study, learning from Rickert, Heidegger, and Bergson, and immersing himself in the diverse developments of Western thought in the turbulent period following World War I. In 1929 he returned to Japan, becoming a lecturer and assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy at Kyoto Imperial University, and then a professor in 1935, where he lectured on the history of modern Western philosophy and French philosophy. He had already published many papers while in Europe, but after returning to Japan he published The Structure of Iki (1930), which used Heidegger's phenomenological and hermeneutical methods to interpret Japanese culture, opening up a new dimension in Japanese philosophy. ...

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "the structure of iki" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…“粋（すい）”や“通”と同じく，江戸時代における一種の美的生活理念。ただし“粋”“通”が地域的･時代的限定を伴うのに対して，“いき”は江戸時代を通じて用いられ，現代にも通用している。本来は〈意気〉の漢字があてられるが，後には〈粋〉とも書かれて，より美的な理念となった。〈意気〉は〈意気地〉でもあり，人間が事に処してきっぱりとした決断を示す精神作用を称美したものであるが，江戸初期から遊里などで男女の精神的清潔さを称美する言葉として用いられ始め，以後“粋”や“通”といった理念の中の精神面を形成する重要な要素として存在し続け，江戸後期にいたって，いやみがなく，あだっぽい色気というような意味で用いられて流行語となった。…

【九鬼周造】より

…哲学者。東京で九鬼男爵家に生まれ，1912年和辻哲郎と同期に東京帝国大学哲学科を卒業した。22年ヨーロッパに留学し，リッケルト，ハイデッガー，ベルグソンに学ぶとともに，第1次世界大戦後の激動する西欧思想の多彩な展開のなかに身を置いた。29年に帰国，京都帝国大学哲学科講師，助教授，次いで35年教授となって，西洋近世哲学史やフランス哲学を講じた。すでに在欧中に多くの論文を発表していたが，帰国後，ハイデッガーの現象学的･解釈学的方法を日本文化の解釈に用いた《｀いき’の構造》(1930)を発表，日本の哲学に新生面をひらいた。…

※「《“いき”の構造》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

<<: Hironori Iyoshi - The child of life

>>: Iki Province - Ikinokuni