Kumazawa Banzan

Japanese: 熊沢蕃山 - くまざわ・ばんざん

Year of death: August 17, 4th year of Genroku (September 9, 1691)
Year of birth: Genna 5 (1619)
An economics expert of the early Edo period. The first disciple of the Yangming scholar Nakae Toju. He was called Sashichiro, later Jirohachi, Sukeemon, and went by the name Hakutsugu. In his later years, he called himself Banzan Ryosuke and Ikiyuken. He was born in Inari, Kyoto. His father was Nojiri Kazutoshi and his mother was Kumazawa Morihisa's daughter Kame. At the age of eight, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather and took the surname Kumazawa. In his mid-teens, he served in the Okayama domain, then retired for a time to become a disciple of Nakae Toju, but returned to his post, and even after retiring in 1657, he was highly valued by the domain's lord, Ikeda Mitsumasa, and led the domain's government for a time. Banzan lived during the period from the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, to the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Although the shogunate and feudal domain system was in the process of being established, it was still in a state of flux, and the Shimabara Rebellion (1636) strengthened the policy of national isolation, while the Chinese invasion of Korea led to fears of an invasion of Japan. Moreover, the shogunate's finances were already in dire straits by the time of the end of the third shogun, Iemitsu, and the Christian problem and the problem of ronin (masterless samurai) such as the Yui Shosetsu Rebellion (1651) continued to be sources of concern and threaten the shogunate. Banzan had high hopes for the civilian-oriented politics of the fourth shogun, Ietsuna, and made efforts to restore the imperial court, but this was not accepted and he was banished from Kyoto (1667). He was critical of the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi, and was asked by the senior councilor, Hotta Masatoshi, to serve the shogunate, but he refused. However, judging that a Chinese invasion was imminent, while he was living in Yamato Koriyama, he submitted a comprehensive defense plan to the shogunate, including a proposal for reforming the shogunate government, in 1686 (Jokyo 3). As a result, he was imprisoned in the Koga domain and died there. This petition is believed to have the same contents as the famous Daigaku Arakumon, and contains a summary of Banzan's policies for governing the world. It discusses "benevolent rule" by a wise ruler, military preparations, forestry and water control, the farmer-soldier system, trade restrictions, religious policy, and educational policy. Of these, forestry and water control and the education system had already been implemented under his lord Ikeda Mitsumasa when he served in the Okayama domain, and he was known throughout the country as an exemplary and pioneering policy. Remains of his forestry and water control projects still remain in the Bungo Oka domain (Oita Prefecture) and the Koga domain (Ibaraki and Tochigi), where he was invited to provide civil administration guidance in 1660 (Manji 3). Behind these projects was the political philosophy of "heaven and man as one," which strongly warned against the destruction of nature, and the idea of "time, land, and status" (period, land, and status) was at the root of Banzan's theory on the uniqueness of Japanese culture. At the end of the 18th century, a century after his death, he was praised on a par with Arai Hakuseki. His influence extended beyond Confucian scholars to include thinkers and writers, and he was popular among the general public, being made into the leading role in Bunraku, Joruri, Kabuki, and other performances. In addition to the above, he wrote other works such as Shugiwasho, Shugigaisho, and Gengogaiden, which are collected in the Zotei Banzan Zenshu (7 volumes in total).

(Michio Miyazaki)

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

Japanese:

没年：元禄4.8.17(1691.9.9)
生年：元和5(1619)
江戸前期の経世家。陽明学者中江藤樹の第一の門人。呼び名は左七郎,のち二郎八,助右衛門,名乗りは伯継。晩年は蕃山了介,息游軒と自称。京都稲荷に生まれる。父は野尻一利,母は熊沢守久の娘亀。8歳のとき,外祖父の養子となり,熊沢姓を名乗る。10代半ばで岡山藩に出仕,一時致仕して中江藤樹門に入るが,復職し,明暦3(1657)年に隠退したのちも,藩主池田光政に重用され,一時藩政を主導した。蕃山の生きた時代は2代将軍徳川秀忠から5代将軍綱吉の時期に相当する。幕藩体制の確立期でありながらも,なお流動性をもち,内は島原の乱(1636)が起こって鎖国政策は強化され,外は清国の朝鮮侵略があって,日本侵寇も予想憂慮された。しかも幕府財政は3代将軍家光の終わりには,すでに窮乏に陥っており,キリシタン問題と由井正雪の乱(1651)のような浪人問題とは,なお幕府を脅かす不安材料だった。4代将軍家綱の文治主義的政治に蕃山は期待し,朝廷復興に努力したが,容れられず,京都追放処分(1667)を受ける。5代将軍綱吉には批判的で,大老堀田正俊に幕府へ出仕するよう要請されるが,拒否。ただし清国の侵寇近しとの判断から,大和郡山在住期の貞享3(1686)年幕政改革案を含む総合的防衛策を幕府に上申。そのため古河藩へ幽閉となり同地で客死する。この上申書が著名な『大学或問』と同内容とみられ,蕃山の経世策が集約されている。賢君による「仁政」の論以下,兵備,治山治水,農兵制,貿易制限,宗教政策,文教政策論などを展開。これらのうち,治山治水と教育制度とは岡山藩出仕時代,主君池田光政の下ですでに実行ずみで,模範的先駆的施策として天下に知られた。治山治水事業の遺跡は万治3(1660)年に民政指導のために招かれた豊後岡藩(大分県)や古河藩領(茨城・栃木)に現存する。その事業の背景には自然破壊を強く警告する「天人合一」の政治哲学があり,蕃山の日本文化独自性論の根底には「時処位」(時代,国土,地位)の思想がある。死後1世紀を経た18世紀末には新井白石と並称された。その影響は儒学者以外にも広く思想家,文人におよび,文楽,浄瑠璃,歌舞伎などの主役に仕立てられて民衆にも人気があった。上記のほか,『集義和書』『集義外書』『源語外伝』などの著書があり,『増訂蕃山全集』(全7冊)に収められる。<参考文献>宮崎道生『熊沢蕃山の研究』

(宮崎道生)

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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