Saigokuri-shi-hen - Saigokuri-shi-hen

Nakamura Keiu (Masanao)'s translation of Smiles' Self Help (1859). Published in 1870-71 (Meiji 3-4). 11 volumes. A best-seller on a par with Fukuzawa Yukichi's Western Affairs, it is said to have sold over a million copies in total. It was used as a lecture text for Emperor Meiji and as a moral education textbook for elementary schools. This book is a collection of anecdotal short biographies of many people to appeal to the British public for self-reliance in their daily lives, and Keiu's beautiful prose in Chinese characters moved the Japanese people at the time, who were coming into contact with Western civilization for the first time, by its call for self-reliance. It also influenced the Freedom and Civil Rights movement, but later the elements of social reform faded and it was seen as a book of virtues such as hard work, perseverance, and hardship for success in life, sparking a proliferation of books about aspiring people.

[Masaki Hirota]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中村敬宇(けいう)（正直(まさなお)）によるスマイルズの『自助論』Self Help（1859）の翻訳。1870～71年（明治3～4）刊。11冊。福沢諭吉の『西洋事情』と並ぶベストセラーで、発行部数は総計100万部を下らないという。明治天皇の進講のテキストになり、小学校の修身教科書に用いられた。本書は、イギリス民衆に日常生活における自立を訴えるために、多くの人々の逸話的小伝記を集めたものであり、敬宇の漢文書き下しの名文によって、自立の主張が初めて西洋文明に触れた当時の日本人に感動を与えたといえよう。これは自由民権論にも影響を与えたが、のちには社会改革の要素が薄れ、立身出世のための勤勉、忍耐、辛苦の徳目の書とみなされ、立志物の氾濫(はんらん)を呼び起こしていく。

［広田昌希］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例