Saito Setsudo - Saito Setsudo

Japanese: 斎藤拙堂 - さいとう・せつどう

Year of death: July 15, 1865 (September 4, 1865)
Year of birth: 1797
A Confucian scholar from the late Edo period. His given name was Masaken, his pen name was Yushuu, and he was commonly known as Tokuzou. His pen names included Setsudo and Tetsuken Dojin. He was born to his father Masanobu and mother Saito at the residence of the Tsu Domain (Mie Prefecture) in Yanagiwara, Edo. He entered the Shoheiko Academy and studied under Koga Seiri. In 1820, the domain lord Todo Takatsugu established the domain school Yuzokan and promoted Setsudo to an academic position, so he moved to Tsu. He then became a lecturer, and in 1832 he became a tutor to the domain lord Takayoshi. Setsudo was also a capable administrator, and in 1841 he was appointed county magistrate, where he achieved great things, and in 1844 he became the superintendent of the Yuzokan, where he revised the school regulations, promoted talented people, purchased books widely, expanded the library, published 294 volumes of the Zizhi Tongjian, and sent capable samurai to Edo to study Western studies and military tactics, and responded sensitively to the changing times. When vaccination was introduced to Japan, he opened a vaccination center at the domain school and took the lead in implementing it within the domain. In 1855, he was ordered by the shogunate to go to Edo and have an audience with Shogun Iesada, and the shogunate tried to promote Setsudo to a Confucian scholar, but he declined. His scholarship was based on Neo-Confucianism, but he did not strictly adhere to it, and he was well versed in historical texts, and Ikai Keisho praised his two treatises on Laozi and Sunzi as insights that will last for generations. He also had a strong interest in economics and society, and investigated overseas situations, writing works such as "Kaigai Iden" and "Roshia Gaiki." However, Setsudo's forte was writing, particularly travel writing, and his "Tsukigase Kisho" made Tsukigase in Yamato a famous spot for plum blossoms, and is considered a masterpiece of travel writing alongside Rai Sanyo's "Yabakei Zumaki," which enhanced Setsudo's fame. He was also known for his interactions with many Confucian scholars and writers, including Rai Sanyo. He retired in 1858, and is buried at Shitennoji Temple in Tsu. <References> Nakauchi Jun, "A Short Biography of Setsudo Sensei" ("Facts and Literature Edition," Vol. 68), Fujikawa Hideo, "Poets of the Late Edo Period"

(Numata Satoshi)

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

Japanese:

没年：慶応1.7.15(1865.9.4)
生年：寛政9(1797)
江戸後期の儒学者。名は正謙,字は有終,通称は徳蔵。号は拙堂,鉄研道人など。父正修と母斎藤氏の子として江戸柳原の津藩(三重県)藩邸に生まれる。昌平黌に入門,古賀精里に就く。文政3(1820)年藩主藤堂高兌は藩校有造館を創設し,拙堂を抜擢し学職に就けたので津に移る。次いで講官となり,7年藩主高猷の侍読となる。拙堂は行政官としても有能で,天保12(1841)年郡奉行に任じられ業績を挙げ,弘化1(1844)年有造館督学となり,学則を改め人材を挙げ,広く書籍を購入し文庫を増設し,『資治通鑑』294巻を刊行し,また有能な藩士を江戸に送り洋学や西洋兵術を学ばせるなど,時勢の変遷にも敏感に対処し,種痘術の渡来に際しては藩校に種痘館を開き率先藩内に施行した。安政2(1855)年幕府の命で江戸に赴き将軍家定に拝謁,幕府は拙堂を儒官に抜擢しようとしたがそれを辞退した。その学問は朱子学を基本としながら墨守することなく,史伝に精しく,老子・孫子二弁は猪飼敬所が千古の卓見と評した。また経世の関心も強く,海外事情などを調べ『海外異伝』『魯西亜外記』などを著す。だが拙堂の最も得意としたのは文,それも紀行文の類であり,その『月瀬記勝』は,大和の月ケ瀬を梅の名所たらしめ,頼山陽の『耶馬渓図巻記』と並んで紀行文の双璧とされ,拙堂の名を高めた。頼山陽はじめ多数の儒者,文人との交流も有名である。安政6年致仕,墓所は津の四天王寺。<参考文献>中内惇「拙堂先生小伝」(『事実文編』68巻),富士川英郎『江戸後期の詩人たち』

(沼田哲)

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