Sakuma Shozan

A pioneer of the late Edo period. A samurai of Matsushiro Domain in Shinshu. His name was Hiraki (also called Taisei), his pen name was Shimei, his nickname was Shuri, and his pen name was Shozan. He is commonly called "Shozan," but in his hometown of Nagano, he is often called "Zouzan."

In 1833 (Tenpo 4), he traveled to Edo to study, and became a disciple of Sato Issai, head of the Hayashi family school. However, Shozan, who was already a staunch Neo-Confucian scholar, was dissatisfied with Issai, who secretly believed in Yangmingism, and it is said that he did not receive any lectures on the classics from Issai, instead studying prose and poetry. In 1842, when his lord, Sanada Yukitsura, was appointed as the Senior Councilor for Coast Defense, Shozan was selected as an advisor and ordered to study the worsening overseas situation caused by the Opium Wars (1840-1842), and to submit the "Eight Policies for Coast Defense" to Yukitsura. This incident made Shozan keenly aware of the need to study Western studies (Rangaku), and in 1844 (Koka 1) at the age of 34 he began learning Dutch, mastering it in about two years. He devoured Dutch books on natural science, medicine, and military affairs, absorbing knowledge of Western studies and striving to apply it. In 1851 (Kaei 4) he moved to Edo and opened a private school, teaching gunnery and military science. From this time Shozan's fame as a Western gunnery expert spread throughout the country, and talented scholars such as Katsu Kaishu, Yoshida Shoin, and Sakamoto Ryoma began to study with him. In 1853, Shozan was appointed to the domain's military council after Perry's arrival. He submitted the "Ten Urgent Articles" to the senior councilor Abe Masahiro, while also tacitly encouraging his beloved disciple Yoshida Shoin to go abroad. However, in 1854 (Ansei 1), Shoin's attempt to stow away overseas failed, and Shozan was implicated and was forced to live in seclusion in Matsushiro for the next nine years. During this time, he read Western books and devoted himself to Western studies, actively advocating the dual study of Western studies and Confucianism, while also shifting from a rigid view of expelling foreigners to a more realistic view of peace and openness, and began to advocate the unification of the Imperial Court and the Shogunate as a domestic political system to achieve this. In 1862 (Bunkyu 2), Shozan was released from seclusion, and in 1864 (Genji 1), ordered by the shogunate, he went to Tokyo and offered his opinion to important people in order to set the national policy of uniting the Imperial Court and the Shogunate and opening the country to the world and becoming more progressive. However, his words and actions angered the Sonno-joi extremists, and he was finally executed on July 11 of the same year. He died at the age of 54.

Xiangshan's intellectual world, which corresponds to the political world based on reform consciousness and elitism, was composed of "Eastern morality" that seeks to understand the inner principles of human beings (ethics) and "Western art" that elucidates the principles of heaven and earth and all things external to human beings (physics), and was governed by Neo-Confucianism, which seeks to reach the state of unity between heaven and man by grasping "ethics" and "physics" as a continuum. This Neo-Confucianism was deeply connected to the Tao of the Book of Changes, which he had been familiar with since childhood. His works include "Provincial Records of the Past" and "Diaogua."

[Tadashi Ishige May 19, 2016]

"Shinano Education Society, ed., 'The Revised and Revised Complete Works of Shozan,' 5 volumes (1934-1935, Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, reprint edition, 1975, Meiji Documents)" ▽ "Uete Michiari, translated and annotated, 'Japanese Thought Series 55: Sakuma Shozan and Others,' (1971, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Matsuura Rei, ed. and translated, 'Japanese Masterpieces 30: Sakuma Shozan and Yokoi Shonan,' (1984, Chuokoron-Shinsha)" ▽ "Ohira Kimata, 'Sakuma Shozan,' (1959, new edition, 1987, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末の先覚者。信州松代(まつしろ)藩士。名は啓(ひらき)（またの名は大星(たいせい)）、字(あざな)は子明(しめい)、通称は修理(しゅり)、号を象山という。一般には「しょうざん」というが、地元の長野では「ぞうざん」ということが多い。

　1833年（天保4）に江戸に遊学し、林家(りんけ)の塾頭佐藤一斎(さとういっさい)の門に入った。ただし、すでに純乎(じゅんこ)たる朱子学者であった象山は、ひそかに陽明学を信奉していた一斎に不満をもち、一斎からは経書の講義をいっさい受けず、もっぱら文章詩賦(しふ)を学んだと伝えられる。1842年、主君真田幸貫(さなだゆきつら)が老中海防掛に就任すると、象山は顧問に抜擢(ばってき)され、命を受けて、アヘン戦争（1840～1842）で険悪化した海外事情を研究し、「海防八策」を幸貫に上書した。これを契機に洋学（蘭学(らんがく)）修業の必要を痛感した象山は、1844年（弘化1）34歳のときにオランダ語を学び始め、2年ほどでオランダ語を修得し、オランダの自然科学書、医書、兵書などをむさぼるように読み、洋学の知識を吸収し、その応用にも心がけた。1851年（嘉永4）江戸に移住して塾を開き、砲術・兵学を教えた。このころから西洋砲術家としての象山の名声は天下に知れわたり、勝海舟、吉田松陰(よしだしょういん)、坂本龍馬(さかもとりょうま)らの俊才が続々入門した。1853年、ペリー来航により藩軍議役に任ぜられた象山は、老中阿部正弘(あべまさひろ)に「急務十条」を提出する一方、愛弟子(まなでし)吉田松陰に暗に外国行きを勧めた。しかし1854年（安政1）に決行された松陰の海外密航は失敗に帰し、象山もこれに連座して、以後9年間、松代に蟄居(ちっきょ)させられた。この間、洋書を読んで西洋研究に没頭し、洋学と儒学の兼修を積極的に主張するとともに、固定的な攘夷(じょうい)論から現実的な和親開国論に転じ、そのための国内政治体制として公武合体を唱えるようになった。1862年（文久2）蟄居を解かれ、1864年（元治1）幕命を受けて上京した象山は、公武合体・開国進取の国是(こくぜ)を定めるために要人に意見を具申してまわったが、その言動が尊攘激派の怒りを買い、同年7月11日ついに斬殺(ざんさつ)された。享年54歳。

　象山の知的世界――変革的意識とエリート意識に立脚する政治的世界と照応する――は、人間の内なる理（倫理）を究める「東洋の道徳」と、人間の外なる天地万物の理（物理）を明らかにする「西洋の芸術」によって構成され、「倫理」と「物理」を連続的にとらえることによって天人合一の境地に達しようとする朱子学によって統轄されており、その朱子学は幼年期から熟通していた易道と深く結び付いていた。著書には『省諐録(せいけんろく)』『礮卦(ほうけ)』などがある。

［石毛　忠　2016年5月19日］

『信濃教育会編『増訂象山全集』全5巻（1934～1935・信濃毎日新聞社／復刻版・1975・明治文献）』▽『植手通有訳注『日本思想大系55　佐久間象山他』（1971・岩波書店）』▽『松浦玲編・訳『日本の名著30　佐久間象山・横井小楠』（1984・中央公論社）』▽『大平喜間多著『佐久間象山』（1959／新装版・1987・吉川弘文館）』

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