Aochirinsou - Aochirinsou

A Western scholar of the late Edo period. Born the son of Kaian, a physician to the Matsudaira clan in Matsuyama, Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture). His given name was Ei, his pen name was Hoko, and Hayashimune was his nickname. He studied medicine, the family business, and then Dutch studies. He was friends with Baba Sajuro, Sugita Ryukei, Udagawa Genshin (1769-1834), and Ito Genboku, and in 1822 (Bunsei 5) he was appointed as a translator at the Astronomical Observatory. He took over from Baba Sajuro, who died of illness in the middle of the translation, and together with Sugita Ryukei, he completed the translation (1825) of Soyaku Nihonkiji, the diary of Captain Golovnin of the Russian warship Diana. He translated 21 volumes of "Ipei Yakisoron," 3 volumes of "Horun Obstetrics Book," 6 volumes of "Yochishyaku" and the appendix "Jimou Chigaku Shimon" (Geology Guidebook), and also participated in the translation of "Kosei Shinpen." In particular, "Kikai Kanran" (1825), which provides a brief explanation of physical properties as well as light, electricity, and weather, was the first physics book published in Japan and played a major role in the subsequent adoption of physics. In 1831 (Tenpo 2), he also proposed the establishment of a comradeship association to standardize translations. In 1832, he was invited by the lord of Mito to become a medical officer and lecturer at the Western Academy, but died of an illness on February 22, the following year (Tenpo 4) in Honjo, Edo, and was buried at Sogenji Temple in Asakusa. They had two sons and five daughters; two of the boys drowned at a young age, but the eldest daughter married Tsuboi Nobumichi, the second daughter Ito Gencho, and the third daughter Kawamoto Yukitami.

[Toshihiko Kikuchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸後期の洋学者。伊予国（愛媛県）松山の松平氏の侍医快庵の子として生まれる。名は盈(えい)、号は芳滸(ほうこ)、林宗は通称である。家業の医学を学び、さらに蘭学(らんがく)を修めた。馬場佐十郎、杉田立卿(りゅうけい)、宇田川玄真（1769―1834）、伊東玄朴(げんぼく)らと交わり、1822年（文政5）天文台訳員にあげられた。翻訳の途中で病没した馬場佐十郎の後を継いでロシアの軍艦ディアナ号艦長ゴロウニンの日記『遭厄日本紀事(そうやくにほんきじ)』を杉田立卿とともに完訳した（1825）。『依百乙(イペイ)薬性論』21巻、『訶倫(ホルン)産科書』3巻、『輿地誌略(よちしりゃく)』6巻、付録『地学示蒙(じもう)』2巻などを翻訳し、また『厚生新編』の訳業にも参画した。とくに物性をはじめ光、電気、気象などについて略説した『気海観瀾(きかいかんらん)』（1825）は日本最初の物理学書の刊本で、以後の物理学の移植に果たした役割は大きい。また1831年（天保2）訳語の統一のための同志会の設立を提言している。1832年水戸侯に招かれ医官兼西学都講となったが、翌天保(てんぽう)4年2月22日江戸本所(ほんじょ)で病没、浅草曹源寺に葬られた。2男5女があり、男子二人は幼くして溺死(できし)したが、長女は坪井信道、次女は伊東玄晁、三女は川本幸民に嫁した。

［菊池俊彦］

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