Chu

Japanese: 忠 - ちゅう

A concept in Chinese ethical thought. Literally, it means a heart that is in the center, a sincere heart. It is not necessarily limited to the morality between a ruler and his subjects. "Is it true that one should plot for the sake of others and not be loyal?" (The Analects, Chapter on Learning). It is said that Confucius's way was consistent with "loyalty and compassion" (The Chapter on Respect). Sincerity and compassion. However, loyalty also means that a subject serves his ruler with sincerity. "Loyalty is surpassed when one is subordinate" (Book of Documents, Yi teaching). In general, early Confucian ethics considered father and son to be in heaven (a relationship born from birth), and ruler and subject to be in sync (a relationship that is combined and separated). Both Confucius and Mencius believed that loyalty to one's country could be ignored when it came to filial piety to one's parents. It was around the time of Xunzi at the end of the Warring States period (Xunzi, The Way of the Subject) that loyalty began to be established as the moral code for subjects. After the great empires of the Qin and Han were established, the importance of loyalty grew even more. Ma Rong, a Confucian scholar of the Later Han dynasty, wrote the Book of Loyalty, which he likened to the Book of Filial Piety. Historical works from the Book of Jin onwards have included sections on "Biographies of Loyalty" to commemorate loyal subjects. However, even in the Ming dynasty's Imperial Rescript on Education, the Six Instructions, filial piety still takes precedence over loyalty.

[Honda Satoshi]

Japan

The concept of loyalty was introduced to Japan early on through Chinese language and studies, and since the Nihon Shoki and Senmyo, it can be found in many historical texts, stories, and Buddhist texts. Originally, loyalty meant true sincerity in one's heart, and while it can be applied to oneself, it is often applied to others. Japanese loyalty has a particularly strong other-oriented nature. The Edo period Confucian scholar Ito Jinsai wrote, "When planning the affairs of others, as if one were planning one's own affairs, one should give every ounce of one's effort; this is loyalty" (Gomōjigi), and he said that loyalty is about caring for others and serving them to the fullest extent. He sees loyalty in the purity of caring. However, the other person that loyalty is directed at is generally a higher-ranking person in the social hierarchy (ruler-vassal relationship), which in this case is in conflict with filial piety in the hierarchical family relationship (parent-child relationship). This emphasis on "loyalty to the Emperor" (loyalty to the Emperor ideology) is particularly prevalent in samurai thought and early modern thought that was a reflection of it. Loyalty and filial piety are said to be one and the same, but when it comes to social groups or families, the focus is often on loyalty and faithfulness, in contrast to China, where family = filial piety. This tendency transformed into Mitogaku at the end of the Edo period and the loyalty, filial piety, and loyalty to the Emperor of patriots, and eventually became one of the principles of Japanese society after the Meiji period.

[Makoto Kurozumi]

"Chinese Culture Series 2: An Introduction to Thought" edited by Akatsuka Tadashi, Fukunaga Mitsuji, Kanaya Osamu, and Yamai Yu (1968, Taishukan Shoten)" "The History of Japanese Ethical Thought, Volumes 1 and 2, by Watsuji Tetsuro (1952, Iwanami Shoten) " "Loyalty and Rebellion, by Maruyama Masao (Collected in Lectures on the History of Modern Japanese Thought VI, 1960, Chikuma Shobo)"

[Reference] | Taka

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国倫理思想の一概念。字義からいうと、中なる心、真心。かならずしも君臣間の道徳に限らない。「人の為に謀(はか)って忠ならざりしか」（『論語』学而篇(がくじへん)）。孔子の道は「忠恕(ちゅうじょ)」で一貫していたという（里仁(りじん)篇）。真心と思いやり。もっとも臣が君に対して真心で仕えることも忠。「下(しも)と為(な)りては克(よ)く忠」（『書経』伊訓）。だいたい初期の儒教倫理では、父子は天合(てんごう)（先天的関係）、君臣は義合(ぎごう)（合わせ物、離れ物）であった。孔子、孟子(もうし)とも、親への孝の前には、国家への忠誠など無視してよいと考える。忠が臣下の道徳として固定し始めるのは戦国末の荀子(じゅんし)あたり（『荀子』臣道篇）である。秦(しん)・漢の大帝国が成立してから忠の比重はいよいよ大きくなる。後漢(ごかん)の儒者馬融(ばゆう)は、『孝経』になぞらえて『忠経』を著した。『晋書(しんじょ)』以降の歴代の史書は、「忠義伝」の項目を立てて、忠臣を顕彰する。しかし明(みん)の教育勅語「六諭(りくゆ)」でも依然、孝が忠に優先する。

［本田　濟］

日本

忠の概念は、日本には漢語・漢学を通じて早くから移入され、『日本書紀』、宣命(せんみょう)以来、史書、物語、仏書などに多くみいだすことができる。もともと忠とは、心のうちなる真心のことであり、自分自身にもいうが、他人に向けたものをいうことが多い。日本の忠には、その他者志向の性質がとりわけ強い。江戸時代の儒者伊藤仁斎(じんさい)は「人の事を謀ること、おのが事を謀るごとく、一毫(いちごう)の尽くさざる無き、まさに是(こ)れ忠」（『語孟字義(ごもうじぎ)』）として、忠とはどこまでも徹底して人を思いやり、人に尽くすことだという。思いやりの純粋さに忠をとらえるのである。ところで、その忠が志向する他者はおおむね社会的上下関係（君臣関係）の上位者とされることが多く、この場合、家族的上下関係（親子関係）における孝と対立する。この「君への忠」の強調（忠君思想）も、とくに武家の思想やその反映を受けた近世思想には強く流れている。もとより忠孝は一体だと説かれるが、しかし社会集団かそれとも家族かという際には、忠・忠義を中心とすることが多く、家族＝孝を重んずる中国とは対照的である。この傾向は、幕末には水戸学や志士の忠孝・天皇忠誠などに変形して、やがて明治以降の日本社会の一つの原理ともなった。

［黒住　真］

『赤塚忠・福永光司・金谷治・山井湧編『中国文化叢書2　思想概論』（1968・大修館書店）』▽『和辻哲郎著『日本倫理思想史』上下（1952・岩波書店）』▽『丸山真男著『忠誠と反逆』（『近代日本思想史講座Ⅵ』所収・1960・筑摩書房）』

[参照項目] | 孝

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

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