Townspeople's Observations - Choninnkoukenroku

This is a moral book written by Mitsui Takafusa (1684-1748), a merchant in the mid-Edo period and grandson of the head of the Mitsui family, Takatoshi, with the help of his clerk Nakanishi Munesuke, for his descendants. It is three volumes long and was completed between 1728 (Kyoho 13) and 1733. It analyzes the rise and fall of influential townspeople in various cities, and attributes their downfall to loans to feudal lords, careless expansion of finance, extravagance, and excessive indulgence in women and entertainment. It emphasizes that the conditions for prosperity for townspeople are to maintain a balance between "righteousness" and "accounting," to value thrift, and to work hard at family business. Takafusa recognized the above-mentioned mindset of townspeople as the "townsman's mind" and the "merchant's mind," and this book is an important book for understanding the characteristics of the way townspeople lived in the early modern period.

[Jun Imai]

"Nakamura Yukihiko (ed.), "Japanese Thought Series 59: Thought of Townspeople in the Early Modern Period" (1975, Iwanami Shoten) " ▽ "Mitsui Takaaki (ed.), "Townspeople Thought and Townspeople Observations" (NHK Publishing Association, Radio Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸中期の商人で三井(みつい)本家高利(たかとし)の孫の三井高房(たかふさ)（1684―1748）が、番頭の中西宗助の助力を受けて子孫のために残した教訓書。3巻。1728年（享保13）から33年の間に成立した。諸都市の有力町人の盛衰の実例を分析し、没落の原因を大名貸(だいみょうがし)、不用意な金融の拡大や奢(おご)り、女色や遊芸への深入りなどに求め、繁栄の条件として町人は「仁義」と「算用」の均衡を保ち、倹約を重んじ家業に精励することを強調する。高房は、町人の前記のような心構えを「町人心」「商人心」として自覚したが、同書は近世町人のあり方の特色をうかがうための重要な書物である。

［今井　淳］

『中村幸彦編『日本思想大系 59　近世町人思想』（1975・岩波書店）』▽『三井高陽著『町人思想と町人考見録』（日本放送出版協会・ラジオ新書）』

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